44
Anxiety
Kankuro could finally take a decent breath. The fever was gone, removed just like with a magic wand when the sun rose. He could take a shower and get dressed. After that they both got breakfast, took their backpacks and headed down to the East Gate.
During the walk, Tenten was constantly throwing him worried gazes.
"You really need to stop." He said quietly and looked at her. "You are looking at me like you know I am going to explode, but you just don't know when…"
A rush of slight anger lifted her chest. Clenching her fists, she hissed:
"Please, forgive me that I am worried about you.."
"I am really grateful," he whispered. "But you are going to give me away. There is anxiety written all over your face every time you look at me."
The girl snorted:
"Then I am just not looking at you at all." She mumbled sarcastically and turned ahead.
Kankuro laughed out loud and his laughter caused a really pleasant tickle in her body. She succeeded to relax. It was important he didn't lie to her. His fever disappeared before her eyes, he started to move smoothly - from a flaccid body pile he was, he turned into… Well, him.
Soon they reached their destination at the East Gate of Konoha. They greeted the shinobis on duty and went out of the walls. There was loud and clear counting coming in about 200-300 metres ahead of them. The man frowned, the girl sighed…
"What the hell is this?" he asked.
"This…" she smiled with vexation, "...is my everyday training for steel patience…"
He frowned again but in a few more steps he understood what she was saying - that was Gai-sensei and Lee. In this case Lee was doing push-ups and Gai-sensei was counting them.
"I see…" whispered Kankuro.
"Good morning!" Greeted Tenten almost shouting and the man waved greeting with a hand when the two others looked at them.
"Good morning!" shouted Lee back.
"Good morning." the sensei smiled widely. "Would you like to join for a morning session?"
"I will pass." Kankuro replied right away.
"Wise decision." Neji whispered, appearing from nowhere to one of his sides.
"Hey, Neji." Tenten greeted and she didn't seem surprised at all.
"Tenten, Neji, would you not join?" Lee shouted.
"Run while you can…" said Neji and nodded towards the Konoha gates. When she followed his nod, she saw Hinata, Ino and Sakura coming her way. She didn't need a second invite.
The girl smiled and shouted to her sensei:
"I am sorry, I can't join right now," she turned and ran to the other girls.
"Your chakra levels are really low…" the pale-eyed shinobi said quietly.
Kankuro looked at him and nodded:
"Yes, I am aware. The night was quite… exhausting." he replied with an ambiguous smile and to his surprise noticed, just for a part of the second, an emotion running over Neji's face. He was receptive enough to see that Tenten meant something to Konoha's shinobi. He was also smart enough to keep his conclusion for himself, behind the thick layers of paint on his face.
…
Tenten thanked the girls from the bottom of her heart. They have come to see her off.
"We don't have an idea when we will see you again." Hinata sobbed and hugged her.
Only Sakura gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew what's going on and was here just for support.
"Well, girls, I am sure Tenten will find occasional reasons to come visit us for a shorter or longer time." she said, patting Hinata's back.
"Yes, but it could be months until she can do that." Hinata added.
"Weren't you supposed to talk with your cousin?" Sakura asked suddenly in a desperate try to get Tenten some air.
"Yes, I really should, before you've left." She kissed Tenten's cheek and headed to Neji. "Sakura, would you mind coming with me? There are a few questions you may answer better than myself."
"I'll be back," Sakura said only with lips.
It was like the opportunity Ino was waiting for:
"Soooo… How was it?" she asked, grinning.
"How was what?" Tenten replied pretending she had no idea what it was about.
"The first wedding night, of course. What do you think I am asking about?"
"Oh, well… It was a really interesting experience." The girl had figured out Ino was like a living lie detector. So the best tactic was to tell her the partial truth, or at least twist it till the extent Tenten was feeling comfortable with and Ino wouldn't take it as untrue.
"That's it? "Really interesting experience"? Weren't there fireworks… a lot of sweating..?"
"There was a lot of sweating, all right…" Tenten laughed since this was absolutely true.
"You do realis asking for details?" Ino crossed her arms.
"I do… But-"
"Are you ready?!" Tsunade's voice thundered through the trees, causing a sigh of relief by the brown-haired girl. She turned to the voice.
"I really should go," she apologised, kissing Ino on the cheek. "Thank you for coming to send me off. And.. for the gift as well."
"Oh, so you liked it?"
"Well, Kankuro did like it for sure." There was another truth.
Ino's happy smile was so bright, she could win a competition.
"Come on, boys and girls! It is time to go! Say your goodbyes faster and off we go." Godaime's voice was really capable of breaking… just like her fists.
Tenten rapidly paced to her. All the others were already around the blond woman.
