Please see first chapter for disclaimer, etc.
Prompt: Anything
Part: 2/3
Special Thanks: goes out to Muggle Minx, naash, KNO, DarkAnonymous324, rao hyuga 18, Hysterical Insanity, Kratos Wilder, lEI, and kenzinator for all your reviews! I never get bored reading them (or even re-reading them), and they definitely keep me inspired!
Author's Note: My apologies for making you all wait for part 2 longer than I'd anticipated! Unfortunately, my laptop caught a virus, and I had to have my thumb drive scanned to make sure it hadn't hitched a ride on it before I could use it to get my backed-up copy of Anything off it and finish it. Fortunately I'm obsessive when it comes to backing things up, and my thumb drive scanned clean, so I was able to sit down and get this finished. Thanks for your patience, and for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story, and I hope you enjoy part 2!
*~Anything~*
Neji had never felt so uncomfortable as he did standing in the Hokage's office with Tsunade, Hiashi, Tenten, Gaara, and Kakashi all staring at him, each with varying degrees of shock.
He should have known this would happen. Had, in all actuality, halfway expected a bit of the reaction he'd gotten when he came back to Konoha. But not even in his worst nightmares had he imagined the scene he'd found when he'd entered the tower housing the Hokage's office.
Tenten was getting married. To someone who was not him.
Granted, he had not proposed to her. Had not, in so many words, even given her an indication that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Neji had thought, however, that it was something of an unspoken agreement between them. He had thought that Tenten understood the depth of love he had for her, that when everything was just right, he would ask her the most important question a man ever asked a woman. Would finally make her forever his, and him forever hers.
But he had come home to her standing before the Hokage in her wedding finery, her hands grasped in those of the Kazekage of the Sand's. Though he had interrupted before their vows were exchanged and the Hokage had pronounced them officially married, Neji knew those facts were just semantics. Had he not come in when he had, Tenten would have married Gaara and moved to Suna.
Of all the people who he had expected to give up on him, even given the overwhelming evidence deliberately left behind, Neji had never expected Tenten to be among them. But, honestly, how could he have expected differently?
Lady Tsunade seemed to be the first to recover her wits. Clearing her throat, she drew all attention to herself as she kept her gaze focused on Neji. "Your mission was a success, then?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tenten flinch slightly. Neji would have preferred that the Hokage not have started out the inevitable conversation that way, but he supposed that would be the foremost priority in her mind. Especially considering … certain things. "Yes, Lady Hokage." There seemed to be nothing further to say on the matter, particularly given the sensitive nature of the mission. That had, after all, been the root cause of this entire mess.
He was trying very hard not to be bitter.
Nodding once, dazedly, Tsunade went to sit in her desk chair, as if desiring some sort of motion to calm herself. Her hand drifted, as if of its own accord, toward a certain drawer, but she seemed to realize what she was doing and snatched it away. She clenched her hands together before her to prevent it from happening again as she spoke. "You have been gone so long, even I had begun to believe in the truth of the necessary smoke screens included in this end of your mission," she said. "But we will discuss this later, in private."
Of course. Even now, when it seemed like everything that Neji had ever wanted or cared for was lost to him, all because of that cursed mission, he couldn't tell anyone the truth. Not even … Tenten. "Yes, Lady Hokage." The words exited his mouth numbly, by rote, with no real emotion behind them. He was used to saying yes, even when he wanted to say no, to a lot of people who held more power than him. It was an inescapable part of his everyday life.
Tsunade's amber eyes flickered from Neji, to Tenten, to Gaara, to Kakashi, and then back around. "While I am not at liberty to reveal any specific details, I can tell you all that this was, to a certain extent, planned. When Neji left on his mission almost a year ago, it was important for it to seem like he had been killed to protect his identity. But not even I had believed it would take this long for him to complete the mission and return." The expression on her face also clearly said that she wished she could have told them the truth, but it had been crucial to the mission that she keep the secret.
Neji steeled himself and looked toward Tenten again. She sat quietly, her hands clasped together in her lap, head bowed, not looking at him or anyone else in the room. His only consolation was that she didn't seem to be paying any attention to Gaara, either, and he was resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. The Kazekage might as well have walked over and sucker-punched the Hyuuga prodigy, because it physically hurt seeing him be so possessive of Tenten.
