First off, I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or added this story on alert. It really brightened up my mood. Second off all, I would like to apologize for the extremely long waiting period for this chapter. I know this may sound old, but I had a whole month of exams and stress and they were actually important for a change. Third of all, I would like to say, NO. MORE. EXAMS! Fourthly, I'd like to say that I believe that updates should be more frequent. Unless my dad gets transferred to Singapore. I really hope not because I love Hong Kong and I don't want to switch schools and I like my own accent enough.
Well, without further ado: "I do not own Naruto."
On with the story.
ooo
"Tenten, you're ready for your case, right?"
"Hm?" she replied, stopping her pacing. "Oh, yeah."
She resumed pacing, her face in a frown. This continued for another ten minutes.
"Oi, Tenten, what's the matter?" Temari asked, sipping casually at a bottle of water.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all!" she snapped, her eyes narrowing at nothing in particular.
"Oh come off it, Tennie. It was ONE mission we failed, damn it!" Ino shouted, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, it was THE most vital one of them all! I need the freaking chip damn it! I have to annihilate that stupid annoying White Orb and that chip has all the information I need on it!"
"Calm down, Tenten," Hinata said softly. "I thought you said that we would focus on the mystery guy for now. White Orb is only our third priority, after mystery man."
"Oh, what's our first priority then, huh?!" she asked, running her fingers through her loose hair. Cursing, she put it up into a messy bun. It was getting in her way.
"Your first priority is the case, which, by the way, is tomorrow," Sakura smoothly said, slapping a folder down on Tenten's work desk, being careful not to break a perfectly manicured nail.
"I've already done all the preparation!" she whined. "And besides, it's only Hinata's cousin! So what if he's a well recognized lawyer? So am I! And anyway, he's not even part of the triad, apparently, so how is he going to pose a threat if he's not even rough?"
"Well, Tenten, don't blame us if you're having trouble tomorrow," Temari muttered, yawning.
Massaging her temples, Tenten asked, "Can I please have mystery dude's profile?"
"Only if you promise we can go out for lunch after this. It's lunch break, and I'm bored," Sakura replied.
"Yeah, you forced me and Hina to come to your office when we're starving!" Temari said.
"Yesss, whatever. Now give me the damn profile!"
"Not until you promise."
"God, Sakura, what, did you expect that working in a law firm as my trainee would be interesting?"
"Well, I only joined because Ino did!" Sakura whined.
Ino and Sakura worked under Tenten as trainees. Temari and Hinata had different jobs with another firm. It was all a charade. A pretence to keep up the image of being innocent young working women.
"I don't care. Yes, I promise we can go out for lunch, now give me the friggin profile!"
"Here ya go."
Sakura handed Tenten the thin plastic folder with a magnified photo of who they presumed was mystery guy. She opened the folder and took out three pictures; one of them was a hazy photo taken the day that they had tried to steal the chip, one of them was a photo of the person in the coffee shop, and one of them was a digitally modified photo of the two combined to make a rough image of what they expected their enemy to look like. Well, judging by the fact that Temari was a savant on the computer and the fact that their software was highly accurate, it would probably be safe to say that they could trust the photo.
"Judging by his face shape and expressions, nose, quality of skin and wrinkles, if any, we can guess that his age is between 24 to around 29. His eyes are forest green, if he is the same person in the coffee shop. However, we are not really sure about this because in the photo that was taken on the first day, he was halfway through blinking and we only have the bottom half of his eyes. The irises seem to be an oddly dull colour."
"Mmm."
ooo
"Neji, Kiba is here to see you," Sasuke said.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, send him in."
Sasuke opened the door of Neji's office and Naruto entered, a guy with scruffy brown hair and red fang tattoos on his cheeks following behind.
"Mr. Hyuuga, I have a deal that you might be interested in. I have checked the stock markets and I assure you-" Kiba started in an obviously fake supposedly British accent.
"Cut the crap, Inuzuka. No one's listening in on our conversation."
"Heh, fine, Hyuuga. To tell you the truth, I've looked for every little possibility of movement, but I can't find anything on B.S. They're lying low."
