The fourth chapter, all characters used within are not mine.  In this chapter, TenTen finds out the secret.

Chapter Four

Occasional mishaps aside, Neji settled into a comfortable routine.  He would visit TenTen early in the morning and then would go off to train with Gai and Lee for the rest of the day.  She was slowly becoming more responsive, yet she was still unwilling to go more than five feet from her home which frustrated Neji to no end.  How was she supposed to take the Chuunin exam if she was afraid to leave her property?

For the most part he had little or no contact with Kotetsu, except for the rare moments when he was awake before TenTen.  Unfortunately, this happened to be one of those mornings.

"From what I hear you've been over a lot lately." Kotetsu was not pleased.

"It's none of your business." Neji brushed past the man as he entered the house.

"You've been doing a lot for my sister, spending time with her and helping her get over her fears."

"Your point?"

"Watch yourself Neji.  You're treading on dangerous ground."

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in her that way.  All I care about is her Bloodline Limit and how it can help me get stronger."

"Make sure your feelings don't change." Kotetsu left the house.

TenTen entered the room right after her brother exited.  "You don't have to stay with me today Neji.  I'm feeling ill and I'm afraid I may be contagious."

Irritation flickered over the boy's features.  She was terrible at making excuses for not progressing, but if she wanted to be alone he'd let her be.  "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye." TenTen watched the boy leave her home and then sprang into action.  There was something weird going on that both her brother and friend knew about, but it was a secret to her.  What was Neji talking about when he said she had a Bloodline limit?  The Haganes were fairly normal people, most of the family were shinobis, but there was nothing genius about them or her.  Besides, if she had a Bloodline limit she would've had a much better showing at the last Chuunin exam and she would've been able to protect herself.

Her brother had left early this morning and the house was still in disarray from the night before.  He had invited over a few friends, Izumo included, and they'd gambled, drunk and ate the night away.  She could never understand how men considered that a good time.  Right now Kotetsu was probably on his way to the hospital to get medicine for his hangover.

It was times like this when she missed her mother the most, when she was alone and their tiny house seemed bigger and lonelier than she ever thought possible.  Her mother had always been very understanding and TenTen had felt as if she could tell the older woman anything.  However, their bond had been ruptured the day after she was assigned to Gai's team, the day the 3rd Hokage had requested they come out of retirement and sent them off to God knows where.

Kotetsu had taken on the role of single parent then, moving back into their parents' home to watch over her.  He was okay as a guardian, but he had way too many rules.  He had insisted from Day One that she never go into her parents' bedroom without him, no matter how urgent her need was.

That had to be it.  Kotetsu's secret had to be hidden in that room and she'd finally understand the dirty looks her brother and friend always gave each other.  She found herself standing in front of the door in question and tried the doorknob.  Locked.  She sucked her teeth and drew a kunai.  Whatever was buried in this room had to be worth the scolding she'd get when Kotetsu came home and saw the lock broken.  "Oh well." She lifted the kunai above her head and brought it down as hard as she could on the doorknob.  The handle came off cleanly and made a soft thunk when it hit the floor.  She fiddled around for a moment with the actual lock and the door swung inward.

Her parents' room was spotless, severely lacking even a speck of dust anywhere and everything was neatly in its place.  Well, at least whatever it was she was looking for wouldn't be hard to find.  She ducked and glanced under the bed.  There was nothing under there, not even a shoe.  She lifted the mattress and felt around underneath it.  Nothing.

She scowled.  Where could it be?  She turned her eyes to the bookshelf.  Nothing looked out of place or like it had been moved recently.  The only other piece of furniture in the room was a small two foot high chest of drawers.  TenTen opened both drawers at once and was disappointed to only find her old baby clothes.  She was about to get up and look through the closet when something in the back of her mind told her to stick her hand under the clothes.  She complied and her hand struck a familiar cylindrical object.  She tightened her fingers around it and pulled the scroll out.  "Hello." She paused before opening it, if her parents were in on the secret as well then there might be a trap inside the scroll, in case an unwanted intruder got his hands on it.

She examined the scroll carefully.  The seal had been broken recently, that much she could tell, so whatever trap had been laid there had probably already been activated so it was likely safe to open it.  TenTen sighed deeply, mentally preparing herself.  "It's now or never." She muttered to herself, prying it open with her fingers.

Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.  Written on the scroll was a copy of the report her parents logged on the last mission they made prior to their retirement thirteen years ago.

It told of how they had been called to a village as a cleanup crew after a fire had claimed the lives of most of the townspeople.  Over the three week period they'd helped to rebuild homes and searched for survivors.  On their first day there they'd found a three-day-old baby girl in the rubble of the home of the village leader.  No one dared to lay claim to the girl so her parents had taken her home along with some scrolls that told the story of one of Konoha's oldest clans.  It was in perusing those scrolls that they learned the girl was the last living human being to posses the Burning Soul Phoenix Technique, the deadly Bloodline Limit that had decimated her village and killed her family.  Also recorded in the scrolls was detailed information on the clan's techniques that they listed there in case their daughter or two other children ever became shinobi.  Written and preserved in the scrolls was a four-handed seal that the Elders used on the children entrusted to their care to prevent unnecessary deaths.

TenTen's eyes roamed over the yellowed piece of paper, memorizing the three jutsus.  She knew the fourth technique by heart, the seal that her parents had masqueraded as a ritual to ward off evil spirits.  Anger boiled within her and shot to the surface as she flung the scroll as far away from her as possible.  Her parents had ordered that Kotetsu give her the scroll the day they left, but he had chosen instead to keep her power a secret from her and she had paid the ultimate price for his cowardly decision.  Her body had been violated by perverted idiots and her dreams were now haunted by images of the devastating event happening over and over.

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of her new knowledge, angered by Kotetsu and Neji, and overcome with longing for her mother's comforting embrace, TenTen fell to her knees and began to cry.

~~~

Kotetsu found her in that same position two hours later, sitting on the floor in the middle of their parents' bedroom, her head on her knees and sobbing silently.  He didn't have to ask to find the root cause of his sister's sadness.  "I told you not to come here.  I knew you wouldn't be able to handle what you'd find."

The girl didn't respond, but her cries seemed to slow down.

Kotetsu reached out and touched her shoulder.  "TenTen, everything's going to be okay as long as you promise never to use the limit."

"I hate you." The girl whispered.

"What?"

She jumped to her feet, bowling her brother over in the process.  "I said I hate you!  How could you hide something like this from me?  You've treated me like I was a danger to society."

"You are." Kotetsu said softly.  "No matter how pure of heart or how powerful a ninja you are, the phoenix can never be controlled, only contained.  So until the day you die you'll continue to be a danger to all of us."

"Why did you tell Neji?  He doesn't need to know something like this."

"If he's going to spend so much time with you then he ought to have the knowledge that could save his life." He sighed and stood to his feet.  "I don't know why you even waste your time liking that kid.  He only cares about your limit and how he can get his hands on it."

"That's my problem Kotetsu.  You should worry about yourself."

"Are you going to kill me TenTen?" Kotetsu looked amused. 

"No." She replied.  "Even if we're not flesh and blood we're still family and I still love you as my brother.  Because of that I can't bring myself to kill you.  However, the next time you betray me, TenTen may not be in control." She smiled at him and left the room.

Kotetsu scratched his head.  "Shit." He walked out of the room and picked up the doorknob from the floor.  "This won't end well." He followed his sister out the front door.  "I better catch up to her before she does something we'll both regret."