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(no subject)

Who: Riku

islandshore and you!
Where: Saffron City
When: January 17th, starting at 3pm
Summary: Rikuday has Arrived!
Rating: G
Log:

[It was pretty easy for Sora and Ven to get everything prepared, because they were hardly alone. Everyone who showed up early helped with decorations, and Hikari helped keep the zanier ideas in check - no longer would it rain glitter on Riku when he entered the room, she pared him that fate.

As the hour of the party drew close, Sora went to pick up Riku. The plan was to usher him to the building blindfolded and get him to the room they'd reserved. If Riku saw the outside, the surprise would be spoiled. And so, while waiting for the birthday boy to arrive, Ven flicked off the lights and prompted everybody to hide.

Any minute now, Sora'd be back with Riku...]

[ooc: Notably, there are a lot of people who said their characters would attend who don't have tags for this community. I think they have to be added to the list by mods, but everybody's welcome to participate here regardless of that, so come right on in!]

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The first person to come to her likely wasn't someone Tenten would smile for; Sasuke, having just dropped his gift off at the table, decided to stop by Tenten and just stood beside her, watching the others idly.

"... How're you adjusting?" He asked quietly, still watching the others but clearly listening for what Tenten had to say so far. Whether it was about the group or about simply being in that strange new world, however, was up to her.

She spotted him coming, giving him a measuring look and a smile nonetheless, but she didn't speak first. Instead, she returned her attention to the crowd, unconsciously following his gaze to survey the rest of the crowd.

"I'm fine," she answered without looking at him, though if he was paying any attention at all, he'd likely be able to tell from her tension that she was lying about that, at least. "Everyone's been really nice so far, and I have a razorbird for a pet. It's like a vacation~"

Edited 2013-01-20 00:42 (UTC)

He glanced over to her again before leaning back, closing his eyes and sighing softly as he felt his Riolu clinging even more tightly to his leg.

"..."

But, naturally, he didn't say a word about it. It wasn't any of his business at all. Instead he reached down to gently scratch Sakura behind her ears, trying to get her to calm down and quit quivering. He didn't think she'd be this shy around crowds...

"What about you, Sasuke-kun?" She glanced to him then, trying to gauge his expression, before crouching down to offer her fingers to the quivering Riolu to sniff in the hopes that maybe it would calm down, even a little. "Have you adjusted, here?"

It wasn't quite accusing, just quietly curious as she looked up at him from her crouch.

Hesitantly she leaned forward to sniff Tenten's hand, looking up at her when she was done. She stopped shivering at the least, which got Sasuke to straighten as he shook his head, "... It's different. I think I'd still rather have my chakra."

Tenten smiled down at the Riolu and tried to pet it gently atop the head. "Yeah, I know what you mean... I'd like to be somewhere where weapons aren't illegal, too. But I'll manage. If you can do it, I should be alright."

She almost shied away from Tenten's hand, but she let her touch her just fine and blinked up at her again, making a questioning noise in her throat at Tenten while tilting her head at her.

Sasuke, satisfied that Sakura wasn't going to bolt on him, leaned back on the balls of his feet and asked, "... I'm going to go after the Rainbow Badge on Saturday, after this. Have you thought about what you want to do?"

Tenten could only smile again and coo softly in response to the Riolu's sound, a little charmed by the smaller Pokémon's shyness as she tried to stroke its head again. Both of hers so far were pretty aggressive, so something like this was almost sweet.

Her eyes flicked back up to Sasuke again, and she shook her head. "Badges... I've read about those. Everyone's told me that there's no way home, but... I have to keep looking. Maybe make a name for myself by following this place's rules, but I..."

Was it too close to vulnerability to admit that she just wanted to go home, to know if Lee was going to be okay, to help Neji now that he seemed like he was on the road to not being a total jerk? She shook her head again, voice firming. "I can do this."

"Good."

After a beat, he added, "It's the first badge I'm going after. If you want to see what a gym battle is like, the battles usually aren't private."

Sakura seemed to enjoy the attention and leaned into Tenten's hand, making another noise and even nuzzling into it. Okay, she could like this person. She seemed friendly enough, and if her trainer was comfortable around her then she could be too!

Tenten smiled again and gently tried to pick the Riolu up, intending to hold her in against her shirt so she could meet Sasuke's eyes more easily. "Would I be able to go with you and watch? I'd like to see how you fight, here."

She was a little hesitant, but Sakura went with Tenten easily enough and shifted to get more comfortable with the grip before giving a small bark of approval up at her.

"... The gym leader can only take one challenge at a time. But I don't think there's anything against spectators."

Cute! Tenten nuzzled her nose against the top of the Riolu's head and shifted her own grip to accommodate, holding her easily.

"I don't think my guys are going to be ready for something like that for a while. We still need more training together, after all."

"... Keep at it. You'll be ready sooner than you think."

And from there he was just quiet, and it was easier to be so since Sakura seemed to be taking to Tenten just fine regardless.

She just hummed in agreement, content with the silence for the moment, stroking her fingers along the Riolu's head and scratching her behind the ears. There were a lot of questions she had from him, less about this place than about him, but how much was the Uchiha rookie really going to reveal?

"What's her name?" Tenten asked finally instead, rubbing her fingers against the Riolu's fur again.

Again Sasuke paused, distinctly uncomfortable before he just mumbled the name, "Sakura."

Her lips curved into a smile, only a shade short of being fully teasing. "It's a pretty name," she said instead, though she couldn't quite stop grinning. So Sasuke-kun had a heart after all?

Shifting her grip slightly again, she offered a hand, not really expecting the Pokémon to do anything with it. "Nice to meet you, Sakura~"

Then she couldn't resist. "Did you name one after me, too~?"

Sakura did do something with that hand, but it wasn't shaking it. It was nuzzling into Tenten's palm with a happy noise and a cheerful expression.

"No," The answer from Sasuke was short and curt, although now he was starting to wonder if he should have. He hadn't exactly noticed anything spectacular about Tenten, though... Well, other than the fact that she was on the same team as Lee.

"Oh. Well, next one, maybe~" Her teasing grin didn't diminish, even as she curled her fingers into the Riolu's fur to scratch under her chin. It wasn't like she was expecting the Uchiha rookie to name one after her, anyway~

"I haven't found a good Pokémon to name after my team members yet."

"... You'll probably find one or two eventually."

"Right, if I find a really grumpy one, I'll name it Neji, and if I find a really hard-working one, I'll name it Lee."

Her expression fell slightly at the mention of her teammates, but she just focused her attention on cuddling Sakura.

"Do whatever you want with the names," Again he closed his eyes, waiting a moment before speaking again.

"If you and Obito came here, we might see others from our world too."

"Yeah... maybe." She pressed her nose to the Riolu's fur, then forced her smile back to her face. "Can't you just imagine how our teammates would react to a place like this? And... if Lee got here, somehow... someone mentioned that you get healed, by being here. Do you think maybe...?"

It's not like Lee had much in the way of Chakra to begin with. If he could be well enough to train again... that would be enough.

"... If it's happened in the past, it'd likely happen to him if he was brought here too."

She's quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Then I hope I do see him here."

Again he nodded, leaning back against the wall more and closing his eyes.

Sakura barked again in affirmative (or possibly because Tenten hadn't pet her in a while), leaning up to nuzzle into the girl again. That was about when Sasuke just glanced at her with a thoughtful frown.

"She warmed up to you fast."