Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
For HeavenlySwirl, who wanted a Part 2 to the Online story. Hope you like it!
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The Ring
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The Dawn, a peaceful world created by the gods of the skies and preserved by the three powerful guardians, is now attacked by the evil Orochimaru.
The Snake King, Orochimaru, who was once a part of the legendary guardians, has captured most parts of the continent with his vile army of the undead, spreading corruption and destruction on every land that he has conquered.
Only five villages remain standing as the Snake King continues to expand his terror. It is only in these five, surviving villages that life and beauty are maintained and safeguarded. With the aid of Jiraiya, the Toad Hermit, and Tsunade, the Slug Princess, the warriors of the five villages are able to learn and develop skills to protect their homes.
With the help of these brave warriors, the reign of Orochimaru can come to an end. Join the Warriors of the Hidden Villages and defeat the forces of Orochimaru! Only then will peace and order flourish in the fertile lands of The Dawn.
Are you ready? Because your adventure starts now, little one!
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She gripped her wooden bow tightly, her palms beginning to sweat. Gaze set squarely on her opponent, she lunged for battle, just after making sure that she had enough potions to help her. With a little bit of difficulty, she managed to beat the final enemy of the dungeon, and a shrill tune signaled her victory. She smiled proudly at herself when she received her rewards for a job well done.
Beside her, her personal coach beamed brightly.
"G'job, Hinata-chan!" Naruto eagerly gave the girl a congratulatory thumbs-up. "You just passed your first dungeon ever!"
Hyuuga Hinata blushed modestly at the praise, her lavender eyes shining with obvious glee. "I couldn't have done it without your guidance, Naruto-kun."
She received a pat on the back.
"Yeah, but you're easy to teach!" Bright blue eyes turned to Hinata's online character analytically, and Naruto nodded to himself. "You'll be a second jobber in no time at this rate."
"Is it going to be easy?" Hinata asked innocently, her fingers still awkwardly placed on her keyboard. "The job change quest, I mean."
Naruto scrunched his brows together as he hummed in his seat, his arms crossed.
"Never had an Elfen Archer, so can't say," replied the blond as he gestured at his Lvl 51 Moon Slicer. When panic showed on Hinata's face, Naruto quickly added, "Just familiarize yourself with the game mechanics and it'll be easy as pie! Believe it!"
He grinned his trademark Uzumaki grin; Hinata's cheeks burned like a thousand suns. And so flustered was she at Naruto's undivided attention that she didn't even realize that her fingers were now randomly smashing the keys, making her character run around in a ditzy circle. Naruto noticed her strange behavior and asked if she was alright. He received a stuttered reply, which he didn't understand, making him even more worried.
He leaned in to check Hinata critically. This only served to send Hinata to a tizzy even more. When Naruto placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature (she was getting so red that Naruto feared she was suffering a fever), Hinata was on the verge of turning into a puddle of Hyuuga goo.
It was also at this precise moment that Hyuuga Neji chanced upon the two, his laptop with him. One look at them, and he was already skillfully between Naruto and Hinata, noting with some smug satisfaction that his cousin was slowly recovering due to his most divine intervention.
He glanced coolly at Naruto as he started his electronic device.
"Uzumaki," he greeted cordially. "What are you doing in my home?"
Naruto gave Neji a cheesy smile, and without shame, he declared, "Your place has awesome wifi, Neji! And Hinata-chan makes awesome cookies!"
Hinata once again thanked Naruto for the praise. Neji just shook his head.
"Stop being a freeloader, Uzumaki," Neji said. "It is embarrassing."
No sooner had Neji said so that the door opened, and Sasuke came in nonchalantly, his own laptop secured neatly at his side. He nodded in greeting and automatically plugged his laptop like he owned the place. He smirked satisfactorily when he checked the internet's speed.
"Nice," he muttered, before reaching for an oatmeal cookie. "Deadman's dungeon opens in an hour. Get ready, noobs!"
Naruto scoffed.
"Got my resistance +20 necklace with me, teme! Imm'a beat that shit!" Then at Hinata, he said softly, "Sorry you can't join us, Hinata-chan! Only Lvl 45 and up are allowed."
Hinata shook her head.
"That's okay, Naruto-kun," said the Hyuuga girl. "I'll train harder so I can join you next time."
Sasuke looked up from his screen.
"Hyuuga's playing?" He asked. Spotting Hinata, he greeted her with a slight inclination of his head and said, "Welcome to the crew. If you aren't Lvl 20 by next week, I'm kicking you off the guild."
Neji glared at Sasuke, and Naruto slapped the jet-haired man's arm sharply.
"Teme, be nice!" Naruto reprimanded. "Imm'a boost Hinata-chan to Lvl 30 in just a week!"
"I'll try my best, Uchiha-san," Hinata chimed in meekly. "You can count on me."
Sasuke grunted and popped another oatmeal cookie inside his mouth.
"Good." Then at Naruto, he added. "They put a new feature to the dungeon. Grim Reaper's debuff pulls your HP down to 1 if it's below 45K."
