AUTHOR'S NOTES:
SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! But anyway, thanks for the reviews. This is the 3rd to the last chapter for A Curse to Kill, the next chapter will be the 2nd to the last, and then the Epilogue will be the last. Also, I will add a bonus chapter in this fic, it will be like a "trailer fic" for Homebound. I will put some suspense in the bonus chapter, so… there! Homebound will be delayed, too. The epilogue of this fic is nearly done, I just have to write the "trailer fic", before we move on to Homebound.
tenten-kun: Thanks for enjoying that chapter, I really appreciate that!
harukakanata: Thanks! Mwah!
crazy-antman: Who said that was the end? NO! The real end of this chapter is the Epilogue, so… Don't wait too soon for the end!
nixxie1430: Oi, salamat tol!
Here is the next chappy! Hope you enjoy!
(Chapter 14 – It's Gotta be Love!)
Neji was just walking flabbergasted as he look at Tenten and Naruto carrying his luggage on their way to Tenten's mansion.
Neji furrowed his eyebrows at Tenten, who was just walking by his side. Tenten felt his intense stare and sweatdropped. She turned to him and asked, "W-what is it, N-Neji?"
He sighed and looked away, "Nothing."
"C'mon Neji!" Tenten pouted, "Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not."
"You are!" Tenten insisted.
"I said I'm not, okay!" Neji harangued, "I'm trying to think so…I wish to have silence!"
Tenten was rather hurt by his harsh answer and ignored him, "Geez, no need to be harsh…"
"Tenten!" Naruto called, who was ahead of them, stopping at an intersection.
"Left, right or forward?" he asked.
"Forward." Tenten answered in a low tone.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Naruto replied.
Tenten had that sad look on her face and just sighed, "Look on the bright side… Heck, whom am I fooling? I just made Neji angry, where's the bright side of that!"
She slightly shook her head so Neji won't notice; she did that because she wanted to get the thought out of her head and just focused on where she's going.
"Sheesh, why do I have to be so in love with Hinata? When she uses that charm of hers, I get bewitched! And now I'm actually doing her cousin and his 'girl' a favor! What's wrong with me!" Naruto thought as he stomped his way, carrying Neji's heavy suitcase.
Then, Tenten warned, "Uzumaki, watch out for the-"
BUMP.
"Uh… post." Tenten continued as she looked at Naruto who had a huge, swollen lump on his forehead, due to a collision with a steel lamppost.
"Stupid." Neji whispered.
Tenten slightly giggled and said, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Naruto answered, standing up and continued to walk, carrying that luggage and… with that huge lump on his forehead.
"Well, thanks to his clumsiness, at least I'm able to lighten up, myself!" Tenten smiled to herself, as she looked the nearing heights of her mansion; they were near.
After 10 minutes…
"Gee, your mansion sure is pretty far!" Naruto complained as he dropped the luggage on the doorstep of the mansion.
"Thanks for helping us out, Uzumaki." Tenten thanked.
"No problemo!" Naruto replied, "Well, gotta go now! Hinata's gonna cook Chicken Noodle Soup, and that's one of my favorites so… Bye!"
"Bye!" Tenten waved.
Tenten sighed as she opened the door of her mansion and grabbed the other luggage.
"Tenten." Neji called.
Tenten pretended that she didn't hear him so she went upstairs with his luggage.
She gently placed the suitcases behind Neji's bedroom door. Afterwards…
BUMP.
But this time, Tenten didn't bump into any post… She bumped onto Neji!
She blushed a little and said, "S-sorry."
She tried to walk past him but he blocked her way, "Stay."
"Why am I so nervous?" Tenten asked herself, "It's not like he's going to do anything bad to me, right?"
Neji furrowed his eyebrows and placed his hands on her shoulders and stared intensely at her.
"WELL?" Tenten tried to fight off her fear, if ever Neji was going to spill something that's going to hurt her, "HE'S NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING BAD TO ME, RIGHT… RIGHT!"
"H-hey," Tenten finally broke the silence, "w-what's up?"
"You haven't spoken to me after I said I need my silence." Neji told her, "Are you… seriously taking what I've said?"
