Title: Scars and Stitches

Characters: Team Gai

Genre: Friendship/Romance/Angst

Summary: A love triangle of Gai-stronomic proportions.


Chapter Seven

Tenten

Fifty meters away from the "retards," as she carelessly called them, Tenten let go of Neji's hand, swiveled fast to face him, and poke an accusing finger against his shoulder.

"And you!" she said without prelude, as if her speech was a mere continuation of her rant against Gai and Lee. "Why the hell were you blocking all of Lee's attacks directed at me? What, you think I can't take care of myself?"

Oh she was in a bad mood, all right, and she didn't care if Neji took the brunt of it. Hell, she had been extra nice to him for the past weeks, helping out with his wedding preparations and tolerating his relatives that threw dagger stares at her direction, but she was not going to let him patronize her in the one area she was an expert in.

Neji, to his credit, looked uncomfortable at her accusation. He pressed his lips , forming a thin line, and Tenten knew from experience how he was trying his best not to retort something mean and utterly insulting.

It only made Tenten's mood turn for the worst.

"Aha!" she hissed, finger still poking Neji's unassuming shoulder. "You do, don't you! You think I won't be able to handle myself when it came to Lee, just because I have feelings for him!" And when Neji gave no snide remark, just flinched a little in response, she hissed some more. "What the hell! I thought you're my friend!"

A long pause, and then, "I am," the Hyuuga finally answered, baritone barely above a whisper.

Tenten, not understanding what he said, wrinkled her nose in irritation. "What are you murmuring there for?" she growled. "Speak up, boy genius, before I skewer you like a shish kabob."

And Neji did something really out of the ordinary—at least it would have been months before, but Tenten has been vaguely aware how, well, clingy his friend was becoming ever since he confessed of his forced engagement—and placed a gentle hand on hers, the one still pressed against him, and held it in his own.

"I am your friend, Tenten," he said, and he said her name almost tenderly, that Tenten blinked and yanked her hand away from him in surprise.

Had she been any other person, she wouldn't have noticed it, but she saw a flash of hurt cross Neji's features, bright as day. Now she was confused. What did it mean? Did she overstep the line? Had she actually managed to insult Neji to the point where he actually felt insulted?

"Err," she stammered, not sure where to put her hands. "Sorry," she whispered, not sure if she was apologizing for yelling at him, or for breaking their fleeting physical connection. "I was, uh, I didn't mean to take out my anger on you, uh," and in a desperate attempt to dissipate the tense air between them, "at least I didn't call you a retard, right?"

And when Neji actually smirked, just a little upward curve of the lips, Tenten almost sighed in relief. This Neji she could handle.

"Never mind that," Neji replied, and Tenten noticed him reaching out for her hand again, only to stop in midair, as if catching himself off-guard, and quickly retracting his arm.

She wondered if she had something to do with him being so touchy all of a sudden, more than the usual Neji-touchy that she was used to. Something warm and wonderful settled in her stomach, and her first instinct was to flee.

But because she was Tenten, and sometimes she acts before she thinks, she grabbed Neji's hand—earning a surprised double-take from her best friend—and linked their fingers together. Because, she realized with utter horror, that she very much enjoyed feeling's Neji's hand pressed against hers.

When Neji actually blinked at her, she faked a shrug. "Hey, you're the one who wanted to hold hands," she mock-teased, flashing him a bright grin. But when Neji squeezed her hand and smiled, she became all the more confused.

"Neji," she started, carefully, as quietly as possible, as if testing the waters before going for a long swim, "What are we doing?"

And they looked at each other a long time, until the Byakugan user opened his mouth to reply.

"Tenten, I think I . . ."

"Tenten!"

The kunoichi pulled her hand away from Neji quickly, and turned to the person calling her name.

"What do you want?" she growled when she saw who had interrupted her conversation with Neji, but Lee was jogging toward them with an unreadable expression on his face—which was impossible, really, except that he seemed to have finally mastered the art of poker-face from their otherwise stoic friend.

