~ Two Days Later ~
Mila Rose smiled as she walked around Tenten's small apartment. The walls were covered with unique weapons. She had heard from Hinata that the bun-haired girl was referred to as a Weapon's Mistress, and she can now see why. Seeing her throw weapons with such precision in the battlefield amazed her, and she knew from whom she got that skill from considering her mother had terrible aim and wasn't a good fighter.
"How is Neji doing?" she asked, her head turning so she met Tenten's brown eyes.
"Much better. Lady Tsunade removed the bullet from his shoulder."
"Good. And what about you?"
Tenten sat down on her couch, watching as the red-haired woman sat on a chair opposite from her. "Confused… I don't know what to believe anymore in regards to my father."
Mila nodded. "I understand, and I apologize for everything. Your father wasn't wrong about your mother… Lillian...and I going to him for help. It was a difficult time back then… a lot of civil wars… Lillian and I just wanted to become stronger and independent in order to be able to protect ourselves… We were young, naive, and stupid… So yes, we did go to him… And he did help us become stronger…"
There was a pause and Tenten raised an eyebrow, wanting the woman to continue. "But?"
"But," Mila said with a sigh, "We were both naive and assumed that we would be okay… Lillian… your mother… did have a consensual relationship with your father… But then things changed and next thing we knew, we became prisoners. At that time, we weren't sure what he and his men were exactly up to, and things slowly changed for the worse. They tested our blood repeatedly until they were able to create a machine small enough to open portals and allow them to travel and hide whenever they wanted. This made it difficult for government officials to find them."
"Were you and my mother wanted criminals as well?" Tenten asked.
Mila shook her head. "No, we weren't. And we didn't kill anyone either. We just wanted to become stronger, not necessarily join those men in whatever they were doing. However, our naiveness led us to a dangerous path. Once we become prisoned, we were both abused. Because your father still had some attachment to your mother, he did make sure that no other man touched her. However, he became violent towards her and did rape her. Rape is something I will never lie about."
Tenten wasn't sure what to think. On one hand, her father ensured that her mother wasn't touched by other men. However, he made her suffer by abusing her. Regardless of the fact that he may have saved her from other men, he still treated her like a prisoner and Tenten quickly figured that her father was possessive. And that was a trait she had as well.
While she always ensured to not create scenes over minimal things, mentally, Tenten knew that she liked to be possessive over a couple of things, especially her weapons.
"What about my mom's parents? Did they try looking for her when you two decided to join my father?"
The woman thought for a second before replying. "I… don't know what the situation is regarding your grandparents. However, they were both strong people and knew how to take care of themselves. Before Lillian and I left, they were alive. I would like to believe that they are still alive and probably still wondering if Lillian is still alive…"
Tenten's eyes widened at the possibility that her maternal grandparents could be alive. "...If there are still alive, will they be difficult to find?"
"Maybe," Mila replied with a sigh, "But I know some people who may know where they are now. And we are Travelers ourselves. I am positive that one way or another, we will find out what happened to them."
Watching as the bun-haired girl sat there with a disbelief look on her face, Mila walked over to her and knelt in front of her. She grabbed her hands and gave them a motherly squeeze, a smile forming on her face. "Tenten… there is so much out there for you to see and experience. Staying in this world limits your abilities. I brought you to this world in order to keep you hidden from the violence that had been going on. But things have improved a lot, and you are capable of taking care of yourself."
"What are you proposing?" Tenten asked, although in the back of her mind, she already knew where Mila was going with this.
"Come with me. Let me introduce you to more of our people. Let them train you and make you stronger. With your ninja skills, your abilities can increase tremendously over there. There are so many resources out there for you to use. All you have to do is open a portal and go…"
A soft knock interrupted the conversation, which Tenten felt grateful for. Although she wanted to keep finding more information about her family, and possibly even confront her father a second time, Tenten knew that there was one thing (or actually, a specific someone) that she did not want to leave behind.
Neji…
Who, of course, was the source of the knock.
Opening the door, Tenten smiled as the Hyuuga prodigy stood right on the other side. Wearing black long slacks with a white button-down, Neji offered her a slight smile as he entered the apartment.
"Well, I guess I better get going," Mila said with a warm smile. "I will need to say goodbye to Hinata first before leaving this world."
