A/n: Welcome to the last installment of "Secrets." I hope everyone enjoyed it! These last two chapters are dedicated to everyone who reviewed, and especially to "scharlo" for reviewing every chapter. scharlo...you rock! Ok, on with the writing.
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Chapter 11: Farewell
Sora gaped at her uncle from her perch in Imoshinai's arms. Was he telling the truth? He killed his own brother and sister-in-law? What was this clan coming to?
Imoshinai glared at the man on the ground before him. "The bastard," he thought, "trying to frame me! Good god, the man's a lunatic…"
"Well," spoke Heisei from her spot on the deck, her voice showing quite a bit of distress under her calm shell, "I think we all know what to do with you now, son." She spoke coldly to her younger – no, older – son. Everyone looked at her, curiosity in their eyes. "They all wonder if I'll say it…" she thought, "if I'll put my own son on trial. Well of course I will. Just because he's heir doesn't mean he's exempt from justice." She spoke. "You'll be put on trial."
The man kneeling before her on the ground regarded her coldly, like he was above listening to his mother. She glared back, astounded and ashamed that she had brought up the creature before her. Slowly, purposefully, she walked away, telling the whole world that she had turned her back on her only living son. The rest of the clan followed suit.
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Neji and Tenten arrived to the unnaturally quiet grounds of the Reiki complex. After letting themselves in through the front gate, they looked around for the rest of the clan, but no one presented themselves. The place was bare. After a few minutes of listening, Tenten picked up two familiar voices. She and Neji followed them until they came to Imoshinai and Sora sitting on the edge of the wraparound deck, their legs dangling off comfortably. They were talking quietly over tea when they heard the Konoha pair walk up.
"You're back," said Imoshinai quietly. The child sitting next to him squealed softly and ran to Neji. Everyone but Sora was surprised at that.
"Neji nii-san, you're back!" she said, hugging just above his knees in her small grasp.
"Well, Imoshinai, look's like you've got some competition," Tenten joked, still keeping her voice down so as not to disturb the tranquility of the near silent Reiki compound.
Imoshinai glared teasingly back at her while Neji slowly pried his newest fan girl from his knees, the smallest smile bending the corners of his lips upward. Behind the four, a door opened, and for the first time, Tenten realized where they were: the office near the front gate.
Heisei stepped out slowly, as if walking was a labor meant for the young energetic ninja she once was. Her face was lined with the troubles of a thousand years, and her eyes held a pain that no mother should have gone through. "May I see you two?" she asked stiffly, gesturing toward Neji and Tenten. Both nodded and walked into the darkened study. She seated herself behind the desk that so long ago, Eimie had sat in, welcoming the pair to the Reiki grounds. Neji and Tenten slowly sat across from her, the look on her face not foretelling of good news. "You both deserve to know the truth about Kanroku," she began, "It is not something I wish you to scream to the world, so please, only tell your Hokage-sama, and then keep this under lock and key." The two ninja in front of her nodded resolutely. She continued. "While you were both gone, Imoshinai came back to the complex with Kanroku."
"We know," Neji said quietly.
"Kanroku confessed to some terrible crimes, you know." Heisei paused, as if contemplating whether or not to tell the expectant twosome before her. "He…impersonated his brother, killed him, and then killed his brother's wife. He was planning on killing Imoshinai as well." She received two stares full of apprehension, as the three sat in awkward silence.
Tenten spoke up. "If you don't mind, Heisei-san, I, as part of this clan, would like to know what exactly my uncle did."
Heisei sighed. "He's not your uncle, Rei. He's yo-"
"May I clear something up before you continue?" said Tenten, her fake name irking her to no end, "My name is Tenten. I came under a false name because we were originally sent as spies."
Heisei just stared, not coldly, but not with admirtion either. Then with another heavy sigh, she continued, "Alright, I shouldn't expect anything less from a trained kunoichi. Anyway, Tenten, Kanroku is your father."
