scented paper, of crazy plans and jelly fits commentary
commentaries as per lalagirl208 's request:
title:scented paper
series: naruto
pairing: itasaku
rating: teen
“Um, excuse me?”
Taking off his absorbed attention from the huge amount of explaining text (--choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than--), the bespectacled man turned to a perplexed individual who gently tapped his shoulders from behind.
[The italicized part was an excerpt from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.]
A female freshman was biting her lip nervously, and then she gathered enough courage and asked.
[I would be intimidated too, Sakura]
“Do you know what time--?”
“Quarter to twelve.” He replied curtly.
“Thank you.” She responded, the disappointment clearly made its way to her face.
[Ooooh, a very snappy Itachi. He's really busy on reading some deep philosophical stuff. Nyehehehe]
His impassive stare was hidden beneath the soft golden glint of his thickly-rimmed glasses. He scrutinized her dainty fingers that fiddled with the edges of the delicately wrapped booklet, a telltale sign of anxiety. The young woman was probably sixteen, four years younger than him, quite petite in form and looked comfortable in a red cardigan sweater and black denims.
[thick rimmed glasses = Itachi the dork!]
Then he suddenly recognized the mint-hued eyes, her light strawberry tresses that was messily held up behind the crown of her head and that almost pale face.
“Take a seat.” He inclined to offer, the flash of exhaustion apparent on her features.
[He finally realized who he's talking with. My sis-in-law, how are youuuu?]
Helplessly looking at him, her slightly wide forehead then furrowed as to contemplate if she should accept the suggestion. She complied in the end, scraping the metal ends of the chair against the brick floor.
A tenuous, viscous silence hung between them, which remained unbroken for five minutes.
They were both sitting on the provided tables from the open cafes that usually littered outside the university campus avenues. A couple of people still lingered on the premises, but it was obvious that it was because they believed that it was romantic to meet up at midnight.
He was absentmindedly flipping a page when she spoke timidly.
“I’m Sakura.”
His lips minutely twitched in amusement.
[LOL. I pity poor Sakura here. Imagine, you're alone in the middle of the night, with an intimidating stranger beside you. And then he smirks! *shivers*]
“What are you doing here alone,” His articulation was fairly smooth, like raven feathers, even though there was no trace of real curiosity in the inquiry. “in the middle of the night?”
[smooth articulation like raven feathers, nyahhahahah. I love iiiit.]
“Well,” Her eyes somewhat widened, surprised with the interrogation. “I was waiting.”
[She's always waiting for him!]
He then closed his book to indicate that he was listening.
“But I guess, he wasn’t really serious about it.”
The twenty year old dark-haired man was about to ask when she gave a tremulous smile.
“So, you chose to read The Prince before Valentines? That’s rather cold-hearted.”
“It’s necessary.”
“But you’ve been probably reading it again.” She pointed the white creases that formed on the brown-paper bound spine. “I’m scared that you find Machiavellian doctrines rather interesting.”
“You find it frightening?” He found that idea amusing.
“The end justifies the means, the book insists." She lowered her voice in shudder. "That statement created a Hitler.”
[I tried to subtly incorporate Itachi's character from what he's reading in this ficlet. Machiavelli can define some of Itachi's qualities, right? I don't know if I got the desired effect, though.]
“That’s how a ruler should think.” His flint-shaded orbs, though concealed with the elongated dark locks and the refraction of his spectacles, were intensely observing the very engaging female. “It’s for the greater good.”
Then she laughed, propping an elbow on their mahogany table. “I don’t believe this.” Turning her attention towards the pairs that walked along the sidewalks of the avenue, Sakura sighed wistfully. “I’m discussing political philosophies with some stranger in an unknown area because I'm that pathetic for some company tonight.”
[In short, Sakura:" I'm bored".]
He wisely kept silent and observed the dejected expression that marred her features.
“You are a hopeless romantic.” It was stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
[True.]
“I’m more of a hopeless case.” [Not true~! Sakuraaa, Sasuke wubs youuuu!Huhuhuhu!] She exhaled a shaky breath, as if wishing that the night would just end. “Is it already midnight?”
He merely responded with calm affirmative.
With an apologetic grin, she moved to finally leave her seat.
“I should be already going then.”
He merely cocked his calculating gaze.
“You’re not going to wait for him any longer?”
She bitterly laughed at that, as if there was an ironic joke in that statement. [She's been waiting for him for her entire life.]
