A/N: Shout-outs! First, to Shinobi-Fighter101, who I've recently found out is actually a girl! Sorry about the misunderstanding! Happy to see that PhiloWorm is still with us (does the Philo refer to Filipino by any chance?) and that madnarutofan is still as sharp as ever on the story's plot (hehehe… all will be revealed in due time, readers!)

Chapter Seven – Fearful Attraction! TenTen!
(I Said I'm Naruto by: Toshiro Masuda)

"Wait… please don't kill me! I was doing what he told me to do!" She begged.

My blade was pressed firmly against her throat. Did I really intend to kill her? Not really. But one thing was for sure: I was hell pissed at her part in endangering Hinata.

"That's no excuse. Hinata could've…"

"You see?" She shouted, beginning to cry with a fresh wave of tears, "You see? Some things never change, Naruto! It's been five whole years and you still don't notice me!"

"Don't notice you? TenTen what the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't remember, do you? I knew it- you never even opened any of those love-letters I wrote you five years ago. You couldn't even recognize the writing on the letter you got this morning, couldn't you? It was ME!" She yelled in rage.

"LOVE-LETTERS?" I cried out in disbelieving anger.

Her sobbing became worse, her tears fresher. It was such a sudden change from the cold, emotionless TenTen I had noticed watching me during the fight with Lee. Now, she was awash with some sort of grief. I just couldn't understand her. I never even received the letters she was talking about…

I took my kunai away from her throat and said:

"Relax, TenTen," I sighed, "If I wanted you dead, I would have killed Lee too."

She drew her own kunai from her pouch and screamed:

"FINE, if YOU want me dead, I'll go ahead and kill myself for you! Do you want that Naruto? I'LL DO IT!" She cried out fanatically, inching her blade closer to her throat, her hand trembling with fear and rage.

"TenTen! Stop!" I yelled at her.

Her sobbing was becoming more frantic and wild. She was very distraught.

"Why couldn't you notice me, Naruto? Why wouldn't you even say 'hi'?"

"Okay, TenTen… I just thought, all those years, okay- I just thought you seemed awful close to Neji and I assumed that…"

"What? What did you assume?" She cried out angrily.

"I assumed you and Neji were… you know… together?" I lied, not wanting to admit to her that I had in fact failed to notice her all those years when we were together.

"Neji? No way…" She sighed unbelievably, "Neji was never my type. He was so… weird. You, Naruto, you were plenty different and much more handsome…"

She blushed uncontrollably and gave me one long, awkward sideways-stare.

I scratched my head and smiled, not knowing what to say. To my relief, TenTen took her own kunai away from her skin and placed it back inside her pouch.

"So what you're saying is that: if I wasn't training with Neji all that time, you would have been my boyfriend, right? You would have liked me…?"

"Well, TenTen…"

"Oh man!" TenTen cried in release, tears still drawing down her eyes, "What a relief! If I knew for another day that you would never notice me I would have killed myself right now! Thank you, Naruto, for giving me another chance at living a happy life!"

She giggled like a child, and wiped her tears with her shirt, even as they continued to fall.

What the… oh man…

"Well, yeah, of course I always had a little thing for you, TenTen…" I bluffed.

"Really? Truly, I'm sorry about today- it's just been a real mess. Lee hasn't been himself since the disaster… Hinata kidnapped to lure you in… and I was a big part of it. I'm awfully sorry of what trouble we put you through… but now I'm so relieved that you've agreed to be my boyfriend, I just can't wait till we get back to town and you buy me dinner!" She cried happily. She smiled at me innocently, even as I frowned at her.

Now I realized while she was still crying: tears of joy. Oh, brother…

I looked over at Hinata and Lee, who were both passed out on the grass next to us. Lee was going to need to go to hospital, but I could take care of Hinata back at her house.

"TenTen, you said Lee hasn't been the same since the disaster? What disaster is this?"

TenTen exhaled gently and said, "Gai-sensei… he died two years ago, during a mission."

"I see. Lee's…" I said with sorrow and pity in my voice.

"Ever since then, he's changed drastically. He developed some sort of complex and become obsessed with proving to everyone how great and powerful he was. He left Konoha to train, but when he heard about Kiba and Shikamaru being hospitalized, he came down to visit. It was the first time any of us had seen him in months. As soon as he found me, he made me promise to help him capture you. He promised that Hinata wouldn't be harmed- she was just bait… but when I saw him strapping the bombs, then I knew, he had totally lost his sanity. I was too scared to say anything to him, afraid of what he might be crazy enough to do. I was glad you defeated him and spared his life."

