Ain't no party like a ninja party

[usedswift]

Who: open to literally anyone in Blackthorn City who wanders into the ninja party + friends
Where: Blackthorn City (mainly hotsprings but also anywhere)
When: July 23rd
Summary: Sasuke gets a birthday party whether he wants one or not. Lucky for him, he has friends (in spite of his best efforts) who'll plan one.
Rating: G? PG for violence

[ooc; general mingle log for Blackthorn City/Sasuke's birthday. Most of it will probably take place at the hotsprings itself, though like the 'who' says, it's completely open to anyone just walking by and wondering what the big deal is, or someone who's already there and then has their pleasant soak interrupted by a bunch of dumb ninjas.]

Comments

[usedswift]

[Play it cool, Tenten, play it cool...]

Um... I'm gonna go soak in the hot springs now, but I'll see you later...?

[And she takes a step back, hands clasping behind her back.]

[beforethedarkness]

... Mm.

[That's all he can manage in response to Tenten, still trying to sort himself out after what had just happened at the moment.]

[usedswift]

[She flashes him a quick smile, and then she is gone. Poof. Well, not quite poof, but definitely walking away quickly before something can happen that ruins her cool(?) exit. But she can't stop smiling because she kissed Sasuke! One point for Team Tenten!]

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[Although you may no longer possess a Sharingan or chakra to sense it, perhaps you may still sense the ominous presence lingering in the shadows after Tenten leaves?

Tenten may or may not have thought she was discreet when dragging him off to give him a 'present', but she was not unnoticed. A certain nosy and concerned teammate of hers followed her into the darkness and witnessed that particular 'present'.

If he doesn't, he'll quickly know someone is there anyway when the darkness speaks.]

Sasuke Uchiha.

[beforethedarkness]

[He recognizes that voice, and after a moment he manages to calm himself before turning to face the direction where he heard it. Even covered in shadow, it wasn't hard to see those white eyes of his focused only on him.]

What is it?

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[It really wouldn't surprise him that Sasuke Uchiha would be able to make him out in shadows. Even without the Sharingan, Uchiha would have been well trained in the art of perception, else the advantage would never fully be realized.

Still, without chakra proximity was necessary anyway, so it was only a moment before he stepped out of the gloom toward Sasuke. His expression was not unlike the one he'd given Sasuke's cousin a short while ago.]

When it comes to Tenten, you will keep your hands and your lips far from her in the future.

[beforethedarkness]

I guess it wouldn't matter to you that she kissed me. It's still none of your business.

[True, Neji is likely more skilled than him, but he's not about to back down and let Neji walk all over him either. He still has to decide for himself if kissing Tenten and the like is something he wants and the only one who is going to make that decision is he himself.]

If you want to warn against me hurting her fine, but what she did was her own choice. Got it?

[uncagedforjustamoment]

I am aware of how it happened. [He'd followed after Tenten when she led Sasuke away, concerned over her attempting to run off to Kanto again or finding herself harmed by Sasuke. The kiss was, perhaps, an even worse alternative. Getting involved with Sasuke Uchiha would only hurt her when he betrayed the village.

Which is why his advance will simply continue for the moment. Closing the distance was important both for purposes of intimidation and to ensure Sasuke would not be able to summon and hide behind pokemon if necessary.]

Do you intend to abandon your goals and ideals to this point? To remain here or Konoha with Tenten to the exclusion of your desire for power? If not, then allowing her to create bonds with you will cause her harm.

[beforethedarkness]

Knowing what I know now, I do.

[It's none of Neji's business, but he can say that he knows of what he does in the future and... It's not what he wants. Not when he knows the truth as he does now. Even with the discomfort of Neji being so close and towering over him, he won't back down and let him know exactly where he stands.]

I don't plan on defecting from the village. I have no reason to seek power anymore.

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[This again. It is...particularly aggravating in the wake of his conversation with Obito. Although the two are close in age, it's obvious that Sasuke's maturity is far lagged behind Obito's. That is hardly his problem, as the boy is little threat for however long he clings to sanity. However...involving Tenten and setting her up for harm is his concern. As her teammate and as a jonin.