"Well, duh, he did say he needs his silence… So, why is he questioning me?" Tenten tried to look for the answer, "Should I say I was trying to respect his wish or because… Wait, yeah, why did I shut up after he said that? I didn't do that before, so why did I? Naturally, I would rant after he tells me something like that and I'm not taking some of his words seriously before but now… Oh my goodness… What am I going to tell him…? "
"Hey, this is the time to talk, Tenten." Neji confirmed that he wanted an answer, "Answer me."
"Just talk, Tenten!" she thought.
"I…" Tenten opened her mouth and managed to say a syllable but just don't know what to answer.
Neji made his stare more intense and this sent chills to Tenten's bones. Those eyes, those clear eyes, they're as if trying to suck her soul out of her body, ready to take her to Charon's boat, and present her soul to Hades.
"Tenten, we've been teammates for quite a long time now," He told her in an impatient tone, "you do know how much I hate to wait, especially for an answer to a question. And I'm pretty sure I made myself clear when I told you that when we were still genins. In fact, I told you and Lee that I'm very impatient in a crystal clear way – by defeating both of you with quite a few tricks. And when I didn't get what I want, I force it, by my own hands."
"Tenten…" she thought, "speak… speak… Speak…"
"I'm waiting." He repeated, tightening his grip on her shoulders, as if he was going to kill her or something like that.
"What the hell is wrong with him!" she asked herself, "Why is he demanding for an answer from a question so… mysterious…"
"I…" Tenten managed to mutter out again.
"You what?" Neji said, tightening his grip on her shoulders once more, "Go on."
"Tenten, if you don't speak up…" she tried, "He'll take the answer out of you by force! That's what happened to you and Lee when you were genins! He asked you and Lee if you can defeat him within the day. Both of you answered if we team up, you'll be able to defeat him. Neji wanted an answer more like 'no, we can't defeat you within a day', so he attacked the both of you with a single blow for the two of you to say 'no', but the two of you just kept on coming to fight back. But still, he dominated the both of you! You've learned your lesson, right? C'mon, he's already telling you a death threat!"
Neji's hands were as if trying to break her shoulders off from her body, and he was getting so impatient that he said, "BYA-"
She managed to register in her mind that he was going to use his Byakugan, so she quickly, AND I SAY, REALLY, REALLY QUICKLY cut him off from using his Byakugan, "I really don't know!"
Amazingly, she said the words out loud and clear… and fast, in less than 2 seconds!
She felt his grip loosen on her shoulders and she stared at him. Then, something weird happened. Something unusual for the likes of Hyuga Neji…
He laughed.
She looked at him, "Why… are you laughing?"
"Nothing! It's just that," Neji regained himself, now just smiling at her, "I knew you weren't scared of anything but… I never thought I'd scare you out. And I scared you out only using words! I wish you saw the look on your face! You look so… so…"
Tenten was annoyed by his words and said, "So… what?"
Neji sighed and smiled, lifting her chin up with his right hand, "Adorable."
Tenten felt so flattered by what he said.
"But the thing is," Neji told her, "I just want to say I'm sorry for what I just said to you earlier when were on our way here. AND for almost sucking your soul out."
She finally giggled, and that made Neji seem more ardent to her. She said, "You freak! That really frightened me! Anyway, what you did was okay, as long as you end up apologizing just like that."
Neji sat on his bed and removed her trench coat and the black sweater. She approached him and took the coat and the sweater. She said, "Please have some rest."
"Since you said so."
Tenten smiled and told him, "I'll replace your bandages later after I fix your things."
"Can I help?" Neji smiled back, "You didn't allow me to help you with my luggage a while ago, so I think you're going to allow me this time."
She giggled and replied, "Okay."
She was about to leave when Neji grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him and she landed on his chest then, with the other hand, pulled her face to meet his and kissed her!
He broke the kiss and saw Tenten blushing furiously.
"Why'd you do that!" Tenten protested, getting off of him quickly.
"I love you." Neji ardently told her, "And I want to have a relationship with you."
Tenten was now redder than any shade of red and stammered, "R-relationship?"
"What, do you want me to get the answer out of you like what I did to you a while ago?" Neji smirked.
"I…" she replied, "I accept."
Neji concluded, "Thanks. And with that, I'm the luckiest man alive."