"Where am I?" Tenten asked out loud, her wide, brown eyes scanning the area around her. It was hard to see, everything was blurry and white.
The kunoichi wiped at her eyes in an attempt to clear out her vision. It didn't work. Her surroundings were still so hazy. Had she been drugged?
"Lee?" she called out, her eyes squinting as she turned her head in multiple directions. Where was everyone? "Lee? Sensei?" she tried again and started to walk forward. At this point, Tenten felt her heartbeat quicken in fear. Where was she? Why couldn't she see anybody else? Her legs kept moving, a bit shakier than normal, but she still pressed on. She didn't feel in pain, she knew she had no injuries. As she continued to call out for her missing teammates, Tenten tried to remember what she had been doing earlier, but her mind – like this place – only came up blank.
Had she been on a mission?
Panic started to rise in her chest at the thought. If that were the case, why couldn't she remember it? She very well could've been drugged. The brunet's legs started to move faster as she tried to find her team. What if they were hurt? No, Lee could handle himself. Despite the thought, Tenten didn't stop calling out for her friend.
"Lee!?"
No answer. Were they in a similar state as she was? Were they even conscious? Lee would never ignore her, nor would Gai.
"Please Lee, sensei! Answer me!"
Silence. She hated the sound. Tenten was now running, her blurred eyes coping out the white area as she screamed for her team or anyone to call back. She couldn't be left alone here. Her team could never do that to her. Not them.
"LEE!
"Tenten."
Brown-squinted eyes grew large at the sound of the smooth voice, her body almost falling to a stop. Her head shot to the right, her eyes searching for the source of the voice. She recognized it. She would always be able to recognize it, no matter how many years passed without hearing it.
She still didn't see anything.
"N-Neji?" her soft voice shocked her. She sounded wrecked, dis-functional.
"It's alright, Tenten."
The girl couldn't stop the gasp at the voice. It sounded just like him, just like how she remembered it – but he was dead. This had to be some sort of hallucination, caused by whatever drugs she was put on. She couldn't dwell on this, she had to find her team.
"Tenten?"
Tenten shook her head, her eyes shutting closed tightly. 'Go away,' she begged in her mind. You're not real. This isn't real! She didn't realize that she had been speaking her thoughts.
"I'm here."
"You're not," Tenten breathed, her eyes tightening almost painfully. This was cruel. Of all the drugged fantasies, why did it have to be-
A gentle hand on her cheek forced the girl to open her eyes, a sharp breath escaping her lips at the feeling. She wasn't prepared to see two lavender-tinted eyes looking softly back at her. Her vision was restored, but only focused on the young man standing before her and her breath caught at the sight.
"Neji," she breathed, her eyes widening at the sight of him. He was still touching her cheek, lovingly. She had never felt him touch her this way before, his hands were warm. His thumb began to softly trace over her cheek and Tenten almost lost herself in the way his eyes followed the movement.
"I'm here," he rasped and the brunet chocked on a sob. She was pathetic, crying in front of a figment of her imagination, but for once, she didn't care. If she was going to die from whatever drugs she had taken, at least she could be able to see him again.
"Neji, I-"
"You're crying," he whispered, his other hand reaching up to wipe away a stray tear. Why was this familiar?
"I'm sorry," she whimpered and her eyes caught the way he frowned and she wanted to laugh. The frown was so Neji. At least her mind still remembered how he acted. Since this wasn't real, Tenten allowed one of her hands to reach out to the Hyuga, gently placing it over his chest. She suddenly froze.
No heartbeat.
Why wasn't there a heartbeat? This was her hallucination, he was meant to have a heartbeat. A shuddered gasp escaped her when his own hand covered her shaking one on his chest. It wasn't warm anymore. It felt like ice.
"Tenten."
The brunet felt her body pale, her breathing growing faster at the tone of his voice. The attmosphere around them was suddenly different – cold.
"Look at me," he demanded, his voice still smooth, but there was something else that lingured there. She didn't want to understand what it was. Tenten shook her head rapidly as she tried to pull her hand back, but his own kept her in place. "Tenten, look at me!"
"N-no!" she screamed, her body shaking, aching to get away. This wasn't her Neji. She had to get away.
