tampered | Log, completed.

Log, completed.

When; August 26th, 9am
Rating; PG
Characters;

no_prototype
Summary; Tenten challenges Jet to a snowball fight.
Log;

She'd chosen the gardens, a nice wide area of snow with few people to get caught in the crossfire. The snow was still falling lightly and she shivered slightly in the cold as she waited patiently, fingers winding around the edge of her scarf. It had been some time since she'd been out in the snow and she wasn't about to ask Neji to participate in the traditional snowball fight. In fact, without Lee or Gai-sensei, there wasn't much Tenten was prepared to ask from her team mate. Least of all this.

It was just as well Jet had given into her taunt or she would have been very bored, cooped up inside.

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It was certainly different being outside in the snow, rather than just watching it safely from the window. Jet didn't like how familiar it seemed, even though he knew in his head that he'd never seen actual snow before. It was a lot colder than desert nightfall, a constant chill nipping at his skin even through his clothes.

He hastened his pace towards the gardens, not liking that he'd willingly agreed to throw the white stuff around. Especially at each other. He usually didn't let himself get goaded into childish acts, but some free lunch had been a pretty nice incentive. He'd readily admit to liking Tenten's cooking, which was what he was expecting when he won.

"Oi!" Jet called, upon seeing said ninja. "Been waitin' long or what?"

She smiled in return, shaking her head. "Not long at all." He looked uncomfortable in the cold, and she stretched lazily as she watched him approach.

"Want to agree on the rules? Or would you rather give in now and go back inside?" She didn't normally tease people, not when she had Neji as a team mate, but Jet was like Neji without being quite so uptight. And that was a relief worthy of a snowball fight.

That last "suggestion" sparked a grin, the kind that usually didn't make it past his facial muscles. But Tenten had already been okayed in his book. At least she was a good fighter and not a complete airhead, which were hard to come by when it came down to his past experiences with anything remotely female. He figured it would be alright to let his competitive side show more than normal.

"Was about to ask you the same," he replied, grin in place. "I'm not big on rules. S'long as there aren't any guns or jutsus, then common sense is all we need, right?"

She was almost suprised at the grin, but she certainly didn't show it, smiling in return. "First one to get hit five times loses then. Unless you want a one shot only kind of fight."

She knelt down, grabbing a handful of snow and compacting it in her hands as she waited for him to decide.

He did the same, ignoring the way he could still feel the cold through his gloves. Instead, he absently concentrated on making his very first snowball.

"Five hits..."

One hit was far too easy. There was no challenge in that. Five hits would take far too long. His clothes weren't designed to take cold weather.

He looked up from the snowball in his hand. "Make it three," he amended with a cocky tilt of his head. "We startin' now, or d'you wanna talk about the weather too?"

"Three it is." She glanced up, amused that he was getting into the fight so easily. Tenten threw the snowball up in the air, catching it lightly in the opposite hand as she stood up.

"The weather is pretty nice, huh?" She grinned, pelting the cold mass just past his head with a meant-to-miss throw.

The faster this went, the sooner it'd be over. Jet wasn't taking too kindly to the chill. That sentiment momentarily stalled when Tenten threw that snowball, though by missing him at close range told him that the throw hadn't been serious.

It was time to win today's lunch.

He darted to the side with his usual speed anyway, where there was some cover while Tenten did as she pleased. He threw the snowball at her just as he disappeared behind some foilage, not expecting to make a hit but hoping for the off-chance of a lucky shot.

She ducked the oncoming snowball, twisting around in mid-crouch and pushing herself into a skid, digging her hands into the snow to gather her next two missiles from the momentum. "Now, now. Hiding's not going to do you any good."

The fingerless gloves benefited small comfort from the cold powder but it was enough and Tenten juggled the snowballs, pacing slowly to the left. It didn't matter if the fight was close ranged or distant. She was pretty sure she wouldn't even break a sweat.

Not having to cook today was just an added bonus.

"Might not," Jet agreed loud enough for Tenten to hear him, scooping up more snow for another ball. "But considerin' how you aim, it also might be my only shot."

The snow wasn't going to mask his movement anyway, even if he hid behind some gargantuan flowers. The good thing was that it worked both ways, like seeing her even though he was technically blind. It wasn't the best place to be, however. He sprinted out in the open, needing a better place to throw from.

