"Tenten, wake up honey bun"
My eyelids opened with ease and i was suprised at how awake i was, for the first time in a week i found myself in complete control of my body, i could sit, stand, run, talk and eat by myself. All them things i had taken for granted before i was taken.
"Are you awake my little lamb chop?"
No mistaking who that is!
I was glad to hear myself thinking again, i hadn't even heard that little inner voice while i had been captured and i had sorely missed the company.
"Gai!" I sat upright and smiled
"My delicate flower, how are you holding up?"
"I feel a lot better, a lot more.. with it i guess" I pulled back my covers and Gai quickly jumped forward to pull them off me as if i couldnt do it myself. I thanked him and leaned towards the zip of the tent to open it a bit more so i could squeeze out, Gai quickly beat me to it and unzipped the tent, he also took my hand to help me out and walked me over to where Neji, Ino and Sakura were sitting, he helped me sit down, asked if i was comfortable and gave me a hug.
Wow he's gotten annoying
I felt guilty at my own thought and i smiled at Gai brightly to make up my karma for the day, he beamed back and we all sat there smiling like idiots.
"Hey Tenten do you feel as awake as i do?" Ino asked me
I nodded "Its weird!"
"Well you two have been asleep for a long time" Sakura said
"Oh god, are we holding you up? how long have we been asleep ten hours? longer? oh how embarrassing" I felt ashamed at holding them all up
"Umm you've been asleep for 3 days" Sakura said meekly
At the same time me and Ino both exclaimed "What?"
"In the water we treated your wounds with there was a sort of sedative, a weak one ofcourse just to make sure you slept, well turns out you were more tired then we would have thought!" Sakura smiled
"So we've been away from home for a total of 12 days?"
"From the moment you left the village till now... yes its been 12 days" Gai piped up
"woah, seems like such a long time" Ino said shaking her head slowley
"I just want to go home" I admitted feeling down
"we will be home soon chick pea, don't you worry" Gai grinned and nice gai posed
I couldn't help but smile when he did that, it had been what seemed like forever since i had last seen that gesture and it make tears come to my eyes that i hadnt realised had been there.
I looked over at Neji who had been uncharacteristically silent during the exchange, he caught my eye and looked down avoiding my gaze, i kept trying to catch his eye after that but he wouldn't look at me. I was suddenly worried about how our friendship would bode after it had been strained so much, first the realization of my feelings for him, then Toshika and his perverse way, followed by my capture and finally our arguement before i had fallen asleep when we had first been found. I was worried we would never be the same, i was worried he would hate me now, would feel i was lesser then him, he would think i was weak. Not worthy.
I looked down at my feet and drowned out the sounds all around me, Ino and Gai talking, Lee flirting with Sakura, Shizune trying to get Sakura away from Lee, Kakashi laughing at Shizune's attempts and Sai just staring with that weird smile on his face, i ignored all of this to focus on my worries.
Neji will never want you
My stomach clenched at the idea and i automatically crumpled over a little, The idea of a life without Neji was too painful to even think about it would be like life without your best friend, life without your family, life without the one you love.
Someone handed me a container of warmed food, i took it without looking who it was from and ate a forkful of it, still deep in thought.
You shoudln't be sad, you've just been saved! Hooray!
I peeked up at Neji to see he had fully turned away from me, he was joking with Lee infact, having the time of his life while im pushed to the side and ignored, nobody will love me, everyone will think im weak for being captured, weak for not getting out of there sooner, maybe even too weak to be on such a powerful team with Neji and Lee.
I heard Ino laugh loudly and looked up to see Sai was smiling a slight amusement playing on his lips.
Oh it made me sick to see, ... wait i really do feel sick.
Bathroom... toilet... bucket... sink! anywhere god damn it!
I jumped to my feet and my stomach gave a lurch, i sprinted into the bushes with my hand over my mouth, how overly dramatic. I gagged and out it spilt, i bent over and decided it would be less messy if i were on all fours, I coughed and gagged again and more spew came out, luckily it didnt do anything annoying like splash back in my face or get on my clothes but it absoluty stank to high heavens.
I made a noise i wasn't even sure was human before another wave of nausea rolled over me and up came my third lot. I heard footsteps and then i felt the presence of someone behind me, i caught a whiff of green tea and knew it was Gai, green tea was his favourite hot drink, i suspect just because it has the word green in it. Gai is slightly obsessed with the colour green.
"Tenten?" Gai rubbed my back and another roll hit me, i gagged but only stringy acidy liquid came out hanging from my mouth like drool, how lady like.
"Im a mess Gai" i cried
He patted my back and wiped my mouth with a cloth he had with him, all the while making soothing noises and telling me i was doing a good job, as if vomiting was a hard thing to do.