Now, it was Tenten's turn to stare.
"You see," said Heisei, her worn, creased face becoming even more creased, "Your father and uncle switched places. Kanroku – the one you know – is the older one. He went to Konoha on a mission and had the affair only a few months before his own marriage. Since they were identical, his brother offered to switch places with him, to save him the trouble of being found for DNA or such things. Neither knew how Kisaki-san would react, so to be safe, they switched places. Kanroku was the name of the younger twin, and Kyouji was the older one. All this time, Kyouji has been living under his brother's name and vice versa. So, from now, I shall address them by their real names." Heisei glanced up from her hands in her lap to make sure Neji and Tenten were following her.
They were and she continued again. "After Kanroku took the title of Head, he let Kyouji guide from the sidelines. After all, they were twins and very close, so no one suspected anything. Just before Kanroku's death, his decisions were becoming uncharacteristic and brash. No one suspected that Kyouji was using blackmail and Kanroku put up a good façade to hide it. But when the time came to select the next heir, the twins disagreed, Kyouji wanting his turn. Kanroku knew that Kyouji's background reign was going too far, and he put his foot down. So, Kanroku…poisoned h-him." Heisei's voice began to choke up, and tears began to well in her already puffy eyes. However, she continued, nonetheless. "Next in line for the title was the wife, so…he…killed her as well. But not before planning ahead and performing a jutsu on her. It was some sort of nerve affecting technique that gave the user complete control over the victim for just a minute. Kyouji used this to convince Imoshinai to leave the country in search of you, Tenten. He knew about you, obviously. So, he thought he would let you battle it out with Imoshinai while he took care of Kisaki-san. Kyouji also knew that sending Imoshinai away would make him a missing-nin, thus making him illegible for the title of Head. He was next in line after Imoshinai in the scheme of things, and therefore had the title of Head of Clan for a short amount of time when Imoshinai and Kisaki were gone. However," Heisei paused, again unsure of whether or not to hold her tongue on the matter at hand. She decided not to. "However, Kyouji is obviously not legible to become the head, and you, Tenten, are his daughter. So…" Heisei trailed off, looking into the kunoichi's eyes.
They were lit up. "I-I don't know what to say…Heisei-san," Tenten stuttered for the second time in her life.
Heisei smiled. "You don't have to say anything, dear. Just nod or don't."
Slowly at first, then more definitively, Tenten's head moved up and down. It was settled; she was going to be head of a clan.
Neji shifted uncomfortably next to her. She numbly turned her head toward him, her eyes alert and focused but not really seeing him.
"Then let's start getting the celebration together," said Heisei in the most cheerful voice she had used in a long time.
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The celebration consisted of a large picnic set for the entire clan out in the garden. It would be a sunset dinner, and everyone, despite the shocking news of the day before, was extremely excited. Just an hour before the start of the dinner, Tenten and Neji had finished sparring. "To work up an appetite," Tenten had told Sora, who was baffled as to why exactly there was a fight occurring just before dinner right where the table would be set up. The young girl had simply laughed and run off to play tag and annoy whoever wasn't doing whatever they could to help the overworked cooks and maids prepare for the celebration.
Neji and Tenten had both been given formal wear for the occasion, Tenten's obviously more elaborate, seeing as she was a female and would be the center of attention tonight.
Finally, the hour came and everyone arrived at the table except Tenten. After the family and Neji were seated, she came out from her room, dressed in what Neji could only describe as exotic. A long, bright red cloth-like ribbon was wrapped multiple times covering her torso and coming almost halfway to her knees with an obi tied around her slim waist. The red fabric was tied in a bow on the side of her thigh, with the Reiki clan symbol gracing the bottoms of the dangling ribbons. Covering her arms was a jacket-like garment with long, kimono-reminiscent sleeves. It disappeared beneath the sides of the top wrap of the scarlet ribbon, leaving a triangle of skin visible from her neck to the top wrap, and reappeared coming out from beneath the ribbon near her knees. The light, powder blue cloth came out in natural pleats from underneath the ribbon and cascaded down to just below her ankles where it brushed lightly against her elevated geta. Her hair had been done up into one large bun at the back of her head with two red hair ornaments sticking out of it. "Well…that was unexpected," thought Neji, trying to gain the little composure he had lost by staring at his teammate of six years.