"I'll be taking that as a compliment." She chuckled as he started running, content to watch him move for a few seconds, assessing his speed in the white terrain. It was tempting to just use jutsu, but at the same time the added challenge was making it a lot more fun, forcing her to rely more on her natural skill and speed.

Satisfied she'd given him enough time, Tenten threw left handed first, aiming a few steps in front of him as she kicked forward, halving the distance quickly before dropping to the ground, the other snowball flying from her hand as she grabbed for yet another, throwing it in short succession at the silver haired boy with a small smirk.

Hell, that was a bad idea.

The first snowball struck him on his arm, shoulder hunching up to keep it from hitting him in the face. He managed to evade the second one, merely a split second reaction to drop to the ground. It flew over his head. He barely managed to dodge the third, which brushed past his shoulder as he threw his weight to the side. He flung his own, hoping his aim would be true, while he reached downwards to quickly make another snowball.

Tenten definitely wasn't going to make this easy.

"Third one didn't count," he shouted as he staggered to his feet, finding it odd that he was grinning. "It barely grazed me!"

[ooc: sorry for the double post. x:]

She smiled in return, shrugging as she sidestepped his desperate throw. "If you insist. Consider it a gift," came her playful retort.

Tenten dropped low as she judged the short distance that now lay between them, gathering more snow in her hands as she waited for him to make another move. Jet wasn't as fast as Lee but he certainly had good reflexes and she wasn't as bored with the fight as she'd feared she might be. He'd probably make a decent ninja, if he wanted, and she smiled at the thought. He was having fun, even if he wouldn't admit it, and that was enough for now.

Jet was almost tempted to use a medium, burn the thrown snowballs midway before they could actually strike him. He could hear them purring quietly in his mind, but brushed them aside since Tenten wasn't using any of her clever jutsus. Arcana weren't necessary. Probably. Besides, for the first time in a long time, he wasn't in a life-or-death situation where he had to win.

"Gift? Don't think so," He snorted, packing in just a little more snow into the mass in his hands. It was already a given that Tenten was going to get another hit in when they started moving again. Her aim was better than most, but he could still dodge since his reaction times were quicker.

Truth was, he already knew he was going to lose. Badly. But he could still give Tenten a run for her money.

He hurled the snowball at her without warning, dashing once more for the cover he'd been heading for. He kept his eyes on her, watching for her throws.

"Would you rather I counted it then?" She back-flipped, dodging the snowball as she watched him run, still favoring the crouching position. She waited for him to almost hit his hiding place before throwing the first snowball, aiming to hit one of the flowers in front of him as she kicked off once more, racing forward and grabbing another handful of snow on the way.

Closing the distance was easy enough, and the dark haired girl grinned as she pushed herself off the ground into a jump, turning around in midair so that she landed facing him. Two snowballs were let loose at the same time as she hit the ground once more, neither a serious attempt to tag him.

She had to let him get at least one shot in, after all.

His momentum forced him to keep going forward, which wasn't good considering the two snowballs heading straight for him. Jet dropped his weight backwards without thinking, skidding across a few feet of snow on his back. Snow got up his shirt, which was even worse than just throwing it around, though he ignored the distraction. He took the opportunity to grab at snow, packing it in one-handed as he hopped into a crouch, hurling the snowball at the same time.

She sprung forward to chase him, making no effort to dodge. It glanced off her arm as Tenten gathered another snowball pair, once again throwing them at the same time as she skidded to a stop a few feet in front of him, right hand digging into the snow at her feet.

She brushed off the few remaining flakes from the snowball with her free hand as she clambered to her feet, her own snowball ready and waiting for him to start moving again.

He knew was going to get hit either way.

Jet lurched to one side to keep both snowballs from hitting him, using his forearm as a shield to keep one from hitting him square in the face. The other one flew past his shoulder, way too close to be comfortable. Heck, he'd almost made himself an easy mark for Tenten. Then again, who wouldn't an easy mark?

The chill was already beginning to affect him, piercing through his clothes and settling deep into his skin. The contact of clothing and flesh kind of stung. He should have put on an extra shirt, maybe warmer gloves. His fingers were already numb, though he reached down to pack in more snow between his hands.