So that's why he was acting crazy.

"A lot has changed in Konoha since I left," I said, half to myself.

TenTen looked down, as if deep in thought and agreed, "Yes, but mostly for the worse."

She looked at me with starry, tear-stained eyes, and I saw sadness in them.

"Since you left, Naruto, the past five years have been hell. I missed you immensely, because the day you left was the day I thought about coming out and confessing to you. But now- I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders- I'm so glad you like me too, now I don't feel afraid of anything. Now I know everything will be okay!"

I began to sweat nervously. From then on, it would happen every time she mentioned something along those lines of our 'desperate, torn romance for each other'.

"TenTen, I need to know. Why the hell is this town angry at me?" I asked, staring at the nearby brook running gently by the ruins of the old tower.

"You should already know by now: you're in the bingo book. But don't worry, you can hide at my place!" She suggested cheerfully.

"I know I'm a missing-nin and all but Kiba- Kiba attacked me on sight! He didn't even ask what I was doing back in Konoha! And Shikamaru! He's different too!"

"Like I said, Naruto-kun, Konoha has changed for the worse ever since you've disappeared. It's given everyone a new excuse to hate you. To compete with you."

"Compete with me?"

"Come on, Naruto, you didn't take all of us for idiots, did you? When we all found out about how you had some kind of great power sealed inside you, everyone became desperate to beat you. Kiba was anxious to beat you because Hinata turned him down when he asked her out years ago. He's been jealous thinking that her heart would always be yours. I was a bit unsure of whether you and Hinata had a thing as well, but now I see the both of you are just friends and that your true affections lie with me. Shikamaru on the other hand has become more and more zealous towards his cause as a Konoha Nin, losing more and more sight of his friends and becoming consumed by his new identity. You running away from Konoha just made everyone's tempers burn longer and harder. "

"But that's the thing- I didn't run away, TenTen! Jiraiya took me away and told me to train with him until I was ready. Until I would be called back to return and…"

TenTen looked at me with a dubious expression on her face.

"I'm not so sure about that, Naruto-kun. Although Jiraiya disappeared about the same time you did, no one has ever been able to prove that both of your disappearances were linked. There were rumors about him going on some S-Class mission to protect Konoha, but I hadn't heard anymore about him. They still put him on the missing-nin list, though. The big people think he's a traitor, like you."

"This is crazy… I can't even believe Jiraiya's on the list too. So they both want us dead? What the hell is going on?" I cried in frustration.

"That's the way it is, Naruto. But I believe you. Convincing everyone else, though, will be a different story. If you're right, Jiraiya is the key to proving your innocence. No offense, but they wouldn't listen to kids like us. They'd surely listen to a Sannin, though," TenTen looked down and began playing with a blade of grass.

I looked at Hinata and finally asked myself why I had not been able to talk with her on a topic like this. Then, I realized, she had not asked and I had not brought it up since the day we met, after my return. I think both of us secretly didn't want to spoil the new romance we were sharing between us with something that might possibly get me killed.

I was glad TenTen was there to discuss the new times with me and answer some of my questions… even though she may have convinced herself that she was now my girlfriend.

She interrupted my thoughts when she said:

"There's no doubt in my mind, Naruto, that the others are definitely going to want to fight you for their own private reasons, besides you being a wanted criminal. Kiba wanted to prove he was better than you in front of Hinata. Shikamaru wanted to prove to Konoha that he was still a reliable ninja, especially after he failed to bring Sasuke back. Lee wanted to destroy you to release the guilt and fury in his mind caused by Gai-sensei's death. No one will listen to you, Naruto. Rivalries and fears we had since we were children will come up again and challenge you to more fighting."

"Damn that perverted-sensei. It was him, TenTen, it was him! He asked me to come back here because there was some sort of problem in Konoha… and now I find out that I'm that problem… this sucks… real bad. You can't imagine the bad week I'm having."

She took my hand in hers and placed it over her breast, all warm and soft.

"My heart beats for you, Naruto-kun. We'll find a way to prove your innocence."

It seems like the boys are not the only ones who have changed.

I gently, but firmly, took my hand away from her bosom and thanked her.

I looked down and thought what I would plan to do next. Then a thought hit me.

"Wasn't it Tsunade that put me on the books, TenTen?"

"Of course it was. She's the Hokage. She's the only one with the power too."

"I think I should pay her a visit then," I quickly said, the thought consolidating in my mind.

