CHAPTER 3
THE ATTACK ON GRASS
"Are you looking for someone, or what?"
Takara jumped slightly at the curt voice beside her shoulder. Hiro stood there giving her a flinty look.
"I was counting," she said, "until someone interrupted me, that is."
"That's not what it looked like to me," he stated, giving the counter in front of her a vigorous swipe with his rag for emphasis.
The woman slowly closed her eyes as if praying for patience; she could not for the life of her figure out why she was encouraging this conversation, "So what does it look like to you?"
Of course it was just the opening the kid was looking for. "It looks to me like you're looking for a certain scrawny looser of a Leaf ninja."
"You know that's not very nice, Hiro."
"It wasn't intended to be," retorted the bratty genin as he continued to wipe the counter in front of her.
"You know," Takara said, turning to him from the till she'd been counting, "he's only here to help. What exactly do you have against him - is it because he's from Konoha or is there something else you've got a problem with?"
Hiro gave a careless shrug while he refilled napkin holders, "I just don't trust him, and I think he's going to end up doing something to hurt you - that's all."
Immediately loosing her count - yet again, Takara jerked back as if she'd been stung by a bee. "Hiro," she cried, "I can't believe you just said that! There's nothing going on between us - we only just met a few days ago." And I'll probably never see him again after he leaves anyway, she reminded herself glumly.
"If you say so," came his unaffected reply.
She shot him a deadly look, "Let's just drop it, okay?"
They continued opening in silence for a little while after that. Takara spent the time reflecting on her conversation with Hiro and her own uncertain feelings about Tenmei. Eventually her thoughts returned to her earlier talk with the white-eyed man. He wouldn't answer her questions about Leaf's purpose for being in the country or why he was stationed in Grass Village, but she still wondered what he would have said if they hadn't been interrupted.
Finishing up the drawer, she turned back to the boy who was now setting up chairs, "Hey Hiro?"
"Yeah?'
"I was wondering - have you noticed anything strange going on with the village lately?"
The young ninja paused, giving her a puzzled look, "What exactly do you mean?"
"Well, haven't you noticed the mood around here is a little off - especially with some of our shinobi customers," she crossed her arms and frowned in concentration. How could she describe what she meant? "It's like everyone is holding their breath about something and I have no idea why."
Hiro slowly set the last chair in place, his own face a mask of pensiveness. "Hmm - interesting..."
"What is?"
"I don't really know if it has to do with anything, but there has been some bad stuff happening outside the village."
Takara, who'd been hovering between the counter and the kitchen, suddenly sprang toward her co-worker, "What do you mean 'bad stuff'; what's going on, Hiro?"
The boy looked affronted, he held his hands up toward her and glanced furtively around, saying nothing further 'til he'd acertained that no one else could overhear. "Calm down, will you - you're such a spaz... Look," his voice dropped an octave and he drew his face closer to hers, "This isn't something that many people know about - especially non-ninja - because of the confidentiality of assignments, but a few weeks ago some jounin went missing on a mission and a team had to be sent out to look for them. When they found them they'd been completely ripped to pieces and left to rot in the woods."
The woman's eyes widened, "Where did it happen?"
"I don't know exactly, but it was well within the borders of Grass," noted the teen, "and no one can figure out who was responsible."
"Could it have been Stone," she breathed.
"They don't think so; there was an investigation and as far as anyone can tell, it doesn't look like the work of any of the known hidden villages; whoever it was though, they were really powerful or else there were a lot of them."
"Hiro," interrupted Takara, "how do you know all of this anyway?"
Averting his dark eyes, the boy ran a hand awkwardly through his tousled brown hair. "Well, I actually know this because...my dad was one of the jounin..."
His flat statement might just as well have been a punch to her gut. "Hiro," she only just managed "I-I'm so - I had no -"
"Save it," he cut her off sharply, "We've got customers coming up."
Indeed, a group of three elderly women were making their way to a table. Without another word, the boy turned away from her and headed over to greet the arrivals. Takara stared numbly after her young friend as he smiled brightly at the ladies and offered them his usual spiel, before she whipped around and rushed into the kitchen where she burst into tears.