"At least you ain't a total pushover," Jet muttered, trying to buy some time to get a plan together. It was bad enough she already had two hits in, but now his movements weren't going to be as quick and efficient. Damn snow. Who knew it would affect him that much?

Tenten grinned in reply, shaking her head as she kicked off again, not wasting any time as she skidded to his side. Her free hand grabbed her scarf off and she halted beside Jet, lightly tying the soft gray fabric around his neck with a small giggle before the kunochi moved behind him.

"You could have won if it had been five hits," she stated, bringing her last snowball down on his head and patting it into his hair. She wasn't cold at all, having leaked chakra the whole time to keep herself warm, hands aside. But the fight was now, happily, over by her reckoning and she let the chakra flow freely through her hands as she flicked at the snow in his hair.

"You look cold."

Damn if he couldn't feel heat radiating off of Tenten's hand. He scowled and ducked his head reflexively from her touch, dropping his snowball off to the side since it was currently trying to force his fingers to fall off.

"I wouldn't have made it past four," Jet muttered grumpily, shivering as he brushed off the rest of the snow from his hair. "I'm freezin'. You wanna get somethin' to eat then?"

She glanced questioningly at him but shrugged it off. She was used to both extremes of affection - Neji and Lee were good like that.

"You wouldn't have liked it if I'd gone easy on you." She smiled slightly, watching him be grumpy for a moment before sighing, holding her hands out to him. If he wanted. They were warm, after all.

"I already made you something. Didn't want you to feel that bad about losing. Sake and everything." Tenten shrugged nonchalantly, cocking her head to the side as she waited for him to respond.

Girls were hard to fathom at times. What was the point of issuing a challenge when she'd already made lunch for them? It was exactly that kind of thing that made him wary of females. Who knew what they had up their sleeves? Not that it was in his right to complain, he hadn't eaten much besides noodles and sandwiches the past few days.

The out-stretched hands were easier to figure out.

"Bruised ego aside, that sounds good," he finally ventured, hesitant in taking her hands to warm up his frozen fingers. He wasn't used to touching other people. That was just a little to familiar.

"What'd ya make?"

Definitely more like Neji. It was a shame - one ice prince was all she could handle. But, that was the way things went, and as long as no one was running around in a hideous green jumpsuit shouting about the springtime of youth? She was sure she'd manage.

Tenten paused before finally responding. "Oyakodon. And don't take it the wrong way. I only made it because Neji's being a grump and won't move from his room since Hinata's around." She shrugged again, glancing off to the side, the refused hands now on her hips.

"It's up to you though, sullen one," she added as an afterthought, eyes narrowing. Boys were difficult to deal with.

Neji. Hinata. He automatically raked his memory for faces to attach to the names, though it was futile attepmt. He didn't know who those people were. Let alone what they looked like. He'd find out later, once he got feeling back into his limbs.

"Wouldn't that food to go to waste," he shrugged, not wanting to appear too eager. Real food, for once! Maybe this whole snowball fight thing hadn't been a total waste of time, after all.

"Guess I'll take you out for lunch another time," he added as an afterthought. A deal was a deal in Jet's book.

"Suppose I'll have to hold you to that." She smiled, once again shaking her head as she set off through the snow. Walking. The fight had taken away some of Tenten's pent up energy, and the constant flow of chakra was starting to take effect.

She glanced back to make sure he was following, sighing once again. "Sorry for dragging you out. I just wanted to... do something. Anything." One more shrug for good measure as she continued walking, crunching snow beneath her feet. "I'll take my scarf back when you're done with it, by the way."

"S'no big deal," Jet replied as he followed, more than eager to get out from the cold and take up residence at the nearest heater. "I was gonna go crazy if I stayed inside anyway." He had a feeling that something or someone might have ended up getting shot if he hadn't found an excuse to get out.

He fingered the aforementioned scarf, which was better suited for the current weather than his two were, and absently pulled it up to keep his throat from being exposed.

"Yeah," he muttered, picking up his pace a little. He never liked talking to people's backs. "Thanks."

Jet followed Tenten "home", ignoring the fact that he felt like a stray dog while he was at it.

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Log, completed.

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