Hello again! Thank you, to the people who reviewed, favorited, and followed my story. ^^ I lost interest in "Naruto" for quite a while, but now I'm back, and I felt like updating Surviving the Nobility, so here I am! Enjoy this chapter, and please don't forget to review!
Surviving the Nobility
Chapter Four: Double Trouble
"I miss Tsunade-sama," Tenten muttered. She and Sakura were in the reception area, standing against a wall and chatting, while waiting for the nobles to finish soaking in the hot springs. "If she was here, I'd train every day with her and then I'd definitely defeat that obnoxious Hyuuga."
"You really can't stop talking about Hyuuga, Neji can you?" Sakura teased.
"Only because I can't stand his sexist opinions," Tenten retorted. "Anyway, how's your new home?"
"Ino's a fun person. She's not shy like Hinata, and she's not afraid to voice her opinions," Sakura answered. "Noblewomen are supposed to remain silent and follow whatever orders the men of the house give out, but if something's unfair, Ino will speak out. Because she talks back, most other noblemen disrespect her."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Typical noblemen. The girl has some backbone and the men think that's a bad thing?"
"Shikamaru and Chouji are different, though," Sakura continued. "They're Ino's childhood friends, and both of them support her. At least there're still some sensible noblemen out there."
Before their conversation could go any further, Hinata, dressed in a purple yukata, walked towards the two girls. "Um, Tenten, c-can you accompany me back home?"
"You're going back so soon?"
"Y-Yes. My father s-said he doesn't want me gone f-for too long," Hinata murmured. "H-He also wants me to attend the meeting t-today."
"Alright then," Tenten agreed. "You'll be fine, won't you, Sakura?"
The rosette gave Tenten a thumbs up. "Of course. Besides, I doubt I'll be in any danger here."
"Okay," Tenten replied. Then, turning to Hinata, she said, "Let's go, Hinata."
"Th-Thank you, Tenten. I'm sorry for t-taking you away from your friend," Hinata apologized, once both girls arrived at the Hyuuga mansion.
"It's fine. You should get to the meeting, Hinata," Tenten reminded. Nodding, the dark haired girl trotted off, leaving Tenten along in the open compound. Looking around, the brunette sighed. "Well, I might as well train by myself."
Tenten walked to her room to get her weapons. While searching for her kunai, shuriken, and scrolls, her eyes fell upon the black comb that was once her mother's. She reached for the comb and ran her thumb over the studded rubies. Bringing the comb to her chest, she closed her eyes and thought in Chinese, "Ma Ma, I'm at my new home right now. It's been a couple of days since I arrived, and I like the mistress already. Her name's Hinata, and she's a very timid girl. I thought she was the next leader, but it turns out that she's only a figurehead. I wish I could see you once again, Ma Ma. I always admired your strength and how you thought women could be as strong as men. I'll always keep training, so that I can be as strong as you and my trainer, Tsunade-sama."
After the brunette opened her eyes, she placed the comb on her folded qi pao, grabbed her weapons, and headed to the training grounds. As she was walking and turned a corner, a small body bumped into her abdomen. She glanced down, and saw a mop of long brown hair.
"A mini-Neji?" was Tenten's first thought.
The child lifted her head and gazed, emotionlessly, at Tenten. Her pearl white eyes bore into Tenten's chocolate brown ones. Tenten stared back, not knowing what the child expected her to do.
"You're my sister's new lady-in-waiting, right?" the child asked.
"Yes, I am. My name is Tenten." Tenten said, then added mentally, "You look more like Neji than Hinata."
"I am Hyuuga, Hanabi," the young girl replied. Her white eyes trailed from Tenten's face to the bag in her hand, which contained her weapons. "You are going to train?"
"Ah, yes," Tenten answered. "Would you like to join?"
Hanabi, after a moment of silence, answered, "No thank you. I need to go to the elders' meeting." Saying so, she brushed past Tenten and walked away.
"Such a serious girl," Tenten thought. "She must be stressed. Why is such a young girl chosen to be the next head?" Shrugging, Tenten kept walking to the training grounds.
Tenten landed on the ground softly and let her unrolled scrolls fall at her sides. Various weapons littered the training grounds and about a dozen shuriken were stuck in the bulls-eye of a dummy. Panting, the brunette observed the mess she created. "That's going to take quite a while to clean up," she thought, as she started rolling up her scrolls.
Just as she finished putting away her second scroll, Tenten felt someone tug at her clothes. She turned around and faced Hinata, who looked like she was about to cry. Before Tenten could ask Hinata what happened, the dark haired girl spoke, "The elders decided th-that I need to get married. They s-said as a pseudo leader, I-I need to show the people that there's a man beside me."
