Notes: Cowritten with CCS AnGeL00. This chapter is only slightly more sane than chapter 5. Slightly.

Please note that saying, "update or else" is just going to make me take even longer to update.

Part Seven: The Eye of the Storm (is always most deceptive)

At the Academy, they teach you that the safest place to hide was to find the very last location your enemy would think to look in.

Neji would never find her on the roof. Never.

It was also a lovely night to do some stargazing, thought Tenten. It was a moonless evening, so the chances of her getting spotted up here were slim to nothing. She was not going to do anymore training. No more. If she thought training with Neji in the forest had been tough, it was nothing compared to training with him while at he at home. For one thing, random family members did not just 'drop in' while they were battling in the trees. And Demon Children did not randomly throw weapons at her while she was sparring with her fiancée. It just didn't work like that.

Cautiously, she sat up and stretched, wincing as she heard her joints pop. Maybe it was time to go to bed, she thought as she rose slowly to her feet. Surely even Neji was asleep at this time.

"NO TENTEN! DON'T JUMP! DON'T WASTE YOUR YOUTH BECAUSE OF NEJI!"

She blinked. That sounded like Le—

Before she could finish the thought, she felt herself being barrelled off the roof.

Why me? She wailed even as she frantically tried to brace herself for the inevitable impact. Why does this always happen to me?

Shit. The ground was close. Oh, this was going to hurt.

"Lee, you oaf, what did you think you were doing?" Neji asked as he set Tenten on her feet. She blinked, disoriented, and would've crumpled if he didn't catch her around the waist. Getting pushed off a roof was certainly not the way she would've chosen to end her day, she thought as she tried to regain use of her limbs.

Their teammate was watching with wide-eyed shock, his jaw moving in little convulsive motions. "Tenten, are you all right?" cried Lee, jumping off the roof to join them. He took her hand in his. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were trying to kill yourself!"

"Lee," sighed Tenten as she extricated herself from both grasps now that she had her limbs moving again, "if I were going to commit suicide, I certainly would not do so by jumping off a roof that is only thirty or forty feet above ground."

"But you could have done yourself serious injury!" declared Lee. "Shortened the springtime of your youth! Even postponed your marriage!"

"Lee, what are you doing here? I don't recall inviting you." Tenten winced; Neji was mad.

Lee grinned and struck a pose. "I came to apply for the position of Neji's best man. I am, after all, the best person for the job."

Was Lee insane? After that stunt did he seriously think that Neji was going to accept him? Oh God, he did, thought Tenten as Lee segued from pose number nineteen to pose number fifty-three.

"Fine. Be here tomorrow morning," answered Neji. Tenten and Lee stared at him.

"Neji, are you feeling all right?" queried Tenten, swatting a fly off of her shoulder without thinking. Lee was busy checking Neji's temperature.

"The wedding's in three days. He was the first one to ask," pointed out Neji.

"WHAT?" she screeched. "THREE DAYS?"

"There's no need to repeat what I just said."

"But Neji, don't you think you should've given Tenten more notice?" asked Lee, taken aback. "After all, lovers should share everything, including the date of the wedding."

"I just did."

Tenten stared at Neji incredulously. She had no words. Just none.

"Awwww, we lost the bet Akamaru," a voice floated from the woods.

"Ruff," the dog answered.

"You both owe me a new aquarium."

"Aww, Shino, but you already have one!" whined Kiba.

"It's full," the taller boy answered.

Their voices dwindled. Tenten buried her face in her hands. Why me? "Did you not think that I would have appreciated a little more time, Neji? Even a month?"

"The preparations have been going on for weeks now," he informed her. "I thought it was obvious."

Obvious, says he. Right. "Did it ever occur to you that I might like to have been asked?" she gritted.

"I don't see the problem. The preparations are nearly complete."

Even Lee backed away from the expression on her face. "Neji, the marriage is so not happening in three days. I need at LEAST a week's notice."

"For what?"

Just before Tenten was about to launch into another spectacular tirade, Lee grinned, dispelling most of her anger. "Neji, Tenten wants to bloom into a beautiful flower for your wedding day! Three days is not enough for her to prepare herself for what should be the happiest day of her life!"

More like the most hellish, she thought, but decided not to voice the thought.

"Marriage is built on trust and compromise!" declared their manic teammate. "You must learn to compromise with your fiancée or else there will be marital problems! Divorce! Think of your future children! The cute babies that would never have a chance to blossom under the loving care of two wonderful parents!"

