Title: Wizard
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Tenten x Neji
Summary: A young witch locates a family heirloom and shakes up the world around her in the process. In a world where magic is shunned, the spell-casters of Toad Mountain and the Hyuga family find themselves drawing battle lines. The Naruto-verse if they were witches and wizards.
Thank you to Writer's Obsession, TheGalaxyWarrior and Whiskerer for reading over this one! Your suggestions have been more than welcomed.
I. Cause and Effect
Toad Mountain stood taller than the sun. So high was its peak that just below, at the hardest climb, travelers walked side by side with clouds that skewed their view of the village below. When anybody got to the top, if they dared, they were greeted by a town of another kind: the spellcasters' community, a group of exiled folk, but not wizened despite the years, who practiced magic beyond reproach.
In one of the outcrops, halfway up, Tenten rose each morning to the sounds of Spellcaster Guy walking Lee through a series of weight-bearing exercises. Lee would count backward from five hundred on his fingertips in a low push-up to warm up. Sometimes Tenten would join them but not for push-ups on fingertips.
"The flame of Youth, Tenten!" Spellcaster Guy would shout in the middle of a lap around the mountain. "Do not tell me your throwing skills hurt for a little exercise." It even warmed her heart, their rhythms, but she told them they were crazy every chance she got and sighed when Guy insisted on "double time" every time. Afterward, she ventured down to The Great Rock and tried casting off a few well-levitated throwing knives, out of sight.
Over the years, Tenten had learned that strangers visited Toad Mountain more than the villagers who lived at the mountain's feet. According to Might Guy, there existed a rift between the spellcasters and the villagers that gaped as widely as the sea. Since the war, the villagers have moved in cautious measures to avoid Toad Mountain, turning their backs on the Spell Casters, and magic, entirely.
The Gods curse you should you believe in magic. One thing every spell caster knows is that Toad Mountain stands for all the hurt endured by its people. The caster's themselves can't bear it on their own; it's the reason why every year Toad Mountain grows darker.
II. Vibration
To begin meditation, start with controlling your breath. Every person depends upon it, and some say breathing is the name of a god that all life shares. The importance of pacing oneself through the rhythms of life on the pattern of the breath is overstated among the Hyuga but not spoken of nearly enough among the other clans. The Hyuga have a saying among them that the clansman who meditates knows his mind and body to be one, and do not abide weakness in either, to prevail the world, and set himself free. Another saying goes that the longer a man meditates, the harder his body must be and the harder his body, the stronger his mind to get the body that way. But meditation is not magic, and it does not cure all the ailments of humanity. Neji, taking seriously every word said, meditated as instructed.
It took counting his breath—4, 3, 2, 1—and attempting to hold it like a tight balloon in his belly, pausing, and letting go more slowly than he had sucked it in before his lungs were large enough to hold for longer. Singers deploy breathing control to hit more precise, stronger notes that don't damage the voice. But the Hyuga were not singers. Aside from meditation, the Hyuga Gentle Fist was the hardest thing to learn. The movements of the Hyuga style were many and complex. It would not do to hold an arm too wide or too high, or else you might break something when you strike. At three years old, Neji had fumbled in private with his father, over the hours-long repetition of drills. His father was patient, he said "again" in a hard voice, but if he knew Neji didn't understand, he would remind him. Neji was too young to realize that the practice was also for his father, who was reliving moments gone-by long before Neji's birth.
One day, standing before his uncle and a group of distant cousins in the Hyuga sparring yard, Neji had perfected the kata he had overreached and made awkward in front of his father. He aimed each strike in the invisible, narrow box before him as taught. When he moved to a dummy, he struck the wood hard but so well-aimed now, his palms didn't hurt. He covered a fist and bowed, indicating the end and the area erupted with applause Neji did not fully understand. Was this not the practice of the Hyuga; a thing everyone knew? When the leader of the Hyuga, his very own uncle, knelt to him and touched his shoulder, Neji looked to his father who nodded, and he was happy. The Lord Hyuga said, "you are a prodigy, Neji. You bring the Hyuga clan great pride."
Later, the Eight Trigrams, the multitude of organ-failing strikes delivered too fast to see all of their landing spots, would become his trump card. It had not escaped Neji that his father would never see him use it.
