Distant flickerings,
It's greener scenery,
This weather's bringing it all back again.
Great adventures,
Faces in condensation,
I'm going outside to take it all in.
The sun was bright that day, its heat beating down on the training field where the two shinobi sat trying to relieve themselves of the blaze in the shade of an elm tree.
"Four weeks…it's been like this for four weeks!" Tenten complained to herself as she lay sprawled out on the grass. "I'm sick of heat, I miss the rain."
"And yet if it rained you'd say you missed the sun," Neji said from her left. She smiled and he knew he was right.
He glanced over Tenten's head to see Guy and Lee speaking to each other in their usual loud boisterous voices, though about what he could not comprehend and he had a nagging feeling that he didn't want to. He lay back against the tree, looking around the field scattered with ninja weapons, craters from his 8 trigrams indenting the once smooth ground. The field had been beautiful before his team had tainted it with their sparring. And yet, he couldn't feel any remorse for the destroyed greenery for it had given him once again the chance to watch her. Watch as she flew in the air; fierce, proud…beautiful.
His gaze fell onto her gentle visage, her eyes closed, lips turned upwards into a slight smile. The heat of the current weather gave her a rosy complexion, softening her features, reminding him of her beauty. Beads of condensation from her sweat dotted her forehead and neck and to Neji, it only made her look more exotic.
He wanted to love her. He knew he could never live without her. But he knew he could never have her.
"I'm going home," he announced without warning. He brushed off his clothes and walked away, not giving her the chance to say "Goodbye". He knew the longer he stayed, the more he would take her in…
…and the more he couldn't have.
You say "Too late to start, got your heart in a headlock",
I don't believe any of it.
You say "Too late to start with your heart in a headlock",
You know you're better than this.
He'd gone over it over and over in his head. He knew that they could never be; that he could never act on his feelings. And yet, he couldn't help feeling that a part of him would never be complete until they were. They were friends, good friends by anyone's standards. He knew they were too far in to ever begin something without risking ruining the friendship they already shared, and he valued it too much. Too late for them…but his heart ached being caught in between the longing for her love and the knowledge that it would never be.
"You're better than this, Neji," he told himself as he walked along the weather beaten path back to the compound. "Why are you getting so worked up over some girl…"
But he knew. She knew she wasn't some girl. But his girl.
We're a different pair,
Just something out of step,
Throw a stranger an unexpected smile.
With big intention
"Neji! Hey, Neji!"
He turned around to see Tenten running towards him through the crowd of shoppers in the main marketplace. She caught up to him, panting slightly as she tried to catch her breath while Neji stood patiently, waiting for her to speak.
"Lady Tsunade wants to see us right away. She says she has a mission for us, and it seems urgent." She turned and jumped onto one of the red rooftops before Neji could say anything, leaping towards the Hokage's building. He followed her easily and they reached the building quickly. Knocking, they waited outside Tsunade's office until the loud clear voice called out, giving them permission to enter. They opened the door and saw the silhouette of the Hokage against the setting the sun coming in from the window. Lee and Guy turned to look at them and the debriefing began.
"It's a simple B-rank mission. You must intercept the Rain ninja and retrieve the scroll, bringing it back here…"
Neji's mind drifted as Tsunade continued with her explanation. Tenten…she was…gentle, yet fierce in battle. Kind, yet firm. Free spirited but obedient to her superiors. However, should someone say something she disagreed with, she did not hesitate to voice it. She was exotic, ethereal when she battled. An individual who did not listen to the opinions of others, even arguing them to a fault. No, not like Neji. He was plain, average, even though he was called a genius. He was just, doing what he thought was right according to the standards of the clan. He was someone who would not "rock the boat" by arguing when it was unnecessary. They were different. Too different. And it would be a step outside of the ordinary if anything happened.
"Neji?" He snapped back to attention to see her gazing at him. She smiled. "You'll meet us at the gate in half an hour right?"
Still posted at your station,
Always on about the day it should have flied.
