Chapter Eleven: Team Tenten
Okay, so my laptop totally crashed and I lost EVERYTHING I had on it. EVERRRRYTHINNGG. That seems to happen to me a lot.
But it turned out to kind of be a good thing, because now I can post this chapter on the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THS FIC'S BEGINNING!! -- throws confetti everywhere --
AREYOUEXCITEDAREYOUEXCITED ARE YOU EXCITED??
Looking bad in front of her idol was something Tenten had never wanted to happen.
But Tenten realized, as she tried to avoid the piercing gaze of the fifth Hokage that she rarely got what she wanted.
"Frankly, I'm disappointed in both you and Neji." Tsunade said, resting her head on her hands.
Tenten looked at the floor, avoiding the gazes of Kankurou and Temari that were burning into the back of her head, "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.
The Hokage shook her head. "I can't believe that you would leave Neji alone in such an unstable situation. He is a fantastic jounin but…if the shinobi that destroyed Hoshigakure come back…" her eyes closed, "But then again, you two do need back up if you're ever going to bring Naoko down…" her voice suddenly became angry, "You did say that you believe it was he that destroyed Hoshi? And that Shiro was killed in the attack?"
"Yes." Tenten replied. She had told Tsunade everything, save the Sasuke talk between her and Neji, about their trip to Hoshi. "That's what the man we talked to said."
Tsunade's gaze was penetrating, "Did you ask any of the other survivors about the Naganos?"
Tenten stuttered, "N-no…"
"And did you even get the name of the man you were talking to?"
"No…"
Tsunade slammed her fist onto her desk, almost breaking the wood, "Then how do you know that he wasn't a spy placed there by Shiro?! How do you know this isn't a trap framing Naoko?!"
"Godaime-sama," Kankurou said, "Do you even know where Naoko is?" Tenten glanced back and smiled at him gratefully; that was exactly what she was thinking.
Tsunade knew that Naoko had not returned ever since she had sent him out to deliver a message to the hospital for her about a week ago, but she would not be proved wrong that easily. She hated being deceived even more that Neji, "Right now, both situations are options." She said decisively, "But either way, you're going to need to assemble a back up team." She turned around and waved them away, "You should leave within the hour. Good bye."
Tenten was a bit taken aback by Tsunade's sudden good bye, but she thanked the Hokage nevertheless and she, Temari, and Kankurou left the building. But right before they left, Tenten walked over to a chair by the Godaime's desk, pulled out a kunai and ripped a small piece of fabric off the cover.
"Thank you Tsunade-sama." She said again before leaving.
"So do you have a plan?" Temari asked when they were outside.
Tenten smirked. Being on a Jounin team with Shikamaru must have had some sort of effect on her, because the weapons mistress already had a plan and knew just who she wanted on her team to act it out. "Yes." She replied simply.
"And I'm assuming that we're coming?" Kankurou said; eager for some action. He hadn't been on a serious mission in a long time.
"Yes." Tenten didn't want to elaborate on what exactly that plan was just yet. She wanted to make sure she had all the right people, "Is Gaara in town?" she asked.
Temari shook her head, "No. He's back in Suna helping out the new Kage."
Scoffing, Kankurou rolled his eyes, "That guy's a fuckin' idiot." He growled, "Ever since he was chosen to be the new Kazekage he's been a wreck. He can't do anything by himself."
Tenten frowned, suddenly pensive, "Why did Gaara choose to step down as Kazekage? I thought he loved protecting the village. He was good at it too."
Temari shook her head, "Gaara really loves the village." She said, looking down, "Naruto taught him how to be loyal to Suna. But the council asked him to step down out of nowhere." Tenten's eyes widened as Temari continued, "And Gaara didn't protest. He said that if the council thought that he wasn't fit to be Kage then he wasn't. He wants the village to have the best leader it can."
"But instead the elders chose some asswipe." Kankurou spat, "I think his name is Akagawa Taro. He's always calling Gaara back to Suna to help him. And his wife Asuka isn't much better. She's so demanding." His nose crinkled.
"Tch, well that doesn't really help my plan. I need someone like Gaara who's powerful and has a high stamina." Tenten sighed, "Well let's see…who else will I need…?" she put her pointer finger on her chin contemplatively. "You two, obviously, Sakura, because we need a medic, Kiba and Akamaru…Ino and Shikamaru," Tenten said Ino and Shikamaru's names as softly as she could and tried not to notice when Temari winced. "And Naruto can take Gaara's place." She finished the list on a happier note.
But Kankurou shook his head, "He left yesterday on an escort mission with Sasuke." After he said this, Temari shot him an angry glare. "What?" he whined.
