Sequel to, "An Unusual Proposition."
Slight TenNeji.
Acceptance of Fate
Neji looked around the training field. Usually Tenten beat him there, but not today. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
Even after Lee arrived nearly a half-hour later, she still hadn't arrived.
"Where's Tenten?" asked Lee, raising one of his thick eyebrows in question.
Neji shook his head. "I don't know."
"Should we go and see if she's at home?"
For a moment, Neji didn't reply. Finally he nodded and launched into the trees, Lee quick on his heels.
When the two of them reached her apartment, they found the door locked, but one of the windows was open.
Neji slipped through the window and lifted his hands in front of his eyes. "Byakugan!"
He scanned the room, but there wasn't anything for him to see that was out of the ordinary.
"Neji, look," said Lee, and he knelt down beside the rack of where Tenten kept all of her scrolls.
It was empty.
Neji began to look around the room. He had never been inside of Tenten's apartment before—as far as he knew, no one had.
He left the room, deciding there was nothing there to tell him where she had gone.
Entering the rest of the house, he found it to be very clean—almost like it was unlived in. There were tapestries from her home country up on the walls and a little fountain on the counter in the kitchen. Small deities decorated tables and shelves, but other than that the entire apartment was barren—the dishes stacked, the food put away, the floor vacuumed…even with his Byakugan, Neji couldn't see a single speck of dust.
It was immaculate.
"Is there anything out here?" asked Lee, coming to Neji's side.
Neji shook his head.
"Wow," said Lee. "This is really clean…did she really live here?"
Neji nodded. "Yeah, I think she did. Was there anything else in the room?"
"No, but a lot of her stuff is gone," replied Lee. "At least, I think it is…I can't really tell with all of the books and scrolls everywhere…"
Neji returned to Tenten's bedroom and looked around again. The mess was too organized to have been made from a struggle—all of the papers were stacked, although messily so, and all of her books were placed in some kind of order.
Wherever Tenten had gone to, she had taken only the things that she had absolutely needed.
"Come on," said Neji. "We should report this to the Hokage."
They left through the window they had come through.
Even after the Hokage had been given the news, and even after weeks and weeks of searching, nothing came up.
Tenten, it seemed, had vanished into thin air.
xxx
A year later they had given up on any hope of finding her.
Neji sat in his room, looking out at the moon, thinking. He had never thought he would miss Tenten this much, but for some reason, he really did. She had been fun to work with—childish but serious at the same time. She had made good competition for him.
He leaned his head against the wall beside the window, his eyes sliding outside. His right arm throbbed, his right leg ached, but it wasn't from training.
No one had ever questioned why he had always worn the bandages only on that side of his body, so he'd never had to reveal his secret to anyone. If he did, then they would just think it sick and perverse.
He lifted the kunai and ran it along his arm, slicing the skin, though he was careful not to cut it too deep. He couldn't afford to die—not now and possibly not ever.
Neji was bound to life by his responsibilities and his desire to escape his fate. He wasn't sure if he believed all of the stuff Naruto had told him during his first Chuunin Exam session, but even so…what if the blonde was right? What if one could carve their own destiny?
It was at this point that Neji began to think again about Tenten. She had come over from a foreign country to become a ninja. She had been skilled, but always a step or two behind Lee and himself.
That didn't mean she didn't work hard—she did. Judging by the books that were all over her room, she had stayed up late at night studying and then woken early to train her body.
He had never known someone who was so driven, yet was driven silently.
She never flaunted her drive, her habits, her determination. Unlike Naruto and Lee, she didn't make everyone see how much she had improved.
He began to wonder if maybe she had wanted to.
He took the bandages in his hand and began to wrap them about his arm again, closing the cuts away from the world. He rewrapped his leg and for a long time, just sat, relishing in the dry pain that was brought to him by what one might call his "hobby."
Neji closed his eyes and sighed, the summer air fresh in his mouth.
He wished he knew where Tenten had gone.
"Neji!"
He jumped, shocked from his state of meditation to his uncles voice.
He stood and left the room, his bare feet slapping the wooden floors as he searched for his uncle.
He found him in the courtyard.
"Yes, sir?"