Neji remembers the way his uncle had said nothing as he fumbled through a movement he had half-forgotten the day his father died. A fire had lit up part of the Main House that had nearly taken his young cousin's life. A cousin he had not seen much of, hidden as she was in Lord Hyuga's quarters. The bottom line was, this cousin was alive; his father was not. Was his father weaker than a child he wondered? His uncle would not give advice, as Neji understands it, because the Hyuga give themselves over to a centuries-old method and they do not falter in its practice, including the clause that states all Hyuga are to protect the Main House. No exceptions.
Neji meditated for his answers, but they did not come. He cried sometimes and could not continue his practice of the old ways. The fact that he cried at all soon became his secret, with the sideward glances he would receive otherwise.
He passed his cousin by a walkway, and when he met her gaze, he saw the quiver in her lip and then the shameful bob of her head. She said, five to his eight years, "I—I am sorry." He was standing to his full height as a Hyuga should. He knew if he were to replicate his dummy-strikes on her, her bones would break. He silenced the thought of cracking her ribs when several formal-dressed Hyuga guards walked by and greeted, "Miss Hinata," in unison but did not say Neji's name. "Miss Hinata," he made himself say, nodded his head and turned away.
Many years passed as Neji practiced. He practiced Konoha's history as much as the Hyuga strikes. That Toad Mountain was an eyesore, closest to the Hyuga clan and it became an obsession for Neji. He asked his uncle about the people exiled there. "Magic users," his uncle said.
"Not chakra, my Lord?" Neji asked.
"No," the Lord Hyuga looked up. "And you would do well to remember that we have exiled them, nephew."
The conversation finished. Neji went by his uncle's private collection of scrolls, enjoying the musty smells of old paper. He read more on meditation and the breath, how some scholars had felt the practice had been changed too much and did not resemble what it was meant to do.
The Hyuga monitor their thoughts, feelings, chakra energies as closely as their opponent's: it is essential for a Hyuga to recognize their weakness as well as their opponents' shortcomings. But it did not make sense to Neji how a tool meant for spiritual salvation had become a coping mechanism for soldiers facing combat.
It took some time before Neji realized that meditation was anesthesia to life, such as it was. Life was not fair. To lords and their ladies who learned, it was a reminder of the pain of others, that they need only have been born at the wrong time and their life could have been very different. To show compassion was necessary for the meditator. For the Hyuga, it was more important to be strong.
III. Polarity
When Tenten was small, Itsuki Mountain had already existed for a few thousand millennia. It was even older than the village in the valley below. Tenten had come from a place much larger than the Leaf Village with rice fields and mountains even taller than Itsuki, stretching far beyond the horizon. Her home was one of many casualties of the war; her parents too. They were farmers, people who understood the land better than anyone, but when the Spell Casters War began they had to run.
Even though Tenten remembered being carried away from her home among the rice fields, she could never recall how her parents died. Tenten had Mercury's lucky bracelets etched on her wrists, so she lived. The colorful and optimistic Might Guy found her. Being so small at the time—dirty but unhurt—meant she heralded some talent for unusual things. Unusual like the day she picked up a heavy throwing knife for the first time, and though she couldn't throw very well then, Guy saw something that needed no magic at all. Looking back, Guy could see that Tenten was destined for something bigger than he could ever understand.
IV. Gender
The Hyuga courtyard was fenced in by high, straight-lined walls painted white and crisp to reflect as much sunlight as possible. The light was striking enough it could dizzy a person's eyesight in the middle of summer, but the Hyuga used it as a means of honing their focus; their eyes were more sensitive than usual. Why a person would choose to blind themselves was beyond Tenten.
She noted how each entrance had an animal for protection either side: right and left to signal two energies in the world. Tenten couldn't read the symbols that marked the highest edges of the walls; they were careful, intricate designs Tenten didn't understand. To her, they looked like superstitious warding symbols, but only a Hyuga could say for sure.
The heat from the sun was avoided in other parts of the courtyard by well-placed trees. Tenten noted how the trees were not wild like the trees on Itsuki, with roots exposed and trunks bent. These trees were smooth and did not have the marks of insect-trails and animal nests.
Tenten looked around curiously, avoiding a white-eyed person here and there when she was in danger of colliding with them. She tip-toed over floorboards, but why she didn't know. The invisibility spell was not due to wear off until she gave the command. She got to an open-aired room with four men inside, they bowed and sipped small cups of tea as she entered. Tenten felt anxious, but the men chattered on, not noticing her.
