Childhood
It was a magnum date. Konoha was celebrating the great ninja war's end and the most respectful clans that participated in the conflict would be present. Among these stood out the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. Thrill was spread over all the village's inhabitants , adults were drinking an chatting lively, while children amused themselves or indulge in sweets or dangos typical of the festival. A girl of chocolate eyes and hair in buns was playing hide-and-seek with other children, but of a sudden, she stopped and felt the presence of a child who was watching them.
"Hi, want to join us?" The boy frowned by the fact he was discovered.
"Actually ..." The boy had long hair and pearly eyes, which betrayed his origin.
"What? You want to leave this snotty Hyuuga kid play with us, Tenten!"
"No way! He will probably try to circumvent the rules of the game and will also require respect! That is it! He'll make us submissive! They are all a bunch of torturers!" Tenten heard the insults, calcining in anger. The Hyuuga kid who once seemed unmoved, now soared an eyebrow.
"Ryuzaki! Are you crazy? He can kill us with that! Let's run away! Or maybe…" The decision was unanimous with their looks, they would ask apology to the long-haired boy.
"Want to go in the the Baozi's tend? I know they are incredibly good!" The boys watched in wonder the girl accompanied the boy toward the festival's center. It didn't take too long, the brunette pondered and decided that people of that nature could not be regarded as friends.
"Hyuuga Neji." The boy made an extremely formal act of reverence, while Tenten watched with care.
"Ten ..." Even before she introduced herself, she was interrupted by a man who resembled the boy in front of her.
"Neji, we should go, we will have a celebration in commemoration of your five years." The older Hyuuga showed seriousness in his face.
"Tou-san, let me stay a little longer, please." He directed his gaze to tenten "This is tenten-san ..." Neji took a deep breath and smiled almost imperceptibly "a friend of mine."
"Okay, but come back soon!" The man warned him with a certain retaliation.
"Omedetou, eh! Your body's defenses are all in place now!" The girl's smile widened a heatwave. How didn't she notice it before? The white and monochromatic hakama denounced the relevant date.
" It's not that simple." He sighed, before beginning the explanation. "At 5, our immune system has already reached an advanced level. This can be divided into natural and acquired. The natural features such as phagocytosis greatest weapon of the body, and consists of epidermis, gastric juice that due to acidity, combat micro-organisms in the stomach. Enzymes, among many other components also belong to this group." He paused, apathetic." But what really differentiates us from animals is our advanced acquired immune system, which consists of T4 and B lymphocytes. The first acts as a primary defense. The second produces antibodies." He concluded.
"So it's as if the first was a soldier, and the second was the manufacturer ordnance! " A sparkle in the brunette's eyes could be seen when she mentioned the last part.
"Kind of it ... " He looked at her with amusement. Undoubtedly, the girl was crazy.
" Inside of the acquired immunity we have cellular immunity, consisting of macrophages, NK cells (Natural Killer), which attack invaders inside cells, where antibodies could not be achieved by promoting the destruction of infected cells. We also have the acquired humoral immunity, that depends on an attacker to connect to the agent, then make specific antibodies against the antigen."
"Then the cellular immune system is like a ninja infiltration and the humoral is like an analysis of the enemy's weaknesses ." She said, smugly.
"Associate as you like." Tenten came to have a fit with the information spurted inside her brain. It was so much for a mere boy of five years. She concluded that there was reason for the boy to have an arrogant air, although he didn't appeared to be this kind of person: he was a genius. He was from one of the greatest Konoha´s clans after all, but still, she had never met a person that intelligent!
" Tou-san explained to me." He clarified himself, noticing the girl's unintelligible expression.
" So we eat and then we go to the arm's shop, I know that there are some brand new arms and I'd like to analyze them." He shook his head in silent agreement. The clan's celebration could be delayed a little bit. This, however simple it was, was the first time that one Hyuuga would fight against his own destiny, and he had not even noticed it.
Months later, Neji's eyes had changed. He was more serious and far. Seemed alone. He avoided going out, so the brunette took courage and went inside the Hyuuga residence.
"Hello, with who do y...you wi...wish to tal...talk?" A shy girl, and in Tenten's opinion, cute, attended her in the residence's gate. There was a huge white house, with red ikebana´s arrangements organized, which stood out with the house´s color. It was all well organized and neat, just like him.
"Hi, I'd like to talk to Neji, is he in somewhere here?"
"Neji niisan is training in the secondary family compound." The girl with pearly eyes answered. It was strange, she was staring on the ground with fear and resentment eyes.
"Arigatou ...?"
"Hi-Hinata." The amethyst-haired girl stammered and blushed.
"Hinata-chan!" Tenten had not understood what Hinata meant by "secondary", it was probably some family issue she shouldn´t ask about. She was followed by some discrete Hyuuga´s glares, and she repeated to herself if her attitudes were correct or not. When she found Neji training alone in the residence´s backgrunds, she was surprised. In order to improve the clan´s techniques, a person should have a monitoring of an elder Hyuuga. But he was just there, training by himself.
"How did you get here?" He asked, cold.
"Your cute cousin told me you were here."
"Cute cousin?"
"Hinata-chan!" Neji frowned and took a look of hatred. The first time he saw Hinata-sama he also thought she was cute, but that was his greatest illusion. He figured out Hinata-sama was responsible for the seal carved in his forehead, for his pain, for his father´s death and also for his deplorable situation: a caged bird. Surely any related issue with the main family used to bring him a bad karma.
"Tenten, do you know that there are cells that are sacrificed in the battle against intruders to only protect cells considered to be superior?" Tenten arched an eyebrow. But let it go.
"It's fate. Fight, protect and die by superiors. Like man, who is governed by the biological and sociological." Now Tenten didn't understand nothing. She felt uncomfortable with the subject and deterministic character that his companion had acquired. So, she quickly tried to change the subject.
"Ne, Neji. I do not understand. But I've been reading an article in the Konoha's Research Center , and it says that if a person dive in solitude, he'd have genes that cause inflammation more active and less genes responsible for antibody production." The boy looked, as one who demanded explanations.
" I do not want you to blame me for getting sick, alas! What I want is ..."
"Tenten, do not worry." The guy sighed. Was the girl implying he was lonely? Or maybe angered? No, she was probably just worried about his situation.
- Yeeee, I meant ... You train a lot, I can train with you! My father bought some weapons in that shop, and I want to learn how to handle with them! That's it." A big lie, she changed the subject again. It was just an excuse to get close to the genius.
Neji contrived for a moment and concluded one thing: the girl before him was different. She was not afraid of his eyes. Antagonistically, she wanted them closer to her.
"It's an ... Interesting idea." He closed his eyes, before directed them to the sky "We start tomorrow."
The idea of Neji was that their destinies were entwined, Tenten's idea was that she had acquired the genious's confidence . But who cares? They were connected. They were friends, and Neji used to like simple, strong and intelligent girls, just like his father. It was, indeed, an oedipus complex.
My notes:
- Kids in Japan celebrate the 5th year of life, when they complete their immune system.
- Baozi: tenten's favorite food.
- yee: nooo.
- oedipus complex: In resume, when the kid has the same father's taste (romantically). It´s a psychological term.