E2: done. Read. Promise of a happy ending, etc.
Chapter Fourteen: Catalyst
The day passed at a painstaking crawl. Emi seemed tense and stayed by Neji wherever he went.
"Neji…" Emi touched him tentatively on the shoulder. Neji turned around, staring down at her. "So… I was thinking, maybe tonight…"
"I have a mission," Neji interrupted. "I just got a message from the Hokage, and I need to go," he said, leaving her standing in the doorway without a proper goodbye. He never even said her name, afraid of what he'd say. Emi shut the door behind her, leaning back on the wood as tears streaked down her cheeks.
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Tenten stayed inside her new home all day, fixing the hinges on the floor to ceiling windows in the study- they opened up the entire way, and let in the crisp winter air, and opened when a small catch near the glass panels was flicked open and then rotated, causing the glass to do so, too. She took out the rice paper screens on the first floor- her training room- and removed the tracks on the floor with a wave of her hand, automatically lengthening the tatami mats to cover up the floorboards.
With a sigh, she unrolled the white canvas scrolls and began to paint beautiful, elegant scenes of waterfalls and forests, filled with bright, flowing creatures like butterflies and birds in swift, smooth strokes of blue, green, black and red. The panels flowed all around the room in a circle, never knowing where it ended and stopped. Tenten smiled. She liked that idea- but completing it all would take some time, unless...
The doorbell rang with a cheerful trill, and Tenten sighed and tried to detect whose mind it was. It was probably Sakura and Chikako- the young girl loved to help with the decorating. With some surprise, it was Neji and Emi. She placed her brushes in the water jar, and closed the inks. The kunoichi waved her hands and the windows swivelled shut. She took the jar and the brushes back down to the kitchen and tidied up her hair with a bobby pin after they were sitting in the sink. Then she opened the door.
Emi eyed her pale green yukata with distaste, and took note of the sharp pang of ink that was very clear to her senses.
Neji, on the other hand, thought that she looked resplendent in the green kimono and her hair glimmered in the cloudy sunlight.
"Hi… is there anything I can do for you two?" Tenten asked, instantly wishing she hadn't. Emi flinched at her voice, and Neji's eyes had a pained look in them for a split second.
Tenten felt sorry for Emi- she was still, in fact, at heart only a girl even though she was around nineteen. She seemed younger, and so naïve to still believe that Neji could love her- and that she was a threat.
Emi noticed that Tenten seemed completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere, and her spirits sank, all the while resenting Tenten for her ease to adapt to situations casually.
"We…" Neji paused to emphasise the word. "Have a matter to discuss with you."
"Um… okay," Tenten said, puzzled. She stood back, holding the door open. "You can come in… but I wasn't expecting visitors, so it might be a bit messy…" she smiled at Emi as she entered the house with some apprehension, but the younger woman only bared her teeth at her for a few seconds. Tenten did not react and just shut the door, turning on the lights with the flick of a switch on the lounge room. The couple sat awkwardly on the couch opposite Tenten, the coffee table and its large books of beautiful, glossy photos of exotic locations and, Neji noted with a sharp pang in his heart, a large, silver, leather bound photo album that was filled with photos from her Genin days up until now, with a large gap in between. He knew exactly what those photos had been of, and wondered where she kept them now.
"Is there anything you want to drink?" Tenten offered, wanting to break the silence between them.
"No, we're fine thanks," Neji said quickly, and Tenten sighed.
"So what was it you two wanted to ask me about?"
"As you know, we're getting married in a few months…" at this point, Tenten thought of the small countdown she had in her mind. It was pretty devastating, actually. "And, sadly, none of Emi's relatives can come. They've all travelled across the seas and all around the globe, and no one has been able to contact them."
Tenten nodded sagely.
"I see…" Tenten said, getting the point.
"So… we are requesting if you could be one of the bridesmaids at the wedding," Neji finished.
"Neji… are you sure this is what Emi wants?" Tenten said softly, looking at the… girl. Somehow, her mind couldn't interpret it in any other way. "I mean, I know that if there was no other way, you'd ask me for yourself, but our relationship does not exist and I think we both know it- you're better off asking Hinata, Hanabi, Sakura or Ino for this- not me, Emi."
