I do not own Naruto or any of it's character, I am dirt poor and below even the red zone so please don't sue me.
Fools of Fate
By:Christina/ Aikiko-Ashra
Chapter Three
The sky began to have the smallest hint of darkness, as it's colors morphed from orange to red and purple. Loud laughter and shouts erupted from a small, crowded restaurant, where Gai, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Yoshiro, and Rei sat, eating takoyaki.
"So where are you from?" asked Tenten, stuffing a piece of meat into her mouth. Neji sat next to her, closing his eyes as he ate. He looked uninterested, but he was actually listening intently to the conversations that surrounded him.
"I'm from Kirigakure, the Land of Mist and Fog," he answered, licking off a slight dot of sauce that stuck to his lips. He sat across from Tenten, studying her cheerful brown eyes.
"Then you must be here for the peace treaty!" interjected Gai excitedly. "Is the Mizukage here then?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.
"Iie," chuckled Yoshiro nervously, "He's not supposed to arrive till tomorrow, we arrived ahead of everyone," he laughed. Rei determinedly looked down at her plate, chewing furiously at her bottom lip. "But..." he started, turning back around to look at Tenten, "... how would you feel to be an escort to show the Mizukage around? Once he gets here that is?" he asked.
Tenten's eyes widened in shock, and Neji's eyelids flapped open at the question. "W-what?" she asked, surprised.
"How would you feel escorting the Mizukage?" he repeated, grinning.
Tenten's face brightened, and then suddenly dropped. She stuffed another piece of meat into her mouth. "Sorry, I can't do it. I have to train for the chunin exams," she replied, refusing to make eye contact.
"Yes Tenten! That's the spirit! After four long years the chunin exams are finally starting again! We can finally officially be chunins!" cried Lee, tears streaming down his face. Neji nodded, also glad that they had finally started the exams again.
Since war with the Sound, Konoha had stalled all chunin and jonin exams, considering the fact that they could not waste the time nor the manpower. Neji, Lee, and Tenten were all seventeen, all a year ahead of the rookie nines, but were still considered genins because of this very fact. Though they were still supposedly genins, it did not bother the Hokage to assign them with missions fit for both chunins and jonins.
"I see," grimaced Yoshiro, but he soon smiled again. "Good luck then, I hope all three of you pass, when is the exams by the way?" he asked.
"Two months from now," answered Gai, looking at the ceiling, staring in a far away place that only he and his team could see.
"We'll definitely make it as Chunin this year," declared Lee, taking one last bite from his food.
"Definitely," repeated Tenten, her head nestled on top of her hands.
"Hn." Neji closed his eyes, also envisioning the future that would soon be in his grasp.
A waiter came bustling to their table, breaking them all away from their trance as he dropped the check. "Here's you bill," he announced, handing it to Gai. The waiter walked away, bumping into Gai, who in turned bumped into Rei, who bumped into Yoshiro, who's hand smacked against the burning stove top.
Tenten, Lee, and Gai's mouth dropped open in blatant horror, while Neji's eyes seemed unmoving. The stove top sizzled, as if water had been dropped upon the surface. Yoshiro removed his hand, unscathed.
"Are you okay?" asked Rei, a worried expression streaked across her face.
"Hai, I'm fine Rei, don't look so worried," he smiled.
Neji's eyes scrunched up in suspicion, the man had just touched a burning stove top and came out unharmed, somehow that did not seem normal.
Gai's mouth was still gaping in horror. "I'm so sorry!" he bellowed, causing everybody in the restaurant to turn their heads and look at him.
Yoshiro smiled kindly and said, "No harm done. Don't worry, I'm fine," he assured.
After several minutes of Gai's continuos apology, they finally departed from the restaurant.
"I'm pretty sure I'll see you guys around some time soon," grinned Yoshiro, before he and Rei parted ways with the team.
Gai and Lee headed home while Neji and Tenten headed to her home. The sky had turned completely dark. A full moon hung in the sky, veiled by dark clouds. "Let's hurry," Neji rushed, walking ahead of her.
"Hai!" shouted Tenten, running to catch up to him. They arrived at her home several minutes later. It was a small home with a single room and a kitchen. She used to live in a larger home, but when her parents died, she had moved to a smaller one. The Hokage had supported her for a while, until she had deemed that it was necessary for her to support herself.
"Where's the utility box?" asked Neji as they entered the house. It was pitch black inside, even with Neji's twenty/twenty vision he could barely see.
"Over there," she informed. Neji secretly wondered how she had lived like this for the past week.
"Where?" he asked, unable to see where she was pointing to.
"Over here," she said. She tried to walk past him, but instead tripped over his foot, heading for the floor. He tried to catch her, but ended up falling too. Tenten could feel his body smack on top of hers. Her heart raced and her breaths came out in short, shallow gasps. He pushed his arms up from the floor, caging her body in the middle. Even in the darkness, Tenten could see a glint of his milky white eyes. His hair brushed against her cheek. She could feel the heat of his body, hovering over her. The feel of his skin brushing against hers. Her heart pounded against her breast cage. She couldn't help herself. She had always been in love with this cold-hearted comrade who had never reciprocated her feelings. They stayed like that for a minute. The moon finally broke through the clouds and shined over their faces, revealing the look in both of their eyes. Tenten's dark, brown eyes moved, nervous as she stared into his gray, moon-like eyes. She gasped, surprised to see a sudden longing look flash across his face, but the look slipped away just as fast as it came.
Yeah, this chapter didn't turn out as I hoped it would either. Tears. I already have the fifth chapter written, but not the next one. The next one is going to be pretty short though. It's going to go back to the present for a short while. But please R&R.