Disclaimer: Non, Naruto ne m'appartient pas… Je suis donc officiellement triste.
Chapter Three: Kakashi? On Time? The only things visible in the smothering darkness were flashes of electric blue as two figures moved rapidly, both trying to outdo the other. Smooth palms were lightly attempting to tap their opponent's body while both of the fighters' bloodline limits were activated.
On the sidelines, an important-looking man watched the two teenagers fight, his face solid. A permanent frown was etched on his youthful-looking features, but he wasn't angry. His expression was one of pure concentration as he stared slightly, his arms crossed over his chest. To add to the man's status, every other Hyuuga onlooker had dispersed to allow him a front-seat place.
Suddenly, the male fighter managed to trick his female opponent in believing he was going to strike her shoulder. While one of her hand was down and the other one reaching up to parry his blow, he sneaked one of his hand to her side and fleetingly touched her ribcage.
To anyone who didn't know about the Hyuuga clan, this would've been a worthless shot. But since they were in said clan, some people actually cringed. Of course, those who did weren't in the line of vision of the man as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Time stood still as the female opponent sunk to the ground. A strong and icy wind blew by, accentuating the aura of dread that sped through the crowd.
Hyuuga Neji shook his head in annoyance when the wind whipped his hair over his face. He shot the briefest of looks at his uncle, who was glaring at his fallen daughter as his clothes rumpled with the gale. No one moved, everyone waited.
The girl glared up at Neji as she slowly got up, her hand wrapped around her ribcage. It didn't stay there long as it slowly reached in front of her. Her entire body shifted to the Jyuuken pose and she stayed put, ready for defense.
Neji almost felt prideful towards his cousin for being so determined. Many of her chakra points had been sealed, yet she fought on anyways, a confident look displayed on her delicate face.
Just before he attacked, though, he noticed Hiashi nodding lightly and turning around. He soon left the clearing and Neji took the slightest moment of distraction that his departure provoked to jump forward.
Hinata blocked and they began their dance-like routine once more, a spectacle for their crowd.
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It was hours later, when the sun had long gone to sleep, that Neji chose to end the session. It didn't take anyone with the Byakuugan to see that he had left his cousin in a complete mess. For the last half hour, she had resolved to defending herself on the snow-covered ground, since Neji had pretty much sealed every single point in her legs.
But there was only so much one could do with kunai and shuriken. Hinata had no idea how Tenten managed to be so effective with only weapons. She was also curious as to why the poor girl wasn't dead from her incessant training sessions with Neji, especially since she had no bloodline limit. Hinata was barely able to keep up with both.
The Branch House member knelt down besides his cousin, his eyes still activated as they swept over her body, checking her for any permanent or pressing damage he might have inflicted upon her by incident.
Finding none that would be life threatening, he slowly slid one arm under Hinata's knees and the other one around her back. The girl was shivering with both cold, due to her soaked clothing and frozen feet, and hurt. Deactivating his Byakuugan, he carried her in his secure grasp until they were in the Main part of the Hyuuga quarters. Wordlessly, he marched right into her bedroom, ignoring the shocked glare that many servants shot him.
Slowly, carefully, he laid his cousin down in the bed and softly placed the covers around her limp body. She cracked her eyes open just as he was straightening up and smiled weakly at him, feeling the warmth of the covers seeping into her gradually.
"Thank you, Neji-niisan," she breathed out quietly, her pupils half-closed.
Neji only gave a small nod, knowing that she would soon fall asleep. He turned around in the looming darkness and took a few steps towards the door when a question from the younger girl made him halt.
"Why did you train with me instead of Tenten?"
Turning his head to look at her solemnly, he blinked once to show he had understood her question, yet paused to consider it. They both knew that he usually trained with the Weapon's Mistress before coming home to train with her, yet today he hadn't.
"Because we have a mission with her tomorrow, so I'll see her then," he reasoned in a thick voice. "I gave her a break from training."
Hinata then painfully attempted to roll to her side. She failed miserably and only ended up twice as sore as a few minutes ago. Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply and murmured, "Do you miss her?"
Now Neji stiffened the slightest bit, which went unnoticed since the only person in the room was dizzy with tiredness. He swallowed back a small desire to tell Hinata the truth, yet he knew that neither of them was ready to mention it.
"Whoever I train with doesn't matter," he simply stated, then glided towards the door and opened it up.
Before her cousin could run away, Hinata smiled softly even though he couldn't see her and called out, "Good night, Neji-niisan! Sleep well."
She barely heard the soft "hn" that came from the other side of the door, which made her smile even more. Then, she drifted in a peaceful slumber that would keep her until the next morning.
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Meanwhile, Neji was shuffling his way out of the door. The night air was crisp and cool as his feet gently crunched the snow beneath them. He shoved his tired hands in the pockets of the coat he was wearing and looked up at the stars.
It was freezing, yet there hadn't been a single snowflake in days.
Sighing, the prodigy walked slowly towards the Branch House, enjoying every precious second of solitude he was able to steal. No matter how people considered Neji as a secluded kind of man, truth was that he wasn't able to spend much time alone. Even when he was alone in his bedroom, he knew that there were dozens of people just outside his door ready to shatter his solitude.
Therefore, being utterly unaccompanied for a single moment felt like a blessing. It allowed him to clear his mind from any negative thoughts he might have harbored for a while.
Just as the footsteps he had created were multiplying, he began to consider taking a detour to Tenten's place.
Nasty detour, especially since she lived to the other end of the village.