Tenten spoke directly to Emi, simply, without any hint of animosity or envy. Despite her, "I know that you would not wish for me to be an honoured guest in this affair, so I think that it would be best if you reconsider Neji's offer, and choose someone else. I'm sorry- if you wish for some time to think about it, please do so- I'll go prepare some tea," Tenten said.
She stood and left the room, sliding the screen shut behind her to allow for their privacy.
----x----
Tenten drummed her fingers on the kitchen bench as she waited for the water to boil. She caught Neji and Emi's voices- they were rising- along with their tempers, like the water in the kettle.
"She humiliated me- and you don't even care," Emi said, sounding hurt. Both Neji and Tenten knew that she was jealous, and they didn't know what to do.
"She wasn't even thinking that-"
"Oh, right," Emi said spitefully. "Because Tenten's so perfect, right?" she spat, and Neji glared.
"Emi…" Neji said warningly.
"What? I don't care," Emi retorted viciously.
"How dare you have the audacity to criticize her in her own home?" Neji said softly.
"Watch me," Emi said carelessly. "You still love her like a lovesick fool- but I will change that, Neji. I will forbid you to see her- and her you, and after we are married, no one in the Hyuuga family will bear with her presence any longer. Do what you want- Tenten will definitely not be coming to our wedding, my dear fiancée," Emi said maliciously, and left the house, slamming the door shut.
The kettle whistled shrilly and Tenten brought it off the heat, pouring it into the teapot with the prepared jasmine tea leaves inside. They floated to the top in a perfect circle, and Tenten wondered what it meant as she placed the lid on the teapot and walked outside with the tray.
Kneeling, the kunoichi placed it gently onto the coffee table without a sound or word to Neji- they both knew what Emi had said.
"Tenten… I'm so-"
"Don't," Tenten said firmly as she sat on the couch beside him. "Don't apologize for her actions. If you do that, you'll only be submitting yourself to her will and she won't ever let you forget that," she warned softly, taking Neji's cold fingers into her own.
"I won't be able to stay sane, not being able to see you. And don't say that the dreams will be enough, because it won't- it only makes me want to see you more…" Tenten flinched. She had never seen Neji so… vulnerable. But it was him- she knew that, at least.
"I'm sorry," she said bowing her head. "I never should have left… in the middle of the night- it just seemed like the only thing I could do."
Neji chuckled, and it was a haunting sound.
"Well… we all do stupid things when we're not together, then," Neji said, and Tenten frowned. Emi was having negative affects on Neji- it was the demands that she brought to the clan, and then they in turn (well Hinata, actually, albeit unwillingly) put the pressure on him to fulfil his duty.
"Neji," Tenten said firmly, taking his face in her hands. "Listen. You have to listen to me," she said, making sure he was looking into her eyes. "No matter what, do not…"
"What? Love you? We had that discussion already," Neji said, his eyes sliding out of focus.
"Neji!" Tenten said sharply. "Neji… no matter what- just do not give them a reason to kill you." He didn't need to ask her to know who 'they' were. "They can do it, if she pushes them. Emi is manipulative, and won't stop until she has everything her way, even if it means breaking you away from sanity. Promise me that you won't push yourself to something drastic?" Tenten's voice faded to a whisper.
"Why?" Neji's breathing was harsh.
A tear fell from her eye and onto his hand. The look in her eyes said everything she wanted to say. Tenten's hands shook, and Neji pulled them away from his face as he claimed her lips with passion, then he gently pulled her down so they lay on the couch, and he ran his fingers though her hair, sending shivers through her body.
Tenten's hands ran up and down his body, and he tore his mouth away from hers, latching his mouth, tongue and teeth onto her shoulder that would normally be covered by her yukata, tasting her blood as she moaned in both pleasure and pain.
She kissed him once more, tasting her own blood and, moments later, his as she bit his lip and sucked on the wound. She had never known anything like the light headed feeling she felt now- it was the most exhilarating rush, and she knew that she would never feel the same about any other kiss, ever again. In one dazzling moment, her mind seemed to connect with Neji's as their blood mingled (her mouth had also managed to become cut in the process) and they saw and felt everything that the other did, breathed the same air and thought the same thing as they had for the past three years.
