Author's Notes: Story time, yay! And here be some of the afore-mentioned sexual content…nothing more than basic lime, but please heed the warning. Also, prepare yourself for back-story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

Cutting Water

Chapter Three

By Nessie

Beyond the Long compound, in the heart of the thick wood blocking the clan's residence from the outside world, another family struggled to survive on poor land and under poorer conditions. At the center of this rugged premise, a large canvas tent housed the leader of the Uchiha clan.

However, this person thought using the word clan was a mistake. There was no true Uchiha clan. There had not been any for years. Now, in a place of darkness where the trees grew too thickly to allow any sunlight through, there were misfits, wanderers, vagabonds without any family and no trace of a past. It was as though the members of the current Uchiha clan had simply appeared from China's morning mists, and the man who led them had no choice but to accept their company and use it to his advantage.

Uchiha Sasuke did just that at the hour he knew to be sunset. His assembly, as pitiful as it was, contained only one woman – attractive if not not beautiful, but curvaceous and pleasing in the way he wanted her to be. Currently, his battle-marked fingers roved over her arching back, catching on thin white scars. Her breathing quickened with every movement he made, and he kept to himself as best he could even while the surge of her hips and the fall of tangled, blond hair made him crazy with something all too basic and extremely shallow.

When Temari came to him like this, Sasuke could almost pretend that he had the ability to feel things.

He watched with half-lidded eyes as she ended her task, ending him only so briefly, before she collapsed atop him. The pressure of her slim body was momentary. She rolled to the side practically the very instant she fell, choosing to distance herself rather than stay. She was masquerading this as much as he was.

He did not touch her but his eyes examined the sweaty gleam of her neck, interest lingering dully in the muscles of her shoulders as she tied her hair up again. He faintly remembered wrenching the ribbons from her head, her sharp intake of breath… It could have been called passion, but it was truly only lust.

She lay down beside him, their skin barely meeting at the curve of her hip or the angle of his elbow. Blue and black eyes graced the tent's ceiling as two hearts returned to their normal rhythm. After several minutes' recovery, Temari muttered, "My brothers saw something of interest today."

They only ever spoke of the enemy, and Sasuke's jaw clenched. "What?"

"A Japanese man arrived on the shore today. His ship was taken by the sea, but he made it and was taken in by two of the Long men…Kiba and Shino. Gaara saw Kiba riding ahead, and Kankurou spotted Shino returning with the other."

"Who is he?" A grayish light now filled the tent, giving the Uchiha leader a darkness beyond the shade of his hair and eyes.

"They weren't close enough to find out the name. But his eyes, they said, are strange. White like clouds. Utterly blank." She sat up, reaching for her clothes in preparation to return to her brothers. "If Long is using him as outside help, I can only imagine," she went on offhandedly, "that he will be a better use to them than Mizuki was to us. Getting himself captured—"

"And you, a woman, wish I had sent you instead?"

Temari did not seem to notice the dangerous leveling of her impassive lover's voice. "I wouldn't have gotten caught, at least, if you hadn't made the mistake of choosing—" Her piece of mind was crushed by his hand closing around her jaw. Eyes widening, she made a small protesting noise that was muffled by his palm.

Sasuke pulled her over him again, bringing her close. His words were soft and sharp at once. "Do not presume to tell me what my mistakes are," he said lowly. His order was reinforced by the virtual silence, with only the distant crackling of campfires being started to fill the void. His hand shifted from covering her mouth to the base of her neck. He brought her face close enough to his that their lips were nearly touching, but something as innocent as a kiss was something that Sasuke and Temari had not – and would not – share.

"Perhaps it's true that a visit to the Long clan is needed." His tone now was not as dark but falsely conversational. Temari's blood raced involuntarily as he began to remove the few garments she had donned moments before. "I have neglected their precious leader for a merciful extension of time."

But though he said so, Sasuke was undoubtedly willing to take his time savoring what little comfort he found in his sunless world of nobodies.

The feast that the teacher Gai had spoken of was not what Neji had been expecting. For one thing, he was unused to the high-backed chair Lee guided him to in the banquet hall of the Long house instead of the low tables and cushions he knew from Japan. The people present were some of those he had seen outside; the blond girl, who now refused to look even a degree in his direction, the two who had been playing a board game, the chubby one, the man called Shino, and another man whose dog stayed always by his side. Not elders, not main family members – at least not ones such as the Hyuuga clan honored at their feasts.

