Leopard cat
The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat of South and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern by IUCN as it is widely distributed but threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range. There are twelve leopard cat subspecies, which differ widely in appearance.[2]
The leopard cat's name is derived from the leopard-like spots prevalent in all subspecies, but its relation to the leopard is distant.
Hui Zhong was officially declared dead a week before Tenten's birthday, and she didn't come to school at the start of the next week. Hinata was terribly worried about that, especially when Tenten's phone was never on and none of them knew where she lived because she always came to Hinata's house. The location of her own home was just another useless personal facts she didn't bother with.
"O-oh Neji," Hinata sobbed for the millionth time that day, leaning against him despite his rigidness as she tried to console herself. Lee had just ran off, something about making sure that Naruto was keeping the dearest Sakura happy, and it took all of the quiet girl's self-control not to break down before he left. "Th-this i-is jus-just ho-h-horrible! Te-Ten-Tenten's cat i-is..." she stifled another sob. "Fir-first he-her m-mother, a-and the-then her ca-cat! It's th-the on-only th-thin-thing she ha-has t-t-to re-reme-remember h-her by!"
Neji for his part was calm and collected. He wasn't shrieking into his relative's shoulder and getting snot and tears all over their jacket, mourning a friend's emotional stability. It irked him again that Tenten had holed herself away from the world though. Her mother's dead and so if her mother's precious cat. And she doesn't shed a single damn tear when she told Hinata before walking back home. Neji was a bloody expert at bottling your emotions, just like what Lee had said, and decided that cracking her lid a bit might help get his sobbing cousin off of him and allow him to return to his disorderly free lifestyle.
Her birthday was this coming Saturday, so she'd better have enough time to blankly mourn in her room. Neji knew about loss, a great deal in fact, so he knew that getting Tenten back out into the open will help her recover. It was like an open wound. Sometimes you just need to throw salt on it. That's what had happened to Neji, so he assumed it would work for her.
He couldn't even fathom why he cared, or why he was actually trying to get her back to 'normal'. For years he hated her 'normal' personality and wished that she stopped being weird. Now that she was being weird, he found it unsettling. He never realized how dim her eyes had become, or how frumpy her clothes got. The sweaters seemed to be either getting bigger, or she was losing weight at a rapid pace. He knew nothing about her because he didn't really want to learn. But over the course of almost a month, he learned that her mother's dead, her cat might be dead as well, she actually can look people in the eye, and that her birthday is March 9th. No too shabby, considering he had only known her name, gender, and ethnicity for the entire four-to-five years of their acquaintance with one another.
Neji didn't even know what her disorder was. As far as he and Hinata knew, hers was either too obscure, or a variation or assimilation of many other defects. She either spoke in long winding sentences or stupid caveman-like speak that was unpleasant to anyone who could hear. She couldn't multitask and talk at the same time either, often getting distracting by something moving or a stray thought. As well, Tenten doesn't look people in the eye, the most aggravating of her habits.
It was pretty damn rude in Neji's book to not look someone in the eye, and he couldn't think of a reason for her to avoid the contact. It had been what had surprised him into agreeing to attend her birthday. He did not consider her a 'friend' because that's Hinata's job, but he will be there for her cat.
He almost missed watching the terrifyingly skinny, dirtied feline playing in the shadows, hissing if he took a step towards it and having no fear in glaring at him. Tenten was right, it was like there were real specks of gold in his eyes.
But now the stupid cat was dead, possible run over by some careless driver on the road that stormy night. He had tried, honestly, he did, to find the body, but either it had been eaten by another predator or the garbage truck scraped it off the street. Or Hui Zhong was still alive? No, the cry had definitely been familiar.
"L-Lee's coming! Do I-I-I lo-look alri-alright?" Hinata asked suddenly, forcing Neji to turn his gaze at her.
You look like your face had been half-eaten and spat back on. "You look fine."
Her shoulders stayed rigid as she wiped at her nose once more before turning to Lee innocently as he rushed towards them. Once he got close, he leaned towards them and said in a whisper, "Naruto and Sakura got into a very unyouthfultiff. He accused her of still having feelings for the radiant Sasuke, and she stormed off after punching him. I would have gone to help her, but I think it's a very unwise decision... her youthful fist dented a locker." Hinata giggled sadly. "Ah, lovely, vibrant Hinata! You look sad! Have you been crying?" Whoops, busted.