"This is so BORING. I hate just sitting here waiting for them. Why can't we go FIND them?" Tenten complained on the branch next to Neji. The moonlight streamed through the leaves and branches of the trees casting them in a milky glow. It would be difficult for them to conceal themselves in the shadows of the forest when it was bathed in such light.
"Because our orders are to stay here and wait," he answered cooly, glancing around them with his Byakugan. Lee and Guy were to their left, on the other side of the path crouched beneath bushes, lying in wait. The plan would be for Lee and Guy to emerge first and engage the first two ninja in battle while Tenten and Neji came out from behind the group to attack the other two. They were the hidden dragons of this battle.
"Yeah well…it's getting boring," she pouted. Neji smiled. He had to agree. While he was patient, they had been sitting in wait for nearly twelve hours.
"Hey Neji?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you always try to protect me?" He froze. "Don't think I haven't noticed, you always pop up in the middle of my battles, when you should be busy with your own. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but don't you think I can handle it?"
That wasn't it. In fact it was just the opposite. He had faith in her, in her skills. He knew she could defend herself. But every time a battle began he could not help but imagine the horrors he would face if she got hurt.
"Or…is it…something else…?" He looked down at her in the dark. She looked up at him with honey eyes from underneath auburn bangs. Even with the ebony air around them he thought he could pick up the hint of a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"No. It's nothing." He couldn't answer her truthfully. It would ruin everything. He looked away from her piercing gaze, but before he did he noticed a trace of disappointment appear before vanishing in a blink of her long lashes.
Afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock, I don't believe any of it.
You say "Too late to start, with your heart in a headlock",
You know you're better than this.
The shrill ring of metal rang in the air as Tenten sent hundreds more ninja tools flying towards her opponent. Neji could see her with his Byakugan, trying to keep one eye on her while battling his own adversary. He sent chakra to his fingertips and leaped at the masked ninja, attempting to hit his chakra points, but the man dodged them and sent his foot into Neji's chest, sending him flying backwards until his back hit a tree. The wind was knocked out of him and he gasped for air before the man jumped towards him with a kunai, aiming for his throat. Neji got up and leaped off to the right where he saw Lee and Guy battling two more Rain ninja. Neji drew out his own kunai and lunged at the man, only to be forced back when the man sent showers of senbon flying towards him, tips dripping with a purple poison. This was dragging on too long.
Tenten's cry reached Neji and pierced him deeper than any weapon ever could. Rage filled him as he looked over with his Byakugan, seeing the blood drip fresh and red from her wound in her leg. This ended now.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms!" Neji ran at his opponent and stabbed the man in his chakra points. The man's eyes bulged as Neji's voice called out. "Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms!" He pressed his fingers into the man's chest a final time and he toppled over, a limp and breathless body. But Neji didn't have time to rest. He leaped over to where Tenten was fighting and with the last of his chakra sent the Rain ninja flying with his Air Palm, impaling him on the branch of a nearby tree. Tenten panted beside him.
"T-thank you Neji…I…I don't know what…I…" She didn't finish her sentence before she tipped forward towards the ground. Neji caught her swiftly, holding her upright against his shoulder. Gai and Lee had finished their fight and were searching the bodies for the scroll and so Neji helped Tenten over to a tree where he began bandaging her still bleeding leg.
"I…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him get to me." Neji looked up from his work and gazed at her. She looked pale and her skin was getting clammy. She looked at him and smiled weakly. "The kunai was poisoned…" Her head lolled to the side limply.
You've been walking,
You've been hiding,
And you look half dead half the time.
Seven days. It had been seven days since their mission had ended. Neji was walking aimlessly through the village, his mind wandering to thoughts of the mission.
Tenten's eyes were glazed over before they closed. Her pulse was dull and her breathing shallow as she sat against the tree. The poison was seeping into her system, spreading around her body, destroying it right before Neji's eyes. He couldn't let it happen. They had to get to the village. Or else…he would lose the very thing he fought for. Guy and Lee ran towards them, holding the scroll and shouting at him, asking him what had happened. But Neji heard none of it. He simply scooped Tenten into his arms and began the long race to the village.
