2 years, 17 days ago

Lee died on an orange day.

Tenten sighed as she wrapped her arms around her knees, breathing in the stale summer air. She sat on the dry grass at the bottom of a hill on the edge of town and the slope cut off the sounds of the village and she could almost imagine it was any other day.

Except it wasn't. Today was placement day. Her placement day.

Tenten knew she only had about five minutes until the officers passed by her spot in hourly inspection and she'd have to be gone by then, because being caught was never an option. She stood, slowly brushing away the yellow grass that clung to her clothes, hoping for anything at all to stall the inevitable.

"Tenten! Tenten!" She bristled in horror, whipping her head around to see Lee running down the slope towards her. What was he doing? If anyone heard him… He tripped and she lunged forward without thinking, catching him under the shoulders. She let go quickly, terrified someone would catch them looking so friendly. He was panting and they only had a few minutes, they hadto go before the officers arrived.

"Lee, we need to go." Her voice was urgent but he shook his head.

"Tenten, I need to say goodbye. You are my dearest friend and after today, we will never see each other again." Tenten could feel the tears in her eyes but shook her head violently.

"Lee, the officers will be here any minute. We need to go." He finally seemed to catch onto her urgency and nodded, but before she could leave, he reached forward and pulled her into a hug. She fell against him in surprise before the weight of what was meant to happen today slammed into her full force.

It was placement day. They were all to be sent away, god only knew where with total strangers, with everything they had ever known stripped away from them. She would be losing her home, her family, her friends. Not that she was meant to be attached to any of them, but she'd never been able to help that. She'd fallen in love with Neji and Lee was her very best friend.

Her goodbye to Neji had nearly broken her but she'd held it together, but saying goodbye to both her boys, her family? This time she couldn't stop the tears. Regardless of the punishment that awaited them if they were caught, she tightened her arms around him, resting her head against the crook of his neck and cried. She could feel Lee's tears against her hair and she thinks she could have stood there forever if she hadn't heard them coming.

The officers.

She pulled away from Lee and couldn't bear to look at him, instead turning tail and fleeing up the hill to safety. When she turned back it was to see Lee stumble over a protruding rock, his hands going out in front of him to block his fall. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw him stand and peer at the blood welling from the cut on his hand. No, no! Run Lee, quick, run!

But it was too late, the officers had seen him. She couldn't fight the tears now, because she knew what would happen, knew what they do when they saw the blood on his hand. Displacement.

She hid behind the other side of the hill, eyes glued to the scene before her. The officers marched towards him and she could hear the sounds of their voices as they barked questions at him, but not the words. He didn't answer just as he was supposed to, but it didn't matter. One of the officers seized his injured hand and it was like she was watching in slow motion as a single drop of blood squeezed from his cut and fell against the dirt.

Please no, not Lee, please not Lee, she begged silently as they grabbed him by the arms and began hauling him away. Please not Lee…and she tried desperately to be quiet as she watched them drag away her best friend, fighting the urge to jump down and fight them off.

She'd known she'd have to say goodbye today, but not like this, never like this.

Lee, Lee , please not Lee…but it was too late. It was always too late.

Blood is strength. Lose a drop and you have become weaker. Weakness is intolerable.

Present Day

Tenten's hands shook as she stirred her potatoes, thoughts of Hanabi's displacement invading her brain. She knew she had to get a grip before the officers came back from inspecting Sasuke…Sasuke.

If they saw his bandages…if they saw his bandages it was over. The both of them would be taken for displacement and that would be the end of it. But no, she tried to reassure herself, the officers hadn't inspected her too closely, just gave her a brief once over before going inside to make sure the house was in order. They could do the same for him. Sasuke was always meticulous when it came to his tasks and he'd never be foolish enough to talk back to the officers, so they had a chance. As long as he kept his arm out of sight and they only did a quick look, everything would be okay. Well, as okay as anything here ever was.

She checked the potatoes again as she attempted to regulate her breathing and noticed they were done. She looked quickly over her shoulder and noting that the officers still hadn't returned, she kept the fire burning to make sure anything even hinting at Sasuke's accident was thoroughly destroyed. She drained the water from the pot as she waited, making sure to keep an eye on where the officers would be coming from. She rubbed at her stinging eyes and waited, poking at the ashy remains of their crime. The smoke was making her woozy but she didn't have a choice, not if she was going to keep her promise to Neji (she wasn't allowed to remember the past, but he was one name she refused to forget).