Neji did a very bad show of pretending that his cousin didn't have the face of trash as she pouted at him from askance. Pfft, women. She sighed and nodded. "T-Tenten's cat... H-Hui Zhong... h-h-he's be-been lost fo-for a w-while no-now, and I-I've been hoping tha-that it-it was th-the str-stray you've been seeing i-in the neighborhood. Bu-but Tenten said that i-it's been al-almost a month a-and no one's reco-recognized him yet. She's ta-taking his death ve-very hard, a-and in turn, so-so a-am I." In a very Lee-like manner, he felt into a kneel on the pavement and reached for the sky to begin dramatically weeping for the cruelness of this world, spouting off lines from famous plays as if that could emphasize his feelings.
"Oh woe is me, woe is me! My youthful friend has had something dear taken from her! The flowers of her youth shall surely begin wilting like rain from the somber sky if we do not do something!" His eyes widened almost comically. "But what! As you said, beautiful Hinata, we may have all been looking for Tenten's cat and have yet to find it! Surely gallant Hui Zhong is in trouble! Who knows how long a domestic animal will live outside of its environment? What to do! What to do!"
Irritated by too much emotions from Lee and stunted emotions from Tenten, Neji snapped, "Why don't you just make a wanted poster, Lee? Tack it up to every square inch of the city." He growled it, but it got across to his friend's thick skull. Lee should have never joined drama club. He should never have been near their teacher Gai either, but the world just isn't fair now is it.
"Brilliant!" Lee yelled, catching the attention of their fellow classmates. It usually took something very exciting for the guy to scream and have people stare. They should be used to it by now. "We will spread Hui Zhong's disappearance all around, and surely he will be safely returned to his loving owner!" He paused, a rare moment of thought slipping between his ears. "We'll need a picture."
Silence descended upon them like a vulture upon its deceased prey. Getting a picture would mean going over to Tenten's house and asking her. They could easily look up her address on the school's public computer, but to suddenly demand a reminder of her precious cat so soon after his demise? Neji swallowed as Hinata sniffled. "I-I have piano les-lessons after school today," she whispered, sounding more disappointed than daunted. "A-and tomorrow Hanabi and I ha-have ballet lessons. Th-then th-there's father's im-impor-important b-business d-dinner we mus-must att-attend a-a-and..." She fell silent then, worriedly fiddling with her fingers again.
"I have a marathon tomorrow, and after school I have drama. The play for A Midsummer Night's Dream is on Friday, Neji! I get to be Puck, the fairy!" Neji frowned, suddenly realizing what was going to happen. "You'll have to ask Tenten. You're an honest person, I am positive that your youthful request will be accomplished if you tell Tenten of your youthful intentions."
My intentions are to wring her pretty little neck. "Not happening. I don't know anything about her." The song liar liar pants on fire began to play in his head.
"But you and the exquisite Hinata have had history with Tenten since you were in middle school, have you not?" Lee asked.
"Doesn't mean I'm her friend." Lee looked at him like he was the dumb one this time. It didn't sit well with Neji and he folded his arms over his chest defensively. "I'm not going to track her house down."
Hinata bravely put her hands on her cousin's shoulder, feeling him tense beneath her at the fragile contact. "D-do you re-really have an-anything be-better to do th-than to si-sit around in an em-empty house all day?" she asked curiously as well as striking a nerve. Neji glared at her, years full of burning hatred springing forth into his eyes. She let go as if hit, trembling further as she hastily wiped away tears. Lee looked at him curiously, apparently having never seen their strained relationship. "P-please, N-Neji! I-I-I'll do-do-do a-any-anyth-thing!" She clasped her hands in front of her and lowered her head, becoming as submissive as possible under her relative's scorn.
She, a girl who was given everything, was prostrating herself to a boy who had all he had ever known stripped away from him. She obviously didn't know what she possessed, but all in all it was not what Neji wanted anymore. Spitefully, he said, "Then tell Tenten she isn't allowed at Sakura's party. She was never invited in the first place."
Lee gasped, eyes wide as he sputtered. "S-S-S-Sak-Sakura wo-would never do such!" he frowned, ready to resort to fisticuffs if his hardheaded friend couldn't feel the weight of his words.
