Disclaimer: I don't know Hyuuga Neji, TenTen or Rock Lee. I, however, do own Sakuno, Kira and Hishn. And their sensei.
A/N: Set a month after the exams where Sakuno beat Neji. Neji's now out of the hospital. Read Battle of Faith first! Read and Review!
Standing at the edge of the forest, a young female was watching a boy train. Pushing himself to the limit of his abilities, trying to go beyond what he had in the chunin exams. Grounding his teeth together, he turned and glared at the unsuspecting female. She noticed his unwavering lavender eyes, and squeaked.
"What do you want?" he snarled quietly.
The girl gulped as she stepped out into the clearing, "Missed me, Hyuuga?"
Neji snorted as he turned his back to the girl. "What did you want? Didn't you torture me enough in the hospital, Sakuno?"
Sakuno drew in a breath of air. "Never!"
Neji sighed. "What do you want?"
"Want to train?"
Neji glanced over his shoulder, his eyes piercing the girl.
"Well, jeez! You don't have to look so mean," Sakuno grinned.
Neji snorted again. "Mean?"
"Yeah. Mean. Like a tiger."
Neji turned around completely. "Takes one to know one."
Sakuno glared at the smirking Hyuuga. She teleported herself behind him, her hands balled into fists ready to knock him on his butt. Neji turned his head around to give the girl an annoyed look. Sakuno pulled her hand back and punched him, hard.
The Hyuuga genius went flying. He flipped before he hit the ground, much to the displeasure of Sakuno. He stood straight up and glared at her.
"Want to play?"
Sakuno smirked. "I thought you wanted to kick my butt for "dishonoring" you in front of the other genins."
"Dishonor? Not dishonor, more like humiliate," Neji growled.
Sakuno lost her smirk due to her fit of laughter. "You look like a snarling dog," she giggled out.
"You want to fight?"
"No. I came here to laugh at you," she said sarcastically.
"You're doing a pretty good job of it," Neji muttered.
"Well, when you look like that, how can't I?"
Neji snorted. Without warning he attacked Sakuno. The girl yelped in surprise as she dodged Neji's kunai. She shot Neji an evil glare as she charged him. Pulling her fist back again, she punched nothing, but thin air. Growling in displeasure, she looked around frantically for the missing Hyuuga.
"Behind you."
Sakuno jumped in shock as she turned slowly. Once she was completely facing him, did Neji punch her in the face. She went flying. Her body went through trees, before she hit a tree that she couldn't break. Her head flopped to one side. Neji appeared beside the fallen girl. He sighed.
"I thought you would be more of a challenge…."
"I am!" Sakuno shouted as she swiped Neji's feet from under him. He fell, hitting the ground hard.
"Where is she!?" screamed a Jounin sensei. His two charges out of three shrugged. "You know!!"
"Sensei, please!" his second female charge pleaded.
"NO! Where is Sakuno!?" screamed the sensei.
The male charge sighed; he opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. He was being glared at by his teammate.
"Hishn!"
"Hai, Sensei?"
"Where is Sakuno!?"
"Around, I'm sure," answered his male charge.
"I did not ask you Kira!"
"Akane-sensei, she needed to be alone," Hishn muttered.
"Alone!? That girl is never alone!" Akane shouted. He turned abruptly. "I can still sense she has her genjutsu in place."
Hishn and Kira both sighed. Their sensei was never going to give Sakuno the space that she needed. Their teammate had gone to watch the Hyuuga train. She had grown to like the boy. Her fight with him had changed her meaning of life. Her fighting used to come first, now she's battling against the fate of her being stuck with an overbearing sensei. Kira looked up again, and noticed their sensei was gone.
"Shit!" he screamed. "Akane-sensei!"
Hishn took off at her top speed, with Kira following closely behind her. They had to warn Sakuno.
Sakuno's legs were tangled with Neji's. Trying desperately to untangle herself, she flipped them both onto their stomachs. Neji growled in irritation.
"Would you stop flailing?"
