E2: Another Chapter… ugh. This is kind of getting annoying already.
Happy Birthday Chouji! (May 1st)
Another chapter comes, and another secret is revealed. For those who are confused… Tenten lost her memory- she is known as Miyako because she introduced herself as that to Hiroshi when he first met her. She is not any older, or younger than he says she is.
I hope you enjoy this one, the Naruto-Hinata pairing starts to come into this more, and a few other things, with a warning: stupid ideas have begun to surface. Wait- they already did. Sorry.
Chapter Six: Sisters… and Sake
Miyako sat on a small futon in a tea room that overlooked the sea- and Hiroshi's four sisters sat opposite her.
Akane had brown eyes, red hair, and she was taller than the other three, with creamy skin with freckles here and there. Miyako suspected she had a bit of a fiery nature to suit the colour of flames in her hair.
Hana had long, braided, emerald green hair that made the flower in her hair seem as if it had grown on the viridian silk. Her green eyes were different to Hiroshi's - there was something about them that was different, like the way that they shone with a light that was not like the man's.
Asuka wore a strange fragrance that smelled like the wind, orchids and the sun – it was confusing. She had slightly wavy sandy blonde hair and long lashes framed her hazel eyes. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful of the four.
Hotanu, with the firefly trapped in amber around her wrist, had blue hair and grey-lilac coloured eyes. Her skin seemed to gleam slightly in an unearthly way, even in the warm sunlight- it was probably just a trick of the light. They were all unassumingly, yet boldly, beautiful at the same time.
They were all different, yet the same- she supposed it was their faces. They had the same cheeks, nose and mouth, even if their hair and eyes were different, along with their build.
Currently, they were meditating- Miyako kept fidgeting lightly, finding it hard to clear her mind. Akane saw that she was restless, and dismissed her sisters.
"Miyako-san… what's wrong?" Akane asked. "You're not normally this troubled."
"I know, and I'm sorry- it's just that I'm feeling a bit restless. Can we continue this on the deck? I wish to sit in the sun."
Akane nodded, taking a thick, leather bound book with her as they walked through the house to the deck.
"I have other duties to attend to, Miyako-san," Akane said quietly. "But I'll leave you with this book anyway- it's a history of my family, and the talents of the Hideaki kekkei genkai."
"Thank you," Miyako said, sitting down on a deck chair and taking the book. Akane left her alone. After a few moments, and she opened the book, tracing the symbols etched on the cover. There were fifteen of them, with eight on the outside, four set in a diamond inside the octagon, two carved in a horizontal alignment and one set dead in the middle of the cover, as black as night. Miyako shivered as she opened the pages, but quickly found herself lost within them.
The Hideaki clan could, the book read, control the subconscious and unconscious mind, and had very limited power on the waking mind. When sleeping, they could do anything they wished; their power was unchallenged in the night, but during the daylight, their power was limited but for those who possessed more than eight seals.
While sleeping, however, one with the kekkei genkai of the Hideaki clan could perform any act they so desired- telekinesis, teleportation, assassination, brainwave manipulation and even shapeshifting- and unable to be detected by those with other kekkei genkai such as the Byakugan.
Miyako started, the book slamming shut. She looked around- the sun was low in the sky, the breeze had picked up, and the area had cooled significantly.
Picking up the book once again, Miyako wondered why no one had bothered to tell her to come inside. She walked into the dining room and slid the glass panels shut behind her. The room was uncharacteristically dark, and the glass panels had vanished, turning into a brick wall.
Miyako's eyes narrowed, her senses attuned to the slightest movement as she moved through the darkness.
"Miya!" Hiroshi's voice echoed off the walls, and she whipped around, her fists flying up. "What are you doing?"
Miyako blinked and the darkness vanished.
"Oh nothing… you just scared me," Miyako smiled, feeling suddenly serene. "How was your day?"
"Fine- everything was just fine," Hiroshi smiled. He stepped back, taking the book from her. He placed his hands tenderly on her shoulders, his eyes roaming across her skin. Miyako shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
"What are you doing?"
Hiroshi smiled. "Nothing- I was just remembering the first time I ever saw you… you were so beautiful," he breathed lightly, the warmth spreading across the nape of her neck, the skin turning to gooseflesh. In a sudden motion, Miyako pulled his lips to hers, her hands twining in his hair. She didn't know what she was doing, or why- it just seemed like she needed to do it, like someone had just pulled her strings, like she was a marionette, dancing for an audience of one…
----x----
Neji made it back to the apartment that he and Tenten had lived in. Three days ago seemed so far away- an eternity, in fact. Suddenly, the phone rang, the shrill jangle getting to his nerves.