She noticed a massive tapestry on the wall, with the faces of the Hyuga Leader and his immediate family: all women aside from the Lord and all sharing those pale, pupil-empty eyes. Above the tapestry, was a longsword fixed on three resting hooks. It was hard to say which image was honored more: the Lord Hyuga and his family or the weapon.
Tenten realized she could not grab the weapon without being noticed, so she waited. The men only said boring things about the weather and each other's children, nothing of note. Having set out early that morning, it was only midday at this point, but she could not fathom having to be patient until sundown. She took in as much detail as she could, remembering to blink her eyes and pay attention to her heartbeat. It was challenging to do for too long without losing focus, so Guy spellcaster was as hard about morning runs as he was about concentration.
There was a strange hum that alerted the men in the room. "Look!" one of them said. "The sword is glowing!"
Tenten looked as well, not believing it. Indeed, it had taken on a starlight-like sheen, bright and radiant.
"I'll tell the Lord," one of the men offered and hurried away.
"What does this mean?"
"I don't know," came a response. The sword was beginning to tremble now, threatening to come off its hooks.
Tenten had her mouth agape and was looking between them. What was she to do? Rip it right out from under them and cause more ruckus?
The Lord Hyuga came by several moments later. When he entered the room, his eyes looked in her direction. Tenten moved a hand. He didn't react. He walked towards the sword instead and murmured something to the others.
"The sword is rumored to host an evil spirit. But the rumor had not been proven true until now."
"Surely, this is some vengeance, my Lord, from the magic users," one of the men offered.
"No," he said. "Even the Itsuki Spell-casters do not know what this sword is." He turned to one of the men. "I need a message written to the Grand Spell Master at once."
Tenten took this as her cue to leave and ran from the room. Panicked as she was at how stupid she had been, she did not try to hide at the slight movement of the door. What did she think she was doing, stealing from the Leaf Village and using magic to get her way?
She got back to the far entrance gate that would lead her back up the mountain. She placed her hand on the wall, ready to bounce high, up and over. A careful breath in and then, a hand grabbed her, hard and whirled her around. Her mind froze and what should have been a scream, never came out.
An angry white-eyed young man held her tight with one hand, the forefingers of his other flexed and firm, ready to strike.
The Hyuga noted that this intruder was cloaked unmistakably like a wizard, and the charms he saw flowing from her wrists were telltale signs she believed in magic. Probably attempted a spell or two, or whatever. However many times he told himself the story of the spell-casters who would steal from the Hyuga clan, poison their water and take life; it was very different to the vision of the petite young woman in front of him.
She was clear to him as anything, and she mouthed, "you can see me?" rather stupidly.
He nodded anyway, not sure what drove his polite reply but kept one hand squeezed around her wrist and the other raised, meaning to hurt her if she moved.
For the next few minutes, Tenten had to decide if it was worth bearing all and apologizing to the young man with pale moon-eyes. Or if she could get away with pretending like he wasn't trying to hit her and be on her way.
"What are you doing?" he said.
The exchange that followed differed in her memory and his; he did not recall her cut up hands and she did not remember him trying any less than to beat her to a bloody pulp.
She caught his next finger strike by jamming his arm skyward with the palm of her hand. He stepped back, swung his arms around hers in a swift motion that left his hands on top of hers. It was an unusual method Tenten thought and oddly rehearsed.
Somehow, when he had a hand to her throat, and she cast a body-switch spell, she would try to forget his look of bewilderment; pretending not to like the look of animal rage and confusion, justifying only to herself why she would.
His mind whirled with the realization that she was unlike any other woman he knew. Neji's mother was weak and invisible, a member of the Branch family, serving out her days out of sight. While his cousin, frail and damaged by the fire ten years ago, only wished she could blend into the walls of the Hyuga house.
Tenten was not a Hyuga woman; she was not sightless or helpless or likely to wear damage the same way. He had found something intriguing, indeed.
She saluted him from high in the tree above, Neji holding only a block of wood where her arm was, then she vanished.
Lord Hyūga was notified of the trespasser immediately. If he did not see it himself, he might have done by the speed at which the news reached him in his private quarters. A bird was sent to the peak of Itsuki Mountain, requesting the likes of Might Guy since a gate guard suggested Guy's student was fool enough to mention his name. Not a polite request for discussion: attend or risk a follow-up—again, not polite by any measure—whereby Lord Hyuga would visit the mountainside, trained clansmen and soldiers in tow.
