Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto
A/N: OMG... I'm going to cry... I just found out my first weekend class is going to start this Saturday.. so instead of starting school on Monday, I'm starting this Saturday... and worst, I checked my readings, and I have 300 pages to read by Saturday... oh how fun... Anyway, to make myself feel better, and cos I promised, here's another one! Please remember to review... you'll help me feel better about all these readings... ahhhhhh...
THANKS – 'blows kisses' thank you, thank you, thank you all so much… ay… school's getting closer and closer… someone should shoot me for thinking that gong to school 6 days a week was a smart idea… Thank you all for your constant support, you're awesome!!!
DEDICATION – This story is dedicated to Pinkberry Soda. I hope you don't mind that it wasn't snow… I was feeling inspired by the heavy rain storms currently flooding my fair city… Oh, and I applied my own take to your idea… well technically I had every intention of doing it your way, but the story didn't agree with me, and decided it wanted to end this way instead. XD Hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for all your reviews.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
RAIN
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Tenten sat by her window, watching as the heavy downpour pelted the streets of Konoha with massive force. Everyone had decided to take the day off from their busy lives to wait out the thunderous storms that had invaded the fire country. It had already been more than half a week since the heavy rain had made itself at home in the village hidden in the leaves. The streets were caked in large mud puddles, as the storm continued to rage in full force upon the listless village.
It wasn't often that rain came to the village, so people didn't particularly complain about the odd occurrence, as it provided much needed water for plants and prevented the reservoirs from going completely dry. Still, it meant nothing much else could be done while the flooding waters bombarded the roads.
Tenten continued to watch the empty streets, wistfully chanting old nursery rhymes that plead for the rain to stop. (1) As she looked through her fogged up window, a flash of white suddenly dashed outside her window. It wasn't lightening, but it almost moved with the same velocity. Using her oversized sleeves to whip away the water vapors accumulated on her window, she focused her eyes on the tall figure standing across the street from her apartment. The rain was falling down much too hard for her to accurately make out who the figure belonged to, but realizing she knew of only three men who could move with such speed, and knowing only one who wore white, while the other two wore blindingly bright green, she could easily construe who it was that stood outside her window.
Moving to open the window in order to shout at the shinobi for standing in the heavy rain, she looked out and saw he was no longer standing there. At first Tenten questioned whether she had seen him at all, but later realized she understood exactly what had happened. He had been there, but only momentarily; and he had known she'd seen him. It was his way of letting her know he would be training, and inviting her to join him if she should so desire. It had been that way since the beginning. He would never order her to meet him for a spar, nor had they ever scheduled anything in advance. It had always been a look, or gesture, followed by his departure into the training fields; an open invitation. One which she would always, readily accept.
The idea of getting out of her apartment greatly appealed to the bored kunoichi. On the other hand, the thought of getting sick from training out in the rain, did not tempt her in the slightest. Just the same, she quickly picked up her gear and headed toward the training grounds. She may not have been willing to admit it, but it brought her tremendous joy that the stoic boy would consider her a worthy opponent. Little did she know, he though of her more than just a worthy sparing partner.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
There was something mesmerizing about the way the water hit Neji's Kaiten. Not just the fact that it would ricochet the water droplets as forcefully as it did the endless supply of weapons Tenten shot at him, but there seemed to be an almost ethereal glow momentarily surrounding the Hyuga, as he came to a complete stop.
"Are you okay Tenten?" Neji smoothly asked, noticing the flush look upon his teammate's pale skin.
"Huh?" Tenten shook her head clear of the dizzying thoughts that had invaded it. "Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, moving back into position to resume their training.
"You do not appear to be doing so well." Neji noted, observing the girl's unsteady movements.
"Don't worry about it Neji." Tenten tried to reassure him, "I'm just a little wet." She added, before preparing to jump toward the nearest tree branch, where she could unleash her next attack.
As she sluggishly ran through the deep mud, attempting to find higher ground, her sagging pants caused her to stumble, as her vision began blurring; shortly after, her feet gave way under her.
The next thing Tenten could remember was waking up in a nice warm bed. She looked around to see where she was, and found herself in a completely white room. For an instant, she wondered if perhaps she had passed on to the next life. The pristine whiteness of the room seemed too clean and perfect for there to be any other explanation. Plus, it didn't reek of that awful ammonia smell she had become much too familiar with in her, all too frequent, trips to the intensive care unit; so she was fairly certain that she hadn't been transported to Konoha hospital. Still, she couldn't help but feel a warm familiarity to the room, though she was certain she had never been there before.
"Tenten?" a deep baritone voice echoed in Tenten's head as she attempted to reopen her eyes, only then having realized they had at some point shut of their own accord.
"Neji?" the bun-haired kunoichi meekly whispered, recognizing the pleasant voice.
"Hn." The prodigy grunted in confirmation
"Where am I?" she asked in a broken tone.
"You collapsed; I thought it prudent to bring you out of the rain." Neji explained. "I brought you to the Hyuga compound."
"So warm…" Tenten mumbled.
"Your clothes needed to be removed, as they were much too wet." He informed her, explaining why it was she felt warm, and not soggy and wet. Had her eyes been open, she would have noticed the faint blush that briefly colored the Hyuga's cheeks.
"Hot." Tenten moaned.
A concerned look spread across the boys face as he moved to the girl's side. "You're running a fever." Neji informed her; his hand gently pressed against her forehead.
"mmm" her eyes fluttered slowly as she tried to look up at him.
"You should rest." Neji softly replied before removing his hand and turning to walk out.
It was late. She had been sleeping for hours, and it was already well past nightfall. Once more glancing back to observe her, Neji deciding she would most likely not wake up before dawn, thus he should probably head off to bed and check in on her later.
"Neji…" Tenten called out to stop him.
"Hn?" Neji turned to face the girl, even though he knew she couldn't see him.
"Stay. Please." She pleaded quietly.
"Hn." Neji moved toward the side of the bed, complying with her wishes. After all, it had been due to his invitation to train that she had fallen in this condition; the least he could do was wait by her side until she felt better.
"Sleep." Tenten whispered, as she moved toward the right to make room for him on his small bed.
Hesitant to comply with the feverish girl's request, he decided instead to sit next to her small figure until she fell asleep. As he sat beside her laying form, his right arm subconsciously moved down to her loose hair, draped across the pillow. He had only seen it down on rare occasions, but had never been close enough to touch it. As he sat there playing with the sleeping girl's hair, he failed to realize the contented smile that spread across the girl's face as she drifted off into the land of dreams, thinking of the boy who sat beside her.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
THE END
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
(1) I'm sure you all know the one I'm talking about… lol
Author's Note: Okay, that was kind of a sappy ending… but that's fine… I liked it XD Did make me kind of sleepy though… Don't know why it is, each time I write in that a character is feeling sleepy, suddenly I feel like falling asleep… lol
Oh, and just so you don't get any funny ideas… Tenten's smile at the end did not mean she was pretending to be sick or asleep, she was "content" because of the soothing feeling of him petting her hair… serious, who doesn't love it when they get their hair played with?... it's like cats, how they purr when they're being pet… I'm not the only one am I? 'eyes dart nervously'… Nah, I'm sure I'm not… lol…
Remember to REVIEW, please and thank you XD