"To the new leader," said Heisei, raising a glass. The rest of the clan followed suit, "To Tenten!"
Neji just shrugged and held up his glass wordlessly. If she was going to be leader here…it meant she wouldn't be going back to Konoha with him. In fact, she would close to never be in Konoha after this ceremony. The thought struck a chord inside Neji. "No more practices, no more three person missions, no more…Tenten," he thought miserably, though his face didn't betray one melancholy thought. "Ah well, if she feels obliged to help these people put their lives back together, then there is nothing I can do to stop her." Everyone drank just as Tenten sat down, so none of them saw her stumble in the uncomfortable geta she was sporting. Everyone except Neji, of course, who incidentally happened to catch her by the arm as well.
"Damn shoes," she muttered. Neji gave her a trademark smirk. She glared back, and then sat at the head of the table to Neji's right.
The dinner was a joyous event that was so unlike their first dinner here, that Neji was beginning to think the entire household was bipolar in some way. Everyone laughed and clapped and was generally louder than usual. Even Imoshinai, sitting next to Sora, was very close to starting a food fight. He was stopped by a formidable glare from his grandmother, who spared a glare for Sora too. She nearly withered in her seat, but soon resumed talking loudly and clinging to Imoshinai as she had before. The numerous curries and dumplings on the table were soon gone, and when they were, Heisei commanded everyone to go walk around for some time to help the food digest. She was largely ignored, playfully of course, and everyone left to their quarters except Neji and Tenten.
"Wow, I never knew they could throw a party like that!" Tenten said, happily polishing off the last of the dumplings.
"Me either," said Neji, silently amazed that she could still eat after all that food. He looked up. The sun was long gone as it was nearly eleven, and the stars glittered throughout the heavens.
"Hey…Neji?" Tenten's voice quieted down. He looked over at her. "Well…since I really don't know anyone here, and it'll be really stressful becoming Head, I was wondering if you…" she trailed off.
"Tenten, I can't," said Neji quietly. There was a slight, indecipherable hint of emotion in his voice.
Tenten was shocked. "Wh-what? Why not? It'll only be for a few more weeks until I get everything settled. Neji, I can't just suddenly sit down and do paperwork all day…I-I need to train, and-and I-"
"You should have thought of that before you nodded, Tenten," said Neji, standing. It was painful leaving a teammate, leaving a friend, leaving...Tenten. "I have to get back to my own clan, you know. Don't you think they are worried about me? About us? We haven't written to Tsunade-sama in over three weeks. Everyone there will be worried. So will Lee and Gai."
The look on Tenten's face made Neji want to stay, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to leave. Tenten knew better than to keep the Hyuuga against his will. "…Alright," said Tenten, tears beginning to form. Nevertheless, she smiled, "Give my regards to everyone. I won't be seeing them for a while, I guess." She lowered her gaze. "I have a duty to my family now…and I have to fulfill it."
Neji stared at the kunoichi in front of him. Finding her family hadn't changed her too much. For that much he was glad. "I'll go pack. Tell your grandmother that I am thankful for the robes." He turned and went back to his room.
Tenten stared after him. She had been dreading this day all along. It was the last day she would see Neji for a while. She couldn't help but let her tears fall freely, streaking down her face and landing on her silken dress. "I…can't believe this…He's finally leaving me…He's finally gone forever, and there's no…chance-" she shook the thought out of her head, "Of course, there's no chance, you idiot! There never was a chance that he would see you any differently than a teammate. You're just a teammate!" Her conscience brought her crashing back to reality and she wiped her tears when Neji, clad in his usual garments, emerged from the room, his backpack on.