"We know that already," Naruto whined. "Neji killed their leader, duh. Haha! I just realized that Blood Shuriken's initials can stand for Bull Shit as well!"
Sasuke glared at Naruto. Neji chose to ignore the dumb blonde.
"Kiba, I'm informing you that we have a new target."
With that, Neji thrust a thin folder at Kiba.
"That's her."
Kiba squinted at the photo, and tilted his head to the side as if thinking back on something.
"Who is she?"
"She calls herself Tenten."
"H-hey, wait a minute!" Kiba exclaimed, his face shocked.
"What is it?" Neji asked, worry evident in his tone.
"That's her!"
"Yes?" he asked, slightly impatiently.
"I saw her in the bar Saturday night when I was doing some research!"
"You mean SHITE? That's an awesome bar!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Yes! I know! But it's well known that the bartender, Hatake Kakashi is knowledgeable on the events of the underworld, and she was talking to him!"
This caused Neji to sit up straighter, all traces of anything but seriousness gone from his face.
"Who was she with?" he demanded in a monotone.
Kiba scratched his head sheepishly, and chuckled.
"I said, who was she with?!" Neji repeated, obviously pissed.
"I...might have danced with her subordinate..." he muttered nervously.
"What was her name?" Neji coldly asked.
"Ah...that's the thing. I don't really know...I think it started with an H?"
"You useless son of a bitch," Neji hissed, slamming his fist on the table. "Did you find out anything useful?!"
"Dude, Neji, calm down! You can't exactly blame me! It was meant to be one of those unimportant one night stands, damn it! She left before anything happened!"
"What did she look like?"
"Okay, I have a picture on my cell phone."
"You better have it," Neji replied, unimpressed.
Kiba whipped out his phone from his pocket and showed him a picture of a girl with long midnight blue hair and pearly blue eyes smiling innocently.
"What the fuck? She's a Hyuuga. She's got the white eyes," Neji thoughtfully replied.
"What? How? They're clearly blue eyes!" Kiba insisted.
"Look carefully. They're contacts. Check around the edges and you'll see white."
Silence. Shocked silence.
"How the hell is she a Hyuuga, Neji?" Naruto blurted. "For one, she's smiling. Secondly, she's not stiff. And thirdly...what the hell would she be doing with Tenten?"
"What do you think I'm thinking about, idiot?"
"Well, I've only got one thing to say to that," Naruto replied, grinning. "It's understandable that she's a Hyuuga, 'cos she's one hot babe."
ooo
Gimme Gimme More Gimme More Gimme Gimme More...
"EAAAGH! SHIT! Turn it off!" Tenten screamed, falling out of her bed.
Click.
"Hah, no better way to wake someone up than to play a slutty song that sounds like the singer is puking, huh Ino?" Temari said, her eyes twinkling amusedly.
Ino was full out laughing when she replied, "Y-yeah you really should have seen the look on her face!"
"Rise and shine Tennie. Your court case is today!" Sakura said in a very cheery voice.
"W-what?!"
And with that, cold water was splashed onto her face, earning a shriek from the victim.
"Where is Hinata damn it?! She'd never stand for this torture!"
"Exactly. She refused to come," Ino replied in a malicious tone.
"Okay okay I'm up! Sheesh!" Tenten screamed and ran to her bathroom.
She came out after a short while wrapped in a bathrobe. The other girls had laid out her clothes for her.
"What is this?!" Tenten exclaimed.
"It's called a professional suit."
"You expect me to wear that tight low cut top underneath that elegant looking silk black suit? That'll just look trashy! Elegant does not match with slutty!"
"Ugh, I feel insulted!" Ino exclaimed haughtily, sticking her nose in the air in pretence of being disgusted- she had chosen the suit, and she was known to be a fashion diva. The fact that her design was rejected would have cut deep.
"Tenten, you'll look fine."
Ten minutes later, she had worn the suit and her makeup was being applied by Sakura.
"Was this suit made to make me look curvier? I don't need that, thank you very much. I'm supposed to look professional!"
"No, you're meant to distract the Hyuuga-tron so you can win the case and earn more money than if you were to lose."
