TenTen wanted the ground to swallow her and kill her.
It had been over a week since she had met the handsome wounded stranger and helped him out. A week since her mind had been filled of nothing but his bright pearly white eyes. A week since she officially became obsessed.
Was it the famous 'love at first sight' that she heard so much about? Was it EVEN LOVE to begin with?! All she knew was that her thoughts were on him and him only, and it creeped her out to he perfectly honest.
Since then her parents had been pressuring her to work more so she could forget a little. Of course, she hadn't told them the whole truth, only that she slept along the road and got momentarily lost...
They believed being lost for over three hours was enough of a traumatic experience, so they gave her easier jobs. She took them, albeit with slight disgust but decided to suck it up and work hard for once.
Though it didn't really occupy her mind that much.
"I think I'm insane." She spoke to herself, absent-mindedly wiping the dishes clean. She took a white plate and stared at it intensely, the pure white reminded her of Neji's eyes...
"Fuck!" She cursed and accidentally broke the plate by applying too much pressure, making it split in two. She really had no control over her strength sometimes.. not that she wasn't proud of it or anything.
Minutes turned into hours and eventually, TenTen finished her tasks for the day and retreated to her room, still acting like the undead.
Her mother threw her a questionnable look, but she couldn't bother explaining what was wrong. Actually, she better not, since her mother would simply remind her that it was necessary to marry a guy from their town, so day-dreaming about an outsider was out of the question.
It was annoying.
TenTen groaned and muttered a few curses under her breath as she laid down on her bed, her eyes half lidded. She never wanted to marry an ordinary guy from her small-fry town, she wanted a man! A real one, one that knew how to fight and how to stand up for himself! She wanted her prince charming, she wanted Neji.
"And I'm getting Neji..." she said confidently, sure that whatever would happen, eventually, he would be hers.
But of course, it might not happen so easily considering that, for the past week all she had done were POINTLESS CHORES.
"GAH!" TenTen had no time for this! She jumped out of the bed, her eyes burning with passion, and opened her window to jump out and flee.
She had never been this ready in her whole life. That evening, she would go by the river and start hunting for her prince. Who gives a damn if it's nearly dusk, she knew darn well how to defend herself!
With that thought in mind, TenTen walked confidently towards the forest, unseen by the rest of the villagers who tended to their horses and merchandise.
It didn't take too long for her to reach the river, considering she forced herself to remember the right path. Finding Neji's footsteps wasn't that easy though, and she briefly thought that perhaps she should just figure out his direction, then look for him another day.
Her mind drifted back to when he had been worried about... something, when she was taking care of him. He had looked at the path on the other side a few times, as if expecting someone to emerge at any moment...
Maybe he came from there.
"I'm irrational, an idiot, and a helpless romantic!" She spoke to herself then walked along that path, "what kind of bloody mess am I getting myself into, though... heck, maybe the townspeople are right, maybe I am crazy."
She wasn't sure proper young women of her age would go through such lengths to meet up with a complete (yet gorgeous) stranger. However, she was sure of herself, he was her soulmate! The chemistry they had was absolute, it was there! She was going to prove it, even if it meant running around the entire planet!
TenTen huffed and puffed but kept on walking, determined despite her mental descent into complete madness. Was she going insane? Probably, but love made people do crazy stuff, and heck, Neji himself could drive any woman crazy.
She quietly blamed him for her current state as she finally reached the other side, leaving the forest to find an endless grassland, void of anything remotely interesting. Her hopes fell as she thought about continuing (or rather, starting) her journey on another day, until a small silhouette- actually, multiple silhouettes caught her eye on the far left.
TenTen wasted no time, she ran. Ran as fast as she could all the while remaining unnoticed. Perhaps her prince was there? Perhaps were they bandits too? She didn't know, she had NO idea, but well, she wasn't going to back off either.
When she got close enough, TenTen decided to duck down and hide on the tall grass, peeking slightly, ready like a predator about to catch his prey...
She squinted to see more clearly- then gasped.
"Ne-"
'Waaait...' she thought, stopping immediately. She had sworn that one of the men was Neji, due to the long dark hair and pearly white eyes, until another guy emerged, also having the same exact features as Neji, then following silently, was ANOTHER one-
'Holyshit... Theres a whole bunch of other Nejis!' TenTen thought, eyes wide. It couldn't be right, it couldn't! Maybe they were his family members? Perhaps the genes were just THAT strong? Well, either way... even if they looked a lot like Neji, they still weren't as handsome.
