28

At Night

More than 10 days have passed since the conversation with Tsunade. Kankuro joined Kurenai's team because Shino's place was currently vacant. Shino has gone on a long term mission with his father, so he was going to be absent for more than a month.

Everyday was like the day before…

Tenten was waking up early in the morning, before the sunrise. Actually she was barely sleeping since she found out her crush on Neji had returned. Her eyes were looking more and more tired, the shadows getting bigger under them. After she woke up, she was going to the kitchen and making cheese sandwiches for both of them. Then she left before Kankuro exited the bathroom.

While training she was distracted due to lack of sleep and the special efforts to stay away from Neji. She couldn't take being close to him because she was afraid she would give herself away. And if she gave herself away in front of him wasn't so scary, even if she really didn't want to. The problem was if someone else noticed. In general, she just would have to suffer through some gossip but in the current situation, when they were about to announce an engagement, it would have been a catastrophe.

On other hand Kankuro got along really well with his new teammates from team 8. Kurenai was strict and demanded enough from each of them. Kiba turned out to be really trying and giving his best, which was weird according to Kankuro's impression before that. He also thought Hinata was nice - she was kind, quiet, sensitive and turned out to be someone to count on. Even the shy type of people weren't his favourite, she kind of won him over and made him a friend. It was strange when he thought about it…

In the evening, when Tenten and Kankuro were coming back to the apartment, she let him take a shower, then she got one herself. Then they were going out. She was letting him be close while they were out, but the moment they went back in, she was just closing the door and dividing the apartment in 2 different worlds. He didn't see her face until the next day.

He was taking out his puppets and trying to make improvements…

She was sitting in her bed reading a book…

...

Neji was sitting alone in the inner yard in the large Huuga's domain. His elbows were resting on his knees. His long black hair was falling on his back and shoulders. His eyes were staring at one point and he was thinking about something. Tsunade had warned him he had a key role in the mission with Tenten; she had instructed him for the desired outcome. But there was a problem - Tenten was acting up strangely. She avoided him at any cost, staying away as far as possible. She avoided even talking with him. He noticed she rarely looked him in the eyes and smiled even rarely. What's wrong with her? She wants to fail the mission? I don't understand… He was thinking and frowning.

"Onii-san?" A familiar and quiet voice asked and got him out of his thoughts.

He lifted his head:

"Hinata-san?"

"I am here to call you for dinner." She smiled slightly and blushed a bit.

He gazed at her, nodded and got up…

..

Tenten screamed and sat in her bed. She was breathing heavily - she was sweaty and burning as if she had a high temperature.

Kankuro woke up to her scream. He attempted to get up... At first he thought to just go back to sleep and leave her to deal with whatever it was alone. But in his mind there was an image of her sitting on the sofa, alone, everytime he went out of the bathroom. Every day she seemed smaller and sadder somehow. He could even say "defenceless" or "weak" . And he really hated weak shinobis. Though he watched her train the other day while she was fighting with Lee. The guy was attacking and hitting her with no mercy and she was dealing with it really well. So there must be something extraordinary now…

He dropped his feet on the ground and got up. He approached the door, gained some courage and prepared to knock. No answer… Kankuro pressed the door knob carefully, in case he had to defend himself. The image, revealing in front of him, took his breath away - Tenten was sitting in her bed, quiet, unseeingly staring in one direction. Her long hazel hair was wrapped around her body and partly covering her face.

"Tenten?" He asked quietly, taking a few steps forward.

She didn't seem to notice him, and didn't seem to understand he was in the room even when she called her name again.

Kankuto leaned on the bed with one hand and bent to her. She wasn't reacting, as she was still sleeping. The man lifted his free hand and removed the hair from her face. She is beautiful… - the thought struck him like a lightning bolt. And he couldn't do anything else but slap his inner self.

"Tenten… are you all right?" He tried again.

It was a stupid question. Of course she wasn't all right… But he didn't know what to say or do. Then he noticed them - her tears. Something inside of him just turned around gazing at her image now - lonely, crying, having deep shadows under her eyes, pale, sallow face and trembling hands in her lap. Without really realising what he was doing, he just wrapped her within his arms and pressed her body to his carefully, as he was afraid she would break. She was sobbing quietly and trembling even more. The girl let her head drop on his shoulder and after some time, she fell asleep.

Tenten felt safe and protected in those arms. She had no idea whose arms are there and why this person is here. She didn't care if this person would see her cry. Only thing that mattered now was the pleasant warm feeling spreading within her body, relaxing her enough, so she could sleep again.

When Kankuro sensed she was deeply asleep, he returned her to the bed, wrapped her in the blanket and attempted to leave. He stopped at the door just to have another look at her - her hair was spread over the pillow, her face was calm. She wasn't sobbing or trembling anymore, but instead she was breathing evenly, sleeping peacefully.

The young man flinched because of the weird feeling coming from his stomach, spreading to all of the other parts of the body. He smiled slightly, went out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

...

Tenten opened her eyes and looked up the clock - it was 6:30. She turned around in the bed, wanting to sleep some more.

In her head there was a memory of a dream. Someone came to her during the night and held her in a hug… Someone that asked her if she was all right… She was crying every night since the moment she found out about Neji, but that was the first night she felt… carried for. The girl remembered how gentle the touch was and how comfortable the shoulder that she leaned on was as well. She felt relaxed… protected.

