Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Eccentric Acts ❯ Arranging the Cast ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: This is my first Naruto Pic I will be doing. The idea came about from a screwed up conversation and has thus evolved into this. I would be happy for advise and constructive criticism, but remember what your mamas said, "If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all." My chps will normally be longer than this, but it was best to end here for now.

Timeline: This is set in the short period between Tsunade's made Hokage and all the crap that happens with Sasuke leaving. Basically I have added in a month or so in that time period for this to take place.

Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Eccentric Acts

Tsunade stared at the young man before her, a silent communication proceeding between the two. His proposition was definitely a unique one, but if it succeeded then not only would the village prosper, but also her debts would be reduced dramatically. An eyebrow raised as the Hokage leaned back in her chair.

"You realize that I cannot provide jounins or even chuunins for this because of the length of time you will need. I can only offer the genins, so they may not fit your needs."

The man's brown eyes shimmered mischievously in the fading light of the sun. "I will decide that."

Tsunade couldn't help but smirk. Rich eccentrics always had the most interesting hobbies. She turned to the raven-haired woman beside her. "Shizune, have all the genin called here immediately."

"Right away, Tsunade-sama." Shizune gave a short half bow before leaving.

"It may take some time for them to find all our genin. We have twelve all together. I would offer their jounin sensei, but there is no telling if their talents will be needed. I hope that will be sufficient."

"Twelve you say. I may have to make a small change, but nothing that will hinder my goal. Tell me, how many are male and how many female?"

Tsunade thought for a moment, counting off the genin in her mind. Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, and Lee, though he may not be able to do it in his condition. Eight boys, so there should be four girls. Sakura, Hinata, Ino, and Tenten.

"Eight boys and four girls. One boy is injured though. I would not recommend he participate. It may also interest you to know two of them are related and have rather obvious physical similarities. Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata."

"Brother and sister?" the man asked intrigued.

"Cousins. Though you could mistake them for siblings just by appearance." And only appearance, Tsunade added mentally.

"That may indeed help, though I will not choose them only because of physical appearance. I must judge their personalities and skills as well."

Tsunade nodded. "Of course. Is there anything else you wish to know while we wait?"

"No, I just wish to see them and decide. If they work out I'm sure everyone will be happy."

Everyone but the genin perhaps, Tsunade thought, letting a slight laugh escape her.

They waited in silence for a half-hour before the first genin arrived. A light knock preceded the entrance of three genin, one leaning heavily on a crutch, and a jounin. The man immediately perked up and began sizing up each of the genin that entered.

The enthusiastic jounin leading them quickly smiled at the two seated. His green clad arms raised in excitement and praise as he headed for Tsunade's desk. "Hokage-sama!"

"Gai. I should have known you would be the first to arrive."

Gai turned and sent s shimmering smile back to his team. "Of course, we are always ready for anything you may need of . . ." Gai's voice trailed off as he saw the unnamed man standing in front of his students, studying them like pieces of meat.

The man's finger tapped against his lips as he looked Lee over: the green outfit, the amount of weight he placed on the crutch, his muscle tone, skin color, hair, eyebrows, and lastly his black, rounded eyes.

"You have a very unique appearance," the man commented, still staring into Lee's eyes. "Good, strong eyebrows."

Lee smiled his coolest, most agreeable smile. "Thank you, sir. I like them."

Tenten's mouth fell open as she heard the man's statement. Who had ever complimented Lee on his eyebrows before? Her reaction drew the mysterious man `s gaze to her, a rather hungry look in his eyes that made her slightly uneasy. She quickly closed her shocked mouth and composed herself.

He followed a similar pattern of examination he had with Lee, though she had to admit she was less confident with this man's intentions. His hands traced the length of her arms, though never touched, as if trying to determine how much muscle was under her skin. He followed the arm to her fingers and grabbed her left hand, turning it palm up so he could look at it. Within a moment a senbon was between her fingers and pressing against the man's throat.

"It is rude to touch a girl without her permission," she said coldly, pleased when he released her fingers from his grasp.

He didn't seem phased at all though, instead looking up to her smiling. "Such a wonderful attitude. You will do nicely."

She stepped back slight, confused by his reaction. She tried to reclaim her previous demeanor but kept the senbon in her hand, weaving it between her fingers. Satisfied, the man found his final victim, though this one's cold, lavender eyes betrayed none of his thoughts.

The man immediately took a liking to the boy. The obvious arrogance, the stoic façade, and eyes that a person could fall into content never to find their way out. "What is your name?"

"Hyuuga Neji," he answered indifferently. If the Hokage hadn't stopped this there was no real reason to be concerned.

"Hyuuga Neji?" the man repeated intrigued. "This may work out better than I imagined."

With that the man returned to his previous chair and smiled at Tsunade. "So far it seems we have a deal. Eyebrows cannot be used for the main part because of his injury, but I may still have use for him. As for the other two, there is no doubt I want them." He gazed back at the three genin with a childish maliciousness that betrayed his age.