Neji scoffed, a dark smirk now on his face as he stood up from the bench he had been sitting on. Hinata looked up at him with a hurt expression, despaired hope lining her sparkling wide eyes that made him cringe and look back at the dark-haired bug-eyed boy. "She did. She told me herself. Not even Sakura likes Tenten, and I sure as hell never did in the first place. I'll get her cat back, and then I never want to have anything to do with that girl ever again, understand Hinata?" She didn't nod her head but Neji didn't need confirmation. The bell rung and he walked off to his next class.
:) :) :) :(
Tenten's father was the one to answer the door, looking impeccably clean and well-groomed despite his aged appearance. He looked to be in his sixties despite probably being only in his late-forties. He was already balding with strips of grey hair in the places that were not covered in worry lines. His small blue eyes were covered by thick-rimmed glasses as his mouth was pressed into a cold line. In a way, it reminded Neji of Tenten and he knew he had gotten the right house.
"I don't want any girl scout cookies," the man said tonelessly, causing Neji's temper to fume. He didn't hide his glare, which the man either ignored or did not understand. "What are you here for? My daughter doesn't have any friends."
Something in his jaw tightened but Neji ignored it. "Your daughter, Tenten, has informed me that her cat is missing." The man continued to look like a block of cinder standing in the doorframe of his simple abode. Neji had at first been surprised at how far away it actually was. "I wanted to help by putting up signs of a missing feline, but I need a picture. Do you think that you can spare one for me to borrow?"
The man stared down at him. His skin was like worn leather and he was much taller than his daughter, having to actually lean down if he had to exit his front door. "You're a strange girl, you know that? Fine, have it. I don't need it anymore." Surprisingly, the man took out his wallet and handed Neji a picture from it. He was a bit flabbergasted, but then wondered if what Tenten has is hereditary. It made him somewhat ashamed to be doing what he was doing, but he swallowed it down like bile and thanked the man, despite the gender-confusion and uncomfortable circumstance.
"I will return it as soon as I can," he promised, watching as the door was slammed in his face without a 'thank you' or a 'goodbye'. The man didn't even seem to care about what he had given away. Looking down at it, Neji suddenly wanted to tell Hinata not to tell Tenten she's not invited to the party and to pry open her father's door to tell him that yes he's her friend he has been her friend for five fucking years and no he is not a goddamn girl.
He saw Tenten smiling. Genuine and crisp like it had been taken yesterday even though the Tenten in this picture is no older than a chubby eleven-year-old. She is wearing a dress suspiciously like a famous cartoon mouse; the red one covered in white polka-dots while her hair is pulled into the usual buns on her head. Maybe she wore them for a bigger reason, because her appearance was making an extraordinarily beautiful young woman clap her hands in bliss as her daughter pranced around the living room. Hui Zhong was on the woman's lap, looking much healthier and vibrant but still keeping the same rude look of staring and not exactly giving a shit.
They are in a place with warm wooden floors and sunlight beaming down on them in the afternoon. Tenten's father must have been the one to take the picture, reminding Neji of the picnic they had recently.
Tenten looked so happy, so free from all of the neglect she had gone through during all of high school. Neji remembered in middle school how she stuck to him and Hinata rather than the other students, and he had always thought them too beneath him to wonder why the three of them were always ostracized. Sometime, long ago, Tenten had been happy.
As he walked, photo carefully kept in his pocket, Neji contemplated the girl's start into emptiness. Her mother was dead, but was fully alive in the photo. That meant in the nearly six-or-seven year gap between the photo and now, her mother had passed away. It had to have been recently, for Hui Zhong would have run away sooner if it had been later, right? Her mother must have known about all the bullying? She probably wasn't alive when Tenten entered high school then. And with the way her father is... how similar he is to her... well, sadness does wonders to a person's self-esteem. Neji would know.
On Monday he got her cat's photo, having to scan it into the school's computer and cropping the image before editing in all of the details. "Orange cat with spots. Green eyes. Call this number. Will pay." Neji had to think about that. He often saw monetary information on these kinds of things, but he didn't know how much Tenten's cat would be worth. He blinked and typed in a number high enough to maybe intrigue the average person but low enough so that he can get Lee and Hinata to pitch in.
On Tuesday he made several copies of the want ad and tried to spread them around after school. He felt a little silly doing it, having to go to the nearby park and in front of the school's entrance to make sure they gained attention, but with Hui Zhong's imploringly smug expression looking up at him all day, Neji hastily scattered about fifty pieces of paper around school, the path he used to walk to school, and in between his and Tenten's house. He hoped that during her ballet lessons, Hinata would trip and break her ankle. And that Lee would get last place in his crappy marathon.