Guy wanted to laugh when he read the summons, but it was so solemn in tone and came from such an absurd source, he could not treat it lightly.
When Guy made to open his mouth to reprimand Lee, Tenten appeared in a puff of smoke. "Guy," she said. He double backed at her appearance but was glad to see she was practicing. "It was me."
Lee had saluted, awaiting further orders. "Never mind," Guy said to him, his eyes not leaving Tenten. For all Lee's obtuseness sometimes, he chose this moment to read the situation accurately and made himself scarce faster than he could do ten push-ups.
Tenten only looked away, ashamed and burning with embarrassment.
Later, when Guy finally understood what Tenten had done, he beckoned Tenten to follow him silently.
Tenten did so sheepishly, and Guy said nothing else until they stopped by The Great Rock.
Tenten understood. Spell Master Kakashi.
Spellcaster Guy never told her what Kakashi's ritual meant, but she knew it was something she could use to determine the time of day. Neither did anyone explain the meanings of the rock's etchings. Tenten would sometimes watch the gatherings on the night of the Winter Solstice where wizards would commemorate the spellcasters who had died protecting the village.
Kakashi sat with his legs beneath him as though in prayer, no spell book in sight.
"Kakashi," Guy said, his tone to-the-point and unfriendly.
Tenten watched for Kakashi's reaction, but he didn't turn to face them nor open his one visible eye. Guy tried again, "The Overlord, Hyuga," he enunciated the name with sarcasm, "has sent me a cheerful letter demanding I go to the village. Want to read?"
Kakashi opened his eye then, and it seemed as though he smiled although Tenten couldn't tell for sure.
"Bring tea at least, Guy, and then we can chat."
"Serious, Kakashi," Guy waved the parchment around. "This is bigger than my win-streak right now."
Kakashi mumbled something about 'sore loser' but dropped it when he saw Guy's serious face, no nice-Guy in sight. He got up and walked towards them, taking in Tenten as well. "How are you?" he asked her and grabbed the sheet before hearing her answer.
He read it over, his eye rapidly darting back and forth over the words. When he finished, he looked at Tenten more closely. "Guy, is it okay if I ask your student a few things?"
Guy sighed and shrugged. "It's beside the point but why not."
"What do you know about the Hyuga, Tenten?"
"Um," Tenten looked at her Spell Master, unsure how to answer. She couldn't look the Great Kakashi in the eye so spoke more to her feet when she mumbled: "They're the ruling family of the Leaf Village."
"Yes. What else?"
"They have unusual eyes."
"Their doujutsu is superb. You've seen it." No question in Kakashi's voice. It surprised Tenten. Somehow it seemed he was anticipating her answers.
"Yes. And I was invisible today."
"Incredible. I was invisible yesterday."
"And—" Tenten persisted, "—he saw me. How do you see someone who's invisible?"
"Ah." He paused and shared a look with Guy. "Good question. No one truly knows except the Lord Hyuga himself. Of course, we have our theories." He gestured at Guy, but Guy merely folded his arms and pointed to the sun to indicate there'd be no daylight left to make it down the mountain. Kakashi continued, "The Hyūga have a lineage as old as this mountain. Perhaps older if we wanted to argue the point. Let's stick with 'old' for now, shall we?"
Tenten nodded, but she suspected Kakashi was not waiting for a response.
"No one but the firstborn of each generation is privy to the Hyūga eyes full potential. Lord Hyūga has a daughter about your age, give or take a year—"
Tenten interrupted, "It was a boy I met, Kakashi."
Kakashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you never know, do you?"
Kakashi seemed to grin again, but Tenten was annoyed. Although Kakashi was one of the strongest spellcasters ever known, in times like this Guy-spell-master was better equipped. Guy gave direct and soothing answers while Kakashi never failed to be vague. Kakashi started to ask her about the Hyuga boy. He paced. She followed his steps and tried to answer him as best she could, given her limited version of events.
He wanted to know his age, whether he covered his forehead, what his eyes were like, where did she see him.
Finally, Kakashi ceased his line of questioning and rubbed his chin thoughtfully a moment.
"Would you let me come with you, Guy?"
Guy half-smiled then and let out a frustrated sigh rather than say anything more. Tenten looked between them, not sure of the true meaning behind the exchange.
