The Morning After
Chapter 11: Intrusions
5:30AM
Choosing to wear one of the garments Tsunade-sama had specifically prepared for her, she simply selected the first in the pile, the elegant cerulean kimono. The sleeves were lengthy and loosely draped past her thin arms while the hem of the Japanese style dress teasingly dangled over her upper thigh.
Considerably uncomfortable with the kimono's length, the conservative kunoichi slipped on a pair of her own black spandex shorts under her uniform.
She then secured her wavy, brown locks into a tight high ponytail above her head and circled the tie with a long white ribbon that she knotted into a pleasant ribbon.
Taking a moment to stare into the mirror at her finished product, she found herself peering into the russet eyes of an unfamiliar beautiful woman.
Immediately uncomfortable, Tenten thought of how unrecognizable she looked and of how extensively she preferred her usual boyish wardrobe over this unfamiliarly suggestive one.
However she was never one to defy orders or complain upon mission procedures (especially if it was given to her from her beloved Tsunade-sama).
Like usual, she accommodated to her duties and omitted her own personal opinions.
The undercover kunoichi glanced over at the clock to see how long it would be until noon; her eyes slightly widened at the realization that it had only been 6A.M.
Though Tenten had always been timelier than most for early preparations, 6 hours formerly has been the earliest she had gotten ready for a mission.
The overly punctual kunoichi contentedly lay on her bed and began to patiently wait for 360 minutes to pass by.
10:30AM
Despite her capable and usually composed demeanor as well as her heightened maturity, she was now relatively uneasy for noon to arrive.
It didn't help that she had just spent almost 5 hours overthinking of her current duty and of how utterly inexperienced she was with it.
Though her prideful self was reluctant to admit it, she had actually never been on an official date with another being before.
Her tomboyish nature and main focus on developing her ninja abilities rather than her love life had prevented her from establishing a normal romantic relationship with anyone.
As if to counter her current muses, Tenten's mind instantly recalled the unforgettably unexpected morning with her unclothed handsome comrade as well as their matching diamond ring, and the gentle, loving kiss he placed upon her unsuspecting lips.
Regardless of her naturally masculine characteristics and disregard for constructing a passionate connection with anybody of the opposite sex, she somehow managed to become involved with a striking prodigy who cared for her very deeply.
A rosy pigment crept upon her pretty face followed by a sweet, genuine smile as thoughts and images of her well-acquainted Neji continued to plague her mind, causing her usually steady heart to beat rapidly.
The subtle sound of lightly paced footsteps rang through her well-trained ears, quickly interrupting her train of thought.
Conscious of the unfamiliar chakra build edging its way towards her room, she straightened out her posture and mentally prepared for the forthcoming.
The chakra didn't belong to Kai; though it rivaled him in strength, it was structured and felt much differently than his.
A sturdy knock on her door caused her to interrogate the unknown person on the opposite side of her door.
"Who is it?"
"Good morning, Nana-chan!" A cheerful voice that she had never heard before was voiced from the other end, causing her to become taken aback at his knowledge of her secondary name. The overly friendly stranger continued casually. "My name is Kagura; I'm one of Kai's buds!"
She paused for a moment before rising to open the door where a normal looking man with dark brown hair stood confidently in front of her.
Immediately she recognized him as one of Kai's outgoing companions at the bar earlier in the week.
Kagura scanned Tenten from head to toe and released an obnoxious whistle from his cracked lips at the sight of the beautiful woman in front of him.
"Well aren't you a hottie." He grinned suggestively at her while evidently keeping his eyes on her pale legs, exposed from her kimono's length. "I could play with you all night."
Though inwardly repulsed by his sexual harassment, she decided to ignore his crude statements and firmly questioned him again with a harsher tone than she intended to.
"What did you need?"
Sensing her obvious annoyance, the disrespectful man chuckled in amusement and decided to temporarily halt his crudeness as he shifted his prior attention to her serious face.
As an implicit follow up to her recent question, Kagura swiftly rummaged through his weapons pack and pulled out a white scroll tied with a red ribbon.
"Kai wanted me to deliver this to you since he was unable to do so himself…" He grinned at her mischievously, as he held the scroll out towards her while adding to his sentence. "Sexy."
The irritated kunoichi firmly snatched the white scroll away from his clutches and spoke in a hostile manner, eager to get this chauvinist away from her.
"Is that all?"
In a response to her rhetorical question Kagura chuckled obnoxiously and threw his head back, amused with her current coldness towards him.
The entertained man decided to have one last jab at the feisty brunette before he departed.
"Not unless you wanna have a good time with me."
Kagura's goofy smile quickly faded as soon as he confronted her quietly penetrating glare; her unblinking russet eyes fiercely locked onto his with the slight furrow of her eyebrows.
Though the elite ninja assumed she was nothing more than a normal villager, for some reason he felt somewhat fearful of this supposedly harmless woman.
"Leave." She spoke roughly, filling the atmosphere with a heavy aura.
The staggered joker paused for a moment to collect his current thoughts before he willingly receded and finally left her room defeated.
Once she could no longer sense his intolerable presence, she liberatingly threw herself back onto her comfy bed and muttered disgruntledly to herself as she recalled her former incident with the first disrespectful pervert.
