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Tauren Paladin says: Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay. You see, I didn't have enough inspiration to update early, so I had to write this little by little. Once again, thanks to my reviewers and Ceasg-sa-err… Ceasg-chan. Please enjoy the chapter
Disclaimer: No, I am not Masashi Kishimoto. Don't sue.
At the theme park
Chapter 4
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The Sun had already set by that time. A gust of soft wind breezed across the lively park.
All the guests were enjoying their selves. Some had already gone to their homes, but the great majority had decided to spend more time at the park.
Since the crowd was very docile, certain security guards were having an easy duty.
Neji smiled. He had just helped a lost child find her mother. He wondered at how well he could help people. The shinobi watched the child and her mother walk slowly towards a candy stall so they could enjoy some sweets. Sometimes, he felt that he helped people so they could be happy. He unconsciously reminisced a time when someone had helped him…
Flashback
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"Dad, are we there yet?" asked the small boy.
"Wait a minute, we are almost there." replied the man.
The three-year old child grabbed his father's hand tightly. His dad had told him that he had a surprise for him, so he was anxious. Neji walked and walked. The road his father was taking seemed endless.
The sakura trees created a sensation of peace as father and child walked by, the birds were chirping quietly, as if they were intentionally creating some relaxation for the Hyuuga child.
At last, they arrived. A great building stood in front of the two.
"What is this dad?" the boy asked curiously.
Hizashi just smiled. It was true that the boy was only three years old; nonetheless, he was the Hyuuga with the most talent. Neji had shown talent in Jyuuken since he was very small. Hizashi was sure that his child would master other aspects of the ninja way in no time.
Hizashi patted Neji's head. Smiling, Neji followed his father to the great building.
Once the door opened, Neji had his jaws on the ground. The place was a practicing range. The boy had practiced a few times with wooden shuriken, but he had never seen such a place. His dad started walking. Hesitantly, Neji followed suit.
The child could see a lot of people practicing there, from children who aspired to even receive the title of academy students, to renowned Jounins. He was kind of scared. He feared that all the people might make fun of him because of his low experience. Neji bit his lower lip out of nervousness.
Hizashi finally stopped. Neji looked around.
He could see some kids about his same age practicing there. The boy smiled in relief.
He assumed he wasn't going to be embarrassed anymore.
Hizashi patted his head and told him to stay practicing there. Neji obediently nodded as his father handed him a handful of shuriken.
Hizashi left, probably to mind his own practicing.
Neji had been left alone. Not caring, he flung a shuriken to a target but, considering that Neji had not handled a real shuriken before, he failed miserably.
"Baka, how could you fail the easiest target?" A random guy said.
The Hyuuga looked down. He knew someone with more accuracy would make fun of him. How could he think no one was going to make tease him?
"Such a weakling." Someone else said.
"Nice throw, Baka."
"That was pathetic!"
Neji could do nothing but hear all the insults the people gave him. The boy felt tears emerge from his eyes when…
"Guys, don't tease him." A girl said.
At her words, all the kids were speechless. The white-eyed kid turned around to see a small girl with a kunai at hand. She had her short hair tied up in a ponytail. Her eyes were full of seriousness.
"Look, it's the orphan girl." Someone whispered.
"I heard she has no surname!" Another kid said.
"But she's THE MARKSGIRL!" Someone else screamed.
"I heard she can hit a hundred targets out of a hundred tries!" A random guy exclaimed.
Neji just stayed there dumbfounded. Could the girl be so awesome? He looked at the girl's eyes. He could see the kids were not kidding.
"Let's practice together, I'll help you." said the girl with a reanimating smile on her bright face. She handed her hand to Neji who, with a cheerful smile, accepted it.
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End of Flashback
The shinobi smiled again, just like when a certain someone helped him out of a tight situation.
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Tenten had just finished scolding some boys who had caused trouble at the fountain.
She didn't know why, but she was sure she had seen a perverted face on the guys.
Wearily, she walked towards the restroom. On the way, she bumped into someone who smelled very familiar…
"Oh! Sorry!" She said. She hadn't realized that the person she had bumped into was none other than her favorite teammate.
"Don't worry Tenten." Neji said.
They both looked at each other's eyes. The soft touch of the wind and the bright moon made the scene even more romantic.
"I thought we had done enough, so I decided to come and see if we could spend some time together." said Neji as he caressed Tenten's squishy cheek.
"Neji…" Tenten said in a hurried voice.
"Yes Tenten?" Neji replied as he concentrated even more in her chocolate eyes.
Tension was filling the air. Neji couldn't imagine what Tenten would say.
Maybe she would say something that would make him happy, or something else. Neji was getting more desperate to move his head closer. He had a thousand ideas in his head. But the real outcome was something not many would expect.
"Neji, please excuse me, I need to go to the restroom." Tenten excused cheaply. She hurried on to the direction of the restroom.
After hearing that, Neji almost fell on his face. Tenten was not someone easy to charm. She could even resist a moment like that. He felt happy that Tenten wouldn't fall for anyone hasty. Turning the tide to his favor, Neji rushed to the game he had seen earlier.
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Lee was beaming at that moment.
He had seen everything from a nearby bush which, combined with his green suit, was a perfect place to hide.
"Gai-sensei will be so proud of me!" he said as he checked if his hidden cameras had taken the pictures. He had the same beaming face as he did so.