A small portal opened behind the woman. "Goodbye, Tenten. And remember, everything is just a portal away…"
Tenten nodded as the woman entered the portal and quickly disappeared.
Her apartment became quiet instantly, the only noise heard were Neji's footsteps as he walked up to her from behind. His hair was not tied at the bottom, which meant that he had just gotten out of the shower and immediately made his way towards her apartment.
"How's your shoulder?"
"Sore, but fine." Neji said, placing both hands on her shoulders and slowly turning her around. "How are you feeling? Did she tell you everything this time?"
Tenten nodded. "She did…. And there may be a chance that my grandparents are alive… And she knows people who can help me find them..."
There was a pause between the couple, and Tenten wondered if Neji could somehow read her mind. While he usually kept a stoic facial expression, right now his expression was different. And Tenten knew that this was due to her desire of needing to know more about her family and the world they come from; and this desire could not be fulfilled with her staying in Konoha.
Cupping her face with his hands, Neji leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Tenten tiptoed a bit and deepened the kiss, her hands resting on his shoulders carefully while his hands roamed her back smoothly. Between the monsters and the battle, neither of them remembered the last time they had kissed this passionately. But one thing was for sure, it was a moment both of them had needed desperately, and more. Despite his recovering injury, Neji wasted no more time as he lifted her up, allowing Tenten to wrap her legs around his waist while he took them both to her bedroom.
The Kazekage held her delicate hand while running his thumb over her knuckles.
It had been two days since the battle, and part of him was relieved to know that the enemy was defeated. But more importantly, he was glad that Victor was dead. The man's obsession with Ino was the main reason why the battle even happened, and never in his lifetime before had Gaara ever heard about a man starting a battle over a woman. Nonetheless, the idea was something Gaara had thought the moment he became conscious.
After sleeping for almost half a day yesterday, the first thing Gaara had remembered was how he had killed every single Hunter that Victor had placed in his path, and he knew why the cruel man would do such a thing. He wanted him to be weak the moment he had reached Ino. And while Gaara did sustain injuries with those beasts, his determination was what allowed him to continue searching for her.
"You should be resting," his sister said from behind, and Gaara wasn't surprised at the fact that Temari had just entered the hospital room in which Ino was currently housed in. Ever since waking up, she had been constantly watching over him, just in case his bandages came off and his wound reopened.
"I'm fine."
"Gaara, we have a three-day trip tomorrow to Suna. You need to be in your room, resting."
Despite being the kage of that region, going back to Suna was something he did not want to do at the moment. Not until Ino woke up at least. Ever since being rescued by Tenten, Shikamaru, Temari, and Rock Lee, the blonde Kunoichi had not woken up, which worried the Kazekage tremendously. He did not want to go back to Suna without talking to her first. However, he knew that it was his duty to go back eventually.
"Is that a wedding ring?" Temari asked, and Gaara looked at the small ring in his left hand. "Were you planning on asking her after the battle?"
"I already did."
Temari's eyes widened in disbelief. "And? What did she say?"
"Nothing…" Gaara replied, "She was unconscious. I don't know if she will even remember me asking…"
The sound of someone clearing their throat was heard from behind, and the two Suna Shinobi turned around to Inoichi Yamanaka standing by the doorway. The older man held a vase with some flowers in them.
Standing up straight, Temari greeted the man before saying goodbye to her brother.
After Temari left, there was only silence in the room as Ino's father placed the vase by the window. Gaara didn't bother looking at the man, his gaze still fixed on the sleeping Kunoichi in front of him. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what to say to the man. He knew that Inoichi was not too positive on him dating his daughter, and Gaara understood why. While respect for him had increased in Suna, his birthplace and home, Konoha was a different story. It was just five or six years ago that he had allowed Shukaku to take control and destroy Konoha while killing anyone who got in his way. While he never got to find out who exactly he killed during that time, he wouldn't be surprised if the older man had lost some close comrades due to him.
"A kage fighting for love…" Inoichi said while standing on the opposite side of the bed, "It's not something a Shinobi hears of. Especially when his love is from another village."
Gaara continued to remain quiet, watching from the corner of his left eye as Ino's father turned towards him. "Kazekage, words cannot describe how grateful I am that, once again, you have risked your life for my daughter. I feel as if I am forever in your debt. However, please don't take my daughter away."
