Long time no see! I'm sorry for the utter lack of anything from me in a very long time. It's been a busy and troublesome year. Currently, my computer is dead, so I bring you this from my housemate's computer, which I can't abuse too much. As result I can't say how long the wait will be for the next update, but please be patient, I haven't forgotten about any of my stories!

I know this really isn't anywhere near as good as should be and I tossed around the idea of a papermache runners up trophy and such, but well, it seemed too silly. If that's even possible for me.

But, well, do try to enjoy.

-Jac

Playing with Naru-chan: Jenga Master

The lights dimmed suddenly, flickering sporadically as the rain banged noisily on the roof and lightning flashed with a thunderous roar outside the windows. Naru grit his teeth, his dark blue eyes narrowing dangerously as he focused on his unexpected opponent in the fluctuating light. He hated to admit it, but the situation was bad; one false move and he was going to be in serious trouble. It had been a tough battle thus far, control of the situation wavering between him and his adversary making it difficult to predict the outcome. The swift reactions of his opponent were a force to be reckoned with, he suspected they were the result of harsh daily training. Training he had never before under gone.

Flashes sprung to mind of the reactions the others would have if he failed here. He didn't think he could stand it –Mai would never let him live it down and the thought of her (or anyone's for that matter) taunts were intolerable. It was an outcome that must be thwarted at all costs! He could not fail.

Frowning with concentration, he studied the wooden tower of blocks, analyzing its structure and trying to find the ideal move. It couldn't simply be the easiest move; that would be a cop out. He had to find one with the right degree of difficulty. It had to be a challenge. Most of all he had to one up the opponent. Naru glanced over the wobbly tower of blocks at the calm old man seated opposite him. His mild smile grated on his nerves. It was as if the old man new everything he was about to do, like he was already a hundred moves ahead and nothing Naru did would catch him off guard.

Mentally muttering he reached for a block near the bottom and with a steady hand withdrew it from the tower. The blocks wobbled dangerously for a moment as though upset by the thunder roaring outside, before steadying enough for him to place the block on the top with an air of ease. The infuriating thing was that as soon as he did the old man, hands shaking, swooped in and seized a block seemingly at random. Naru scowled as he retrieved the block and plopped it on top, the tower shaking as he went and yet staying miraculously upright.

There was a muffled laugh to the left and Naru forced himself to turn the scowl from his opponent to the spectators. Yasuhara was wearing an almost identical smile to the old man, the monk was sitting back, his hand behind his head and a bright grin on his face and Mai was crossed legged on the floor humming innocently as she looked away from him. He glared at the girl, blaming her entirely for his current situation. It was she who had accused him of being incapable of playing games when he had first rejected the challenge to a match. It was she who had practically torn his pride to shreds as she continued to harass him about it. And it was she, Mai, who had succeeded in getting him to willingly accept the match of jenga with the client's shaky, wrinkled, infuriatingly mild, grandparent.

And now he was losing and she was laughing at him, curse her.

Feeling very much misused, he didn't think about his next move as much as he should. He didn't consider the pros and cons and just seized the nearest block, pulling it from the tower jerkily so that it shook and wobbled twisted with the sudden movement. He glared at the blocks, willing them to be still, and placed the block on the top just as roughly.

There was a low whistle from the monk, either at the fact that it was a lucky shot, or at the fact Naru had finally lost his temper after half an hour. Either was entirely valid. Naru smirked in all his smugness, fully confident in his skill.

But the tower still wobbled under the flickering light. Yasuhara coughed politely in an attempt to get their attention on the tower as the twisting structure shook dangerously and then, as if in time to the rattling of the wind outside, it leaned to the right and seemed to slide over and topple to the floor accompanied by and almighty flash of lightening and clap of thunder. Naru stared in horror, all traces of the smirk wiped clean off his face.

The old man grinned, his false teeth almost falling from his mouth. The Monk laughed loudly, saying something that just couldn't be made out through the guffaws and Yasuhara suddenly whipped out a camera and started snapping pictures of the scene, claiming that this needed to be recorded for future generations.

Naru continued to stare in shock. He'd lost. Lost….Lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, lost! It was unheard of. He didn't just lose. He didn't! And yet he had. He'd allowed himself to be bested by an old man, an old shaky man at that. There was no consoling himself for this. It had been entirely his own fault.

He jerked as a hand was suddenly patting his shoulder. Looking over he saw that Mai was crouched next to him, looking sympathetic. He gave her a blank stare. "There, there Naru-chan," she said, continuing to pat his shoulder, "It's alright, not everybody can be a jenga master." Naru scowled at her and made to shake her off, but she took a firm hold of his shoulder and continued. "Maybe next time we should start you off on something less complicated," she pondered this a moment before saying, "snap maybe? But that might be a bit too fast paced for you, eh." She continued to smile cheerfully as she went on, debating the pros and cons of snap as Yasuhara got up close and personal with the camera, being sure to get as many shots as possible. Naru scowled at them, upset and angry. He was a very, very sore loser.