[Meme] Ask a character a question

[runespoor]

Okay, so I've been tagged by mariagoner and I'm curious and possibly a masochist, so I'll do this.

Ask any character I write/have written a question.

It may be in the context of a fic or not, what you like. Also, I'll try to do this IC, which really means that if you asked, say, Hinata, a painfully embarrassing question, she may just clam up and bluuuuuuush - or if you asked Kabuto [whom I've never written, but that's for the example] 'SO WHAT WERE YOU THINKING IN [insert fic title here], RLY,' chances are that, on a 0-10 scale of honesty, 10 being the most sincere, he'd be at something like -150.

I'll try not to take too long on the answers but Internet =/= access at home, so it may take me a while. Otoh, if you find this, say, four days from now, you're welcome to ask anyway. equivalent trade, yo.

Comments

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

Exxxxxxxcellent! Obviously, Project Ensnare All Talented Fic-Writers on My Friend's List is working beyong my farthest hopes and dreams! But

[For the Celebrationverse]

Neji: How would you react if Hinata began a serious and loving relationship with someone else after her return? And how do you feel about her now?

Hinata: What was the worst thing that Kabuto did to you during your captivity? The best? And what do you believe was his ultimate purpose for you?

Kabuto (through the help of a medium, I suppose): Did you at all grow fond of Hinata during her stay with you? And in the end, did her final act of strength towards you take you by surprise?

Sasuke: Did you take any notice of Hinata AT ALL when she was at the Sound?

[From the Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son drabbles]

Neji: After you noticed your cousin was pretty during the Chuunin exams, were you ever tempted to make any, ah, arrangements with her? ;)

Hinata: Do you believe you would have been any happier if you were in the main house?

Hiashi (through a medium again!): Would you have been proud if you saw the person Hinata has turned into now? ...Or worried about her?

Ten Ten: What went down after Neji took the scroll from Hinata in the forest of death? And how did that affect your view of him?

(Sorry for the flood but, damn, girl, it's mostly your fault. You're a terrific writer and nd there's so much I wanted to ask you about! ;)

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

Gah. There they are. I think after the end of the meme, I'm going to make a post with the answers, because that was fun and at least one of these is practically a fic and I know I'm never going to write it, so at least there'll be a trace of it. Also? The fics that didn't get written while I was slaving away on this meme and having a few of these look at me with a blank air and going "…"? I'm totally blaming you for it.

Oh, and while we're at it, you can ask for clarifications if you want. I know some of the characters *pointed look* aren't precisely renowned for their straight-forwardness.

[Celebrationverse. Answers totally contain things that could be construed as potential/implied spoilers. weeee, rhetorical precautions!]

[more-or-less Day in the Life time set.] Neji's reply: I have serious doubts about that ever happening.

But, on the off-chance that she ever gets well enough to open up that way, and foolish enough to fall for someone who wouldn't have the good sense to step back, my place wouldn't change unless Hinata-sama herself required it of me.

I have been told that she's compartmentalising in order to deal with things that have upset her, and particularly with her duties as a member of Interrogation, so I will, of course, still perform the same services – it is part of my duty as her shadow – unless her boyfriend takes these responsibilities over. Which, for a variety of reasons, is not happening. Premium among these reasons being that the boyfriend would never be Yakushi Kabuto. And that is enough to make the whole discussion pointless, isn't it?

She wouldn't be able to carry on with something as simple as 'a serious and loving relationship'. She would turn to me, or to who-knows-what-else, and after a while she would either feel too guilty to continue or she would be caught. She would separate even more the different parts of her life, and this would leave her even more vulnerable.

I would let her do as she chooses, and take her own decisions. Hopefully. I – my control is still not as foolproof as it should be.

Whatever my feelings for her are, they matter less than what I can do for her.

Hinata's reply: I-I have no idea.

I don't remember it all that well, really. Sometimes I have dreams, and – they're very realistic, it becomes a little difficult to differentiate if I'm not concentrating. I think they're dreams. They're not memories – at least I don't think so. I mean nightmares.

But apart from this aspect of the question, I – don't know. Everything he did – or may have done – gets blurred, in the sense that it was always Kabuto-san who did it – every single part of it, it didn't matter what, it was always him. I think that was much more important than what he did. It's the only reason to explain some of what he did, anyway, that he was Kabuto-san and I was a prisoner.

I suppose I must have amused him, otherwise he wouldn't have spent so much time talking with me, admitting it wasn't a genjutsu or merely to make me relax – or tense up. I must have been very entertaining a prisoner, because I can't ever remember not second and triple-guessing myself whenever he said something and I somehow reacted, and I know Kabuto-san was interested in the human psyche as well.