Sakuno snorted in annoyance, then teleported herself away. 'Why didn't I do that two minutes ago!?' she berated herself.
Neji pulled himself up to his feet. His Byakugan looking around for his missing opponent. Spotting her, he attacked, his Gentle Fist style just grazing her abdomen. Sakuno grunted in pain as she jumped back and away from the Hyuuga. The two fighters stared at each other, analyzing one another for a weakness. Sakuno was faster than Neji and attacked.
Neji blocked Sakuno's punch but failed to protect his side as she kicked him in the ribs. Neji grunted in pain and dodged away from Sakuno's second kick. Neji then noticed that she had her stupid genjutsu in place. Irritation covered Neji's pale features as he glared at the girl.
"I told you that you didn't have to have that stupid thing in place," Neji stated in a cold, stoic voice.
"Like I have a choice," Sakuno muttered.
Neji scoffed, "You always have a choice."
Sakuno smiled weakly. She decided not to comment on his blatant lie. Letting Neji win the verbal spat, well, for now anyway, she glanced around. Neji noticed Sakuno's lack of concentration. He smirked as he took that exact moment to knock the girl on her butt and pin her.
Sakuno shrieked as her head hit the ground. She glowered up at the smirking boy. Neji ignored her glower as he pinned her arms above her head. His reasoning was so she couldn't attack, but something was deeper than that. He wanted to see how far he could push her, how far he could get without being thrown by her wicked temper.
Sakuno didn't like where this was going, but she didn't want to push him off. Too much effort to push him away…. And it didn't help that he had her hands in a death grip. So, she was reduced to glaring and snarling at him. Like a trapped cat. Lovely. If only her teammates and sensei could see what she was reduced to by a mere boy.
Neji grabbed both of her hands into one of his own. He continued to smirk at Sakuno's expression. She looked a like a deer caught in the headlights. Neji muttered something under his breath. Sakuno couldn't quite make it out, even with her enhanced hearing. Neji watched as Sakuno changed from underneath him. She was now in her normal disguise. Her actual disguise, with her ears being that of a neko instead of a human.
"You look better that way," Neji muttered.
Sakuno blushed a deep scarlet. "You're gonna get me in trouble with my sensei…. Again."
"Not like you can't take care of yourself."
Two figures were standing in the shadows, waiting and watching for the right opportunity to intrude on the two ninjas. One of the figures had a grin from ear to ear. His companion was holding his mouth close so he couldn't shout out and disturb the moment between the two supposedly training ninjas. The girl sighed at her companion's idiocy.
"Gai-sensei has corrupted you, Lee," muttered the girl.
Lee's response was muffled because of the girl's grip over his mouth.
"Ew…" she muttered as she grimaced. "Why did you lick my hand?"
She removed her hand away from Lee's mouth.
"Oh! Neji, my rival, you have finally won fair and square!" Lee shouted.
"Lee!" his companion made a move to grab him again. Lee moved away from the girl's reach.
"But, TenTen!" Lee protested as he danced away from her.
"Lee, shut up! Do you want Neji to hear you?" TenTen snarled. Lee gulped and shook his head quickly.
TenTen nodded, then turned back to watch the scene folding in front of her. She sighed when nothing had changed between the pinned girl and her captor.
"TenTen!" Lee said as he pulled on his teammate's shirt.
"What?" TenTen asked, exasperated.
Lee merely pointed to the other side of the clearing. She followed his line of vision and spotted a tall, lone figure. She shifted her gaze to the pair in the middle. Neji was concentrated on Sakuno. TenTen sighed. Sometimes, she wondered about him when he was around the demoness. He lost himself when he was around her. Shrugging she glanced back where the figure was. She blinked. He was gone….
"Lee? Did you see where that figure went?" TenTen asked.
"I did not!" Lee said. "I shall do two hundred push-ups as punishment!"
"Lee!" TenTen said. "Stop! We need to find him before he tries to disturb Neji."
Lee nodded as he glanced around for the lone figure.
"Found him!"