At the statement, the Kazekage turned his head towards him, quickly knowing what he was talking about. "I am not taking Ino away from you."
"You may not be… but the distance between Suna and Konoha isn't small…. How will I be able to see my daughter every day? Her loyalty is with Konoha, and I'm sure you understand a thing or two about a Shinobi's loyalty to his village, Kazekage. Besides, how will your village and people treat her? She will be a foreigner there."
"Ino's loyalty to Konoha won't falter. In fact, it can help strengthen the relationship between the two nations." Gaara replied, "And she will be with me. She has visited Suna previously and few villagers already know and welcome her. She refers to my village as a second home already."
Inoichi didn't say anything, knowing that the feelings between his daughter and the Kazekage were strong. He knew that if his daughter had been awake at the moment, she would have been given him an earful about giving Gaara a hard time. It was something he didn't want to interfere, since at the end of the day, all he wanted was to see his daughter happy. And compared to the trouble-making Sasuke boy she used to have a big crush on, the red-haired man was a much better person for his daughter.
"Then make her happy… as happy as you can, Kazekage. And please take care of her for me. I know you will but please, keep protecting her."
Hiashi Hyuga wasn't too surprised at the statement, and part of him felt disappointed. For years, he had planned on having Neji lead the branch house. He knew that with his nephew leading that side, the tension between the two houses would improve.
But now, said nephew had just given him a piece of news that he knew would happen at some point.
Both of them sat in a common area with a small fire in between. Neji's facial expression remained neutral as he waited for his uncle to reply. Eventually, Hiashi cleared his throat and looked up at him.
"For how long will you be gone?"
"I am not sure," Neji replied, "But Tenten and I will be searching for her grandparents. The search can take time…"
Hiashi remained quiet for a couple of seconds before speaking again. "Neither of you have seen this world before… I'm worried about your safety."
"I understand your concern, Uncle. It is a valid one. But this is important for Tenten, and I need to be there for her."
"I see," his uncle sighed, "When will you both be leaving?"
"Tomorrow noon, right after the Kazekage leaves."
"Then I wish you luck in your journey, and I hope that Tenten finds the answers to her search."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Next Day...
"Make sure to bring us something when you return!"
"They're not going on vacation, Naruto." Kiba said, causing the blond Shinobi to pout sadly.
"Eh, something small at least! I'm curious to see what stuff other worlds have!"
"Same here! Please do bring something back, even if it's small." Sakura chimed in, her arm locked around Sasuke's.
Tenten gave a giggle. "We'll try our best to bring some items back."
As Neji and Tenten continued speaking to their friends, Gai sensei and Lee ran towards them with tears running down their faces. Upon seeing their dramatic entrance, Tenten became nervous as to what foolishness the duo would do.
"Oh, my flower!" Gai sensei as he pulled Tenten into a hug, "I am going to miss you! Oh, and we'll miss you too Neji!"
"Please come back soon!" Rock Lee cried.
"We'll try our best." Tenten said, wiping a tear from her face. Despite the fact that Gai and Lee got to her nerves majority of the times with their foolish acts, she knew that she would miss them both dearly. In her heart, they had become that father and brother, respectively, figures that she needed.
"...Neji," Gai said, placing his arm on top of the Hyuga's shoulders as Neji raised an eyebrow at him. "While I understand that sometimes the urges can be… strong…"
"Gai-" Neji growled lowly, his expression darkening as he already knew where his mentor was going with this. He had pulled the same crap before.
"No no, let me finish Neji." Gai said in a sudden fatherly tone. "Tenten may be turning into a lovely young woman, but she's still our young precious flower. And protection must be used when dealing with such delicate beings."
"Gai," Neji warned again, watching as his sensei pulled a box from behind and gave it to him.
"Neji, make sure you always use protection. I don't know if the world you're going to will have them, and I know your uncle may want grandkids by now, but our flower is still too young for that."
Taking the box and quickly placing it inside the duffel bag he had prepared, Neji glared at the green-clad man. "I will keep that in mind…"
As embarrassing as the conversation was, deep down Neji was grateful for the box, as it was something he had not thought to pack before…
The couple continued to say their goodbyes for another fifteen minutes, reassuring everyone that they would be back as soon as possible.
