A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the love and support! I really appreciate it!
Special thanks to xxCrunchyxx and AliceOtaku for all the encouragement! Love you guys!
And to my dear Indonesian friend (soon to be the world's best veterinarian) Kazuya RandomAuthor: Good luck with your studies! I'll be rooting for you all the way from Chicago!
Also, much love to SuzuGamerGirl and Neji and TenTen 4 Ever for being the awesome people they are.
And congrats to my older brother for getting his driver's permit!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
…
Tenten wrung her hands nervously and chewed on her bottom lip. The three were in a cab heading to the Eiffel Tower at the moment. The Murakami was sitting in the backseat with Neji while Gaara sat in the passenger sear next to the driver.
Neji watched the female next to him, concern etched into his features. "She looks terrified," he thought, eyeing her fidgeting form.
"We'll be okay," he whispered to her reassuringly. His partner nodded hastily, trying hard not to think of any horrendous event that could (and probably would knowing their luck) occur that evening.
"We-we could be discovered again-or-or be sent to prison or-or-or we could die!" she cried in her head, her fingers scrunching and wrinkling her silk dress.
She wanted so badly to be back in the hotel room or in London-or better yet, back in their condo in Chicago. Neji would be watching the news, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand. She would be curled up on the couch next to him, napping or just enjoying the feel of her partner's fingers in her hair.
"Neji," she whined softly, her anxiousness driving her to the brink of sanity.
"Tenten, hush. We'll be fine. I'll protect you, you know that," the Hyuuga said.
Gaara watched his two companions comfort each other. He smirked, "Hopelessly in love."
When the French monument came into view, sparkling lights, twisted metal, and all, the three felt their hearts begin to race.
"Are you ready?" Gaara asked, paying the driver and stepping out.
Neji held the door open for Tenten as he responded," Not really. But that's a risk we'll all have to take. "
Gaara chuckled.
The walk to the tower seemed to take an eternity. The three slowed with every step, as nightmares played in their minds.
Neji reached up to touch his wig. He had managed to correct the color of his to a maroonish shade. Gaara's was black.
Tenten's hair was done in the usual messy bun held together by an ornament of some sort.
Waiting in line was even more antagonizing. The agents constantly shifted their weight from one foot to the other.
After half an hour, they were shoved into an elevator.
Once again, the trio seemed to be the last ones on the lift; once again, they knocked out the operator.
There was a small crowd present within and outside the restaurant: lovers, business people, and the rich.
"What's the plan?" Tenten whispered.
"Well, first of all, we have to find a table near Gato's. You and I can act as a couple. Gaara, you'll be a waiter."
"Eh? Why do I have to be the waiter?" the redhead frowned, crossing his arms.
"Because I said so," Neji silenced him.
"And who asked for your opinion?" Gaara questioned.
"Tenten."
"Oh no, don't bring me into this," the Murakami warned.
"Well, you asked," her partner told her.
"Oh well sorry," the brunette female remarked sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Gaara shouted.
"You shut up!" the Hyuuga bit back.
"I was talking to her," the redhead said.
"Well… so was I."
"Ow!" both males shrieked in unison. Tenten had bashed their heads together.
"Idiots," she muttered. "Let's just get this over with."
Clutching their aching skulls, Gaara and Neji followed their female companion.
"It's the same guy from earlier," the Murakami said, eyeing the cashier.
"Okay, he seems busy, let's just sit down," the Hyuuga proposed. He and Tenten weaved their way to the desired table, hands intertwined tightly.
"I think this should be good," the white-eyed man said, pulling out his chair and sitting down. His "date" did the same.
"Do you see him?" The Murakami whispered, leaning across the table. Her partner's eyes shifted from left to right before he answered with a quick "no."
They leaned back into their seats, frowning impatiently. The brunette female crossed her arms, closed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks. She exhaled, making a groaning sound, as annoyance lodged itself in her thoughts.
"Stupid Gato," she mumbled. Neji, who was reading a menu, quirked an eyebrow at her comment.
"Relax Bud, I'm sure he'll be here soon."
"Whatever."
The Hyuuga placed down the list of dishes and grabbed her hand.
"Be patient," he said sternly, her irritation was clearly contagious.
"I can't! I'm so sick and tired of this! Chasing this guy around, wasting our life working undercover while our boss gets to take all the credit. We're 24, Neji! Don't you want to have some fun in your life? Don't you wonder what its like being normal? I-I don't want to do this anymore! I-"
"Listen here: in this world, there is no such thing as 'normal'. Keep your fantasies to yourself. Focus," Neji hissed.
