Starless
NejiXTenten. The instructions were clear. Eliminate any witness. It was starless that night.
Naruto is by Masashi Kishimoto.
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Chapter Seven: Don't Look Back
Her wrists, tied behind her, burned against the tight ropes. She had been trying to free herself but all her efforts were useless. The ropes, including those that tied her legs together were too tough- it was probably infused with chakra. She sighed as she tried to reorganize her thoughts. The wounds didn't hurt anymore. Or it could be that she got used to it. Her body felt heavy though, and it was like everything was spinning. The enemy stopped using poisoned weapons but his initial attacks had that much effect.
"Neji…" She whispered weakly.
She passed out after she felt a stab on her back. She remembered hearing a male voice before it all went black. She didn't know what had become of Neji but she was alone when she woke up. And she woke up in that small room- all of its windows were shut- if it had any. It was after a day that she was visited by a Land of Fire official, reading the daimyo's decision on her case. She wasn't surprised, she wasn't angry, she wasn't even sure if she felt anything. Maybe it was because she believed. And she still did.
She froze when the door creaked. She braced herself when the small light, the first she had seen in what seemed like a very long time, illuminated the room- prison rather. Aside from that official, nobody else had seen her. The foods, which she never tasted, and the water, which she drank sparingly after careful examination, were delivered though a small opening at the bottom of the door. She glared at the entrance. She wasn't really expecting someone pleasant.
"Impossible…" She said as her eyes widened in disbelief.
Messy platinum blond hair and droopy pale blue eyes- he looked pure and impish at the same time. His face lightened up when he smiled innocently but it only gave her the shivers. This guy, she stared at the face of this guy as he lay on the ground. His chest was soaked in his own blood back there. That second kunai was almost buried entirely on his chest. No matter how she recalled it, it was impossible that he recovered from that. So why was he standing before her, unscathed?
"Do I look like Tetsuya that much?" He said as he bent closer, leaving the lamp on the floor.
"Tetsuya…?"
"My idiot brother, the one you killed."
"You are…"
"The younger brother, the one who uses this brain…" He paused, as if looking up something on her face. "He rushed ahead of me, unknowing that he will be met by the angel of death."
She stared at crouched tall guy before her. She wasn't expecting something so cheesy at that situation, unless it was Gai or Lee. The one that she killed and this one, they were brothers- that much she was convinced. They were both lunatics on the loose. How could he be smiling like that when his older brother just died? Beating her up would be the normal reaction in that case. He could have something else in mind and she'd rather deal with something straightforward.
"But I don't really hate you for that… it's payback for hurting your face." He said, putting a gentle finger over the wound on her cheek that reminded her that she was heavily injured.
"Quit the flattery. What do you want?" She asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer though she maintained the clarity and snappiness of her voice.
"More than just a pretty face, I see. I kind of understand why Tetsuya got playful with you…" He chuckled as he took out a strip of black cloth. "You're very interesting, even impressive."
He covered her eyes with the cloth. Her heart was suddenly throbbing like crazy and she had used a thousand words in her head to calm herself. The most effective one, she learned, was his name. It was working somehow as she looked undisturbed from the outside. However, she couldn't help but jerk when she heard footsteps coming their way. The last thing she needed was another psycho to deliver more blows to her crumbling grit.
"Toshiya, hurry… eh? What's this about?"
The new voice burst into laughter. It was probably another Iwagakure shinobi, she thought. After securing the blindfold, the guy called Toshiya stood up to face the other. She was relieved a bit. She badly needed the space. Her thoughts were cluttered, the prison was suffocating, and the strangely happy disposition of her perpetrators was not helping at all. That place was guarded by a good number of men and in her condition, escaping or fighting was out of the picture. Her imagination had run out.
"What are you doing here?" Toshiya asked in an irritated tone.
"You're brothers after all! Sadomasochistic brothers! But I never thought Tetsuya's death is so meaningless to you!" The voice continued laughing in between his words. "And to think that you were serious when you said she's your type! Oh I know, I know, this is what they call love at first right, isn't it?"
