The Chronicles of
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Chapter 1 Three years after the attack on The Hidden Leaf Village..."Hey, Neji?" Tenten began as she and Neji were heading back to the training ground from visiting their team member Rock Lee, who was in the hospital and suffering from serious injuries sustained from their last mission. Despite Lee's good humour, Lady Tsunade was getting fed up; this was the third mission in six months that Lee managed to do serious damage to himself due to his reckless fighting in battle. As she continually pointed to him, the battle couldn't have been that intense or dangerous if both of his team mates always managed to come out with barely a scratch on them. Neji himself was also fed up because during the times that Lee spent in the hospital, their sensei, Might Gai, refused to send Team Gai on any missions without their comrade.
"What is it, Tenten?" He answered rather harshly. Tenten, who was taken aback, blushed and looked down. She had sensed all day that Neji was acting a bit unusual, but she wasn't expecting him to snap at her the way he did just now.
"Oh...nothing," she said in a low voice, avoiding his eyes, "I was just wondering... what you thought of Lee's condition...I mean, like... do you think he's improving?"
Neji immediately felt terrible for raising his voice at Tenten. He hadn't been doing much of his meditation lately and he was going through a tough time at home. Out of all the girls in the Hidden Leaf Village, he respected Tenten the most and he certainly didn't mean to be harsh with her. She was one of the best gennine he knew and was the only kunoichi he trained with; he didn't even train with his Sensei or Lee as much as Tenten, because her moves were always accurate. In the time that Neji came to know her, she never missed her target! More important, she wasn't loud and annoying like some of the other gennine-level-kunoichi he knew, more specifically a certain loud mouthed, obnoxious blonde on Shikamaru's team.
"I'm sorry, Tenten; I didn't mean to yell at you. And, yes, Lee does seem to be doing a lot better these days." Tenten brightened and Neji felt relieved.
"I think so too." They walked in silence for a while before Tenten spoke again.
"Hey, Neji?"
"Yes?"
"I noticed that you've been a bit down these last few weeks, ever since your mom started dating what's-his-face." Neji smiled to himself at the name Tenten used to refer to his mother's current boyfriend. "Are you sure everything's all right? Wait, I know! Why don't we go and have lunch together? My cousin's working at that new cafe house now, Rengiku's, and I'm sure she can get us a good discount." Tenten said, already heading in that direction.
"I can't. Mother told me to get home as soon as my hospital visit was over."
"C'mon, we won't be long. And I really think you should talk to someone, Neji." said Tenten, pulling him along with her. At the touch of her hand, Neji felt his stomach do a summersault. "Besides, I'll buy." Tenten pressed. Neji put his other hand to her wrist and stopped.
"I'm sorry Tenten, really, but I have to get home early today. We'll talk some other time." Neji said quickly and he left, leaving Tenten standing alone on the pathway.
She sighed to herself. She should have expected this reaction from Neji. After all, he reacted this way each time she brought up doing something that would give even the slightest hint that they were more than just team members. Sure she was practically the only person he trained with, every single day, and quite early in the morning at that, but he never let their relationship get personal.
With her shoulders slumped slightly and a defeated expression on her face, Tenten slowly made her way the apartment where she lived alone. Though they were team mates, neither Neji nor Lee knew that Tenten was an orphan, partly because they never asked about her personal life and she never bothered to volunteer that information. Only her Sensei, Mite Gai, knew about her deceased parents and that was because he'd both attended their double funeral and as her Sensei, it was a requirement that he knew information about her parents. Tenten couldn't help but feel a little down at the thought of spending yet another night sharpening kunai knives or eating a bowl of instant ramen in the aching loneliness of her apartment.
A few feet away from his clan's settlement, hidden in the trees in the forest, Neji leaned back against a tree, trying to catch his breath. What's wrong with me lately, Neji thought to himself, every time she just touches me, my heart starts pounding like crazy. Neji constantly thought about the growing attraction between him and Tenten and even though he appreciated her concern for him, Neji was someone who preferred to deal with his problems on his own.
Neji straightened up when he heard someone calling his name and turned towards the settlement of The Hyuuga Clan. He closed his eyes and did a few hand signs.
"Byakugan!" he shouted, activating one of the special abilities passed down through members of his clan. The Byakugan enabled Neji to see over long distances, among other things, and he saw his mother outside his house, calling for him. With a low groan, Neji disabled his Byakugan and headed home. Neji was really starting to dread going home. After 11 years since his father's death, his mother had finally started dating. Usually, Neji probably would've been happy for her, because she had been very depressed after the passing of his father. But Neji didn't like the man that his mother was dating; his skin crawled every time he got near him. His name was Tetsuya Aronabi, and he was always over and attended dinner at their house with increasing frequency, which Neji was always expected to attend.