On Wedsneday he sat at home, alone in the dark listening to his clock until he fell asleep on the couch.
On Thursday he asked Hinata if she told Tenten yet of not being invited. She avoided him for the rest of the day and Neji felt like smashing his clock when he got home.
On Friday, Neji was positive that no one had even begun looking for the cat. He even gave them his home number instead of Tenten's. Nothing happened. Tenten was still gone, maybe as rigid as her father is. He laid down on his couch looking over to where a clock use to be. It was gone, having been thrown in the trash - every last piece of it - yet he could still hear the unfathomably loud tick tock sound that resonated in his head.
Maybe it was because he never knew how bad Tenten had it, and pitied her. That's probably it, because there is no other reason to feel any attachment to this girl besides tidal waves of guilt. That's why he began feeding Hui Zhong when he found out he was Tenten's cat. That's why he let his friend Lee interact with her. It's the reason he tried to give her a picture even though he sucked at drawing. It's the reason he invited her to Sakura's birthday even though he explicitly said that he would not. It's the reason he agreed to go to her birthday. Pity. Neji pitied her.
All there is to it. Tick tock.
He won't even miss her. Tick tock.
She was annoying anyways. Tick tock.
No his heart did not stop when she looked at him in the eyes. Tick tick tick tock.
Sighing, Neji was about to reach for his ancient TV remote to try and rot his brain with the stupid talking sponge or some criminal investigation so corny and fake he'll fall asleep. Suddenly, right as he was about to press the power button and submit himself to a possible three-hour marathon of Lost, his house phone rang.
Neji knew this because he lived alone. If Hinata had called, she would have used his cellphone - he never told her his house number. But it was the number he had used if someone ever found Hui Zhong, and with more speed than necessary, Neji leapt off the couch and scrambled into the kitchen to grab at the phone on its holder at the counter. Swallowing thickly, unaware that something had lodged itself in his trachea, Neji said as smoothly as he could, "Hello?"
"Oh, hello!" cooed an elderly voice. "Is this the owner of the darling cat I found?"
"Depends. There is a missing cat," he found himself replying. Then, thinking back on his first meeting with the wicked creature, said, "His name is Hui Zhong. He is a medium-sized, very thin wild-looking cat with short, reddish-brown fur spotted like a leopard and stripes on his legs and tail. He has cream white fur on his stomach and the tips of his paws though. He has very predatory-like eyes, and they are alexandrite with hints of gold in them. He likes to hiss when you're near him and he eats tuna from the can."
A kind chortle from the other line. "Oh yes, then I've got the right cat! You must miss him dearly; I can drive over right now and return him! He's a feisty one, half-starved and so dirty! I had wrestle him to the nearby veterinarian to make sure that he wasn't diseased. Didn't have a collar or a chip though, so I was so glad when I stumbled upon your want ad! Oh ho ho!"
Breathing lightly now, Neji gave the kind old woman his address and read a book waiting for her to arrive. The doorbell rang and in front of his doorstep was the woman holding a cat with the smuggest expression the boy had ever seen. Could cats smirk? Hui Zhong hissed at him, raising a paw with the claws already out, but instantly jumped out of the woman's arms and streaked right into his house. Neji thanked the lady, who fortunately did not want the payment, and promised to never lose the cat ever again despite it not being his. He closed the door and heard her car drive off before turning and realizing that Hui Zhong had disappeared from his living room.
"Oh hell," Neji breathed, frantically scanning the area. Mentally, he remembered the open window in his bedroom and ran towards it.
A completely spartan area, that literally has not been touched save the bed and rolling chair since he first entered it. It also had a desk, lamp, and well-stocked bookcase but that was all he ever needed. Now, in front of Neji opposite of the opened door, he saw Hui Zhong languidly lying down on the opened window sill. "You fucking cat," he hissed himself as he slowly walked closer. Hui Zhong was alert in an instant, his cleaned coat now shining as the stripes around his eyes made him look downright sinful. He raised a clawed hand at the boy, who only inched closer. Not this time.
To Neji's chagrin, Hui Zhong did leap out of his window into his front lawn. Not giving it an instant, he tore out of his house hastily. When the feline was dying on the street covered in filth, Neji had never entertained the thought of going after it. He found it gruesomely unfair that, now with Hui Zhong recovered to full health, he had to put forth the effort in catching it as it darted down the street.