He had to face the truth at some point. When he'd left without making his intentions perfectly clear, he'd just as much as declared Tenten unattached. She had found love with Gaara during Neji's absence, and as much as it hurt, he had to make himself accept the fact that she was the Kazekage's now. That, in all likelihood, he would never see her again. It would be far too dangerous to allow himself to be in proximity to her after she became Gaara's wife. Not only would he be making himself miserable, he would put her integrity at risk, and he would never, never do that. Besides, he couldn't promise himself that he wouldn't say or do something stupid, and he couldn't put Tenten in that position.
Forcing himself to look away, Neji looked toward his uncle. Hiashi, predictably, looked as emotionless as always. It was unfair of him to think that the Hyuuga clan's leader had felt nothing when he thought his nephew was dead - after all, Neji was the most powerful Hyuuga to be born in many generations, though a member of a branch clan - but he doubted it meant much either way for Hiashi to discover that Neji was, in fact, still alive. In fact, the thing that was probably causing him the most anger was the fact that he had not been privy to the fact that his nephew's mission had not, in fact, been a suicide mission at all.
The question that nobody wanted to ask hung heavily in the air. What happens now? Neji couldn't take his eyes off Tenten, and most specifically the hand she'd lifted to grasp Gaara's on her shoulder. He wanted to say something, anything, to her, but wasn't sure he had the right to do so anymore.
Abruptly, Tenten lifted her head. Her gaze caught Neji's, and in those familiar honey depths he saw the amount of pain she'd been living with for the past year. He also saw something else he couldn't quite identify - hurt? anger? relief? sadness? - but, in the end, he wasn't sure he wanted to.
She was the first to look away. When she did, her head lifted so she could gaze up at Gaara. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly. Accepting his hand, she got up and went with him out onto the balcony just outside the Hokage's office.
Neji shifted his gaze to Tsunade, wondering what she would do now. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Tenten and Gaara talked quietly, heads close together as one or the other of them occasionally gestured. He forced himself to look away when Gaara placed his hand alongside Tenten's face to lift it up, undoubtedly to kiss her.
Lady Tsunade cleared her throat and got to her feet, eyes skittishly moving from Neji, to Kakashi, to Hiashi. At last she addressed the elder Hyuuga, motioning toward a more secluded corner of her office. "Lord Hiashi, if you please?"
That left Neji and Kakashi relatively alone. The copy-nin stood with his hands tucked into his pockets, undamaged eye focused solely on the prodigy. "You broke her heart," Kakashi said at last.
As if Neji didn't already feel badly enough about this whole situation. "I know," he said softly. "I never meant to. I wanted to tell her the truth. In fact, there were several times I very nearly broke all the rules and told her that, no matter what, she shouldn't believe what she heard. But … I couldn't. I followed the rules, I kept the secret, and I…" He stopped. There was no point in going on, because nothing would undo what had already been done.
Kakashi sighed, a long exhale that sounded like it had come from deep inside him. "She didn't believe it at first," he said at last. "For days she kept coming here, begging Lady Hokage to let her mount a rescue mission. But after she was told repeatedly that it was too dangerous, that there was no point…" He shrugged. "She was angry for a while. I've seen her angry before, but this was different. I even caught her trying to sneak out once, but I managed to talk her out of it." At last he looked away, eye focusing on the balcony. Neji couldn't bring himself to follow the other man's gaze. "I keep wondering if maybe I shouldn't have stopped her. If I should have just let her go, or even gone with her. She changed after that. Her anger just vanished, replaced with a depression I don't think I've ever seen before. I was worried about her - we all were. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata took turns staying with her, to keep her from doing something - rash."
Neji swallowed hard. What had Tenten been thinking? He never, never thought she would react to anything that way. She was one of the strongest kunoichi in the village, with a reasonable grasp on her emotions. She felt things passionately and deeply, but he'd long ago helped her get a handle on things while she was on missions, or just when it came to business. Life as a ninja did not allow for extraneous emotions, or they would never be able to get out of bed after a mission where it came down to you or them. Tenten had killed before, and so had he. They all had. But now he had to think - had it been Tenten, would he have felt the same way? If he had been told, repeatedly, that Tenten was dead and he was not allowed to go prove it to himself, to even retrieve her body for a proper burial, would he lose himself?
Kakashi was still watching him, his coal-dark eye as perceptive of emotions as his Sharingan was to jutsu. He didn't say anything, just stood quietly and watched.