As Neji walked down the street, lots of people greeted him, which he politely returned with a slight nod. It was no secret that Neji was thought to be the most gifted Ninja to ever emerge from the Hyuuga Clan; which was saying something because the Hyuuga Clan was thought to be one the most formidable Clans in Konoha, if not the world. However, many people thought that Neji had been cheated of his destiny because he had been born in the lower and not the main branch of the family, which meant that Neji could never, one day, rule the Clan.
As Neji approached his home, he spotted his mother standing outside looking for him. He felt his heart sink when his mother locked eyes with him.
"There you are Neji, we've been waiting for you for over an hour." she said in a sort of drawling voice.
"I had some important things to do around town." he replied.
"Oh? And this isn't important, Neji?" his mother asked.
"Not as important as visiting Lee in the hospital."
"I thought you despised Lee, aren't you two rivals?"
"Just because we're rivals, doesn't mean that I despise him. Besides, he's my teammate and-"
"All right, all right, just hurry up and wash up for dinner." Neji scowled at his mother's indifference and went inside the house. He took an unnecessarily long bath and took a great time getting dressed; he was in no rush to sit through another dinner like the one he had witnessed last night with his mother and Tetsuya holding hands and staring goggle-eyed at each other. He spent quite some time brushing his long black hair and then finally, and very slowly, he dragged himself down to dinner after hearing his mother's impatient voice calling him.
"There you are, Neji." Declared his mother as he finally entered the dining room. "For goodness sake, did you really need an hour to get dressed for dinner?"
"Didn't you say that it was important, mother? I simply wanted to make sure that I met your approval." Neji's mother glared at him but remained silent as Tetsuya's mother came with the last bit of food for the table.
"Humph, I see that you're joining us again, Tetsuya." Neji said with reproach.
"Well, yes." Replied Tetsuya, reaching his hand across the table and placing it atop Neji's mothers, who smiled. "I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the evening than with Kairi here."
"Well, if you really couldn't imagine a better way to spend the evening," Neji replied smugly, "you should have come to me. I would've advised you to go work on your tai-jutsu. I've seen it and I must say, it could use a lot work."
"Neji Hyuuga-!"
"I'm just offering him some well needed advice, mother."
"Well I assure you, Neji, that I can do fine without your advice, and its high time that you learned to have respect for those in authority." Said Tetsuya. At this Neji flared up.
"You most certainly are not in authority of me, and I'll show you respect when you damn near show me that you deserve respect!"
"That is it! You are grounded, Neji. You are to go to your room without dinner, and stay there until further notice!" Neji jumped from his seat.
"Good luck in trying to get me to go up there and staythere, mother dearest!" Neji stormed out of the house, ignoring his mothers shouting that he was to return to the house or else.
It was rather dark outside now, but Neji didn't care; he started walking. He wasn't sure where he wanted to go exactly but his feet seemed to decide that for him. He soon found himself heading in the direction of the main household of the Hyuuga Clan. For many years, Neji had been at odds with the main household, assuming that they, or rather his uncle Hiashi, had had a part in the death of his father. But during the Chunnine exams, his uncle gave him a letter that his father had written the day of his death and had left for Neji.
It turns out that Hisashi, his father, had not been selected for execution by the main household, but had willing sacrificed himself for the sake of the Hyuuga Clan and the life of his twin brother. Since then, Neji and his uncle had grown very close, and Neji often found that he could come to him in his time of need. Apparently now was one of those times.
Neji walked up the wide entryway to the house and knocked. A withered looking man immediately opened the door.
"I'm so sorry but Lord Hyuuga and his family are currently having dinner and-" the man stopped short when he recognized Neji and immediately bobbed a curtsy and started apologizing.
"It's all right sir, really," Neji said, as the man still had not finished apologizing, "I would like to see my uncle, though, if you would be so kind?"
"Oh, certainly, young master Hyuuga, this way." He said, stepping back to allow Neji entry and led him down the hall. "They've only just started so I'm sure there's quite enough food if you wish for a bite yourself…" the man drifted off as they reached the dining room.
"Ahem." All conversation stopped and everyone glanced in Neji's direction. "So sorry to disrupt your evening meal, but-"
"Neji, my boy, do come and sit down!" shouted his uncle, and he started ushering the servants to bring extra plates for Neji.