"Actually, Temari, I think I've got my dignity to save more than anything else. I cannot have two losses in one week. And if this guy is really the same mystery guy, then I certainly cannot lose. And do you seriously think I care about the plight of Mr. Zaku and his bitchy wife Tayuya?"
"Well, whatever. We just care about the assets of Blood Shuriken."
"Greedy PIG," Tenten joked.
"Hey!"
"Tenten, stop moving your lips. Do you want to look like a clown?!" Sakura snapped impatiently.
"Sorry."
ooo
"Good Morning, your honour, opposition, members of the audience. I am Hyuuga Neji and I am here today to provide evidence against Sir Zaku's case and for Ms. Tayuya."
Neji sat down, briefly flicking his pale orbs to where Tenten, Temari, Ino and Sakura were sitting. As she had promised earlier, Hinata was not about to come and see her long lost cousin.
"Ew, Tayuya? God, stupid bitch..." Tenten murmured, standing up.
The quartet had met Ms. Tayuya outside the courtroom. Tenten's case was against her and for Zaku's case. They were getting divorced. Typical.
Tayuya had scoffed at all the girls' very expensive clothing. Temari had wanted to slap the shit out of her, but got restrained by both Ino and Sakura. Tenten couldn't care less.
She stood up. "Good Morning, your honour, opposition, and members of the audience. I am Tenten, and I am here today to support evidence for repeated adultery committed by Ms. Tayuya provided by Mr. Zaku, the defendant."
Tenten smirked. This would be good. Neji eyed his client up and down distastefully. Why the hell was he wasting time backing up some random slut? Oh yeah...she paid a lot.
"Good good. We shall proceed with the ritual," the judge with a surprisingly spiky wig said, smiling lecherously. "Master Neji, state your case."
"Oi, Ino," Sakura hissed. "Is that man a paedophile?"
"What? But he's renowned judge Jiraiya!"
"By the way, that Neji dude looks exactly like a male version of Hinata...he's hawt."
"I know and he looks exactly like mystery guy...but he doesn't have the green eyes!" Ino replied.
"Shhh," Temari whispered.
"Mr. Zaku has futilely tried to provide evidence against Ms. Tayuya, the fact that he abused her notwithstanding. As you can see from these photos that I have here, Ms. Tayuya has been repeatedly beaten on her back," Neji said, standing up.
"Who the fuck is he kidding?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke on the other side of the court room.
"No one, by the looks of it," Sasuke murmured in reply, indicating towards Tenten and her posse.
"Bloody liar!" Tenten hissed to Temari who was seated next to her. "Those are sex marks!"
"Ya think?" she said jokingly. "Make a point."
Mr. Zaku who was seated behind them looked very impatient. Tayuya looked a little disgruntled when she saw that no one was buying it.
"Objection, your honour," Tenten said, standing up.
"Sustained," Judge Jiraiya said, laughing a little.
Neji looked at her expectantly. He actually looked like he wished he hadn't accepted Ms. Tayuya's proposal because it was obvious that she didn't really stand a chance.
"Forgive me, your honour, but to me, those look like...eh..." Tenten trailed off, unwilling to use such juvenile vocabulary in a court room when dealing with a supposedly serious case.
Neji just looked at her stonily, waiting for her to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. It seems that he wanted his reputation saved and wanted this case to be trashed.
"Ms. Tenten, if you have nothing to say about the matter, your point is overruled," Jiraiya replied seriously.
"My apologies, your honour. It is just that I can hardly bring myself to say these words. This may sound incredibly crude, but isn't it obvious that those vertical scratch lines are...those of which you can acquire during particularly heated moments of, ahem, passionate...bonding which include the exchanging of bodily fluids...more scientifically known as mating and/or intercourse?" she said awkwardly.
Neji shut his eyes, cringing. Tenten could feel Zaku twitch behind her.
"Ooowned," Naruto whispered, which resulted in Sasuke snickering and Shikamaru rolling his eyes.
"Ms. Tenten," Neji cut in, his rich, dark and suave voice managing to shut the audience's giggles up. "Do you have proof for this claim? For all you know, those could have been made by whippings performed by Mr. Zaku."