000
The two of them worked through the day, which was slow but steady. Tenmei never showed up, but Takara spent the majority of her time in the back anyway and had other things to occupy her mind at the moment. She, likewise, got little chance to speak with Hiro, who always seemed to find something that required his full attention up front and scarcely even made eye contact with her when they were forced to interact.
At long last the day dragged to a close. The woman stood silently watching as the genin went about rigging up his security system around the preameters. When he'd finished, he loped soundlessly over to her and together they crossed the main street.
"I'm sorry," he now said out of nowhere after they'd walked a couple blocks.
Takara turned to the boy in suprise, "What about?"
"I didn't tell you because I knew it would only upset you."
"Hiro," she exclaimed, "why are you worried about me, it's your father!"
He shook his head in a dismissive manner, "We were never close - but at least now I can come home and see my mom - and know that she's okay..."
Takara cast a troubled look at him but said nothing - this was the first personal information Hiro had ever volunteered in the half-year she'd known him and to press him with too many questions now would be a mistake. Silently, she absorbed what he said before speaking once again, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I don't need anything," he sniffed, "we'll be fine."
She smiled slightly at his staunch pride, "Well, okay, but just know that I'm there if you do need anything - I mean, you've always helped me out." She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.
The teenager paused, his poker face set firmly in place. "Yeah. Thanks."
They were now approaching the place where their paths generally split and Takara gave her younger friend a final wave before taking the path that lead along the village wall toward her apartment. Despite what Hiro said, she decided she would fix a bento large enough for him and his mother to share and somehow force him to take it.
She was so engrosed in pondering different strategies that she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice directly behind her.
"What's the rush?"
"Oh! Can't you, for once, not sneak up on me," gasped the infuriated woman now clutching the wall for balance.
"Sorry," grinned Tenmei, "but I wasn't sneaking up on you; I've been standing here the whole time while you were walking right past me."
"Oh, really?" She crossed her arms sheepishly, "Well, what are you doing just standing here anyway?"
"I was taking a short break and I remembered that you got off around this time, so I thought I might wait to see if you came by."
Takara gave him a once over, "How are you feeling now?"
"Better," he assured her, "though the food at the hospital left something to be desired."
"Well," she scolded, "If you'd stopped by the diner earlier then you could have eaten a decent meal."
"I wish I'd been able to," the slight man gave a whistful sigh, wedging his back comfortably into the groove created by two massive shafts of bamboo. He closed his eyes for a moment, looking to Takara like he might have fallen asleep right there, "but Kusa runs a suprisingly tight ship; I've been here since this morning," he finally continued.
Her arms dropped to her hips in agrivation, "You're going to wind up right back in the hospital if you keep up this way - how long of a break are you taking?"
He shrugged with his eyes still closed, "don't know yet - I guess we'll see how long it takes for them to call me back up," his finger pointed to a small black device wedged in his right ear. "How about you," he now asked, cracking open one pearly eye enough to observe her, "on your way home I suppose?"
"Yeah," she admitted, turning so that her own back leaned againt the wall beside him, both his eyes were now open and watching her, "but it's not like I have anything really important to do there right now."
Slowly a smile stretched across his face and the red-head, for some reason, found she couldn't help the grin that contageously spread over her own.
"You know what I thought when I first saw you," he asked, his demure orbs threatening to swallow her up in their white stare.
To her own suprise, Takara laughed almost giddily, "I'm not too sure I want to know."
He went on as if he hadn't heard, "There I was sitting up in a tree, checking out the surroundings when I notice a firey-haired maiden fleeing for her life from a couple of trolls like some very clumsy (but beautiful) wood nymph."
Takara chuckled even harder, "You're the troll," she declared, slapping his arm.
"Is that any way to speak to your savior," he chided in a mock injured tone.
"Ha! Don't you mean that smug Leaf ninja who's always making fun of me," she countered.
"Only because you're cute," he defended himself.
A moment passed before the woman could recover enough to speak, "Cute? W-what am I - ten years old?"
The man's gaze rested evenly on the flustered Takara, every trace of the teasing smile gone from his lips, "Definitely not; you're every bit of a woman if I ever saw one."