Tenten, Neji, and Lee all exchanged a confused glance, which transferred to Gai, and finally all four looked to Tsunade. She merely smirked again. "I am afraid you will have to wait till the others arrive for an explanation."

Lee took the last chair in the room as the other three sat comfortably on the floor, each waiting for "the others" to arrive so they could understand the mission better. They only waited fifteen minutes or so before the next group entered . . . loudly.

"Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto cried happily as the three genin entered the room. He stopped halfway across the room as he spied Lee sitting in the chair before him. "Fuzzy Eyebrows!"

Lee laughed while Tenten and Neji simultaneously shook their heads. "Naruto-kun, I see you are well." Lee's gaze turned to the young pink-haired girl following Naruto in. "Hello, Sakura-san."

She smiled to him. "How are you feeling, Lee-san?"

Lee's wrapped hand thrust forward in a powerful thumbs-up. "How could I not feel good in the springtime of my youth?"

Once again in perfect sync, Tenten and Neji moved a few feet away from Gai, whose fist was held in front of his tear streaked face. "Nice, Lee."

Being the last to enter, Sasuke was the first to notice the strange man quickly standing and heading for Sakura. "Who is that?" he asked as the man took Sakura's arm and held it out for examination.

"What are you doing!" Sakura cried pulling back and cradling the touched arm as if it was irreparably injured.

Tsunade held a hand up to get their attention. "It is alright. Please just let him do what he needs to. He is the client and must choose carefully."

"Yes, so stand still little girl," the man commanded sternly, reclaiming the lost arm and watching the way it moved as he manually bent it.

Little Girl! Inner Sakura screamed as she was forced to stand there with the man checking her hair, eyes, even teeth. What am I, a dog!

At the wall, Tenten couldn't help but laugh under her breath. After that little display she now saw his reaction to her as a compliment.

"She just won't do!" the man screamed. "Perhaps later on, but definitely not what I need throughout. I hope the other two girls are better than she is. The tomboy over there only has one use, and she is lucky I need a masculine woman."

Masculine woman! Tenten's laughter immediately died as she brought out a second senbon to weave between her fingers. A deep scowl crossed her face as Sakura was shooed over towards them, the pink haired girl looking no happier than Tenten herself.

The man, ignoring all the reactions from his candidates proceeded onto the two boys, looking to Naruto first. He pulled at Naruto's hair so as to inspect the color more closely but was quickly pushed away.

"What did you do that for?" Naruto yelled as he scratched at the place the man had yanked.

That maliciousness returned to the man's darkening eyes. "It is an intriguing color. I wanted a better look."

"Well, you can look all you want from there." Naruto glanced over at Tsunade questioning, but received no explanation.

The man had already approached Sasuke and received a crimson glare that dared the man to try and touch him. The man stopped, but only to smile brightly as he had with Neji. "Yes, you will do very well."

Naruto stared insulted. "You're not going to pull his hair out or stare at every inch of his body like you did with me and Sakura-chan!"

"You may be of use, for that I am unsure, but this boy has exactly what I need. As for the girl, she is obviously less than admirable when it come to feminine appeal, and completely useless except for a minor part of my goal."

Sakura jumped up. "What do you mean less than admirable in feminine appeal!"

"Obviously he is looking for a real woman's charms," a sultry voice from the door answered. The young blonde sauntered into the room, one hand flipping at the back of her short ponytail, the other firmly on her hip just below the hem of her purple shirt.

Sakura was about to respond when the man pointed to the wall. "Go over there I have none but little use for you." He turned to Tsunade. "I hope this Hinata is better than these girls, otherwise the deal is off."

"What! How dare you . . ." Ino was cut off by the man's face just inches from hers.

"Sit down and shut up."

A slightly shocked and highly dejected Ino pounded over to the wall where two sneering girls sat. They at least had been looked at before being rejected. Naruto once again tried to get answers from Tsunade as Sasuke went to join the others along the wall and the man went to work on Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Tsunade-baachan, what kind of mission is this?"

"And why does it require all the genin?" Neji added from his spot, now a good distance from the three fuming girls.

"Oh, he is smart too," the man whistled in a high falsetto voice. "I knew he would be perfect." As if no one else were in the room the man returned to his inspection of the two remaining boys. "You two will be fine for later on. Go and sit down."

With that done the man returned to his chair and seemed to lose himself in thought. All nine genin and the one jounin stared the man in confusion.

"You will just have to wait until the last three arrive," Tsunade said to the previous questions. "There is no point in explaining things if we cannot come to an agreement."

Naruto sat down in the middle of the floor in front of Lee while each person followed the man's example of releasing themselves to their thoughts. Scowls turned to burning rage as the three girls glared at the oblivious man. Tenten merely annoyed to be called masculine, while Ino and Sakura wanted to know exactly what he considered feminine if they were not it. Both girls conceded to the fact that they would never find out, since if they couldn't pass for this ideal woman he wanted then Hinata surely wouldn't.

