(I edited everything from here as I added this kind of a prologue chapter. I do hope you guys wouldn't get somehow confused. XD)
This is dedicated to my three favorite female characters in Naruto—Tenten, Ino and Hinata-chan. XD And to my friend Sho-chan as well who thought of the idea out of the blue. I hope you all liked this one. :P
I don't own Naruto. It belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.
xXx
Chapter One: Threat
Blood. She never knew she could shed so much. She never realized that her blood could be so… red. So vivid. It was as if a bucket of red paint was dripping from her very stomach. But, of course, she knew that wasn't possible. This was her blood, she knew that much. Nothing else but, her crimson red blood.
The sword seemed so sharp and so cold. She could feel herself shivering as it plunged deeper into her body. Every centimeter it pushed through, she winced. She grunted. She cried. No tears needed. No sound required. The immense pain drowned every one of them. She never discerned she could feel so much. Whatever happened to the fearless training she had all these years of being a kunoichi?
He got a bootless cry of hurt and anguish when he pushed the weapon deeper into her, a sadistic smile playing on his lips. More blood flowed out of her open injury. This time, even her mouth was dripping blood. Her lips tugged up into a faint smile. This wasn't over yet even if her chakra was on a dangerously low level. She would never give up. Her fatigued body might've had but, her spirit refused to do so. She was a Konoha ninja, after all, and a Konoha ninja refutes giving up.
Her tired and sore legs gave way and she slumped down before him. The sword was still inside her as she didn't even bother pulling it out. Who cared, anyway? She would rather die with it still piercing her. That way, people would know that she didn't surrender until her very last breath. That Konoha's Weapons Mistress fought until the very end.
She could feel her tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. But, she repudiated ever crying especially in front of her opponent. She cursed herself mentally, though, when a single crystalline tear made its way down her soft, wounded cheek. It made its way down, down, down. Down on the dirt-laden ground she was now partially sitting on.
There was a part of her that wanted everything to end already. Yet there was this persistent voice deep inside her screaming, yelling, pleading for her to get up. To punch this bastard square on the face. To kill him mercilessly for doing this to her. She wanted to battle still. To prove that female ninjas like her doesn't deserve to lose, to be wounded, to get killed. To prove to all shinobi countries that Konoha female ninjas were fierce and potent. To prove to him that she would go home all in one piece and say sorry for turning a frigid shoulder on him.
If only he could hear her now.
She grinned upon remembering that silly old story she once heard from her mother. That your knight in shining armor would rescue you when you needed him the most. That he would be invincible and he would shine like the stars. She once believed it. She once had faith on that ridiculous tale. But on the night her parents got killed, the story died along with them. There was a part of her that died alongside their demise as well and up until now, she was still searching which part that was.
But, when he came into her life, the story took shape again. It gradually pieced itself together and bit by bit, little by little, it entered her heart once more. She clung onto it another time like a little child clinging on the hem of her mother's shirt. She helped it reborn itself and when she finally admitted to herself that she loved him, it was breathing a life of its own. She was happy that her fairy tale was forming yet again. If only her parents were here to see her live it.
Then again, with what was currently occurring to her, the story seemed to be losing its glimmer once again. She now doubted if it would ever come true. Her grin widened slightly upon remembering how juvenile she was for still believing on that preposterous tale. It would never become a reality. It would stay as a fiction forever—eternally hidden inside her weeping heart.
If only time would permit her to say sorry to him. If only fate would allow her to hug him, kiss him, tell him how much he meant to her. If only Kami-sama would let her see him again. His face that she memorized every detail, every feature, every expression that passed. Was she asking too much? Was she being selfish?
Was she begging for the impossible?
She coughed out more blood, finding everything so amusing. Here she was struggling for her life, for every breath that was slowly leaving her system and yet the only face plastered inside her mind was his. His alone and no one else's. It would've been more pleasing if she died in his arms, those mighty arms that would catch her no matter what. She didn't care whatever means she would die from, as long as he was there, she was fine with it.
Another tear managed to escape from her pools. It was a shame she didn't even had a chance to say goodbye before she left for this darn mission. Or even talk to him casually like they used to do. It wouldn't have hurt this much if she even had a glimpse of his face before she die.
And now, the mission, the story, his face were leisurely sinking into the oblivion she never knew subsisted inside her, mixing with the agony she was now suffering from. She smiled wistfully, beginning to feel the sudden peace looming within her. She gathered all her strength and looked at her teammates.
Meters away from where she was, Hinata was crawling on the ground towards her, tears freefalling from her white eyes. "T-Tenten-san… F-Fight! D-Don't give up…" She said, crying and trying her very best to get up from her beaten up state.
Tied high up in a tree was Ino who was incessantly screaming at her. "TENTEN! GET UP NOW! DON'T…" She choked back tears that were pouring down her beautiful blue eyes. "…d-die on us, p-please…" She was sobbing as she wriggled for the millionth time against her tight bonds. Her lips were quivering as she shouted the same thing over and over again.
She soon comprehended that what people were saying was true—that the first one from your senses that would retire was your hearing as their voices didn't appear to reach her ears. She smiled one last time at them and looked at her foe who was smirking evilly. He raised his right arm high and a sharp sword made of wood materialized in his hand.
He said something that she couldn't hear anymore and she knew this was it. She would die. She would leave her teammates. She would leave everyone in Konoha. She would leave him.
Solemnly, she closed her tear-stricken eyes and smiled.
Goodbye, Neji…
And as she whispered those two words in her mind, a series of events came flashing in her head—bringing her to where everything started from.
xXx
Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading and please tell me what you all think! :D