Naruto, who was busily hacking monsters for Hinata, did a double take and gaped like a fish out of water.
"Wha?" He screamed shrilly. "I didn't know that shit! Where can I see the game update?"
"At the Notice Boards, noob!" Gnashing his teeth together, Sasuke muttered, "Stop being an ignoramus, dobe. It's embarrassing."
Neji rolled his eyes, while Hinata ducked her head slightly to cover her giggles. Luckily, Naruto was more focused on looking for the dungeon update, which was why he wasn't able to hear Sasuke. If he did, there was no doubt that an epic Sasuke-versus-Naruto brawl would ensue, and the Hyuuga household was definitely not looking forward to losing another expensive vase, just because of these two.
While Naruto busied himself by reading the many game updates he missed – "Holy shi-, they had a 75% sale on Enhancement Orbs last week?!" – the door to the Hyuuga's humble abode opened once more, revealing a triumphant Suigetsu and a grinning Kiba.
Like Sasuke, the two strutted around the house, looking as if they owned the place themselves, and immediately plugged their own gaming devices. Even Kiba brought along some snacks and a few cans of ice-cold beer.
"Sup, bros!" Suigetsu hollered, settling himself next to Hinata. "Hiya, Hyuuga chick! Joinin' in on the fun?"
Kiba glanced up.
"Hinata's here?" He asked. Spotting his friend, he offered her a bag of chips and a can of beer. Hinata graciously accepted the chips with gratitude, although she humbly denied the beer. Kiba shrugged and chugged the beer down. "Awesome! We sure need an extra DPS!"
Hinata flushed red.
"I won't be that helpful," she replied, twiddling her pointing fingers nervously. "I'm still new to the game, and the controls still confuse me."
Kiba waved her anxieties away with an easygoing smile.
"Eh, you'll get it in no time," he said. Eyes on the game, he grabbed a handful of chips and munched, "Deadman's dungeon will be up in 37 minutes. Everyone, ready up!"
Suigetsu and Naruto roared in simultaneous reply, their fists up in the air, while Neji and Sasuke just nodded, apparently too cool to voice out their own excitement. Hinata, feeling pumped by everyone's enthusiasm, silently vowed to herself to get stronger, just so she could join them in their raids one day.
"Oi, we need eight members for the raid," Suigetsu told the crew. "Your girlfriend and that goofball are comin', right Neji?"
Neji balefully glared at Suigetsu.
"Yaiba is not my girlfriend and that 'goofball' is her brother," said Neji. "And yes, they are both coming."
"Yeah, could'a fooled me," added Kiba with a snicker. He and Sugietsu shared a bro-fist when Neji gave them both an icy stare.
Meanwhile, Naruto was still lost in his own gamer problems.
"Guys!" He called out urgently, blue eyes looking frantic. "I can't find the damn notice! Goddamn it, where the hell is it?!"
"What notice?" Suigetsu asked. Beside him, Kiba mentioned something about the newest dungeon requirement, and the Hozuki's eyes lit up. "Oh, that one!" He slumped lazily and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, bought a lot of Enhancement Orbs to upgrade my items. Now my HP's 52K, so I'm all good."
Naruto cursed colorfully.
In an unguarded moment of helplessness, he grabbed Neji by the shoulders and shook vigorously. "Neji, what am I gonna do! I'm gonna die and – What the fuck is that?!"
Now, the other guys were used to Naruto's overreaction to anything game-related. They simply rolled their eyes. They were also used to Neji acting violent when his personal space was trespassed, so they merely shook their heads when the Hyuuga bodily pushed Naruto away from his person, as if the blond had some contagious disease.
What struck their curiosity, however, was Neji swiftly closing a couple of tabs in his laptop, his pointing finger smashing the mouse's left button rapidly.
Naturally, the questions tumbled, just as Neji finished.
"What the hell just happened?" Sasuke asked, turning to Kiba who shrugged. Beside the Inuzuka, Suigetsu giggled like a schoolgirl being noticed by her charming senpai.
"Where ya' watchin' porn, Neji?" He asked impishly, his brows suggestively wiggling.
Next to Neji, Hinata gasped in righteous indignation, although she did secretly peer at her older cousin's glaring screen. One does not simply catch Hyuuga Neji watching indecent videos without proof, so they say. It would be great blackmail material if Neji were ever to be caught red-handed.
"I am not a pervert like you, Hozuki," Neji huffed irritably. "I was simply perusing a few items I may need for the incoming dungeon run."
Nobody bought his reasoning, of course, because Naruto was suddenly flailing his arms about, his eyes still wide as saucers.
"He was looking at rings!" Naruto screamed for the whole world to hear. "In-game engagement rings! And they were damn expensive!"
Five pairs of eyes, one of them so similar to Neji's, all turned to said Hyuuga. Neji only scoffed and looked away angrily, as if unaffected by the attention. He crossed his arms and raised a brow when the rest of the crew began snorting in their seats.
"Ya serious, Neji?" Kiba hollered and slapped his knee. "Your crush that big?"
