Part 7: Heart Matters (5)

"If not for you… if not for the fact that you taught me how to conserve my chakra properly…" the girl lowered her upper eyelids, her voice immediately registering a mixture of trepidation and revulsion, "I might have succumbed… to the effects of that treacherous fan… as soon as I took those first two swings…"

The Hyuuga male felt an odd sensation pumping through his torso, his throat suddenly parched. As Tenten continued with the harrowing tale of how she had had to rise up to the occasion, endangering her young life in order to ensure the survival of hundreds of others, Neji had to grip his knees tightly as he sensed the woe pouring out of the kunoichi's soul. With each inhalation she took, her tale became more profound; with each quiver of her voice, her vulnerability became more heartfelt. When she finally wrapped her cold hands over his own again, he was abruptly lifted out of his stupor, and he realised he had actually been quavering in abhorrence and agnosticism.

"I'm okay now, Neji," the girl mumbled almost incoherently, her emotions now worn so loosely on her sleeve that they were soaking through every pore of her being. "I am… safe… because through my whole ordeal, only one thought kept me going… and that was to meet you one more time at least…"

Neji had never witnessed such raw sentiment from his teammate, and it was making his heart ache so badly that he could hardly find the right words to respond. Shuddering uncontrollably as she leaned in, he wondered when had Tenten ever appeared this fragile, this tenuous, and he realised that he could not find any memory that could even compare to one tenth of the frailty being so outrageously displayed now.

"I… I thought I … I thought I'd never see you again, Neji… and that thought … was… was so unbearable…"

He finally felt the weight of her head on his chest, which seemed as if it was going to implode due the pressure exerted on it. While this was not the first time they had fallen into each other's arms, and Tenten had given him impromptu, friendly hugs after successful battles and missions, it had never been like this. Even the tentative hug she had given him before they were divided into their respective divisions… the one he had no idea how to respond to … was differed vastly from this.

That day, the Konoha peers had all been separated into the five divisions, and the slight grimace on Tenten's face was palpable when she had realised she would be 'all alone' in Division One. Just as he had approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder, Tenten had turned around, wearing her usual grin and assured him that she would be all right. The words had caught in his throat and he had merely nodded, keeping his eyes on the scroll in her holster.

"Neji."

He had raised his head only to find her eyes glistening with obvious tears. Had she not said that she would be fine? Were her words just a front to hide her inner fears, the occasional complaints and whines about her not being as strong as her comrades in Team Guy and the rest of their peers? Before he could respond, she had wrapped her arms over his shoulders in an awkward hug... awkward only because Neji did not know where to place his own hands or how to react.

"Please take care of yourself. I won't be able to support you with my weapons during this war."

That was the Tenten he had been grievously separated from, the kunoichi who had always appeared selfless, spunky and ever masterful in providing essential support for her teammates. Even if there were times when she would whine or lament about Guy Sensei and Lee's atrocity towards arduous training sessions or attempts to speed egregiously towards distant destinations, it was simply her being more level-headed and rational. More often than not, Neji would be her partner in crime and join her in lambasting the two notorious green-clad Master and Student combo of unbridled brazenness, and he had somehow always enjoyed the feeling that he and Tenten frequently shared the same thoughts and similar ideals.

"Don't… don't you feel the same way, Neji? Aren't you… aren't you happy… that I'm here… that I've found you…"

The lump stuck in his throat seemed to be hurting him, as he attempted, to no avail, to cajole his teammate to reduce the force she was using to cling on to him. It was not the fact that he knew how Kiba and Hinata were carrying out such a barely shrouded voyeuristic act behind the clump of bushes a few yards away; rather, it was the fact that Tenten was making him feel so perplexed, so uncomfortable, by placing him in such an incommodious situation that he hardly knew how to react.

And that was when he felt a jolt spark through his body. For as long as he had known her, Tenten had never once made him feel uncomfortable.

With that realisation, the adrenaline siphoned so quickly through Neji's blood vessels that he was almost going to throw the kunoichi off his body, his prickling senses forewarning him that the person that was holding on to him must definitely be an imposter, even if she had managed to convince him earlier that she was not a White Zetsu clone. Before he could do so however, Tenten mumbled something that seemed to send a kunai piercing through his heart.

"I'm dying, Neji… the side effects of the Bashosen… I was never meant to wield it… that was why I was so desperate to meet you…"

Scarcely able to digest the words that were burning his ears, the Konoha Jounin finally caught the female Chunin by the shoulders and raised her torso up brusquely, beseeching her to tell him more with his stricken eyes. Tenten seemed to have stemmed her tears from flowing, for her cheeks were no longer wet, but the scarred, tormented expression she wore bore testimony to the waves of devastation that were crashing within her, and a racking sense of guilt tore through Neji's entire being when she apologised limply for her afflicted behaviour.

"I know I don't usually behave this way, Neji… but after what's been happening… when I discovered from one of the medics… that I've been poisoned… that I barely have a week left on this world… I just knew I had to see you… to tell you how I feel… to tell you that I love you."

Utterly dazed and thoroughly beaten, the Hyuuga prodigy could feel his mind screaming in retaliation that this could not be true. His confession to Kiba the night before about his own deep-set attraction towards Tenten now came roaring back at him in thunderous resonances, the irony that he had only just come to terms with his true feelings sneering at him so crudely that he felt he could faint. His own experience of chakra loss causing him to recognise his own mortality now appeared to be mere child's play as compared to the true life-and-death scenario that had befallen his teammate, one individual who was now more cherished than he had ever admitted. The muted silence between them was agonisingly jarring, and it was he who now took the initiative to place his own trembling hands over hers. He thought that he would never be able to verbalise how he was feeling, but with the essence of time driving him forward, Neji Hyuuga managed, throatily, shakily, to finally muster his courage and find his lost voice,

"I love you too, Tenten."

The look that Tenten returned was one filled with gratitude and so much affection that it seemed almost impossible to utter another syllable. Neji felt his own regret squeezing his nose and tear-ducts as he struggled to regain his composure, taking in the face of one whom he had unwittingly adored for so long. As he braced himself for his inadvertent first kiss, he closed his eyes and prepared to lean in closer, his senses tingling all over.

"Neji! Tenten! Look out!"

Even before Kiba's warning yelp reached his ears, Neji Hyuuga had already formed a protective bluish cocoon of pure Kaiten energy around him and his partner. His instincts, even without having his Byakugan activated, had given him a few seconds before their attacker pounced in, allowing him more than ample time to erect his signature shield that was ripping grass and soil off the ground. Powering down, his eyes blazing with white fury, he placed himself in front of Tenten who had managed somehow to scramble to her feet, one hand holding on to her twin katana blades, the other wielding a lone kunai.

"Tenten of Konoha!" the intruder greeted gruffly, her voice as condescending and churlish as Neji could recall from the previous night. "I hear you're Konoha's mistress of weapons and you're able to wield a sword pretty well. I'd like to challenge you to a duel!"

With that loud proclamation, the unmistakable glint in her amber eyes flashing with derision, the red-haired, dark skinned female lowered the sword that she had just used and turned around, revealing herself to be Karui of Kumogakure.