uncagedforjustamoment

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[The camera flicks on to reveal a young man with eyes so pale lavender and missing pupils that it might appear as if his eyes are white and unmarked at first glance. There's a small frown on his lips, and his eyes squint in a curious determination.

Through observation and intuition, he's puzzled out the purpose and general function of the device well enough to activate it, but unfortunately it has...so far...not provided illumination over where he's woken or how. Waking up after death is no surprise--it's happened more than once before, though the last time it happened to him he hadn't been as certain of his own death when he lost consciousness as this time.

Waking here, however...is less...understandable.]

Explain to me where this place is and why I've been taken. Have I missed the end of the war? [That seems the most reasonable conclusion: otherwise he would have been brought back out to the battlefield, wouldn't he?]

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I don't know, but I think you'll get an award from everyone here if you did figure it out.

[She exhales a sigh and rests her 'gear back down the smooth metal in front of her. Save for that stuff two weeks ago -- most of it she's not even sure she remembers right -- there's a lot of information she can give him on the regions, on how people've adapted, how she's adapted.

But the hows and whys of their situation is still as frustrating of a mystery as it was when she was the one in New Bark Town for the first time.]

[He would no doubt be interested in hearing the important highlights of those six months, probably, but he's not going to expect such an update while they're conversing over a wireless device. It would be inconvenient.

The missing hows and whys, though...he won't be pleased by those. He is rather inclined to wanting to know those things, especially in a situation where the answers could define both danger and method of escape.]

I see. [He pauses a moment, allowing appropriate time to change subjects, before he continues.] Exactly what did you say you were sending me?

[She stays quiet long enough to let him think, if that's what he's doing, absorb the information. A nod at the question.]

A Pokémon. Part animal-summons, part weapon. You should already have one from the weird lady who calls herself your mom, right?

[She picks up the 'gear and twirls it for a moment, holding it up for a better view of the massive span of steel bird she's riding. And the ground a good hundred feet below.]

This was my starter, his name is Feng. I'll send you... my Gyarados, at least. Maybe my Mienshao, too. Basically they're classified by type. Fighting, Flying, Water, Electric... and they do better against certain other types, too. There should be a guide...

[She retrieves the 'gear and messes with it for another moment before sending him a Riku's Guide for Dummies.txt.]

Edited 2013-06-19 12:42 (UTC)

[Her ability to give him such time is unique on the team and something that he does value from her.

He frowns at the reminder of the strange, half-hearted imposter of a 'mother', but also at the mention of the creature which had been foisted on him and refused to stop following him.

The bird--so that is what's carrying her--does catch his attention, though. A giant, semi-sentient, metallic bird capable of carrying a person? That seems far more like a useful tool than the small creature following him currently.

While he already has an idea of what she is getting at with the types, a variation upon chakra types it seems, he pauses to glance at the screen anyway when she sends the guide.

...Of course he doesn't have the faintest idea what it is or how to use it. Wireless radio and video is one thing, but sending anything else via a communication device like this...that simply shouldn't be possible.

Just because he's figured out how to communicate with it doesn't mean he knows how to access and read files he's been sent, Tenten.]

...So it seems that the missing chakra might be redirected to these creatures instead? [It's either pursue the missing chakra thing or pursue something he had...less interest in.]

[With the guide sent, she's actually completely forgotten that using things like this is pretty abnormal for them. Six months in an area will do that. Plus, if he's managed to make a call, he'll be fine to figure it out.]

Could be. But it's not like it's just us here, either. People who aren't even close to shinobi end up here too. Time travelers and ordinary people.

[She shrugs, glancing up toward the sky with another sigh.]

It's... complicated. Like how Sasuke's been here almost a year, but Shino-kun and the others only arrived a few weeks after I did.

[Well. He is a genius, after all, he'll figure it out on his own. Or he'll ask someone, but that is far less likely of the two possibilities.

He listens to her response readily enough...but of course even civilians have chakra networks with which to extract chakra via the proper jutsus. It wouldn't be very much, and their networks would be easily overloaded...but with more powerful shinobi like themselves present, civilians could provide some supplemental benefit.

The question would remain 'why', however. It's not a question Tenten could hope to answer directly, so he doesn't bother to ask it. Instead, he notes the names she speaks. Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha. Shino she'd already mentioned, but Sasuke was new information. Tenten ought to be able to recognize the way his expression clouds at the mention of Sasuke.]

From when between us did Sasuke arrive? The war or the exams? [He needs to know whether the lack of a -kun means that he'll have to deal with a dangerous traitor without chakra (easy enough, considering their respective styles) or that it's a sign that she has spent entirely too much time with a young traitor-to-be.]

[Oh. She should've seen this coming. Her expression sours in response to his own, and she goes visibly tense.

It isn't as if Sasuke's decisions in the future are news to her. Far from it, she's had to deal with far more of it than she'd like. Her jaw clenches, and her eyes harden as she sits up straighter, tone letting Neji know that she won't be taking any shit about it.]