It was another twenty minutes before the door opened once last time. Everyone's eyes perked up as Shizune entered, followed by Kiba, Shino, Kurenai, and lastly Hinata. Ino and Sakura smirked malevolently as they watched the man's eyes lock on Hinata with what looked to be disappointment. Everyone was silent as the man slipped across the room with a fluid, watery stride. Completely ignoring the first four he blocked Hinata's path and with two fingers gently lifted her chin. She leaned back slightly but didn't not enough to make him let go.

"What is your name?" he asked surprisingly seriously, as if everything depended on her name.

"Hyuuga . . . Hinata," she said quietly.

Both Ino and Sakura leaned forward to watch as he flared about screaming how this deal was off. The man's eyes buried deeply into her own, a gaze from which she didn't look away from, though neither did she fight it.

"She's perfect!" the man squealed, grabbing her hands and shaking them up and down happily. "She is absolutely adorable, and quiet, not over bearing, obnoxious, or self-righteous like the others. Oh, oh, I really shouldn't make my decision to hastily." He leaned down smiling at her as if his entire world had been saved.

"Hinata-chan," he giggled, "I need you to do something for me. I need you to look at me with complete determination. Think as if you have nothing left to live for except for one thing, and nothing will stop you from doing that. Can you do that, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata's confused and nervous glance passed over the room to Tsunade, hoping for an explanation but receiving only a nod for her to do as he said. Her eyes lowered as a crimson blush crept along her cheeks, proof of her embarrassment for all the attention she was receiving.

A small whimper emanated from the man's throat. "Hinata-chan?"

The two girls snickered from their seats while Tenten and the rest of the boys just watched in uncertainty, what kind of man was this client?

Slowly, Hinata raised her head, cold, harsh eyes completely unnatural for such a kind person locking onto the man's earthy gaze. Her demanding expression only served to produce more squeals of delight from the man who quickly spun in place, his black hair floating about his face.

"Tsunade-sama, I love her. Can I keep her? She is just so perfect! And it works so well, Hinata-chan the lovely princess forced into an unwanted marriage by Neji-kun, her father and king. Their resemblance just makes it more believable."

All of them were speechless as Hinata's face burned a bright crimson, and Neji was lost in a rare state of visible shock. The man continued, ignorant of the confused looks permanently frozen on his cast.

He stood up straight and sighed cheerfully. "Yes, you will work nicely. We start rehearsals in two days, scripts will be sent to you all. I need all of you to make sure to arrive for measurements tomorrow. The costumes will all be made to specially fit and highlight all of your natural traits. Since that is all you need till rehearsals, I shall see you then. Make sure to have studied your scripts by then, I will not be delayed because of laziness."

Without another word the man strolled out leaving the room at a complete loss. All eyes slowly turned to Tsunade who had a sadistic smile on her face.

What the hell was that! Who was that! He called me unfeminine! Is there nothing more important than this? Who gave him the right to just boss us around like that! A play! Why do we have to do it!

Tsunade raised her hand to command and receive silence. Her expression turned serious as she faced the frantic genin, all confused and furious. "That man is one of the noblemen of the Fire Country. He is a tad eccentric, but also very wealthy. He has offered a substantial payment for the chance to put on this production."

Naruto glared at her un-surprised. "I should have know it had to do with money."

"His name," she continued, ignoring Naruto's comment, "is Kanegae Nanashi and I expect you each to follow his orders. This will be dealt with just as if it were a normal mission. He has hired you all to be actor in his play and you will do as he says. Is that clear?"

There were a number of mumbles and grunts but no one objected again.

"Good. Now, for your fittings go to the Academy, two rooms are being set aside for use. Scripts will be delivered by tonight, and I expect all of you to learn your lines quickly. Also, there will be a number of fight scenes in this play. The reason he chose to hire us was so that he would have the most realistic battle scenes possible. So anyone cast as a guard, warrior, or shinobi, I suggest you train."

-------------

Later that evening messengers west sent to each of the genin with the scripts for each part. One arrived at the Hyuuga compound carrying two large, sealed envelopes labled: Hyuuga Hinata (Princess Takehiko), Hyuuga Neji (King Daichi). Going to the main house first he delivered the first to Hinata.

The young girl opened it rather reluctantly and began reading as she returned to her room. As she continued to read the opening scene she suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway. Her face flamed to new shades of scarlet fire previously unknown to mankind as she bolted to her room. Her door slammed closed and Hinata held the script tightly across her chest afraid someone may have seen what it said.

The messenger hurried to deliver the second envelope to Neji, only to quickly depart back for new orders. Neji opened the envelope without hesitation. They were forced to do this stupid play no matter what, there was no point complaining about it now.

His pale eyes flickered with only mild shock as Neji worked to control his true reaction.

The play opens in Princess Takehiko's bedroom. King Daichi bursts in to find his daughter, Takehiko, in bed with Prince Nibori of the Izu Country.

While he suddenly felt very sorry for Hinata, Neji couldn't help but wonder who would be playing Nibori, and what exactly the eccentric man meant by "in bed."