Hey! :)
CAUTION: People with heart conditions are advised to look away when Neji acts OOC in this chapter, this also goes for people without heart conditions...
he IS very pretty right? ;)
INTERNET HUG for anybody who can guess which Anime I got the names from for the Children in this Chappie!
Pleeeaaase Review! :D
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else
I drove for miles and miles
and wound up at your door
We had gotten up early, well; Neji had rudely woken me up early in the morning, prepared our stuff and had the chance to eat a small breakfast before continuing on our epic adventure.
I say that with complete sarcasm of course.
Neji-the-mute as I liked to call him had again decided that he did not want to take part in my conversation and instead had been brooding for the past hour or so, just watching him gave me a headache.
The boredom had set in again quickly, now the only thing I was able to do was keep up my almost robotic pace of walking and let my eyes travel along the floor searching for any puddles or holes of some kind that might hinder me, or pointy rocks.
Movement caught my eye and I turned to see Neji pull another of his maps from God knows where (I presume his rucksack) and glance over it quickly.
"Hn"
Curiosity got the better of me and I fell back into step behind him and peered over his shoulder, it was a map of the area.
"Well?" I asked.
"We should be coming up to a Village soon"
It was music to my ears. No sooner had he spoke when the trees parted up ahead to reveal tall stone walls joined together by large wooden gates, the unmistakable shape of a Village. As we approached the sounds of musical instruments filled the air. It was an array of drums, banjos and fiddles, all being lead by one solitary flute. The tempo was light-hearted and upbeat; I felt my feet involuntarily step in the beat with the music as we walked. It was quite ironic actually.
The tree lined village eventually came into view, the entrance to the Village was heavily decorated with ribbons and low hanging bells which tinkled softly in the breeze.
As we got closer the Villagers also came into sight, all of them laughing, smiling and swaying to the beat of the infectious music. The women wore what looked to be brightly coloured flowers in their hair and tied into makeshift bracelets around their wrists and ankles while the Men wore their best robes. Children weaved their way through the crowds, laughing and playing together.
All appeared apparently unaware of the Strangers in their midst, some even going so far as to smile in mine and Neji's direction.
It was lovely.
"So this is Kakushima Village" I stated easily.
"Indeed" my companion replied in his usual smooth voice.
"Some Party huh" I grinned "So is this some kind of celebration?"
For once my genius teammate seemed stumped.
"It appears so"
Off to my right some Kids I'd spotted earlier fell into my gaze, smiling, I left Neji's side and approached them.
They appeared to be no older than six or seven and were dressed similarly to the other villagers, brightly and carefree.
"Halt! Who goes there!" A blonde with electric blue eyes demanded, he jabbed a stick in my direction.
Aw, cuter than buttons!
"Hey there, what's your name?" I asked politely
"Who wants to know…" he replied with suspicion.
The rest of his friends seemed to follow his lead and gathered sticks of their own, regarding me with mirrored looks of suspicion. Cute suspicion. A few girls peeked around the side of their barrier and looked up with eyes wide with curiosity.
I laid a hand across my chest "My name is Tenten, won't you tell me yours?"
There was a slight pause.
"Aido Hanabusa"
"Hanabusa? Why that is a handsome name indeed" His little chest puffed out at the compliment "And who are your friends?"
Another boy with blonde curls stepped forward and bowed "I am Takuma"
"And I'm Akatsuki" Another proclaimed "This is Ruka" he pulled a girl with blonde wavy hair forward; she squeaked and clung to his arm.
Beside them a smaller girl with short brown hair gazed up at me with curious hazel eyes, on her left a cute looking boy with black tousled hair and dark eyes held her hand in his and on her right another cute-looking boy with silver hair and grey eyes held her other.
"My name is Kaname, I'm please to meet your acquaintance" the darker of the two boys spoke
The silver boy nodded his head slightly "I'm Zero"
"I-I'm Yuuki, nice to meet you" she smiled.
Aww, too Kawai! Well now that I'd successfully integrated myself into their trusts it was down time.
"Tell me Hanabusa, if I were to give you this…" I held a silver coin between my index and middle finger "…Shiny coin would you tell me what your Village is celebrating?"
Apparently at the sight of shiny objects children lose all manner of shyness and become as confident as can be, somebody failed to tell me this.
"Sure that's easy! It's the Harvest Festival!" he beamed, eyes not leaving the rounded object.
"Yeah, it's for the Goddess Holo" Akatsuki stated.
"See, over there" Takuma took my hand and lead me towards the stone statue of a beautiful women clothed in ancient looking robes, flowers in her hair, her arms were outstretched and welcoming.
"Say, she's very pretty" I agreed with the little boy holding my hand eagerly.
"T-Tenten-San?" A shy voice belonging to Yuuki asked.
"Yes Yuuki-Chan?" I smiled down at the nervous girl.
"Y-You are pretty just like her"
She immediately turned a slight shade of pink and her two companions visibly tightened their grips on her hands. It really was sweet.
Just wait till they're older though.
"Why thank you Yuuki!"
"M-Me and Ruka-Chan know how to do her hair just like that" she pointed to the statue "Can we s-show you?"
"Of course"
I let my new friends lead me over to the stone steps leading up to the statue and obeyed when Hanabusa ordered me to sit down, before long I felt the soft pressure of little hands taking my two signature buns apart and revelled in the free feeling I got just from letting my hair hang down loosely for once instead of leaving it cooped up into my usual, tight, style.
They worked quickly, braiding parts of my hair and leaving the rest wavy, the boys scampered off in search of flowers – lead by Hanabusa of course and soon it was just me and the two little girls tending to my hair carefully.
"So Ruka, it looked like you and Akatsuki are good friends"
"Yes, he is my best, best, best friend!"
