- Location
- Massholistan
The issue being Tenten isn't the most convincing liar either. Not as bad as Lee granted, but they both share the same flaw of being fundamentally honest people.
The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)
- Thread starter Crilltic
- Start date
- Crossover
Crow
Falling is a Pleasure. Regardless of its Fate
She just has to learn to tell the truth in ways that can be misinterpreted and or/do half-truths!
Its best not to outright lie unless its completely necessary! vague comments you can defend yourself with are the best!
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
With the exception of the Night Caste, Solars are SUPPOSED to be fundamentally honest people. Just look at Ignis Divine and the Ebon Dragon.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Just try and hang out with her in the market district, get to know her a bit better.
Altria_Pendragon
(Verified - SG-i13 Rhongomyniad)
- Location
- World's End Pillar
[X] Find some place to eat
World of ninjas. The classic Exalted "bullshit magical bullshit detector." I see no problem, not like the ninjas hide or anything~
Spy check everything.
World of ninjas. The classic Exalted "bullshit magical bullshit detector." I see no problem, not like the ninjas hide or anything~
Spy check everything.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Ninja stealth fails utterly before Solar Awareness Charms.
Fundamentally honest, not fundamentally truthful. There's an important distinction there. Someone fundamentally honest will not want to twist their statements like that.
Week 2 - The Rival II
- Location
- Massholistan
"Can't I just want to hang out with my glorious rival?" Your cheeks redden somewhat as you remember exactly the term you gave her in your haste. But you fight back the embarrassment, it's in the past and now the only thing you can do is soldier on with what you're stuck with. You'll have to tell Lee you've got a rival of your own the next time you see him, he'd be happy for you at least.
You want to give him as many things to be happy with as you can.
You see a flash of annoyance in her eyes, but it's quickly buried as she gives one last glance at whatever she was looking at before you interrupted her. Tracking her gaze the only thing of any importance in that direction you can make out is the looming presence of the village walls, visible even from here, but who knows if that was actually what she was looking at. "Fine" she sighs, "I guess you can tag along."
The corners of your mouth curve up, "Good."
From there the two of you move through the market stalls in silence, but at least now you are not alone with your thoughts. It also gives you a chance to observe how Temari shops, as she prowls through the stalls like a predator, her haggling style is brutal and uncompromising. Completely the opposite of your own, not that you shop like this all the much. Most of your weapons are special-ordered, which while great on the battlefield, isn't so great on your wallet.
You idly pick up a pack of tarot cards to give them a closer look. You have a collection of them back at your apartment, along with star charts, palm reading kits, those type of things. It had started as a joke, something to hang over Neji's head whenever he got too wrapped up things for your taste, but well...over time you got used to toying around with them. You didn't believe any of it, not really, but they were a fun way to waste time.
The pack hits the table when you think of Neji getting too wrapped in things though, and you turn away. The silence between you and Temari finally becomes overbearing, and you're the first one to crack. "Must be nice to finally be out of the hospital?"
Temari glances up from the vendor selling roast chestnuts she was carefully examining, "Mm...yeah? I guess. Why do you care?"
Because you got to get out of the hospital you don't say. Instead you shrug, "Figured it would be nice not to be cooped up anymore."
She snorts, "Thanks for putting me there by the way." You can practically taste the sarcasm in her voice, but you also notice her softly rubbing her jaw when she thinks you're not looking. An awkward silence follows, but this time Temari is the one to break it. "Your friend, the one Gaara fought...he's still there isn't he? In the hospital I mean..."
You stop dead in your tracks and turn back to face Temari, "Yeah...yeah he is...he gets a bit-" A memory floats up, of Lee straining in the courtyard, dealing with his injuries the only way he knew how. A memory of every one of your attempts to get him to stop being rebuffed, "...-restless."
One of Temari's eyebrows quirks up, "So restless he's giving my oh so glorious rival trouble?"
"How did you..." Your eyes widen, and then narrow. Once again you feel the switch click in your mind.
<Wants someone to actually listen to her advice>
You blink at that, but if Temari noticed she doesn't show it. "How? Trust me, I'm well versed in exactly the kind of boneheaded idiocy boys can get up to. No, when they won't listen to you, that's when you have to make them listen. They'll just ignore you otherwise."
You think you detect just the smallest hint of bitterness creep into her voice at the end, but with what's happened lately you can't quite bring yourself to disagree. "Maybe..." You hedge, "Seems a little mean though."
"Mean?!" Temari barks out a short laugh, "Oh no, I'm distraught, some leaf genin thinks I'm mean."