"I am focusing!" Tenten shouted, standing up. She breathed hard, her glare fierce.
Her partner remained in his seat, eyeing her coolly as she lost her mind.
The Murakami was frustrated with her life. And seeing the one person she felt she could fall back, just sit there like he didn't care, well it-it made her feel-feel alone. It made her feel vulnerable, insecure, hated.
"Stop looking at me like that!" she cried, her hands pressing down on the table, as if she wanted it to crumble. As if she wanted it to break and be swallowed by the floor, and her with it.
Neji sighed. Why were they arguing? Why did they always fight? He didn't mean to hurt her. He wanted to protect her. He just wanted her to calm down for God's sake.
"Tenten, stop it right now!" he commanded, rising to his feet. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, trying to knock some sense into her being. But his partner wasn't listening. Tears poured from her eyes and she shut them along with her other senses. She locked down, trying to keep out the world, trying to keep out the pain, trying to keep out him.
"Stop it indeed. Haven't you heard it's quite rude to cause a scene?" Neji's heart nearly stopped when he saw the one person he wished was dead right now.
"Gato," he greeted. His partner was having a melt down, Gaara was God knows where, and he was stuck all by himself trying to defend all three of them.
"You really mustn't be so hard on her. She is quite a sweet girl, isn't she?" the drug dealer smiled coyly.
The Hyuuga pulled Tenten around the table and into his arms.
"Cat got your tongue?" Gato continued, stepping closer.
"Shut up," the white-eyed man bit out. Gato cocked his head to the side.
"Now, that wasn't very nice, was it?" he asked," Maybe I should teach you how to talk to your elders." The drug dealer drew out a gun.
Neji pushed Tenten behind him. He took out a pistol of his own from his shoe.
"Maybe I should teach you the law," the Hyuuga retorted, pulling the trigger. The bullet hit the man square in the chest, but he did not flinch, but smirked instead.
"Bullet proof vest. Isn't that what prevented you from paralyzing me the first time? Life is funny isn't it? The head of the circle comes to bite you in the rear."
"Shut up!" Neji ordered. Everyone in the restaurant was silent. That was the exact moment Gaara decided to wander out of the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks as he took note of the battle occurring across the room.
"Gaara- oh shit!" the Hyuuga was interrupted as Gato fired a shot. He pulled Tenten to the ground with him, crawling and dragging his partner to safety.
He pushed open the door to the men's restroom.
"Tenten, snap out of it! I'm sorry, all right? I didn't mean any of it. Please, stop!" he begged. His heart pounded, but the beat wasn't loud enough to drown out Gato's footsteps and shouts.
"I have to get us out of here. But how?" His eyes frantically searched the bathroom until his gaze landed on a tile on the ceiling. It was shifted slightly to the left, revealing space.
"There," he whispered. He locked the door, got up, and kicked open the stall directly under the spot. His eyes bulged at the sight of a man doing his business. He seemed terrified.
Neji flashed him an awkward smile. He stepped on his lap and pushed away the tile, revealing an opening to the air vents. He hurriedly pulled his partner from the ground and helped her up into the duct.
"Hurry!" he urged as he could hear the drug dealer get closer. Fortunately, he managed to escape just as the door flew open.
"Neji, what the hell are we going to do? Huh? We're going to die!" Tenten whispered hoarsely. The longhaired man wasn't exactly sure on how to soothe her, as the same fear plagued his mind as well. And so, he kissed her.
"Hush! We'll be just fine."
The Murakami gave him a disbelieving shake of the head.
"No, we won't! God won't save us that many times!"
"Tenten, listen to me carefully," when Neji was sure he had her full attention, he continued, " I love you. I will never, ever, ever, let anything happen to you. We both are going to get out of here alive just fine. And when this mission is over, we'll find a different job and live a happy life, together."
The brunette female blinked, digesting what he'd just said. She bit her lip. She was itching to just hug him and never let go. They'd stay right here in the air vent, safe, with –oh my, was that a dead rat? Never mind, plan canceled.
"Let's get out of here!" Tenten insisted, eyeing the deceased animal with disgust. Neji managed to crack a sincere grin, and followed her.
-With Gaara-
He had a pot on his head, and a spatula in his hand. Armed with cookware, the redhead peeked around the corner of the counter.
A bullet whizzed past his nose, nearly brushing his skin. He jerked his head back, eyes wide, heart racing.
"Quit hiding! You little runt! Fight me!" Gato roared. His thugs grumbled in agreement. Shakily, the agent stood up, looking like a deer in the headlights.
"Umm… hi," he greeted weakly, knees shaking.
Gato smiled maliciously. "Get him," he ordered.