Tenten had gone through an excruciating period of mental abuse, whereas Neji had slowly begun to grow towards Emi…
Tenten started, and all of the ink bottles tipped over, spilling over the scrolls, mixing into a deep, dark black. The kunoichi frowned and the ink vanished.
She looked up and Hiroshi leered down at her. She cursed, throwing a bolt of lightning at him. It dissipated soon after it left her fingers, like the electricity had shorted out.
"Why so violent?" he shrugged, kneeling beside her. "I only came to help," he smiled, and paused. "I like your new hair length. It suits you."
Tenten glared at him.
"I know what you're thinking right now," he said, his finger tracing from her temple to her jaw line and then twined strands of her hair between his fingers. Tenten snarled and pushed him away, but found that she was grabbing at nothing. She regained her balance quickly, her frustration growing.
"Why aren't you listening to me?" Hiroshi asked. "You ran off, and I told you then, and I'll say it again- you are nothing without me!" he said, sweeping his arm around him. "Look at what you've returned to! Neji is sleeping with someone else in a bed that you owned before you even became his girlfriend; your friends have started their families with the ones they love, and you… well, you're just the misfit of the village- you vanished for three years, and when you came back everything was completely different."
It was almost like he was reading off a script, and Tenten baulked for a moment, thinking he could see into her mind. Then, rationality kicked in, and she knew he had been watching her for longer than she'd hoped.
"Come on, Tenten- you and me are destined to be together-you're beautiful, sweet, smart, talented… sexy…" Hiroshi kissed her with every word, the sensations all too real.
"You know, I forgot how much of a charmer you were, especially since you had completely abandoned me as your wife," Tenten said cheerfully. "I guess we just weren't meant to be," she sighed.
Hiroshi bit his lip. "Okay, I acknowledge the fact that I didn't give you everything you needed as your husband-"
"You were more like a stranger to me, Hiro!" Tenten snapped, and winced. Miyako's habits were deeply ingrained in her mind, just as Tenten was.
"But I promise I can make it up to you," Hiroshi said, stroking her arm yet again. Tenten rolled her eyes.
Tenten retaliated, opening her mind to him as he made contact with her skin, thinking only of moments of severe and immense physical pain. As expected, he jumped back, his hands clutching at his head, flickering in and out of substantiality until he vanished.
Tenten smiled in satisfaction and locked away all of the painful memories- but it was not without trouble.
The doorbell chimed, breaking Tenten's mind away from her dark and shadowy thoughts.
Tenten's skin became gooseflesh as a chill of premonition washed over her. She shut the windows and scooped up the empty jars and the dirty brushes and deposited them in the kitchen sink, and opened the front door.
"Sakura! Chika!" Tenten said, obviously surprised, and yet relieved at the same time.
"Your… hair." Chika said bluntly, twisting the long silky strands between her nimble fingers. "Is it real? I want hair this long, this quickly! Is it a ninjutsu? It's so cool!" she ranted on as Tenten smiled at her mother over her head, and ushered them both out of the cold.
"Well, sorry, Sakura, Chika- I wasn't expecting anyone to come over, so my house is a bit messy…" Tenten apologized as they walked through the lounge room.
"It looks perfectly fine…" Sakura commented as they sat down in the kitchen. Tenten turned on the warm lights and put the kettle on.
"Back to the topic, Tenten nee-chan! Is your hair real?" Chikako asked.
"Yes, it is," Tenten smiled as she picked up the small girl.
"Is it a wig?"
"No."
"Are they hair extensions?"
"Chika," Sakura said exasperatedly. "It's rude to ask questions like that."
"I don't mind," Tenten said mildly.
"How did you get it so long?" Chikako asked as Tenten put her down to pour the water into the teapot.
Tenten did not answer her, and placed the cups gently on the table- there were three in total. She sat down on the stool, and poured the jasmine tea into the china.
