#luaraes

𝙴𝚈𝙴𝚂      𝙼𝙰𝙳𝙴      𝙾𝙵      𝙼𝙾𝙾𝙽𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃    went  wide  at  his  statement,  feeling  her  cheeks  heat  up  at  the  kindness  of  his  gesture.  ❛                Chouji-kun!  Y-you  didn’t  have  to…                    ❜    she  exclaimed  softly,  trying  not  to  wake  the  sleeping  toddler  in  her  arms  ━━━━━━  Mirai  had  been  quite  fussy  that  day,  and  not  having  Kurenai  at  home  had  made  the  young  girl  even  more  irritable,  though  Hinata  and  Chouji  slowly  managed  to  calm  her  down  enough  for  the  toddler  to  take  a  well  deserved  nap.  Gently,  the  Heiress  maneuvered  the  child  so  she  could  take  the  tea  her  friend  had  so  graciously  made  for  her  ━━━━━━━━  Hinata  wondered  how  Chouji  still  found  time  to  come  and  help  Kurenai  with  Mirai,  after  all  from  what  she  had  heard,  the  Akamichi  restaurants  were  becoming  more  and  more  popular  these  days.  ❛                Thank  you,  Chouji-kun.                    ❜    she  smiled  up  at  him,  that  same  soft  and  angelic  smile  she  gave  everyone  she  held  dear.

The  Hyuuga  Heiress  refused  to  admit  how  tired  she  was,  the  preparations  for  her  to  assume  the  mantle  of  Head  of  Clan  were  gruesome,  but  her  father  was  ready  to  step  down  ━━━━━━  concept  that  terrified  her,  for  deep  down  Hinata  still  felt  like  that  frightened  little  girl  she  used  to  be.  But  she  didn’t  feel  it  was  right  for  her  to  complain,  not  when  her  friends  seemed  to  be  doing  and  acomplishing  so  much  more  than  her.  ❛                How  are  the  restaurants?  Hanabi-chan  tells  me  they  are  even  more  popular  nowadays.                    ❜    one  of  the  downsides  of  preparing  to  become  Head  of  The  Hyuuga  was  the  fact  that  Hinata  hardly  had  time  to  go  outside  and  to  learn  what  went  on  in  the  village  ━━━━━━  thankfully,  she  had  Hanabi  to  keep  her  informed.  ❛                I  hope  you  aren’t  working  yourself  to  the  bone,  Chouji-kun.                    ❜

              “You’re welcome,” Chouji responds in a hushed tone, not wishing to wake Mirai.  He mirrors the Hyuuga’s warm, gracious smile.  “I figured you could use it— Ermm, Mirai’s been extra cranky today.”

        That, and the tiredness the Hyuuga displayed did not go unnoticed by the Akimichi.  While he did not really keep up with clan politics— much to his father’s dismay— He did know that Hinata would soon take over as the head of the Hyuuga clan.  Wow!  Chouji did not envy her sudden gain in power; Running a clan was not an easy task.  But he did worry for Hinata; That was so much responsibility placed on one young person’s shoulders! If it was tough for his father, a seasoned leader, he couldn’t imagine what challenges laid ahead for Hinata— For someone considered so soft and kind. .

         . . Kind of like he was.  They were people with a lot of heart to give. Yes, he did worry for her, but he also greatly admired her.  She was going to be soft and kind— Things great leaders were not known for.  But Hinata would be well-known; Chouji was sure of it. And that—

softer      prompts            |            no    longer     accepting

he  wants  to  ask      HOW      ;  or        why        .       because  it  was  his  duty      ??           because  a  strong  jinchuriki  meant  a  prospering  village       ??                    and  he  ,  much  unlike  naruto  -  kun  ,  was  in  unison  with  his  tailed  beast  .  lee  choked  on  the  village’s         ARTIFICIAL    CHEER           ;  all  the  hollow  praise  ,  lee’d  turn  the  leaf  into  a  pyre  .     and  in  the  furious  flames  he’d  begin  again  .    hinata  wasn’t  like  them  ,  though  .           he  knew  he  was  supposed  to  sacrifice  everything  for  konoha  ,  though  he’d  rather  sacrifice  the  entire  village        for    her        .                                            ❛                       you    make    me    feel    like    my    old    self    .                        ❜

      “Are you ready to go, Hinata-san?” Standing at the gates, Kakashi turned to look at at the younger woman, a soft smile on his lips, an attempt at being encouraging. He knew she’d probably be a bit nervous, so he was trying not to be intimidating. For this mission he had recruited her on, they were trying to track down an elusive enemy shinobi who had kidnapped a noblewoman. Though Kakashi had his dogs for tracking, he knew Hinata would be helpful as well, and it was always good to have backup.

     “You’ve said good bye to everyone you want to? We might be gone for a while.” A light laugh there, and his hand went to touch the back of his neck. “Some ninja from the Sand have already tried to track him down, and they weren’t able to, so we might be in for a bit of a journey.”

sometimes  her  eyes  reminded  him      too    much      of  neji  .           though  near  identical  as  they  were  ,  hinata’s  were   .   .   .            much    softer         .          despite  ,       or    perhaps    all    the    more    underlining      ,    her  strength  .       for  it  needed  STRENGTH  to  be  kind  in  this         cruel    world         .           this  much  lee  knew  at  heart  .                                 his    own    ever    bleeding    heart     .