Children? Fine, the Hyuuga family she could comprehend. Her own PARENTS she could almost forgive for turning on her. But her teammate?

"Divorce is not an option when you marry into the Hyuuga."

Oh shit. What was she getting herself into? "Fine. Then we won't marry," she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Lee pouted. "But I won't be able to be best man and impress Ino-san!"

Tenten so did not want to know what was going on there.

"Tenten, you're being ridiculous. Of course we'll marry."

"Neji," she gritted through her teeth, "we had this conversation before. You are not going to tell me what to do."

"I'm not; I'm just telling you what is going to happen," he pointed out. "You said you wanted to be informed."

She wanted to cry, she really did. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Neji! You should apologize to Tenten!" proclaimed Lee, raising a fist. "You must protect the flame of your love before it gets extinguished!"

"Traitor," muttered Tenten. "You said you'd protect me from Neji."

Lee gasped. "But Tenten! I could not stand in the way of the power of your love! It bloomed like a flower in the sunlight! It just had to fertilized and nurtured with affection and care!"

"No one," said Neji, his voice sounding like steel, "is fertilizing Tenten."

Lee wagged a mischievous finger at his teammates. "Just wait until the wedding night," he said with a grin.

"Weddi—" sputtered Tenten. She stared at the two boys, unable to believe what was happening. Was Neji actually smiling? With Lee? The natural course of nature was thrown out of its cycle. She was SO getting out of this marriage, even if it meant begging Tsunade-sama. Then again, that wasn't a bad idea. "I'm. . .going to bed," she whimpered.

"Tenten!" Lee peered at her face. "You don't look well! I should escort you back to your room!"

"I'll do it," interrupted Neji.

"I'll be fine," she protested at the same time.

"It'd be improper of me to leave you two alone before the wedding night. We wouldn't want anything untoward to happen so close!" Lee proclaimed, slipping into the good guy pose. His teeth went 'ping!' "I promise to see you to your wedding unstained, Tenten! That's my nindo!"

Tenten buried her face into her hands. Definitely see Tsunade-sama tomorrow. First thing.

-

Tenten shoved the jounin who were guarding the doors aside as she burst in on Tsunade, who looked like she was sleeping behind a stack of papers. Sake bottles littered the office. The Hokage DRANK while working? Well, that explained a few things.

"Tsunade-sama," she shook her idol awake. "Tsunade-sama, I need your help."

Tsunade groaned and held her head. "Oi, stop screaming."

"I wasn't screaming. Anyway, I need you to annul the engagement between Neji and I. I can't take it anymore," she half sobbed. "Please help me."

Tsunade belched and crossed her legs. "No can do, Tenten honey," she flicked some of her blond hair behind her ear, flashing Tenten with a diamond studded hoop earring that blinded the girl.

"Why not!"

Tsunade leaned forward, a large sapphire pendant glinting from in between her cleavage. "Don't you think this necklace brings out my eyes?"

". . . where did you get those?" Tenten asked suspiciously. Hokages weren't rich; she knew that. And Tsunade had debts to pay off until she died. So how did—"NEJI BRIBED YOU!"

Tsunade hiccupped and nearly fell over in her chair. "So what'd you come here for? Need some advice for the wedding night?"

"OH GOD NO!" Tenten felt her hopes and dreams crumbling. THIS was her idol? Drunk, bejewelled and with no shame? "I can't believe you did this! What kind of Hokage are you?"

Tsunade shrugged. "The Hyuuga also paid off my gambling debts." She took another swig of sake. "Now listen here, Tenten. It's not easy to handle a Hyuuga if you get what I mean."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW—OH MY GOD—DON'T TELL ME I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! OH MY GOD MY EARS!" she cried, holding her head. This was so not happening to her. So not happening.

Tsunade grinned, licking her lips. "And you got the prodigy Hyuuga. I bet he has stamina like—"

"I'm sorry I came here!" wailed Tenten. She was in severe pain. "Please stop! I'll do ANYTHING!"

"I have a book that might help you," Tsunade managed to toss her a small red book without hurting herself.

". . . 'Come Come Paradise'! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? I can't read this!" She dropped the book on the floor like it had bitten her. "Tsunade-sama, that's a dirty book!"

Tsunade snorted, taking another sip of sake. "And what do you think you'll be doing with Neji-kun on your wedding night? Playing shogi? You'll be doing what those people in that book are doing. . . well, that all depends on how flexible you are."