"Thank you, uncle." Said Neji. He made his way across the room and took a seat next to his cousin, Hinata. "It's great to see you again, Hinata. I trust you're well?"
"Oh…yes, thank you." Hinata smiled shyly and quietly continued her meal. Neji felt guilty about Hinata's delicate heart condition; after all, it was because of him that her heart now existed in such a state. During the preliminaries for the Chunnine exams, Neji and Hinata were randomly chosen as opponents. Back then, a rift still existed between the main and lower branches of the Clan and Neji was absolutely ruthless against Hinata, his quiet and peace-loving cousin. After the match, Hinata went into cardiac arrest and had been having problems with her heart ever since.
"So, Neji, what brings you here?" asked Hiashi, cutting into his roasted lamb.
"Well, I was hoping that I could talk to you after dinner, sir, if it's not too much to ask."
"Of course not, I'd be happy to." Hiashi said knowingly. Neji never really divulged anything to him about this Tetsuya person, but Hiashi always sensed that something wasn't right between Neji and Tetsuya, and he noticed that the relationship between Neji and his mother had become quite strained since Tetsuya entered their lives. He supposed that tonight Neji was finally ready to talk about him.
After dinner, Neji followed his uncle to a small conference room at the back of the house where they usually had their talks. The room was quite unordinary. It was a bit spacious, but spartanly decorated with a wide sitting mat, a low mahogany table and white sitting cushions aligned neatly around the table. Neji waited for his uncle to be seated and then took a seat directly opposite him.
"So, Neji, what brings you our house on such a fine night? I doubt that you came to visit because you have missed my wife's cooking." Hiashi joked. Neji chuckled somewhat nervously.
"Um, no sir. Not that there's anything lacking in Aunt Seila's cooking, of course." Neji quickly interjected. Hiashi laughed.
"Smart boy, Neji. So then, what is it that you wanted to talk about, hmm?" Neji glanced down before he answered.
"It's about…my mother," said Neji, glancing up again, "she's changed these last few days."
"I see." Hiashi replied in a knowing tone. "And does this change have anything to do with a certain Tetsuya Aronabi?" Neji was not surprised to find that his uncle had probably since long ago figured that all was not right where Tetsuya was concerned. After all, since the time the man entered his life, Neji had not been able to see his uncle for nearly two weeks; an ominous sign considering Neji visited the main household about every three days or so.
"It has everything to do with Tetsuya! Since he's been seeing mother, things have just made a turn for the worst. Mom's quick to snap at everything little thing I did or didn't do, we're arguing all the time, and Tetsuya just seems to add fuel to the fire. He constantly criticizes me, mother's burdening me with so many chores that I barely have to meditate or anything, and just yesterday I overheard him trying to convince mother to make me call him father. I mean, really! I haven't called anyone father in eleven years and he expects that's what I'm going to start calling him?"
Hiashi continued to let his nephew rant about what an 'ignorant, pompous, and incorrigibly pathetic excuse for a human being' that Tetsuya was until Neji was quite calm, though his breathing was still somewhat ragged and his chest was heaving slightly. Hiashi had never seen Neji this angry before; he was so good at hiding emotions. So anyone who could make him angry to this extent was truly someone that Hiashi had to meet in person, as he told Neji.
Satisfied with his uncle's advice and his promise to meet with Tetsuya and his mother the very next day, Neji walked down the hall to the guest bedroom that one of the servants had prepared for him to spend the night.
As he settled underneath the comforter, his thoughts turned to Tenten. He would have to get up at five in the morning for their usual training session. He found it odd that she didn't mind getting up so early every single day to train with him, and that she never complained or cancelled their sessions, no matter how tired she was or how bad the weather. Well in any case, he certainly wasn't going to complain. It was hard to find fault with a partner like Tenten; she kept things professional and didn't try to venture into his personal life.
Well, except for those times when she would ask him out to lunch or something. He supposed she was just trying to be a good teammates and help him whenever she noticed him becoming even more anti-social than was usual for him, but sometimes he wandered if maybe there was more to it than that. At once Neji banished the thought from his mind. No, there's no way she'd ever fall for someone like me. I'm too cold and distant and way too harsh, whereas she's…well…warm and friendly. We're complete opposites. She probably has a perfect, loving family whereas mine is completely dysfunctional and…
Neji frowned. He didn't really know anything about Tenten's family, did he? They were teammates and he'd never once thought to ask her about her family? Disturbed at the level of his own indifference, Neji rolled over and closed his eyes, attempting sleep. Maybe he'd just inquire about it in the morning…