The tearstained face staring back at him made something happen that Neji didn't know could ever happen with him. His heart wrenched. Neji wanted so badly to look away from the face that had been his console from his family life for so long, but he couldn't. He just couldn't bring himself to do such a heinous injustice to the woman in front of him. Slowly, he walked toward the front gate and Tenten followed, drying her tears. It was a slow, time consuming walk that was put on deliberately by both.
When they reached the front gate, it was all Tenten could do to keep from breaking down right there in front of her stoic teammate. So she slowly hugged him. She figured it was the craziest thing she had done in her entire life. But desperate times called for desperate measures, didn't they?
Neji stared down at Tenten. She had never done this before…was she sick from all the food? His conscience slapped him. Slowly, he bent down slightly and hugged her back, right there by the front gates under the starlight. He could feel her tears seeping through his shirt. "Tenten, I'm sorry, but I have to leave," he said quietly. She nodded from her position in his arms and let go. When Neji could see her face again, she wasn't crying. She was giving him a sort of sad, forced smile that was shallower than a puddle. He turned and walked through the front gate, not looking back.
Tenten watched the receding figure of Neji disappear down the deserted streets. She had put on the best smile she could muster just now, which wasn't a very good one. In a matter of seconds, the Hyuuga prodigy was gone from her view thanks to the fact that the Reiki grounds were on top of a hill and the path leading away was nearly a cliff. She slowly trudged back to the garden and sat on a stone bench, resting her chin in her hands. The garden was beautiful, well maintained and green with every kind of exotic plant imaginable. Tenten suddenly remembered her house back hom- no, in Konoha. All of her weapons and clothes were still there. She sighed, thinking of how to tell Tsunade to deliver her belongings to this location. A sudden chakra reading woke her from her thoughts. It was Heisei.
"You don't have to stay, you know," she said. Tenten simply gave her a small, gloomy smile and turned to star gazing. "I mean it," Heisei said softly.
This time, Tenten spoke, though she didn't turn from her stars. "But I do, Heisei-san. I have a duty to this family."
"Believe me, dear, you have fulfilled it just by coming to us. No one knew of you before except one man who could have killed the entire clan. We also have you to thank for helping to catch him," the old woman said, "Everyone will understand if you have to leave. No one here expects you to throw away your former life just for us, for this corrupt clan."
Tenten looked at her, her eyes full of question. "Then who will lead this clan, Heisei-san? Who will make sure no one else steps out of line?"
Heisei looked her granddaughter in the eye. "I will, dear. And I'll be Head until someone suitable comes of age or presents themselves."
The younger of the two stood. "Alright," she said quietly, "I should pack." And she left to pack up the rest of the belongings in the room she had shared with Neji. When she came back, she was dressed in her usual Chinese shirt and cargo pants with her backpack on. "Heisei-san," she whispered as Heisei went to hug her.
"Tenten-chan, come back some time to visit, okay?" Heisei said softly into her granddaughter's hair. Tenten nodded. "Alrighty then," said Heisei, smiling for the woman beside her, as they began the short walk to the front gate, "Be careful. And write when you reach home, okay?"
Tenten nodded again to the old woman in front of her. "I will." And with that, Tenten walked out of the front gate towards her home, the one she knew would always be her home, even if she didn't wish it to be. She had lived there too long to just let it go, as was obvious by her decision to leave Kirigakure.
Heisei watched her granddaughter leave. "Goodbye, Reiki Tenten," she whispered to the wind, hoping the young woman heard it.
"Goodbye…obaa-san."
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A/n: Eh...hope that Neji wasn't too OOC for you there... Personally, I don't think its too bad considering some of the fics I have read, but thats just me. Oh, and "obaa-san" means grandmother, roughly. Hope you liked the chapter!