Gai always managed to be proud of me, even when im coughing up my guts.
"Oh my little flower, you look more beautiful then ever!" Gai exclaimed when i was sure my stomach had died down
I turned to him with an exasperated look, how the hell could i look beautiful right now?
"Oh you have this magnificent green tint!" Gai hugged me
How great, i look like an alien.
"Thanks Gai" he was atleast attempting to make me feel better
"I'll always be here for you Tenten, rain or shine, hot or cold, thick or thin, wet or dry, big or small, lo-"
"Thanks Gai" I cut him off and smiled at him
"Your welcome" He nice Gai'd again
I took a swig of water from a bottle Gai had picked up with the cloth, i swished it around in my mouth and spat it out on the floor, Gai patted my back and we both stood up and made our way back to where the others were waiting.
As i entered the clearing shizune rushed over to take my tempreture and ask me a few questions about how i was feeling now, Ino looked a little shaky incase my sudden sickness would also effect her. I assured Shizune it was just a reaction to having solid food after 7 days of being tube fed, i told her i had eaten it too fast and apologized for the worry i had caused.
Sakura also asked me how i was feeling and she gave me a special drink that would keep me hydrated.
"Im fine, just me being greedy i guess" I smiled with effort
"Don't you worry me like that again Tenten" Sakura said sternly but she smiled
I nodded and tried not to think to obsessivly about Neji not being in the clearing anymore. He probably just needed the toilet or something.
Neji Hyuuga does not go swanning off to simply use the toilet
I trudged towards my tent to pack up my things for the journey home, around me everyone was packing up their stuff and chatting idely, well everyone except a certain somone who i wasnt obsessing about at the moment so there's no point mentioning him really.
Smooth
I clambered into my tent and someone grabbed my arm and yanked me in, i yelped and a hand shot over my mouth, i thrashed in panic terrified the albino twins had come back to finish me off, had they killed Neji?, oh god.
"Tenten.. its me"
I stopped fighting and my heart jumped into my mouth, my stomach crumpled and i was glad i had nothing left in my system to heave up. I zipped up my tent and turned around to face my 'attacker'.
"Im sorry Tenten, im sorry about everything" Neji said looking saddened
"Not your fault" i mumbled become oddly aware of how close we were
"I couldn't protect you..."
A light clicked on inside my head, Neji wasn't angry with me but with himself, he was mad because he couldn't prevent mine and Ino's capture.
"How could you have?, we were all out of it" I said calmly
"I should have been with you" Neji stated angrily
"The explosion blew us all in different directions" I argued
"I was right next to Ino..." Neji looked down in his lap and the anger in his eyes grew hotter as his voice grew tighter
"... She was screaming, i saw a shadow in the smoke, i saw something grab her, and i didnt get up, i couldnt get up" Neji sounded like he was on the verge of tears
"You were hurt"
"I was weak"
I took Neji's hand and held it gently, he looked up at me with red eyes, my heart gave a pang and i wanted to throw myself on him, to smother him, to stop whatever pain he was feeling.
"Ino does not blame you, just like i dont blame you"
"The last thing i saw was Ino's face, terrified" Neji shook his head harshly and tears dripped down his cheeks
"It doesnt matter anymore Neji, we're back now and we're both safe"
"But your hurt" Neji waved at my cut arms
"Just like you are" I pointed at a cut on Neji's arm from the explosion
"Its not the same"
"Neji please don't get worked up over this, you did your best, you saved us in time"
"Tenten you saved yourself, you weren't even captured when we found you, you'd escaped"
"You have no idea how much knowing you were out there looking for us helped me"
Neji was silent, outside i could hear the gang putting out the fire and pulling down tents and rolling up sleeping bags.
"Tenten... i think i care about you"
OH MY GOD!
"Oh"
Thats it? What is the matter with you?
"I know things have changed, but i really do care about you"
"Neji, i thin-"
The tent zip started moving around and i quickly began rolling up my sleeping bag, Neji grabbed one of my pillows and reached for the other, Gai poked his head through the opening and beamed at us.
"Thats where you got to young man!" Gai mock glared at Neji
"Neji was just helping me with my stuff Gai sensei" I smiled at him
Neji nodded looking a bit pale
"Well that nice of him to help my beautiful flower, but now im here to help and he can go and pack away his own things" Gai said
Neji nodded again and made his way out of the tent. I put my hand on his arm briefly and he turned.
"Thanks.. for the help" I smiled
He stared at me a second before leaving to return to his own tent. Gai chuckled to himself as i rolled up my sleeping bag and put it into its bag, i clipped it onto my backpack. Gai and the team had brought me and Ino some basic things, sleeping bags, pillow, bag and tent supplies.