"It's a long story, Chika," Tenten sighed tiredly, and twisted the cup around in her fingers. "Are you sure you want to hear?"
Chikako nodded eagerly, and Tenten sighed once more.
"I'm afraid what kind of danger it would put you in- would they come after you because they knew of what you knew? Would they come after you anyway? Would they ignore you…?"
Chikako frowned.
"You're not making any sense."
"It doesn't, does it?"
"What happened?"
"Too many things, Chika."
"Why won't you tell me?"
"Because… there are some things that must not be told… because you can never know who is who," Tenten said cryptically.
"Not even Narikio? Or Oki?" Chikako tilted her head to the side, a perfect image of innocence. Tenten smiled slightly, and was reminded of her childhood.
"Why don't you…" Sakura began to suggest, and Chikako scowled in a manner that made her look so much like her father that Sakura laughed and ruffled her hair.
"Do you really want to know?" Tenten asked.
"Yes!" Chikako said as she stamped her foot beneath the table.
Tenten lapsed into a thoughtful silence and Chikako was afraid Tenten had forgotten what they'd been speaking of.
"Is that… you and Neji-nii-san?" Chikako asked as she pointed to a photo frame on the mantelpiece. Tenten nodded.
"If you and nii-san were together before, why didn't you get married?" Chikako asked.
"Well you see, Neji is a part of a noble clan…" Tenten began as she repoured the tea.
"Like the Uchiha?"
Tenten smiled.
"Yes- the other noble clan of Konoha, the Hyuuga clan, and he loves his family very much. So when his uncle died, he left Neji an instruction to marry Emi, and because Neji loves his family and his uncle, he married Emi, or well… is marrying Emi," Tenten explained, in a falsely cheery voice.
"You're a horrible liar," Chikako said flatly.
"Well the point is… we're not married because Neji had to marry Emi- not because we stopped loving each other," Tenten said quickly, and sensed Chikako's triumph.
"I knew it!" she crowed.
"What?"
"Neji-nii-san still loves you, even after not seeing you for three years, and you still love him too! That's so cool! I'd rather you be my aunty than that weirdo Emi," Chikako said, and Sakura clamped her hand over her child's mouth.
"Chika! That's enough! It's very rude to pry into other people's business like that! Just apologize and then sit quietly, or you'll be sent outside!"
"Sorry…" Chikako mumbled, and Sakura took her hand off.
"That's better," Sakura said, feeling satisfied.
"Eh… okay then. Well anyway…" Tenten stared up at the window and thought for a few moments.
"Three years ago," she began. "Neji and I were celebrating our one year anniversary and decided to go on a holiday. While we were there, Temari came to visit us and said she had a mission and needed our help. We helped her, and then Neji's uncle died so we broke up because this man called Hiroshi had told me all of these things before I saw Neji. I left the house, and went down to the beach, and then I fell asleep- but it wasn't… dreaming. It was thick, dark, and murky. But I had no memory of who I was. Hiroshi was there when I woke- he said that we were married. I was initiated properly into their clan a few months after, and I've been living with them for the past three years. But when I went back to the mainland a few months ago, and saw Neji, I remembered everything," Tenten summarised quickly.
"But when I had been on the island, Hiroshi made me a part of his clan, with all of their bloodline limits- it was the strongest of them all- we can control the elements, the way people behave, think, and look and even over life and time. So, they were wiped out because they were dangerous," Tenten paused. "Do you understand?"
Chikako and Sakura nodded, very slightly.
"Sort of. So you just said you wanted long hair, and it grew?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. It's like manipulating time and your body, and then thinking of the effects it creates on that specific part," Tenten explained.
"So could you do it for me?" Chikako asked excitedly.
"No, it's too dangerous, I'm sorry. I don't think I could do something like that, my dear. You're going to have to grow your hair the normal way, I'm afraid," Tenten smiled. "And I don't think your mother would like that."
Chikako pouted, and Sakura sighed.
"Besides, you have the Sharingan," Sakura reminded her child. "That is a very high honour to possess- and so, there are a few things you must always remember about our clan and its history." The mother went on to lecture her child on the history of the Uchiha clan, and about Itachi and how she must never follow his path, etc., etc.