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"Yuri!" The woman exclaimed. "There are 7 minutes left before you switch with me!"
"Hai, hai. Don't pressurize me so much Yan!" The other girl complained.
The beautiful, green-haired woman could see a shinobi rushing towards the stall.
"The last customer before my break." She thought.
Neji arrived in no time. He quickly asked the girl at the counter the price of one game.
"It would cost three (Insert Konoha's currency in plural form here.)" She answered.
Neji took the money out as fast as he could. The woman took it and gave him ten kunai.
"If you can hit more than eight targets, we will give you a prize." She said calmly.
Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan.
Suddenly, the targets started moving in a spiral motion. The first ones were moving slowly, but the last ones were almost impossible to hit.
Neji concentrated and threw four of the kunai, which hit their mark perfectly. He threw the next ones carefully. Each had hit their target.
The woman was impressed. She had never seen someone with such determination. Yan assumed he had a dear girlfriend whom he wanted to impress.
Her gray eyes relaxed as she saw a kunai hitting the target with great accuracy.
Neji had done a good job, but still, he had a remaining target. Within a blink of eye, The Hyuuga flung his last kunai with force. He saw how the kunai moved on place to hit the target for a bull's eye; but then, he detected a tiny flaw on his timing.
His final accuracy rating was an almost perfect 95.
Neji grunted as Yan gave him a small penguin plush. The doll was about the size of his palm. Neji was frustrated, but he recovered when he saw he had achieved the highest record on the game. He wasn't sure if Tenten would be impressed, but it was something he had gotten for her.
Sighing, he went to sit on a bench.
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Some drops of water ran through the brunette's face. She was still smiling because of the incident that had happened a few minutes ago.
After drying her face, she went out of the restroom to look for Neji.
After a while of looking for him, she found an interesting game. The kunoichi smiled and headed towards the stall.
"Hello! How can I help you?" The girl at the counter said cheerfully. She had short, blue hair and a smile on her face.
"I'd like to participate in this game of yours." Tenten answered taking her wallet out.
"As you wish! It would cost three (Insert Konoha's currency in plural form here.)" She said.
Tenten paid the price while the girl named Yuri took ten kunai out of the box.
Tenten thanked her as the targets started moving. The brunette concentrated and shot all the kunai at once, not missing any target.
Yuri was stupefied, a girl with such talent existed? Feeling a bit jealous, she took out the prize her costumer had asked for: A giant Plush Teddy.
"Hey, it's fun!" Tenten exclaimed. "Give me ten kunai more!"
"It's gonna be a long night…" Yuri thought as the removed the kunai from the targets and gave them to the talented girl.
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Neji was tired of resting, so he went to look for his teammate. Just as he turned his head, he saw a gigantic amount of plush toys being carried by a pair of tiny feet.
Remembering his duty as a security guard and helper, he rushed towards the person.
"May I help you?" Neji asked. He was surprised when he saw that the person carrying the plush toys was none other than Tenten.
"Yes, you can help me." She said as she handed almost the half of the toys to Neji.
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After having a hard time with the prizes, Tenten and Neji managed to settle on a famous restaurant called "Konoha Fried Chicken."
(A/N: I do not own KFC either…)
Tenten had ordered a menu of garlic chicken with some soda, while Neji had ordered the original recipe.
Within a few minutes, the couple was enjoying a mouthwatering dinner.
"Sorry to have bothered you Neji." Tenten said as she took a sip of her soda.
"It was a pleasure Tenten. You need not to excuse yourself." Neji replied as he chewed his chicken.
"Being gentlemanly? How sweet." The kunoichi said as she teasingly gazed at Neji's eyes."
"It is my nature after all." He said arrogantly, which kind of angered Tenten.
The couple had a nice talk, a nice meal, and the most important thing, a nice time admiring each other's perfection.
After having eaten, Neji and Tenten walked out of the restaurant.
In that exact moment, a mysterious cloaked man with a camera appeared.
"Would you like a photo to remember this moment? Just one (Insert Konoha's currency in singular form here.)" He said as he took his camera.
"What do you say, Tenten?" he asked thinking Tenten would refuse.
"Yeah, why not?" she replied.
Neji took out his money and handed it to the mysterious cloaked man.
The mysterious cloaked man signaled his timing.
All of a sudden, Tenten hugged Neji's arm, which caused him to squeeze the nonexistent life out of his poor penguin.
The man grinned and gave the photo to the couple.
In the photo, they could see a smiling Tenten, a pissed off Neji, A bunch of Plush toys on a corner, a weeping Yuri on the other corner, and a crying Sakura on a far side of KFC (Why? Because I don't really like Sakura.)
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"Yuri, I brought dinner as you asked me to." Yan said as she entered the stall with a bag on hand.
"Yuri, why do I sense you gave out all the good prizes?"
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Tauren Paladin says: So… I think it was long enough for now. Did you like it? Was there a grammar mistake? Please tell me if you don't like something so I can see what I can do to fix it. I f you can, PLEASE review (I'm kind of falling into depression right now.)
Just in case you're interested, I have a fanart of the photograph (Yes, It's that one Ceasg-chan.) Maybe I can send it to you if any of you are interested in it. Just give me your e-mail so I can send it.
Sayonara.