"Why aren't you training?" his uncle demanded, looking at him with sharp eyes. "Get out there—take Hinata with you. I'm sure she'd be more than willing to go with you."
Neji bowed and turned to find his younger cousin.
This is what life had become like over the past year. Without Tenten on their team, Hiashi had requested, rather forcefully, that Hinata be placed with Neji's team so that she could train harder and improve.
Neji wasn't complaining. It was easy to train with Hinata, and he even got to work more with Lee than before when Tenten had been with them.
But that didn't mean that he liked it all the time. He wasn't used to such an easy opponent.
"Hinata!" he knocked on the door to her room.
The door slid open a crack, and Hinata's shy, giant eyes appeared. She smiled shakily at Neji and asked, "Yes, Neji?"
"Hiashi wants us to train—come on."
He turned and left, Hinata jumping to go and get her stuff.
A few moments later, the two of them left the estate, heading towards the training grounds where Lee would undoubtedly be.
When they arrived, they heard him smacking the post, crying out, "If I cannot kick this log 5,000 times, I will have to do 5,000 squats!"
Neji crossed his arms and said, "Hey, Lee."
Lee turned to them and smiled. "Hello, Neji, Hinata! Come to train?"
Neji nodded, and Hinata shuffled her feet.
Lee gave the log one final spin-kick and then landed, giving them a thumbs-up. "Let's go!"
They left for their usual clearing, and Neji got into the Juuken stance while Lee and Hinata came at him.
This was how their training went every day.
xxx
The two figures stood outside of Konoha, their black capes with red clouds ruffling in the breeze.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what it is you're going to do?"
"Yes."
"Good. Just remember the ultimate goal here."
The other figure ignored him and started towards the village.
xxx
Neji dodged another blow from Lee's foot, grabbing it and flipping it away from him.
Hinata raced at him, her hands lifted in the Juuken stance.
Neji rolled under her arm and hit her in the stomach. She stumbled backwards and gasped for air, Lee coming at him once more.
They had been training for nearly two hours, and to be honest, Neji was starting to get tired.
"Let's stop," he said, standing up and spinning, Lee missing him by a fraction of an inch. "We should go get something to eat."
Hinata smiled and nodded, breathing hard, her hands on her knees. She had been tired nearly forty-five minutes ago, but had refused to stop until Neji did.
She followed Lee and Neji towards the city, her legs shaking.
She could really use some ramen.
Once they hard reached the Ramen Stand, they sat down and gave off their orders, Hinata never happier to sit than now.
She leaned her head against the cool side of the stand, closing her eyes and relaxing.
The old man set out their bowls and some water, and the three of them broke their chopsticks and began to eat.
Just as Neji put the first bite to his lips, someone shouted, "Hyuuga Neji! Hyuuga Neji! Where is he?!"
He whirled around, seeing a pedestrian reaching about, grabbing people by their shirts, begging them to find the Hyuuga.
"Where is he?!" he demanded, his eyes wide, his hair frayed.
"Get off of me, you loon!" shouted a woman and she shoved him away from her and walked away.
He stumbled in a circle, looking around wildly.
That was when Neji saw the scroll in his hand.
He stood and approached the man. "You're looking for me?"
The man just about squealed when he saw Neji, but the squeal was one of terror, not pleasure. "I was t-told to give you this!" he shouted, shoving the scroll into Neji's arms. "G-get away! Stay away from me!" he turned and ran down the street, bumping into people in his rush to get away.
Neji looked down at the scroll and opened it slowly.
Meet me at the second training ground.
That was all it said.
He rolled it back up and headed towards the training grounds.
"Neji?" Rock Lee asked, watching as the other boy disappeared into the crowded mid-day streets of Konoha. "Come on, Hinata. I think we should go."
She nodded and the two of them raced after Neji.
xxx
Neji arrived at the training grounds, his eyes searching for who had asked him to come. He lifted his fingers, "Byakugan!"
He looked everywhere, and finally, he saw them. Two figures emerged from the trees.
"Akatsuki!" he hissed, moving into his Kaiten stance, dropping the scroll.
The two Akatsuki members lifted their heads, revealing their eyes. One set was dark, blood red—Itachi—and the other brown and cold.
