Hey, guys!
Guess what? Last. Chapter. :D
Yay!
DarkAnonymous324: Thanks! :)
DarkAngel2098: Thank you very much!
Yukixshuu: You will see. :)
Helga4ever: Very true. :)
hyperloon: Just so you know, those synonyms made me grin like a complete idiot. So thank you. :D
Nokito-chan: Yay! You'll see the method they used in this chapter. I'm glad that some of you brought that up, because I was completely at a loss to explain it . . . until now. Thank you very much, as always, for your awesome reviews.
Fake Bliss: Hahahaha. I think that'd be kind of hard, considering she's a fictional character. ;)
Spikeit151: Hahaha. I had to put in SOME suspense!
Mysterious Bluerose: Who does like Sasuke? Really. The kid's a pigeon-haired freak. I will rejoice immensely when Kishimoto kills him. XD From all the stories you've read that are mine, you should know by now that I always make Kiba the scapegoat. ;)
the dishy fishy: Yes! :D Well, you'll just have to wait and read the chapter, now, won't you? You'll find out when you read how she got that info. :)
audaciousxXxbooks: Thank you!
Kunoichi-of-the-Leaf: Hahaha, be patient. I address all of those questions in this chapter. :)
ferbfletcherlover: Ah, you'll see. :D
rabbitlover21: Aw, that's okay! Just knowing the fact that you enjoyed it makes me happy. :)
Drea1284: :D
hyperloon: There are several different meanings to that ring. Some of them I address in this chapter. If you wish to know any of the others, feel free to ask. Carrots? I prefer peas. :)
Auditory Eden: Now that you mention it . . . yes, I see it does have some parallels. I truly didn't see it until you brought it up though. :D You have no idea how happy that makes me! I always feel like a huge cheeseball when I write those "romantic" scenes. Glad you enjoyed it. :)
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-san has an awesome brain. And from that brain came Naruto and characters. Please give credit to where credit is due.
- Ties That Bind -
It was easily deciphered in their gestures.
The secretive, shared glances. The way their fingers brushed together. Their reluctance to be separated too far.
Sai cocked his head at the two shinobi, curious.
It was peculiar to him, their uncommon interaction.
An abomination seen by the Jade House.
Sai had heard of Neji Hyuga prior to this particular mission, though he'd never known him personally. His reputation as a shinobi preceded him, with his clear head in all situations and his precise way of eliminating.
Sai shook his head in something akin to pity.
It was Hyuga's own fault he was going to die.
Sai leaned a little farther into the shadow of the building.
The two lovers had been clever, staying in well-populated towns as they figured out where they were going to go.
Sai was forced to be extra careful, staying back, out of Neji's range.
The two didn't venture outside much, unless they decided to move on to a different town, making it more difficult for Sai to get access to them.
No matter, Sai thought. I'd much rather kill them without causing a spectacle in a town. Better to wait til they decide where they're going.
Sai faded back into the shadows, returning to his hiding place where he could watch the two undetected.
—
TenTen opened her eyes to see Neji staring down at her, amusement in his eyes.
She kissed his neck in greeting and lay there with him for a while, not wanting to break the bliss that currently existed in her life.
However, she was forced to speak when she recalled one of the flaws that left her vulnerable.
"What did I say last night?" she murmured, glancing at him.
Neji smiled, eyes swimming in mirth.
"You said that you loved me."
TenTen reddened in embarrassment.
"Why does that bother you?" Neji inquired, noting her flushed cheeks.
"Because," TenTen said, her voice rough, "it's not like it can ever lead to anything, Neji. Whether we like it or not, we're shinobi, and this—this is only just going to get us killed faster."
Brought back to reality, Neji's expression cleared of his previous happiness and reverted back to determined attentiveness.
He slipped out of their shared bed and began dressing.
"What are you doing?" TenTen asked as he moved to put together his pack.
"We need to move on," Neji answered shortly.
TenTen considered him for a moment before following his lead, pulling on clothes as she went.
"Where to?" she inquired as she picked up her sheathed ninjato.
Neji paused, trying to remember the paths that led from the main road of the town they were staying in.
Eventually he shrugged, noncommittal.
"Where's our objective, then?"
Neji's brow furrowed as he thought, not wanting to admit the insecurity he felt.