Tenten whimpered. "I'll leave, just please stop!"

"Those chakra strings of yours would make things very interesting," Tsunade said, looking thoughtful for a second. Then she leered.

"I'm gone, okay!" Tenten tried to escape, but Tsunade blocked her. Even drunk, she was the Hokage.

Tsunade pushed her back to her chair, getting out another book from the shelf. She turned to a page that had very vivid pictures. "Here. Look at this."

"But I don't WANT to look at it!"

Tsunade pointed to—oh God, she was going blind. "It's easy, Tenten. You just insert object A into slot B."

"And remember: if he wants to invite a third party, you can always say no. Especially if it's that Lee kid. But it would be good if it were Uchiha Sasuke, yes? Two prodigies would be a record of some sort, I'd think."

Tenten tried to regain the feeling in her legs. "Ino-san wouldn't like it if we did that to Lee anyway," she said before she could help herself. Her brain was going numb. It had to be.

"Mm. You have a good point there. Another thing to remember is that clothing is optional. Lacy undergarments are nice, but Neji-kun seems more like the 'get down to business right away' type of boy, doesn't he?"

"Why didn't I listen to Gai-sensei and run away?" wept Tenten.

"I have a catalogue of fun stuff too—"

Tenten slammed the door.

"Heh. Gets them every time," Tsunade said, patting herself on the back. She reached for another bottle of sake. Now Tenten was preoccupied with the wedding night rather than the fact that her Hokage had just turned down her request. Ahh, being an evil genius was so fun.

-

Tenten fingered Kun-chan's fur for a moment before reluctantly putting him back on her bed. It'd be best if she left without taking anything, she decided, except for her weapons. It pained her, but she knew it was for the best; if anything, she could be declared kidnapped. Maybe it'd even save Konoha.

The wedding was tomorrow morning. Her family had been no help. The Hokage had been no help. Lee broke his promise to her. All she could do now was help herself, and the only way she could see to get out of this was by running away.

She crept out of the house and walked down the streets. She was careful to exercise every bit of her training; she didn't want to get caught.

"Where are you going?"

Then again, not everyone had a stalker for a fiancée. "Errr, out?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "It's two in the morning, Tenten."

"Pre-wedding jitters," she lied. "I went to go work them off."

"You're running away."

Shit. She was caught. But Tenten wouldn't give in without a fight. "I thought I'd run a couple of laps around the village."

"Then why are you heading towards the gate?"

Ah shit. She may as well give up. "Fine, whatever," she sighed. "I'm running away."

He crossed his arms across his chest, and she restrained the urge to roll her eyes. He was going into 'I-am-so-emotionless-and-stubborn-because-I-am-cooler-than-Uchiha-Sasuke' mode. "Why?"

She stared at him as if he were witless. "Because we're getting married tomorrow, and I don't WANT TO?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Tenten closed her eyes and steeled herself for the inevitable. "Look, Neji," she said, trying to find a way to say what she wanted to say. "It's just. . .look, why do you want to marry me?"

"Fate."

He was so making this up. "You've NEVER given any indication of any actual long-lasting emotion for me, and you expect me to believe that we should get married because of FATE?"

"I thought it was obvious."

He would. "Since when did you start believing in that again?" she asked incredulously. "Fate and destiny and all that, I mean."

His gaze shifted from her face. A first. "When it comes to you, I do." She blinked. That was almost. . .nice. She softened a little.

"It's just that this is all so sudden. It's just. . ." she sighed, fingering a wayward strand of hair absently. "It's just. . ."

"Just. . .?"

"I don't know!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Just that I'm scared! And I don't know if I want to do this! An—mmph!"

When his lips left hers, he whispered in her ear, "Sometimes, you have to fight your destiny, and sometimes, you have to learn to accept it."

". . ." she said intelligibly.

He smirked. "And don't '. . .' at me, Tenten."

That snapped her out of her reverie. "Look, Hyuuga Neji, just because you kissed me doesn't mean that I'm going to marr—oomph!"

Well, she thought after a dazed moment, he was certainly a good kisser. Then again, Neji was good at everything.

"Go home, Tenten," he told her, suddenly five feet away from her. His hair blew in the wind, sparkling a bit in the light of the moon. "We have a long day tomorrow." Before she could open her mouth to reply, he had disappeared.

Well, she thought, bringing her fingers up to touch her lips, she certainly better get going. It was going to be a long day.

-

- one more chapter to go! Let's see how much work I've this month, but more likely it'll be next month when I post.