Neji was soft yet masculine in his own, beautiful, gorgeous way. Those guys were all muscle and roughness, screaming 'macho' everywhere. Their rough appearance made them look menacing as well, all the more reason not to get caught.
TenTen figured they might lead her to Neji, so she quietly followed while using every part of her sneaking skills. Years of running away from trouble and leaving home had her developp a special ability, and it was a blessing for her.
She believed she was doing a good job, because she was ridiculously close to the last guard, so close that she could look at his ass in HD, yet he didn't turn around or feel her presence.
A sick thought came into her mind and she wondered that maybe it was due to her lack of presence and fade-into-the-background looks.
Well, it mattered not.
"Hey, do you think the master will be alright?" A shorter guard asked his comrade suddenly, whispering that juicy bit of information that made TenTen's ears twitch.
"Hard to say, he was heavily wounded... but thanks to his quick-thinking and treatments, I believe his condition might improve." The man answered and TenTen knew at that moment that he was talking about Neji.
'They call him master! Master!' TenTen thought wildly. Who on earth was this Neji?! Was he some kind of rich dude that lived a cozy and luxurious life? Was he a noble? A leader? War chief?
So many questions yet so few answers. TenTen didn't know what or who the guy truly was, but one thing's for sure; he is important.
"Do you think a war will start?" One random guy asked, visibly worried. Everyone looked at eachother in cold sweat.
"It's a possibility... I mean, he was attacked by members of another clan, one can only presume that-"
"No no no! Don't presume anything, let's let master Neji decide."
"Right..." everyone turned silent and kept going, ignoring the chilly air and the arrival of the night... as well as TenTen, who kept her mouth wide open at the sudden news.
There was going to be a damn war, that's all she knew and heard, a war. The stuff about clan members and everything else filtered itself out of her brains and all she could hear now was war.
Gods...
The guys she were following ended up getting closer to what could be a camp, with a few soldiers trying to start a fire. People talked joyfully amongst themselves, about politics and other things that seemed of interest to them, but a bore for TenTen. A few were getting their dinner ready, rabbits, she noticed; as they held the dead beasts by the ears and were more than ready to skin them.
The small group she was following came to a stop in the camp and so did she. The men took their seperate ways to start any small task they were required to do, all the while talking about this and that.
TenTen wasted no time and crouched to walk stealthily near the biggest tent, which she assumed had the 'chief' in it. She was morbidly curious and a part of her wanted to see how it looked like inside.
She made sure no one was looking into her direction, then slipped into the shadows...
Neji was sitting leisurely on a chair while writing his latest report to the main house, adding at the bottom that there could truly be a war soon enough, considering he had been attacked by other clan members; a traitorous act. His staying at the camp was temporary, but he intended to make the best of it, regardless of the outcome.
The young man sighed, extremely tired and sore from his now healing wounds. Perhaps it would be wise to take a nap before dinner, he thought, as it often helped him gain more strength and comfort.
He stood up, faintly feeling a presence in his tent, so he looked around warily... but shrugged it off soon enough. He walked towards the bed and laid down, closing his eyes and covering them with his arm, feeling rather at ease. The men had only begun skinning the rabbits and gutting them, surely, he had for about an hour or so.
He started thinking of everything that happened so far, about his clan, about the perhaps upcomming war and so on... His people, his family, they all counted on him and wanted nothing more than peace. The reason why he was so ready, well, had been ready, was because he desired for his clan to remain intact and void of any conflict. Surprisingly enough, the others wanted nothing of it, espacially of his presence; by sending some skilled assassins to murder him in daylight.
His lips twitched in discomfort, feeling like his wounds were starting to get itchy. How odd the world is, for people to despise a clan simply because they have special powers...
Neji sighed again, maybe it wasn't hate but... fear? Maybe the other clans wanted them gone because they were afraid? That was a possibility, a very good one, but also not a proper reason, and it angered him a little despite having gotten rid of the assassins themselves.
Though, perhaps it would've been more satisfying if he had killed the ones who sent them off...
'No matter, they will pay soon enough.' He thought, slightly assured. He was more than capable of disposing of a few little pests, small fry that they were. It wasn't like he was a snob or anything, but he knew that no matter what, his abilities would earn him his long needed revenge.
He needed it, he truly did. And when everything would be over, he would go back to that river and perhaps, if she weren't so far away- would look for TenTen and properly thank her.
'TenTen...' he suddenly thought, his mind going back to that clumsy girl who had tended to his wounds, albeit unprofessionally. What an odd little one she is, quite young though, perhaps closer to his age than he thought.
