A Different Kind Of Journey (Hiatus)

Small Reunions

He was incredibly proud of his team. Each member has worked hard to earn their spot.

All that being said, their enthusiasm — specifically two particular people's enthusiasm — could be a bit... excessive. These constant activities and the over-the-top trainings games, like the one going on right now, seemed extremely unnecessary to Neji.

For this game, Guy-sensei assembled a large flock of chickens, which were to be released in the training field. They had to chase the feathered demons, and return them to their cages in a matter of minutes.

Lee determinedly decided that if he couldn't do it, which he undoubtably can, he'd run 3000 laps around the village; which sounds ridiculous, but then again, this is Lee we're talking about here. This isn't the most outrageous challenge he has issued on himself.

The whole game, Neji thought, was an absolutely absurd idea, but he didn't have much of a choice other to trust his sensei.

Even though he would much prefer to be home, tending to his garden right now, he was committed to his team, and would remain loyal to it. Neji has never missed a team meeting, and wasn't planning on breaking his record.

A feat Lee hasn't even managed to do. But, to Lee's credit, being in the hospital was a pretty reasonable reason to miss out on training.

Neji sighed quietly to himself. This was going to be a long day, wasn't it? Maybe he should take his bushy-browed teammate's advice.

"Be youthful and enjoy every single activity to the fullest!" Lee had told him.

A very 'youthful' piece of advice, indeed.

After hours of catching chickens, Neji collapsed onto the nearby bench, trying to catch his breath. He looked as if someone had dumped three buckets of water on him. Much to Neji's embarrassment, his teammates were not nearly as sweaty as he was, nearly dry in fact.

After two grueling hours of catching chickens, Neji found himself feeling defeated and mildly embarrassed. He had hoped he would never meet an animal as evil as Tora, but those demonic clucking beasts came in as a close second to that devil cat.

Some of the damn birds even tried surprising him by pulling disgusting pranks on him. Like throwing their own eggs at him, or purposely leading him into a mud puddle, and laughed when he fell on his face. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower.

The brown-haired Hyuuga looked up, watching the rest of his team still trying to round up the feathered demons. Of course, Rock Lee was in great shape, and didn't look tired at all. Tenten remained calm and relaxed as she continued to set up traps, which lured the chickens back into the cage.

Neji's eyes darted over to his sensei who, like him, was watching the whole training scene before them unfold. Their sensei was trying to motivate them by yelling out inspiring quotes, which mostly included the words "Faster" and "Speed".

The brown-haired Hyuuga looked down at the ground. He just couldn't do it anymore. He wasn't use to this kind of training. All he needed right now was a drink of water, but Lee had knocked it over by accident.

"Damn it, Lee." He muttered quietly to himself. He really liked his team, but sometimes his teammate's lack of awareness really got on his nerves.