I could hear the smile in her voice.
My lips curled "Is that so?"
Yuuki piped up "Ruka lovesAkatsuki"
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Hey you two, no fighting okay?" I laughed
"But Yuuki… that was a secret" Ruka complained from behind me.
I smiled at the two younger girls' antics and looked up at the sound of footsteps running along the stone steps, the grinning faces of Hanabusa and his motley crew appeared, arms filled with cherry-blossoms and sweet smelling white lilies.
"Wow, well done you Guys, that's a major haul!" I congratulated them, doing my best to keep my omgz-they-are-so-freakin'-cute smile from my face.
They all seemed pretty pleased with themselves from the cheeky grins on their adorable faces.
"So here you are Tenten, I've been looking for you all over"
I looked up in surprise at the familiar smooth voice into the face of an amused looking Hyuuga; he looked with pointed interest between me and the children.
"Can't you behave?" He scolded half-heartedly.
I chuckled along with him, maybe I should have told Neji where I was going, I guess I was too caught up befriending the little munchkins to remember.
"Halt! Do not come any closer Stranger"
I looked across in disbelief to see the boys standing in an all too familiar battle position, sticks poised to the ready. They glared defiantly up at my Teammate. Neji shot an amused look at me before turning back to face them.
"I think there's been a misunderstanding" he explained coolly while playing along with their game "I am Tenten's friend"
Hanabusa's gaze did not waver, instead he called back up the steps to me "What say you Tenten?"
The mischievous side of me took over and I grinned devilishly at Neji and winked.
"Attack!" I cried
They didn't need telling twice! The children charged towards Neji who looked shocked for a moment but quickly collected himself in time to dodge the first blows, barrel-rolling dramatically he retrieved his own stick from the foot of the steps and raced back into the action. He gave a false swipe at Takuma and allowed Hanabusa and Akatsuki to whack him, thankfully not that powerfully, upside the head.
He staggered forwards and crashing to the floor theatrically, not before letting out a moan of defeat. He caught my eye and gave a wink as he rolled over onto his back.
Hanabusa placed a small foot onto his stomach and bellowed in succession, his companions followed suit and the square rang out with cries of victory.
I giggled despite of the scene we were making.
When was the last time I'd actually seen Neji acting like this? I couldn't say for sure, the last time I had actually seen the Byakugan user have a good time was…well…
"Tenten-San?"
"Yes Yuuki-Chan?"
"Your boyfriend is very handsome"
I spluttered "H-He's not my boyfriend, just a friend"
The two girls shared a secret look but nevertheless beamed up at me in satisfaction.
"Your hair is finished~" Ruka sang
"Why thank you very-"
Neji lunged to his feet and dodged around the celebrating children, he caught me around my waist and managed to hoist me up over his shoulder in one swift movement. He jogged back down the steps and casually waved back to my new friends.
"I'll just be capturing Tenten now, you kids have a great day!"
"See you later Tenten's boyfriend!" the children yelled in unison.
Thankfully Neji was unable to see my face, which had flushed crimson. I could feel his rumbling laughter.
"'Tenten's Boyfriend' eh?" he breathed against my ear.
"I don't know where they got that idea" I answered honestly and struggled out of his grasp.
We headed towards the Square's exit, passing through the many market stalls and food counters. The sheer amount of food was unbelievable, the smells were delicious and overpowering at the same time.
"Are you hungry?"
"N-"
My stomach grumbled giving away my true status and Neji smirked.
"I don't have any money, I gave it all to those Kids for helping me"
He gave me a look of disbelief.
"I have a little left, you wait here I'll go get some Bento's or something"
"Yeah yeah"
"I mean it Tenten, no wandering off"
"What am I 10 years old?"
"Sometimes I wonder"
He disappeared before I could hurl some kind of swordfish from the nearby seafood stall in his direction.
I felt my lips curl involuntarily, wait what! Me, laughing at the Hyuuga? The arrogant, pain-in-the-butt Hyuuga?
Get a hold of yourself Tenten.
I allowed myself to stray from the main path that the crowd was following and found myself looking up in the dusty window of a Shop that looked like it had seen better days, an advert was standing proudly beyond the glass, hidden from view because of the dust.
I craned my neck and read aloud the name of the Shop.
"Madame Setsuko: Oracle and Divinator"
Hmmm, well didn't that sound interesting…
I took a few steps towards the window and rubbed at the dust coating it revealing the small advert.
Fortune telling – 5 coins
No way how cool is that! I dug into my pockets and clasped the few remaining coins into my palm, pulling them out I quickly counted how much I had. It was enough.
I glanced back the way I had come, there was no sign of Neji, who knows how long he'd be gone. Besides, I thought stepping up the old wooden door, it couldn't hurt could it?
Dun-Dun-Dun! :D Thank you so much for reading!
I used the name "Holo" for the Goddess from the Anime 'Spice and Wolf'
And the name 'Setsuko' means "Child of the Festival" so it matches the festival theme! :D
~ To my BEYOND FANTASTIC reviewers ~
ChrisChan-08 - I totally agree, how dense can you get right? :P He can be a sweetie at time too aww :)
DarkAnonymous324 - Thank you for the continuous reviews, I love you so much bro!:D
CrazyInLoveShinobi - ~NEJITEN FANS UNITE!~
Ariasujm-chan - Gracias por revisar! :D
PrincessT123 - Your review made me smile so much, thank you! and thanks for reviewing! :3
lovelydangerousdear - Hey there lovelydear, my bestest pal :P thanks for the awesome review, lots of love!
Snowflake99 - Whoooo! I shall do my best!
xBitterSweetDreamsx - Thank you for the compliment! I'll try my very best, thank you for reviewing!