The curve in your lips blossoms into a full smile as the two of you continue on down the street.
Talking with Temari isn't quite what you envisioned. She's blunt, and rather bitingly sarcastic, but underneath there's an undercurrent of tension. You already figured out she's hiding something from you, your new ability only serving to confirm that, but that's to be expected from a foreign nin. Even then though, that's not all of it. She looks at you like she's half-expecting you to run at the first chance you get.
Still, you have fun as you wander around the market with her. A welcome respite from what's been weighing on you the past few days. As the day winds down you pass by the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and you spot Ino helping people who are probably her family just inside the shop. You give a little wave, but she just spots your outfit and shakes her head before giving you a half-hearted wave back.
Temari looks up from the flower arrangement she was inspecting, "Friend of yours?"
You nod, "Yeah, though she's still mad I bought this outfit over the one she suggested."
Temari makes a small disgusted sound in the back of her throat, and you suppress a giggle. "She was one of the konoha genin in the prelims wasn't she? And now you're facing her teammate?"
You stop, you were weren't you? Honestly, between everything you had kinds forgotten you were going to face Shikamaru in the first round. You had been planning to do some research, but that...had fallen by the wayside with so many other things. "Yeah, I guess I am..."
"Well, I hope you crush your little Konoha friends like they deserve."
You give an awkward smile, "You're just saying that so you feel better about losing to me." But inside you cringe, just a little bit. You don't feel bad about facing Shikamaru, you barely know even if you know Ino. The only recollection you have is the vague notion of someone sleeping in the Academy class below yours. But Neji is also a finalist. Your record against Neji when he's actually trying isn't much better than Lee's. Can you beat him? Do you even really want to fight him all out?
They'll just ignore you otherwise.
"Tenten, you better do well in the tournament." You glance at Temari, and you see something pass by hidden in her eyes. You don't need some jutsu to tell you what it is, because you've seen the same thing in Lee sometimes, at the end of practice when he's finally stopped challenging Neji and thinks no one is watching. Desperation.
Desperation to prove herself, or redeem herself, or something. Wipe away the stain of her loss to you. Would you be the same way if you lost? Desperate to prove yourself against the past? If what had happened never did, you were going to. You don't know, you hoped you would move past it, push past it to come out stronger, but you fear that you wouldn't measure up. So you do the only thing you can do for Temari, you give her a smile and a thumbs up. "Don't worry, if I went in planning to lose that'd be pretty poor form. You'll see!"
"Yeah...I'll see..." Temari half mumbles, but before you can process what that could mean another voice interrupts you.
"Temari?" The voice is soft and raspy, like the sound of sand blowing in the wind. It sends chills down your spine. You turn, and you feel the cold grip of ice wrap around your heart as you see the short red hair. "Why are you here? With...her?"
"G-Gaara!" Temari stops short at the sight of her team-member standing there in the middle of rapidly emptying street. "I-I was..."
You take an involuntary step back, but that only causes his eyes to swivel to focus on you.
[ ] Well, this is as good a cue as ever to excuse yourself.
[ ] Stick up for Temari.
[ ] Write-in
What's this? Crilltic actually managing to update at a time other than the middle of the night? Who are you and who is writing this story now? Also hi Gaara. Fancy meeting you here.
Now, I've been a little disappointed in the amount of discussion that's been going on. Don't get me wrong, the ratings and votes are super nice, but discussion is the lifeblood of the QM. Maybe updating at a better hour will help with that. But I'm also going to try something new and give you guys some discussion prompts to see what you're thinking. So how do you guys think Temari views Tenten right now? Any avenues of development you think Tenten should explore that I haven't done a good job addressing?
You want to give him as many things to be happy with as you can.
You see a flash of annoyance in her eyes, but it's quickly buried as she gives one last glance at whatever she was looking at before you interrupted her. Tracking her gaze the only thing of any importance in that direction you can make out is the looming presence of the village walls, visible even from here, but who knows if that was actually what she was looking at. "Fine" she sighs, "I guess you can tag along."
The corners of your mouth curve up, "Good."
From there the two of you move through the market stalls in silence, but at least now you are not alone with your thoughts. It also gives you a chance to observe how Temari shops, as she prowls through the stalls like a predator, her haggling style is brutal and uncompromising. Completely the opposite of your own, not that you shop like this all the much. Most of your weapons are special-ordered, which while great on the battlefield, isn't so great on your wallet.
You idly pick up a pack of tarot cards to give them a closer look. You have a collection of them back at your apartment, along with star charts, palm reading kits, those type of things. It had started as a joke, something to hang over Neji's head whenever he got too wrapped up things for your taste, but well...over time you got used to toying around with them. You didn't believe any of it, not really, but they were a fun way to waste time.
