Chapter 3 - Light

With us this morning, for this very special New Year's Day post is the Walrus (he doesn't live on this site, so don't bother trying to look him up.His main function is to eat any food that we can't. He also likes tea). Pea believes in Ricadonna. The Meeg isn't impartial to vodka, which is the name of an exchange student from Russia, apparently. The Meeg likes to watch the sunlight glinting off his manly stubble. On his legs.



A Happy New Year and aurr aurr to you all.


Our New Year's Present to you all. We thought it rather fitting.



Chapter the Third: Light - Neji




Too bright. The morning light is a terrible thing when you've three-hundred and sixty degree x-ray vision. And a hang over that could knock over an elephant. Life is a bastard. No, alcohol is a bastard. Never again, Neji promised himself. He lay face down on - a couch? Must be - his face buried into the cushions. Not because it was helping, but because he was sure he was going to throw up if he moved. Someone, he noticed, had very considerately set a bucket and towel next to the couch.


"Shut. The. Curtains," he growled. Or tried to growl. His vocal cords felt as though they'd been lubricated with acid, and its hard to sound threatening when your voice is only just above a whisper.


"But it's a beautiful morning," said someone. He didn't care who.His head hurt too much.


"I hate you both."


"No you don't. Who else would bring you back to their place, let you kip on their couch, throw up on their carpet and make a giant mess of the bathroom?" A pause. "You owe me new shoes too. Nice ones."


Memories of the night before were creeping through his rather abused brain.He wished they wouldn't.

More importantly, he'd just realised that this wasn't his house. This wasn't his couch, and it wasn't his carpet he'd thrown up on.Oh. Crap.


"Never fear, Neji!" someone said. Far too loudly. "Master Gai once told me of a hangover remedy! You need - well, we'll have to find a dog and get it to bite you first - and a pepper and -"


"Lee. I don't care. Stop talking."


"I'll make you some bacon and eggs. You need protein." He heard a fist smacking into the palm of an open hand. "Maybe if you eat a hundred pieces of bacon -!"

"Lee!" he surged up off the couch and immediately regretted it.Tenten thrust the bucket into his hands and grabbed the back of his head,forcing it down into the bucket. Tenten patted his back, holding the bucket at arm's length and averting her face. Not because she wanted to, but because she knew someone had to.


"Get it all out," she said, not as sympathetically as he'd have liked.


He sat back down a minute later, throttling Lee the last thing on his mind.That is, until the smell of bacon began to waft in from the kitchen. Turning his stomach. He considered putting the blanket over his head to block the light and smell, but he noticed it had a motif of little duckies. He gave Tenten alook.


"It was the only spare blanket I had," she said. She folded her arms. "We could have left you on the street when you passed out, covered in goodness-knows-what. Lee had to shower you, you know," she added."You can't tell now, because he's tough, but he was traumatised. He's going to need therapy. Lots of it."


They both turned to look into the kitchen. Lee turned and waved cheerily.Neji felt slightly traumatised himself.


There was a knock at the door. To Neji, it felt as though someone had driven a nail into his skull. Twice. Tenten opened the door, letting more of that light - horrible, burning light - into the room. Kiba came in with it.


"Hinata asked me to help her find you. You're in a lot of trouble," he announced. (Neji ground his teeth. Why hadn't he noticed how loudlyKiba did everything before?) "Your uncle's looking for you. Hinata covered for you, but I don't think he bought it." He stopped behind the couch and leaned against it, waved his hands flippantly. Neji could have sworn he heard the air move. Damned Kiba. "Something about ... bunnies. I don't know where she went with that, but I don't think your uncle was impressed." He grinned nastily, showing more fang than was seemly. "You'll never live it down." He eyeballed Neji, his chin resting on one balled fist. "Wow.How the mighty have fallen. You look worse than Lee after the New Year's party.Oh," he glanced toward the kitchen. "Hi Lee."


Neji jerked to his feet, nearly upending his bucket over Akamaru and lurched toward the door. He'd rather brave the daylight and face whatever he'd done last night than listen to Kiba any longer. He heard footsteps, Lee's, patter after him down the hall.


"Wait! Eat something before you go."
He sighed, stopped, turned around and glared at the frying pan Lee held. He took a piece, a very small piece, to humour him and forced a smile. A sour smile, but it seemed to be good enough for Lee, who beamed back.


"Look," Neji went to run his hand through his hair, but thought better of it. Apparently his teammates didn't care quite enough to hold his hair back while he was being sick. Instead, he rubbed his temples and squinted against the blinding (to him, anyway) light outside the house. "I'm...sorry about last night." He turned on his heel and stalked off before Lee could say anything.


Lee stood staring after him, a rasher of bacon slipping out over the edge of the frying pan. Kiba and Tenten wandered up behind him.


"What the hell was that about?" Kiba asked.


"Oh, I told Neji that Lee gave him a shower while he was drunk last night." Tenten caught the bacon before it hit the ground and chewed carefully. Lee stared at her in horror.


"You what?"




Apologies to all Russians. This is not a test. It's an exam. You are being graded.

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