Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
A/N: Rusty, that I am. I'm jumping back on the bandwagon, fandom, please don't mind if I do.
Vantage
By: SleepyDreamGirl
It was left ruminating again.
Repetitive, it noted, but amusing nonetheless. The tension that laced the air was so fragile, yet tight with unspoken words and unneeded thoughts thrown aside. He was sparring in all seriousness and she was aiming with pinpoint precision, just like any other day.
Just like any other day. If the little kunai had brows, it'd have furrowed them in frustration.
It adored its Weapon Mistress; hopelessly in love ever since she first yelled in unrestrained glee, pointing at that "Shiny metal!" while jumping up and down at the age of 5. She was alone, it was alone, and they were staring at the other through one impeccable, hateful glass window. What a queer thing, they've both thought. But the bond was forged and she barged in with the might and resolution of a soldier, flashing a toothy grin at the storekeeper.
"Mister, I'll have that shiny metal over there!"
Ouch, did her voice resonate. By no means was the store shabby, but it wasn't exactly the grandest nor largest weapon store in the district. It only served to emphasize the emptiness that've laid dormant for years and years and years on end. The little kunai trembled in uncontained anticipation and excitement.
"That'll be five dollars, young 'un."
"What's five doe-lers?" she drawled.
The storekeeper blinked before setting his newspaper and steaming mug of black coffee on the dust-covered countertop, grunting as he stood. He was tall, bulky and one uneven scar danced from his brow across his eye, ending right before his ear. "Intimidating" may be his adjective. Maybe it's not even enough. But the child held firm with eyes that spoke of infinite enthusiasm and curiosity that threatened to overspill and leak into the musty-smelling store.
"A flimsy piece of paper that'll get you anything you want."
"Cool! That's like some kind of miracle paper. But Mister, I don't believe in miracles."
He arched an eyebrow at this before walking over to the bundle of sunshine, beaming in all her brilliance. He didn't bend his knees at the ridiculous height difference between them. No, because that's just rude. He's a man who shows due respect to deserving individuals, may they be a child or otherwise.
She beamed even further till he thought her face would crack.
"So where do I get this doe-lers you speak of?"
"You earn it."
"How do I earn it?"
"You work."
She scrunched her face in deep contemplation. The storekeeper remained stoic, patiently awaiting her reply. She folded her arms, tilted her head and thought and wondered and pondered and considered before she spun around to sneak a glance at her shiny metal. There it was in all its glory, sparkling and shining within its casing like a fish out of water against the dirty backdrop. She squinted and strained her ears. It was begging her to take it home, she just knew it.
"Mister," she spun back with shocking grace, "Are you hiring?"
He was silent at first. And then he spotted the twinkling and gleaming that overtook the child's facial features. He grunted, walking away from her. An instant frown found its way to her and she almost stomped her foot to demand attention, before she caught him motioning her to "Get your butt over here." At least, that's how she interpreted his signal. She pranced over, bumbling and eager to start.
The little kunai was shaken out of its reverie at this point, slicing through the air with fellow companions. It felt good, so good, like it had wings and soared like a mighty eagle. Today, it was swift and agile and stripped of any killing intent that was strictly reserved for enemies and foes alike. Not for him. Never for him. The little kunai could feel the force it was hurtled with. She may claim she exerts her hundred and one percent when he once questioned on a mission, a near impossible mission that left Lee limping for 3 weeks and landed himself in the hospital for a month, but it knew better. It always did.
So when it felt gravity coming into play as its magical flying ability began to decline, the little kunai puffed its non-existent chest and remained airborne for just one nanosecond longer. Today, it built its resolve, I will see to the end of this.
As its comrades fell one by one, lying lifeless on the ground, it continued defying physics like apples didn't rain from trees (they fly from trees, bound for the universe) and pooled its concentration onto the task ahead. One hundred, it grinned to itself, and one percent. And it hurled sideways with what little energy it had left.
Her eyes were closed as she landed with a soft thud on patches of wet grass, strands of hair framing her jaw line like they were sighing in relief after escaping their tightly-knitted buns, clothing slightly ruffled yet without the slightest speck of dust nor mud, merely drenched in the day's hard work. She was one heartbeat too late to realize something was amiss.
Serenity surrounded them in the lush green clearing, but it was choking them now. She jerked her eyes open, startled. The first thing her eyes came to rest upon was the thin line that laid on his handsome features. What was it called again?
She sucked her breath none too gently, entranced.
"Tenten."
She blinked. Did that thin line just move?
"Tenten."
The slight urgency mixed with that smooth baritone…
"Your aim…was off."
Thump. Her heart was thumping wildly, her breath was hitched in her throat and her mind was wiped blank. But it wasn't because of him.
He looked at her, quietly. He made no move and neither did she, save tilting her head to look him squarely in the face. She was tense. He felt she would sprint and dash into oblivion the moment he took his eyes off her. His gaze was empty, her gaze was colorful. Painfully colorful, he duly noted, as he picked out the plethora of colors, assigning the appropriate emotion to each and every last one of them.
She couldn't speak, she couldn't hear, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't feel. And though she was staring right at him, she couldn't see a single damn thing. She could have wept. She didn't hear the grass rustling as footsteps were made, she didn't smell the fresh scent of peppermint that should have engulfed her senses, she didn't feel the warmth shooting through her body where skin and skin made contact and she didn't notice she was now staring at nothing in the vacant spot where he once stood.