"The Hokage… she's been holed up in her office doing god-knows-what the past few months. Konoha rarely sees her any more, whether through public appearances or in her offices. Her last announcement regarded her becoming increasingly busy, tied up with important work and matters, and that she wouldn't be able to attend to the town as much as she did. She's delegated the only two people who are close enough to her to know what she's doing with the responsibility of solving the people's problems and inquiries."

"Who are they?" I asked her, eager to find out.

"Shizune is one of them, her apprentice. She's mostly the one in charge of receiving the people's questions and complaints for the Hokage. She's also her voice towards the media and such. She doesn't receive as many people in her office back at the village anymore, mainly because people think she's useless."

"I see, so she would be in charge of the archives and the bingo book too, then?"

"No that'd be the other person that the Hokage has put in charge. She's placed her apprentice of five years in charge of Konoha's security and, as one of our most impressive Jounin, leads many of our teams into international missions."

"Who's that?"

"Haruno Sakura," she replied matter-of-factly.

Sakura?

"You're kidding right? Haruno Sakura? Sakura from my old team?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"She's in charge of this village's security? She put me in the book?"

"Well, yes and no. She wasn't the one to put you in the book, the Godaime was. However, she does have the power to take your name off the book. She probably hasn't done that for the same reason the Godaime hasn't taken your name off the books."

"And WHY THE HELL is that?" I asked her, shock and awe painted on my face.

"Who knows?" TenTen replied, with a cheeky smile. "You're such a bad boy, Naruto. But don't worry, I have to admit that part about you definitely turns me on a little."

Argh, TenTen… say anymore stuff like that and I think I'm going to throw up…

"Right… So Sakura's become the Hokage's apprentice. Where is Sakura now?" I asked.

"She was sent on some ambassadorial mission. I think she's at Sand, at the moment."

"I understand. What about the other one from my team? Sasuke- any word about him? Has he returned at all since the day he disappeared?" I asked again.

Five years ago, I was included in a team, led by Shikamaru and sent with the mission of finding Uchiha Sasuke. Needless to say, our mission failed horribly, and I doubted that Sasuke would've written back to Konoha 'just to say hi'. That was so like him- that foolish, power-hungry idiot.

"He's still gone and missing, Naruto-kun. We still don't know where he is. His name went on the bingo book even before yours and Jiraiya's names were added."

"Hmm, I see, then."

The night was becoming darker and cooler, the sun barely visible. Black darkness had begun to blanket over the Forest of Death.

"It's getting late," I added redundantly. "We should leave."

"ANBU will soon be here to see what that explosion was all about. I doubt anyone back at Konoha would've missed it. If you don't want to get caught, I suggest you leave. They'll be here at any moment."

I picked up Hinata's body, bruised where the ropes had bitten into the skin on her arms. I checked out how Lee was doing, similarly passed out on the ground.

"Don't worry about him. The medics will see to him when ANBU arrives."

"That's good. Then let's leave already," I said, hoisting Hinata over my back.

"You two should go on ahead. I'd love to come with you, Naruto-kun, but you should take your innocent, platonic friend away from all this. I'll stay here with Lee."

She placed particular emphasis on the words ' platonic friend'.

"You're not coming?" I asked.

"I can't carry Lee out of this damn-big forest, and if you were to do it, it would just slow you down. ANBU will be searching for you until morning. Just go and get that girl out of here, we'll meet again back at Konoha. Meanwhile, I'll let my pickup come to me. I'll wait here with Lee," She suggested.

"Thank you, TenTen. You've answered so many of my questions."

"And you owe me dinner," TenTen smiled back, her tears long dried.

Then TenTen shrugged closer to me and held my cheeks in her hands.

One second later I was feeling her hot, warm tongue inside my mouth checking to see how my teeth were doing. She held me harder as she deepened the kiss, thrusting her hands into my hair as if they were searching for a reason to let go of me.

"Good luck, my sexy, missing-nin," TenTen said when she finally let me go.

I felt a bit dizzy, but then I nodded, checked that Hinata was firmly secured to my back, and jumped into the trees, the smell of TenTen's perfume still strong in my nose.

I didn't doubt that TenTen and I would meet again, which made me remember my horrifying experience with Kurenai. I was definitely going to see that charged-up Jounin again, I knew it. I placed my footing carefully and regularly checked on Hinata, hopping from branch to branch with my idle thoughts until something happened.

I was about twenty minutes into my escape when I reached the gates to the forest, leading back to Konoha, when I heard someone call my name.