"Don't mention Sasuke…!" his older sister hissed through gritted teeth. The puppet master glanced at Tenten and, sure enough, her eyebrows had knitted together in a thoughtful countenance and her whole body seemed to slump just at the mention of the Uchiha prodigy.
Kankurou hissed back at Temari, "You're the one who had to tell her about that letter…! Anyone else could tell that it was obviously not the time to tell her that he pretty much is in love with her."
"Bu—haa, you, and…." Temari searched for the right words. "It was just so…unexpected!" she whispered, "I never would have expected someone like Sasuke to get attached to Tenten! I always thought he liked girls who were more like Sakura, or Ino."
Her brother shrugged, "I never expected it either." He realized too late that he and his sister had begun to talk in normal-volume voices, and that Tenten was glancing at them with an unreadable look in her eyes. "Oops…" he mumbled, looking down. Temari did the same.
Tenten winced, but other than that, kept her emotions inside. She supposed that it hurt a bit; two of her closest friends couldn't understand why a guy would have such strong feelings for her. But then again, she didn't understand how she and Sasuke had become so close either.
His letter had only confused her further. After Temari had delivered the letter and news of Sasuke's affections, Tenten had read the letter quickly, placed it in her kunai holster hastily and then walked off quickly to the Hokage's office, the two sand siblings following confusedly behind her. She didn't even want to think about Sasuke right now.
When Temari and Kankurou looked up, Tenten was back to her normal demeanor.
Then she grinned, "I know who can take Naruto's place."
When Temari realized who she was talking about, she groaned. This was not going to be pleasant.
Neji knew something was wrong the moment he woke up.
It should have been around four o'clock in the morning. It should have been misty and cold and Tenten's warm hands should have been shaking his shoulders, her high voice telling him to wake up, it's your turn to watch.
But instead it was bright, warm, sunny, and the pair of hands waking him up were cold and rough. "Oi," a deep voice said to him, "Are you dead? Shouldn't you be up? Where's that cute partner of yours?"
Neji opened his eyes to see a twenty-something Hoshi man looking down at him. He reached out and swatted the stranger's hands away and then looked around his and Tenten's camp a bit frantically. "Where's Tenten?" he growled at the man.
The Hoshi man shrugged his shoulders, "Don't ask me, I didn't even know her name until now."
Neji groaned in frustration. Taking the whole nights shift to let him sleep was exactly something Tenten would do; in fact she'd done it before. And while part of him was always a bit shocked and pleased at the show of affection, the other part of him always found it exceedingly annoying. He wasn't a child, and he could take care of himself. "Tenten!" he called out, waiting for her to walk up with a sheepish grin on her face. But she didn't. "Tenten?!" He called out louder, but his teammate never replied. "Excuse me," Neji said to the Hoshi man, and he stood up.
This time he called out another name, "Saori!" he walked around a bit and searched the small crowd of Hoshigakure villagers for a familiar six-year-old face.
"Yeees?" she appeared in front of him quickly.
He got straight to the point, "Where's Tenten?"
Saori gave him a strange look, "Who?"
Neji exhaled sharply, "I'm not in the mood for games right now Saori. Please tell me where Tenten is."
Much to Neji's chagrin, the small Hoshi girl replied with, "I really don't know who you're talking about."
Resisting the urge to reach out, grab the small girl by her collar and shake some sense into her, Neji sighed again, "Tenten." He said slowly, "Brown hair, two buns, brown eyes, white shirt, maroon pants. She usually has a giant scroll full of weapons on her back." The Hyuuga prodigy ran through the basic description of Tenten.
"Maroon pants, eh?" Saori said, snickering in her mind, "Are you sure they're not burgundy? I would call them burgundy."
"What are you talking about?!" Neji asked, enraged at the child's insubordination.
Saori shrugged, "I know you may feel strongly about the fact that you think they're maroon, but I think they're burgundy. Maybe even a dark red. But that would be pushing it would it?" she looked at the Hyuuga with mock seriousness.
Neji narrowed his eyes at the six year-old, "I have no reservations about hitting a child." He said, "Now tell me where Tenten is."
Saori chuckled, I can't believe I was able to get him so riled up so quickly! She thought, rather impressed with herself. "You wouldn't really hit a little kid." She countered.
The Hyuuga prodigy sighed and closed his eyes for a second. She was right; Neji only fought when he in combat on a mission (or when he was especially pissed). But he was approaching the line of 'especially pissed' very quickly.
Just as he was about to respond with a threat, Saori said, "Okay, okay. Tenten said she was going on a walk to practice her…genjutsu." The Hoshi girl immediately regretted adding the last part when she saw the knowing smirk on Neji's face. She had thought that it made it sound more believable but…
"Nice try." Neji said with an amused tone of voice, "But you shouldn't have added the genjutsu part. Tenten hates genjutsus." He explained, "She hates fighting them, hates using them, and thinks they're a cheap tactic. She wouldn't be practicing one." He looked smug.