That was a comforting dream she needed quite a lot. There was a thought passing if Kankuro was here last night, but she was excluded like it was highly unbelievable. She was kind of crying every night and he never showed up to ask her what was going on, so… no.

She got up, washed up and got dressed. Then went to the kitchen through the living room. Kankuro was sleeping with his face towards the backrest as usual.

Tenten took out the bread and the cheese. Standing near the fridge she was just looking at them… Then she opened the fridge and put them back in.

"I really got tired of this breakfast…" She said quietly, frowning. Reached up for the cereal and put some in 2 bowls with milk.

"Finally!" She flinched from the sound of the man's voice and turned. His slightly ironical smile was more than she could handle right now. "I've literally started to have nightmares about baked slices of bread with cheese haunting me."

Tenten clenched her jaws and tried to stay silent. He didn't help with that decision.

"I am not the only one, heh?" He said, sitting beside the table. The girl's eyes went wide. "Were you also chased by a cheese toast?" - one last biting remark before the box of milk flew to his head. He dodged it by bending down, though the wall didn't have that luck…

"You…! You lazy, annoying, spoiled asshole!" She shouted.

Kankuro was very surprised by her reaction. Her eyes were sparkling with real anger.

"You live in my apartment! You sleep on my sofa, in my sheets! I am making you breakfast every fucking morning! I am gathering your dirty, stinky clothes from all over the house! Can you not wash them by yourself at least? I have a washing machine for fuck's sake! It is not that hard!"

He was just blinking against her, not able to react, nor to even say anything in his defence. It was the truth… She really did gather his clothes, wash them and dry them without him moving a finger. He never saw her cleaning, but there was not even one dirty spot. There was always food in the fridge… But she interrupted his thoughts with another shout:

"No, sorry… There is NO washing machine! There was an idiot that didn't take his hidden shurikens out! Everything is looking like many, many ribbons - absolutely useless! The washing machine broke! And believe me there is no chance I am washing the clothes by hand!"

Kankuro's mouth opened and closed a few times, the ability to make sounds seemed lost… And the girl continued:

"If you don't like something, you could at least tell me! You are tired of cheese toasts? How exactly do you want a change if you don't say a word about it, wooden head?"

"Hey, hey… Easy, girl…" He stood up threatening.

Tenten was blinded by rage and didn't register the warning.

"What do you imagine there? I am not a service member!"

"I got it." He said gloomy and after a second he was standing right in front of her. She lifted her head slowly, her sight passing through his chest, just to stop in the dark eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw - there was no anger in his eyes, there was only guilt…

"I am really sorry," he whispered.

"Wha…?" She couldn't comprehend what he was saying.

"I said I am sorry, really."

Suddenly she felt a heat passing through her whole body. Tenten got really scared and pushed Kankuro's chest with urgent need to get away from him. He is like an oven… she thought and turned away. It wasn't possible he could radiate so much heat.

"Sit down and eat." She ordered. "We have to be in the Tsunade-sama office in 30 minutes." Tenten felt really uneasy and like she didn't want to be here at all.

"Why?" He stood on an alert.

"I have no idea." She confessed.

Kankuro's heart ached. He felt there was something wrong…

Gaara stood on the stone terrace in the Kazekages tower and looked down at the sleeping city underneath. It was so peaceful. The people were calm because they knew there was someone watching over them, ready to defend them if needed. He proved not once he is trustworthy. He shut his eyes closed as he thought sadly: What about her? I couldn't defend her when she needed my protection and now she is almost… dead. His gaze drifted in the distance. The stars and the almost full moon emitted soft silver light over the roofs and made the whole picture look somehow mysterious. Those stars and that moon didn't really care about the young woman, laying almost dead in the hospital.

"Hey, Gaara," someone said behind him. "Can't you sleep yet again?"

He shook his head tiredly:

"I don't have the habit of sleeping, you know…" he replied and slowly turned around.

There was no one there. He was absolutely sure Temari was standing there just a moment ago. That was her voice, a voice he would never mistook for someone else's. He frowned, confused.

His sister often would find him here during nighttime. For some time before this incident she would also suffer from insomnia and would walk up and down the empty halls.

His pale green eyes dilated in suspicion and his lips lightly trembled. There is no way that was her! Suddenly his normally pale face became even paler with realisation, he rushed to the hospital in panic. Entering the building, he kept running to his sister' room. It was a really rare thing to see the Kazekage run, so people that saw him got really scared.

He pushed the door to the room - two medics were just going away from the bed, where the blond kunoichi was calmly sleeping in her coma.

"Kazekage-sama?" one of the medics said surprised.

"What happened?" Gaara asked and stepped inside, feeling with his all self something really has just happened.

The two medics exchanged gazes. One of them whispered: "It must be the brother-sister bound."

"What do you mean by that?" The Kazekage said still calmly.

One of the medics took a deep breath and started to talk quietly but confidently.

"Your sister has been gone for less than a minute, though now everything is alright… at least as alright it was before that. She is fading away, Kazekage-sama. Something must be done, or I am afraid she won't be able to come back at all…"

The red-haired young man moved his heavy gaze from the medic face to his sister - it had become greyish.

"What did you mean with this brother-sister bound?" He asked and sat on the edge of the bed.

"There is a fenomen we notice appearing between brothers and sisters, that have been really close and loving to each other." He explained. "When something life turning happens to one of them, the other one just feels it."

Gaara nodded.

"Does that mean Kankuro has felt it too?"

The medics exchanged gazes again.

"We really can't say, Kazekage-sama."