Their friends took a step back as Tenten turned around so her back was to them. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling it, she raised her right arm and closed her eyes, concentrating on the blue particles. The wind around them suddenly changed direction as blue particles began to appear two feet away from her. The particles increased in dimension, taking the shape of a large rotating circle. Putting her arm back down, Tenten stared at the object in front of her, knowing that the moment she stepped inside, things would be very different. Everything she knew about ninjas and chakra would probably not matter, and may not even help her.
"Ready?" Neji asked as he took her left hand in his.
Turning her head to meet her lover's silver eyes, Tenten nodded as they began to walk towards the portal. They both turned their heads back towards their friends one last time before stepping inside. As soon as their bodies were within, the portal quickly closed, eradicating anything that indicated that the two ninjas had even been there.
~ XX ~
At first, they were met with some darkness, but soon, the darkness disappeared and they were suddenly standing on top of a large building. Over them flew mysterious objects, and Tenten remembered her father calling them ships. To her left was a wide body of water with small boats on them. But the boats on them looked very different; many of them didn't have sails.
"Welcome, Neji...Tenten," Mila said as she stood in front of other people, all of them wearing matching clothing, "To Exerium."
Two weeks later
The Kazekage was tired, but he wouldn't say that out loud, especially around his overprotective sister. Ever since returning to Suna, he had been immediately pulled into multiple meetings with the council. They wanted an update about what truly happened on the battle, and reassurance that those men wouldn't be coming back. After that long conversation, the next set of days consisted of more meetings in regards to the village's improving economy, education, and military. One area that the village still needed help with was medical and while his councilmen discussed about bringing Shinobis from other villages to help them, Gaara's mind quickly went to Ino Yamanaka.
He had kept the wedding ring in a small drawer in his office, hoping that one day the boisterous Kunoichi would show up. Three days after arriving to his village, he had received a scroll from Naruto, letting him know that Ino had finally woken up after being in a medically induced coma for days. However, she had been under close supervision by her mother the moment she had started asking about the Kazekage. Considering her injuries, Gaara knew that it would probably take another two weeks for her to be able to travel to Suna, and with the assistance that is. Despite his neutral facial expression, inside Gaara was anxious in seeing her again. He had thought about writing a scroll and sending it to her, but wasn't sure what to say. Would she even remember his proposal to her? Being caught up with meetings and visitors from other villages, Gaara's time to actually write the scroll had diminished.
It was a quiet night in Suna as he picked up a carton of milk for the cat Ino had adopted over a month ago. When he had arrived in Suna, Kankuro told him that the small feline wouldn't stop meowing and sleeping on top of the bed Ino had slept on whenever she would visit Suna. The puppet master had tried shooing the cat away, but the animal would just come back. Not wanting to dispose of one of the items that he and the blonde girl shared, Gaara let Kankuro know that it was fine and decided to take personal responsibility of the cat. So every morning before going to his office, he would pour milk on a small bowl for the feline and feed it again upon coming back. There were nights where he would come home late from work, like today, and find the cat sitting in front of the door, meowing while waiting for him.
Gaara walked up the few steps to the floor which housed his apartment. Pulling a key out, he quickly unlocked the door and froze.
Someone was inside.
And not just someone, but a Kunoichi with a very familiar chakra. Not only that, he could hear the cat purring too.
"Oh, I've missed you too Kitty! I'm so happy to see that Gaara has been taking good care of you. I was starting to get worried…"
"Meow…"
"Yes yes, I know, he can be scary… But see? I told you he can be an amazing guy!"
The front door opened wide and Gaara entered quickly, closing it right away and walking inside swiftly. Placing the milk on top of the side table next to the couch, the Kazekage stared at the blonde kunoichi lying on the floor. Her hair was down, fanning across her shoulders, as she lightly scratched the top of the cat's head. Gaara knew that he was tired, but he also knew that he wasn't hallucinating.
There, lying on the floor of his living room, was Ino Yamanaka… wearing one of his t-shirts and black panties. On top of the sofa, he noticed a while after, was a hospital gown, and he suddenly grew worried. Did she escape the hospital and run to his village with nothing but a hospital gown? It wasn't even possible, considering her injuries.
The girl in thought suddenly stopped petting the cat as she finally felt his presence and turned around, standing up weakly but placing her hands on her hips, and he knew he was about to get a lecture about something.
