Roles

One good thing about being dead was missing out on rehearsals.  Unlike other actors who hated sitting in the makeup chair, Neji found it to his liking.  The makeup artist, Shinju was finishing with his face while they waited for the rubber body molds to arrive from special effects for the injuries.

Shinju was listening to her ipod while air-brushing on bruises and applying red paint for the blood, but Neji zoned out and ran through his schedule for the evening.  His agent wanted a meeting at two for a late lunch before reviewing the new fragrance line he was going to sponsor, and after that a dinner meeting with a few designer sunglass reps to bid on which brand he was going to model for.

"If only life were as simple as an adventure story." he mused to himself.

"Don't talk, the makeup isn't set around your mouth yet." Shinju scolded him by rapping his scalp with her knuckles.

"A lot of hassle to go through for a dead guy."  Kiba's voice was all too familiar.  In the mirror's reflection Neji noticed Shinju's glance bearing heat at the younger actor.  "Just wanted to see how you were doing.  I was thinking about getting some payback to the pranks you and Chouji pulled on me when I was in makeup for that Sakon/Ukon fight, but I decided that would be unprofessional."

Talking through his teeth to minimize moving his mouth, "Yes, because you are the hallmark of professionalism."

"Not bad buddy, not bad at all."  Moving to the side when the special effects guys came in, Kiba took a seat and laughed.  "Well we finished up the other scenes this morning so I'm headed out early.  There's too much noise around the set, Akamaru was restless so we're going to the park with a few of the extras for some frisbee.  I'll call you later about the Saturday night game, peace."

It was all so easy for Kiba.  Use his fame to start a line of high end sports equipment and he was set for life at 17, no thoughts for his craft though.  Still, Neji wondered about his performance.  While he was happy with his character's death scene, his agent certainly wasn't.  Performance and business are the dual sides of entertainment.  As Shinju finished her makeup and the special effects guys started applying adhesive for the vest, Neji sighed at some of the ridiculous things actors have to put up with.  Of course that humped suit he wore when he had played Richard III was much the same in most respects.

The next hour was a daze, waiting for the glues to dry, getting into position, waiting for the director to get everyone back in the scene.  Thankfully Madara was an old school theater director himself; he had a way of making all the other actors comfortable when the director got in over his head, which was especially useful with all the war scenes the cast was involved in.  Thankfully they were in a soundstage for these scenes.  Neji remembered all too well shooting the fight with Kidomaru in an actual forest, CGI spiders were not the menace of that fight, but wood lice.  

Still, these scenes were hard on Neji.  Thinking back on the years he had been a part of the cast, a lot of talent had been involved in this show.  Hashirama was everyone's funny grandfather, but a master of the craft.  He had even gotten Neji his first stage audition, though Shikamaru won that role it was a great experience.

While Naruto looked a little silly wearing that lime-green cape, the early CGI still of how it would look with effects were impressive.  The writing wasn't always the best on this show, but the animators always had something up their sleeves.

Eventually the Director called for scene twelve, which meant it was Team Gai's reaction scene.  Embracing the stillness he had been coached in when playing a dead role, Neji did his best to not react to Lee clutching his body and weeping.  Before "action" was said, Lee was still going over his line from rehearsal.  He always too his parts too seriously, despite his comical side.  Guest Hosting a reality game show had made him a household name, but despite his relative fame he was always the same humble, hard-worker he had always been.

"NEJI!"  Lee blurted out; despite himself Neji couldn't help but laugh at his friend.

"Cut.  You're dead Neji, try it again Lee."

"Sorry."

"Neji," Gai interjected, "here's a tip.  Imagine you are waiting on a phone call from the most intimidating person you know.  If that doesn't keep you quiet, I don't know what will."

Sure enough, the tip worked.  Neji remembered the day he had waited on a phone call from Studio Ghibli in consideration for voice work, though he had lost that part as well he had lost all sense of humor that day.

Yet it was not the memory of that experience that quieted him down, rather it was the look on Tenten's face.  There was something so sad.

The director called for quiet and action and the scene went off without a hitch.  "Cut, take five people."  Everyone else went their own ways, except for Tenten who took a seat next to Neji on the ground.

"Hey Neji."  She said with a hint of reverence in her voice.

"What is it Ten?"  Neji wanted to ask more, but was uncertain about how to ask what he was thinking.  "Your performance…"

"What about it?"  She sounded distant.

"Well, you called out Lee's name, and then you just stood there while Gai, Kakashi and Naruto delivered their speeches.  Being on the ground and out of camera shot I was able to have a different view of things.  Lee was crying, but you weren't."

To say that her silence spoke volumes would be an understatement.  Tenten held her hands together but her expression did not change.  "I've always been a more physical actor than an emotional one.  In rehearsal I tried doing an emotional response a couple of times: crying, tears, hard breathing… none of them felt natural.  I have a friend whose husband was declared MIA in war a couple of years back and when I first visited her I was surprised to find that she was not sad in a traditional sense."

"Go on."  Neji encouraged her, genuinely interested, not just in the story but her responses.

"Well, I think the best way to describe her was that she was… empty.  She had lost something inside.  But that isn't easy to act, so I thought of how I would feel if… if you had died."

"Everyone reacts differently Tenten.  Really I'm glad you decided to channel that feeling, shows great character for the moment.  I'm really a fan of silence, the power it can bring a performance."

"Clear out!  Everyone clear out.   We're resetting the set to Konoha because Mr. Uchiha is arriving in an hour and will only be available to shoot then."  A stagehand announced over the loudspeaker, sounding very irritated.

"Uh," Tenten was clearly flustered, "I guess that makes us done for the day.  We'll have to reshoot this scene tomorrow when we get the set back."

"Say Ten." Neji put a hand on her shoulder as he reached into his pocket to grab his cell.  Shaking his head, he sent a quick text to his agent to reschedule the appointments for some other time.  Turning back to her, "If you're free, would you want to hang out today?  Just the two of us.  I'd like to talk to you more about your performance if that's alright."

"Just my performance?" She said, smiling.

"How about we start there and see where our conversation takes us?"

"I'd like that."