The cold hand that had been holding her cheek suddenly gripped her chin, jerking her to look up at him and Tenten forgot to close her eyes in pure shock. The man looking down at her was now different. Still Neji, but his skin was far too pale, his eyes burning into her own with what looked to be panic or urgency. A haunting gasp left Tenten's lips at the sight of blood starting to seep out of his parted lips.
Not again.
Not again!
Another urgent tug and the fake Neji released her hand and it flew to Tenten's own rapidly lifting chest. But when her eyes lowered to his chest, a whimpered cry sounded. Neji's entire white shirt was drenched in blood, the fabric only darkening more after each passing second. The hand she kept to her chest flew to Tenten's mouth to muffle another cry, but her eyes caught the red liquid covering it too. Her mouth was now wet. Slowly, the weaponist shakily lifted her hand away from her mouth, and screamed once more at the sight of her teammate's blood soaking it. She could taste it.
"Tenten.."
Tenten's eyes shot back to the man and found him smiling back at her, but it wasn't a smile she had ever seen before. It was...daunting. The life in his eyes was draining and the girl forgot how to breath. One hesitant foot stepped forward and then Tenten attempted to leap at her friend, but he was somehow much further away.
"Neji!" she cried, her voice panicked as she ran towards his fading body. He was going to leave her.
Not again. Not again!
"Tenten."
"NO! PLEASE!" her legs running faster.
"Save me."
"NEJI!"
Tenten shot up, her body now in a sitting position. The girl's eyes were wide, her breathing much faster then what was considered healthy. Brown eyes darted around the familiar room, still searching for the Hyuga. She could see properly again, no more white. No Neji.
A dream.
'It was just a dream,' Tenten repeated in her mind, willing her breathing to go back to normal, a task hard to do. Of cause it was a dream. Exhausted, the brunet dropped back down on the bed, her scruffy head of hair hitting the pillow hard and she brought her arms up to rest over her eyes.
She wasn't surprised. The nightmares were a normal part of her life now, ever since… Tenten groaned at her thoughts. She didn't want to go there. Not now, not when it was still so early. Another groan and Tenten slowly lowered her arms, shifting her weight to turn over onto her sight, sighing when she got more comfortable. She could afford to sleep in a bit longer, it wasn't as if anyone was waiting in line to get into her weapon's shop. Letting out a small huff at her poor shop's expense, Tenten allowed her eyelids to slip shut, wanting nothing more than to let slumber take over her.
.
.
.
Brown eyes suddenly flew open and Tenten forced herself to sit up.
'Neji.'
She remembered now. Neji. She had found him – alive! Her memory flashed with images of her dragging Neji to the hospital. He had been awake. He had talked to her! Without another thought, Tenten pushed herself off the bed, fighting with the clinging blankets and hurried to get herself dressed. She ignores the very thought of a shower. It would take too long and she was already walking through the hospital's entrance in her jumbled mind.
It was probably the fastest she had ever gotten dressed. By the time she was running out of her house, Tenten had somehow managed to tie up her hair into her signiture buns – although a messier version. She was already a few meters down the street when she turned sharply back to lock her door. When she was sure no one would be able to break in, the weaponist was off again, practically running through town to get to the hospital.
Town was busier than usual, but Tenten didn't stop to greet people, only going slightly slower to turn and opologize when she had accidentally knocked into someone. However, she only shouted the apology over her shoulder, before continuing her fast pace. She was sure that if they knew the situation, they would understand.
And if they didn't, she just couldn't find it in herself to care. Neji was somehow, somehow back and she would be damned if she wasn't there to see her old teammate get released from the hospital.
Excitement flooded the girl's senses as she caught sight of the old building. There was some fear mixed with nervousness too, but she pushed it down. She had promised that she would be there for him and she wasn't about to break it.
It was a bit harder to actually get inside the building though. When Tenten was close enough, she was greeted with the sight of a crowd of people. She would have found it stranger, but her mind was set on one thing. As carefully and as pateintly as she could, Tenten pushed and wiggled her way through the crowd of villagers. Her temper started to flare up at one point, but she was pretty good at shoving it down – that didn't stop her from elbowing some jerk who had almost shoved her onto the ground. She almost stuck out her tongue at him when she got passed him, but reminded herself that he wasn't worth it right now.