Trees passed in a blur before his eyes. Night eventually turned to dawn, bright shades of pink and orange piercing the black, light returning to the forest. Fog rolled on the leafy earth, steam rising from various ponds. And still Neji did not stop. Dawn turned to day and the wood was lit up with the brilliant rays of the sun. It was a sunny day, no clouds. Rain had not yet come again to the Land of Fire and it could not have better contrasted Neji's mood. He looked down at her again, seeing her turn even more pale than when he'd started the long trek. He heard Lee shouting something behind him as even he could not keep up with his pace. At last the village came into site. He charged through the gate, racing on to the hospital. He kicked open the door. The rest was a blur to him. He though Sakura said something to him, he felt Tenten being pried from his arms and then…he knew nothing.
He'd passed out and even now Neji shamed himself for falling unconscious when Tenten still needed him. He'd been taken back to the compound to rest but he'd found himself unable to do anything but think about her, and that provided him with little rest. He'd gotten up and left, ignoring the worried glances from his uncle and Hinata. He'd been wandering around since then, no purpose in him, no destination, just a seemingly endless march. To the villagers around him he looked like the walking dead, eyes sunken in, skin pale and gray. He did not know where he was going. He stopped and looked to his left.
He was at the hospital.
Monitoring you, like machines do,
You've still got it I'm just keeping an eye
He slid open the door quietly and stood in the doorway. The room was dark, slightly lit by a lamp on the bedside table. She lay on the bed, peaceful, sleeping. Machine wires were in a tangled mess, attached to her with sticky probes, a faint beeping keeping time with her heartbeat. Her hair was loose now, not in the usual buns she kept them in, her tresses flowing over her shoulders, framing her once more rosy complexion.
Neji walked over to her and pulled the stool closer to her bed. Sitting down, he grabbed her hand and held it in his. It was soft and to his relief, warm. Light peaked through the curtains from the sunlight haloing her face in its glow. He sat there for hours, waiting for her to wake and yet praying she would not wake while he was there. He did not want her to know…didn't want her to reject him, or…accept him. He was caught in between what he wanted and what he knew could not happen.
After what seemed like days, she stirred. But she did not wake. Neji continued to watch over her, a breathing statue beside her bed. She mumbled something incoherent. But Neji was able to decipher it. He froze…stood…and walked to the door, shutting it softly behind him. Back in the room Tenten mumbled softly in her dreams.
"Neji…I love you…"
Afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say "Too late to start, with your heart in a headlock",
You know you're better than this.
"I don't believe you." A single tear rolled down her cheek. It was weeks since her recovery. Neji had avoided her since the day she'd awoken. And now she needed to know why.
"We're not good for each other," he told her.
"Is that you or your uncle speaking?" The tears were flowing freely now.
"…Both. You-"
"Are not good enough for you?" she finished. He turned to look at her now. She stood there in the street, the glow from the moon haloing her face. Fresh salty trails weaved down her downward turned face. Cherry blossoms floated from the trees that lined the curved road leading to the Hyuuga compound, soft pink petals gliding this way and that.
Then slowly, the wind began to pick up, the petals forming tornadoes of rosy blurs around the two figures in the night. The trees began to stir; dirt began billowing at their feet. Soon the whisper of the breeze in their ears turned into the howling of a tempest, blowing into their minds until they could hear nothing else. Drop by drop, the rain began to fall leaving moistened dots of its presence in each little splash it made on the ground. Within minutes the shinobi were soaked to the bone, and yet neither of them showed any sign of moving. Finally, Neji walked towards her slowly, with deliberation, the puddles quivering under his feet.
"Tenten…" She looked up.
"You are too good to be with the man who was a coward to tell you how he really felt."
And with that he cupped her cheeks in his hand and kissed her lightly on the lips before disappearing with nothing but a stir of leaves into the night.
Tenten stood in the middle of the street, a smile on her lips and another in her heart.