“I was already expecting this, actually.”
Then she returned her gaze to the other individuals that surrounded the perimeters of the avenue, who were already occupied in their teasing words, cooed endearments and crimson chocolates underneath the pliant brush of the lamp light.
“A hopeless romantic, indeed.”
She was suddenly shaken out of her saddened reverie when her recent acquaintance perused the first leaf of her supposed-to-be Valentines gift.
His fingertips skimmed over the neat handwriting of ‘Sonnets of the Portuguese’, and with the tear-stained words of inscribed dedication on the top: To Sasuke-kun.
Sakura probably knew that the affectionate well-made verses that she wrote originated from the collected correspondences of a frail lady with a younger, amorous man. The weaved rhythmical phrases in this literary piece were made in secrecy, written in perfumed stationary in order to express the true depth of their emotions. [She's giving Sasuke handwritten poems copied from Sonnets of the Portuguese for Valentines~! Sakura is the romantic one in their relationship, nyehehehe. And if you noticed, I gave a brief explanation of how the sonnets were created. Elizabeth and Robert Browning exchanged mails in secrecy, creating sonnets in those letters. Elizabeth collected those works and published them.]
They were probably too appropriate in her (their) situation, and the thought to give something more substantial than the usual chocolates and (he then knew that his foolish little brother was absurd.) tomatoes was very like her.
[really, Sasuke's fascination with tomatoes, as portrayed in many fanfics, is really amusing ]
He took off his glasses after skimming the first lines of Sonnet Forty-Three and focused his dark enigmatic gaze on her puzzled expression.
[how do i love thee? let me count the ways... I guess, that poem really describes Sakura's devotion. Itachi must have realized the similarities.]
“Wait,” She gaped, as her book was returned back to her trembling hands. “I know you.”
“Yes?” He politely asked, as he grasped his own reading material in his hand.
“Uchiha Itachi?!” Then she comically ogled at him as his patrician features were fully enlightened with the waning yellow neon lights from overhead. “You’re his older brother!”
“Of course,” He merely replied patiently.
“Why-“
“You didn’t ask my name.”
[LOL, he's really frustrating]
“You don’t look like you’re his brother at all!” She exclaimed after her few minutes of stupefied silence, earning a few open stares from the surrounding people around them. “I mean, your pictures, they were absolutely different from what I saw in his dormitory when we studied together-“
Oh? Is that a slip?
[Wahaaha, saw his picture in Sasuke's dorm room?! She's either a stalker or Sasuke had invited her inside~!]
“-and you were striking! Even pretty! Like a woman!”
[AGREEEEEEE~! MORE PRETTIEEEE~!]
He cut her off rather abruptly. “My brother is waiting for you.”
“What?”
“You know that he’s currently busy at the moment.” She could at last see the prominent lines on the sides of his pointed, aristocratic nose. “But it doesn’t mean that he won’t use any means to meet up with you.”
“Oh.”
She flushed.
Then she frowned.
“Why didn’t you say anything to me before?”
“You were interesting.”
And then he paced towards a parked onyx-painted car on the nearby corner, letting Sakura follow him resignedly.
[I want to continue thiiiis, but I can't find the other half of scented paper I don't know where I placed iiiit.]
_______________________________________________
title: of crazy plans and jelly fits
series: Naruto (AU)
characters: Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto and Fugaku
rating: PG 13, T
[challenge response for the dormant muses, and I was really rushing this too.]
16:36 hours, Friday
Uzumaki did a series of things that a normally surprised female would do: Opened her mouth wide and closed them a few times then stared at her best friend of two years.
After a few seconds of comprehending what that small announcement was about, she screamed a single word.
"WHAT?"
Her raucous screech rebounded over the grimy tile walls of the restroom, along with the slap of two wet palms on the sink borders. She whipped her cropped auburn strands, accentuating the soft curve of her tightening jaw. Splashes of tap water drenched the edges of her long yellow sleeves and she ignored the sudden cold that permeated her skin.
Mikoto, who was already used to the exaggerated reactions from the red-haired woman, merely replied calmly as she continued on brushing her hair to the rear of her head.
“What?”
“Of all the things you would do, woman!” A pair of darkest jade irises narrowed in annoyance, leaning a bit closer to her indifferent friend, who was capping the slender tube of lipstick to a close and retuning it back to her leather purse. “Him?”