TenTen brushed next to him, studying his face.
His eyes betrayed him.
TenTen shook her head, glancing around their small room with guarded brown eyes.
"If you think moving around will delay them, you're dreaming, Neji Hyuga."
"Better than staying in one place, just inviting them to kill us," Neji snapped.
TenTen pursed her lips.
"I can't let them kill you," Neji muttered.
TenTen smiled bitterly.
"Like you could stop them," she pointed out. "Besides, I can defend myself. You worry about yourself."
Neji frowned, displeased.
"Though," TenTen said a second later, "you do realize that we have to go back. They'll classify us as deserters, and then we'll have every shinobi in our two cities combined looking for us. We'd never survive."
Neji swallowed, at a loss of what to do.
"We could always return to our respective houses," TenTen continued, her tone thoughtful. "We wouldn't be able to see each other at all, probably, but we might—!"
"I refuse to live that way," Neji interceded firmly.
TenTen hid her smile at his defiance.
"Then we have two options. We stay and eventually get killed by our comrades, or we leave the country."
Neji raised his eyebrows at this last suggestion, speechless.
TenTen shrugged her shoulders, attempting to keep the desperation from her expression.
"It's the only way, Neji," she murmured tiredly. "If we abandon the shinobi life, you know that every shinobi in the country will be looking for us, if given the chance. We're not safe in Japan anymore."
Neji retreated from her side, sitting on the edge of the bed.
TenTen permitted him to recede into his own thoughts as she finished packing away their things.
When she was done, TenTen sat next to him, anxiously twisting his Jade shinobi ring that she still wore on her finger.
"You should take this back," TenTen told him.
"I want you to wear it," Neji stated quietly.
TenTen shook her head.
"It's not mine. I don't belong to the Jade House," TenTen persisted.
"It means more than that," Neji articulated softly.
TenTen bit her lip, running her finger over the stone.
"It's almost like an engagement ring."
Neji smirked.
"If you want it to be, it can."
TenTen rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not," Neji retorted seriously. "I'll marry you if I live long enough to get the chance."
TenTen flicked her eyes to him, at a loss for words.
Neji leaned forward and kissed her.
As confused as she was, TenTen didn't stop him.
—
Sakura blankly considered the road laid out before her.
It was a mountain road, just outside a town in the Owari Province, meant for farmers and goat-herders.(1)
And shinobi traveling with a daimyo's daughter, Sakura added silently.
Sakura would not be taking the same path.
TenTen had taken this particular road primarily for the obscurity, not for the quickest route. The road was mountainous, and few traveled it. What better road to take when trying to hide and protect something?
Sakura turned away from the start of the path and returned to the town gate.
Her mission was of speed, and the quickest road would be the only possible way to accomplish that.
Sakura moved easily through the crowds, her disguise giving her free movement.
She was being kept up to date with the shinobi's change of positions by messenger birds sent from Ivory House shinobi. They hadn't moved around much, but Sakura knew it wouldn't be long until TenTen got uneasy and started a longer journey.
Surely she knows we know. . . Sakura mused, winding through the carts of the town's marketplace. Surely she knows her death has been ordered.
Sakura sighed.
Sakura hoped her friend was as smart as Sakura thought she was.
—
The dark gave them more cover for travel.
In the open, Neji and TenTen were forced back into their traditional roles. Their focus for survival returned.
"We're being followed," Neji murmured under his breath a few hours before dawn.
It was cold this early in the morning. Neji's breath came out in a fog.
TenTen stretched, touching her toes as she feigned a yawn. Discreetly, she retrieved a kunai she had strapped to her leg.
"Anyone you recognize?" she inquired in the same soft, casual tone.
Neji shook his head.
"They're following just out of my range. They're at least somewhat aware of my abilities."
"Then they're dangerous," TenTen concluded. "Do you think it's someone from Kamakura?"
Neji paused, thinking.
"I doubt it," he eventually said. "But it'd be foolish to continue without knowing for sure."
"I agree."
Neji was glad for the cover of the dark. He briefly brushed his lips against her forehead.
TenTen bit down on her lip to keep from smiling.
"You won't be able to get away with things like that when morning comes," TenTen chided.
Neji smirked and stole a kiss from her lips.