"Send me an invitation," Sasuke ordered. "Wedding invitations grant x2 EXP on the guest for an hour."
"I would like one too," Hinata added delicately. Her cheeks pinked when Naruto and Suigetsu started "tan-tan-ing" the wedding theme, coupled with a few exaggerated arm swinging and childish chortles.
Face as pale as ever and not showing any emotion at all, Neji deadpanned, "I owe her a ring. That is all."
"Just buy another ring. The engagement one will leave ya broke!"
"No," Sasuke sounded certain. "The engagement ring is expensive, but it is definitely worth it."
Puzzled, the other boys and Hinata checked the Cash Shop and read the ring's description. The boys' jaws all hung open, while Hinata appreciated the item with a muttered "wow".
"All stats +25 and +30% elemental resistance?!" Naruto screamed in awe. "This thing is fucking OP!"
"Also, if both fiancée and fiancé are in the party," Kiba read the remaining item description with a furrowed brow. "+1.5 EXP and +30% drop rate for both characters."
"Dude!" Suigetsu's eyes turned to tiny swirls. He just couldn't take it anymore, but he needed to ask… "How'd the hell you know?"
This time, it was Sasuke's turn to look away.
"My Lvl 42 Saint was engaged and now married," was Sasuke's prim answer.
"The item moocher?" Kiba asked. "Some stupid sap actually proposed to you?"
Sasuke grunted. Naruto suddenly jumped in his seat.
"I need that ring!" He wailed sharply, as if he was about to manhandle Neji for the second time that day. He was effectively stopped by one glare. "Lemme borrow it, Neji!"
"No."
"But Neji!"
"No."
An agitated scream arose from Naruto but was immediately shushed by Suigetsu, who was suddenly looking at the game with a leer.
"Shaddap, Naruto!" Suigetsu ordered. A pause, and then, "Yaiba's here!"
Neji suddenly found himself the butt of everyone's jokes, teasing nudges, and intense cough-ahem-cough. Even Hinata joined in on the teasing that Neji had no choice but to keep his cool and proceed to send a private message to Yaiba. He definitely didn't need his so-called friends to witness this.
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"Ya know, we should'a dressed up as a mariachi band." Seeing as he was receiving odd looks from his peers, Suigetsu felt the need to defend himself. "I saw this one video where the guy proposed with a mariachi band, see!"
Kiba frowned.
"Saw that too," he said. "Dude got rejected and whacked with a ukulele." A pause as he hummed in his seat. "Yeah, we should'a dressed up as a mariachi band."
"I bet I'd look good with a mustache and a sombrero," Naruto declared surely, nodding to himself. "And seeing Neji getting hit by a ukulele sounds epic!"
Sasuke grunted impatiently.
"No one's getting hit by a ukulele today, dobe," he nodded to where Hyuuga Neji was down on one knee, his lavender eyes showing a nerve-wrecking anxiety that his friends weren't used to seeing in him. "Tenten said yes."
The group simultaneously turned, only to find Tenten nodding her head vigorously, her pink lips squealing a thousand "yes's" to a stunned Neji. And when Neji didn't slip the ring, even when Tenten had already offered her hand to him, the brunette tackled her fiancé, sending them tumbling down on the ground.
The other patrons of the restaurant cooed at the newly engaged couple. Sasuke, Kiba, and Suigetsu pretended to bark in their pants, while Naruto and Lee squeaked like a bunch of heart-struck teenagers in a cheesy sitcom.
"What wondrous occasion!" Fat tears streamed down Lee's cheeks like a waterfall. "I am deeply overjoyed to know that my sister has found her one true love! How inspiring!"
Tenten's brother continued to scream more about the everlasting Springtime of Love that his sister and Neji share, when an imaginary light bulb clicked on top of Naruto's head.
"Does this make Neji and Lee related?" Everyone's eyes bulged as they looked at Lee and then at Neji. They all sweatdropped.
"Better not remind Hyuuga," Sasuke suggested, but his suggestion fell on deaf ears. Everyone was already laughing, save for himself and Lee, who was still in his own, shining shimmering splendid fantasy about love, marriage, and ultimately, kids.
"What if their kid's like Lee?" Suigetsu snickered.
Naruto guffawed in his seat. "What if everyone in Tenten's family are all like Lee?"
Lastly, Kiba howled, "What if Neji turns to another Lee?"
Their eyes widened again before they burst out laughing. Hell, so great was their glee that Suigetsu fell off his chair, Kiba clutched his stomach hard, and Naruto choked on his spit. They all looked at Neji and Tenten once more, their faces red from laughing too much, and found that the two were in a passionate embrace, their lips locked intimately.
The guys' laughter turned to chortles, and pretty soon, to light giggles and snorts. Eventually, they wiped the dust in their eyes… and sighed altogether.
They were sulking all of a sudden.
"Dude," Suigetsu sullenly said. "I need a girlfriend."
The other two nodded miserably, while Sasuke could only shake his head and mutter a soft, "Idiots."
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NOTES:
Done and done! Thanks for everything, guys! You've all been great!
Fruity, signing out for good!