"Yes, mother…." Chikako said in long suffering tones. In fact, the look in her eyes spoke volumes on what she knew- more than enough.
Tenten smiled and yawned, and Sakura picked up on her thin attempt to disguise it.
"Okay Chika, Tenten's tired- we should go now…" Sakura announced, picking up her tired child, and Tenten smiled. She walked them to the front door and found that it was sprinkling lightly outside. Tenten procured a large umbrella from the stand, saying that they could borrow it for as long as they needed.
"Bye Tenten-nee-chan!" Chikako said as she waved. Sakura waved also, and Tenten smiled back and shut the door.
"You know, I had wondered when they would leave," Neji said.
Tenten slowly turned around.
"You know, I had wondered when you would announce your presence," Tenten retorted. Neji was sitting on the suede couch, casually.
"I like what you've done with the place-"
"What are you doing here?" Tenten demanded, and Neji smirked.
"Patience…" he began.
"… Is a virtue. I know," Tenten finished as she sat down beside him. "Why did you come?" she asked softly, but it was more of a rhetorical question. Neji decided to answer it anyway.
"Because I had to come and see you…"
"So did you send Sakura over here as a ruse to draw my attention away?"
"No," Neji said defensively.
"Why did you come to see me?" Tenten asked firmly. "And don't give me a cryptic answer because if you do, I will seriously hurt you."
"I came… because I had to talk to you about… everything."
Tenten patiently sat back, and watched him without emotion in her eyes.
"Well… what happened was that… Emi… when we first met…" Neji cleared his throat.
"Neji," Tenten gently touched his hand. "I have known you for so many years- why are you so… finicky about this? I've never seen you this nervous- spit it out because you're making me worried!"
"Because of Hiashi's death, Hinata needed support from the entire family, and so I stayed back at the compound again for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Emi's rooms had been placed close to mine, so when I slept on that first night… I wanted you to be there with me- I had so desperately wanted you to be there…" he drifted off, and Tenten's eyes widened.
"YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING WITH HER SINCE THE DAY WE BROKE UP?" Tenten shrieked.
Neji sighed and shook his head.
"No- I kissed her… Things are still hazy there. Then, I thought that… I'd thought that I could just hate her and get along with life, despite being married- I would do it for Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata-sama's sake… and your's, too. I wanted to make sure that the promise I'd made to you would last, no matter what. But I think… it wasn't enough. She's somehow… just wrapped herself in my life… and I don't know… but… we did sleep together on that night you came back, and I don't really remember why," Neji thought of Emi, and how he saw her.
He just remembered her being very… sweet and pleasant to him most of the time, even though he never behaved in the same manner. With her sweet, winning ways, her striking beauty and her obvious intelligence, Emi had more than half of the village enchanted- even those who did not know her very well. Yet Neji was troubled to find that she was quick to use her beauty and force of her nature to keep her 'friends' dance in attendance upon her. It was almost like compulsion.
"Do you love her?"
"No… I don't love her, and it's not even close to love or infatuation…"
So charming Emi had grown in her requests, so prettily grateful when they were acceded to, that it was easy to think that it was just a natural desire to please her that drove some people to compete with each other for her favours… but when it came to him, it was a completely different matter. It was subtle but somehow, she always seemed to get something like what she wanted- if not all.
"You keep thinking about her," Tenten said, and there was no note of jealousy or anything hostile. Neji almost flinched, but he still did not know what he was thinking truly about her.
Tenten sensed his confused emotions and did what any other person would. She slapped him.
"Neji- you have to listen to me! You have to pin down your thoughts, and emotions and just freaking decide how you feel about her! Wandering around with thoughts like that makes you a vulnerable target to people who can read emotions well!"
"People like you?"
"Especially people like me- because the others are people like him!"
"So…" Neji said coolly.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me, Neji. He is nothing more than an evil person who … toyed with me enough to open up my mind. He could attack you where you are weakest- your mind and heart, and exploit everything in your head. You have to be firm, decisive and have a mind of steel. If you keep everything locked up, then no one can see," Tenten said, her voice rising with fervour. "What the hell happened to you? You used to be so calm, and together and I respected that. Why is it that now you're all over the place? Act like a shinobi!"