TenTen grinned and flitted away, escaping his influence before she gave into him.
Neji let her go, knowing that the sooner he did so the easier it would be.
—
Morning arrived with a chill, carrying a breeze through the trees that TenTen and Neji were traveling through.
It made TenTen feel on edge. The wind was carrying change.
Neji and TenTen were quiet throughout the morning.
There was an electric tinge in the air.
It finally came to a head that afternoon.
Neji stopped walking suddenly, his hand flying to his ninjato.
TenTen stiffened, her blade already withdrawn.
From the shadows of the trees, a figure emerged.
He was dressed in dark clothes, a tanto in his left hand.
His black eyes were opaque.
He considered the two shinobi before him with an impassive expression.
"Neji Hyuga of the Jade House, you have been charged with treason. Your death has been ordered."
Neji took a position that effectively shielded TenTen from harm.
The move did not go unnoticed.
"The girl will die as well, Neji Hyuga. It is useless to defend her."
Neji scoffed.
"Sai, you're one of the best shinobi in the Jade House. But you won't lay a hand on her, even after I'm dead."
Sai cocked his head, confused.
"And why is that?"
Neji stifled a proud smile and held up his unadorned left hand.
"I've bequeathed my signet ring."
Sai's dark eyes wavered and shifted to the short woman standing just behind Neji.
He raised an eyebrow at his fellow shinobi.
"You've placed an order of protection on her?" he asked, seeking assurance.
Neji nodded once, grim.
"An order of what?" TenTen inquired, her voice sharp.
"An order of protection," Neji informed, keeping his eyes focused on Sai. "As long as you wear that ring, no Jade House shinobi is permitted to take your life."
TenTen looked down at the ring, her eyes widening at the gravity of the symbol it carried.
Sai narrowed his eyes at Neji.
"Regardless of the order of protection, I am still permitted to take your life, as ordered, Hyuga."
Neji held his arms wide, inviting.
"You may try, Sai, but you will fail."
TenTen swiftly ran from the two men, realizing the imminent fight about to take place.
She crouched up in a tree, sitting on a low enough branch to intervene if necessary.
As if realizing what she was thinking, Neji called out, "TenTen, don't you dare interfere. This fight is mine."
TenTen fumed, but did not answer.
Sai spared the female shinobi a quick glance.
"I don't understand why you would sacrifice your life for your mortal enemy," Sai muttered.
Neji considered Sai, thoughtful.
"I love her," he answered simply.
Neji knew Sai would not understand, could not comprehend such a simple explanation.
Sai shook his head.
"You made a foolish decision, Neji Hyuga."
Neji raised his blade, just in time to deflect the shuriken Sai sent sailing to Neji's face, intending to create a diversion.
TenTen watched as Sai flashed into Neji's range, and attempted to slash him across the chest.
The shorter blade gave Sai the advantage in terms of quickness. Neji was forced to rely on his paralyzation techniques.
He jabbed two fingers into Sai's sternum, taking a hit from the tanto on his shoulder.
Neji gritted his teeth; he felt the blade cut into his skin.
Sai took the hit, but did not wait to feel its effects.
He swung the blunt edge of his tanto into Neji's skull.
Neji staggered, dizzy, but drove his ninjato into the space in-between Sai's ribs.
Sai gasped. Neji had punctured a small hole in his lung.
TenTen stood on her branch, watching with rapt attention.
A voice emerged from the woods.
"Stop!"
TenTen flung a shuriken in the direction of the voice, acting without thinking.
A second later, stepping over the thick underbrush, entered a girl with pink hair, holding TenTen's shuriken in-between two fingers.
She flicked it into the ground, green eyes reading anger and hurt and confusion.
Sakura surveyed the scene for several seconds, considering Neji and Sai with a hateful expression.
Wordlessly, Sakura slid out her ninjato.
TenTen was down from the tree in a flash, her own sword held out defensively as she stood firmly in front of Neji.
The two Ivory House shinobi examined each other for a moment.
"It was cruel of them to send you to kill me," TenTen murmured finally, staring at the pink-haired woman blankly.
Sakura had no reply, though she did have a number of questions.
"Why have you done this? You've been labeled a traitor, and by the look of things, they were right to do so."
Sakura's cheeks flushed at the words that she spoke, ashamed. She'd just called her friend a traitor.