Gai disembled my tent and packed it into a seperate bag that clipped to his own bag, i thanked him for all his help and picked up my backpack only for him to snatch it from me and place onto his own back. I went to protest but he just grinned at me and sprinted ahead.
I stretched a little and was rewarded by a few pops and cracks that had tightened in my bones, i felt much more relaxed after that and knowing that Neji didn't hate me, far from it.
"Okay guys, lets move out!" Shizune called once it was aparent we were all ready to go. We left the clearing that held so many memories for me and began on our journey home.
The formation was a weird one, being that myself and Ino didnt have any weapons we had to be in the middle of the group, we were courted with Sai and Neji as they had been our original team, behind us was Shizune, Lee and Kakashi and ahead of us was Gai and Sakura, weird groupings but i suspect Shizune just wanted to keep Lee away from Sakura and Kakashi had wanted to keep away from Gai and his antics.
Neji was slightly behind us sort of shadowing me and Ino and Sai was slightly ahead of us, making it seem like we were stalking him, the constant formation made me feel safe and i knew there was no way anyone could get to us with Kakashi, Shizune, Gai and Neji here, all of which were jonin's and highly skilled, also there were Sai's birds and dogs all out there, Kakashi's dogs were also ahead tracking for danger.
"How you feeling?" I asked Ino as we walked
"Im just so relieved, beyond words" Ino smiled ahead of her
"so.. you gave Sai a pretty big hug hello" i grinned as Ino coloured slightly
"Not really that big was it?, oh god was it really noticable?" Ino whispered
"No, not at all" i assured her smiling evily to myself
"He is cute though" Ino said smiling as she looked at him
I wouldn't call Sai cute myself but he did have something about him some girls might find attractive i suppose.
"Yh he;s okay i guess" I said
Ino turned her head my way "But you have other interests"
I nodded not bothering to hide it anymore, practically everyone knew anyway.
"Have you two discussed it yet?" Ino asked me
"not really had the chance, i feel a bit yucky at the moment anyway, i will probably wait unitl im at home"
"Yh i understand, i wont ask Sai out till we make it back to Konoha"
My mouth must have hung open because Ino looked amused, she waved her hand in front of my face and i blinked twice before responding.
"Your being serious?" was all i could say
"Oh yeah, im a girl who knows what i want" Ino grinned and winked
I smiled.
I wished i could be more like Ino, tall, slim, blonde, beautiful, confident, independant and lovable, guys drooled over Ino, heck some girls would give their grannies to just go on one date with Ino, she was like the godess of Konoha.
Yes but you won Konoha's best of black compatition!
"How are you gonna do it?" I asked
"Well i'll just call him up or meet him somewhere and ask him" Ino said matter of factly
"Just like that?" i asked suprised
"Thats really how easy it is, if he likes me enough he'll say yes, if not then it was worth a try" Ino shrugged
"Yeah, i guess you right"
We both silenced as Sai floated within hearing range, he slowed his walking and soon he was walking next to Ino, they began chatting and Ino giggled casually every so often, i thought they would make a cute couple and i couldn't help but picture what their kids would look like, pale, slim, glossy hair, big round eyes, faultless faces and bone structure. Their babies would be almost too perfect, it shouldn't be allowed.
"So your not even a little scared of revenge, because that would be their plan now you know" Sai said tactful as ever
"Well you would protect me right" Ino said giving him puppy dog eyes
"yes, i would be inclined to" Sai said with a smile
Ino giggled and he smiled a little wider.
"Ofcourse everyone here would also fight, but i would fight with my life" I don't think i had ever heard Sai come out with something so romantic in the time i had known him and i could tell Ino was falling deeper for him. " Thats how we were trained in root" Okay that ruined it slightly but still.
"Your so dedicated" Ino said voice full of admiration
"Isnt everyone?" Sai asked
"Not all are like you" Ino said rather bitterly maybe thinking back to one of her ex's
"Yes but most are, i am nothing special" Sai said matter of factly
"Your special to me" Ino said quietly
"Im sorry i didn't catch that?" Sai said politely with a smile
"I said: everyone is special to somebody"
Sai smiled that awkward smile and walked ahead again with a nod. Ino sighed and drifted a little closer to me.
"I hope he says yes" Ino said watching him
"Me too" i said honestly
The rest of the walk that day went by without incident thankfully, Me and Neji didnt get a chance to talk but that was okay, i wanted to wait until we were back to talk to him properly, when i'd had a shower, brushed and washed my hair and looked halfway decent.
Yes the time for us to talk would come, and when it did, I would be ready for it!.
Hey guys,
I wanted to write this little note to thank you all for reading and commenting on this story!
It means so much to me that people have chosen my story to read! :D
Thanks a bundle, hope you enjoy the following chapters as much as the others! xx
Temari93