Neji's thoughts did clear slightly at her words, and she could see past the cloudy film of the first few layers of his mind, to the most prevalent thought in his mind- Emi.
"How do you feel about her?" Tenten asked firmly. "And give me a decisive answer or I will seriously punch you."
"Wow. You're giving me a lot of these violence threats today," Neji remarked. Tenten snapped her fingers and sparks showered onto him. "It's complicated."
Tenten cracked her knuckles, blue flames becoming apparent across her skin, and Neji smirked.
"Is that another way of just saying that you're immature? You're nice to her on 'good' days, and mean on every other day? I mean, I learned to put up with that but in her case… and then this rambling thought that you were thinking a minute ago seems to show me that she is highly manipulative- and you can't pick up on it? That is a world first, Neji," Tenten sighed, and Neji rolled his eyes.
"It is nothing like that."
"Then what is it? How can you be so sure that she's not using some kind of secret compulsion technique to compel you into loving her? It sounds like she's been successful because your thoughts are just going around in circles, and you're dodging the main question."
Tenten gave him a heated look, and Neji returned one- the full blast Hyuuga glare. One that could fully petrify any other human being not usually exposed to its force.
The suspense built between the two shinobi locked in an intense staring contest.
A thick silence fell, and finally Neji looked anywhere in the room other than Tenten, and Tenten looked nowhere else in the room other than Neji- it was unlike him to be so restless. She knew there was something wrong with his mind. She sighed and looked away.
"Follow me," she said tersely, leaving the room. Neji followed her upstairs and he peeked into the room on the first floor. It wasn't very large- it was around twenty square meters and there were several thick, white canvas scrolls lying on the ground, the ink waiting to be painted on.
"It's my training room. I'm still working on decorating," she sighed.
"Why don't you just wave your hands and, you know, make everything the way you want it?"
"Because that just takes the fun and purpose out of doing things by yourself," Tenten said, walking on up the wooden stairs. The lights winked into existence above them, but Neji couldn't see a switch.
"I guess I'm finally seeing how lazy you are," Neji smirked.
"I can push you down, you know," Tenten glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "We won't have to worry about you and your clouded mind, then."
They arrived in Tenten's bedroom- it was smaller than the study to make room for a balcony. She had a large sleigh bed, adorned with pale green sheets with apple blossoms embroidered upon them. Upon her bedside table was a silver photo frame, but it was not the one she had taken from his room.
The skylight provided some warmth to the room, and Tenten made sure it was firmly latched shut and covered it. There were not many other items in the room- there was a dressing table with a pale jewellery box. A dress was draped across the chair and Neji raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"You've taken to wearing dresses, I see," he said.
"You can't expect me to be someone else for three years and come back, suddenly the same. I like it," she said suddenly. "It's cute, and well, let's face it- I've been termed mentally unstable. It's not like anyone's going to notice if I start wearing different clothes."
"Yeah- they'll just notice you're back," Neji said sarcastically.
"What? Aren't I allowed to change and become more mature?" Tenten retorted.
"Oh," Neji smirked. "If you were ever mature before you left, then I'm a girl."
"That makes no sense," Tenten said, flopping back on the bed and staring up at the skylight, seeing only the shifting clouds.
"Neji… come here, please," Neji moved to the side of the bed, and Tenten blushed slightly as she said. "No… I meant like here, on the bed, next to me." She moved along, and Neji lay down close beside her, looking up at the clouds.
"I have an idea," Tenten began. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him.
"Is it a good idea?"
"Do you want me to tell you or not?" Tenten huffed.
Neji smirked.
"Your mind is abnormally cloudy," she began. "When I look into the layers of your mind- seemingly wedged open, I suppose your thoughts are clinging to things that have been put there by someone else."
"Now you're the one not making any sense," Neji rolled his eyes.
"Okay…" Tenten stared into his lilac irises, her breathing falling into perfect time with his. "What I want you to do… is just clear your mind… and let me handle the rest."