TenTen looked in the direction where Lee was pointing. She twitched when she found out whom, or better yet, what he was pointing at.
"Lee, that's a tree," TenTen said, her voice dripping with annoyance.
Lee blinked and looked again. So it was a tree. He grinned sheepishly.
"Looking for me?"
Both ninjas jumped in surprise. Lee squealed but TenTen placed her hand over his mouth to muffle the scream. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Sakuno's male teammate. She sighed.
"You were over there?" she asked in a whispered voice.
"Ah. That was me," Kira said.
TenTen sighed again. "At least it wasn't Gai-sensei. He would never allow Neji to live this down."
Kira chuckled. "Sakuno is going to murder him when he lets her up."
Lee tried to add in his own comment but again it was muffled because of TenTen's grip on his mouth.
"Don't you want to let him go?" Kira questioned, motioning towards the flailing Lee.
TenTen shrugged, "He's fine."
"So what's happening?" Hishn's soft voice came from behind Kira.
"Neji pinned Sakuno," Kira said in nonchalance.
"As much as you want to watch the show, we have to warn Sakuno," Hishn said.
Kira groaned, but nodded as he looked into Hishn's glaring face.
"Warn her about what?" TenTen asked.
"Akane-sensei's looking for her," Hishn muttered.
"Neji!" Sakuno protested. She wiggled, trying to get free. However, Neji wouldn't have any of that. His smirk widened as she continued to flail. "Hyuuga!"
"Yes?" Neji asked.
Sakuno fumed up at him. She debated if she wanted to do a cheap thing and kick him where he wouldn't like it. She raised her right leg, the one that was trapped between Neji's. As she lifted her leg, Neji's eyes widened and he groaned. Sakuno paused…. She didn't do anything yet. She just moved her leg to get momentum to kick him. She moved her leg again and, again, Neji groaned.
Sakuno blushed. 'You have got to be kidding me!'
Neji's face had a tint of pink. Sakuno stared at him, praying that he would get off her. She didn't want to be caught like this. It would be humiliating. Neji leaned forward, his forehead touching against Sakuno.
"Do you have any idea what you are doing, Hyuuga?" Sakuno asked, her voice was slightly shaky. Cursing herself, she steadied her voice and sneered at the Hyuuga.
"I know what I'm doing, fox," Neji muttered.
"Fox?" Sakuno asked, slightly offended.
"If you call me Hyuuga, I call you fox," Neji said.
Sakuno's ears twitched slightly. Her face resembled that of a tomato. Wonderful. She was reduced to looking like a fruit….. Or was it a vegetable? Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts. How to get him off of her?
"SAKUNO!"
Neji's eyes widened as he heard the scream of a male voice. Jumping off her quickly, he moved away. Sakuno's tomato face paled quickly. She was still in the same spot when her sensei came barreling into the clearing.
"SAKUNO!" He shouted again.
She slowly stood up. Then she turned around, her cat ears were flat against her head. Her eyes weren't looking into her furious sensei's face. She chanced a look in Neji's direction, and noticed that he was composed. The bastard.
"What do you think you are doing!?" Akane bellowed.
"Uh, training," Sakuno replied, a little dumb witted.
"Looks like more of you being pinned by a weakling boy!" Akane shouted.
Neji's curled his hand into a fist. Weakling? He glanced at Sakuno. Possible, when it came to her and only her. Sakuno glanced at Neji then back at her sensei.
"He isn't weak," she stated.
"Oh? He lost to a female!" Akane shouted. "That is weak!"
Neji snorted, but quickly covered his mouth as he looked into Akane's eyes. Being beaten by Sakuno wasn't because he was weak. It was because she was just too damn strong. Hell, she's a demon, and he's just a human. He was lucky to get as far as he did without being killed.
"Your genjutsu isn't in place again!" Akane shouted. He made a move to go near Sakuno and drag her away from the clearing. Sakuno dodged away from her sensei.
"Don't touch me," she said, her voice was low and dangerous.
"I've trained you since you were young; I have every right to touch you," Akane said as he moved again to drag her away.