Neji watched in horror as they both removed their hats.
Indeed, the one was Uchiha Itachi, but the other…
He lowered his arms, his eyes wide, tears welling up in them. He had thought he could be ready for anything—but not for this.
Tenten smirked and dropped her hat to her side. "Nice to see you again, Neji."
"T-Tenten?" he asked. "W-what are you doing with the Akatsuki?"
"Becoming stronger than you or Lee could ever dream," she replied.
"You know that now I can't restrain myself against you," he warned softly, blinking the tears back. "I will have to fight against you like you were my enemy."
"You idiot," said Itachi drawly. "She is your enemy."
Neji glowered at him, recalling his Byakugan. "Tenten, don't make me do this. Please—don't make me fight you like this."
She cocked her head to the side, but didn't say anything more.
"Tenten," said Itachi, "don't forget your mission."
She nodded.
He launched backwards into the trees and was gone from sight.
Neji glowered and started to follow him, but an array of weapons stopped him in his path. He turned and looked at Tenten.
"Your fight is here, Neji," she said calmly, retracting some of the tools and pulling another scroll from her hip. "It's just you and me, now."
He turned to face her, his eyes narrowed.
He couldn't beg her not to fight him—not anymore. He recognized the determined look in her eyes, the look of someone who wanted to prove that they weren't just a nobody.
"Tenten?!" gasped Lee as he and Hinata entered the clearing.
"Lee! You and Hinata go after Itachi!"
"What?" asked Lee.
"The Akatsuki are here, in the village!" shouted Neji. "Go after Itachi! He went south!"
They nodded and launched into the trees.
"It's just you and me, now, Tenten," said Neji, and she smiled, as if that was all she had been asking for.
"Good."
"What happened to you?" Neji asked carefully. "When you disappeared, we didn't know where you had gone…we searched everywhere for you…"
"Obviously not everywhere," she replied. "Because I never saw you, not once."
"Why did you leave?"
"To become stronger," she replied.
"You were getting stronger here," he said. "Why did you go with the Akatsuki?"
She twirled the scroll around her hands and replied, "They gave me an offer I couldn't refuse."
"So now you're working with a bunch of S-ranked criminals?" he demanded. "Why leave Konoha behind? Your parents sent you here to become a great ninja! Joining the Akatsuki isn't going to do that for you!"
"My parents don't care how I become a great ninja, so long as I do it," she replied. "Itachi and the others have given me more power than I could ever have gotten here."
"You never wanted power before—why now?"
"I've always wanted power," she replied maliciously. "I could never have it here, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Only a certain amount of people can achieve power," she replied. "With Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and you all going after it, it left me less of a chance to get what I wanted. I couldn't get power here, even if I tried. Itachi offered me another route to power, and I accepted."
"You gave up everything, threw it all away, just so you could have power?" asked Neji, disgusted.
"I didn't throw it away," she replied. "I merely reapplied it. You should try it sometime—or better yet, you should take a test-run. Let's see how much you've improved compared to me."
She launched towards him, moving much faster than he had expected.
He spun his body to the side, a kunai slicing his hair. He stopped and turned to face her, watching as she held the kunai up, along with a strand of his dark hair. She grinned, the cape flowing around her like death.
"Tenten, stop! You don't have to do this!"
"Yes," she replied, "I do."
She moved again, her speed nearly matching Lee's. How she had become so fast so quickly, Neji could only guess at. He moved again, this time, however, she was ready—she slung various weapons at him, and though he managed to dodge the majority of them, a kunai managed to scrape his right arm.
The bandages began to unravel, and he grabbed at them quickly to hold them in place.
Now was not the time for that.
She opened one of her scrolls and spun around in the style Neji had once been so accustomed to.
In perpetration for her attack, he leveled his hands and moved his feet quickly, executing the Kaiten just as she flung maces, kunai, shuriken, and other objects at him.
When he stopped, he was breathing hard.
He froze, his eyes wide as another barrage of the objects came at him. He lifted his hands to attempt to block them, stumbling backwards with each blow.