Oh, no, that's right, his goal was to study the Byakugan. Orochimaru wanted him to study it as extensively as possible so he might be able to copy it. It slips from my mind sometimes.

Kabuto's reply: Yes, of course. She's a very likable young woman. *smiles* I must say that I was more surprised by the desperation of her gesture. I didn't expect her to have shinobi instincts of ranking one's mission above one's life ingrained quite so deep. Obviously. I didn't imagine she would be quick and unpredictable enough to pull it off, either; it really is one of the things she had in common with Naruto-kun after all.

Sasuke's reply: I wasn't in Sound. Orochimaru attacked Konoha because I had left Sound and she was captured during the war. I'm sure it made sense to him.

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

::blushes:: Oh dear, I hope I didn't pour too much trouble on you with this request! But as a ficcer, I really found it actually helped to loosen up my slight writer's block very well! It's amazing how many kinks trying to answer a simple question can unwind, innit? ;)

And oh god, I want MORE of the celebrationverse now, especially from Hinata's POV! She's just so beautifully, wonderfully, intriguingly and achingly broken, as Neji obliquely points out. Like someone else once pointed out-- it's not tragedy that does us in, it's the messes that come afterwards. And your Hinata is more or less a living example of that.

And Kabuto... my god, please tell me you'll slate him into your fic sometime soon. Seeing her from his POV must be one HELL of a viewpoint as well!

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

Less writer's block and more common laziness of the 'I know what's gonna happen, I just don't wanna write iiiiiiiit because it'll kick my ass'.

Your two other comments... Well, I'm just not saying no because Who Know When Inspiration Strikes, right, but for now... *sighs*

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I know what you mean. There are some things I want to write but don't quite know how and other things I know how to write but can't seem to find the will to put down on paper (or Microsoft word.) Here's hoping both of our muses get a little less testy soon!

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

[From the Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son drabbles]

Neji's reply: We have taken to training together. Is it the sort of arrangement you are referring to?

[You may want to reword the following two questions, if you want, to make them apply to one particular ficlet, so the answer would be more detailed.]

[this is a little difficult considering the particular verses all diverge at different points in time, and so she wouldn't always give the same answer, but the most likely one is:]
Hinata's reply: No, why would I?

[again, he probably wouldn't answer the same thing every time, but the gist of it is:]
Hiashi's reply: That was never what I wanted for her.

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

Hee. Hee hee heee! I think your Neji tends to be far more a physical innocent than mine. "The sort of arrangment" indeed!

And one more for Hiashi in this 'verse (say in the aftermath of the latest bunk of drabbles):

Hiashi: Why did you then sacrifice yourself when you knew Hinata probably needed you so badly as a child? Do you think her newfound strength after you were gone was worth the degredation she suffered without you as her buffer towards the main house?

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well in here Neji's a romantic or something. The word 'arrangement' confused him. On the other hand, he is perfectly aware of all the occasions sparring gets him to have his hands on Hinata ('brushing against' might be more accurate, but he gets what he can). He is also aware of dreams and such, but he blames it on the training. Hey, he's the one who made the link pretty = wanna fight.

Note: even though I don't know the characters in your icon, everytime I stay staring at it for a few moments because I find it so funny.

Hiashi's reply: I expect these questions cannot be avoided.

The truth is, I never intended things to go as they did; I think I must have hoped for my brother to find the strength to stand up to the Council after I had done the same to him, and not to live his life and his son's – and… Hinata's and her mother's – according to these same rules I died precisely to make him realise weren't enough.

I did think what I was saying; I was indeed willing to die so my brother would live. And… Hinata… My daughter was probably not as present to my mind as I spoke as she should have, but I was nevertheless convinced I was doing the best for her. Do you imagine for even one moment the Main House would have allowed their clan head to just die? And – if they had – do you have any idea of how the clan would have gone, under the control of the council?

My father was the one who separated my brother and me. He was the one who ordered me to be branded into the Branch House. Do you imagine how life would have gone had the clan head's power suddenly disappeared? Do you truly think my existence wouldn't have singled her out and made her a perfect target? – and Hizashi's son would never have forgiven me and would have likely transferred his hatred onto her as well.

Hinata had a mother. She had a mother, an uncle and his wife, and a cousin who was only older than her by one year. I wasn't – or at any rate I never should have been – my daughter's only support in this world.