"Let's see… Shikamaru is not here yet?" She asked angrily. "Not only he…"
"I am here." His bored voice came from above, somewhere from between the branches of a tree. Then he descended swiftly and landed lightly and silently.
"He is coming with us?" asked Naji, almost sounding surprised.
"He is." Godaime sighed, waved with her hand and headed down the road, inviting them to follow.
"Stay safe!" said Hinata and waved goodbye to Tenten.
Sakura hugged her shoulders, hoping she would be able to prevent the incoming cry.
…
With the night closing and the sunset at action, Tenten started to notice some changes in the way Kankuro moved. His steps were stiff sometimes, but one really needed to look out especially to see something wrong.
"All right, we stop for tonight." Godaime said and stopped.
"We could walk more for an hour maybe?" said Gai-sensei when she looked at him.
"Yes, we could technically walk all night long. But it is me telling you we stop now and make a camp. Do you see any problem with my decision?" she frowned.
"Err, no, of course not…" he stepped backwards.
"Wonderful. Now, I will take the first night shift. Gai, you will take the second one."
"Will do, Tsunade-sama."
"Lee and Naji can flip a coin for the third one."
Both of them exchanged gazes and Neji took out a coin. The flip showed Lee to take the shift during the night.
Godaime nodded and started to check the food supplies of all the group members. She decided what would be on the menu for the evening and gave orders to set up a camp. After dinner, she picked a tree that allowed her to have a good look at the surroundings, then jumped in the branches.
Gai and Lee hurried to get to sleep near the fire so they could rest until their turns of duty came. Neji sat down and leaned to a tree near them, closing his eyes.
Shikamaru didn't think twice and picked a tree for a bed. He preferred to be as far as wise from the others.
Kankuro headed towards a little forest spring nearby, located about 50-60 metres from the camp. Tenen followed him silently, like an anxious shadow…
...
"It would be better if you stayed with the rest of the group." he said and she shook her head in disagreement. "I wouldn't be able to take care of you if anything happened."
"Because I know you are probably feeling sick already, I will spare your dignity as not beating you right on the spot." she replied, he looked at her, surprised. "I am not coming with you so you can take care of me. I want to be sure you will make it through the night, got it?"
He said nothing more. And he didn't try to send her away either.
When he reached the spring, he took out his blanket and spread it on the grass. Then he started to take off his clothes again without saying a word. Tenten looked away when he took off his t-shirt and left in underpants only. She was aware he is going to sweat again because of the incoming fever. It was clear he didn't want to wet his clothes and stay in them afterwards. After all the clothes were folded in a neat pile, he sat on the blanket.
He frowned as he heard something:
"I am sorry for this…" he said seriously, grabbed her hand and pulled her upon himself.
"What…?" she tried to protest, but next thing she knew was his feverish lips on hers. She could easily break out, to move away, but she never did. Instead she let herself lay on his bare chest and answered that kiss. Just with her lips, but he felt it too - her desire to be part of the kiss…
"Oh, my… eeerrrm…." she heard her answer to the "what"-question. And reluctantly pulled away from the man below her.
Then she looked at her teammate Lee:
"I, I… I am very sorry…" He was so red that Tenten instantly felt sorry for him. "Godaime sent me to tell you to not go too far off…"
"We are not moving away even with a metre." assured him Kankuro and smiled slightly. "I guarantee."
Lee apologised a few more times and moved embarrassed toward the camp.
Tenten attempted to move away, since she already knew what all of this was about, but Kankuro didn't let her go.
"This feels really pleasant…" he confessed.
She slightly pushed and sat back, not saying a word. There was no chance to confess that it was pleasant for her too. She felt a slight trembling in her chest.
Kankuro wrapped in the blanket and leaned to the closest tree trunk.
Tenten spread her own blanket near him and sat down.
"If I take into consideration last night, the worst part will come about 3. If you want to help me, I advise you to sleep now." he whispered.
The girl reached out and touched his forehead. The temperature wasn't too bad yet, but she could tell his body is in pain.
"We are already on the way, why don't you tell Tsunade-sama?" she asked.
"Because I have already been silent once. I don't see any favourable outcome if I tell her."
Tenten thought about it. If Godaime learned the truth they kept silent yesterday, she would have enraged most probably and even forced them back. Well, yeah, if she had agreed to be silent once, she should stay silent till the end of it.
"You are right…" she said. "But… I really don't want you to go through this over and over again."
The man looked at her. She wasn't sure if she ever received such a look - with deep gratitude and some unfamiliar, intense tenderness. She even somehow expected him to reach out and touch her, but he didn't do so.
"I am really grateful," he said quietly. "But I am a healthy and strong shinobi, I will handle this."
"I do not have any doubts," she laughed quietly and leaned back to the tree trunk herself. "Wake me up when it starts to kick in, right?"