By that evening, Spell Masters Guy and Kakashi kneeled politely on the freshly cleaned floors of Lord Hyuga's meeting room. They both graciously accepted the tea offered and bowed their heads deeply, in apology, each time Lord Hyuga mentioned the word 'trespasser.'
Tenten had found herself between two bodyguards in the corner of the room, facing the wall, "to prevent wizardry," they said. She wanted to correct them and say she was a witch and able to cast spells whether she was looking at someone or not. Of course, she knew better not to.
When the Spell Masters heard Lord Hyuga's direct and unkind accusation of stealing, Guy was quick to lose his temper.
"Perhaps a misunderstanding," Kakashi suggested, giving his shoulders a shrug like this was all over his head.
"No, you heard him!" Guy said. "So what do you want then?"
Before Lord Hyuga could answer, Kakashi cleared his throat and hit Guy on the shoulder and leaned in to speak only to him. "What was Tenten doing here?" Kakashi whispered.
Guy didn't bother whispering back and gestured rudely at the Lord Hyuga before them. "You, Kakashi, my oldest friend, like Lord Hyuga here, think Tenten stole something."
"No," Kakashi said, bringing his hands together in prayer to calm Guy down, "but something's missing and some witnesses saw her here." Kakashi's eye flickered with a brilliant idea his friend wasn't sure he wanted to hear.
Kakashi looked at Guy for encouragement but got a childish 'hmph' in response. "I'm listening," he mumbled after a moment.
"We'll help you find this object. We insist. Tenten, too."
From her corner with the bodyguards, Tenten turned around, wide-eyed by the suggestion. No.
Lord Hyuga sat up taller somehow and smiled. "Kind of you to offer, Spell Master. I'll make some preparations."
The meeting concluded, and Guy's mouth dropped, looking at Kakashi with suspicion. What did you do?
Much later, Lord Hyuga directed servants to invite the Spell Masters and Tenten to rest. They took Lord Hyuga's more modest sleeping rooms, but Tenten was glad enough to have somewhere to stay. It gave her time to consider the day's events, alone. She was sure Guy wanted no more trouble from her. She gave a quick flick of her wrist that caused her blanket to unfold itself. She smiled at her magicked triumph but remembered where she was and that crushed her short-lived joy.
Taught to potential spellcasters as pups was that magic was not seen for what it was, Tenten knew. Each day Tenten took spellcasting classes to learn wizard history as much as to learn how to throw a spell or two. Tenten's head was steeped in an older person's ideas though Might Guy colorfully re-taught her casting lessons—whether to her benefit was questionable.
Guy liked to say things like, "be certain of your youth!" or "Yosh, Tenten! I see the flame of Youth within you!"
He said these things to Lee as well, who was as good as Guy's son since his poor farming parents had succumbed to drought and sold him into slavery. How Guy found him is anyone's guess.
In many ways, Lee was a dud as far as spellcasting went. Tenten herself had little faith in her abilities. Guy taught them both to condition their bodies to harness a deeper level of contentment and control not found in spell casting alone.
Guy spell caster always said weights were important when training. Lee was up to wearing weights on his legs as heavy as two big bowls of soup. It must have felt like walking through thick mud, Tenten thought, especially since they were from the mountain—said to bear a curse or blessing, depending on the storyteller.
Much to Tenten's anguish, Guy was a man with no children, so his only option was to turn a student into an image of himself. Lee was everything like Guy except in blood. Tenten joined them on their morning laps but drew the line there.
Whenever Guy set a challenge of 'no sleep' and then weight bearing exercises at dawn, she refused to participate. Being so close to two maniacs for punishment exhausted her on principle.
Thoughts on Guy and Lee aside, Tenten had failed to tell Guy why she had strayed into the Hyuga compound in the first place. What she had learned about her family a few days prior was something she welcomed no re-interpretation from Guy.
An old book sitting on Guy's bookcase detailed the history of war around Toad. A chapter that outlined refugees mentioned her homeland had many precious items now contained by the Hyuga household, for safety. For whom, she had asked herself. The war that cost her parents their lives was the fault of the Spell Casters of Toad as far as she understood it. Guy had never shied away from the Mountain's indirect ability to initiate conflict. It was the source of their power, after all. But neither had he strictly mentioned the things other nations had lost.
It set Tenten afire inside. That was the moment when she put on her cloak and made the trek to the bottom of the mountain.