He was nearing 26 and was still single, having the clan running behind him and pressuring him for a wife- and soon, at that. In all truth, he hadn't exactly felt ready when they proposed a few marriage candidates, simple-minded as he was when it came to women, he figured that he would settle down when the time was right.
And his decision had been wise, because now the time was definitely not fitting for anything remotely close to a-wedding.
'Or a fiancée,' he thought with a snort. Oddly though, TenTen's face appeared in his mind and he briefly wondered why so. He was thinking about marriage, women and fiançailles, but then he started thinking about TenTen. That was so random.
He had met her only once and under bloody circumstances. But despite that, she had left quite the impression. When someone is born in a clan like the Hyuga- they seldom find women quite like TenTen around. A hyuga lady was... well, a lady in every sense of the word. Their women were polite, well educated and mannered, as their lifestyle was ten times more strict than your average girl.
Neji himself hadn't really talked to many girls outside of his clan. Exchanging a few greetings didn't count, he noted, but he figured that even with his lack of knowledge in terms of women, he would be more than aware that the outsiders couldn't match with the Hyuga ladies.
He had wondered if- well, marrying outside of the clan was possible... but of course it wasn't. Pure-bloods were required, having mixed children would be a disaster since some might not inherit their eyes.
However, the thought of marrying an exotic little thing like TenTen didn't seem so bad... He did not dislike her tanned skin and brown hair, as well as her coffee-coloured eyes. They suited her rather well and he quite liked these features of hers. Perhaps he had finally realized his preferences after long years of disregarding them.
His thoughts then came back to when she was tending to his wounds, her hands gentle and careful as she applied the paste. He could still feel her velvety fingers caress his skin, easing his pain slowly and carefully...
He surpressed a groan because his imagination was suddenly starting to feel very real. The young Hyuga wondered if he was making stuff up, because he faintly remembered that she hadn't gone south back at the time, having been wounded on the shoulder and chest only... however, the hands that he felt exploring him were caressing his abdomen rather shamelessly, if he dared say so himself, but they weren't unpleasant.
Two fingers teased him, trailing from his chest to his stomach, flat and strong from all of his intense training. They stopped just bellow his belly button, twirling a few circles in a torturous yet pleasurable motion.
Neji began to pant, what kind of delicious torture did his mind create? The pleasures continued without halt, making him lose himself a bit. He suddenly wanted the wandering hands to touch him down there, perhaps to practice their wonders in his most sensitive area. The thought shocked him a little, but it slowly died down when the soft hands began caressing him up and down, venturing back and forth from his abdomen to chest...
His cheeks were flaming red in embarassment but he made no sound in fear of alarming the guards by the tent, unsure if such a wild imagination was normal, coming from him no less. He was faintly aware that he strongly believed those hands to be TenTen's, as they felt exactly like hers.
Perhaps he wanted to believe that they were, however, since the thought of having a woman exploring his body didn't seem... well, half bad.
Neji unconsciously leaned to the 'imaginary' touch and the mysterious hands- TenTen's, he corrected, finally decided to move on to the next level and trailed down...
To slip right under his pants.
This had sobered him up immediately, as it was most definitely impossible for the mere human mind to create... such a realistic sensation. Neji pushed himself up from the futon and looked around in alarm, trying to detect the presence of a stranger, but in vain. He then stood and inspected the tent, then looked down at his attire to notice that his shirt had been unbuttoned to reveal his chest in its full glory.
He had been more than certain, that his shirt was closed before his nap. Most definitely! However, it was now open, and prone to make him question a few uncomfortable possibilities.
Someone had definitely come in and... and...
"Was I molested?!" He spoke aloud, his face turning pale at the sudden realization. But who on earth?! How! How could-
'But of course...' he thought, thinking carefully as he rubbed his temple. 'I am surrounded by men who have been travelling for weeks, men who have not touched a woman in quite a long time. Despite being their master, chief and leader; I doubt that their respect for me could surpass their rather animalistic urges. One needs to be found, and heavily punished.' He thought in fury, getting ready to inflict the torture of a lifetime as he left the tent, eyes blazing in what could only be the anger of a demon.
Meanwhile, TenTen, who had ducked quickly when he had stood up, was looking at her hands with a blush; not quite believing that she had touched Neji in such a way... without his consent.
'I wanna' do it again.' She thought with a bashful, pouty smile. It was getting late though... she would have to stalk- err, come find Neji another day, and perhaps start a decent conversation with him.
With that in mind, she left; completely forgetting about the war and the fact that she had sexually harassed Neji during his rest.
(To be continued)