Chapter 4, I hope you like it!
I own no parts of Naruto, by the way…
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The sun came through her window, as she lay awake but with closed eyes. All night Tenten tried to figure out how this was her home, when she saw it as a pile of near ashes when she was young. How could her initials still be engraved into the floor boards when this room was surely destroyed by the flames? Her eyes were sore from crying, something she found herself doing much more then she would have liked, and her body ached from running with limited breaks. But she couldn't sit around for much longer. She was sure that most of the village was already on her trail, and coming up fast to her location. She didn't want these people, allowing her to stay in their home, to be hurt or even affected in any way by her staying here.
Tenten pulled the blankets away, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She could hear someone downstairs, and hoped it was the kind lady she was able to meet the night before. She fixed her hair, and tried to make herself presentable as she walked to the door, pulling it open carefully, and going down the stairs.
Just as she expected, the owner of the inn was in the kitchen, preparing a meal. She had a white apron tied around her waist and a spoon in her right hand, seeming stirring something on the stove. She hummed softly as she worked, and Tenten was reminded of her own mother.
"Excuse me," Tenten spoke up, stepping forward with tentative steps.
"Oh, hello Miss, and how did you sleep?" the woman asked happily as she turned to look at Tenten.
"Very, well actually." She crossed her hands in front of her "But I was wondering if you could answer a question for me?"
"Of course, ask away." The woman said
"In my room, I noticed that there are initials carved into the floor, what is that from?" Tenten asked
"Well, my husband and I aren't sure, but when we came to this village we heard it was nearly destroyed by a terrible fire." She kept stirring "Only a few of the houses were able to be repaired, luckily this was one of them." She smiled at Tenten "We were going through the wreckage when I went into labor, and at that moment we were able to find the floorboard that you mentioned."
Tenten's eyes widened. The woman laughed as she continued on to say that she named her first child, a son, with the same initials as that of her floorboard. Tenten smiled a true but sad smile. She remembered carving her name into the board in hopes that when she moved away and some other family owned the house, the child that stayed there would carve their name in as well. Carving her name was to say that she was there, and was her way of being remembered, even if it was by just T.T. .
"Could you do something for me?" Tenten asked
"Yes, I think I can," the woman answered
"I'm not sure if you know, but I am a ninja and I'm on an important mission," She saw the woman stiffen "It is medically based, and I need you to clean out my room and the halls with something to hide my scent. I can provide the equipment needed to clean. I don't want you people to be evolved in something as boring as a medical interrogation."
The woman relaxed and turned to Tenten "That would be no problem. I was worried. I thought you may be some kind of dangerous ninja." She laughed, and Tenten blinked
"No, just someone who can heal someone with funny looking colors," this was her hit on Sakura, and it made her smile. "I would clean the place my self, but that would just leave my smell over the smell I just cleaned up."
"Yes, I understand you won't need to worry about my family be investigated."
"Thank you, I'm very glad." Tenten said "You've been very generous, I am forever grateful for your hospitality." She bowed her head.
"There's no need to thank me, I was happy to have you as a guest." She bowed back.
"Would you like any help? I'd be happy to do whatever you need done?" Tenten asked
"You could make some juice, if you'd like?" the woman smiled back at Tenten, gesturing to the counter, an assortment of fruits stacked upon it.
Tenten went to work on the juice, and helped a bit more with cleaning up some of the breakfast mess. After a while, when the pancakes were sizzling on the burner, the three children Tenten saw from the night before came into view. The two smallest ones rubbed their eyes, sleep still evident on their faces, while the oldest stepped into the room with confidence and a look of readiness. The little girl held a small stuffed cat against her chest, and the little boy sucked his thumb lazily.
"Smells really good mum," the oldest boy said
"Thank you, Tetsuo" she said, fixing the pancakes and setting them on their appropriate plate. "The orange juice was made by our guest today,"
The boy looked at her as he helped his little sister onto her seat, high off the ground. He sat in his seat and looked at the orange juice curiously. Without much hesitation he lifted the drink from the table and brought it to his lips. She looked away as he did so, fearing that Tetsuo wouldn't like it. She knew she was no good with children.
"This is very good juice," she looked back to see that his glass was almost gone. He looked over at her again "Mum leaves too much pulp in it."
She couldn't help but smile "Thank you, I'm glad you like it."
"Please sit down," the woman pulled out a chair for her, and Tenten sat down with a thank you.
"Now eat up, we have a long day ahead of us."
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He screwed the cap back onto the canteen before getting back on his feet. All around him ninjas huffed, face's red from running, and sweat making their hair and clothes stick to their skin. Neji sighed, also breathing heavy, and looked off into the distance. He couldn't ask them to continue, their feet hadn't stopped since leaving Konoha hours ago. At first the ninja dogs had no problem, leading them on with out hesitation, but now they were running in circles retracing old steps. Neji was getting very frustrated. All he wanted to do was find Tenten, figure out what was wrong, and make her come back to the village.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked around again. He looked at his comrades, his friends, the people he had know since his days in the academy. But one was gone. Tenten. She wasn't just his teammate; she was his best friend, his source of solace, and his most trusted ally. He felt like something was missing, like he was forgetting something very important, and he didn't like it. Tenten protected his blind spot, and now with her gone, he found himself looking over his shoulder more times then necessary.
"Alright, that's enough rest, let's move." Neji called, jumping up into the trees as he heard the rest of them follow.
He was surprised at the lack of complaint. Usually al least one would groan or protest to the short break, but Neji was shocked by silence as he moved through the trees. Even when the team for Sasuke had departed, Neji heard some sort of distain for the lost by. Did they all care so much for Tenten?
"Neji?" Neji turned to see Kiba running beside him. His face was askew; he was trying to hide the emotion plaguing his mind.
"Kiba?" he answered
"Akamaru is stuck. He can't find anymore of Tenten's scent." Kiba said
"I see." Neji looked ahead "Extend his search area by a five mile radius. Notify me if you find anything."
Kiba jumped off, and Neji kept his eyes glued to the path in front of him.
"What could she have done to get Akamaru off her trail? She must be heading to water anyway. We have to reach her before she gets to the Ocean." He finished his talk to himself.
He called for another break, it had been another four hours since the last, and gathered everyone together. He told them that she would be heading for water, and that all the villages on the coast should be searched. She was already a day ahead of them, so there was little chance that they would find her in a village, but he knew that there would be at least one witness. He split the large group into a few smaller ones, and told them to keep the villagers out of suspicion. This was a medical mission, searching only for information. It was an excuse that he and Tenten used on one then one mission, and seemed to be a favorite of hers'. It slipped off his tongue before he could think of a better reason to keep the villagers to forget about the ninja's interrogation.
"We'll meet at the biggest port by this time tomorrow." Neji finished.
'We have a long way ahead of us.'
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Sorry this was such a late and lame chapter. I tried to make it good but nothing really seemed worthy of an update. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it, and please review! More reviews mean the faster I review!