Sasuke is from the same time I am. Right after the Third's funeral. And he won't be following whatever future you're used to.

Don't judge him for something that hasn't even happened, Neji. He deserves better than that.

[Hm. So he is little to no threat. Even without chakra, he could easily deal with the youth on his own should he become a nuisance.

His own frown is faint, but just as clearly an indication that he would not be argued down on the matter either. Whatever experience she might have with this younger Sasuke, he had seen and experienced the devastation the young man would willingly bring down upon both the village and his teammates.]

It isn't a matter of things that might happen, but things that have and will.

Things that have happened to you. Not to me. Not to him.

[She stares straight ahead instead of looking at the 'gear, forcing herself to inhale and calm down. The last thing she needed was for Sasuke to start sulking again at being accused of being a deserter. Again.]

And don't start with that fate crap of yours again, Neji, [she refocuses her attention on the 'gear, jabbing one finger at it.] If I say it's not going to happen, it's not going to happen. People change here.

They will happen to both of you when you return home.

[And with sufficient motivation: here. Neji prides himself on knowing people, Tenten, and he's certain the young Uchiha would have chosen that path eventually regardless of where he was.

He frowns. You've insulted him a little bit, Tenten.]

Fate is the predestination of events yet to happen. Sasuke Uchiha's betrayal of the village and ensuing bloody rampage have already happened. If he truly changed here, then the memories I possess of his future would differ. They do not.

[Thus. No matter what Sasuke might say, his choice will end up the same.]

It won't though, Neji. You'll see. Things will change.

[It's said with a quiet confidence. Maybe she doesn't know for sure, but she's willing to bet on Sasuke to do what's right. She'd told the Uchiha before, that she'd trust him.

After everything he'd done for her, she can't help but want to believe in him. Even if she's the only one from their village who does.]

He hasn't gone back yet. Once he does -- if he does -- then you'll see.

I've already experienced what will happen when he returns, Tenten. It is not merely a matter of a story that might be inaccurate or a path set up that he can turn away from. The suffering and deaths he causes with his betrayal have already happened. It cannot be changed any more than I could return and undo the harm I caused Hinata-sama in the Chuunin exams.

[There, see? Don't make him lecture you on the matter of what Sasuke's done, Tenten, only pain and suffering can come from that.]

Then it'll get fixed!

[She outright scowls at that, clenching the hand not holding the gear against the unyielding steel of the Skarmory she's riding.]

I don't know how it'll happen, but it'll change, Neji. He won't go back and do the same things, he absolutely won't. We both know how it's turned out, and maybe, since he's not alone anymore, he'll stay.

Even if you don't trust him, trust me, Neji. You still do that in the future, don't you?

[The emotional outburst won't change the facts or history, Tenten.

He sighs and settles a frown on the screen. Calling on their friendship in this situation is inappropriate, Tenten...but if that is the way she wishes to take the conversation, then he is not incapable of responding in kind.]

Is it truly a matter of my trusting you, Tenten, or whether you still trust me? As a teammate at least, if my actions in your memory don't warrant your friendship.

[That hurts, shutting her up for a moment as she stares at the screen and swallows hard. What were she and Neji? Comrades, teammates to be sure, but had they really been friends?

She'd told Sasuke that he was the closest thing she had to a friend, but Neji... Neji was always something in-between, not quite willing to let others in close enough that she could truly call him a friend, or even if she did, she knew he wouldn't be the one to return the label.]

You know I trust you, [her voice is soft when she finally answers, leaning in closer to the 'gear to prevent the wind from snatching away her words.] But when I know the future is going to change... I just can't take your word for it, Neji, I can't. Not about Sasuke.

I've got to believe in him, Neji. I don't know if anyone else will.

[Of course she wouldn't consider him a friend at her age. At that time he was fit to be no one's friend. Had anyone even attempted to be despite his unfit nature, they would have been harshly spurned. Still...a very human part of him, the same in her that wished for Sasuke's promises to be true, had hoped she might have considered him a friend and trusted him over the Uchiha regardless.

Hurt is not likely to be an expression she's seen on him often if ever by her age. Even now, the faint frown that passes over his face and the tightening of his eyes might instead be irritation at her insistence. He certainly won't tell.]

Is Sasuke so important to you...? If not my own, I would have expected you to care more for Lee's welfare than for his.

Edited 2013-06-22 03:15 (UTC)

[She had seen hurt before, but not like this. She had seen the bitterness, the anger at the Main Family, the hurt mixed with fury. This only looks like annoyance to her, leaving her scowling again. Not fully aware of his own feelings, she adds,]

He is. He's an important comrade to me, Neji. I can't leave him behind any more than I'd leave you behind.

[She stares stonily at him for another long moment before saying, What about Lee? He recovers, doesn't he? The future-rookies said so. Sasuke's got nothing to do with him.

[Well. It seems she'll have trouble deciphering any of his expressions then. He's gotten subtler over the years without that petulance and bitterness mixed in with all of his other emotions.