Saori sighed, "I should have known that you would know so much about her." She mumbled out of the side of her mouth.
Neji wiped the smug look off his face and went back into his serious mode, "So where is Tenten, really?" he asked again. I don't like this, he thought, what would Tenten have to hide? And where would she be that she wouldn't want me to follow? Unless…. The only explanation the Hyuuga could think of was that Sasuke had shown up and that Tenten had gone off to meet him. His eyes narrowed.
The young girl was taken aback by Neji's sudden anger, "Alright, alright." Saori said quickly, "She's gone."
Almost growling, Neji responded, "Gone where?"
Saori flinched in anticipation of Neji's further anger, "Back to Konoha to get help." She said quietly.
Outer Neji received and took in this information with his usual calmness, but Inner Neji was raging. The first emotion that came to his mind was not anger, but that goddamned jealousy again. He could just imagine Tenten racing back to Hoshigakure with Uchiha Sasuke trailing behind her. But he shook his head and discarded that thought; now was not the time to be thinking about Tenten with Sasuke.
And even though his first instinct was to chase after Tenten, Neji knew that that was impossible. Leaving the remainder of the village utterly unprotected would be irresponsible—almost as irresponsible as leaving for backup in the middle of mission, Neji thought.
He looked back at Saori's apprehensive face and exhaled deeply, "Saori, I need you to keep a lookout all day around the surrounding woods for Tenten." He said, "She can be fast when she needs to be, so I'm thinking that she'll be returning soon."
"Hai." The young girl nodded and jogged off the the other end of their encampment.
Several Hoshigakure citizens were calling for his help, and Neji walked towards them dutifully. As he walked he looked up at the sun that was dimming by the hour. He judged that it was almost fifteen hundred hours. His pale eyes narrowed under the glare of the star and he spoke to his partner in his head. For the first time in his life, Tenten had disobeyed him. She used to be so willing to please, so much so that it almost became annoying to Neji. But she seemed to have no problem breaking his rules now. He liked that, and he liked that she was gaining independence, but he wasn't really sure if that was a good thing for him.
I'm not thinking that you're coming back, Tenten, Neji thought, I'm hoping.
Lee always answered the door with a smile on his face and a cheerful attitude. He was well known in the door-to-door salesman business for being the only potential customer that was willing to sit and listen to a bunch of made-up facts about why he absolutely needed a Kunai Kitchen Knife ("Strong enough to chop of limbs, but gentle enough to slice a tomato!").
But when there was a loud knock and Lee answered the door to see Tenten, she was greeted with shocked silence.
"L-Lee?" Tenten asked, waving her hand in front of his face, "Are…are you okay?"
"I'm sorry Tenten-chan!" Lee said suddenly, "I just was surprised to see you back so soon! I'm assuming that the mission went spectacular!" he grinned and gave her thumbs up, "Where is Neji?" he looked around behind where Tenten was standing. The only people he saw were Kankurou and a very guilty-looking Temari. And when Tenten didn't answer right away, he assumed the worst. "Oh no!" he wailed, tears welling up in his eyes, "Don't tell me…that Neji is…" he cut himself off and let out a loud sob, grabbing Tenten and pulling her into a painfully tight hug, "Don't worry T-Tenten! We'll get through this together."
"Ehhh…?" Tenten was throuroughly confused by Lee's crying until she glanced at Temari, who gave her a look. Realizing what Lee thought, Tenten let out an "awww". She never imagined that Lee would be so broken up at the prospect of Neji's death. In her mind, "eternal rivals" didn't really translate to "close friends." And yet, they were.
"L-Lee?" Tenten choked out, trying to peel the jumpsuit-clad ninja off of her, to no avail, "Lee, Neji isn't dead…!"
"Oh." Lee let his former teammate go instantly, and then grinned, "Well, I am very pleased to hear that! But then where is he??"
"It's actually kind of a long story…" Tenten looked down at her feet, not wanting to relive that day again.
Lee was as patient as ever, "Well I'm not going anywhere."
Sighing deeply, Tenten began. "Well when we got to Hoshigakure, it was completely destroyed…" she ran through the cycle of what had happened on her and Neji's mission. Lee listened attentively, as everyone expected he would, gasping in all the right placed, asking the right questions, and when Tenten finished, he looked at her seriously. "Well, we better go around and assemble the rest of your team." He said, nodding sagely.
Temari, who had never seen Lee act so professional, was a bit taken aback. Tenten smiled at her and offered an explanaition, "Lee doesn't mess around when it comes to helping out Neji and me."