Tears threatened to spill from Hinata's face, and Tenten could even feel the Hyuuga's pain. "I'm guessing you can't talk back to them."
"N-No, I can't. The elders control e-everything. I-I can't even take control of my own life," Hinata whimpered. "I-I can't even choose the person I want to spend the rest of m-my life with."
"Who's your fiancé then, Hinata?" Tenten asked.
Fat tears rolled down Hinata's face as she answered, "Neji nii-san."
Tenten blinked once, then twice. Then, she pinched her own cheek and stared at Hinata. "He's your cousin," were the only words the brunette could mutter at that moment.
"Yes," Hinata whispered. "They expect m-me to marry my own cousin. It may be a c-common practice in noble families, b-but I don't a-agree with it. I-I don't want to do it!" As she kept talking, Hinata's small voice got louder and louder. She ended her talk with a short sniff and wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand.
"Does Neji know about this?" Tenten asked.
"No. H-He wasn't called to the meeting."
"So they arranged this before even consulting you two? I'd give them a piece of my mind, but then again, I'm only a lady-in-waiting," Tenten commented.
"Th-They want Neji nii-san and me to get married as soon as possible, b-but at least they l-let me decide the d-day," Hinata continued.
"I still can't believe they're making you marry your own cousin," Tenten murmured. Observing Hinata carefully, Tenten asked, "Do you already have someone you love, Hinata? Is that why you're overly upset?"
Hinata froze. Her lips were pressed together tightly and she lowered her head a little, hiding her blush and tears. "I-I do," Hinata whispered. Then, she quickly added, "I-I'm going back to my room. You don't h-have to follow me, Tenten. I-I want to be alone for now." Hinata then ran past Tenten and back to her room.
"What are you still doing here?"
Tenten, who was sitting on the grass at the training grounds, lifted her head to see the one and only Neji staring down at her. "What do you want, Neji?"
"It's evening," was his only reply.
Tenten looked up at the sky. Hues of orange and red colored the sky as clouds floated along lazily, and a couple of birds flew by. "Evening already, huh?"
"What are you doing here?" Neji asked again.
"I was training," Tenten replied, not knowing whether she should tell Neji about Hinata.
"The whole time after you got back?" Neji asked. Tenten didn't answer. A breeze blew by, and after a few minutes of silence Neji demanded, "What really happened?"
"You'll find out later," Tenten said, deciding to not tell him yet. "It's not my business to tell."
"If it's something about me, it's my business to know," Neji retorted. "Now, what happened?"
Not wanting to argue with Neji anymore, Tenten snapped, "Your elders want you and Hinata to get married!"
Neji stared blankly at Tenten, then muttered, "If it's the elders' decision, I can't do anything. The best choice is to go along with it."
Tenten gritted her teeth, jumped up, and grabbed a fistfull of Neji's clothing. "Hinata's depressed, this is clearly unfair, and you don't even want to do anything about it! Aren't you a man? Why don't you stand up for yourself?"
"Someone of my status cannot defy the elders," Neji calmly replied. "It is the way our world works. They are the masters, and I am merely a caged bird."
"Caged bird or not, you're a human too! You have your own opinions and ideals. I've heard that marriage within the family is not rare for nobles, but Hinata really doesn't want to go through with this! Do you want to make her suffer?" Tenten yelled. "You may be okay with it, but Hinata's…"
"I do not agree with their decision, and I will never be able to see Hinata as a wife," Neji interrupted. "However, I already said that no one can defy the elders. Their word is final."
Tenten released her grip on Neji's clothing and threw an unexpected punch to his face, making Neji fall on his side. "Y'know, I'm beginning to think you don't have a soul. You're just like a puppet, and the elders are the puppet-masters, pulling your strings whatever way they choose. You don't fight against their decision because you have never experienced love. If you have, you'd be just as upset as Hinata is." Without another word, Tenten bent down, took her bag of weapons, and strutted back to her room, leaving Neji on the ground.
The brown haired Hyuuga pushed himself up and stared at Tenten's retreating back and mentally said, "You do not understand how suffocating it is to be a nobleman, Tenten. You speak your mind because you are not afraid, because you have had freedom. It's better to not involve yourself with our family matters."
Tenten sat up from her bed with her eyes wide open. Sunlight shone through the windows and birds greeted the day with some chirps. Before the brunette could roll up her futon, the shoji doors suddenly slid open and a pink haired girl entered the room.
"Sakura? What're you doing here?" Tenten asked while shielding her eyes from the light.
Closing the doors, Sakura answered, "Ino came over to ask Hinata about her arranged marriage."
"How did the news spread so fast?"