"It's about time you got home!" Ino said, her right foot tapping impatiently on the floor. "Oh, and you're out of milk! Kitty here has been hungry and-"
"Ino."
And just like that, she stopped talking as Gaara quickly walked towards her and pulled her into a hug, his hands cradling her head. Ino returned the hug as she buried her face onto the crook of his neck, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"When did you get here?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "How did you get here? You should be in the hospital, recovering."
Ino gave a nervous chuckle "Well… I got here today… and actually, Tenten paid me a visit today!"
Gaara remembered that she and Neji had left Konoha and traveled to a different world in order to search for any missing relatives of hers who could still be alive.
"She felt bad about leaving and not saying goodbye to me, so right before I went to sleep today, she opened a portal and showed up. She said that everything was going well, and there was so much to see… She asked me if there was anything I needed and I asked her if she could bring me here."
Gaara blinked in disbelief as Ino continued speaking. "I told her to bring me to your apartment, since I didn't want some portal opening in the middle of your village and causing your people to panic."
"And you forgot to at least bring some clothes with you?"
Ino blushed as the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "I was in a hurry, and so was Tenten. She, Neji, and few others were going on a dangerous mission to find her grandparents. And besides, considering my answer to you is yes, you will have to get used to the idea of me running around with whatever I want!"
At the confused look Gaara was giving her, Ino giggled again and pressed her lips against his softly. "My answer to you is yes, Gaara. Yes, I will marry you."
He kissed her passionately, but the kiss was soon broken as he felt the cat's tail rub against his ankle. That's right, the milk.
"Wait," Gaara ordered and Ino giggled as she saw Suna's strong kage take off his guard and place it by the corner of the room before quickly walking towards the kitchen with the carton of milk, Kitty walking impatiently behind him.
Tsunade sat quietly as the researcher in front of her finished explaining to her the usage of one of the weapons that their enemies had brought for the battle. It was a small room, the only ones present being Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Shizune, Jaraiya, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.
"It's a very strong weapon," the researcher continued, "and can kill thousands instantly. However they created this is...genius! The chemicals inside of it travel at such high speed that it seems impossible."
The presentation of the weapon lasted fifteen more minutes, and upon finishing, the man left the room. There was a long silence before the Hokage finally exhaled.
"I remember something Orochimaru had told me many years ago," she said, her eyes fixed on the weapon lying in front of them, "That there were things out there far out of our reach… Worlds that we would never comprehend… At first I thought he was crazy because, well, he's Orochimaru…"
Tsunade stood up and walked over to the weapon, tracing an index finger over it. "But now, I wonder if he knew something… If maybe, somehow, he knew that there are other humans out there, far from our reach, and maybe a few of them are in our villages…"
"Like Tenten…" Sakura said lowly, yet audible.
"Yes," Tsunade said, "If it weren't for that mission, Tenten would have never learned about her true parents and her unique ability. But that begs the question… if there are other humans in our villages and neighboring ones, how would we know if they are foes? And if they decide to pay us a visit, how would we defend our home?"
And DONE! I will admit, I am glad to be finally finishing this story. I think a lot of people liked it, originally, but then...something happened and I guess no one cared for it. But still, I wanted to finish it.
I decided to end it with a non NejTen or GaaIno scene because I wanted the other characters to reflect on the fact that there are humans from different worlds out there, and even though they may not have chakra or aren't strong ninjas, they carry strong weapons that can cause significant damage. So, how can you protect your village and people from such threat?
Let me know what you think about that!
Also, I wanted NejTen to end with both of them leaving Konoha in search for more of Tenten's relatives (and father too). I have a sequel in mind for this but it would only be NejTen and that would be a SciFi and Adventure (with romance, of course) fic since the different worlds they'll be visiting will be a Star Wars/Trek like environment. In a way, it'll be AU since they will be introduced to things like space ships, traveling from planet to planet, and more guns and other cool space stuff.
But, I don't know if I have enough inspiration for this. Therefore, if anyone wants to try this storyline out, you can PM me and we can work together on plot and all. I won't want to write it (I am NOT the best writer lol) but I can help with reviewing and discussing story plot.
Anyway, thanks all who have left me reviews and favorited and followed and ETCCCCC. Please let me know (criticism are welcomed!) what you thought in a review down BELOW (I think the button is down below...) :)