Hi again! I'm ALIVE! Thanks to everyone who had faith on this fic and waited patiently until I updated : D. I was VERY late again updating for medical issues…terrible migraines attacked me so I had to stop using my pc until they disappeared…(yes, they lasted months). Let's hope they don't strike back! There'll be more humour in the future, a LOT more of Shigeru's bashing, trashing and beating since he's back to his behaviour now Tenten is recovered, and, of course, jealous Neji will strike back.
Scythe195: Thank you! I appreciate greatly your advices, it has been ages since I got English classes, so this is the only way to maintain and improve it. Feel free to correct me, everyone, and thank you for reviewing :)
And now, on the story!
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Neji woke up the next morning feeling his cold damp hair against his back. He sat on the bed realizing he had slept like a log during all the night and stretched, cracking several bones in the process.
"Whoa, you sound like an old man"
He looked at the source of the voice and found Tenten, fully dressed in her ninja clothes and with her usual buns back in place, looking through the window. "Feeling better?" he asked.
She turned to face him and smiled. She was not as pale as the previous night and her blush was gone. "Yep. My head hurts sometimes, but it's not big deal"
"What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"A quarter to nine. I tried to wake you up, but you seemed to need more sleeping."
"It's a little late. Let's pick up our things and go down to have breakfast. We'll leave once everyone is ready"
When they were heading to the restaurant they were intercepted by someone running at top speed towards Tenten.
"My beautiful flower has recovered!" Shigeru smiled widely while running and opened his arms. "Come into my arms!"
Tenten made a horror face when the Blue Thunder squeezed her strongly. Neji kept walking calmly while Tenten was squeezed by Shigeru. When the insistent boy's lips were going to plant a great kiss on hers, a smoke cloud involved them and dispersed, revealing Shigeru embracing and kissing one of the big plant pots decorating the corridor.
Neji turned the corner, finding there the real Tenten leaning against the wall "Your kawarimi has always been very good" he complimented.
"That was a close safe" she sighed, resuming her walking. "You discovered it, though"
"Well, my eyes are the most trained part in my body"
They heard a loud crash accompanied by some shouts and stomps behind them. Neji and Tenten ignored them and reached the restaurant, finding Lee there. They sat down with him.
"Good morning Tenten! How're you feeling?" he saluted merrily.
"I'm ok, thank you, but I'd be better if you stop shouting at me" she smiled covering one of her ears.
"Oh, sorry. Here, I ordered a big glass of orange juice for you. They say it's good for colds"
"Thank you Lee! You're very nice" Tenten took the glass from his hand and took a sip.
Lee smiled and his teeth shone brightly "By the way, have you seen Shigeru-kun?"
"Vaguely" Neji answered.
"He told me he was going to wait for you on the corridor" the green beast commented
"Lee" Tenten lowered her half empty glass of juice and spoke solemnly "I don't want to offend you at all, so I'm trying to say this in a soft way" she sighed "your cousin is a psycho and if he keeps harassing me I'm going to kill him"
Neji's raised his eyebrows while sipping his tea. That was Tenten and her soft way to tell things. Lee froze with his mouth half opened and she crossed her arms.
"But, Tenten…Shigeru-kun likes you!"
"Really? I don't care. My patience is coming to an end, and this is an ultimatum. If you don't tell him to stop, I'll have to intervene physically, since words don't seem to reach him."
"Are you going to hit him?"
"If he keeps doing this, yes" she said determinedly.
"Well, Shigeru-kun is kind of impulsive, but he's not a bad person…"
"Lee, he tried to kiss me."
"Ok, he's VERY impulsive…"
Tenten retorted something and Lee responded her. Neji kept looking silently from one to another as if he was watching a tennis match.
"I think you're exaggerating, Tenten" Lee was still saying stubbornly.
"Exaggerating? For God's sake, Lee, I almost have enough reasons to report him"
"Really? Like what?" Lee asked defiantly.
"He has spied on me, he has broken into my house while I was sleeping, he has registered my underwear and has made me photos without my consent" she enumerated with her fingers "Do you want me to continue?"
Both men froze until Lee recovered and spoke again "Why you didn't do anything?" he asked dumbfounded.
"Because is your cousin, and I don't want to have problems with you" she answered lowering her eyes.
Lee lowered his eyes too, but shortly afterwards he smiled again "We're best friends Tenten! We're a team! I will support you even against Shigeru-kun, though I think physical punishment won't be necessary"
She looked at him and smiled, emotionally touched "Lot of thanks, Lee!"