Sakuno dodged again. She changed into a tiger and then stood her ground as she stared at her sensei.
"You can't win against me, Sakuno," Akane said, using one of his old techniques against her. He was trying to berate her. Tell her she was useless and she couldn't fight her fate. Her fate of being a tool in his plan to use demons, instead of humans, as ninjas. Sakuno roared as she pinned her ears flat against her head. She was starting to submit again. Losing her battle against her sensei.
"That's right. Tool, come on, you can't survive by yourself," Akane said. He continued to get closer to the tigress. He pulled out a collar to put around Sakuno's neck. She just let him get as close as he needed to put around her. Once again she was chained by her fate.
"Come on Sakuno. We're leaving," Akane pulled harshly on Sakuno's leash. Sakuno chanced a look in Neji's direction. Her eyes pleading with him to help her. Neji just watched as she was being lead away, like an animal being pulled away from something that made her happy. Neji's eyes hardened, he moved to cut the chain binding Sakuno.
"Go," he muttered once the chain was broken. Sakuno looked startled. She hadn't expected him to do anything to help her. Hell, even her teammates didn't do anything to help her when she was being pulled back by a chain and collar. She had to learn her place as they kept saying. And her place was below everyone, even though she was the strongest on their team.
"You!" Akane shouted as he rounded to punch Neji on the cheek. Neji grunted but he wasn't sent flying. If it was Sakuno's punch he would've been knocked out for sure. "You have no right to go in between a student and a teacher!"
"I do, when a teacher has a student on a leash and collar like a misbehaving dog," Neji muttered.
Akane growled as he started into the Hyuuga's lavender eyes. He narrowed his eyes and tried to look intimidating to the Hyuuga. Neji, however, didn't by it. He had seen worse expressions from Sakuno.
Sakuno watched as her sensei and Neji started at each other. She changed back and walked in between the two ninjas.
"Neji, I don't want you to get hurt," she muttered. She turned to look at her sensei, glaring into his head. "I have to learn to fight him myself."
Neji snorted but backed down, he knew that this was important for her to learn. For her to understand that she wasn't just some tool that could be used and then discarded like she wasn't a living being.
"Sakuno!" Kira shouted as he made a move into the clearing with Hishn not far behind.
Sakuno looked behind her to her teammates. Then she looked again to her sensei. "You called them to keep an eye on me?"
Akane laughed manically, "That's right."
"Fine then," Sakuno said. "I'm no longer a student of yours. I can not be bond by chains and genjutsus. I am who I am."
"People will only look down on you again! Remember when you were little! They looked at you in disgust!" Akane shouted.
Sakuno looked undeterred. "Then so be it. If they look at me that way, then that's their problem. Not mine. Besides, I have learned that there are people that look at me as if I am human. The way I look now."
Akane laughed, "That human boy? He doesn't know what you truly are. A monster!"
Neji glared at Akane. "She is not a monster. You are for chaining her up."
Akane laughed again as he looked at Sakuno. She paled again. Maybe she was a monster, but even monsters have happiness. Or that's what she wanted to believe. She was a monster; could there be someone that would love her for what she was? Not what she looked like?
"Sensei, just leaver her," Hishn said. "She'll be happier here, with Neji."
"She doesn't deserve to be happy!" Akane shouted again.
"Everyone deserves happiness, Akane-sensei," Kira said. "Even Sakuno."
"Let's go," Hishn said as she nodded toward Kira. They moved toward their sensei and pulled him out of the clearing.
Sakuno sighed as she watched her ex-teammates drag her ex-sensei away.
"Well, that sucked."
"Why did you let him chain you?" Neji murmured.
"I've never been able to understand why I couldn't ignore him as a tiger. She just has her own will. He can protect us, even though I know he's hurting me," Sakuno said, her voice was sad.
Neji made a move toward her. In a jerky movement he pulled her into a hug.
"He won't hurt you again," he muttered into her hair.
A/N Dunno about that ending. Eh, whatever. It's good enough for me. Review!