The stunned server was left speechless; all of her mental faculties, her pride and every other form of resistance, suddenly capitulated before his brilliant eyes. She was captivated like a moth hovering between two lamps in the twilight - helpless to break the trance.
Tenmei's face drew steadily closer while her own neck slowly craned toward him without her consent. Before she could fully register what was happening their lips had parted, and for one dizzying moment the exhale of his warm breath caressed the side of her mouth.
An explosion somewhere in the distance, faint and muffled, like a balloon popping under a blanket, echoed through the evening air, going all but unnoticed by the dazed Takara. The ninja only centemeters from her face, however, instantly recoiled, rivulets of veins springing out over his cheeks as the woman watched in bewilderment. He caught her by the arms, shushing her unasked questions, as his gaze took in and interpreted the objects within his incomprehensible range. She saw his breath catch, and his grip immediately tightened on her.
"Wh-what is it?"
The severe expression on his face was all the more intensified by his extraordinary eye ability - making him appear alien and almost frightening in the shadowy twilight. The man's attention whipped back to her, his fingers, still grasping her tightly around the elbows, flung her away and she stumbled backward.
"Takara, get home - now!"
"Tell me what's going on!"
The shinobi, however, had already leapt onto and was racing up the side of the bamboo wall just as easily as if it were nothing more than a small incline.
"There's no time - just get inside as quickly as possible and stay there," he shouted over his shoulder.
000
Takara looked wildly around, she could see ninja in the distance similarly springing up the fortifications while voices above shouted orders. The small street where she stood was otherwise deserted. Frightened and completely perplexed, the red-haired woman turned and lurched toward her appartment.
Forcing the door open, she stumbled inside before slamming it behind her. Immediately she was at her window - peering out at the enormous segmented shafts of wood that always stared back at her. She strained to hear what the voices above were crying out, but she could catch little of what was being said. Likewise, the forms on the wall were equally difficult to make out as they rushed about like shadows in the deepening darkness.
Desperate to know what was going on, she threw up the window and leaned out as far as possible.
"...how far from here," she heard a voice that was unmistakably Kaemon's call out.
There came a muffled reply that must have been Tenmei's response, though she couldn't decipher it. She managed to put together only two consecutive words that the Leaf ninja was saying, however they did not sound comforting: "monsterous chakra."
The commotion on the wall continued for atleast another fifteen minutes with Takara gathering little more of the situation. The group of ninja on the wall, nevertheless, seemed to be growing. The woman thought she could see them forming some sort of barrier with thier bodies, lining up shoulder to shoulder, against whatever enemy that was fast approaching Kusa.
Frightened as she was, Takara couldn't pull herself back through the window - not while so many people (many of them friends and acquaintances) were putting themselves on the line for the village right in front of her. She hated being so useless; she only wished to be able to support them in some way - even if it was just through watching and fervently offering up strengthening thoughts to them. She thought of Tenmei with his large eyes pale as the moon and his hearty laugh that contrasted so much with his austere appearance and aristocratic attitude; someone like that couldn't be allowed to die on Kusa's wall - protecting her.
Suddenly, a burst of shouting erupted from the top of the wall and Takara nearly fell out of her window.
"There they are," she heard Tenmei bellow, "let them in!"
"We can't break the barrier - it's too dangerous if that thing is after them," someone else roared back.
"Wait a minute; what the hell is that," gasped yet another person.
Takara had to check herself to make sure she wasn't halucinating. She could never mistake that sound - it had been directed at her too many times - high above her head, the white-eyed ninja was laughing.
A wave of suprised muttering passed over the row of shinobi while the home-bound and apprehensive woman was left wondering what on earth they could possibly be seeing on the other side of the wall. She soon imagined that she could hear another noise rising over and drowning out the din of anxious Grass-nin - a loud clacking sound like thousands of poles hitting against one another. Within another moment, Takara was astonished to see what looked like bamboo shoots springing up past Kusa's ramparts and over the heads of the dumbfounded guards. Before she could even finish registering the bizarre phenomenon taking place, however, something even more outrageous completely stole her attention: the most collosal tree she'd ever seen suddenly towered up before the wall, blocking out even the rising moon as it cast its massive shadow over the village.