He shrugged and looked at Neji "What do you think, Neji-kun? You've been quieter than usual"
"Tenten, you have to react" he said seriously looking at her "because if you don't, I will, since I'm the responsible of the team"
"Neji, I thought you were the cold and collected one!" Lee said surprised.
"I'm very calm. I can't let someone to bother my only sane team mate. She will lose her concentration"
"You're right there…" Lee nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly he frowned and stood up pointing Neji dramatically "Hey! What was that? 'Your only sane team mate'? And what am I? Your neighbour? I'm your team mate too!" he said hurt.
"Yes, but you're insane" Neji answered blankly.
Tenten chuckled as Lee stared Neji from his position. Suddenly, the restaurant's doors opened to reveal Shigeru. He was all stained with earth from the previous incident with the plant pot, and looked extremely pissed. He spotted them and crossed the room with big strides, catching everyone's attention. He reached the table and crossed her arms in front of Tenten, as if trying to intimidate her.
"Tenten!" he said in an authoritarian voice.
Neji didn't like his tone at all and frowned, but Tenten didn't seem intimidated at all. She stood up, put her hands on her hips and looked at Shigeru frowning deeply "What?" she said belligerently.
Shigeru came one step closer and looked at her from his taller position "Why you made me embrace a plant pot?"
She stood on her spot, not frightened at all and cocked her head to look better at him "Because I prefer being embraced by a cactus than being embraced by you"
"So, you're still shy towards me…" he sighed
Everyone sweatdropped at this statement and Tenten massaged her temples "Listen, if you keep doing this, I'll beat you senseless"
"I see…" he commented. A thick silence followed this. Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed expectantly on the pair, including the waiters. Shigeru opened his mouth to speak again "Let's get going back, then" he said miserably turning and leaving everyone flabbergasted.
Lee looked at Tenten frowning, making her feel a little guilty, so she looked at Neji asking for help. He had narrowed his eyes, not believing at all Shigeru's reaction, so Tenten remained on guard.
"Erm…Shigeru-kun…I'm sure Tenten didn't want to be rude" he said softly.
Shigeru looked back and she shrugged. Her guiltiness dissolved fast when she saw him trying to embrace her for the second time on that day "I forgive you my dear! Actually, I love your strong character!" he said happily.
She stepped back angry and intercepted him with a great hit on the top of his head that sent him to the floor violently. She clenched her fists and spoke through clenched teeth "I'm not your dear, I don't want you to touch me and you don't have to forgive me because I did no wrong!" Tenten crouched and took him by the collar of his gi "If you come near me again, I'll hit you until you ask me for mercy. You have no right to harass me, and I'm going to show you what I'm capable of" She let go off the collar and stood up again, blushing violently when all the women in the room clapped and cheered for her. She bowed shyly, took her bag and left the restaurant, followed by an amused Neji.
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They gathered at last at the village's gates. Shigeru had a great lump on his head, but his stupid smile remained in his face. He winked to Tenten and she sighed.
"You just don't get it, don't you?" she asked
Shigeru blew her a kiss as an answer and she dodged the sticky little heart that approached her menacingly.
"Yikes! Hey you, don't throw me nasty things!" she shouted.
At this sight, Lee sighed "Aaah, this brings me sweet old memories…" and smiled dumbly while staring at the space with dreamy eyes.
"Ok, everyone!" Neji spoke with authoritarian voice "Connect your radios. We'll make to Konoha in two squadrons. Lee, Shigeru; you'll be the first squadron. Tenten, you and me will cover the rearguard".
"I don't agree with that distribution" Shigeru protested while setting his device.
"I don't recall asking your opinion" Neji answered coolly.
"But, Neji-kun! That distribution is meant to be when the team is expecting an attack! We're heading back home!" Lee said.
"Well, we were attacked here, so maybe we're still targeted" Tenten reasoned.
"Why do you always team up with him?" Shigeru suddenly asked, pointing at Neji with jealousy.
"Oh, well, let me think…because he's my captain and he's right, maybe?" she answered with sarcasm.
"We're not sure he's right" he argued.
"But he's our captain; we have to follow his leads. That's what means having a captain." Tenten explained slowly.
