Show and Tell

Ten Ten had left a note for her mother that she would be on a three day training mission with her team. She grabbed her bulky backpack and headed out the door. The three man team and Gai Sensei would meet at the outside gates of Konoha. Being July, the mission would be a hot one and so Ten Ten packed the lightest clothes she could think of. Ten Ten was to meet Neji before meeting Gai and Lee at the Konoha gates. Neji arrived when he said he would. They walked to the gates only to find that a very eager Lee had already arrived.

“Neji! Ten Ten! Gai Sensei will be here soon! I can’t wait! It will be the three of us…training together! Together we will become stronger and turn into great ninjas like Gai Sensei!!” Lee had jumped up form his sitting position and was now thrusting his fist into the air. Neji and Ten Ten glanced at one another. A little bit of Lee for three days was going to go a long way.

“Hyuuga Neji! You and I should fight; I have learned some new techniques! Please, accept my offer to challenge you once we are away on our mission!” Lee said enthusiastically. Ten Ten knew that Neji had been wiping the floor with Lee for years, but for the sake of keeping Lee happy; Neji would agree to fight him once they were out in the woods.

“Sure, Lee. I accept your challenge.” Neji said unexcitedly.

“Ha! This will be huge! Konoha’s handsome green beast and the Hyuuga Prodigy engaging in intense…”

“Lee.” Neji cut him off. “You’ve made your point.” Neji would do just about anything to keep Lee from giving a speech. Gai Sensei showed up not long after his three students had arrived.

“Gai Sensei!” Lee yelled.

“Lee!” Gai called back to him.

“Gai Sensei!”

“Lee!”

“Gai Sensei!” And this went on for a while until Neji thought about kissing Ten Ten to shut them both up. However, he didn’t have to. Gai instructed his beloved students to follow him. They would spend most of the day hiking deep into the Forest of the Hidden Leaf Village. Gai was in the lead, followed by Lee. Ten Ten was in the middle and Neji was in the back. Neji always followed in the back on any type of mission because of the effectiveness of byakugan. The forest became deeper and lusher the further they all trekked. Gai explained that the point of the training mission was for his students to complete various tasks each day. Gai had a way of devising delightfully challenging tasks and so it was assumed that the tasks on this trip would require lots of thought and careful execution.
Team Gai hiked until the sound of rushing water could be heard. It was at this point that Gai declared that their camp destination was close by. The majority of their afternoon would be spent pitching camp. The sound of rushing water grew louder and the temperature around them dropped. Finally, the forest opened up into a large rocky, mossy clearing. Over the ledge of the rock was a waterfall gushing into the steam that ran alongside their destination. The surroundings were serene and the sound of the mighty falls drowned out all sounds around it. Gai instructed his students to set up the camp, his job was to fish the stream and bring back a meal for the evening.
“This will surely be the most perfect place for out camp! Neji, you pitch our tents while I unpack our equipment and prepare a fire ring! Ten Ten, tie this canvas into the trees over out tents in case of rain!” Lee eagerly shot his arm out for Neji and Ten Ten lock hands with his to promote teamwork.

“Lee, we really don’t need to do the ‘team Gai’ thing right now. We’re just setting up camp.” Ten Ten said patting Lee’s back trying not to disappoint him too much.

“Yes Ten Ten!” Lee gave her an almighty salute and scurried for the equipment. Neji looked around for the flattest place to pitch the tents. Ten Ten was already on a low tree branch where she would tie the lean-to in order to keep potential rain from soaking the tents.

“Neji.” She whispered. Ten Ten glanced over to see if Lee was preoccupied with something. “Don’t pitch out tent close to theirs.” she said so softly that she nearly lipped the words.

“Okay.” Neji said just as softly. “Hey Ten Ten, notice how neither Gai Sensei nor Lee has noticed that you aren’t wearing your hair in buns?” Neji asked her. Ten Ten was now hanging upside down fromm the branch, her long auburn hair flowing freely. She laughed realizing this was true.

“Maybe if I go hang it in Lee’s face he might notice.” Ten Ten said. Neji quickly got both tents pitched making certain one tent was away from the other. He wanted to make certain it wasn’t so far away that it was suspicious, but just enough distance that no one would raise an eyebrow. After Ten Ten had created the canvas layer above the tent, she strung a line out from one tree to another. Lee spotted this.

“Ten Ten! What is this you’ve done?! Is this a trap for anyone who may attempt to attack our camp?! Is it a device for which we can hang targets and practice hitting them?!” Lee asked, thrilled that Ten Ten was preparing for the worst or preparing for a good workout.

“It’s a clothes line, Lee.” She said, once again trying not to crush his eager spirit. The project of setting up camp was complete. The only remaining tasks were to get a fire started since Gai Sensei was returning with fish.
Once dinner was cooked and eaten dusk was creeping across the land. Gai decided to keep the fire going for a little while spite the fact that everyone would smell like smoke. The four of them talked well into the night over the small dimly burning fire. Gai put their fire out before declaring he was going to bed.

“Okay, how are we dividing the tents?” Gai Sensei asked.

“Lee’s with you, I’ll stay with Neji.” Ten Ten said this almost before Gai Sensei had even finished his sentence.