So astounding was the sight above her, that Takara almost missed the two small figures clinging to the side of the epic trunk.
"The enemy has been slowed down by the bamboo," she heard Tenmei's voice yell, "quick, someone make an opening for them!"
More murmering ensued and finally she saw one ninja rise from his crouched position and make a series of gestures before thrusting his arms out toward the sky and slowly spreading them apart. As he did so, the sky around his hands gradually became a slightly lighter color - as if a hole were being worn through the atmosphere there like a threadbare garmet. The two people on the gigantic tree braced themselves, then leapt directly through the hole in the barrier one after the other in the fashion of circus acrobats, landing deftly on the parapet within. Immediately, the guard lowered his arms and the hole vanished.
"Get them to the hospital," someone called out, but how or whether the order was carried out the woman could not tell. The apprehensive muttering continued, peppered with loud exclamations every now and then, however Takara learned little more about what was going on. Nevertheless, little by little the tension seemed to subside. The last thing she remembered, she'd leaned against the window sill to rest her eyes for a moment and was started awake by the sound someone shouting her name.
The woman jerked her head up to find that it was already early dawn and the crowd of ninja were gone from the wall. Asa alone stood peering curiously down at her from his station above, "Are you okay?"
Takara struggled to raise herself up on her arms which, as a result of her laying on them, had also fallen asleep and now dangled uselessly out the window like a couple of linked sausages hung out to cure.
"Yeah, um, I'm fine," she said groggily, "how about you?"
"Everything is okay now," he assured her, "sorry if all the commotion last night frightened you."
She noticed that the gargantuan deciduous tree was likewise gone - making her question whether she'd actually dreamed half of the events she thought she'd witnessed.
Having acertained the young woman's well-being, Asa continued along his patrol and left Takara to drag herself back inside of her appartment. She still felt exhausted and had a slight headache from sleeping in such an odd position. Fortunately, she had the day off and didn't have to worry about getting ready for work - even if going back to bed was out of the question.
000
A few hours later, Takara headed out to run errands as well as hopefully learn something more about the scare from the previous evening. Her thoughts kept returning to Tenmei and the two mysterious figures who'd arrived in such extrordinary fashion - were they the companions he'd originally traveled to Grass with? Who - or what - had been chasing them?
The majority of her and Tenmei's meeting until now had been by chance, and today proved to be no different. She stumbled upon the group of three, suprisingly, walking out of the village leader's office building while she headed out to buy ingredients for Hiro's bento. She had expected the two newcomers (who were indeed ANBU operatives judging by their pocelain animal masks) to still be in the hospital recovering, while Tenmei continued his guard duties on the wall. The woman wondered what the unexpected location meant.
"...Shoulda just killed the bastard when we had the chance," one of the well-built men was saying as he adjusted his bird mask.
"Easier said than done," murmured his friend with the striped tiger face concealing his own, "otherwise, there'd still be two more of us standing here."
Before she could fully ponder their statements, Tenmei immediately noticed Takara while she was still several feet away. "Good morning," he called cheerfully to her from between his team mates.
The red-head smiled timidly at the expressionless ceramic faces, meanwhile Tenmei approached and pulled her over to the group. "Here, let me introduce you to my friends: Takara-san, this is Hideki-san and Tenzo-san."
"Don't just go casually blurting out our names like that, idiot," snapped bird-man.
Tenmei gave an innocent shrug, "Sorry."
"Ah, nice to meet you," she bowed uncertainly.
The two white masks bobbed back brisquely.
"So, you're not on the wall today," she asked Tenmei.
"Well," he said, "technically my guard duty is finished now that these two are back."
She turned back to the other two men, "That's right; I'm glad to see you're doing okay now."
The one with long brunette hair and a bird's mask made a grunting noise, "I was doing just fine to begin with."
"You'll have to excuse Hide - um - I mean my friend," quickly remedied the pale-eyed man, "he's been out in the wilderness for a little too long now and has forgotten how to interact with human beings."
The tiger-masked man snorted appreciatively at this and was rewarded with a sharp jab from his comrade.
"So," she looked troubledly at Tenmei, "does this mean you're leaving then?"
"Well, yes pretty soon," he admitted, "but your village leader has given us permission to rest here for a day or so before we head out."