He had to use tact to get the little bastard back, knowing full well that he cannot outrun a cat. Thinking quickly as he followed Hui Zhong into the fenced-off alleyway Lee had first tried looking for him, Neji scrambled over the wooden fence and knocked over trash cans. Hui Zhong easily found higher ground, scampering off down the narrow passages. Huffing, Neji quickly climbed back over and ran off around the corner. If he timed it correctly, he would only suffer minor injuries. Bracing himself, he pushed his feet to move forward right as he ran another corner just in time to see Hui Zhong's sleek body skip out onto the sidewalk.
Tackling the cat, despite its yowls and claws, Neji held on tightly and worked to contain the fussy beast while making sure it couldn't run away again. A cat is suck a fickle thing. You get one so that one day you may earn its love, but every time you bend down and reach your hand out for it to come to you, it turns its head away and saunters off. No matter what you give the cat, nothing ever feels good enough. Even if the cat lived in your house and ate the food you gave it, is it really your cat? The thing's probably staying with you because you provide familiar territory, shelter, and food. Even if you had it for its entire life, would it ever come to love you back as much as you can love it? Irritated and scratched all over, Neji kept Hui Zhong in a crippling embrace as he made his way to Tenten's house. He hadn't realized how long he had waited, but by now he was almost thirty minutes late.
Unable to knock on her door, Neji was forced to kick it lightly until her father opened the door. Upon seeing the cat, the man's eyes seemed to change color when his face remained cold. "You're late," he said as he made way for Neji to enter. The house was small, but slightly bigger than his own. It also had hardwood floors, at which he was grateful for. "They're all in the living room through the kitchen." Nodding once, Neji hefted Hui Zhong, who had begrudgingly stopped trying to tear the boy's eyes out and getting away.
When he entered there was an audible silence.
Whatever it was that Tenten, Hinata, and Lee had been doing before he arrived, it was lost when all eyes descended upon a very battered, war-torn Neji holding an arrogant cat in his arms. "You said you didn't want a present," he said, voice a lot lower than he had anticipated. Neji swallowed, about to continue in his normal tone until Tenten rose to her feet and took a step forward. His voice suddenly was no louder than a mouse's squeak. "But... because it was yours in the first place, I might as well hand it over." He didn't know if he was talking about the cat or something else, but his head went blank when Tenten's earthy brown eyes seemed to shine and turn the most enchanting color of liquid amber.
"Hui Zhong," she said, and even though she didn't smile or begin to tear up like a normal person, the unusual tension in her shoulders relaxed and her hands shook slightly underneath her large sweater when she held them out. Neji easily let the cat pounce from his grasp and into Tenten's, mewling into her woolen clothing as Hinata broke down crying again and Lee gave a triumphant "Yosh!" and a thumbs-up.
"N-N-Neji..." Hinata said softly when they all sat back down at the low table in Tenten's living room. She gave him a tender smile, but had worry etched on her soft features.
Slightly lightheaded, Neji told her as he watched Hui Zhong play with the buttons on his mistresses' shirt, "Do you think she likes the beach?" Hinata cried again, quickly assuring Tenten that she was 'feeling happy'.
"Oh, I am more than happy," Hinata told the brunette. Turning her eyes to her cousin, who continued to wear a dazed expression, she said tenderly, "I think everyone is feeling happy. Very happy."
A/N: I can totally stop the story here. Tenten's cat was found - yay - but I still have a few things I had thought of that will make the thing longer. I might continue this longer because I feel that I haven't made Asperger's understandable, but right now I can clip it off. I have a few ideas planned too, such as Neji learning a lot more about Tenten's disorder and helping Tenten to finally fit in and Hinata trying to get over her heartbreak over the NaruSaku. More characters will be brought in as well, but the whole thing can flop due to a busy schedule and just not being suitable at trying to describe a disorder in its entirety. I don't like to admit it, but I do enjoy writing these long chapters hoping for a review. It means the hours I spend on analyzing Asperger's is actually interesting - in a way. And if you're wondering, I never planned for NejiTen from the start. It's going to be a gratingly long experience and you've probably seen the LeeTen hints (albeit one-sided), and even if I finish the story they may not get together. I'm trying to be realistic with Aspergian relationships, but who knows what will happen now. Hate having to leave author notes; hope you enjoyed the story so far.