Gai was speaking to a few men, some fathers of the others, Neji thought. Something stirred within him. It appeared fathers held an important hand in this place, and there had been a time when his too had sat with him at this very table, talking among them as though he had been raised there. Now, the man who had began all of the friendly, unfamiliar lifestyle, Long Tao Huang, was gone…it remained a mystery still who precisely Neji would be fighting for in this mission he had been given by Hiashi.

His fist clenched upon the smooth wood grain of the table, but everyone was too distracted to notice his less-than-serene state when a procession of cooks entered the banquet hall with steaming trays of vegetables and meats most likely produced from within the compound's walls. Neji sipped at his tea, gaze straying to the chair in the center of the long table to the left of Gai. The chair was currently empty of the clan leader, and just when he was considering asking Lee of the clan head's whereabouts, all chatter stopped. Neji could not find the source of the attention at first, thinking that they had all received some simultaneous mental signal.

But then a glimmer caught his eye. In the entranceway just beyond the head's chair stood a woman. Neji first wondered if she was not someone's new bride, for she was grandly dressed as though an affectionate man was spoiling her. He began his observation with her hair, not black but a warm brown, like cherry wood gently faded by the sun. It was piled high upon her head in a style that appear simple but was more than likely terribly complicated. Holding it in place was an ornament of professional work; a long stick of Chinese jade studded with a single, pale gem…that had been the glimmer, Neji realized.

Her frame was slender, the contours of her body noticeable but not prominent. She was appropriately dressed in a dress of stunning make. The silk was summer-sky-blue, rippling behind at the ankles. Gauze flowed rather than hung from her arms. The wrap she wore beneath the dress was golden satin, contrasting strikingly with the midnight-blue, white flower-patterned ribbon cinching her dress at the hips. The most distinguishable feature of her garment was that her family symbol, the dragon, resided in the design. Emerald green, the beast's tail began at her left shin and curled around her calves and waist, the body sewn over her right hip, and it ended with the dragon's ruby-eyed head, resting on her gold-covered bosom.

And because Neji was a man, his eyes found her face last of all, and perhaps this was just as well; if he had met her gaze first, he would not have been able to see anything else. Her face shape was well-defined but the angles were soft, the flesh bearing no powder or other masking tricks. Her nose was straight, not like most Chinese noses, and her eyes were—

Neji's expression sharpened as, from beside him, Lee stood up and the rest of those at the table did the same. There was not reverence among the guests, as there would be at a Hyuuga feast toward Neji's uncle, but there was respect like that given to a close friend. Neji too went to his feet as the woman made her way to the head chair, and then it came together in Neji's mind, fastening like a button in a hole. Here was the one Hiashi had sent him to help. Her eyes were exactly those of someone he had known fifteen years earlier, eyes that had looked upon him laughingly enough times for him to remember the look forever.

There was no laugh there now, only contemplation well-lit by the many lanterns throughout the hall.

Everyone started to lower themselves back into their seats, but a nudge from Lee kept Neji standing along with the finely-dressed leader of the clan Long.

Sitting to her right, Gai smiled widely. He still held an air of mirth, but he had set aside his constant silliness for a more reserved moment. "Hyuuga Neji, I again welcome you. Lee has told me of your badly-informed state. Long Tao Huang, the man you remember from the brief time you spent here in childhood, is no longer upon this earth. This is, in his stead, Tao Huang's daughter, Lady—"

"Long Tai Na," Neji murmured before Gai could utter the name. His could not have held it inside him even if he cared what sort of first impression he made. Memory swept a cold, swift hand through his mind, grasping at images he hadn't known were still there.

A dark-eyed girl with ringlet pigtails lifted a dagger from the silk belt of her dress. The tool appeared too large for her undersized hand, but when she threw it, spinning, it landed in the very center of the red circle painted upon the tree trunk.

"In Japan, girl not use weapons," Neji said with difficulty, his Chinese poor. Even at five years old, he did not want to tell her that her throw had been amazing. But the little girl he had been told to train with only grinned at him, not a trace of shyness available in her small face.

"In China, girls don't use weapons either." Tai Na went to the tree and retrieved her dagger, ready to throw again. "But Father says that the Long family is China, and so it doesn't matter that I'm a girl because China isn't a man or a woman. I have to fight, too." She pulled her arm back, tossed it. "I have to live for my country."