She blinked at the same time that Neji did- or did he blink at the same time as she? Their movements were the same, their heartbeats matched, and Tenten slowly placed her cool fingertips on the pale skin on his temples. She noticed, with a pang, that he flinched at her touch.
"It's okay," Tenten said soothingly. "It's me- you can trust me, can't you?"
Neji blinked several times, before nodding tersely. She met his eyes, seeing the wrongness yet again. It was a taint- Emi had poisoned him with her ways, she realized. Sighing, Tenten untied his forehead protector, letting it fall onto the bed, and unwound the bandage-like strips of fabric. Without warning, she knocked him sharply in the middle of his forehead on the cross, breaking Emi's compulsion charms on him, and he fell back onto the bed.
"That hurt!" he said.
"How do you feel?" she asked, searching his eyes.
"Kind of… shaken," he said, rubbing his curse seal mark. "Just don't try that migraine technique on me like you did on the beach," he smirked up at her, propping himself up on his elbows.
"There's still more," Tenten said, smiling.
"What? Are you a neurosurgeon now? Are you going to crack my head open?" Neji whined.
"Your mind is still unstable!" Tenten said, laughing. "Just hold still so I can heal it properly!"
"Of course I'm unstable!" Neji cried. "You're the one who just knocked all of the common sense from my head!"
Tenten laughed.
"Stop being so irrational!" she replied. "This time it'll be a lot less painful!"
"I think you're just going to make me more stupid, you nasty person!" Neji fought back. "You're going to use your witchy tricks on me and turn me into a frog!"
Tenten sighed.
"Stop!" she said, holding her hand up. He froze, and his eyes moved and shifted warily as she approached him. "Don't worry," she smiled, "This is not going to hurt a bit."
She moved up to his frozen body and kissed his curse seal tenderly, warmth spreading from her lips into his mind. His fingers twitched and he placed his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her away.
Her eyes were unfocused and her face was dazed, like she was seeing something that he wasn't.
"Tenten," he said softly.
She shook her head, the dreams falling away.
"How do you feel?" the kunoichi asked.
"Better- my head seems… clearer," Neji replied softly, and leaned closer so his lips just brushed hers with a feather light touch.
"That's good," she said briskly, standing up. She moved too soon, and Neji started forward to catch her.
"Thank you…" the weapons expert said, her eyes sliding shut.
"Tenten?" Neji whispered, trying not to jar her. "Tenten are you okay?"
Tenten opened her eyes slightly, but as soon as Neji felt her body slump, and go limp, he knew that she had fallen unconscious- that, or asleep. Neji gently picked her up- like he was so used to- and placed her beneath the covers on the bed.
He sat down beside her and, before he could control his hands, he stroked the long bangs out of her face, combing his fingers through the long silken strands of her hair, and then, with a pained look in his eyes, remembered about Emi, and drew his hand away as he sat straight, not daring to look upon Tenten's sleeping face. It was too painful.
Also, thought Neji's critical mind, it would be dishonourable to be found like this- but why was he still thinking about Emi? Was Tenten not strong enough to banish her completely from his mind? Then, he realised he had thought about her by himself- she was his fiancée- naturally, he would be feeling some kind of … thing towards her- they would be getting married in a few months!
Then, as if on cue, Emi burst into the room with two Hyuugas in tow. (The Head-Branch family system had been abolished three years ago, but there were still some people finding it hard to adjust. Neji knew it would take at least another generation to heal the wounds between the family members.)
"Neji…?" she said softly, tears springing to her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I would like to ask you the same question. I came to visit her- orders of the Hokage," Neji replied softly, leaving Tenten's side with minimal movements. "And you, Emi?" Neji asked, "Why are you here?"
"I came," she said uncertainly, "because I needed to know where you were. I asked the Hokage-sama- and she said that you were on a personal mission… and I didn't know what it meant, so I… came to ask Tenten."
Neji raised an eyebrow.
"A personal mission? That means that it is a mission that she requires to be done, free of charge, because she is too busy to do on her own," Neji replied calmly.
"I… see. And you willingly took this up because…?" Emi prompted.
