Chapter 12

Neji jumped on to Silent Screams and started to fight right away. He was trying to look for Tenten but hadn't seen her yet. Suddenly the door to inside the cabin flew open and out came Tenten. Neji could see her but she looked in bad shape. Her dress was cut in many places her hair was a mess but what amazed him was that she looked full of life. Tenten was in shock for a bit and as Neji started towards her he realized that Tenten was then surrounded by two pirates. Neji felt anger full him up.

Tenten fought them off but she suddenly lost her sword. A girl grabbed Tenten by the hair and held a sword to her neck whispering something into her ear well they looked at him. Then the bigger one took the Medallion from Tenten's hand and held it over the side of the deck. Neji stopped.

Tenten's view.

Tenten opened the doors onto the deck to see lots of her friends fighting. Ino and Shikamaru were fighting some pirates at the bow. Naruto was defending Hinata as she treated people near the port. Sasuke was even there defending the ships. Tenten was so happy that she did not notice Tayuya sneaking up behind her until she saw someone point behind her. Tenten quickly used one of her swords to stop the blow. Tenten made sure to have a hard grip on the medallion with the other hand. This was really hard for Tenten. She was use to fighting with two swords one wasn't strong enough. Suddenly Tayuya hit Tenten's sword out of her hand. When Tenten was running to grab it Tayuya grabbed her hair and forced her to kneel. Tenten after fighting to get out of the hard held grip, winced when she felt something sharp at her neck. Tenten gasped but still faintly struggled but stopped when she heard Tayuya's voice.

"He's not going to choose you. He hates you. You lied to him. You used him. He won't save you", Tayuya whispered to Tenten as she held her hair. Jirobou ripped the medallion out of Tenten's hands and was holding it over the side of the ship. Tenten started to silently cry. Neji would save the medallion instead. Tenten knew everything Tayuya said was true. Neji was only there to save the Medallion. Tenten looked at Neji. He wasn't moving his eyes going back and forth from the Medallion to Tenten. Then his eyes stopped on the Medallion.

Tenten closed her eyes awaiting her death from Tayuya's blade, but she did not feel it. She opened her eyes in a flash when she felt the blade move from her throat and Tayuya's hand loosened from her hair. Neji was there fighting off Tayuya. Tenten quickly looked towards Jirobou and the Medallion. He was still holding it looking at the scene with Tayuya and Neji. Tenten got up and much to Neji's protest ran towards Jirobou without her sword. Jirobou looked at Tenten running towards him when Tenten was two steps away he let go of the medallion and grabbed his sword preparing for a fight. Tenten totally ignoring him ran past him over the railing and into the water. The last thing she heard before she hit the cold water was Neji screaming her name.

Neji's view

They had Tenten and the Medallion. They were making him choose between a family heirloom and a girl. If it was with any other girl he would choose the medallion right away but it was Tenten. Neji looked back and forth from Tenten to the medallion and finally set his eyes on the Medallion. To anyone it looked like he chose the medallion but really Neji was saying farewell. He quickly ran towards Tenten and Tayuya, never looking at Jirobou or the Medallion. Tayuya was caught off guard that she let go of Tenten and used her sword to stop the strike that Neji gave. Neji then saw something move in the corner of his eye. He pushed Tayuya away to see Tenten running towards Jirobou without her swords.

"Tenten stop!" Neji yelled but was forced to look away by Tayuya. She took this chance to try and attack him. Neji quickly turned and stabbed Tayuya through the stomach and again looked over towards Jirobou. All he saw was Tenten jumping over the edge of the boat. He wasn't the only one who saw. Neji and Sasuke ran towards the side of the ship yelling for Tenten. Jirobou was taken away by Ino and Naruto as they too raced over to look for Tenten. They quickly finished Jirobou off and looked over the edge.

Neji without a second thought through his sword at Sasuke and jumped in after Tenten.

Tenten's view

Tenten hit the cold water harder then she thought. The cold started to nip at her. Tenten finally got over the shock of the cold water and started looking for the medallion right away. It was a couple meters below her and sinking fast. Tenten quickly started to swim after it. She was running out of air but she had to get it. She knew if she went up to breath she would lose it. She reached it finally but she was out of air. She struggled to get to the surface but the more she swam up towards the sky the farther away it became. Her dress was just too heavy and her limbs were to cold to try to get it off. Finally Tenten felt like her lungs were going to explode from her chest and couldn't swim anymore. She went to take a breath and only swallowed water. She closed her eyes for the last time. As her eyes were closing she saw Neji. This made her smile in the end she got to see him. She could die happily.

Neji's view

Neji jumped in without thinking. One thought was on his mind to save Tenten no matter what. He landed in the cold water. He quickly swam to the top of the water to catch his breath. After taking a huge breath he dived down to look for Tenten. She wasn't hard to find. She looked just like an angel among the dark water. Neji swam harder after her to catch her. She was sinking. He finally grabbed her on to her hand. The moment he touched her he saw a glowing light from the same hand that he grabbed. He looked in her hand to see the medallion glowing. The next second the medallion glowed so bright that Neji was blinded. Both Neji and Tenten then were suddenly above the water. Neji did not even question what happened he was just thankful they were above the water. Neji after catching his breath held her head above water. Neji felt hands on the back of his shirt and the next second Tenten and him were hauled out of the water, ungracefully.

Neji realized that he was being hauled up a ladder. The whole time he did not let Tenten out of his grip. She was unconscious limp in his arms like last time. However this time he was more careful because he knew she was a girl. She looked more fragile now. Her hair was sticking in front of her face. Her dress was wet to her body showing her curves. She looked beautiful. He then felt himself be pulled onto the ship deck. His first reaction was to protect Tenten at all costs. So he grabbed his small knife from his boot and held it out protectively in front of himself and Tenten ready to fight anyone or anything off.