Lee gave his former teammate another serious look, "You mean 'Neji and I.'"
"Lee also doesn't mess around when it comes to grammer." She deadpanned.
Temari gave Lee a look that was something between disgruntled admiration and amusement. He truly was a rara avis, and, in the back of her mind, the Suna kunoichi regretted not seeing past his garrulous nature and exaggerated appearance before.
Kankurou wasn't fazed by Lee's sudden change in demeanor; the puppet master often did this himself, switching between a playful attitude to a no-nonsense state of mind. "Well let's get going then." He said, suddenly impatient.
"Yosh!" Lee said with a grin and a determined look, "Let us form Team Tenten!"
Tenten blanched.
Monogamy.
Who had invented such an idiotic term?
Asuka mused on this as she crawled out of her latest paramour's bed.
Being the Kazekage's wife was hard, but someone had to do it. And Asuka had made sure that she was the one.
Sure, hypnotizing the village council with her long-dead father's forbidden jutsu was challenging, but that's just what she liked. She had manipulated them into asking Gaara to step down as Kazekage. But Asuka knew that if they chose her to be the new kage, it would be too obvious. So she charmed and married the most mediocre, middle-class Suna shinobi she could find and "convinced" the council to choose him to succeed Gaara.
Akagawa Taro was a respectable and responsible jounin who was just entering his thirties. He always completed his missions. Never with any flair or finess, but always in a timely and neat manner. His fault was that he was an insufferable worry wart who couldn't let even the smallest detail go past him without scrupulous inspection.
But Asuka knew how to maneuver around that. She did all her plotting in bed, whispering her plans and ambitions in his ear. And he ate them up like she knew he would. Like he ate up and believed all her fake smiles and her falsely sweet countenance. Taro formed alliances for her, always under the watchful eye of the public of course as not to raise suspicion, and did whatever he was told. He was merely the respectable figurehead, while Asuka pulled the strings of his puppet. It also didn't hurt that using the hypnosis jutsu on him was so easy.
"Asuka." A low voice drew the Suna kunoichi from her daydreaming.
"Yes Naoko…?" she replied in a sultry voice much different from the sickly sweet one she used around her husband.
The man sitting on the bed with her layed back again, putting his arms behind his head and looking at her with his dull, gray eyes, "So how is our alliance with Sunagakure going?"
He's all business… Nagano Naoko wasn't much of a looker, but he was young, and that's what she needed. "Well Naoko," she said, "if last night is anything to go by the alliance is going veeerrry well." She purred, shifting towards him.
Naoko didn't even look towards his lover. His expression was clipped and his lips were pursed.
God I hate men like this, Asuka thought sourly, Exciting in bed, but dull as doornails otherwise. The Suna woman sighed, "It's moving along very smoothly." She said icily, brushing off his snubbing. She stood up and started to pull her clothes on, "What are your plans for taking over Hoshigakure?" Asuka said, looking at Naoko over her shoulder and adopting his business-like demeanor.
Mimicking her, Naoko also began to put his clothes on, "My subordinates sent word that the destruction of the village went as planned. They made sure to leave a few people alive but with severe wounds."
Asuka filled in the blanks, "That way you can go back and save them and they'll make you Hoshikage."
How cliché, she thought. Naoko nodded. He knew that it wasn't the most original plan, but it seemed logical to him.
"Aren't you a little bit late though?" she asked coyly, "For your heroic entrance? Eh, Nagano-kuuun?" one of her slender dark red eyebrows rose as she mocked him.
Naoko scowled at her, "Well I ran into a few distractions. Mainly, you." This put a wicked smile on the red-head kunoichi's face.
"Ah, well," she said with convincing false sincerity, "I'm sure your plan will still work. And then when you become Hoshikage, Hoshigakure's alliance with Suna can become official." She finished putting her clothes on and went to exit her tent, "And then we can go ahead with the plan for the final destruction of Konohagakure." Asuka grinned and lifted the flap of the tent to see two shinobi standing guard on outside of it. Their backs were to her, but she could tell right away which village they were from. Stiffling an angry gasp, she closed the flap and turned to Naoko. "There are two Konoha shinobi outside…!" she said in an urgent whisper, cursing her naturally loud voice, "What are we going to do?"
Scowling again, Naoko resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Asuka. The Hoshi nin knew that, while he was not that creative, he was good at keeping a clear head and thinking under pressure, such as having the enemy standing right outside your door. Asuka, however, was rash, bold, and had a bark much worse than her actual bite; she could only come up solutions and strategies in a calm, risk-free environment. The two completed each other perfectly. Unfortunately, they could hardly stand each other out of bed.