“Shut up, you loud-mouthed idiot.” At this, Mikoto rolled her onyx orbs as her hands finally tucked in the last remnants of her ebony strands on the borders of her makeshift ponytail. Glaring at her companion through the heavily graffiti-marked mirror, she continued to speak as if Kushina was not currently murmuring vulgarities under her breath, tearing the paper towels that she dried herself with. “He’s blonde. He’s charismatic. He got those sky-blue eyes. And he can actually smile, you know, gently, unlike my fiancé.” The well-known, demure primadonna of this stupid group enterprise merely gave an unlady-like snort, which was perfectly copied from the resident tomboy. “If I had a chance from the very start, I would’ve hit on Minato-kun-“
[Yes, me too, me too. I think many people will agree with Mikoto on this one. And Mikoto as a primadonna: that amuses me pretty much.]
“Minato-kun, god, do you even hear yourself?” Kushina rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. “I thought you were smarter than me, with wide-forehead and all!”
[Well, Sasuke does have a wide forehead! And he inherits it from his Mom!]
“Is there anything wrong with me having a little bit of a crush?”
“A crush!” The word was nearly spat as she placed her hands over her hips and sneered in reply. “Have you lost your mind, Mikoto? What were you thinking?! If Uchiha hears this, he’ll surely-”
“-probably be sulky about it. Brood like what Uchihas do.” Here, as Mikoto interrupted her friend’s tirade as both of them usually do, she laughed out loud. Reaching over the other faucet sink, she turned the copper knob clockwise. “What’s the big deal, anyway? You are over-reacting.”
[LOL, that's all what the Uchihas do when they don't like what's happening: They brood, sulk and be moody.]
“I am not over-reacting. I am just telling you that you are frigging crazy.” At this, the dark-haired female gave an exasperated sigh as Kushina now started to prattle again and snatched the left hand bearing a magnificent diamond-studded platinum band on the ring finger, almost shoving the appendage to Mikoto’s face. ”You are having a date, and you’re engaged. And most of all, he’s our boss. It’s unethical!”
“Unethical?” Retrieving her hand back from the flustered woman, Mikoto grimaced at how she had underestimated Kushina’s reaction. “Who are you to talk about ethics when you basically break every single policy-“
“He’s Jiraiya-sensei’s protégé!” The stress on that particular name, who was a world-renowned erotica writer and journalist of legendary voyeuristic escapades around the world, made it apparent that fact alone was enough explanation for her aggravation. “What if that moron tries to get into your pants?!”
[Hahaha, Of course, Yondy's a pervert! LOL, Naruto couldn't have inherited that from his mom~!...Nyah.]
“Well, I’m going to wear a skirt. So it’ll be easier.”
[XDDDDDDD YESH, INSTAAANT SMEX.]
“…you just didn’t say that.”
“If you are going to be so uptight about this, Kushi-chan” There was a frown marring her features as Mikoto pushed the swinging door open, ignoring the shooting icicles from those frosty, green glower. “Then why don’t you go out for a date with Fugaku? I’m sure you’ll find monosyllabic conversations very, very pleasant.”
[Go figuuuure, Mikoto.]
“I swear,” The shrill, foreboding voice echoed through the corridors as Kushina stomped to the other direction. “I’m going to pray to the heavens that your spawns takes after Uchiha, cursing them to eternal silence forever. At least he’s got brains.”
[And SHE has spoken. That's why Sasuke and Itachi are cursed to never speak of their undying love. TT___TT]
“I love you too, honey.” The following giggling response came from the opposite side of the hallway.
X
16:48 hours, twelve minutes after the first conversation
You’ll always be a part of me; I’m a part of you indefinite-
[I was still in a David Cook craze, even if the contest was already finished. LOL. But in my mind, Mariah Carey was singing on Fugaku's cell.]
The song got cut off by pressing a callused thumb over the green call button. A taciturn, dark-haired man answered his mobile phone with a grunt, disrupting the flow of his fingers over the keyboard. His glass frames reflected the glare of the luminescent monitor, which was the only source of light within the gloomy room, aside from the leaking late afternoon sunlight from the blinds, slightly illuminating the carved name of the Police Superintendent on the anterior view of the table.
“Uzumaki.”
His other free hand continued its progress of typing efficiently.
“I’m still at work.”