"Shizune-san dropped by our training grounds just now. She said the Lady Hokage wants to see you in her office for a mission."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Only me?" It had been literally years since she was sent to a solo mission. A sense of foreboding wormed its way up her chest.

But Lee wasn't looking at her anymore. He was in a staring contest with Neji, who, Tenten noticed, returned Lee's glare with utmost fervor.


Tenten had long ago gotten over her obsession for the legendary female Sannin, although she still respected her more than she does the average shinobi. She believed that Tsunade was best suited for the role of Hokage, at least until her sensei's "eternal rival" shows the slightest interest of taking on the position—or, heaven forbid, Naruto actually succeeds on getting the coveted role. She knew that although the Sannin had a particular bad habit of bringing sake in her office and drinking during work hours, she could still make decisions that were for the best of the village, and for each individual ninja that served under her command.

Such convictions were currently hanging by a thread, and the weapons mistress wearily wondered if she had been an idiot all this time, vehemently defending Tsunade against gossipers who'd dare mar her name because of her less-than-applaudable hobbies.

"Do you have any questions about the mission?" the female Sannin asked crisply, as if daring her to react in any way negatively. Tenten suspect that the Sannin was drunk again, thus her less-than-amicable mood.

Oh she had a couple, to be sure, such as: Why was she being assigned to a D-rank mission three days before Neji's engagement party? Couldn't the village send any other shinobi? Wasn't the Hokage aware how important it was for her to be there during one of the most important nights of her best friend? Oh, did she mention the mission was D-rank? Something that even a gennin fresh out of the academy can accomplish without fail?

But she shook her head, because if there's one thing she learned from spending years with the rest of her team, it was that they don't refuse missions, no matter how insignificant or demeaning it appeared on paper. Because they were Team Gai, and their motto (well, Gai and Lee's, she and Neji were just strung along) was to persevere in anything that came their way, no matter how big or small of a challenge it may be.

Tsunade eyed her warily, relief and disappointment evident in her eyes. What, was she really expecting her to protest? Was it really that big of a deal?

And then something in her mind just clicked.

She barely heard the Godaime sigh—she looked like she needed a drink right about then—and nodded to the scroll on her table. "Here's the mission briefing," she motioned to Tenten. "Departure of client is tomorrow, 6 a.m. sharp. You are to meet him at the village gate."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Tenten answered, almost in a daze, taking the scroll and bowing once as a sign of respect, before turning her back and heading out the door.

"And Tenten," the kunoichi heard her once-idol call, making her turn her head just the slightest bit to indicate she had heard, "You're the fastest kunoichi in your age group."

Tenten frowned, turned to look at the Hokage, and suddenly she understood.

Of course. It usually takes five days for civilians and even regular shinobi to travel to and back the client's village. But she had trained with Team Gai for years, and if there was something she could be proud of aside from her one-hundred percent accuracy, it was her speed.

Smiling at Tsunade ever-so-briefly, Tenten bowed once again. "Hai, Hokage-sama. Thank you."

She was going to make it back in time for Neji's engagement party. And not even his greater-than-thou relatives could stop her.

End of Chapter Seven


Longest chapter so far. At least I think it is. Or one of the longest. Anyway.

I've come to realize that some people might have been, well, turned off by my consistent ranting about Neji's death over the past two chapters. In my defense, I'd like to say that I'm really just a fangirl, albeit one that can form coherent sentences. Buuuuut, I do apologize if anyone has been annoyed/irritated/wanted to burn me on a stick. I promise to try (not the emphasis on the word) to not curse Kishimoto every time I write the A/N.

And so it comes to this. I would very much like to show my appreciation to the wonderful people who left reviews for the last chapter. It was really awesome opening my e-mail and seeing new messages from you lot. And the usual roll call, if I may be so bold: chauvu, Guest (I really wish you left contact details so I could message you directly, buuut thank you for the two cents :D), soul painter, Sepsis, anthropomorphichybrid, Ichigo-chan, Fearless Rider, Senka Hitomi, , and steenta112. Gosh I hope I didn't miss anyone. You all are just so great! :D You all deserve marshmallows.

Reviews will be lovely, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows and served to you lovelies.