Her world was once emblazoned in resplendent crystals of every color known to mankind, and now it's all come crashing down into innumerable, diminutive shards of grotesque shapes and sizes.
If he noticed her tremors, he made no attempts to soothe them.
"What are you so frightened of?" his voice came out in raspy wisps of contortion instead.
She shivered visibly as his cool breath tickled her nape, jerking awake to her senses out of the blue. Clutching on to his sleeve like she was hanging on for dear life, uncharacteristically so, she whispered in return.
"What am I so frightened of?"
He realized she wasn't questioning him so much as she was questioning herself. His mouth was wry, her mouth was bitter and there was little they could do to prevent themselves from crashing like tidal waves, except they could just do anything in reality.
"Look at me."
She pulled back and stared hard.
"What do you see?"
"I see you." Heartbreakingly honest.
"And?"
"I see nothing but you," she breathed out.
His embrace seemed a little tighter, but she's sure it's just her imagination.
"What do you see?"
This time it seemed to stiffen and she wasn't all that sure it's just her imagination anymore.
"I see a girl," she gasped so softly as he caressed her cheek, "A girl who tries so hard, who thinks she's done well because nobody knows what she's done," his other hand came to rest upon the small of her back, "When that's the furthest thing from the truth she shields herself from."
She couldn't help but frown even as his embrace- their embrace seemed to burn red hot, seemed to be the only thing that mattered in the world when she was so sure they were nothing but incomparable specks against the flow of the world. It was unfair. It wasn't fair. Not the way her defenses were torn down, just like that. Just like him.
Her muffled cry had startled him. Yet it spoke volumes at the same time. How she no longer bothered to hide. How she no longer bothered to pretend. How she no longer thought she was right. He pressed a kiss on her crown and for a fleeting moment, he wistfully pretended he was the prince and she was his princess and they lived blissful days in a nameless land. He was answered with a heart wrenching sob that rocked her lithe form and made her seem that much more precious.
Placing his chin over her soft, chocolate hair, he hummed a tuneless melody, deep and throaty. She seemed to appreciate the gesture as her sob faded to nothing, arms reaching out to wrap themselves around the source of that euphony.
"Of course it wouldn't matter to you."
He didn't expect what he was hearing, and it didn't help matters when he felt a pang of disappointment coursing through him.
Her laugh was dry. Demeaning to the point he could physically wince.
"Why would it ever matter?" she muttered, falling limp against his arms, arms that surrounded her like a warm cocoon.
He pulled away when she laid lifeless, eyes mirroring that of the faded moon.
"You never had to."
She stiffened at this, and in a heartbeat she shoved him with a scowl.
"You understand nothing, and given your position, I doubt you ever had to!"
She gnawed down, hard. Her eyes were flashing, but he couldn't help admiring the way life breathed back in her in one pulsating beat of puffed cheeks and indignant creases. He was sorely mistaken, she could tell from his parted lips that held her in fascination, because the blood that trickled down and dripped from her chin didn't prove anything save the regret from blurting what she had. If anything, she was positive he went through far more and deserved no tantrum thrown by the likes of her. And yet he was here, silently berating himself by the furrow of his brow for holding her in awe when she was infuriated with him.
You never had to.
That silly, endearing Hyuuga.
He was confused and he was hypnotized. An impulse later saw her throwing herself at him like they were destined to part. She was confusing, she was hypnotizing and she was chuckling. She was… She is the best thing that ever happened to him, he thought back to days gone by.
"You idiot."
His mouth was sealed before he could softly protest as he settled for pressing against her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her jaw, her eyes and he felt he could explode when a gentle rumble of laughter rippled below him.
The corners of his lips were tugged upwards and his eyes crinkled appreciatively as they raked in the glorious sight before them. Maybe her aim was never off, but he was only searching for an excuse. Maybe he was driven delusional because he was too focused on the buns that were about to unravel after hours and hours of endless training.
He never uttered a word when she broke away from him to collect her weapons, scattered over the ground like budding blossoms. He watched as she picked the last of her weapons –an old and faded kunai- and briefly wondered if it was the one behind this muted maelstrom. He eyed her flipping the kunai over, tracing over the metal with featherweight touches filled with tints and shades of nostalgia.
She made her way back to him.
"It looks old."
She shot him a pointed look, before glancing down at the kunai she held so conscientiously.
"Yeah."
She knows what he meant.
"Guess it's time to swing by the weapons store," she tossed the kunai into her pouch without so much as a second look, taking his unvoiced offer of company for the walk to the run-down store.
Goodbye.
"Tenten?"
She'd paused in her footsteps. Turning, he was there, posing a silent question for her sudden demeanour. She stared and stood before she placed her hand over her chest.
Thank you.
She shook her head, unraveling her buns with a playful grin as he turned away, abrupt as rain, and they ambled down the hill.
:DxD:DxD:DxD:DxD:DxD
A/N: Oh the angst, it's killing me. I've never meant to write angst. The reason the beginning and end seem so disconcerted is due to the fact I wrote 500 words every day (in between another Naruto crackfic too) since I wasn't too used to blasting everything like I did in past. I've half a mind not to post this because I didn't put my heart into it, but I wouldn't mind critiques and nothing's going to start if I don't post anything at all.
So, I hope you had an enjoyable read!