Tenten turned around and started to glare at Neji. By his amused expression, she could tell that he was finding this case as retarded and as wasteful of time as she was. She breathed in, calming herself, turning back to face the judge.
And then she realised what the question was implying, and whipped back to look, shocked, at Neji who was now smirking. She nearly gave herself whiplash.
"Ms. Tenten?" Jiraiya cut in, waiting for an answer.
"What?" she asked, a little floundered. "Uh, that is to say...What proof is necessary for this claim, your honour?"
Damn, she thought, that sounded really unprofessional.
"In order for me to accept your objection as a valuable point, I need some solid evidence."
She coughed, clearly uncomfortable. "I see."
She walked up to the judge's table and took down the photo of Tayuya's back.
"Er, your honour. As you can see by the width and possible depth and appearance of the texture of these bodily wounds, you can see that they were caused by...fingernails."
"Ms. Tenten, if I may interject, Tayuya claims she was abused by Mr. Zaku. The judge needed proof, and this is proof enough. Unless you have evidence of anything against it, your point is invalid."
Tenten swore she saw a twitch of his lip when he said "abused."
"You know, Ms. Tenten, Master Hyuuga has a valid point."
"Mr. Zaku has proof that he has not indeed engaged in intercourse with his now ex-wife for the past month. If you really wanted, you could take cell tests."
"This proof is not reliable."
"But your honour-"
"Ms. Tenten," Jiraiya started seriously. "If you have no other proof to show me, this point is overruled."
"Okay, look," she muttered, breathing in deeply, "I've had some personal...experience..."
Neji smirked her way. His gang snickered. Tayuya rolled her eyes. Tenten suddenly felt like slapping that smirk right of his face. He had planned this!
"I am sorry, Ms. Tenten, but using personal examples are not really evidence enough."
Tenten breathed out.
"Forgive me, your honour. I do have some proof of Ms. Tayuya's adultery. This was indeed the point of the case, was it not? Who claims the money. Why of course, NOT the person who did wrong."
Tenten smirked. Temari, Ino and Sakura snickered. Neji raised his eyebrow at the girls, looking a little concerned.
"Mr. Zaku, will you please hand me the tape?" Tenten kindly asked her client.
He put his forehead in his hand and handed her the tape. He looked away, a light blush spreading across his features. He coughed.
"It'll be alright, Mr. Zaku. I swear by the end of this case, you will have your rightful money," she whispered.
"Your honour. This here is the last piece of evidence that we were reluctant to hand in to you for reasons that will become apparent during the film."
Jiraiya shook his head, obviously understanding that this case was slowly becoming a bitch fight between ex-husband and ex-wife. Sighing, he told his guards to put the tape in the player. The projector was turned on.
"Ms. Tenten, please start the tape whenever you are ready," Jiraiya said, handing her the remote control.
She smirked. "Ladies and Gentlemen in the audience. This video was taken on April the 24th," she started, satisfied when she heard a hardly stifled gasp coming from Tayuya.
"Ms. Tayuya, is something the matter?" Tenten asked, feigning innocence.
Neji eyed both the young women warily. He then smirked. He knew he'd lost the case, judging by the look on Tenten's face- and Ms. Tayuya's humiliated look. He could almost guess what would be on the tape- after all, Tenten's case was about the adultery Tayuya had committed.
Well, apart from the slight dent to his pride, he didn't really care about what would happen, as long as he had Ms. Tayuya's money.
"You!" Tayuya hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "You wouldn't!"
"Would I?" Tenten asked, her eyes twinkling.
"You conniving little bi-"
"I will have order in this courtroom!" Jiraiya said, slamming the mallet down. "Now, Ms. Tenten, please proceed."
"You wouldn't dare," Tayuya hissed once more, a slight sign of fear on her face.
Zaku smirked, obviously rejoicing the fact that he had won.
"Yes," she said, grinning almost, "I would."
With that, she flicked the button on the remote control.
ooo
"...Dosu, NO! Dosu..."
"C'mon, Tayuya baby, just let her rip!"
Cue overly hyper giggling.
"...Anything for you...Do...su," she said, panting hard.
Cue shrieks and grunts.