And she was two; too young to be sealed.

Somewhere I hoped that Hizashi would find the strength to take her in as his daughter.

It is too late to have regrets or second thoughts. Yes, I dread what could happen to her – the clan's punishment if they learn she betrayed its heir; my brother, his son. I dread both of them. And I fear where this – whatever it is, this anger of hers, this willingness to break the rules, her disregard of the clan – may take her. How easily she might stumble on a wrong path. She is my daughter and I hate having to acknowledge it, but – how much farther can she go?

She has disobeyed the clan.

Worse, she has been disloyal to someone – a person, her cousin. Her circumstances were extenuating, I'll give her that. But she has. And there is only one step between disobeying the clan and disobeying the village.

And… at same time… I am astonished at the resources of strength, fortitude, and determination she found and showed. I am wary of what may become of her – but I am also proud that she found both the will and the way to carry on her dream.

I can only hope it will not be her downfall. I do not want her to prove me right after all, that maybe she would have been happier if she wasn't a shinobi.

But then, there was never a choice.

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

Heeeeee! Your Neji and his "accidental touches" reminds me a bit of this fic I wrote way back when (http://mariagoner.livejournal.com/7179.html). Leave it to shinobi to figure out a way to group someone you're trying to beat the crap out of. ;) ♥

And that icon is indeed the love! ::uses it once more for the hell of it::

And oh Hiashi. Oh Hiashi. I really do adore the way you can bring such poignant life to even the minor characters in your universe. You really make it seem as though they themselves have a story worthy of telling, if only they had the time enough (as Hiashi really didn't) to tell it. And I love how much pathos you bring to the way he sees his own daughter, torn between being horrified at her apparent disobedience (which his brother, perhaps, has treated more mildly than Hiashi himself would!) and wonder at her strength, even though it's tempered by concern over her. You do wonders with all of the Hyuga, not just Hinata and Neji!

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

Tenten's reply: …We fought it off. I mean we had a row. And Neji just didn't understand that there was anything wrong with what he had done.

I mean, I know I used to joke about entitlement issues from time to time, but I'd never have guessed – he was never like that with us. Or with anyone else, for that matter.

Though – you know, retrospectively, I wonder.

Maybe there were things during our missions, when we talked with civilians, hints, maybe I just didn't realise what was going on. I can't believe Lee and I were that oblivious. I mean, how were we supposed to figure something like that out?! He's my teammate, not – it's not as if our souls were forever bonded or I don't know what crap! I know how he works, how he reacts, I know his strengths and his weaknesses, I know what he doesn't like having to deal with – the three of us. A team, that should be enough, right?

Guess I can't help but feel betrayed. (And guilty, okay, but honestly how could we possibly see that one coming?)

Lee and I, we trusted him. And maybe it's because he's our team leader – and you know, he earned that, neither Lee nor I are really the type to cower and roll over just because someone tells us so, and the only reason he became our leader was because he made good plans and he listened when we argued he'd overlooked something or we had a more workable idea – but I felt betrayed. It was like he was betraying the team.

He was taking a decision that wasn't just his, he just went ahead.

And like Lee said, on top of everything else it was a short-cut. A short-cut. Like any of us had got where we were because we'd taken short-cuts!

Except him, for all I know now. I would never have believed that before, because he had a very strict work ethic and he's never been into slacking off – it's gonna sound strange, but I thought he had honour, you know.

I mean, he's a competent ninja so we always sneaked around and everything if we could avoid straight fights, but you could see he didn't like that. And even when he fights – he never attacks without a warning. Which I always thought makes him sound kinda pompous because he always announces that he is a Hyuuga blablabla, and that was out of place for a shinobi, but yeah.

Honourable.

And that poor girl – Hinata, right – it was as if she wasn't even a person, the way he treated her. I don't know what I'd have done in her place. Okay, I'd probably have gone for my shuriken, but when I think about it – if I'd been treated like that all my life? I have no idea what I'd be now.

I just hope her teammates stuck by her, because… yeah. Poor girl makes it to the second test of the chuunin exam, she's a rookie, everything's going just fine, and then – wham. End of dream.

So if on top of that her teammates hated her after that… I couldn't blame them for it, though. Kami know how I'd have reacted if it had been Neji giving our scroll over.

Not sure though, because after all she's the victim there – and I don't know how the Hyuuga works but I've got to say, if it's a matter of breaking up one's team vs politely telling the stuck-up heir that he can go and find his own roll and put it up his ass, and 'betraying one's team' sounds like the better option? Yeah, something's seriously wrong.