"I finally figured you out, Neji," she said with a confidant smirk. "You can only rotate for so long. Once the rotation has completed, you slow down and stop—if I keep throwing things at you, then you won't be able to dodge them!" On each emphasis, she threw more of the weapons at him, and each time, he was forced closer and closer to the line of trees.
When she stopped, he was breathing hard, sweat rolling down his face and neck, his Byakugan aching from such extended use.
His hands were shaking, even as he stood in the stance in preparation for the Juuken.
She knew him well—well enough to know that if she stayed far away, he couldn't cut off her chakra points. The only attacks he had for long-range attacks were the Sixty-Four Points of Divinity and the Kaiten. Everything else was close range.
"Tenten," he urged, "stop this nonsense…please. Look at what you've become…you're not an Akatsuki…you're a Konoha kunoichi—one of the best!"
"One of the few," she spat. "And certainly only one of the best now that I've surpassed even you, Hyuuga Neji."
"We were friends, once," he said. "Why not now?"
"We were never friends," she replied. "Friends acknowledge your hard work and your improvement. They don't beat you down every chance they get!" She lifted another scroll, more weapons poofing out and shooting towards Neji.
He launched into the Kaiten, blocking the weapons, and then stumbling backwards, hitting one of the trees, his chest heaving. Even just that much had exhausted him. Training with Hinata and Lee had made him loosen up—he hadn't improved very much since he had started, he realized.
Tenten lifted a barrage of kunai and shuriken and shot them at him.
"Juuken!" he gasped, and managed to block most of them. Some hit him, though, stapling him to the trunk of the tree.
Tenten approached him, careful to stay out of his reach. She looked disappointed. "All of that, and that's the best you can do? I'm disappointed."
Just as she prepared to leave, she paused, her eyes catching the bandages on his arm, where they had ripped and were now drooping like pig guts.
She reached forwards and lowered them carefully, revealing the scars all along Neji's arm.
"I see you've been busy," she said. "Last I knew, you were untouchable…this makes me feel like my victory isn't really a victory at all, if I'm not the first one to beat you like this."
He glowered up at her, not willing to tell her what the scars and cuts were really from.
As she pulled the bandages off completely, her smirk grew wider. "These are fresh—and they aren't from me. Have you been having some fun lately, Neji?"
And then, it seemed to click.
She pulled her hand away, her eyes wide.
"So," she muttered. "I see. Even the great Hyuuga Neji has his problems."
"Everyone has problems," Neji said softly. "But that doesn't mean they go and join a group of S-ranked criminals. What did they promise you, Tenten, for you to go and join them like that?"
"Like I said," she replied bitterly, "Power was the only reason I needed to join them."
"Then leave them—you have the power, now," he said, "So get out and come back home."
She shook her head and backed away from him. "Konoha isn't my home anymore."
"What do you have to do for them?" he asked.
She glowered at him and, before he could so much as blink, she struck him across the face, knocking him out.
Crack.
"Shit," she muttered, wincing in pain as she lifted her hand. It throbbed in agony—she hadn't meant to strike him that hard.
Guess my emotions got the better of me, again, she thought, and wrapping it with one of the empty scrolls, she turned to leave, but paused, her eyes lingering on Neji's unconscious body, stapled to the tree.
She felt her heart sink.
xxx
Itachi dropped Hinata's limp body and looked over at Rock Lee, who was on all fours, breathing hard, one of his eyes black.
The Akatsuki member approached him and kicked him in the side.
Lee collapsed, groaning, unable to move.
He looked up at Itachi, but the image soon faded into black.
"What took you so long?" Itachi asked, turning to look at Tenten.
She glanced at Lee and Hinata and replied, "I had some issues to deal with."
Itachi approached her and looked at her hand. It was swollen and red. He looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. "Don't be stupid."
He then turned and left, and she followed, her eyes lingering on Lee.
Why, of all times, was she now beginning to regret her choice?
xxx
"The Akatsuki have infiltrated our village!" shouted Shikamaru as he ran into Tsunade's office. "I just got word! There are two of them—one of them is Itachi, but we can't identify the other one!"
Tsunade stood up, her eyes wide. "How did they manage to get in?"
He shook his head. "I don't know, but they're here."