though      SAD      as  it  made  him  ,  lee  would  still  smile  for  her  .          even  if  the  world  would  crumble  at  the  end  of  all  times  ,           he’d    smile    for    her           .            because  she  was  precious  ,     and  his  friend  .          lee  paused  ,  black  eyes  searching  for  certainty  in  her  own  .         hinata  looked  like  she  wanted  to         say    something         .              she  looked  as  if  in  pain  .                   something      lee      would      not      allow                                                though  it  seemed  like  the  right  words  wouldn’t  leave  him  .          instead                                                                                 ❛            would    you    like    to    grab    dinner    with    me      ??                   my    treat    !!            ❜

lee  was         happy         ,  how  could  he  NOT  be  .         even  now  genin  thought  it  was  only  a  dream  at  times  .              neji    at    the    ground         ,  unable  to  stand  up  .                he    and    gai    hugged    for    nearly    half    an    hour                             still  he  beat  neji  ONCE  ,  no  reason  to  become  cocky  ,  he’d  tell  himself  .        though  with  efforts  payed  off  ,  he’d  ,  more  than  ever  ,  believed  this  to  be  only  one  of  many  more  victories  to  come  .                        HE    JUST    HAD    TO    TRAIN    EVEN    HARDER                                                   lee    would    be    just    like    gai    -    sensei

and  as  hinata  asked  to  train  ,   how  could  he  not  but  offer  the         brightest        of  all  smiles  .       as  if  young  boy  tried  to  outshine  the  sun  itself  .        wasn’t  this  the  perfect  opportunity  ,  as  well  .      he  always  tried  to        make    friends        with  the  quiet  girl  .        would  this  upset  neji  ??                   not  that  lee  would  be  a  bad  friend  .         he  wasn’t  capable  of  such  a  thing  .                           soft    chuckle          left  rock  lee  .                                                                      ❛            i    would    gladly    help    you    ,    hinata      !!                 let    us    become    stronger    together    !                  where    do    you    usually    train    ??            ❜                                             to  practice  in  a        familiar    enviroment        ,  where  hinata  trained  most  ,  would  make  her  more  comfortable  .       so  he’d  thought       ,  though  unfamiliar  with  the  hyuga’s  harsh  cruel  training  methods  ,  this  may  have  been  a        mistake        . 

luaraes said: ❛ You’re awake. Shall we analyze your dreams? ❜ (from gomez to wednesday)

“ what is there to analyze? “ 

her disinterest was apparent, the foolish thought of merely entertaining that which had been plaguing her sleep held no possible merit for her. It realistically was a foolish endeavor that only gomez would find worthwhile. 

she sat up from her bed to stare at her concerned father. gomez seemed to stand awkwardly in the doorway, leaning precariously against the door frame as if he’d been waiting anxiously for this to happen. “ i do believe i’m fine, father. go back to bed. “

it occurred to wednesday that maybe he had been waiting, it had become an increasingly frequent event for her to wake from an unfit sleep. her usual nightmares now replaced with pleasant dreams of cheerful things and gentle creatures, they naturally made her sick.

send me   ‘ mistletoe ’  for my muse’s response to being underneath mistletoe with your muse.   specify whether it’s accidental or on purpose. / @luaraes

Cheers ring throughout the Yamanaka compound as Hinata and himself step through the doorway. Following the looks being sent above their heads, Sasuke rolls his eyes at seeing the hanging mistletoe. From what Sakura told him a few days ago, it’s a new holiday tradition taking root in Konoha. Many of the younger generation have enjoyed it the past several years since the tradition calls for a kiss by the two people caught under. 

Sasuke takes a moment to look back at the crowd and finds they’re being given a mixed reaction. Some look excited, others are tense and weary. Considering his reputation, he’s not surprised the weary reactions are coming from her teammates and a few classmates. Though in this situation the feelings who matter are his and hers. It’s their decision. 

He glances in her direction and finds her hair is covering her face. Unable to read her expression or get some idea of what she’s feeling, he breathes out through his nose. His jaw sets as he comes to the decision to ignore expectations. There’s no point forcing a kiss if both people aren’t willing. While that brings up the question if he wants to, he chooses to speak up to ignore those thoughts. Recalling their conversation as they walked together to the party. She mentioned wanting to taste the various holiday drinks. 

“You were thirsty?” He says disrupting the mood and implicitly telling the tradition to fuck off. Plus recalling Hinata’s own reserved nature, being at the center of attention could be unnerving her so Sasuke nudges her arm. He points to the table with drinks and leads the way over. 

He senses the atmosphere in the room shift, a loosening of a knot or a release of a held breath. Soon after Sasuke hands her a drink her teammates come over and Naruto draws him away. He gives her one last look before being dragged away. 

That’s when it hits him. He wouldn’t have minded kissing her, something simple of course. His guard or instincts don’t rouse at the thought, meaning he’d trust her to be that close. Which he should know given their weekly sessions together. 

“And with the rain coming down as hard as it is, it’ll be a miracle if we could even salvage logs enough for a fire.”

Already, over a year had passed since the war and Sakura had been promoted to Jounin. With her work on the clinic and other psychological pursuits, she’d been granted full leave of the Medic Corps that was then helmed by Shizune instead of herself, a commencement that had made her happy to see, someone who deserved to be Tsunade’s heiress far more than she. But, she digressed. Outside of her unknown work as a double agent within Anbu, very one of the five great nations had been stretched to their thinnest after the war. Where they’d once been the nightstick that kept the smaller nations in line (as if it were a just thing to do), the massive losses incurred meant mobilizing every shinobi whenever possible, and this was one of those moments as a newly minted Jounin.

It was why she and Hinata were on such a sprint, roadside gangs and mobsters becoming rampant along the road that fed from the village to all the major epicenters of the Land of Fire with such activity hobbling the village. Sakura sighed as those busy thoughts ran through her mind, smiling apologetically at Hinata. It was nice being out with a friend, at least, so it wasn’t like it might be strange to be caught being so distracted.