"Go out there." Naoko replied with a hushed whisper, "They were obviously sent here to protect you because you're the Kazekage's wife. They obviously still think that Suna is allied with Konoha. So just keep the charade up for now. I'll exit from the back."
Asuka nodded with a sour look on her face. She lifted up the tent flap again and tapped one of the Konoha nins on the shoulder, greeting him with a sickly sweet smile when he turned around.
Sasuke turned around slowly and resisted the urge to kill the two-faced woman on the spot. He had heard every word she and Naoko had exchanged since he and Naruto arrived an hour ago. But he was almost positive that his blond best friend had heard nothing. Despite all the strength and skill he had acquired, Naruto still had the observation skills of a seven year old academy student.
"Oohh, Asuka-san!" Naruto said, turning around much later than Sasuke, "Your husband asked Tsunade-baa-chan to send us to you and escort you back to the hidden Sand village because we know our way around here pretty well." He grinned, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. Sasuke knew that Naruto was still a bit upset at the Suna elder council for asking Gaara to step down as Kazekage. Many shinobi from Konoha, Tsunade included, had opposed the decision, but Naruto's voice had definitely the loudest.
"Aw, that's so sweet of them!" Asuka said, eyes lighting up convincingly.
She's a pretty good actress… Sasuke thought with a smirk.
"If you would just give me a few minutes to gather all my things that are still in the tent." Asuka continued cheerfully, "And after my men pack up the tent we can set off." She smiled brightly.
Naruto ate up Asuka's false kindess like candy, "Sure thing Asuka-san." He grinned. Sasuke knew that he always liked to see the best in people.
But as soon as Asuka had re-entered the tent, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and dragged the the blond boy behind a nearby tree.
"Whaa--?!" Naruto looked stunned to say the least. "Sasuke I definitely don't swing that way!" he yelled, noting their closeness.
"Tch," Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's comment, "Just listen to me."
Naruto, who was expecting a dramatic confession of love, was quite taken aback when Sasuke began talking about Asuka, "Naruto, don't believe a word that Asuka says. You didn't hear…but she was talking to a man named Nagano Naoko about the destruction of Konoha."
The blond jinchuuriki clench his fists and his teeth. Sasuke could tell that Naruro wanted to barge right into her tent and confront her, but he couldn't let that happen.
"Stay calm Naruto." He said in an urgent, hushed voice, "The Naoko man…wait…" Sasuke looked like he had just realized something, "His surname was Nagano…that's the name of the man that Tenten and Hyuuga were going after…!" he hissed.
"So the man Tenten and Neji are after is here, with Asuka?" Naruto asked, lowering his voice to the softest volume he could, which was still louder that Sasuke preferred.
Sasuke shook his head, "No…the man they were after was Nagano Shiro…this is a different man, but definitely related." He lowered his voice even more, "Listen, we're going to lead Asuka to where Tenten and Hyuuga are."
Naruto pouted, "Why don't we just confront her now?" he whispered, "I'm sure we can get a confession out of her."
Sasuke scowled, "That would leave too many options open for her." He growled, trying to keep his voice down, "She's the Kazekage's wife, and she's managed to keep her plan a secret until now, so it's not likely that she'll be naïve when it comes to shinobi and interrogation tactics, and not to mention the servants she has." He glaced over to where Asuka's four servants were packing up her belongings and the tent, "They don't look like pushovers, and I'd rather not deal with them. Also, it's likely that Tenten and Hyuuga will realize part of what's going on and capture Naoko. Then if we have both of
them, it will make it easier to get information out of them and make them betray each other."
"So logical…" Naruto said under his breath., "That guy's name sounds really familiar…" he continued, putting his pointer finger to his chin, and then gasped loudly when he realized where he had heard Naoko's name before, "I remember hearing Tsunade-baa-chan talking about a guy named Nagano Naoko with Shizune!" he whispered in an urgent voice, "She said that he was teaching a genjutsu technique to Neji and Tenten!"
"Helloooo…?" Asuka's perfectly practiced innocent voice rang out and Sasuke inhaled sharply.
He turned to Naruto, "Is that true?" he asked urgently. Naruto nodded vehemently, and Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Then we definitely need to lead Asuka to Tenten. That's our plan, got it?"
Naruto nodded again, "Yosh. We're over hear Asuka-san!!" he went quickly from a business-like demeanor to a falsle friendly one. Sasuke only hoped that the boisterous blond could keep it up.
"Oh there you are!" Asuka said, and for a second Sasuke saw true suspicion flashing in her eyes, but it was covered up quickly. "Well, my men are all ready," she nodded to where her four men were holding up the cart they would be carrying her in, "so let's get going!"
Sasuke nodded, but then he bit his left thumb and made a few familiar hand signs and then pressed his thumb to the ground, "Kuchiyose no jutsu." He said quietly. There was a puff of white smoke and when it cleared, there was an all-too familiar dog sitting in its place.