But he just didn't get it.

And – well, okay, I'm not especially proud of it now, at least I wish things could have been different – but in the end Lee and I just took the pouch in which he'd put the scrolls – Neji wasn't that far gone that he'd attack us himself, I think, or else he was just dumbstruck, and I had shiny pointy things aimed straight at him – and I think we were going to go after the rookies and give it back, and you know, if Lee insisted I'd have been ready to give them ours as well, and then he tried to take it back, and that may have been panic or maybe Lee just slipped, which if you know him at all you know is unlikely as me going blonde, because Lee? Taijutsu master, and perfect physical control? You can bet, and panic? Panic? Lee? Ha right.

So anyway, we had the scrolls in our hands and Neji tried to take them back, and the scroll –

That was actually too long for just one comment.

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

It opened, okay?

Next thing I know I'm in the hospital and the second trial is over. So we never made it to the third test, in the end.

But you know, in a way I think perhaps it's not that bad.

I mean sure, technically we'd lost six months.

And okay, Gai-sensei hasn't let us take that exam – because you can bet Lee and I told him everything about why we'd acted the way we did. I'm not sure if he was really ecstatic about what we'd done, but I can tell you, he was much more angry/disappointed in Neji right then.

He's not going to recommend us for another exam until we relearn how to work as a team, he says.

I know that for Lee and I, it means that we have to relearn how to trust Neji again, and that is never going to happen unless Neji clears whatever's his deal in his clan. I have no idea how long that's going to take, but Gai-sensei's already told us that he's ready to recommend Lee and me if we want to take part in an exam as members of another team.

Maybe that's what we're going to do. Yamanaka Ino has been made a chuunin in the latest exam, so that leaves only Akimichi Chouji as a genin in that team.

I don't know, I haven't talked to Lee about it yet. In a way it'd be depressing, but in another –

I know that Hinata's team hasn't been allowed to take last exam either; supposedly because it was taking place in Mist, and the Hyuuga has history with Mist. So if we do enter this session, maybe we'll meet them. If the Hyuuga allows her to enter, that is, and if they don't I don't know what I'm going to do, but it's not fair that she gets punished for something Lee and I did because of what our teammate had done. Luckily her sensei's Kurenai-san, and she's never been the type to let herself be bullied by big clans and names and jackasses who treat people as if they were pieces of furniture.

If they do enter, though – and maybe even if they don't, I don't know yet, maybe I should talk with Lee, people make fun of him but he gives good advice, sometimes – then I'll talk to them. At least to tell them I'm sorry, even if that's not going to help anything.

Wow, I've really rambled. And usually that's not my thing, but I guess I just needed to get it off my chest. Not sure if that answers your questions, but… *shrugs* See you again, maybe.

Re: That was actually too long for just one comment.

[mariagoner.livejournal.com]

And that was actually too awesome a story just to exist within these two comments! I really do hope you release this as a fic at some point-- seeing the fall out of what happened in the last batch of fic is just fascinating.

I love the fact that you showed that there are real consequences to the subjugation of the branch house to the main house in the Hyuuga that extend far beyond Hinata feeling bad or having to disappoint her team. (Though I know that Shino and Kiba and Kurenai would never blame her, she probably would beat herself up over it if she actually did end up giving their scroll over to Neji.) That Gai, the champion of hard work over in-born genius, would disqualify him makes an incredible amount of sense. Now I'm thinking of what Hizashi probably felt in the aftermath of knowing his heir had been disqualified from the Chuunin exams. Eeep, what would his reaction be?!

Your Ten-Ten, especially, is wonderful. I never paid much attention to her in the anime or manga-- not that there was much to pay attention to-- but you make her just as real and sharp and living a character as your Ino, another minor CC you elevated in your stories. I'd love to see more of her and Lee having to wrestle with Neji's crazy entitlement issues in the future!

okay...so int's not 4 days latter but 15... does this still count?

[lita-of-jupiter.livejournal.com]

I wanted to ask Lee what he thought of what Neji did in the
forest grabbing the scrolls, to match Tenten's pont of view...
and what Hizashi thought of it.

Also in the drabble where Neji kills her, what did his teamates and his father think about his actions?

Ino,how did you friendship with Hinata develop? drabble#4

Kabuto-san... what did you say to Hinata before drabble 6, and what do you think of her?

Celabration verse:
Ibiki: how is Hinata doing in your squad? why did you allow her to be part of it?
--------********----
I know there are too many questions but if you can answer any of them I'll be very glad!