The Hyuga household, missing only one of the Branch families, and Lord Hyuga's daughters, put on their riding outfits and set out with Kakashi, Guy and Tenten the next morning.
As they were waiting in the Hyuga courtyard, Tenten looked for the Hyuga boy among the sea of formalwear. While she was standing on tip-toe looking among the Hyuga soldiers, she didn't notice the shadow that appeared behind her.
"Spellcaster," said the shadow.
Tenten's heart raced. Was it him?
Moon-pale eyes stared at her accusingly when she dared to turn around.
"Well done on tricking my Uncle into this folly of a trip," he said, with acid in his voice.
"It's not a trick," she returned.
"I saw you." He walked away, giving Tenten no chance to retort.
Guy seemed to have seen the exchange because he was quick to put a hand on Tenten's shoulder and squeeze it.
"Why do they hate magic so much, Guy?" Tenten asked.
Guy thought a moment before saying: "I can only guess, but I think it's because they can't control it. Their clan was once full of magic-users like us."
Tenten gaped. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah, they were powerful. Those strange eyes of theirs are especially good for seeing through illusions, but any acknowledgment of a Hyuga-born magic user was erased long before you were born, Tenten."
Tenten's head spun, the villagers, the Hyuga clan, no less, using magic? It sounded impossible. Guy added a small afterthought: "You know you can't throw your weapons at him, right?"
"Yes."
"Or threaten to turn him into a toad even if you can?"
Tenten smiled at that. "I'm sorry, Guy-spell-caster, there'll be no Hyuga-toads, I promise."
"Very good. You'll need your flame of youth to conquer this bothersome journey."
V. Rhythm
Travelling wasn't an issue for Tenten, but it seemed to be the case for the Hyuga boy. He made fast tracks and kept ahead of their congregation at some turns, then others he shifted to the back. On one occasion, he was close enough to her that they could exchange a glance now and then. Tenten tried not to look too much; his restlessness was turning her a bit restless as well.
Their path had not been made clear to Tenten, but it seemed the conversations Kakashi had with some of Lord Hyuga's scouts kept them on track. Tenten watched Kakashi too because he never gave much away and yet everyone on Toad knew a tragic history had marked him. His casting students, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke did not remain on the mountain. Several years they'd been gone, and no one, including Kakashi, knew where they were. Some said they were dead, others that they had been kidnapped or vanished for different reasons. Sasuke, especially, had the most rumors surrounding him - either he was a spy, the son of a King, or a criminal who had gone back to wherever he had escaped.
It reminded Tenten a bit of the spell-casters who live among the villagers, in disguise. Guy-spell-master called these people 'spell-bounded' and undetectable because of a procedure performed only by the Grand Spell Master. In rare cases, some witches survive with an iota of their former power still intact. They tell fortunes and sell bewitched herbs or candles of pig fat to people who've lost hope. They tell their clients that honey and lemon water helps a cold, with a pinch of something else, and if they're looking for love, they should brew a specific tea, light a candle and turn around three times, touching their elbows on the night of the New Moon.
Guy has warned both Lee and Tenten the dangers of spell casting. Not so long ago in Wizard History, a man had developed casting abilities strong enough to raise the dead. His magic was bound when Wizards discovered a lair of corpses re-animated. Some of them spell masters from decades ago. Guy told the story now and then to scare them both. He said it was essential to work hard, not selfishly and to work with the spell-casting laws.
Like all spell-casters, Tenten wasn't to perform an act of magic with malicious intent or to use it on the villagers. So when the Hyuga boy approached Tenten after a week of their journey, she could only think of all the reasons she shouldn't help him.
"I need one of your cures," he said rather abruptly.
Tenten turned around. "You'll have to be specific. We don't cure anything. That's up to you."
She was collecting a bundle of sticks to light a cleansing spell for Guy-spell-master. He wanted his water filtered and the air free of any curses, he'd told her earlier.
"Witch, you come to my family home to steal, and now you have the nerve to tell me you can't do magic."
"I didn't say that!" Her voice was shaking now. "You have no idea what magic is, and besides, I need a name. Without a name, nothing works."
"A name?" he said.
"Yes," she said. "Your name. Or the name of the recipient for this cure."
"Neji," he said.
"Neji," she said slowly, not looking him in the eye. "I think I know what you could be."
"Crazy?"