"Speaking of which - I was hoping to find an inn somewhere before too long," spoke up the tiger man, suddenly stifleing a yawn.
"Right past the fruit market," Takara and Tenmei said at the same time, pointing the way.
The two ANBU operatives exchanged looks. "Thanks," said the short-haired agent, "Um, it was nice meeting you Takara san, but unfortunately I'd better go find a bed soon before I pass out."
"Go rest," Tenmei told him, "you must be dead on you feet after that stunt with the bamboo - and the tree."
"Yeah, wait for me," the one apparently called Hideki relented, also turning to join his friend.
"Sleep well; it was nice meeting the two of you," she called after them.
The remaining Leaf-nin now turned to the crimson haired waitress and smiled, "So, what brings you over here today; are you also taking a day off?"
She flashed a pleased grin back at him, "Actually I am. I was just going out to run some errands and hoped to meet up with you at some point."
"Really," he asked, sounding pleased.
"Don't act so suprised - I have a lot of questions to ask you!" She then paused, "Were you also about to go sleep?"
"Well that's an easy question - no I wasn't. Today I thought I'd go sight-seeing a bit while I still had the chance, so would it be okay if I walked with you for a little while?"
"I'm not going anywhere extremely interesting, but if you don't mind then I don't," she told him.
Together the two of them went around Kusa, Takara prodding him the entire way.
"So that was a wood jutsu he was using to manipulate the bamboo?" She picked up a cantaloupe and examined it before placing it in her cart.
"That's right," he answered, "it's something Tenzo-san specializes in; most likely it saved their lives." Tenmei absently held up a second melon and squinted at it before replacing it with the first in Takara's basket. "Riper," he explained when she shot him a look.
Ignoring the mild annoyance, she walked over to select some mushrooms. "What kind of person could pose such a threat to four jounin assasins," she mused aloud, "and what was he doing in our country - where did he come from anyway?" She looked concernedly back at him, "Where did he go?"
Tenmei gave her an appologetic glance, "I can't tell you everything you want to know - I don't even have all the answers myself." He cast a furtive look around the market and continued, "truthfully I'm probably saying more than I should, but that was no ordinary ninja: those four were only supposed to be gathering information - they never intended to be discovered much less lose two of their numbers to his attacks."
"Last night I heard you say something about 'monsterous chakra'," Takara recalled.
His tone became slightly chiding, "Yes; I noticed you taking close interest in the turn of events from your window."
"Whatever, I still went home like you told me - didn't I?"
Tenmei remained silent for a moment as they continued through the aisles; he finally spoke, "Takara?"
The woman noticed his failure once again to add the honorific 'san' to her name - the first time had been last night when he'd told her to get inside her appartment, which she'd merely dismissed as a slip of ediquette in the heat of the moment.
Though she thought it a bit presuptuous of him, she found that she really didn't mind very much - after all, they had nearly kissed. Suddenly remembering this, she felt a wave of heat rise to her face.
"What is it," she replied, busily picking through a display of peaches so as not to have to look at him.
"I'm curious: do you know anything about a clan with bloodline abilities that used to live in Grass Village?"
Takara was a bit suprised by the question, but thought about it for moment, "Actually I've heard of one, the Shihai clan, but they were already gone by the time I came to live here."
Tenmei nodded, "It would seem that the one who they were spying on was trying to find a member of that clan."
"Was he...but why," she asked.
"That is a very good question. Likewise, he himself, also seemed to posess a bloodline limit - albeit a very bizzare and grotesque one."
Her blue eyes widened, "What was it - did you see?"
"Something to do with his bones and being able to remove them from his body," mentioned the ninja, picking up a peach and turning it over in his fingers, "but aside from that, he has further abilities that don't appear to have originated from his own genes at all."
She furrowed her brow at him, "So what does that mean exactly?"
He turned his silvery-white stare from the piece of fruit, over to her, "Basically that someone has been tampering with his chakra and DNA - and whoever that someone may be is most likely who he's working for."
"You sound like you have an idea who it is already," stated Takara.