Still. Her lack of appropriate reaction is a further disappointment. His expression hardens just a touch, then, and he sighs.]

He recovers from the injuries, yes. Despite Sasuke's involvement in the matter. Due to Sasuke, if not for the intervention of allies, Lee would have never recovered from his injuries.

[She's missed out on that entire period of growth -- all she can see right now is that he's still as stubborn as always, even if he's less expressive. She shakes her head though, eyes going wide.]

What's Sasuke got to do with Lee's injuries, though? And for that matter, what's that you were saying about your welfare?

[It's a dual shame and benefit to him that she can't read him as accurately as his Tenten can. There are things he'd rather keep from her, and then there are things he'd rather she see through anyway. Still, he can only expect so much of someone who had only known the worst of him.

He frowns at he question and clicks his tongue before elaborating.]

When Sasuke Uchiha abandoned the village, Naruto gained the approval of the hokage to organize a rescue team to bring him home, under the misguided impression that he could reason with him and bring him back. Including Lee, who followed after the rest of us shortly after we left, there were six of us composing the squad. Rather than meet and reason with him, we were forced to reckon with his new-found allies. In the process each of us were critically--some of us near-fatally--injured. Without intervention from allies, none of us would have survived the encounters. Lee himself faced against an opponent he couldn't possibly defeat to give Naruto the opportunity to speak to Sasuke and attempt to reason with him.

[Is he painting a clear and grim enough picture, Tenten? Because he can go into detail of just how severe the injuries were and how close a call it was.

Instead, after an appropriate pause he simply added] Naruto's efforts were rewarded by Sasuke Uchiha savagely beating him and leaving him for dead. Should Kakashi Hatake not have arrived and found Naruto when he did, it's likely he would have perished as well. Again: is Sasuke more important to you than the welfare of each of your other comrades and teammates?

Edited (get your facts straight Neji) 2013-06-22 14:51 (UTC)

But Neji...

[She shakes her head, fist clenching against the steel again as if that might bring back some shred of normalcy. She's supposed to be ecstatic that Neji was here, but he had to come here like this...?

She trusts Neji more than anything -- almost anything -- but this is something she doesn't want to let go of so easily. She'd hoped he'd understand.]

Naruto-kun accepts him. Why can't you? Why won't you let me? You'll meet him, you'll see. Things will change, Neji.

[She feels like a broken record now, lips pressed together in a thin line. She hasn't seen the kinds of wounds that could be inflicted; Neji was always untouchable, and with Neji's confirmation that Lee had recovered, she couldn't believe that some flunky of Orochimaru's had managed to almost get them both. It's beyond her comprehension without seeing it herself. Instead she adds, quietly,]

You say he didn't listen, but you didn't know that at the time. You still went after him, didn't you? Where was I? If you tell me right now, that I went with you and he didn't listen to me, I'll stop arguing about this.

[And she waits, almost holding her breath with a kind of sick worry. What if it had already happened, and no matter what she said, she couldn't convince Sasuke to stay? She already knew he had no plans of joining Orochimaru, but... she also knew his hints of leaving the village anyway. Peacefully, but...]

Tell me there was nothing I could do to make him stay, Neji.

[--Does she want to have been harmed...?

No. That isn't it. It's that she speaks of the Uchiha in the same way that Naruto and Sakura do, with the blind faith in what he now realizes to be impossible and self-destructive. For them it is understandable enough, especially of Naruto, who so prizes his friendship with the rogue ninja. But Tenten...he expects more from.

To know that she will choose the interests of Sasuke over her own team...perhaps it is the team's own fault, the dysfunction caused by his own inability to forge bonds at that age due to his hatred and bitterness. It is not completely unreasonable to believe she holds no close bonds to Team Gai (not yet even dubbed as such) at her age yet, but still...it is a disappointment.

His expression darkens a shade in that disappointment, although whether she will correctly recognize it as disappointment rather than annoyance this time he can't be certain.

This argument is becoming circular, and he will have no more part of it. He scoffs lightly and shakes his head.]

I have nothing to say to Sasuke Uchiha and I'm finished with speaking through this box: if you wish to speak to me, do it in person. [Because he can do with a few days of radio silence and traveling to sort through everything from death to not-death to a teammate too young and naive to be his teammate anymore, anyway.]

Neji--

[She falls back, trying to read as much of his expression as she can on the tiny screen. Maybe it would be better to talk in person, but for now? She feels like he's dismissing her. Maybe it's just because she's so used to Neji wanting her around for nothing but training, testing his Kaiten against her weapons. To being dismissed by his holier-than-thou attitude. Because he's the genius and no matter how hard she and Lee would try, they would never measure up.

Her team will always be her team, but she's spent the last six months learning how to function without them. On her own, or with the help of yes, that Uchiha. She swallows hard and forces her expression to harden, though there's no hiding the hurt that he won't believe her about Sasuke.]

Fine. I'll meet you in Cherrygrove on the 25th.

For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here.

[And she slams the 'gear closed to end the transmission.]

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