The pack hits the table when you think of Neji getting too wrapped in things though, and you turn away. The silence between you and Temari finally becomes overbearing, and you're the first one to crack. "Must be nice to finally be out of the hospital?"
Temari glances up from the vendor selling roast chestnuts she was carefully examining, "Mm...yeah? I guess. Why do you care?"
Because you got to get out of the hospital you don't say. Instead you shrug, "Figured it would be nice not to be cooped up anymore."
She snorts, "Thanks for putting me there by the way." You can practically taste the sarcasm in her voice, but you also notice her softly rubbing her jaw when she thinks you're not looking. An awkward silence follows, but this time Temari is the one to break it. "Your friend, the one Gaara fought...he's still there isn't he? In the hospital I mean..."
You stop dead in your tracks and turn back to face Temari, "Yeah...yeah he is...he gets a bit-" A memory floats up, of Lee straining in the courtyard, dealing with his injuries the only way he knew how. A memory of every one of your attempts to get him to stop being rebuffed, "...-restless."
One of Temari's eyebrows quirks up, "So restless he's giving my oh so glorious rival trouble?"
"How did you..." Your eyes widen, and then narrow. Once again you feel the switch click in your mind.
<Wants someone to actually listen to her advice>
You blink at that, but if Temari noticed she doesn't show it. "How? Trust me, I'm well versed in exactly the kind of boneheaded idiocy boys can get up to. No, when they won't listen to you, that's when you have to make them listen. They'll just ignore you otherwise."
You think you detect just the smallest hint of bitterness creep into her voice at the end, but with what's happened lately you can't quite bring yourself to disagree. "Maybe..." You hedge, "Seems a little mean though."
"Mean?!" Temari barks out a short laugh, "Oh no, I'm distraught, some leaf genin thinks I'm mean."
The curve in your lips blossoms into a full smile as the two of you continue on down the street.
Talking with Temari isn't quite what you envisioned. She's blunt, and rather bitingly sarcastic, but underneath there's an undercurrent of tension. You already figured out she's hiding something from you, your new ability only serving to confirm that, but that's to be expected from a foreign nin. Even then though, that's not all of it. She looks at you like she's half-expecting you to run at the first chance you get.
Still, you have fun as you wander around the market with her. A welcome respite from what's been weighing on you the past few days. As the day winds down you pass by the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and you spot Ino helping people who are probably her family just inside the shop. You give a little wave, but she just spots your outfit and shakes her head before giving you a half-hearted wave back.
Temari looks up from the flower arrangement she was inspecting, "Friend of yours?"
You nod, "Yeah, though she's still mad I bought this outfit over the one she suggested."
Temari makes a small disgusted sound in the back of her throat, and you suppress a giggle. "She was one of the konoha genin in the prelims wasn't she? And now you're facing her teammate?"
You stop, you were weren't you? Honestly, between everything you had kinds forgotten you were going to face Shikamaru in the first round. You had been planning to do some research, but that...had fallen by the wayside with so many other things. "Yeah, I guess I am..."
"Well, I hope you crush your little Konoha friends like they deserve."
You give an awkward smile, "You're just saying that so you feel better about losing to me." But inside you cringe, just a little bit. You don't feel bad about facing Shikamaru, you barely know even if you know Ino. The only recollection you have is the vague notion of someone sleeping in the Academy class below yours. But Neji is also a finalist. Your record against Neji when he's actually trying isn't much better than Lee's. Can you beat him? Do you even really want to fight him all out?
They'll just ignore you otherwise.
"Tenten, you better do well in the tournament." You glance at Temari, and you see something pass by hidden in her eyes. You don't need some jutsu to tell you what it is, because you've seen the same thing in Lee sometimes, at the end of practice when he's finally stopped challenging Neji and thinks no one is watching. Desperation.
Desperation to prove herself, or redeem herself, or something. Wipe away the stain of her loss to you. Would you be the same way if you lost? Desperate to prove yourself against the past? If what had happened never did, you were going to. You don't know, you hoped you would move past it, push past it to come out stronger, but you fear that you wouldn't measure up. So you do the only thing you can do for Temari, you give her a smile and a thumbs up. "Don't worry, if I went in planning to lose that'd be pretty poor form. You'll see!"
"Yeah...I'll see..." Temari half mumbles, but before you can process what that could mean another voice interrupts you.
"Temari?" The voice is soft and raspy, like the sound of sand blowing in the wind. It sends chills down your spine. You turn, and you feel the cold grip of ice wrap around your heart as you see the short red hair. "Why are you here? With...her?"
