A/N: My sister and I came up with this idea kind of randomly, but I really like it. I wasn't sure which direction to go with it, but I think GuyTen was probably the best choice, don't you?
There is a second part to this one that I'll get up…eventually…
Curry of Love
Golden
She'd never seen such a beautiful country. For days TenTen and her team had been traveling from island to island. In some places the water had been a pale blue green, and in others a near inky black. When on land, it had been even better; tall mountains, chilly lakes and run off streams, and tall trees in more shapes and sizes than even Konoha had.
Part of her thought she loved this place only because of its beauty, but she knew it was also at least partly because this had once been her home. She had few, if any, real memories of the small village she had spent the first four years of her life, but she knew that once her family had been happy there. Her parents had loved and played with her then, she was sure of it, and that was enough to make anything beautiful.
The Chuunin Exams were being held in Kirigakure this time; something Lee had been excited about as they hadn't been out of the village much the last few months. Teams 10 and 8 had both decided against participating this time, feeling they needed another six months to prepare, leaving Team Guy to travel alone. This suited the four of them just fine. Kirigakure was only two days away now, and Guy-sensei had decided it would do them some good to rest and do some training in the cooler, moister climate. For this purpose they had stopped in a small village nestled at the bottom of a single tall mountain.
To Lee and Guy-sensei this meant seeing if they could run to the top of said mountain, while Neji had settled in the tree outside the inn to meditate. Originally, TenTen had meant to use the tree—and him—as target practice, but found herself to distracted by the scenery. Instead, she chose to get acclimated by wandering around the village and taking in the sights.
"It's so quiet here," TenTen smiled to herself, not minding the mud sticking to her shoes from the wet street at all. "I wonder if we have villages like this in fire country."
It certainly wasn't a rich village, with the rows of small wooden buildings and no metal in sight, but it was comfortable. Lazy feeling, even, with the people walking by her seeming in no hurry at all, and no one paying any attention to the children that ran by. Pleasant, that's what she would call it. She could stay here forever like this and not mind a bit.
"Oh dear." The cry of distress from down the road caught TenTen's attention, and she glanced up at an old lady stumbling along a head of her. The poor tiny woman had her arms full of bags, which were quickly slipping from her grip. Guy-sensei had always taught them to help anyone in need, and it was without a thought that TenTen darted forward and caught two of the bags before they could land in a puddle.
"Let me help you carry these home, ma'am." TenTen smiled shifting the bag in her arms. She could only see the top of the lady's silver hair as she nodded.
"Thank you very much, dear. It's not much further, but these old arms just aren't what they used to be."
True to the old lady's word, she turned into a small house only a hundred yards away. The door was unlocked, so TenTen pushed it open, setting the bags on the nearest flat surface she could find. "Is there alright?"
"Of course, of course." The woman put her bags down on the floor beside the little table TenTen had used, and started digging through her purse. "But you must let me pay you. It's not every day a bright young thing like you helps an old lady. Should be rewarded."
"Really, it was no trouble…" The lady was reaching for her purse anyway, and TenTen mentally shrugged. A little extra money wouldn't hurt. She'd run out of the spending money Guy-sensei gave her a couple of days ago, and she had been unwilling to ask him for more.
The old woman had opened her purse, but when she looked up she froze. An odd look of grief and anger crossed the woman's face, and for a moment TenTen was afraid the woman had had a stroke. Then she moved, faster than TenTen would have thought possible, and gave. "Murderer! Cursed one! Get out of my house."
"What?" Murderer? This woman was either crazy—a distinct possibility with such a wild personality switch—or had her confused with someone else. It was TenTen's own personal rule to never take a life if she could avoid it, and to this day she had not done so.
The woman shoved her again, and TenTen stumbled back, knocking her head painfully against the still open door. She hadn't recovered from the momentary disorientation before she was shoved again, even harder this time, and she stumbled back into the front yard, tripping over the steps backwards. TenTen felt her ankle twist painfully. Her back hit the dirt as she landed with a small skid.
"Daughter of filth. Of murderers. Get out of my home! Murderer!" The old woman's voice increased in volume as she came out on to the porch, brandishing a cane. "Away slime. Keep your cursed blood away from us."
What was this woman going on about? Cursed blood? Sure, her parents were horrid, even TenTen knew that, but there was no way this woman could.
The weatherworn face of a middle-aged man with short dark hair peered over the fence, obviously curious about what was going on. "Akane-obaasan, is everything alright?"
"Look," and the old woman pointed at where TenTen was struggling to get to her feet. "Look at her eyes! She is a blood limit demon. The worst kind of cursed."
"What's wrong with my eyes?" Her father had a Mist blood limit, she knew that, but what it was remained a mystery to her. She certainly didn't have eyes like Neji's that were distinctive enough to make his clan affiliation clear. At least, she didn't think so.
The man was over the fence in moments. At first she thought he was going to help her, but he seized TenTen's arm and yanked her painfully to her feet. She stumbled to get some footing, but he didn't give her a chance, instead holding her up with her arm while his other hand yanked her head back by her hair so he could look in her eyes.
Whatever he saw must have confirmed what the woman said, as TenTen suddenly found herself thrown out into the street, mud splashing up on her face and clothing. People had stopped to stare; she could feel them, as she struggled once more to her feet. It was too painful to put weight on her left foot, but she managed to get upright before the man and old woman reached the edge of the yard.
"We don't want your kind here." The man's voice was low and held an unmistakable threat of danger. "Didn't you bring enough pain to this village already?"