"Naruto!"

I stopped where I was, surprised that someone had been able to spot me, let alone recognize me in the rapidly darkening night.

I stood by the gates and placed Hinata down on a nearby bench that was meant for Genin preparing to enter the forest during the exams. All of it felt so strangely familiar.

The figure stepped out of the shadows underneath a large tree outside the fence. It was as if he had been waiting for me to come out, knowing where I would show up.

"I'm assuming from the explosions and the fact that you're still alive that my teammate is dead?" The dark figure asked me.

"Lee is alive. TenTen is with him. What do you want with me?"

"For someone to defeat Lee and still be able to run out of here, carrying a girl on his back- now that's quite impressive. I applaud you, Naruto-kun."

"I don't need your petty praise, Hyuuga Neji."

Neji, like all the others, had changed under the influence of time. His white eyes had a more fearsome appearance to them than normal, his longer hair draped over the sides of his face. He had grown taller and leaner, his rigid stance as defiant as ever. The lines around his eyes, caused by his bloodline jutsu, The Evil Eye (Byakugan), were only just beginning to fade.

So that's how you spotted me.

He smiled cockily. I remembered how I had beaten him so long ago.

I wondered if I could do it again.

"Relax, Naruto, I haven't come to beat the living crap out of you. Not yet, anyway," He coolly replied, eyeing his unconscious cousin next to me.

"What happened to Hinata-sama?" He asked, not bothering to even pretend he sounded like he cared.

"She's okay. I'm taking her back to Konoha."

A look of false surprise and shock ran over Neji's face.

"Don't tell me you're living with her, Naruto? Is that where you're hiding- at Hiashi-sama's house? And while the family are away too, no doubt."

"F-k off my back, Neji," I replied, not wanting to hear any more of his pompous bullshit.

"No, Naruto, I think you must know the consequences of your actions."

"The hell are you suggesting?"

"What I'm very generously pointing out to your thick, unknowing lump of shit which you call a brain, Naruto, is that Hinata would be in for a lot more than a spanking when her father finds out that their daughter is taking the time of the family's absence to play hanky-panky with you all day long at their manor, you a-e dimwit."

His face was cold and matter-of-fact. The anger I knew was there was well hidden under his firm exterior.

"You son of a b-h," I called him angrily.

"Don't worry, they won't ever need to know of her crimes. Not if you meet me tomorrow evening. If you agree to my terms, Hinata won't ever have to endure the pain of being disowned by her family. This will be the last straw, Naruto, finding that their princess is flirting with a super-dangerous missing-nin like you. It will be enough to convince Hiashi-sama to throw his useless daughter out on to the streets, disgraced and disavowed in front of all of Konoha. And you, Naruto, would have been responsible for her downfall, you selfish piece of shit. Of course, Hinata-sama will take all the blame. You'll be fine, so don't worry... unless, you actually care about that weakling."

"F-k you, Neji. You double-crossing, blackmailing little f-ker."

"No, f-k you, Naruto. You dare to just waltz into this town after being away for so long, beat up two of Konoha's most loyal Chuunin, turn my cousin into a drooling fool and resist Lee's attempt to turn you in and make everyone's lives a lot easier to live? No, I think you deserve a little spanking yourself. And I want to be the one to give it to you."

I stared at him with hard eyes. If it was a fight he wanted…

"Meet me tomorrow at sunset, alone, on top of the Konoha cliffs. At least there, someone will be able to witness the fall of the great container. Even if our audience happens to be our long-dead Hokages, etched into stone. You will fall tomorrow, Naruto."

It's a fight he'll get.

"Fine. I will meet you then, scum."

"Oh and don't think I'll be easy to beat this time around. Lee isn't the only one who has been training hard all these years."

"Humph."

And with that, Neji gave me a cocky smile and a mock bow, and then turned and leapt into the forest, towards the direction of the tower's burning ruins. I noticed that up till now, the rubble still sent smoke into the night air.

I turned and made my way back home, Hinata strapped on to me in piggyback stance once again. It would only be an half hour more worth of walking till we were back home in Konoha, the village that hated me.

At least, I knew Neji wouldn't tell the ANBU officers that he had found me.

I coughed as the rain started to pour. Thunder gently tore through the skies. There was no doubt in my mind that the weather would only worsen tomorrow.

I'll protect you… with every breath and muscle in my body, Hinata.

The rain came down. I stripped down and wrapped my woman in my jacket.

I'll protect you… even against your own kin.