Amaranthine
by layniebleargh
:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x::x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:
Chapter 1: Warm, Sweet Hug
The clouds are rumbling and the rain is threatening to fall. Neji Hyuuga quickened his pace, looking at every nook and cranny with his byakugan in order to find a shelter.
"Tenten… don't give up. Everything will be fine, everything…" Neji whispered, trying to soothe the wounded woman he's carrying. The woman's breathing began to slow down. "Damn it. Don't give up this early, Tenten. I know you're strong.."
"NEJI! BEHIND YOU!" Tenten shouted, letting go of her enemy, trying to reach Neji before the barrage of weapons hit him. The Hyuuga turned around in time to see a bloody teammate fall to the ground, ashen-faced and incapacitated, but was level-headed enough not to miss the hand signal she had given. He must continue the mission, she could manage for the moment. Trusting her judgment Neji decimated the enemies as quickly as he could, hoping all the while that Tenten was not just trying to play tough for the mission.
"Tenten… can you hear me?" he asked gently, squeezing Tenten's arm slightly. "If you can, please - " Tenten smiled weakly, lifting her eyelids a fraction to see the face she admires so much one last time. A second… two seconds… her world turned black.
"Tenten! TENTEN! TENTEN!" Neji tried in vain to revive her. He reached out to her neck and found a very faint pulse. Breathing deeply and calming himself, he checked all of her vitals, trying to locate the problems and thinking of solutions.
The rain is falling hard and the night is getting colder and colder by the minute. Yet, despite the icy weather, Tenten remained delirious with fever. Neji already tried his best to aid Tenten's wounds, but another overwhelming pain is forming. Fear slowly creeping, the Hyuuga prodigy felt hot tears threatening to fall.
"You have no right to cry. You're a man." Neji told himself, his voice echoing in the cave. "And yet, you let a woman save you."
Neji hit his head hard on the cold, rocky surface of the cave floor.
"You failed to save yourself. You failed to save a comrade. You failed to save the most important woman in your life."
Neji's thoughts are reeling.
"You've hurt her. Not once, not twice, you've hurt her since the moment you first met. You're the most dense ice cube to ever walk the planet. You should've let your damn pride go away. If only you took a chance, both of you would be happy right now. If only you talked to her during the silent moments you shared, you might've learned more about each other. If only you've melt your icy exterior, Tenten would not be hurt so much. If only…"
A still unconscious Tenten muttered something a short distance away. Neji's thoughts ended right there. Quickly, he ran to the weapons mistress' side, listening very closely, his hands holding her's.
From the weapons mistress' lips came only four words. And yet it made so much change. "I love you, Neji." Neji's ice melted in that instance. He hugged Tenten tightly, as if clinging to her for his dear life. "I love you too, Tenten, I love you too." And the night ended with Neji and Tenten wrapped in a warm, sweet hug, unaware of the world around them and walking in their own dreamland.
It maybe a sweet night for them, but the morning will bring bitterness…
A/N: My fanfic begins a few months after the Team Gai mission involving Akatsuki where Team Gai is the back-up of Team Seven. Both Neji and Tenten are seventeen years old. In my fanfic, Neji and Tenten are on a class A mission together.
Amaranthine means:
- Of, relating to, or resembling the amaranth.
- Eternally beautiful and unfading; everlasting.
- Deep purple-red.