"I will."
…
Lee was still flushed when he came back to the fire. Gai-sensei just smiled and said nothing. Ot the other hand, Neji raised his eyebrows:
"What?"
"It was just… She was… lying on him… and…" he shook his head, refusing to say something more.
Neji looked at the direction he just came from. Why was Tenten behaving like she really had a relationship with Kankuro, when it was all fake? He didn't understand it. But he was feeling relatively unhappy and relatively angry at her. He was tempted to use his special ability, but it wouldn't go unnoticed, so he quitted the idea.
"I… Just… Up until now I thought this was just fake." Lee shared quietly. I don't know why, but I didn't believe it. I have never even imagined Tenten as a part of a couple."
"Well, it is like that with the people you grow up with. You are so used to them that you only see them as a part of the team, nothing more." Gai nodded. "But it is very often for the couples to arise within the team," he added, glancing at Neji. "Or between the teams, defending the same village, anyway."
"But Tenten didn't like anyone in our village…" said Lee.
"I also hadn't noticed her liking anyone from our men." Neji confirmed thoughtfully.
Then there was a contemptuous snort from the branches of the tree where Shikamaru had climbed.
…
Tenten woke up from a light tap on her shoulder. Kankuro slumped to the ground and shrank. In the moonlight she was able to see his smudged face paint and his glistening sweat hair. She touched his forehead - the temperature almost burned her fingers. She sighed and unwrapped herself out of the blanket - it was going to be a long, worrying night… Her stomach clenched with anxiety but she got up. Now was the time he needed a strong partner who could take things in hand.
The girl took out a towel from her backpack and went to the spring to wet it. She came back to the man and carefully wet and washed his face. Then she walked over there a few more times until all the paint was gone. She cautiously wet his neck and nape, as well as his shoulders. The water was evaporating fast, but it was expected to be.
Tenten kept wetting his skin. She even wet the folds of his arms and legs - she knew those places were sensitive to temperature control.
In about an hour her efforts seemed to have a result. He obviously relaxed, his forehead did not burn anymore. The man sighed quietly and fell into a light sleep. Tenten felt really privileged - he trusted her completely.
She sat down close to him and spread her blanket over both of them. The touch of the cloth woke him up and suddenly he was ready to jump.
"Relax." Tenten whispered and put a hand on his head.
He looked at her - his eyes no longer dull and feverish.
"I have a serious suspicion that you wont like the surrounding temperature with your current outfit," she teased him.
"Caring and fun…" he grinned mischievously. "Why wouldn't I just ask you to marry me?" His tone sounded almost serious, though the teasing note was clear.
"Oh, that won't be possible…" she joined the theatre, sighing. "Unfortunately I got a part in an arranged marriage in another village. I am not sure my husband would just give me up…"
Kankuro laughed and pushed himself on an elbow. Then he pushed up some more and sat against her. He was so close that it was enough to lift his hand and he could reach her face. He gazed right into her hazel eyes and slightly smiled:
"I am not sure he would either…"
Tenten gasped at his gaze. In the next moment his fingertips were tenderly caressing her side. She closed her eyes, wanting to be able to feel even better. Then she felt his breath on her face. A moment later his lips pressed hers. They were soft, the touch was slow and tender as he was trying to make a chart of her lips in his head. And she pressed her lips back on his, really carefully. Her hands were moving on their own when they slid over his still bare shoulders, his nape and got lost in his hair. His skin indeed felt wonderful under her fingers. The next sensation, causing a shiver through her body, was the touch of his tongue running across her lips - it was warm, moist and as if he wanted her permission to penetrate and reach hers. She almost thought she could let him do that…
Then she took a sharp breath, her eyes opened. She pulled back…
She felt fear, making her whole belly clench into a painful ball, even her chest felt heavy and painful.
Kankuro bent down slightly to look into her hazel eyes - he was asking a silent question.
"I… can't…" she whispered almost with no sound and turned her gaze aside.
He tried to read on her face what had happened. Obviously there was something tormenting her and she still couldn't get a grip of it. But whatever it was, it was her fight. He had no right to meddle in it, also she was a shinobi, he thought of her as strong enough to lead her own battles. So he just nodded, respecting her decision to stay silent.
Kankuro got up, got dressed and returned on the blanket next to her. Then he just laid down and rested his head in her lap.
Her fingers dug into his hair, and she leaned against the trunk of the tree with a sigh of relief. When she closed her eyes, she couldn't hold in the betrayal tear, rolled down her cheek. She was glad he didn't ask or say anything - that meant he respected her personal space and trusted her judgement.
The image she saw in her head, that could stop the kiss, that freaked her up - she saw this kiss in her mind… But there… there was Neji instead…