Asuka's fascmille fell for just a second, "Why did you summon a dog?" she half-shrieked incredulously.
"Pakkun!" Naruto said, clearly surprised. He turned to Sasuke, "Since when can you summon Pakkun Sasuke-teme?!" he looked slightly jealous.
Sasuke held out his hand for Pakkun to smell before replying calmly, "Kakashi taught me how to summon him in case I ever got into a troublesome situation where I don't know where I am." He said, "But he's also very handy for navigating through areas like this." He added quickly, looking at a skeptical Asuka.
Her act was back on, "Oh well, that's just fine with me!" she chirped, before walking to her cart.
Naruto was pouting. Why doesn't Kakashi-sensei ever teach me cool summons like that…?! He thought. "So are you gonna have Pakkun follow Tenten or Neji's scent?" he asked.
"Tenten's." Sasuke replied simply. He saw both Naruto and Pakkun raise an eyebrow.
"All right then…" Naruto walked off wondering how Sasuke had Tenten's scent.
When he judged that Asuka wasn't listening, Sasuke held his hand out to Pakkun again, "Follow the female scent." He said.
"Got it." Pakkun replied.
As he walked over to where Naruto and Asuka and her men were waiting with Pakkun trotting beside him, Sasuke smiled. Maybe he was a bit too happy that this meant he would get to see Tenten again so soon.
Why was she doing this?
Why was she doing this now?
Tenten hesitated before picking up the thin package that was sitting on her dresser and had been sitting there for quite some time now hesitantly.
The weapons mistress had entrusted Lee, Temari, and Kankurou to pick up Sakura and Kiba and Akamaru while Tenten went back to her apartment and cleaned up and replenished her supplies. Then (this was the part that Temari emphasized) they would all go to pick up Shikamaru and Ino.
Well she had cleaned up. And she had repacked all her supplies. So why didn't she just leave already? For some reason Tenten had suddenly been compelled to open the late birthday present that Neji had given to her on the night that he kissed her.
The package was long and thin and Tenten's fingers moved slowly as she unwrapped the plain paper. She pulled the short out ceremoniously and gasped at it. She could tell that it was made from the finest steel and iron. She poked her thumb to the tip of it softly and was astonished at how sharp it was; she had barely pressed, but her thumb started bleeding profusely.
"This is…amazing…" Tenten said, smirking as she buckled it onto the side of her kunai holster.
She thought that was all there was to the present (after all, it seemd like enough to her) but that was when she noticed the small black box that was still in the packaging.
"Hmmm…" she hummed absentmindedly as she opened the small box, and stifled a giggle. The earrings were beautiful, of course, and Tenten would have worn them—if her ears were still pierced. Nevertheless, she pocketed the box.
Maybe Neji didn't know her as well as he thought he did.
"Sh-Shikamaru?" Tenten was currently stuttering and pushing her index fingers together in a very Hinata-like move.
To say Shikamaru looked surprised was an understatement, "What's up Tenten?"
After running around Konoha to gather all the members she would need for her team, Tenten and company had gathered at a training ground near where they would be leaving from to count their supplies and prepare. Tenten had pulled Shikamaru aside looking very nervous.
Ever since Lee had mentioned "Team Tenten", the weapons mistress had been having second thoughts about her ability of a leader. In a word, she was worried. Worried that she wouldn't be good enough, that Neji would be in trouble because she left him there and that she wouldn't be able to save him. It scared her; responsibility like that. She didn't know how Shikamaru could stand it on a regular basis.
"Did you tell everyone the situation and the plan?" she asked first.
Shikamaru nodded. Right after her ever-growing group arrived at the Nara household to pick the lazy genius up Tenten had pulled him aside for the first time, told him what had happened and her plan, and then asked him to tell the rest of the group for her. "Why did you want me to tell them?" he asked.
Tenten looked at the ground before answering, "Well…I guess I'm just kind of nervous about the whole mission. I just thought that maybe everyone would feel better if they thought the plan came from you."
For a moment Shikamaru opened his mouth and it looked like the lazy genius was going to say something to contradict her and put her mind at ease, but he just exhaled and closed his mouth again, "I guess." He said after a short pause.
Because Tenten knew it was true, at least on some level, his agreement didn't hurt her. Instead she took advantage of his reply, "Good. So you also agree that you should be the leader of this mission."
The shadow user's reply came much swifter this time, "No." he said, "I can tell that you're nervous, but you are the only one who has seen the real state of Hoshigakure." He saw the despairing look on his teammate's face, "I'm sorry Tenten."
The weapons mistress just nodded and steeled her face. I guess this is something I just have to do. She thought.