"We do," he affirmed, "but that information is classified, I'm afraid. Most likely that's why he persued Tenzo san and Hideki san all the way to Kusagakure trying to finish them off - he needed to keep the nature of his boss and mission a secret. Unfortunately for him, however, he only further incriminated the one we suspected all along by displaying those abilities."
At that point, the conversation paused as Takara purchased her items. Afterward, they headed back toward the street.
"Well he obviously knew not to try picking a fight with the whole village," sniffed the red-headed woman once they were back out of earshot of any casual bystander.
Tenmei looked doubtful, though, "I have a feeling that, if he'd really wanted to, that guy probably could have damn near taken out Kusa single-handedly; my guess is that it was more important for him not to draw any more attention to himself than he already had, so he decided he'd better leave well enough alone."
Takara was far too shaken by his statement to even reply.
"I just hope he doesn't give us any trouble on the way back to Konoha," muttered the Leaf-nin.
"Do you think he will," she suddenly balked, unintentionally reaching out and grabbing his thin hand in hers, "maybe you should stay here longer."
His gaze lingered on her for quite a while as she felt his long fingers slowly twine around her own; all the while, her heart thudded loudly against her chest. "I wish I could - though for a different reason."
"Ah-um-well," she quickly stammered, "I guess I'd better hurry up and get this stuff back home pretty soon." She pulled away and began striding brisquely back toward her appartment before abruptly turning around to face him once again, "Would you like to come with me?"
A small smile was his only answer.
000
After Takara put away what she'd bought, she set to work preparing a small lunch for Tenmei and herself. Following their meal, she took the man from Fire around to some of her favorite places in the village - including the park where academy students often trained. Meanwhile, Tenmei told her about Leaf, how the village was laid out, and about the Hyuuga compound where he lived.
"So all of the houses in your neighborhood are white?"
"It's kind of a traditional color in Hyuuga," he explained.
"Yeah," she giggled, examining his face, "I guess I can see how that makes sense."
Before she realized it, early evening had already rolled around. Tenmei insisted on taking her out to dinner - 'I can't have you keep feeding me, otherwise we won't be even anymore' - and made her choose her favorite restaraunt regardless of price. Reluctantly, Takara allowed him to take her to a nice place that she'd only been to on a couple occasions during past dates. After asking her what her favorite item on the menue was, he proceeded to order the dish amidst her protests over the price.
"I hope everything was to your liking, madam," he teased as they made their way from the restaraunt.
"That was definitely the best meal I've had in a long time," she admitted, "though I still can't believe you did that!"
"You deserve to be treated every now and then," he told her as they paused to sit on a nearby bench.
"How do you know what I deserve," challenged the woman, plopping down beside him, "you hardly even know me."
"Well then, tell me more about yourself," he countered.
She glanced thoughtfully up at the clear, darkening sky where the first stars were already beginning to emerge. "What else would you like to know?"
He appeared to gently scrutinize her for a minute. "When was the last time you spent an evening like this with someone?"
Taken by suprise, Takara shifted akwardly on the stone seat, "The last time? I don't know - I guess with my last boyfriend."
"How long ago was that?"
She crossed her arms, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the subject, "Several months ago - why?"
He shrugged, "I just find it hard to believe that someone like you would stay single for very long."
"Well, apparently I'm not quite as big a catch as you think I am," she rolled her eyes.
Tenmei laughed, "Why would you say that?"
"Just forget it," she waved him off, turning away.
Regardless of having numerous ninja friends and aquaintances, Takara had gradually come to the conclusion that she couldn't hold the interest of a shinobi for any long period of time. No matter what she had to offer or how many years she'd spent around them, she now understood there were parts of their world that she'd never have access to; in many ways, she still felt like a refugee merely taking up space in Grass Village.
Takara had dated a ninja during her last relationship (before he'd grown bored with her and moved on to a large-busted kunoichi with a mesh shirt and a facination for long-shafted weapons). Perhapse if it had been the first time something like this had happened to her she'd have had an easier time recovering - but such just wasn't the case. She knew she paled in comparison to the exotic ninja women of the village with their perfect, athletic bodies barely obscured under fish-net clothing, and after her painful acceptance of this fact, she'd decided to try and be content with her life as it was - modest and uncomplicated. She didn't need romance - she had routine!
