...That was not a good look to have about the Hokage, Shisui. Stop having that look, particularly over something like saying she was 'too pretty' to be nondescript. If it was an honest opinion, there wasn't really a reason to be irritated. There were worse honest opinions of her.
As for his, or what was apparently his, she remained quiet while he spoke. Which was a different sort of quiet than she might normally have been. And perhaps, the tone of voice he used--one she was well trained on focusing on and listening to when her mind was still chaos and tatters from genjutsu she either couldn't counter or that took its toll on her even when she did--prevented her from immediately speaking up an objection that he, too, would call her arrogant. Of all things.
...It was an uncomfortable and confusing position to be in, too soft and...human for her experience and preference. Her closest friends operated with their own walls, Shino and Ino both had facades that she met or copied when she was with them. She was sure that he was using some sort of mask himself, one meant to make her listen to and believe him, but it was so strange that she...wasn't sure how to react.
Her expression was, necessarily, a softer and more open form of confusion and uncertainty than she'd normally display at someone using the sort of words he did (or the brief physical contact, that she ended up staring down at her arm for several moments afterward in an attempt to process and calculate). Ultimately, she still returned her gaze back to his in the hope of determining the appropriate response (what he wanted out of her, or what she felt was the best response to it), rather than continue to look away from him and be further confused.
Eventually, she did turn her gaze back to her hands, entirely uncertain of what would be an appropriate answer. He sounded...sincere about his belief in her ability to be a jounin. And she trusted him. She trusted him implicitly, which meant he couldn't be lying. And normally...that meant she should believe him.
He couldn't really be right, though. About the Hokage, perhaps, but...it wasn't like she was wrong about what others saw when they looked at her. In basic genjutsu lessons she knew full well he'd seen what others thought of her. It was the most natural thing to attack first, and thus an early thing that a genjutsu teacher would have seen.
To them...to her, she...wasn't. She was not all that. It wasn't a false view. That was...
It wasn't wrong. Haruno are nothing. Haruno is just a failure.
"It's not like she deserves to be here anyway."
She grit her teeth, bit her cheek, and shook her head sharply. What other people thought about her...why were the Hokage and he so determined to make her care? If she earned her way to being a shinobi on her own, then it didn't matter if anyone else agreed. Why did they think she needed to be convinced that anyone else agreed?
It didn't make sense at all.
She spoke softly, much as he did, but her voice was...really so quiet if he heard her it would only be because they sat so close to each other at the moment. "...You're not...right...."
You don't see this, I just realized I broke the icon keyword 8|
As for his, or what was apparently his, she remained quiet while he spoke. Which was a different sort of quiet than she might normally have been. And perhaps, the tone of voice he used--one she was well trained on focusing on and listening to when her mind was still chaos and tatters from genjutsu she either couldn't counter or that took its toll on her even when she did--prevented her from immediately speaking up an objection that he, too, would call her arrogant. Of all things.
...It was an uncomfortable and confusing position to be in, too soft and...human for her experience and preference. Her closest friends operated with their own walls, Shino and Ino both had facades that she met or copied when she was with them. She was sure that he was using some sort of mask himself, one meant to make her listen to and believe him, but it was so strange that she...wasn't sure how to react.
Her expression was, necessarily, a softer and more open form of confusion and uncertainty than she'd normally display at someone using the sort of words he did (or the brief physical contact, that she ended up staring down at her arm for several moments afterward in an attempt to process and calculate). Ultimately, she still returned her gaze back to his in the hope of determining the appropriate response (what he wanted out of her, or what she felt was the best response to it), rather than continue to look away from him and be further confused.
Eventually, she did turn her gaze back to her hands, entirely uncertain of what would be an appropriate answer. He sounded...sincere about his belief in her ability to be a jounin. And she trusted him. She trusted him implicitly, which meant he couldn't be lying. And normally...that meant she should believe him.
He couldn't really be right, though. About the Hokage, perhaps, but...it wasn't like she was wrong about what others saw when they looked at her. In basic genjutsu lessons she knew full well he'd seen what others thought of her. It was the most natural thing to attack first, and thus an early thing that a genjutsu teacher would have seen.
To them...to her, she...wasn't. She was not all that. It wasn't a false view. That was...
It wasn't wrong. Haruno are nothing. Haruno is just a failure.
"It's not like she deserves to be here anyway."
She grit her teeth, bit her cheek, and shook her head sharply. What other people thought about her...why were the Hokage and he so determined to make her care? If she earned her way to being a shinobi on her own, then it didn't matter if anyone else agreed. Why did they think she needed to be convinced that anyone else agreed?
It didn't make sense at all.
She spoke softly, much as he did, but her voice was...really so quiet if he heard her it would only be because they sat so close to each other at the moment. "...You're not...right...."