"All right everyone, we're leaving soon, so assemble!" Tenten's voice sounded anything but nervous as she called her team to attention.
She looked down the line at Team Tenten. To the far left were Shikamaru and Ino. Though their faces were completely serious, they were holding each other's hands loosely. For a second after she noticed that, Tenten missed Neji unbearably, but it passed.
Next to Ino were Akamaru and Kiba. Never one to try and hid his emotions, the dog boy kept throwing glaces at the couple next to him and looked very sullen and jealous while doing so. Tenten wasn't surprised; Hinata had once told her and Ino that his dog-like tendencies caused him to become very quickly and overly attached to any girl he really liked.
Lee was standing next to Kiba with a supportive look on his face, as usual. Sakura was next to him. The medic nin looked a bit out of place, but Tenten wasn't surprised. She wondered if the rosette kunoichi had ever really been on a mission without Naruto.
Finally, there there was Kankurou and Temari. The Suna kunoichi was smart to place herself far away from where Shikamaru and Ino were standing, because she could feel a small bit of jealousy bubbling up inside her. Tenten gave her a thankful smile.
"Alright." The weapons mistress said, "Shikamaru has told you all about the plan, so this is how we're going to head out: Kiba, you and Akamaru will be in front." She reached into her kunai holster and pulled out a piece of thick fabric and threw it to the dog boy, "Follow this scent."
"Is that what you ripped off that chair?" Temari asked.
Tenten nodded, "I remembered that Naoko was sitting on that chair when I first met him.
Kiba sniffed it hesitantly, "Yeah," he said, "It's got some guys scent all over it."
"Good." Tenten said before turning to Shikamaru, "I want you and Ino to follow right behind Kiba." The couple nodded. "All right," Tenten finished, "And I want the rest of you to follow at a distance with me." The rest of her team nodded assuredly, but Tenten still felt a nervous churning in her stomach.
"A-alright." She tried not to stutter, but it was hard, "Let's go."
Her team was quick to say the least. They hadn't been moving for long, but Tenten knew that they had travled a substantial length.
That's why she wasn't very surprised when Kiba stopped. The rest of the team followed suit and Tenten walked up to the Inuzuka, "What is it?" she asked, whispering, "Is Naoko near?"
Kiba nodded, "He's close. Just on the other side of this clearing and about a half mile south."
"Clearing?" Tenten asked.
"Yeah," Kiba said jerking his thumb over his shoulder, "There's a pretty big clearing right over there. There's a lot of debris, and I think I actually saw some people, so we should be cautious."
People…?! Tenten thought. She looked around and took in her surroundings. They had been moving so quickly that she hadn't noticed how familiar everything seemed. The weapons mistress gasped and charged forward towards where the ample light of the clearing was pouring in through the leaves.
"Tenten…!" Shikamaru yelled, running after her, "You don't know who's out there!"
The weapons mistress looked over her shoulder at Shikamaru, "Yes I do." She said simply. When she entered the clearing, her hunch was confirmed; it was the remains of Hoshigakure. "Oh no!" she wailed.
"What's wrong—oh…" Sakura appeared at Tenten's side quickly, and the rest of her team followed suit quickly.
"Kiba!" Tenten turned to the Inuzuka with a trace of panic in her voice, "You said you saw people right? Please tell me that you saw someone!" The weapons mistress was worried that Naoko had returned to finish off the rest of the villagers.
Right when Kiba was about to answer affirmatively, he was interrupted by another loud male voice, "Hey, it's Buns! Or…Te…Tenten, yeah!"
Tenten was surprised to see a Hoshi nin in his twenties rushing towards her. "How…how do you know my name?" she asked.
"Oh," the man stopped when he had reached her, "Your partner told me. He wanted to know where you were."
The weapons mistress looked around frantically, "Do you know where Neji is?"
The man scratched his head, "Your partner?" he asked.
Tenten was frantic at this point, "Yes, my partner! Tall, long dark brown hair, white eyes, white robe!! Where is he?!"
"Tenten…" the weapons mistress felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see that it was Lee. He wore the same worried expression on his face that she had on hers.
"Neji-san told us to lay low you idiot!" a small put powerful female voice joined the group. Tenten turned her head to see a six or seven year old girl kicking the twenty-something man in the shin repeatedly while hissing curses at him.
"Oi, oi! Okay…!" the Hoshi man put his hand out in front of his chest and walked backwards, "I'll go back…jeez." He began to walk away towards the only building in Hoshigakure that was still standing; a medium-sized meeting hall.
Sakura tried to stop the man, but Tenten put her hand on the medic nin's shoulder, "It's alright." The weapons mistress said, "Saori?" she asked the small girl in front of them hopefully.