Now, without warning, Tenmei had shown up with his aristocratic airs and fine features - so different than the rustic Grass shinobi she was used to. She found it difficult to believe that she'd only met him a little less than a week ago; she couldn't remember when she'd last been so struck by an individual. After tomorrow, having only known him for this short period of time, he was leaving and Takara wasn't sure how she should feel.
A pale hand on her shoulder suddenly interrupted the woman's thoughts. "I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you."
Takara turned back to look at him, but for some reason the words she started to utter got lost on the way to her lips. Instead all she could manage was to stare dumbly back at him.
Tenmei's slightly concerned look slowly eased into a more comfortable expression as he returned the gaze. Before long, the gap between them gradually began to diminish.
The kiss was soft and fleeting before he broke it off, his thin lips trailing leasurely across her cheek to her ear. His fingers gently twined into her long, waving hair and caressed the base of her neck; Takara felt the skin there prickle.
"Takara," he whispered, "you're beautiful."
000
The light of early morning struggled through her window as Takara stood peering at the obstructing wall. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly in the drafty air. All at once a pair of warm arms clapsed themselves around her and Tenmei's torso was pressed against her back like a heavy cloak, sheilding her against the cold.
"What are you doing," he spoke softly into her ear, his hands stroked her cool skin.
"Oh, nothing," she answered, leaning slightly into him, "I just got distracted for a minute.
"Mmm, yes," he rested his chin on her shoulder, cocking his head to one side as he gazed at the towering structure just outside, "by the breath-taking view?"
She made a face but decided to ignore his witticism, "I guess it just hit me - you're leaving - and," she did her best to control the sudden waver in her voice, "I don't know when I'll ever see you again..."
Tenmei lifted his head back up and turned her to face him, his colorless eyes as hard as marble, "Takara - listen; I can't give you any kind of dates or spans of time, but I'm not leaving forever. I'll come back when I can."
The first hot tears slipped down her cheeks as she looked determinedly away from his stare, "But how often do you honestly visit Grass Country, and even if you did, how will you get permission to come back into the village without any official ninja-business?"
"We'll find a way," he assured her with a smile, using his thumb to wipe the streams from her face, "if nothing else, I'll meet you in some other town."
He pulled her into a tight embrace, allowing her to sniffle a little more into his lean chest. "Don't cry, or else I don't think I'll be able to leave at all; put on a smile - at least until I'm gone."
"Do you think you'll have any trouble from that ninja who chased your teammates the other day," she asked, attempting to compose herself once again.
"I doubt it," he said, "We've sent word ahead to Konoha; they know to expect us within a certain period of time or they'll send reinforcments."
Takara remained uncertain, she now looked squarely back at him, "How about this: I'll promise to act cheerful for you if you promise to send me some kind of confirmation that you made it back safely to Konohagakure once you get there - is it a deal?"
"Sure," he grinned.
"I'm serious!"
"I know you are," laughed the ninja "and I promise."
After a small breakfast together, the two prepared for their respective day ahead. Takara dressed for work as Tenmei donned his flak jacket and shinobi gear. Once they were both ready, the waitress walked with him to the entrance of the village where the two ANBU opperatives, masks secured in place once again, waited for the other ninja's arrival.
"Let's get going," the agent in the bird mask said as soon as the last member of their team arrived.
Takara managed a small smile at the white-eyed man as the group prepared to head out, "Be careful, Tenmei."
Abruptly, the ninja turned back around. He suddenly seized her and proceeded to give her a long, passionate kiss as the two from ANBU looked on. When he pulled away at last, she was laughing and crying at the same time.
"Don't forget your promise," she called out as the trio finally took off. Without turning around, he raised one hand high into the air - then they were gone.
She remained standing at the gate for several more minutes before she herself left, slowly making her way to the diner for the start of another long day of work. Four days later she recieved a small scroll which read simply, 'promise kept', however, it was the last she ever heard from him.
000
Autor's note: Well, some cannon characters finally make an appearance here; in case the hints I gave weren't clear enough, yes, the person with the 'monsterous chakra' Tenmei mentioned is indeed Kimimaro - back when he was still healthy and serving Orochimaru.