"Ah..." he groaned.
"Aaaagh!" she screamed.
ooo
Shocked silence. Tenten was just staring, jaw dropped, at the screen. Neji's face was totally void of any emotion. His jaw was just clenched tightly, as if he did not know what to do. He was blinking very slowly, almost as if he could not comprehend the erotica that had just appeared on screen. Simply put, he seemed disturbed.
Handle. This. Maturely... Handle. This. Maturely...
Ino, Sakura and Temari were stifling their laughter- just barely. Naruto and Sasuke were completely gobsmacked, Naruto's face slowly reddening. Shikamaru looked wide awake for a change, his mouth hanging slightly open.
And then the once silent and generally serious courtroom became filled with hysterical, laughing maniacs. Zaku himself looked like he was about to cry. Naruto looked like he'd pissed in his pants, and the rest of the audience, save for a fuming Tayuya, were just cracking up. Neji and Tenten were the only ones who were still in a shocked silence. Even the judge was laughing.
Tayuya stormed out the courtroom, obviously incredibly pissed.
"Order in the court, order in the court!" Jiraiya said, still chuckling, slamming down his wooden mallet.
Once silence had resumed, save for the odd snicker or two, he started talking.
"Ladies and Gentleman, it is damn obvious who won the case," Jiraiya said, subsequently slamming the mallet down once again. "Case goes to Mr. Zaku!"
Tenten whipped around, grinning, and ran towards her group of friends, who cheered her on. Mr. Zaku shook her hand, thanking her for her help...even if it wasn't really required.
"Tenten," Ino whispered. "His face shape's the same as mystery guy from the cafe, but his damn eyes are different!"
"Whatever. Today, I just want to celebrate!"
Temari grinned. "That's the spirit, Tennie!"
They hadn't noticed that Neji had come up behind them, smirking a little. Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke watched, intrigued.
"Good Morning, Ms. Tenten," Neji said politely, smirking.
She whirled around. Ino, Sakura and Temari started watching the exchange almost hungrily.
"It's still morning? This case started at eleven, didn't it?" Tenten asked, grinning.
"Hn. It's eleven fifteen. Quite the case, I must say. Congratulations on a landslide victory."
"I always imagined The Great Hyuuga Neji to be a little more self-preserving than this. I didn't think you would be one to admit defeat so easily," Tenten replied.
"Typical generalisation of handsome, intelligent people. People always assume that types like me are arrogant."
"Now that's the side I was expecting," Tenten teased back.
"Dude, Neji! Quit the flirting act. We've got some work to be done!" the blonde haired boy said.
"I am sorry that this must be cut short. You have quite the interesting character. Would you consent to say...allowing me to escort you to Cafe Petrus tonight at eight?"
"C-cafe Petrus? You can get reservations there with such short notice?!" Tenten incredulously asked.
"It's good to have connections, you know," Neji replied.
"I see. Well, you do indeed interest me, so I'll agree to that," Tenten said cautiously.
Ino, Sakura and Temari shared a look. Their faces mirrored the others' confusion.
"Allow me to pick you up," Neji murmured.
"No, that will not be necessary," Tenten replied, smiling. "I'll get there myself."
"Well then, meet you at eight," Neji replied, looking a little disgruntled after she declined his offer to pick her up.
ooo
"Tenten, what was that about?" Temari asked, as soon as they were away from the courts.
"I'm doing some research. I swear I saw that blonde guy on Sunday. And the Duck Ass dude was the same as the one in the cafe!"
"So we've established that Hyuuga Neji equals mystery man?"
"Not yet. The damn thing is the fact that their eyes are different! And Hinata said that Neji's father had no interest in the triad underworld. Why would Neji?! And if at all, wouldn't he be working for White Orb?"
"True, true."
"But guys, unless I tell you to, please do not tell Hina that her cousin could be our enemy. She thought of him fondly when reminiscing their memories," Tenten said softly.
The other girls mutely nodded.
"Just make sure that you wheedle something out of him," Sakura muttered.
ooo
That's all for now people! Sorry again that this was late! Give some credit to by beta-reader, Crack God, who will be leaving this site shortly!
Please review!