Clearing his throat, Neji met the older shinobi's gaze squarely. "Tell me one thing, please, Kakashi-sensei. Does Tenten love the Kazekage?" He had to know. It had been eating him up inside ever since he'd walked in and seen them at the alter together. If she really did love him and want to marry him, he wouldn't interfere. He would make a genuine effort to be happy for her, to be the supportive friend and teammate he'd been since the chuunin exams and before he and Tenten had become something more. And, if necessary, he would do all he could to cut himself from her life, if that was what she wanted. Even if it hurt him, even if it killed him, in the end, all he wanted was for her to be happy. It was the least he could do for her, after what he'd done to create this mess.
For another long few moments, Kakashi stared out toward the balcony. "I don't know."
That was not what Neji had been expecting. "What do you mean?"
"She likes to make us all think she does. But I know she's marrying him now, hoping the love will come later. She's as much as admitted it to me. Tenten knows she's doing this for all the wrong reasons, but somehow she's hoping to put things to rights, I suppose. She's changed, or at least she's tried to change. But it was never enough." Kakashi shifted to prop his back against the wall, tilting his head down in a relaxed position as he once more tucked his hands into his pockets. "In fact, I wonder if she would have really gone through with it, even if you hadn't shown up." He hesitated, then finally said, "She was doing it to forget you. We both knew she never could, though. She was marrying Gaara to try to ease her pain. You asked me if I thought she loved him. I think she does, to a certain extent." Lifting his head, Kakashi met Neji's eyes again, an intenseness there that wouldn't allow the Hyuuga to look away even if he'd wanted to. "But I know for sure that she doesn't love him the way she loves you, and she never will."
Perhaps he didn't deserve to hope, not after what had happened. But, selfishly, Neji wanted to hope that maybe, just maybe, he hadn't blown his chances with Tenten. This time he finally allowed himself to look out onto the balcony, where Tenten was offering Gaara a tremulous smile. Then she turned and walked back into Tsunade's office, the chestnut-haired sand ninja a step or two behind her.
The moment she entered, everyone hushed. Neji and Kakashi's attention had already been on her, but Tsunade and Hiashi stopped their own whispered conversation and turned to look, as well.
Tenten looked more confident than she had when she had went out with Gaara, and it made Neji wonder what the Kazekage had said to her. "I need to say something."
Neji realized he was holding his breath, but couldn't seem to get his lungs to worth to release the trapped oxygen. He wanted desperately to hear what Tenten had to say, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he did. What if she was going to go through with her marriage to the Kazekage?
"I came here today to get married to Gaara. And then Neji came home, and…" She trailed off, her eyes cutting to him and hovering there uncertainly. "This is a lot to think about. I do, however, know that I'm not getting married today." She turned to Tsunade, her expression both apologetic and hopeful. "Lady Tsunade, could you please make our excuses? I need to be alone to think right now, and I can't face anyone else today." She pushed away Gaara's hand when he reached for her. "Please, Gaara. Not now." Without looking at anyone else - not even Neji - she turned and left, one hand locked around her midsection, the other over her mouth.
He could not miss the gleam of tears in her eyes when she'd passed by him. Neji looked up at caught the Kazekage's gaze, seeing the same emotion there that he was feeling. They both wanted to run after her, to comfort her. But Tenten had said she needed to be alone, and they both needed to give her space and time to think.
Tsuande cleared her throat and moved toward the door. "Excuse me. I'll go let the guests know. Kakashi, please come with me?" After receiving an affirming nod from the copy-nin, the two left the office. Hiashi made his excuses and left a few moments later, but not before giving Neji a look that clearly stated they would be having a very lengthy talk later.
When they were alone, Neji turned toward Gaara once more, offering a polite bow before addressing him. "Thank you, for taking care of her," he whispered. "I know you did not do it for me. But regardless of what you might think of me for what I did to her, I do love her. Very much. And I want nothing more than for her to be safe and happy. Even if - even if that means she chooses you." Before the other could say anything in response, Neji bowed again, quickly but no less politely, and then left.
Tenten wasn't the only one who needed some time to think.
*~To Be Concluded~*
Author's Ending Notes: So! Some questions have been answered, but not all. It's still up in the air about who Tenten will choose (or will she choose either of them?), but please don't lose faith in me yet! I went through a lot of trail-and-error periods with Tenten's character in this three-part piece, trying to keep her in character and yet make her react in an emotionally-believable way to what was happening around her. I'm not technically a fan of the Gaara/Tenten pairing (Neji/Tenten is my OTP), but I do think he is a character she would work well with, especially in this scenario. Until part three, thank you again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