The girl looked up and gave Tenten a cat-like grin, "You're just in time." Saori said.
Tenten looked relieved to see that Saori was okay, but also a little confused. "In time for what?" she asked.
Saori started walking across the clearing and beckoned for the group to follow. The weapons mistress did immediately, but the rest of Team Tenten looked a little hesitant about following a six year old girl. Saori seemed to sense this and looked back, "I may be young, but I'm not an idiot." She said sharply.
"Yes ma'am." Kankurou mumbled as he and the rest of the team followed after Tenten and Saori.
"Naoko is here." Saori said seriously as they walked, and both Kiba and Tenten gritted their teeth.
Akamaru gave out a small bark and Kiba nodded, "I can smell him," he said urgently, "He's right in front of us, about a half mile away. I can smell someone else there too…" he added.
Saori looked back at him, "That's probably Neji. Right after Naoko entered the village he was met with resistance, so he fled. Neji chased after him. It's been about a half hour."
Tenten's eyes widened and she dug her fingernails into her palms. Neji was out there fighting right now. Alone. The guilt of leaving him alone stabbed into her like a kunai. "We need to go help him!" she said loudly, "We need to hurry!" she looked around at the serious faces surrounding her before sprinting off to where both Kiba and Saori said Neji was.
"T-Tenten!!" Temari and Shikamaru yelled out after their friend at the same time. They turned to each other and their eyes met for a second before Temari cursed and ran off after Tenten.
As she sprinted through the forest and lept from tree to tree, Tenten dully noticed that she could hear the rest of her team and Saori following her. It was priceless to know that she had such good friends to back her up but…
She stumbled into a clearing where someone was lying on the ground in a small pool of blood. They were wearing a stark white robe that contrasted sickeningly with the dark red gore and had dark hair that was stuck in clumps because of the sticky red substance.
Neji…!
But if she could do it over, she realized as she rushed to his side, she never would have left him.
Tenten didn't care if it had been the right decision, or the logical decision, or the decision that would finish the mission quickly. The weapons mistress lifted Neji's heavy head off the forest floor and checked his pulse, and all she cared about was him.
Neji's pulse was faint and fading with every minute. "Neji!! Wake up Neji!!" she cried at him unconscious body, "S-Sakura can heal you…SAKURA!!" the weapons mistress yelled out for her teammates, who entered the clearing not too long after her desperate call. Almost all of them stood paralyzed when they saw Neji's near-lifeless body lying in Tenten's arms. Sakura was the only one to rush to Neji's side and immediately start her medical jutsu.
Then Kiba cursed and gritted his teeth, looking around at the surrounding trees, "He still here…!" he growled, getting into a fighting stance.
A cold and chilling but familiar voice spoke, "Very good." There was a rustling of bushes and, sure enough, Nagano Naoko had entered the clearing with blood stained hands and a sick grin on his face.
"I-I can't find a pulse!" Sakura wailed suddenly, "My medical chakra isn't having any effect on him…!!" she looked up at the long-haired Hoshi nin, "Naoko how could you?!" she roared feircly.
"Hmm…" Naoko said thoughtfully, "I expected a reaction like that from Tenten…" he looked at the weapons mistress.
Tenten did have the wherewithal to be angry or to yell fierce words at the enemy. Neji's broken-down image flodded her brain, widened her eyes, and rendered her physically useless. She had failed him, that's all she could think of.
Tilting his head to the side, Naoko made another comment in the weapons mistress' direction, "Tsk, tsk…if only he had had a partner with him…I mean, then he could have repelled my genjutsu.
This time, Tenten gasped. She didn't even think about that! And it only made the guilty pain in her worsen. If I had been there…if I had been there…
The brunette kunoichi grabbed Neji's collar and shook him back and forth forcefully, ignoring Ino's comforting prescense running to her side and pleading for her to stop. "NEJI!!"' Tenten cried desperately, "Please get up!! I know you can!!"
When Neji didn't respond or even move, Naoko laughed. "He won't be getting up."
Tenten buried her face in Neji's chest and cried.
CURSE YOU RECENT MANGA CHAPTERS FOR BEING ANTI-CLIMACTIC, MAKING MY FIC SEEM REALLY AU AND MAKING MY SASUKE SEEM ULTRA OOC!! --shakes fist at the sky—
Ahem, sorry about the ending. ToT
I originally wanted this chapter to be really long, but…I'm basically pulling this plot out of thin air nowadays. D:
OH and I started watching Bleach. It's realllly addicting.
Soooo, as an "I'm sorry for this not-so-good chapter" present, I posted some NejiTen drabbles as a oneshot, so go check it out if you wanna. :3
Oh, and review pleeeease because you know you wanna know what happens to Neji! :0
--Mori :D