"G-Gaara!" Temari stops short at the sight of her team-member standing there in the middle of rapidly emptying street. "I-I was..."
You take an involuntary step back, but that only causes his eyes to swivel to focus on you.
[ ] Well, this is as good a cue as ever to excuse yourself.
[ ] Stick up for Temari.
[ ] Write-in
What's this? Crilltic actually managing to update at a time other than the middle of the night? Who are you and who is writing this story now? Also hi Gaara. Fancy meeting you here.
Now, I've been a little disappointed in the amount of discussion that's been going on. Don't get me wrong, the ratings and votes are super nice, but discussion is the lifeblood of the QM. Maybe updating at a better hour will help with that. But I'm also going to try something new and give you guys some discussion prompts to see what you're thinking. So how do you guys think Temari views Tenten right now? Any avenues of development you think Tenten should explore that I haven't done a good job addressing?
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Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
cue
shipshipshipshipship
Scalability of her personal style of combat to S-rank fights. Does she think what she does, however she gets better at it, can eventually reach a level to truly compete with someone like Gai or Kakashi or even, gasp, Tsunade? Or to the true AoE-style S-rank threats out there?
- Location
- Rivendell
[X] Stick up for Temari.
Hopefully he'll forgot to murder us before the whole Therapy-No-jutsu thing happens.
Hopefully he'll forgot to murder us before the whole Therapy-No-jutsu thing happens.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Currently? I think we just confuse her.
chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
[X] Stick up for Temari.
In more seriousness, in canon Gai is insane, and so is Lee. Because they dress and act the same, it can be reasoned as a master-student thing. But since Tenten is now insane too, suddenly it's not just a green jumpsuit thing; Their entire team is insane, rather than just one member of it, and that has effects on their personal reputations above and beyond what being personally insane would give them.
And when I say insane, I'm not just talking about mannerisms. Every member of the team who's been pushed to their apparent limit so far has revealed that they hadn't even begun.
Crazy overpowered girl from the crazy powerful team.
In more seriousness, in canon Gai is insane, and so is Lee. Because they dress and act the same, it can be reasoned as a master-student thing. But since Tenten is now insane too, suddenly it's not just a green jumpsuit thing; Their entire team is insane, rather than just one member of it, and that has effects on their personal reputations above and beyond what being personally insane would give them.
And when I say insane, I'm not just talking about mannerisms. Every member of the team who's been pushed to their apparent limit so far has revealed that they hadn't even begun.
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- Location
- NYC
"Stick up for Temari" has the problem that it doesn't exactly help Temari's case that Tenten (a Konoha ninja) is defending her.
Ideally, a write-in that would divert Gaara's attention by engaging him in conversation. (try and put him off balance, perhaps? what charms/abilities with social utility do we have again?)
Or some kind of banter that suggests Temari is our enemy/rival without sounding like we're defending her? Or we could interpret Gaara's question as concern for his sister's safety being with us. If somebody more competent at writing dialogue would like to give it a shot, that would be great!
Ideally, a write-in that would divert Gaara's attention by engaging him in conversation. (try and put him off balance, perhaps? what charms/abilities with social utility do we have again?)
Or some kind of banter that suggests Temari is our enemy/rival without sounding like we're defending her? Or we could interpret Gaara's question as concern for his sister's safety being with us. If somebody more competent at writing dialogue would like to give it a shot, that would be great!
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
"Never give the girl exploding tags"
"Oh god why"
"Hope she listens to my advice"
"She has a mean right hook"
"What the hell"
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Stick up for Temari.
Who is this mortal who thinks to intimidate a Chosen of Ignis Divine?
Who is this mortal who thinks to intimidate a Chosen of Ignis Divine?
Crow
Falling is a Pleasure. Regardless of its Fate
Someone with at least a second circle demon if not outright third on his gut.
HymnOfRagnarok
Let's Rock
So we definitely need a stunt, but anyone thinking we might need Willpower as well?
I mean we can probably channel Compassion, if we frame it as wanting to help Temari. Maybe we even should. If Gaara figures out that motive though he may react poorly.
I mean we can probably channel Compassion, if we frame it as wanting to help Temari. Maybe we even should. If Gaara figures out that motive though he may react poorly.
Andrew5073
Thinks too much
Agreed; social doesn't appear to be our strength, but we could try it.
[X] Deflection; he's interested in you, so talk to make him focus (non-homicidally) on you.
Given Sagacious Reading of Intent, we might actually profit from this exchange, info-wise.