When she caught sight of someone making their way from the back of the house, she quickly doused the fire and stood, carrying her pot back inside. She set it down on the counter top and pulled out two plates from the cupboard and peeked out the window. It was only Sasuke, carrying two metal containers filled with the meat he'd prepared. The smaller was to be put in the icebox and the larger was to sold be at Market on Market Day, which was probably both the best and most nerve wracking day of the week.

The best because she was finally allowed to leave their property and not only that, but interact with all sorts of people that weren't Sasuke (not that she hated him or anything, he just wasn't the most stunning conversationalist). The most nerve wracking because the Market was always crawling with officers and she had to be on her very best behaviour. Someone always got caught on Market Day, if not several someones and it always managed to dampen the mood.

She watched Sasuke through the window as she added some cheese to their plates. The officers followed him out from behind the house, but they seemed to be done with their inspecting, their bodies turning towards the dirt road out front. She let out a breath of relief. Clearly, Sasuke had passed inspection. They were safe.

She added some carrots and tried to decide if she wanted deer or rabbit when it happened. Sasuke's arm had to still be weak from this morning and the hunting probably hadn't helped, which was the only reason she could think to explain what happened next. The handle of the larger container slipped out of his hand and the smaller one on top slid straight to the ground, the lid springing off and leaving their meat portion spilling across the dirt. The officers froze and turned around to see what was happening and Tenten grabbed the counter edge and squeezed.

Sasuke had already bent down to try and clean his mess but the officers marched purposefully towards him and she could tell by the hard glint in their eyes that they were in very deep trouble. The shorter of the two grabbed Sasuke's injured arm and jerked up his sleeve, revealing the bandages beneath. The taller was already calling it in, which meant back up was on its way. That didn't stop her from grabbing a carving knife from the drawer and gripping it tightly, just waiting for one of the officers to come for her. The officer holding Sasuke was stripping away the bandages and he'd be able to tell fairly easily that there was no way Sasuke would have been able to stitch up the wound on his own. They'd take the both of them for displacement for this and there was nothing they could do, except…

Sasuke lifted his head and their eyes met through the glass and he nodded minutely. She dipped her chin in agreement and steadied her hand. Both the others they'd lived with had been taken and after, Sasuke and Tenten had whispered a secret plan to each other. They wouldn't be taken, not like Kin, not like Zaku, not like Hanabi next door, or Lee, her Lee, not like Dosu or Hana or Juugo or Chouji at the market and Tenten felt a thousand times freer just being able to think their names.

Their plan was crazy and most probably suicidal but it was better than displacement and Tenten had to live, because Neji was out there, he had to be and she was going to find him dammit, and this stupid world and its stupid rules weren't going to beat her. Sasuke allowed the man to pull him to his feet as the other officer headed for the door. She hid the knife behind her apron and waited, head turned down to the lunch plates as if she had no idea what was happening. He came in and she could see him in her peripherals.

"Come with me. You are being taken for displacement." His voice was gruff as he grabbed her arm and turned her around. She raised her chin to meet his eyes and smirked and he looked at her in confusion.

"No." His mouth opened in outrage that she dared speak to him, but honestly, what, were they going to displace her twice? Before he could even get a word out, she plunged her knife into his chest and it was harder than she imagined and she grunted with the effort, but she needed this to kill him. He staggered against the table and there was blood everywhere as his body tumbled to the floor. The knife handle was slick in her palm as she turned quickly to the window to check on Sasuke and tried desperately not to think about the fact that she had just killed a man.

Sasuke was fine, face grim with the officer that had been holding him prone on the ground. Tenten quickly ducked down and began riffling behind the sink, pushing aside buckets and rags and cleaning fluid. Her nails finally tightened around the "just in case" packs she'd prepared and she pulled them out, standing even as she felt light headed.

She made her way out onto their lawn and it felt surreal to think this was the last time she'd ever stand on it. The fire pit was still smoking and Sasuke held out a hand for his pack and she tried her best not to look at the man at their feet. The two didn't speak as they hurried away from their house and she was less than surprised that this had happened on an orange day of all days. Tenten stared at Sasuke's back before taking a deep breath and drawing up beside him. She reached forward and took his hand, tightening her fingers around his, even as they hung limp in her grip. It was breaking the rules, but then, when had she ever followed the rules?

Sasuke hesitated before wrapping his fingers around hers.

They were in this together, rules be damned.

Rules exist to be followed. Absolute punishment to those who do not.