"I wanted to. Money is not an issue for me and I had planned on seeing Tenten anyway, so when the Godaime asked me to check on Tenten's health, I was only too glad to do so."
"Well you've checked up on her, she looks fine to me. Your mission is over- don't overextend yourself, Neji," Emi said soothingly, like Neji was a child. Neji felt that it was fairly condescending, and some rebellious part of him said smugly, "Tenten would never talk to you like that - she never has!"
"Actually, she just fainted," Neji replied, and Emi rubbed her head.
"What time will you be home, tonight, Neji?" she asked tiredly, and the two Hyuugas, who had been uncomfortable the entire time, began to feel sorry for Emi more than they did for Neji, who seemed unaffected.
"I don't know," Neji said, just as tiredly as she.
Emi bowed her head and turned around. She left the house with the two Hyuugas just as silently as she had left. Neji locked the door behind them and went back upstairs. Tenten was sitting upright, awake.
"Neji," she said weakly. "She… she is not who she says she is…"
"I know that."
"Why are you still doing this?"
"Because there is not enough proof."
"Even if you do break off the engagement, what clan will come to the rescue, and sue you for damages?" Tenten asked, and Neji sighed.
"It is a risky thing. We don't even know if the documents Sakura got were real or not." Then something occurred to him. "You were awake the entire time? Why didn't I sense that? How did you know about Emi not being Emi?" Neji asked suspiciously.
"Yes, because my mind was aware of everything while my body rested and Hinata and Hanabi told me," Tenten answered sweetly, and Neji sighed. "Weren't you the one calmly listening in when I explained to Sakura and Chika?"
"You didn't mention that."
"I haven't told you a lot of things," Tenten said darkly. She paused, and sighed, pushing the sheets aside. "Go home, Neji."
"I need to talk to you about something," Neji protested.
"Didn't you already say that? We talked, and that's all there is to it."
"Well, actually, you didn't tell Sakura and Chikako everything," Neji stated calmly.
"Damn it," she swore. "I should have never taken those stupid veils from your mind. You're less suspicious when your mind is clouded."
"I'm guessing that was the point," Neji replied dryly. "Can't you just pry the information from her? Just force her to confess something, if anything at all?"
Tenten smiled wryly. "That's violation of privacy, Neji. I could do it if she was a criminal… but not to her- what if she wasn't guilty of anything?"
"What about those mind veil things? Who put them there?"
Tenten shrugged.
"There are only seven Hideaki Clan members in the world. Those sisters, Hiroshi, myself and someone else. What are the odds that the last is Emi?"
"Pretty marginal, I guess," Neji said, his face lit with a thoughtful expression. "Takumi Emi apparently doesn't exist currently- unless the archivists have mixed up records, or everyone in the clan has forgotten the other one."
"Takumi Emi doesn't exist?" Tenten did a double take. "Then who is she?"
"Like I said, I don't know for sure. I mean, those records had been created more than a hundred years ago; her clan has developed nomadic tendencies since then, and they probably aren't registered anywhere…"
Tenten smiled. "I guess you're hoping, then."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You're hoping that she's not the seventh," a slow smile spread across her face. "You've fallen for her, haven't you?"
Neji sighed and looked away.
"I am not having this conversation with you," he muttered.
"You have!" Tenten smiled. There was an accusatory note in her voice. And Neji's face was shuttered. Tenten punched him playfully. "There's nothing wrong with it," she said. "Well, unless you want there to be- you know, like if she's evil, or unfaithful, or-"
A strange, pained expression came over Tenten's face. "Not again," she sighed. The world spun rapidly and Neji was the last thing she saw before she fell back onto the coverlet.
A sickening wave of dizziness washed over the Hyuuga and he doubled over, collapsing onto the bed beside the kunoichi.
Hiroshi appeared beside the window sill with a frown on his face. Tenten had progressed more than he had anticipated in those three years. He would need to do something, quickly, to bend her to his will. Without another sound, he turned back to the window and vanished.
Oh, and also- I have started to write a collection of drabbles. It's just a few things in there- but suggestions will be taken! Bittersweet is the title, so it'd be great if you could go and take a look!