"What do you want me to do? Tetsuya died a couple of days ago!"
"Right, so you waited that long, I'm so sorry about that!" He sighed, as if to gather his composure. "Well, that's fine. I came to tell you to hurry… with whatever that thing you're doing…" He said as he began his ridiculous cackling again.
"Stop blabbing and get the hell out of here! Don't tell me to hurry when you keep on standing there, you idiot!" He said, pushing the other shinobi out of the room.
"Sorry, sorry, my bad… oh yea, hurry up… we'll collect the rest of the fee with her corpse."
She heard the door shut and then there was a brooding silence. She swallowed- her throat was getting awfully dry. She heaved when a cold metal touched her arm, moving up to her shoulder. It must be a sickle, she thought with the feel of the semicircular blade. She pressed her lips together when she felt a warm breath near her neck. She was no little girl to be weeping. She was a tough Konoha kunoichi. Her eyes shut tighter when he began kissing her jaw line.
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The door to the Hokage's office slammed open to reveal a heavily panting Shizune with a black garment on her hand, the other hand held on to the door knob for support. The Hokage was with Sakura who was talking about a new combination of herbs effective against allergic reactions. Both of them looked her way.
"You nearly destroyed the door. That's going to be deducted from your salary, you know?"
"Tsunade-sama! Hyuuga Neji left the village!"
"Really."
"It's true!" She said as she showed the ANBU cowl, along with the mask and hitai-ate. "Lee had been knocked cold but he's just fine."
"That's to be expected, I guess."
"Is that all you have to say? He left because you practically told him to do so!" Shizune sighed to catch her breath. "You said you were planning to secretly send a squad to rescue Tenten. Why didn't you tell him that?"
"Shissou, well, I was wondering about the sudden change in plans as well." Sakura said.
"I thought it's a good chance."
"A good chance…?" The older apprentice asked, her breathing slowly normalizing.
"Yes, a good chance."
"To…?" Sakura and Shizune asked in chorus.
"To see what he's really made of."
"At this time? Tsunade-sama, I don't think it's the time to be doing experiments or evaluations!"
"It's not that we're questioning you but... I agree with Shizune-san."
"Well, we can't stop him now, can we?" The Hokage said as she picked up the hitai-ate on her desk. "Although I must admit... I never thought he's going to decide on something like this. It's so not like him."
The two apprentices looked at each other, stupefied at the smiling face of the Hokage. While it was true that it was a decision so un-Neji-like, it was inappropriate to be in high spirits. There was no reason to be gleeful over a shinobi gone amuck. The Hokage probably had too much sake that day.
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There was a stinging sensation in her eyes. She struggled with the ropes that tied her hands, not to break free. She had been convinced that it wasn't going to work. But instead, it was to feel the pain from her bruised wrists. It took her thoughts off the shinobi whose hands, rough and unpredictable, were leaving invisible scars on her skin. His slick mouth had not left her and had moved to that part of her neck, painfully slow, as if savoring every second of the contact.
Did the Hokage really mean it when she said that Konoha wouldn't interfere with justice? Though being wounded, poisoned, and possibly raped in prison, was hardly justice in her vocabulary. She gasped when his sickle slightly grazed her chest. Her top had been ripped at the collar, giving him the access that he wanted as he went lower. He paused, however, distracted by the interruption. He uttered a growl, cursing as he looked at the man who was standing behind him. Finally, her tears overflowed.
"Now what do you want this-"
The last thing he saw was a murderous glare. The unforeseen intense glow of silvery blue chakra blinded him and before he was able to make a move, the chakra had blasted through his body, the trail of light extending to shatter the walls behind him. The shinobi lay on the massive rubble, bleeding from a lesion on his forehead.
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What to say... oh yea, I used Toshiya's name for a rapist lol I'm sorry, I love Diru!
Once again, thanks everyone oxo