"I don't know why he's our captain, to begin with" Shigeru then commented, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"Because he's the most experienced jounin between us, that's why"
"Nonsense! He's a year younger than me! I should be the captain" he said arrogantly
"Shigeru…" Tenten started patiently, but was cut by Neji's voice.
"Tenten, don't strain yourself" he said shaking his head. Then, he looked at Shigeru "Look, you like it or not, I'm the captain here. I'm not going to discuss with you if I deserve or not that honour. As I said, we'll be heading to Konoha in two squads and we'll start moving NOW" he spoke in a menacing tone that made Lee grasp his cousin and start running the way to their village.
"Let's go" Neji commanded.
Tenten simply nodded and started running at his side, not opening her mouth. Hours later they were still heading to Konoha, jumping from branch to branch in silence until she finally spoke.
"Neji" she called.
"What's it?" he said turning his head to her.
"You're acting a little strange lately" she commented softly. Neji raised his eyebrows in a way that clearly said 'Explain yourself', so she continued "You've shown more character in this week than in all the years I've known you" she stated.
Neji pondered this. He had always been an impassive ninja, calm and collected, but Lee's cousin was starting to get him on his nerves. He had never met such an unbearable person in his life. Seeing Tenten was still waiting for an answer he spoke again "I can't stand him"
"I see" she commented casually.
"You seem surprised"
"Well, you should be used to Lee. Shigeru's quite similar in his way".
He frowned murmuring "Yeah, sure" and kept jumping in silence until someone interrupted his thoughts again:
"Oi! Neji-kun!" Lee's voice hit Neji's ear, making him flinch. He turned on his microphone and spoke:
"What's it?"
"I think we could make a stop to eat!" Lee suggested.
"Oi Lee! Don't shout over here! We can hear you!" Tenten intervened.
"Look who's talking!" he shouted louder, making them flinch again.
"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" she roared.
"OH TENTEN, MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER! IT'S GREAT TO HEAR YOUR LOVELY VOICE!" Shigeru shouted.
"YOU MORON! DON'T-SHOUT-OVER-HERE!" she grunted again.
"Uoops, sorry love"
"Ok, let's stop to eat" Neji said, ending the conversation while rolling his eyes tiredly.
They gathered between some trees and started making lunch. Neji located a nearby stream using his Byakugan, so he went to collect water and fill their bottles. Once he was gone, Tenten left on the opposite way to pick wood for the fire and started to get further and further, lost in her thoughts. Although she was a little distracted, she could feel a presence near her position. She remained calm and kept collecting wood slowly until she heard someone emerging violently from the bushes behind her. Without turning, Tenten spread out one of her scrolls, summoning her beloved bo. This long wooden staff had never failed her, so she spun it on her right hand and used it to hit her attacker in a fast motion that the stranger couldn't dodge. The bo made (hard) contact with his head and he fell noisily to the green floor. When she heard the loud thud Tenten smirked and turned arrogantly, but her facial expression froze almost immediately. She frowned deeply and cried furious.
Neji was arriving to their camp when he heard Tenten's angry shout. He joined Lee, who had his rounded eyes extremely open, and was about to speak when he noticed Shigeru's absence too. He activated his Byakugan and scanned the area. Lee observed him moving his eyes until he stopped and opened them widely. Neji remained silent and with a strange expression on his face. If Lee didn't know him better, he would have said Neji was about to burst laughing, but that wasn't possible. He was the stoic Hyuuga Neji after all.
Actually, Lee knew Neji better than he supposed, because Neji was fighting against the laughter. When he started looking for Tenten he spotted her on a nearby clear. What he wasn't expecting was to find Shigeru too, lying on the floor while the enraged kunoichi was hitting him continuously with her bo. The Konoha's Blue Thunder was shouting and trying to dodge, but his stupid smile was growing wider with every hit, fact that Tenten didn't seem to appreciate at all. He turned on his microphone again:
"Hey, everything ok over there?" he asked.
He saw how Tenten stopped and her bo disappeared in a poof of smoke. She collected her wood and started walking towards the camp when Shigeru gripped her leg, getting a kick on the face in response. She finally answered:
"Under control"
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Ok, ok, you have all the right to hate me by now, but I'll promise you one thing. I WILL finish this fanfic, no matter how much time it takes. That's my way of the writer, YOSH! (Don't worry TentenCharmed :D)
Everything you have to tell me (even if you want to flame me, I deserve it :( ), click the review button! See u next chapter and thanks again : D