TenTen remained unfazed, though a tiny speck of hurt flickered in her brown eyes.
"I know it looks like I've betrayed the Ivory House, and maybe I have, but I don't regret my decision," answered TenTen.
Sakura shook her head. She did not understand.
"Why make such a decision, TenTen? You're one of the best shinobi in the Ivory House and you threw your life away—for what? Him?"
TenTen's face fell; sadness came pouring out. She crossed her arms over her chest, catching Sakura's eye. Her brown irises were defiant.
"I love him," she managed to mutter, hopelessness confined in her whisper.
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the stranger, analyzing him.
His face was guarded, but he met Sakura's probing glare with confidence. From his forehead ran a trickle of blood.
Sakura glanced over Sai, who was kneeling halfway to the ground, gasping, perpetually trying to catch his breath.
"I see the Jade House sent someone after you as well," she commented without inflection.
TenTen took a measured breath, seemingly gathering strength. Sakura noted how tired she looked.
"Yes. But Neji is no longer a member of the Jade House," TenTen stated, holding up her hand to display the jade ring.
Sakura's sword hand faltered a little.
She wasn't aware of the Jade House's rules of treason or resignation, but the ring spoke volumes, even to her. TenTen was protected to some degree by the ring's transference. Logically, no Jade House shinobi could touch her.
And there was something else.
TenTen knew his name. Shinobi were forbidden to reveal their names to anyone, sometimes even their own friends. It was a crime to reveal one's name, such a personal identity, to one's enemy.
"This is impossible," Sakura said, her gaze darting between the two. "All of it."
TenTen could see the doubt in her friend's green irises, even with her disbelieving statement.
"Sakura, I never intended for this to happen. But it did. Sometimes, we're placed on a path that we're unable to avoid. So we accept it and move on." TenTen briefly grasped Neji's hand. "His life and mine . . . they're entwined now. And I'll die before I change it back to the way it once was."
Sakura's heart swelled with admiration.
She shook her head.
A small smile braced her lips.
Sakura looked up to meet her friend's eyes, but her expression changed, clouded.
The tanto hit her skull squarely and knocked the pink-haired shinobi onto her back.
The forest was silent.
TenTen stared at the body, at a loss to understand.
Neji looked behind him to see Sai half-standing, leaning against a tree, his black eyes blazing.
"Curse you both," he spat, blood spilling from his lips.
Neji, with concentrated strength, struck Sai in the heart with an irreversible paralyzation technique. Sai's body convulsed as his heart shuddered with a seizure. He fell against the tree, his dark eyes dimming.
Neji turned back to his lover, only to see her crouching by her friend.
Sakura's green eyes stared straight ahead, incapable of sight.
With solicitous gentleness, TenTen shut Sakura's eyelids, sealing them to the dark forever.
"We should go," Neji murmured quietly.
TenTen blinked back the tears that had threatened to fall.
She stood and briefly squeezed his hand.
"Yes, we should," she replied, sheathing her ninjato.
—
Tsunade angrily wrung the neck of the messenger bird, casting the limp body to the ground in her fury.
"Damn them."
Shizune rose from her position near the door, bowing in submission as she came closer.
"Katsuyu-sama, shall we send out more shinobi to eliminate Sparrow and the Jade House member?"
Tsunade fumed for several minutes, mulling it over.
Eventually, she smiled bitterly.
"No. They'll leave Japan if they're smart. Besides, Sparrow has managed to outwit us. As a former shinobi of the Ivory House, I suppose I owe her some degree of credit. . . We will let them leave without anymore interference. But if they return, which I doubt they ever will, we will be waiting. Post sentries at the borders. If they ever come back, we will kill them, as previously intended."
Shizune nodded and retreated from the room to do as Tsunade had commanded.
When she exited, she let her emotions slide.
Shizune shook her head, perplexed by Tsunade's decision.
Maybe it was because of TenTen's tenacity, or perhaps Tsunade had a single, rare stroke of compassion.
Shizune sighed, walking down the porch of the building.
There was truly no comparison.
They were the only two shinobi who had ever gotten away.
(1) Owari Province was one of the old provinces of Japan. Today, it is known as Aichi Prefecture.
So, what do you think: Epilogue?
:D
Review please.