Finally reaching the closed doors, Tenten was able to grab the handle, shrieking in shock when it suddenly flew open for just enough time for the weaponist to fall through it and crash onto the hospital floor. A loud clang was heard and Tenten looked behind her to see that the doors were once again closed, she grimaced at the sight of the crowd outside trying to shove their way inside. What in the world?
"Oi, you okay?"
Wide, brown eyes left the doors to look up at none other than the lazy-genius himself. "Shikamaru?" Tenten said, her eyebrows furrowing at the man. "What are you doing here?"
"Work," he sighed out as he offered a hand to the sitting girl. Tenten blinked at the offering, before accepting. The Nara man helped pull her to her feet before retracting his hand and placing it back in his pocket, mirroring the other one. "I was just about done, actually. Unfortunately, I can't leave until this crowd disappears."
"What kind of work would you be doing in a hospital?" Tenten asked, her hands working on fixing her embarrasingly dihevealed clothing, as Shikamaru almost pouted at the closed doors.
"The Hokage sent me to handle some paperwork to do with.."
"Neji," Tenten voiced, her head nodding in understanding. Shikamaru had started to work under Shizune a year ago. It had been a surprise to her when she heard the lazy ninja wanted to take on such a busy job. Apparently he wanted to take over her position in the future, something she suspected had to do with Naruto. The Nara had said that he wanted to be the blond's adviser. It seemed that he was taking his words seriously.
"Yeah," Shikamaru confirmed as he sighed again, before looking back at her. "You came to see him?"
"Is that surprising?"
"Guess not."
She watched as the man formed a small, amused smile and Tenten was about to ask what it was about, when he turned away from her again.
"I saw him earlier," he said and Tenten froze. "When they told me who was in that room, I didn't believe it..but it's not the first time I've been proven wrong.."
"So...you believe it's really him?" Tenten watched him. She hadn't expected Shikamaru of all people to accept the sudden return.
The Nara shrugged, his shoulders slumping in the end and Tenten stared as he cracked his neck tiredly. "I don't know what to believe, but I do know that our village doesn't exactly thrive in anything relatively normal."
"I don't understand," Tenten frowned slightly.
"Basically if it is Neji, I'll do what I can, but we should keep an eye on him too.." he trailed off and peeked over at the girl. "Uh..have you..?"
"I'm the one that brought him in last night," Tenten said and Shikamaru nodded.
"Where did you find him?"
"The graveyard-" Tenten winced at the confession. A hand went to rub at behind her neck, directing her eyes at anyway besides the man. "Anyway, I think I'm just gonna see how he's doing. It was-um- good seeing you."
Shikamaru only raised an eyebrow at her, before Tenten started to walk away. 'Smooth Tenten, smooth,'she thought. That conversation would probably come back to bite her later. Now that she walked towards the hallway, Tenten realized that the waiting area was full of people too. She was shocked that she hadn't noticed earlier.
Luckily, the crazy atmosphere allowed Tenten to sneak passed the other nurses and down the hallway, towards the familiar door she knew her teammate was staying in. Would Hinata and the rest of his family be there too? It was a likely possibility. She quickly decided that if that were the case, she wouldn't invade too much of there time. Whether she liked it or not, it wasn't her place.
Getting closer to his door, Tenten saw Sakura come out of it, closing the door behind her. "Sakura!" Tenten called, jogging a bit to reach her faster.
The pinkette seemed startled at the call, but when her eyes landed on her friend, Sakura smiled, giving a small wave.
"Tenten, I should have known you'd be here early," Sakura greeted when the brunet stopped in front of her. Her eyes were still a bit darkly-framed and Tenten knew she didn't look much better – possibly worse, but neither girl brought it up.
"How's Neji?" Tenten asked softly, her hands twitching to reach for the door handle. She had to relax, she'd see him in a minute.
"Oh," Sakura blinked, her hand quickly moved some hair behind her ear. "Um, he's doing much better with his chakra levels..not that I've checked myself. He still isn't my patient so I can't...um." Tenten frowned at the lapse of eye contact. "..I was actually just seeing how he was doing, as a friend….he seems to be handling all of this pretty well."
Of cause he was, this was Neji they were talking about. If anyone was good at staying calm during a moment of crisis, it was him. A trait Tenten had always envied, but now wished he'd drop.