Thinking quickly, Gaara shouted," Hey look! It's Neji and Tenten!" Now when he said this, he merely meant to distract his assailants long enough to make a quick getaway. He didn't actually mean for his fellow agents to fall through the ceiling.
-With Neji and Tenten-
The two had paused for a moment to catch their breaths. Suddenly, they heard a weird moan and popping sound as well as someone shouting their name.
And then they were tumbling through the air. They crashed to the ground in an ungraceful heap. When the two had finished complaining about their injuries, they realized they were surrounded by well… not the friendliest crowd.
They caught a glimpse of red flash through the door and something close to a smirk on his face.
Tenten pulled out her lipstick pistol, slowly getting to her feet. Neji searched his clothing for his gun, but came up empty handed.
"I must have dropped it," he whispered softly.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of this," his partner responded, ushering him behind her.
Gato raised an eyebrow, amused. "The princess saves he prince, eh? How cute, but cowardly on his part."
"Hey!" Neji shouted, fists clenching.
His partner smiled, " Being cowardly is better than being dead."
"Hey! I am not a coward! Damn it, Tenten! Whose side are you on?" the Hyuuga complained.
Tenten pressed her finger to the trigger. She pressed it once, then twice, frowning as nothing happened.
"Awe, how sad. At least the two love birds will die together," Albert, who had been quiet throughout the entire ordeal, jeered.
The brunette female growled and sprung at him. Neji jumped on Gato to keep him from attacking her. He ripped the gun from his hand and swatted at him with his fists.
Tenten was enraged; she clawed at Albert's hair, face, etc. in blind fury.
"We are not going to die!" she exclaimed before being swung into the air and bashed against the wall. She got up slowly, seeing nothing, but red.
She landed a punched on his nose, and a knee to his gut.
Albert grabbed her arm, which was ready to swing back and hit him again, and twisted it behind her back. The Murakami gritted her teeth in pain. She took several deep breaths, gathering her strength, before she yanked her limb out of his grasp and flipped him over her shoulder.
In the process, Albert's ring slipped from his finger and found its way into the agent's palm. She slipped ii into the pocket of her sweater, and prepared herself for another onslaught of attacks.
Neji was choking Gato, and the drug dealer was grasping his neck. They both sputtered, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. Their skin was red from the neck up.
Suddenly, a string of deafening shots were heard, and then a hallow silence. It took a moment for the duo to realize that none of Gato's thugs (save for Albert) were present in the room.
Fearing the worst, they fought their way out of the criminals' hold and made their way to the dining room.
Tenten gasped at what she saw. She clutched Neji's arm for support as she took a step back.
Everyone in the room was dead. Only the drug dealer's men were left standing.
The next seventy-five minutes seemed to be a blur. Neji grabbed Tenten's hand and dragged the two of them outside. He led her down the stairs, nearly tripping on his own two feet in his haste. And they fled through the streets of Paris, finger's entangled, lungs burning, and heart beating in sync with the rhythm of their feet.
They did not stop until they were outside their hotel room. The sound of gunfire was still thundering in their ears.
Tenten shoved the key into the slot before collapsing to the ground. Neji managed to open the door and carry her inside before he too, fainted.
-One Hour Later-
Gaara shook his colleagues with as much force as he could muster.
He saw Tenten's eyelids flicker open and immediately rushed to her side.
"Are you alright? What happened?" he questioned, peering down at her.
She groaned, her head throbbing.
"What happened?" Gaara pressed again.
"I-we-everyone-people-dead-love-rat-ducts-pain," she mumbled, her words jumbled in a haze of confusion. The Murakami proceeded to abruptly sit up, butting Gaara's chin with her skull.
"Neji! Where is Neji? What have you done with him? You killed him, didn't you?" she growled, grabbing the redhead's collar.
"Tenten, Neji is fine. He's on the bed right over there." Gaara paused to point out the Hyuuga's resting form. The brunette female's grasp loosened at the sight of him.
"He's okay," she whispered softly.
"Yes, he's okay. Now, lie down. I'll go make you something to-" He paused, closing his eyes and cupping his mouth as he witnessed Tenten vomit over the side of the bed.
"Err… let me get some soda and towels instead."
The redhead cleaned up the mess rather quickly. Soon enough, the Murakami was feeling better and sat happily watching cartoons. She had shifted to Neji's bed and was stroking his hair like he did to her when she was sick.
"Wake up soon," she murmured absentmindedly, "I love you too."
Unwritten Rule # 21: Never fall in love with your partner.
…
A/N: I am so sorry for not updating for nearly a month! I sincerely hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and please review!
~M.I.