"Are all men in the Sugi Village pigs?"
At the smooth feel of a foreign object enclosed by her palm, Tenten shifted her focus to the sturdy cylinder in her hand; she sat up from her bed and proceeded to unravel the scroll from Kai to read its contents.
As soon as she opened the foreign scroll, a single puff of white smoke was activated; the defensive kunoichi automatically cringed at the abruptness of the triggering.
Fanning the muzzy air until the blinding smoke had generally dispersed; she realized that a single red rose had appeared atop the scroll.
Ignoring the pretty flower completely, Tenten decided to thoroughly read of what Kai had to say first.
Beautiful Nana,
I must offer you my deepest apologies.
Unfortunately I won't be able to arrive in time for our early date tomorrow.
I was sent on an emergency mission last night where I had to leave right away.
I apologize for being unable to tell you in person.
However, I will be back by 8pm tonight.
Please be ready when I arrive to pick you up by then.
Kai
After analyzing the neat writing multiple times, she fingered the rose delicately being almost flattered by the thoughtfulness and courteousness of the gentlemen.
She took a moment to mentally praise him upon his appeal before hurriedly remembering her ulterior motive with the seemingly charming man.
Tenten roughly gripped the beautiful rose as its shape became unseemly and distorted as she then forcibly tossed it to the side.
She eagerly rose from her relaxing bed and slung on a pitch black trench coat that draped down to her knees, feeling much more secure now that her body was obscured.
The Konoha ninja then swiftly headed out the door with the scroll well-hidden within her kimono; she was zealous to divulge this promising information with her dependable teammates.
At the Japanese Restaurant
"So what did you call us here for, Tenten?" Gai-sensei spoke softly as he and Lee casually sipped the hot jasmine tea on their table while patiently waiting for their traditional noodles to arrive.
Instead of his usual favorite noodles, Neji had ordered dumplings today and was agreeably consuming them with what only she could determine as an approachable expression on his face instead of his usual serious one.
To Tenten, it was obvious that the levelheaded prodigy was in a pleasurable mood today.
She sighed in hopelessness at the awareness that her impending words would inevitably disrupt his good mood.
However, the two close companions had already reached a mutual agreement so she unwaveringly continued on with her informative disclosure.
"I have a plan to capture Kai tonight."
Though he was actually curious to know what his beloved teammate's strategy was, Neji skillfully remained inconspicuous as he unflinchingly continued on with his infrequently chosen meal.
Unfortunately the other half of her team was not as discreet as Neji.
The two men clad in green obtrusively choked on their steaming tea, slightly burning themselves in the process. Hearing their alarming moans and shrieks, the concerned waiter immediately rushed over to their booth, worriedly asking them if they were alright. Startled strangers had their attention upon the noisy duo as well.
After the two clumsy men calmed down, they forcibly comforted their frantic waiter to tentatively return to his duties because they were completely unharmed.
Assured that their short-lived disruption had subsided, they resumed their significant conversation.
"How?!" Lee anxiously questioned her, his voice much louder than he originally meant for it to be.
Tenten internally groaned at the obviousness of her goodhearted teammate and remained silent while she kept her unwavering eyes on the menu, pretending to be genuinely interested by its content.
She unnoticeably darted her keen eyes around the room, noting that multiple people were constantly flickering their pupils in interest at the noticeable oddballs.
Lastly Tenten's expectant eyes met with Hyuuga's; she knew the man she'd grown up with would completely understand every thought racing through her head. As if to validate her assumptions, he nodded slightly at her as he quickly broke their gaze afterwards.
Tenten smiled to herself and began to take her leave from the bar, knowing that conversing with her attention-grabbing partners would be too risky at the moment.
In order to risk seeming suspicious, Tenten politely excused herself from the bar and kindly informed her considerate waiter that she was having a "stomachache" when he questioned why she hadn't ordered anything to eat.
On her way towards the exit door, she cunningly slipped the light scroll into her reliable comrade's swift hands before hastily departing the restaurant, not stopping her constant footsteps as she continued down the bustling street.
Once the quick-thinking kunoichi believed she had stridden an appropriate distance away from the restaurant, she willingly retreated into the decently busy Chinese restaurant hidden in the corner.
After hungrily ordering from her favorite type of cuisine, she rested her light head on her dainty hands and mused to herself.
I can always count on Neji for anything.
He'll certainly disclose the information with Gai-sensei and Lee once he's meticulously read through it.
And then after that, I can expect to sense them lurking around at night when I've met with up Kai.
It's convenient that Neji knows where my stay is.
I wonder though…
She paused her train of thought as one of the elderly servers thoughtfully refilled her tea.
The grateful brunette graciously thanked her before continuing her mental speech, a hint of a blush filling her usually colorless cheeks.
What could Neji be thinking when he read it?
YES! Thank you for being so patient! I finally finished this chapter
I apologize if the story is progressing quite leisurely but that's because I like to be meticulous so that every detail can be envisioned as if it were an actual episode!
Things will definitely pick up from here though; it seems as if the action will commence soon!
Please review with any thoughts that you have! I really love reading all of them, even if it is just one word.