She was trembling, probably from the shock of such a dramatic change in the people around her, but TenTen refused to move. From the suddenly dark air around her, she was sure there was nowhere for her to go anyway. "I have done nothing wrong."
"Liar," the old woman was all out screaming now. "Blood demon. Monster. Your kind killed my son. All the children in the village. Destroyed them all with no remorse. Heartless murderers. Child-slayers."
"I wasn't here for that." Her protests felt small against the suddenly suffocating killing intent around her. She hadn't done anything, she knew that, why were they so angry? Even if she did have her father's limit, whatever it was, she wasn't there for any of this. They had to know that, from her headband, from her age. She opened her mouth, to remind them of this, but was cut off by a sudden sharp pain to the back of her head. Her hand shot up and she stumbled, looking around for what had struck her. A smooth round stone was the only thing lying at her feet.
It was like a cue for the nightmare to really start. Suddenly, everyone was yelling, and she was being struck from every direction with remarkable speed. She thought briefly of pulling out her scrolls, of fighting back and making them stop, but she couldn't. She knew without much thought that if she pulled out her weapons, tried to fight back, it would fuel their fear and make the situation worse. As it was, she could only throw her hands up to try and protect her face while hunching over to keep her ribs and organs protected.
Rocks pelted her arms, slammed into her shoulder blades. There would be bruises at least, and as the size of the rocks increased, so did her fear. They were going to try and kill her like this, if they could. With everyone yelling at her, some of them just wordless shouts, she could only catch a few words. Blood monster seemed to be the common theme. Death to the slayers.
The screaming and cries for her death continued until her arms were numb with pain, and enough of the stones had slid past her defenses to make breathing difficult with bruised ribs, when strong arms slid around her shoulders, and the thumping pains on her body stopped. As the crowds cries faded, she peeked her eyes open, and found herself staring at an expanse of green.
She continued looking up, and she gasped a little when she recognized the strong jaw and concerned dark eyes of Guy-sensei. "W-where…"
Guy smiled at her, wiping a little mud off her face, before he stood and turned to face the crowd. "This girl is a ninja of Konoha, and under my protection. Continuing to attack her would be an act of war." It was Guy-sensei's serious voice, the one he only used on missions that all three of them couldn't help listening to. "I am sure that none of you want that."
"We don't want her kind her, either," someone from the crowd yelled, and a few people murmured their agreement.
The arms around her shoulders tightened ever so slightly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention. To let her know that he was there beside her. "Let me tend to my student, and my team and I will be out of here by nightfall." He whispered in a voice so low that TenTen doubted even she was supposed to hear, "wouldn't want to stay here anyway."
There had never been a statement she agreed more with, and TenTen allowed her sensei to pick her up without protest. She was too big for this, she knew, and not seriously hurt. She should walk, she probably could, and once they were away from the crowd that had gathered, she would ask. For now, she needed his protection, and she knew it. She let her head fall against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat under her ear. No one could hurt her when Guy-sensei was around, not even her parents.
Blocks away, when she was certain they weren't being followed, TenTen raised her head. "You can put me down, sensei, I'm alright."
He made no move to, but then she wasn't sure she had expected it. It was always difficult to get him to let go of one of them when he thought they needed protection. That was just Guy-sensei. The silence between them continued for another half a block, before Guy-sensei whispered, "do you know what that was about?"
"Not really." Since Guy-sensei was whispering, and he never really whispered, she thought she should as well. "Something about a blood limit, and murdering of…of children. My Dad has some kind of blood limit, so I suppose I might." She swallowed hard, letting her head rest on his shoulder again. "They called me cursed."
Guy stopped, and turned her easily so she was facing him, their foreheads touching lightly together. "TenTen, my little flower, you know you aren't, don't you? Wasn't it you who always told Neji that he should not let his family control his destiny, and that past is past?"
The smile that worked its way on to her face was small, but genuine. Guy-sensei and his ridiculous nicknames. She wanted to say that this was different, but even she could not see how. She knew, she KNEW, she had done none of those things they had all been so angry about. She didn't even know what the limit was. So…why did she feel so guilty? "I know, sensei."
"I don't think you do." And he brushed back her bangs with his finger tips. She tried not to wince when they touch the bump left by the first rock, but here it is hard. "What they did to you was wrong, TenTen. You cannot doubt that."
He'd always said the same thing about her mother, too. That what she did was wrong. What she said was untrue. That TenTen was none of the things she said she was. This should have been easier to accept then that, but it felt the same. Felt like they were seeing something in TenTen that she herself could not. The real self that she tried to hide in her faith and her smiles.
She would keep smiling too. Like she would smile now, and lock that hurt away somewhere until it became nothing more than a dull ache that came up sometime. She could play this game. "I know, Guy-sensei. Honest, I do. There is no destiny, right? My blood will not control me. But, how did you know I needed you?"
It was enough to make him smile, even if he didn't believe her fully. Guy chuckled to himself, shifting her so he could put a cheek to the top of her head. "I'd like to take full credit for that, but I cannot. Neji saw you were in trouble. He came and got me."
Neji…she'd have to thank him later. And thank him for getting Guy-sensei, too, because he was the only one that could possibly understand.
"We'll get you bandaged up back at the inn, and then continue our journey tonight. I think I've had quite enough of this place."
She glanced around, at the scenery that had seemed so ideal before, but now reminded her of the silence of a tomb, and she shuddered. "Me too, sensei."