Then he impassively took the receiver away from his ear when an obnoxious, reprimanding holler was heard through the whole department.
“-frigging HELL that you’re still working your numb ass on your frigging office! News flash, you BASTARD, Miko-chan is going to commit ADULTERY and how come you’re so CALM and ALOOF and OH SO COOL about that while she’ll probably get herself impregnated by that surely freaking PERVERT-“
[Yay, Kushi the nagger! And heheheheeee, you can just feel that she's really jealous, right?]
“I’ll meet you at six. In front of that ramen stand, near the waterfront, in front of Kyushu University”
“UCHIHA, are you even listening to me, you big ice block of-what?.”
“It’s in between a Chinese restaurant and a videogame shop.” The frustrated young man carefully instructed, as if talking to a retarded being. Then he glared fiercely at the sneaky glances of the rumormongers who drifted pass his office, their heads ducking out of his sight perimeters once they have felt the alarming aura of his stare. “I’m going with you.”
[Ichiraku Ramen is really a true place, found in front of the Kyushu Sangu Gaidan, in between a Yakiniku restaurant and a video game store. And whenever you order ramen from their stall, they give free Naruto handkerchiefs. I researched this in Wikipedia and the instructions came from Kishimoto himself. He used to spend his time there.LOL]
“So we’re going to follow them after all? I KNEW IT! You were JEALOUS! You really love her, DON’T YOU FUGAKU-KUU-”
He slid the phone shut with a snap, then tossed it to the waste bin beside him.
[Wahahahaha, I loved that part. The Team Seven's mannerisms must have been inherited, don't you think?]
X
Wearing some inconspicuous black attire, composed of a dark slim top and cargo pants with a pair of shades, Uzumaki Kushina was pretty sure that tailing a certain couple on a date would be quite easy, especially if she’s accompanied by the stealthy, stalking abilities that all Uchihas possessed.
That is, if that dim-witted, shameless man would ever show up.
As she swerved the straps of her bulky messenger bag in between her shoulders, she infuriatingly glanced at her wristwatch, which told her that it’s already seven o’ clock.
And that meant her (air-headed, blasted!) friend was going to be picked up at work. Damn, where was that blasted Uchiha? She had tried calling him thirty minutes ago, yet there was no response from him, as
The truth was, she really didn’t dislike that courteous blonde-haired chief of theirs. She was just annoyed because he was too intelligent,
(“Uzumaki, don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous to drink coffee in one sitting? Then inhaling Ramen afterwards?”)
too purpose-driven,
(“I’m currently having a side job, teaching some kids, so take my shift for the meanwhile, Uzumaki.”)
too strict for her taste.
(“Your hair is too short, Uzumaki. You’re a female representative for this project. Shouldn’t you add a little length?”)
Namikaze Minato was a force to reckon with, and he was too goal-oriented, putting the interest of their work first even before eating any donuts for breaks. And women were attracted to him like crazy (Darn you, Mikoto.). And he acts so smug and he’s just so creepily perfect for a blue-eyed, flaxen-haired, (nearly) six footer lad.
[And she feels iiiit, very very badlyyyy~! I wanted to establish more on their interactions, but i had so little time to expound on it. TT__TT]
However, all that respect and adoration just hurled down and sunk into the stinky mud when he asked Mikoto out.
There was a possibility that he might be a pervert, or a womanizer, or something that degrades female dignity. Some of the perversity from that white-haired lecher could have rubbed off him. And that makes her female buddy in great danger of being humiliated, when she’s already happily affianced to a man who truly adored her (secretly, of course.)
And I’m planning to push that marble-faced idiot to do something. Since it’s about time that they move up to the second base, that prude-
[She sounds like a plotting Ino. WAhahahha, and Fugaku couldn't even get to the second base without any help!]
Grumbling to herself that this situation would have been avoided if the Superintendent of the Police Force would just gather those remaining guts of his and just swept off Mikoto away and be married, Kushina resorted to actually forgetting the whole spying plan if that prude would actually stand her up.
Wryly twitching the corners of her lips in irritation as she schemed, she suddenly froze on her spot when she saw a mop of intense butterscotch spiky hair amidst the sea of bustling people. With a gasp, the short-haired woman, whose bright crimson strands were hidden beneath the encompassing downward slope of the coal-colored bucket hat, pulled the brim of the cotton apparel and tried to avoid being seen by getting inside the flaps of the cream-white stand.