"Hello?"
"Neji- it's Hinata."
"What can I do for you, Hinata-sama?"
"You left your things here- do you want it sent over?"
"No, I'll drop by later."
"Um… Emi is here with me- she says that you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk. Tell her that she's just being nosy, and I don't appreciate it. It's not her place," Neji retorted angrily. Damn that child-woman-thing!
"Neji… she's your fiancée. Please, for the sake of our clan, get along with her- this treaty… it's fragile for now- if it screws up…"
"It'll blow up in our faces. Yeah I know. Tell you what. I'll take a nap… I'm feeling like I'm spinning around… and if I recover in time, I'll drop by and spend the night at the compound for the next few days and help you get all this… stuff in order. How's 'at sound?" he asked, his words slurring together.
"Um… okay then. Thanks, Neji,"
"No probs… Hina-sama…" Neji hung up the phone and ambled down the hallway towards the bedroom.
He fell onto the bed, and tried to sleep. It came only after he imagined a certain brown eyed, brunette kunoichi, still at his side, stroking his hair away from his face, her fingers smooth and cool against his heated skin.
"I love you, Tenten," he said to his imaginary weapons expert. "I love you, so much," he repeated, tears falling from his eyes.
The apparition simply smiled sadly, as he had known that she would. There was no answer from her- only the sound of Neji's slow, even breaths filled the room.
----x----
"You are so cute when you sleep, you know," Emi struggled not to cry when Neji grabbed her wrist without battering, or opening for that matter, an eyelid.
He slowly opened his lilac eyes and glared at Emi for many reasons. Firstly, she had woken him up. Secondly, she had followed him to where he lived and thirdly, because he needed to take out the pain of a head splitting headache on someone.
"Emi," he growled, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I came to visit you," she said in her annoyingly high pitched girlish voice, wrenching her hand out of his grip.
"Why? There was absolutely no need to," he said dismissively and rolled over. "Get out of my bedroom, Emi."
"Do I have to?" Emi pouted.
"Yes," Neji said. "Or I will make you get out."
"You obviously need someone to look after you, Neji-kun."
Neji's eye twitched at the suffix.
"Why is that?" he asked coldly.
"Because," she giggled, and Neji rolled his eyes. "Your hair's undone and tangled, and your clothes are half coming off."
It was true- Neji had slept unusually violently for the past what- five hours?
He shrugged like it meant nothing to him, and Emi began to become interested in the other items around the bedroom. She spotted a photo in a silver photo frame, with a kanji for 'love' engraved in the corner. The photo itself was… interesting. It showed Neji fully making out with some brunette in a disco kind of setting. Emi presumed it was this Tenten- what was so special about her? She looked like any other random villager on the street.
"Don't touch my things," Neji snapped, snatching the photo frame out of her hands.
"Sorry, it was just sitting there," Emi retorted. She had noticed the angry flash in his eyes that had been awfully close to hatred.
"Well leave it there, then," Neji growled softly. He pushed her out of the room and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. A few minutes later, he emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed, to find Emi in the bathroom, looking in the cupboard.
"Find anything interesting?" he asked sardonically.
Emi started and bashed the top of her head on the bottom of the sink.
"NO!" she said loudly. "I mean… nothing… I mean- I'm sorry. Did you… live here, together?"
"Yes. You've been looking through the products in the bathroom. I think you'd be able to put two and two together," Neji said sarcastically. "Now get out. We're leaving in a few minutes- I just need to pack some things."
--------
Miyako woke suddenly, shivering in the abrupt cold. She rolled onto her side, wrapping her arms around her. A hand moved up her back, and she felt him smile against her skin.
"Why are you awake, Miya?" he asked huskily.
"It's cold."
Hiroshi pulled the sheets up over her head, and she rolled over, looking intently at him and then at the gold band on her finger. Her mind told her that they'd been married for two years, but her heart felt otherwise.
"How can you look at me like that?" she asked quietly.
"Like what?"
"Like you haven't seen me at all everyday for the last two years."
Hiroshi smiled.
"Because everyday, you grow even more lovely and beautiful in my eyes," he kissed her unconvincingly and settled back down to sleep, feeling replete. Miyako, on the other hand, felt slightly troubled. Hiroshi's fingers moved slightly, and the thoughts were erased from her mind as she smiled, and kissed his lips gently before, also, settling down to sleep.