But then he shook his head and attempted to rid his mind of her, thankfully succeeding. It wasn't an easy task, but he had to do so. More than once per day, actually. The lovely weapon's mistress, with her honey-colored eyes and dark hair, was his least favorite subject to think about.
Most men daydreamed about their ladies during the day. They talked about them, some even bragged, for hours. But Neji did neither. He absolutely refused to either speak about Tenten as a romantic interest or to even bring her up in his mind. Because with both came the sorrow of knowledge that she wasn't with him and the fierce longing that tugged in his heart.
Eventually, his short walk ended and he slid in his home, shutting the door behind him. He knew that he had to go to bed, or else he wouldn't be able to function well tomorrow morning. Their mission did start pretty early and he would need all of his focus to be able to concentrate on the task rather than on the lady who would be accompanying him.
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It was six the next morning when Neji arrived at the gates, an hour early for his mission, with a light pack slung over his shoulder. Small tendrils of sunlight were beginning to peer through the clouds to the East of the village, lighting Neji's path as he marched towards the gate. Since the only people who were up were shinobi too busy to train, the walk was pretty uninteresting and long. But then he saw her.
She was clad in winter clothing, yet they were ample enough for her to move easily in. A thick maroon coat, probably stuffed with weapons, rested on her shoulders snugly. The large scroll that she always carried around was strapped securely on her back. Her eyes were raised up to the heavens as she patiently waited, her long legs swinging under her from the wall she was sitting on.
As soon as his figure appeared on the road, she turned around to face him. A smile lit up her face, turning the sunrays into mere flickers in comparison.
Just as he arrived closer, he was disappointed to find Shino sitting wordlessly a few meters from Tenten. His glasses were fogged up with the cold, but he didn't seem to mind as he waited patiently for the mission to start.
Neji mentally cursed. Both Tenten and himself had arrived much too early to find each other alone together. He had simply wished for a few moments, just so they could talk privately and laid some ground rules for the mission. Probably he would've only lectured her on being careful not to let anything slip, anyways.
Sighing, he took his position sitting close to her. Shutting his eyes, he straightened his back and forced himself to meditate. Soon, all thoughts flew out of his mind as he fell in a cave of concentration, his body far away from his mind.
More people started to arrive, filling in one by one. Sakura and Ino showed up simultaneously, yet refused to stay together as they parted and stopped a few feet from each other.
Neji had been trained to be able to meditate while keeping his ears open to the sounds around himself. He heard some chatter as everyone arrived, cheerful greetings between every individual.
Suddenly, though, Naruto arrived. He arrived with a blur of black, yellow, orange, and a screeching voice.
"I'm here, everyone, and we're gonna find Sasuke! Dattebayo!" he shouted, his voice echoing far in the village and probably waking up half of it.
Some people greeted him with a wave or a friendly smile. But the ocean-blue eyes rested on Tenten and Neji as a foxy grin plastered itself on his face. Ignoring the peaceful aura that drifted around the oldest Hyuuga present, he stopped directly besides him and screamed loudly, "Hey, Neji! You better get that Byakuugan activated so we can find Sasuke first!"
Neji startled slightly as the sound waves struck him from so close, his eyes jerking open to glare at its source. Now rid of his peaceful refuge, he felt a surging annoyance sliding itself through his veins, even though his face remained unmoved. He also chose not to answer, which made Naruto lose interest and drift away to go bug someone else.
In the few seconds that followed, Gai and Lee arrived together, both much too jovial for such an early hour and purpose for the gathering. As soon as they halted, Gai grinned and gave everyone his Nice Guy Pose before asking, "Are we all here?"
A few people looked around, trying to figure out if someone was missing.
Sakura was the first one to give an angry outburst. "Of course, there's someone missing! Do you actually thing that Kakashi-sensei would've been early?"
"Talking about me?"
Everyone's head turned to see Kakashi walking lazily towards them, one of his hands hidden in his pocket while the other one held an orange book. His footsteps were slow and deliberate, yet purposeful.
Naruto looked at a small watch he carried. Then he shook it a few times. Seeing the needles well in place, he muttered a soft, "Kami, he's on time."
Sakura's mouth was hanging freely open as she stared at her Sensei. "That's impossible…"
Kakashi halted his stride when he noticed everyone was staring at him. He took a few seconds to finish the page he was reading, then smiled contently underneath his mask and lowered his distraction. "Are we ready?"
Gai jumped and landed directly in front of the Copy Ninja. "Wait a second, my eternal rival! Your reputation of un-youthfulness, by being always late, precedes you by miles! Why are you on time?"
Kakashi's lone uncovered eye appeared surprised. He fished a scroll from one of his many pockets and opened it. Narrowing his visible eye slightly, he muttered, "This says the mission started at five, which is two hours ago."
A few people, who understood Tsunade's trick, began to snicker as Kakashi took on a depressed look. Yet Naruto, still utterly oblivious, shouted obnoxiously, "Hey, what's going on? How come Kakashi-Sensei was supposed to start two hours before us?!"
"Don't be stupid, Naruto! She asked him to come two hours before us just so he'd actually be on time!" Kiba sighed as he got up to his feet. "Let's go already, or we'll never get this done!"
"Right! Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, punching the air.
One by one, the fourteen shinobi present split in their respective groups and headed away.
A/N: Okay, so I know this chapter barely mentioned Tenten. Apologies. The first part was mainly to show the relationship Neji and Hinata developed. Second part was simply an introduction to their mission.
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