Bull's-eye.

Long Tai Na's eyes watched him without surprise. Her expression held just as much observance as his, but it was also penetrating, and Neji felt pressured to continue. "I remember you from when I came here with my father."

"You remember a child." Her voice was firm though quite feminine. The overall beauty of her belied strength Neji suspected she had gained over the years. "As do I. Hyuuga Neji…the son of Hyuuga Hizashi who died within this very house fifteen years before now. That's who I remember." The words weren't said harshly but prosaically, and Neji stood without response to it. She kept her gaze locked with his as she continued, "Your eyes are as surprising as ever. I did forget the effect they have." But she did not elaborate.

"My uncle did not tell me you were this clan's new leader," said Neji in an effort to glean information from her.

One corner of her unpainted mouth quirked up. "Nor did he tell me you speak Chinese so well. I expected the broken language of a boy. And he also neglected to mention that your attention lands first below a woman's eyes." The table erupted with snickers and amused words. Neji had to force himself not to glare at her. "Let us eat," she called to those present, and she and Neji both sat as dining room chatter took over.

Tai Na went on speaking to Neji, and he realized the buzz of conversation was being used to give her words more privacy. "A joke at your expense, I'm afraid, Hyuuga. You are a commodity in the compound. We've not had a new arrival here since Lee came six years ago." She sent the young man, not a smile, but a pleasant expression. Lee's returned smile, however, was nothing short of brilliant.

"I have heard nothing of you or anyone here since the day I left China," Neji replied, his tone decidedly low. "I imagined you would be married and sent off to an actual village somewhere."

For a reason he was not sure of, she bristled at this. "My father's intentions for my marriage, I know, had nothing to do with me being 'sent off.' This is enlightened China, Hyuuga. And within my clan we do not send young girls off to be the slaves of arrogant country men. I am not the doll of puppeteer hands," she seethed. "I am the true successor of my honored father, and in this place you will regard me as more than a decoration for a man's bedroom."

She was the most strong-spoken female he had ever encountered in his life. She actually defended her position, unlike a cousin Neji now thought of who always hung her head and wordlessly took the criticism flung out by anyone who spoke of her.

"Well!" exclaimed Gai before Neji's urge to retort became a reality. "As eager as I'm sure young Hyuuga is to learn of our not-so-customary customs, do you not think it best to let him know why he is here, my lady?"

She looked at Gai, saw his smile, and the taught hold of her shoulders loosened in moments. Nodding, she murmured an agreement to him. Gai in turned said something to her that was too soft for another pair of ears, and she smiled in response. Neji could hardly believe the transformation but didn't have long to ponder it before she fixed him in her sights again.

"Hyuuga, who am I to you?"

He had never been asked a question like that before. The first thing that came to his mind was tempting. Unsure, he hesitated, but Lee and Gai were staring as they waited for his reply. He decided to say something safer. "My current leader…Long Tai Na."

"An answer sure to please any army's self-possessed general," she said swiftly, "but incorrect on both counts. I do not wish to lead you. I wish to ask for your help." She inclined her head for half a moment, the gem in her hair dazzling in the lamplight. "I do this not for me, but for those I care about. When my father died a decade ago, I became the only surviving Long in this clan."

Neji drank his tea and listened, hoping the scalding beverage would dissuade him from interrupting her with his own questions.

"I have been raised by Gai among a multitude of smaller families. You look so puzzled," she commented, once more appearing amused.

He took advantage of the break in her story to say, "In my clan, we've only Hyuuga. Were there to be only one of us remaining, it would not be claimed that the clan continues."

"Ah, blinded by tradition," she noted. She sipped from her own tea to wet her tongue. "The last time you were in China, the only person not a Long that resided here was Gai. In 674 of the Tang Dynasty, during a battle with the Uchiha clan, Gai killed Uchiha Tekka and saved my father's life. My father invited him in as a member of the Long clan, and he was the first to use the name as though he was born with it.

"It was this way in the following years, as the members of the original clan died either from battle or age. My father did not take a wife until he was 39 years old, and my mother did not die bearing me until he was 41. His father before him also had children late in life. This family was, you could say, badly timed. So small families, especially those with children, were taken it. By the time my father died, this clan was entirely made of inaugurated Longs, with the exception of me." Tai Na's face bore a bittersweet expression. "Lee is the most recent addition."

