paradisalost | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Uzumaki Naruto, Wanijima Agito, Wanijima Akito
What: Hanging out
When: Tonight
Where: Forest near town.
Rating: PG for Agito's potty mouth.

He never wins the fights they have regularly, but he never loses them either. They always end up as a tie, even though Agito knows that he is the weaker of them. The only thing that allows him to be able to match up so evenly against the blond is his ability to strategize, and despite the fact that there is no victory to obtain, Agito is happy enough with the fight itself – happy with the ache of his muscles from the strain of his kicks, and the tightness in his chest from the effort of taking in enough oxygen to keep fighting. It is fights like these that make him forget about life, but feel so entirely alive that he can barely contain it.

His knees are knobbly beneath his fingers, and his heart beats widely against his ribcage. Sweat drips down his face, matting his hair to his skin irritably. “Fuck,” he says, satisfied. Since finding out that Akira had left, and dealing with all of the problems he’s had since Kaito showed up, he felt like a string stretched taut to the point of breakage. Now he feels much less closer to breaking, even though his body would like to proclaim otherwise.

“Fuck,” he says again, this time with a slight wince as he stretches his right leg out a bit. Akito is better at this than him, he knows, but he wants to loosen his legs up a bit as soon as he can to avoid cramping later on.

‘I can do that later,’ Akito assures him, and Agito pauses his actions for a moment. Sometimes it’s almost as though Akito can read his mind, even though he knows that he can’t, and he can’t help but smile a bit at that. It’s not uncommon for best friends to be able to do that, and Akito is not anything if not his best friend. ‘Don’t worry about it, okay? Just go home and I can stretch out for you.’

‘Okay,’ he agrees, and rights himself up to begin the walk home. He doesn’t know whether Naruto is going to follow or not, but he knows that Akito would like the company.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was always the same with them whenever they fought, but Naruto quickly found himself not caring that he could easily predict the outcome every time. Sparring and training of any sort had always given Naruto a sense of peace and relief, even if temporary, so whenever Agito asked him for a spar, he took the chance. It was easier to forget things in the midst of fighting. When he could focus on his punches and kicks, on where his opponent was, on learning the enemy's movements and skills, Naruto could forget about this place as a whole. The familiarity of their fights came as a comfort, in a way, when even his life in Paradisa seemed to be changing more and more as of late.

Leaning against a tree as he caught his breath, Naruto stared at a small cut that was already quickly healing on his forearm. As much as he hated Kyuubi, even Naruto could admit that his ability to heal Naruto's body faster than normal was pretty damn awesome. It came in handy for many incidents, especially at the frustration Agito tried not to display that his moments of excelling Naruto could be easily wiped away in mere minutes. It amused Naruto because it was so obvious that it bothered the other so badly. He didn't even scar.

He watched as the last threads of visible cells patched back together on his arm and he sighed, brushing away traces of dried blood. He had already gathered his stamina (again, thanks to the stupid fox) and as he heard Agito's small cries he couldn't help but feel smug. He knew they worked hard despite their differences in skill, and the fact that Agito was obviously much smaller than Naruto impressed Naruto even more that he was able to keep up with him. He had not met many people here who could stand his insane amount of stamina, and even though he could have kept going for another couple of hours if he really wanted to, what they had just finished had left his muscles satisfyingly sore; so he was pleased.

As he opened his mouth to make a witty comment about how tired Agito looked, the boy stood up and began walking away without a word. Naruto hurried to stand as well and quickly caught up, falling into place beside him with his hands clasped behind his head.

"Where are we going now?"

Edited 2008-09-14 02:55 (UTC)

“Where do you think we’re going, dumbass?” Agito shoots back, not bothering to look at him. He focuses on setting a rhythm to walk to. The ground is soft beneath his feet, and feels nice on his joints as he walks. “Even an idiot like you could figure it out. Fuck.”

For all the insults that he throws at the blond, they’re said more out of habit than anything else. He has a deep respect for people like Ikki and Naruto, even though he finds them infuriating at times. Sometimes he wonders why things seemed so different for them. They make everything seem so easy, while he had to work so hard to get to a point where things were bearable.

“Your kicks were sloppy.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. Really, it was a simple question and the kid had to make it a big deal. However, he smiled to himself anyway, knowing that was just the way Agito talked with him. If he knew any better he would realize it was actually a good thing although Naruto was somewhat aware of it.

"Tch! Asshole, it was just a question."

He smiled, continuing to walk in a regular pace, enjoying the view of the area they were in. Naruto loved the forest. It was the one part of Paradisa that reminded him of home and he often came here for ... well ... any reason. He had probably explored through a good majority of the place, though it seemed endless, as did everything here.

A small pout of disapproval formed at Agito's last words, knowing they couldn't be true! He always tried his very best during these spars. "Maybe you were just too tired today. You finished pretty fast, after all."

Agito frowns, and quickly runs through the fight again in his mind. He didn’t think that he finished any sooner than he had the last few times. He didn’t realize that Akito could hear his ponderings.

‘Just a bit sooner,’ Akito informs him. ‘Not by much though.’