“Crap, he’s taking her to a Chinese restaurant? I thought he had more taste.” [Errr, that's you taste!] Subsequently, she then turned at the surprised middle-aged cook, who turned to her while stirring some tangy broth. Hastily ordering while settling herself comfortable on the plastic stool, she rummaged through her pockets some spare yens. “One bowl of miso ramen. Quickly, ah-“Green irises spotted the name on his tag in a quick peek. “Teuchi-san.”
“Right on, Miss!”
And then she heard heavy footsteps, that cheery timbre of a light tenor, and a body settling a seat beside her.
[KYAAAA~!]
“I’ll have an extra bowl too, Ossan!”
“Sure, Minato-kun.”
And at that point, she was immobilized from taking the three hundred yen, her limbs stiffened and her jerk reaction was to turn towards the newcomer.
“Oh, didn’t see you there, Uzumaki!”
[AS IF! HEHEHEHE]
With a nervous grin pasted on her façade, she apprehensively greeted Namikaze Minato, who perched his elbows on the red, glazed counter and was balancing his chin in the middle of his tangled fingers. Glass cerulean eyes were expectant as she managed a weak “Sir?”
Okay, what’s happening here and where’s Mikoto-cha-
“I’ll pay for her share, Ossan! And make it the large one for the both of us!”
[He's not like Naruto.He's not going to smooch off some money to pay for his tab. LOL. A perfect, calculating gentleman.]
Then in that rare sudden flash of intuition (that she didn’t usually have), Uzumaki Kushina, the not-so-brightest person in their team, finally understood.
And in a startled blink of an eye, Kushina stood up and roared.
“WHAT’S THE FREAKING MEANING OF THIS?”
[SLOW~!]
“Taking opportunities.” He shrugged his shoulders and merely gave that toothy roguish grin.
[Nice one, Namikaze-kun.]
Kushina was about to say that he was extremely egoistic if he thought that she, the Uzumaki!, would give in to this humiliating prospect of dating him when the kind cook suddenly settled a rather tantalizing mix of sweet corn, butter, bean sprouts, finely pieces of soft pork and creamy swirls of garlic with bits and morsels of assorted seafood like scallops, squid, and crab.
“Sit down.” As the dark porcelain bowl was placed in front of them, her companion calmly picked two pair of chopstick and gently flicked the other one to her. “You hate your ramen cold.”
[And he doesn't want her to leave.]
And because it was free, and maybe she was more hypnotized with the scent of seafood broth and starchy noodles, she grouchily sat back and snapped the two wooden utensils apart.
At least, she’s wearing pants.
And she totally could deck him to the asphalt-embedded ground if he instigated some inappropriate move.
[But I think, in my notes, you were the one who made the first move?]
With a tentative smile, Uzumaki Kushina finally surrenders to the tenuous silence and ate the ramen.
[Yay~! Date!]
X
20:23 hours
Ooh baby, you can’t escape me, oooh darling, cause you’ll always be my ba-
“You threw your phone in the trash, again, didn’t you?”
[BEcause I'm an Uchiha, and Uchihas are rich. Cellphones are like dimes for us. T_T]
As the mid-line of the chorus was finally stopped, Uchiha Fugaku rumbled a “Hn” when his six-month old fiancée waltzed in breezily inside the office with a beaming smile on her face. Standing in front of his paper-swamped table, Mikoto shook in light laughter.
“Quiet.”
[GIGGLING MANIPULATIVE MIKOTO>DOMINANT FLUSTERED FUGAKU]
“Well, we’ve done him a favor.” Blowing a gust of air and with an irresistible pout, the twenty-eight year old professional tapped her rose-painted, manicured nails on the wooden desk, a thoughtful smile on her face. “Having someone as dense as Kushina is quite problematic, I hope he didn’t screw his chances.”
“Resorting to such methods is unlikely.” Veering the swirling Aeon chair to the side, he stood up from his seat and took the car keys, jingling on his palm. "It's juvenile. Childish."
[But you went along, don't youuu? Or maybe he's just scared of Mikoto?]
“You’re just grumpy that he managed to get promoted faster.” The grinning, mischievous woman merely grabbed the coat and settled them on the broad shoulders of her partner.
"At least,” A teasing smirk made way on his lips, a hint of that cocksure arrogance in that silent proclamation. “I’m getting married first.”
[Nyeheheeheheh~!]