He scoffs.]

Be that as it may, regardless of what you plan on doing, you will defect from the village to seek power when you return. You will nearly kill Naruto and the other comrades who sought to help you, you will abandon your friends--including Tenten--and should you continue this you will devastate her as you did Sakura and Naruto. I don't know what will drive you to make the decision, and it concerns me very little why, I do know, however, that it happens. If you wish to make amends for this or avoid harming those who care for you then you will not allow Tenten to delude herself of the future and form bonds that you will later shatter.

[beforethedarkness]

I won't if I can help it.

[He seems softer then, thinking over something. Even if he says that, what guarantee is there that he can? Whether he can change things for himself, these things have already happened for Neji, Naruto, Sakura, Shino... And there's no changing that for them. It weighs heavily on him, the knowledge that he might not be able to change anything.

It's something he's thought about a lot, and as much as he doesn't want to... It feels like it's something he has to do. No matter how he doesn't want to, it feels like he has to then and there.

He takes a step back from Neji, meeting his eye... Before, without warning, he does something no one would likely expect from the young and arrogant Uchiha at all.

He gets to his knees. Then rests his weight forward on his hands. And then, as low to the ground as he can, he bows to Neji. Hopefully the action would be that much louder, because he's not going to give the addition of 'I'm sorry' on top of what he's already doing. Even if he's not done saying what he has to say.]

I know that no matter what I say, I still might not be able to change what happened. I can't change what happened for you because of the actions I did in the future - your past.

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[He's close to seizing the advantage once Sasuke steps back, darting forward and rendering the youth's hands and arms useless in a silent display of how much he has not truly been defanged without his jutsu, but the abrupt and unusual movement that followed Sasuke's backpedal pre-empts the process.

At first, he registers the potential for a sweeping attack...but the required tenseness for that in his posture is missing. Instead he...

...bows.

The action most certainly catches the Hyuuga off-guard. He's rather good at reading people, predicting human nature and how any one person ought to react to a situation once he's examined them and begun his advance. It's not common--or at least it wasn't--for his observations to be incorrect. But a...formal apology. Prostrating himself in such a way, to a Hyuuga--a side branch member such as himself--at that?

Few in Konoha would recognize or place quite as much significance upon such a gesture as much or more than the Hyuuga. In fact, he can't say that the Uchiha even did. At the moment, such definition is less important than how he is obligated to receive it in the context of the one performing it. Furthermore his words finally do retract his obstinate, insulting attitude on the matter.

Neji stares down at Sasuke for several moments, and then frowns for several more, silent all the while as he processes the action.

Such a gesture is more efficient without an apology explicitly attached. An apology from the one who did not commit the actions yet would mean nothing, and in fact would simply be an insult with the knowledge that he would proceed to do them anyway.

This is...

More complicated.

Eventually, he takes a step back from the youth, and considers for a moment simply walking away. It would be the most appropriate acceptance, as much as there can be, for the gesture, as much as it means. Still, he can hardly do so if the child doesn't indeed fully grasp the subtleties of the gesture and instead takes it as a rejection.

He turns his frown away from the Uchiha for the second time today.]

Contemplate well on this: if at any moment I find her distressed, if she is harmed, upset, or in any emotional turmoil, if you hurt her in any way, form, or fashion I determine as your fault, I'll return it to you in the form of physical agony that neither the hospitals nor the prevention of death in this place will help you with. Should you decide to allow her to continue to pursue you, ensure that you keep that in mind.

[That is the closest Sasuke is likely to get to Neji acknowledging that he is, in fact, not the same shinobi that will and did abandon the village and wreck such havoc on the shinobi world and the feelings of his friends.

Not that he will not do it, of course. Instead, likewise with Obito, he will allow Sasuke to continue to demonstrate the difference between a name and a person for as long as those prove different.

That is all.

With nothing more to say, he simply turns and starts back toward the springs.]