"Alright, I'll gather up the Jounin and—"
"Lord Hokage, that won't be necessary."
Shikamaru turned around and his eyes went wide. He was shoved into the room by Kisame and another Akatsuki. They closed the door and locked it, Kisame grinning.
"Don't move, either of you. We have the entire building under our command," he said.
"How did you get in here?!" roared Tsunade, and she approached them, but froze. There was a blade pressed against her throat.
"They had me, Lord Hokage," said Tenten softly from behind her.
"Tenten?" asked Tsunade, her eyes shifting to the other girl. "What…what are you doing, Tenten?!"
She smirked and pressed the blade closer, cutting Tsunade's skin. "My job."
"Kisame, come with me—these two can handle things here," said Itachi from the windowsill. "We have a Kyuubi to find."
"He isn't here!" shouted the Hokage. "I sent him on a mission two days ago—"
"We've been tracking his movements," replied Itachi. "He hasn't left the village in over a week."
Tsunade's eyes went wide, and she clenched her fists, preparing to attack Tenten, but Itachi appeared in front of her.
"Tenten," he said, and she closed her eyes.
Itachi closed his and reopened them, his eyes drilling into Tsunade's. Her body went limp, and she screamed as he put her through a series of tortures.
"Tenten," he said again, and her hand shaking, she tightened her grip on the kunai, bringing it closer to Tsunade's neck. "Quickly, we don't have time to spare."
"Tenten," said Shikamaru softly, "stop. This isn't what you want to do."
She didn't open her eyes—she knew better—but Shikamaru's voice was becoming one of reason. Her hand began to shake more.
"We can't do this without you, Tenten," said Itachi. "Besides, if you don't kill her, we'll kill you and your family."
Tenten felt her hand shaking more.
She didn't know what to do…if she killed Tsunade, then she would be an S-ranked criminal, and all of her training wouldn't matter. She would be helping them to hunt down the Kyuubi and all of the other tailed demons—that's all she would do with her life.
"If you stop now, Tenten, we can help you," urged Shikamaru. "Please…stop."
She felt her hand relax. Neji had said something very similar to that. Even if she were to stop, though, she knew that none of them would be able to get out of the Akatsuki's range. They would all die anyways.
She knew that betraying Konoha was not the way of the ninja.
She tightened her grip on the kunai.
But it was her way.
She yanked backwards, Tsunade's neck slicing neatly under the blade, hot blood gushing out from the wound and splattering everywhere.
Shikamaru cried out, backing away from the gruesome sight as Tenten opened her eyes. She smirked and launched at Shikamaru.
"She'll take care of things here," said Itachi, and Kisame and the other Akatsuki nodded, and they left.
xxx
When Neji came to, the sky was dark, flecked with red and orange.
"Neji!"
He looked up and saw Hinata and Lee running towards him. For a second, he thought Hinata was Tenten, but no…she wasn't there.
They tore the kunai and shuriken from him and helped him to stand.
"What happened?" asked Neji softly, his voice raw, his entire body aching.
Lee shook his head, and Hinata had tears in her eyes, refusing to look at either of them.
Neji pushed away from Lee and ran to the top of the hill.
Before him, Konoha was spread out like a hearth. The entire city flickered and moaned in fire—every building, every street, every stall was in flames.
"Where's Tenten?" demanded Neji.
"She and the Akatsuki left," said Lee softly. "With Naruto."
Neji's eyes went wide.
"They have to Kyuubi," said Lee. "They won, and we couldn't stop them."
Neji looked back at the city, at his home, at the places he had once loved to visit. Beyond Konoha, he could see the faces of the Hokage on the cliff. They were turning black from the soot and smoke.
"Why didn't she kill us?" he asked finally, softly.
Hinata shook her head. "T-they must have th-thought that they h-had…"
Neji collapsed to his knees, his body no longer able to stand on its own. He felt the tears roll down his face and drop onto the grass below.
As the smoke cleared away and the fire died down, the sky was revealed, completely cloudless, a giant, white, full-moon gazing down at the remains below.
End
Please review…I had a hard time deciding how this was going to end, but I guess it wasn't too bad of an ending…Thanks, and I hope you all enjoyed it:)