He narrows his eye, irritated. “Me being tired would have nothing to do with your kicks being shitty, Dandelion Head.” Zipping his jacket up until the collar reaches his nose, Agito tucks his hands into his pockets and picks up the pace.

Naruto kept smiling after Agito's answer, noticing his change of pace and laughing lightly. He only had to make his steps wider to catch up and arrogantly snickered at how moody the other was. "You're so touchy," he said with a small chuckle, taking on a teasing tone. "Maybe I was just being light on you 'cause I felt bad."

He knew it was not true, but it was too fun making fun of Agito. He couldn't seem to stop himself from doing so... so he figured that was just the way they worked. Agito insulted him, Naruto got pissed, more insults, and then some teasing. It was another part of their friendship that felt comfortable and familiar, which - when Naruto thought about it - was surprising. He had known Akito since the day he arrived in Paradisa but Agito was more of a new friend, someone he had clicked with in an odd way in a short amount of time. People who watched them interact may have thought they were fighting or didn't like each other, but their insults and arguments were their way of talking, really.

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets as well as he thought of that to himself, unable to keep his mind from wandering to a certain other person who was no longer here. It was weird. The way he acted with Agito was almost like how he and Sasuke used to be. ... Minus the constant swearing.

Letting out an irritated noise from between his teeth, Agito can’t help the beginnings of a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Fuck off,” he says, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He’s glad that the idiot chose to walk beside him on his right side, and wonders if that was purposeful of him, or accidental. Given his bouts of idiocy, coupled with surprising moments of insight, Agito figures that it could be either or. “A shitty kick is a shitty kick.”

Naruto’s kicks weren’t all that shitty, if he were being honest, but even a slight miscalculation or error with them could prove to have fatal consequences in a place like this. The blond has a better technical foundation than any of the Kogarasumaru members, as is to be expected from someone trained since they were small, but his technique is still sloppy. “Keep your stomach tight during impact, dumbass, and don’t wimp out on the follow-through.”

‘And the shoulders,’ Akito adds, ‘Remember?’

‘I’ll tell him that if he fixes what I told him, first,’ Agito replies, slipping a finger under their eye patch to scratch around the corner of Akito’s eye. It gets irritatingly itchy at times, mostly just after a good workout, and he finds himself relieved when the forest begins to thin out and he can catch glimpses of that ridiculous little place Akito found for them through the thinning branches. He feels Akito’s tiny swell of pride at the sight of it, and smiles a bit. He thinks it’s a piece of shit, but Akito likes it well enough. He has to admit that he likes having a place of his own where he doesn’t have to worry about Kaito, or imposing on other people.

‘It’s better than living on the fucking streets.’

Naruto grinned his typical, overly enthusiastic grin, and continued to chuckle lightly as Agito gave him advice. He knew the other was particularly good with his feet, but Naruto knew he wasn't all that bad either. Sure, his taijutsu could use a lot of work sometimes, but he liked the challenge of fighting hand-to-hand, without any techniques, especially with people from other worlds who were not shinobi like him.

"I don't wimp out in anything!" he retorted almost automatically, wondering if Agito really was teasing him or giving advice. Naruto never thought there was anything wrong with his kicks. Then again, he didn't care to notice either. As long as he could tell he was getting stronger with every kick and punch, that was fine by him. Who needed real technique? Naruto was an "act first, think later" kind of fighter anyway.

And person.

Noticing they were nearing that small house Akito and Agito seemed to be hiding out in, Naruto frowned on the inside, having a small suspicion as to why. Akito had mentioned his brother to him before and Naruto had seen the sick bastard around, knowing what he was capable of doing on a vague level. He hated the mere thought of any of his friends feeling like they were in danger, and he couldn't help but clench his fists angrily as he was swept away in his thoughts. He would never let that guy touch his friend ever, if he could help it.

Edited 2008-09-16 15:12 (UTC)

“Obviously you do if I’m telling you that you are, dumbass Dandelion Head,” Agito retorts with a scoff and a customary tch. He kicks a rock out of his way as he slides down the small incline from the forest edge to the street. It lands a short distance in front of him so he kicks it out of his way again, and he reminded of the soccer games that their class would play during gym. He always handed the other team their asses on a platter.

Excited barking, somewhat muted by a door, can be heard and Agito doesn’t need to know which direction the sound is coming from to know that it’s Akito’s dog.

Akito is just as excited as the dog is to be back. He cares about that mutt so much that it’s confusing, although it’s easier to understand why Akito would love a dog than it is to understand why he would love an idiot like the crow. Sometimes he worries that Akito’s penchant to be so open to his feelings will hurt him in a way that he, Agito, can’t prevent. Sometimes he worries it already has.

Walking up to the front dog – ignoring the sudden increase in volume of the barking – and gently kicking off some of the larger clumps of dirt from his Regalia by tapping his toes against the side of the door, Agito asks, “Anything interesting happen in the shit hole lately?” He opens the door, and is greeted by a face full of dog. He shoves the mutt off of him, and it trots off to wriggle excitedly at the blond instead.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only