"Apparently the noble families are very well connected," Sakura replied. "Anyway, Ino told me yesterday, about what she heard. It's harsh for Hinata, especially when she already has someone else she loves."
"How'd you know that?" Tenten asked again.
"Ino knows. She told me. Now she's trying to talk to Hinata to ease the situation. Ino's the type who'll talk back, but her family is not as strict as Hinata's. Who knows what she's planning for Hinata," Sakura commented.
"Speaking of Hinata, I'm going to go check on her." Just as she was about to head out the door, Tenten looked down at her clothes and felt her long, messy hair. "After I change my clothes and fix my hair."
Sakura nodded and opened the doors. "I'll wait outside," she said, then stepped out, and closed the doors.
Tenten walked to where her folded clothes were placed, picked up her white qi pao and spread it out. Once she finished sliding on the Chinese dress, she took her mother's black comb and started brushing her hair. Instead of rolling her hair up in two buns like she usually does, Tenten decided to roll it up in one bun at the back of her head. As a finishing touch, she neatly dug the black comb in the bun. "For today, Ma Ma, you can stay with me."
Tenten went outside, saw Sakura, and walked to Hinata's room. Tenten loudly asked Hinata, from outside, whether she could come inside. Once Hinata's timid voice gave her permission, Tenten and Sakura slid the doors open and stepped inside. Ino and Hinata were sitting on the floor, with two cups of herbal tea in front of them.
"How's the situation, Ino?" asked Sakura.
"The elders are pushing her too much. I was thinking that if both Neji and Hinata talk to the elders reasonably, then they'd have a slight chance of changing the elders' minds," Ino answered.
"That coward, Neji, is going to go along with whatever the elders say," scoffed Tenten.
"You t-talked with Neji nii-san?" Hinata shyly asked.
"Yeah, I did, and I have to say, he lacks backbone," Tenten criticized.
"A-At least you were able to t-talk with him," Hinata said. "H-He never talked with any of my past ladies-in-waiting. I-I'm glad you were able to get h-his opinion, Tenten."
Ino's head suddenly perked up, as if an idea popped into her head. "Hinata, does your cousin have anyone he loves, or at least likes?"
"N-Not that I know of. Wh-Why?" Hinata asked.
"If we can make him see what it feels like to fall in love, maybe he'll gain some sense," Ino suggested.
"Pft, like that person will ever fall in love," Tenten muttered.
"Why do you hate him so much Tenten?" Sakura asked.
"His actions just make me mad," said Tenten.
"I-I think it's pretty i-impossible for Neji nii-san to fall in love with s-someone," Hinata mentioned. "He rarely t-talks to any outsiders."
"You're forgetting there's someone in the Hyuuga house who recently arrived," Ino reminded. Her baby blue eyes then shifted in Tenten's direction. Sakura and Hinata followed Ino's gaze and stared at Tenten as well.
The brunette stuttered, "Y-You're not really thinking of using me, are you?"
"You're the best choice right now," Ino said. "Plus, Hinata said Neji talks to you, so maybe we can improve your relationship with him starting now."
"If he doesn't push you away," Tenten murmured.
"No, if he doesn't push you away, Tenten," Ino cut in. "I think it's worth a try. At least it'll buy some time. Hinata can only stall her answer for so long. Getting Neji to agree with us will come in handy."
"I don't think this is gonna work," Tenten commented, unconfidently.
"We'll make it work," said Ino. Turning to Sakura, she continued, "Hey Forehead, you're definitely gonna help, alright?"
"Of course, pig," Sakura agreed. Tenten and Hinata looked at them, slightly surprised by the nicknames they call each other by.
"I'll talk to Hinata a bit more, then I'll go back home. You can stay with Tenten the whole day if you want Sakura. You have my permission," said Ino.
With a nod and a wave, Sakura slid open the shoji doors, grabbed Tenten's wrist, and pulled her outside.
"Do you wanna visit Tsunade-sama?" Tenten suggested. "I wanna see how she's faring without us."
"Sure, why not?"
The two girls exited the Hyuuga mansion and made their way into town, where their old home stood. Tenten and Sakura talked about their new families as they walked. Suddenly, just as they were about to make a turn at a corner, a black haired and agile figure dashed past them. Sakura's eyes closed on instinct, and when they opened again, Tenten was no longer beside her.
"What in the world…?"
And, there you have it, chapter 4! =D Any guesses on who the person who kidnapped Tenten is? =3 Feel free to leave your guesses in your reviews! If possible, again, please give me some constructive criticism. Also, is Neji's and Tenten's relationship progressing slow or do you think it's going at a good pace? Please tell me your opinions, my readers! =D