She smiled, despite her prior indignation. "That's a given, but no."
He waited.
"A wizard."
Neji said nothing. "Look, it's weird," she said. "But I sense something about you. And you saw me when I was invisible."
"You weren't invisible."
"I was," she said. "And you have no idea what that means. Let me read a fortune for you first, and then we might get to this cure of yours."
He nodded. "As you wish."
"Let me get a deck of cards."
They found themselves a couple of flattened trees to use as makeshift seats, and Tenten set the stage, inviting pleasant spirits from North, South, East, and West to protect them as she read the Hyuga boy's numbers.
After almost an hour, Lee came by, interrupting them both.
"Tenten," he said. "Guy-spell-master needs your assistance. He says he made a request a while ago."
"Yes," she said, finding herself oddly annoyed.
"Well," Lee looked between her and Neji and added, "when you're ready." He bowed to the Hyuga.
Tenten's heart was thudding when she looked back apologetically and noticed the Hyuga eyes not looking at her at all but studying the cards laid out.
"What is this," he read from the card, "Sharingan?" He tapped the dark card, placed upside down for emphasis.
"A spinning wheel." She answered simply. "I've never seen it. It allows the wielder to glimpse the future."
'Hn' was his response. "Well, I have to get going." He flipped her a coin and stood up, Tenten picked it up and studied it intently, feeling a little confused once more.
"You don't want your cure, Lord Hyuga?"
"No," he said. "I'll come another time. I told you my name is Neji." He didn't smile, but Tenten felt something warm rise inside her.
"Neji," she said.
VI. Oneness
Tenten woke to overhear something not meant for her ears. Guy and Kakashi sat by the fire too late for anyone else to be around as Tenten tried hard to stay still where she was sleeping. What woke her was the insects, she couldn't understand how they bothered no one else. Fighting the urge to slap a mosquito dead, she breathed slowly, noticing the tiny, itching bites on her skin, hoping they would fade quickly.
"I taught Sasuke a dangerous casting technique," she heard Kakashi say. "I believed his intelligence to translate to maturity, and I was proven wrong in my judgment."
"You cannot hate yourself," Guy said. "The boy was talented. That he could harness lightning techniques at his age was an enormous feat. And a display of your talent as his teacher."
Kakashi didn't say anything right away.
"You know, Guy, Sasuke mentioned your Tenten once."
"Oh?"
"He wasn't polite, but she had intervened in a fight between him and Lee," Kakashi said. "Without magic."
Tenten nearly choked. She remembered it well but had almost forgotten it completely until now. Sasuke had declared Lee a waste of his time when Lee failed to conjure even a minor fire in class that day. Lee had insisted on a duel to clear the air. The yellow-haired Naruto was there, bright as ever and encouraging Lee to teach the Sasuke-bastard a lesson. Sakura told them they were all stupid and stormed off. Tenten stayed, but she was too scared at first to say anything to Sasuke. He was living legend, the son of many thousands of spell-casters before him: fire specialists and seers with the ability to see moments in time no one else could.
She thought she'd said nothing, but the Uchiha heard her mumble and asked her to repeat it. It made her go to jelly, hearing him speak to her directly. She remembered saying that Lee was no match, not because he wasn't a magic user but because he had trained his body more than Sasuke had. It wasn't a fair fight. Lee wanted to keep it up, insisting it was vital to defend the flame of youth. Sasuke, however, ceded Tenten's point while Tenten was left with the task of binding Lee and carrying him home as the only way to get him safely back to Guy.
"She is smart, Tenten," Kakashi said.
"Of course! And not because of a bird brain like me!" Guy agreed.
"But what possessed her to go to the village? To the Hyuga?"
Tenten burned with embarrassment where she lay in the darkness.
"I can only guess, Kakashi, but you know Tenten's story. She must have wanted answers. The very item that's missing is curious indeed."
"Underneath the underneath," Kakashi said.
Tenten couldn't remember anything else after that and fell back to sleep, bugs and all.
VII. Correspondence
It looked like the Hyuga want the mountain destroyed. Kakashi revealed this to Tenten on her return.
"Can they do that?" she asked.
Tenten's question was earnest and insecure – she wanted to convey instead that there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep Toad Mountain from crumbling. But Kakashi's attention ebbed into something else, or it must have when he sentenced her a bored expression before he walked away.
Of course, that meant she'd have to see Hyuga again.