Gai cut in, overexcited. "And how he earned the name! My lady traveled out of my sight when she was twelve, and fell into the river. Lee was passing and saved her with a marvelous show of fiery youth, and we at once allowed him into our dear family!"

"Gai shi-fu!" Lee looked like he could burst with pride at such praise. "Thank you!"

Tai Na looked a little exasperated but continued. "It was my father's dying wish that I recreate a clan of the Longs. His pride for his family and for China was passed on to me. This family will not die." Determination again entered her features. "I shan't let it be destroyed by the Uchiha."

"You are still feuding with the Uchiha?" Astounded, Neji lowered his teacup. He had not known what to expect, but it had not been the same fight.

"Feud is not the word. Battle is. You and I were too young at the time to know, but the fight between the Uchiha and the Long clans were over this very land. When Uchiha Fugaku arrived from Japan with his clan, he wanted to settle on my father's property. This land was bestowed upon my father personally by Emperor Gao Zong more than forty years ago. My father, Long Tao Huang, was as loyal to China as they come, and he did not want the Japanese taking it from him. Fugaku did not simply request his stay, he announced it. Such disrespect my father could not abide."

"This was three years before I met Tao Huang," added Gai. "It is now unknown to anyone alive who gave the first strike, but the Long clan and Uchiha clan began a fight. The Longs stayed here, and the Uchiha have always hid in the thick of the forest. We now know they are on the border of the Long land, very near to several civilian villages, and we cannot attack them because of it."

"So we wait for them to attack us." Her brow furrowed with disdain for the fact. "They have adapted to the times, as we have. And in fact, the majority of my combatants are too old now for actual battle. Their group is small, but so is my main force. So although we best them in number, in reality our level of power is very close to equal."

Lee took his turn to jump in. "Until two weeks ago, it had actually been some time since we have had trouble with them. Your uncle was messaged because their new leader, Fugaku's son Sasuke, has rebuilt his clan from the proverbial ashes and threatened us with various shows of force."

Neji blinked confusedly. "The Uchiha clan was destroyed?"

"Thoroughly," replied Tai Na, but again she did not elaborate. "The point is, Sasuke and his own are strong. Just last night we caught a spy of his; incompetently, he let us catch him with ease, but Sasuke cleverly refrained from passing him any information whatsoever. He's told us nothing."

"Then what was the point of sending an incompetent spy not trustworthy enough to give secrets to, only for him to be captured by the enemy?"

"My own question exactly." She sighed a little and downed the rest of her tea. "At any rate, you know what you're needed here for. To fight a strong and apparently intelligent adversary. I am ready for this battle to end, Hyuuga Neji. Your uncle Hiashi has informed me that your talents are to be readily relied upon."

Of course, thought Neji, because Hiashi saw him as nothing more than a weapon, or at the very least, a tool for his personal use. "He said that?"

"I do not believe him." Tai Na's expression was serious, even severe. Neji saw it, and attraction dueled with aggression for supremacy as he looked at her. "Yet…my expectations for you far surpass any recollections I have of our early childhood together. I must insist upon not being disappointed."

It was now Neji's turn to give one of those secret smirks which had been passed around the table all evening. "In that case, I insist upon impressing you."

She nodded, satisfied for now. "That is just what I want to hear. But I believe that is all the history we shall speak of tonight. You have been welcomed; now eat. We will speak more on these matters tomorrow, I expect."

Questions still tugged at his tongue, especially concerning the Uchiha clan and their supposed power which Tai Na had only hinted at to him. He would need specifics on his opponent. But the question that leapt to his lips first was, "You said I was wrong on two counts." At an expectant look from Gai, he added, "My lady."

She sent Gai a look of her own, saying, "You've no need to address me so formally. I can spare the title for a foreigner whose help I am to be receiving. But you were wrong, Hyuuga. I am not called 'Tai Na' anymore."

Here she seemed to drop her entire façade of haughtiness, but the air of demanded respect remained around her. She balanced her chin on her jaw, regarding him with one eye. At least, she smiled at him – the first genuine one he had received – and the open-jawed dragon on her breast seemed to warn Neji to be cautious.

"My name is Tenten."

To Be Continued…