renaerys:

gaaragasm:

so according to the databook tayuya’s genjutsu level is on par with itachi’s..

aw hell yeah. that’s AWESOME. i think people underestimate her a lot, which is unfortunate, but if that’s her genjutsu level then damn girl, you go.

Wut.

No seriously, wut.

Notes: I was originally going to interpret the prompt with Neji and Ino being separated from one another, but every idea from that situaion seemed trite. Schism is defined as a separation, which isn’t quite the same as isolation, but damnit I tried xD

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“Anything?” she asks, her voice hopeful. She has been careful, this far, to stay optimistic. Anything could happen in the frozen lands of Snow Country; a caribou or artic fox or rabbit could very possibly come bouncing along. Could come into range. And hopefully whichever creature it was, it would be in good enough shape to carry her spirit to the closest human settlement. If there was one within ten miles of her body.

Hopefully.

Slowly, much too calmly for her liking, Neji’s chin drifts back down from it’s upward tilt and his eyes find hers. The enhanced veins of his Byakugan smooth away entirely.

“There is nothing.”

He hates to tell her that not even his Byakugan is strong enough to clearly see through six feet of packed snow and ice to the surface. That the sheer thickness of such a barrier is enough to distort anything in sight. That, even were his vision clear, it was highly unlikely any creature would be braving the frozen tundra above them in such a grueling blizzard. And if something did come along? Ino would become disoriented in the bleak white of the terrain and soon succumb to either frostbite or Hypothermia. Buried alive in a coffin barely big enough to fit them both, he counts how many hours of oxygen they have left.

The dark bothers him little with his ability to see chakra at the very least, but the longer they stay in cramped conditions with no light, the more restless Ino gets.

“Fine. I’ll try then.”

She manages to inch her left hand up to her chest and set her fingers into the handsign, but needs his help with her other arm so tightly squished against his side. She uses only her sensing technique, stretching it out as far as she can, checking for any sign of life at all. Even a snow owl, useless as it would be with such savage winds, would be better than nothing.

But as Neji said, there is nothing. The winter land around them holds no life, save for stubborn trees and thickets. Desperate, Ino reverses the technique. She sends out a subtle invitation; a soft yet insistent suggestion of Come here to anything that might drift close enough to feel it’s effect. After half an hour, she releases it with a sigh.

“On the plus side, our bodies will be wonderfully preserved.”

He listens to her attempt to lighten the mood and makes no reply. The comforting of others has never been a talent of his; it is all he can do just to be there beside her. After a few minutes, he feels her nudge him.

“Your turn. Try again.”

He doubts much has changed aboveground, but he humors her. With his bloodline limit, he squints through the layers of their grave and scans as far as he can in each direction.

A flicker of chakra southeast of them catches his attention. It hangs on the very boundary of his sight, but it’s there. He wavers between disbelief and quiet gratitude.

“Fifty-seven degrees southeast of us, ten miles out. Can you sense it?”

His partner perks up, her heartbeat increasing by almost double. He feels the rush of her chakra pouring out as she initiates her technique again and can hear the smile in her voice.

“Yeah, I can!”

She sends out her signal again and both of them wait impatiently as the distant lifeform gradually moves closer in their direction. Nearly two hours later, the creature is close enough to cross into range of Ino’s Shintenshin, and Ino rearranges her fingers into the right sign.

“Wait.” his voice cuts into the silence.

“What? Why? It’s close enough and I’ve got a straight path. It’s not like it can dodge or anything.”

“The amount of chakra it has, whatever is up there is a predator. If there are humans near, there will be hunters among them. Hunters much more familiar with this territory than you are. They’ll see you before you see them. There may even be traps laid around…”

Ino huffs.

“Then I won’t rely on my sight to guide me. And if I trigger a trap…well, I won’t, okay?”

Unconvinced, Neji tightens his fists until his nails bits into his palms. If she gets lost, he will have no way to offer assistance and they will both suffocate.

“If you are not back in three hours-“

“I know, I know. You’ll hit my tenketsu and shut off my chakra, cutting off my jutsu. —Wait, do you even have room to do that in here? There’s no arm room.”

“Have you forgotten the mission in the Land of Iron?”

“Oh, yeah.” she remembered. They’d had their arms bound to their sides with a heavy chain linking around their midsections, and Neji had still managed to use his finger to totally destroy the chakra (and consequently, circulatory) system of a prison guard who had gotten too close. “Anyway, I’ll be back.”

Neji felt the flare of Ino’s chakra as her spirit left and her body shut down to simple survival functions. He took a deep breath — chided himself for wasting precious oxygen so recklessly — and waited.

He was deep into meditation before a muffled thudding sound brought him back to full focus. He listened, and the sound came again. Rhythmically, the sound continued thud!-thud!, thud!-thud! and maybe his mind was getting the best of him, but every few minutes it sounded closer.

Was she back? No he told himself. There was no way she could be back in under two hours; it had taken longer than that for the creature to reach them. She couldn’t have gone and come back so quickly. Still, the sound continued. The closer the sound came, the more clearly he could hear it. If he didn’t know better, he’d say someone was shoveling — no, no shovel could break ice so thick. A sledgehammer? Whatever it was, he could feel Ino’s chakra faintly through the ice.

It took her four hours of constant digging, but Ino was finally close to freeing the both of them from the cold earth. It was amazing, she thought, how she didn’t even have to look for where they’d been buried. She could smell the both of them and the evergreen wooden coffin they’d been buried in even under so much snow and ice. Note to self:  Never, ever, try to hide from a polar bear. She reared up in the air again and used her weight and claws to rip chunks of ice away. She could see the brown of the coffin, only a few more strikes….

Neji stiffened at the sound of the wood splintering and claws digging deep grooves into the lid. Then there was one long roar, unmistakable in sound, as a quarter of the lid was snatched away in pieces by a large white paw. He took in the face of the bear for only a second before it retreated a few steps and collapsed. By the time Ino regained consciousness in her body, he’d pulled them both free and made a quick end of the bear.

Ino awoke to the thick smell of blood and another, oddly familiar scent she didn’t recognize until she felt fur tickling her neck. She sat up with one arm, using the other to clutch the warm pelt to herself.

“Seems like a crappy way to thank him for saving our lives, Neji.” She smirked at him, pulling her knees to her chest.

Neji continued to cut away at what would be his own fur cloak.

“His death won’t be in vain now.”

Ino laughed, blinking away the snowflakes caught in her eyelashes. She supposed other girls’ boyfriends bought them diamonds and mink coats, but looking around at the glittering snow and warm in a fur cloak made just for her, Ino supposed this was good enough. 

Is anyone awake? Cuz I’m almost done my drabble but if I post it now it may get lost in the late night queue and if that’s the case maybe I should waiting until morning….

renaerys:

NUKUMI YOU LIVE ;A;

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN I’VE MISSED YOU SO

The Fire Nation took my muse from me.

But actually work has just devoured my free time. I’m slowly trying to work my way back into my fandoms.

I am alive but not really because I’m still working irregular hours that change every week. I’ll be around sometimes, lurking mostly, but progress on writing is still stalled for now.

Feel free to toss some shippy prompts at me though. I can probably still do drabbles until the people at my job get their shit together.