It wasn't good for him to keep everything bottled up. Not that she could say much about herself either though.
"...Are you alright?" Sakura asked after a minute of silence. "How are you feeling?"
Tenten resisted the urge to sigh out her annoyance. Not again. "I'm not sick, Sakura," her voice held a warning. The medic seemed to have picked that up, because she decided to drop that topic, but not until after she gave a meaningful look to the other girl.
"I guess you'll want to see him too, huh?" Sakura said, after clearing her throat. "His papers have already been dealt with, so he's about ready to go."
Tenten nodded at the statement, turning her head to look at the closed door. "Cool, thanks."
"Let me know if you need me," Sakura said and Tenten could tell by the tone that the medic wasn't just referring to Neji.
"Yeah," Tenten sighed, but gave a small smile anyway, happy despite herself when Sakura smiled back, before walking down the hallway. The brunet waited until she couldn't see the other girl anymore, before she took in a deep breath and wiggling her fingers.
The weaponist turned to fully face the door and reached for the handle, freezing when she touched it. She felt nervous again, she shouldn't, but she was. Another deep breath and Tenten forced her muscles to relax. She say him yesterday, she could do this.
Tenten turned the handle and pushed the door open slowly. The first thing she saw was the very man himself. Neji Hyuga was sitting on the side of the bed, his back turned turned to her. He was looking out of the window. Tenten didn't say anything to announce her presence. She was sure that he knew she was there a while ago, instead she took him in – or at least what she could see of him. His hair was still out and a bit greasy, but unlike yesterday, it had been brushed out, the long brown strands covering the whole of his back and resting on the bed. Like always, his posture was good, sharp and poised. She didn't understand how he could keep himself so straight. A habit, she guessed.
Tenten stiffened slightly when the man in front of her suddenly turned his head to the side, his eyes glancing at her. "Tenten."
The greeting was short, but it did things to the girl, some of which frightened her. Memories of her dream this morning came back to her and she almost whimpered, but bit her lip. This wasn't a dream, Neji really was here right now. He wasn't going to disappear.
"Neji," she hoped her voice sounded cheerful. "How are you feeling?" Damn, she sounded so stiff.
Neji didn't answer, but he did start to pull himself off the bed and Tenten was quick to complain.
"W-wait Neji, don't-" she started, already walking over to him, her hands reaching out to keep him seated.
"I'm not crippled, Tenten." The words stopped the girl in her tracks, her arms dropping to her sides, when her eyes properly met the Hyuga's lavender ones.
"I-I didn't mean.." she stuttered and wanted to kick herself as soon as it happened. Since when did she stutter?
"I understand completely," his smooth voice said and Tenten was shocked to see the small, almost invisible smile tugging at his lips. "I'm okay, Tenten. Just a bit lost. That's all."
She was lost too.
"I heard Naruto told you everything.." Tenten avoided his eyes.
"Everything he knew," she heard him say and her fists clenched.
"I should have told you..when you asked me. I should have.."
"..You think I'm angry?"
Tenten bit her lip, but moved to look back at him. To her surprise he wasn't scowling. The long-haired man only stared at her with a confused expression on his face. He was wearing that expression a lot recently.
"I'm not, you know."
"Aren't you?" Tenten breathed and there was that sympathetic smile of his again.
"No, Tenten. I'm not. Stop over thinking." Neji then turned back to look out the window and Tenten wasn't sure what to do with herself. "You're here early," he hummed.
"Uh..yes," she winced when her reply sounded more like a question. Get a grip Tenten! It's only Neji. By the way her chest swelled at the thought, Tenten realized that that was exactly why she was acting so weird. For the past few years, she had been living life like he was dead. She had even talked to his grave every night...she wasn't going to tell him that fact though.
"You really must have missed me."
Tenten had to blink a couple times to process the sentence. Neji didn't sound sad, he sounded amused.
"Ex-excuse me?" the weaponist asked, her cheeks flushing slightly.
The way his brown hair shifted, told Tenten that the Hyuga had just casually shrugged. Shrugged, like he hadn't been dead for years and was just having a normal conversation with friend. But wasn't that exactly what it was like to Neji? He hadn't known he was gone for so long.
"I'm touched, I suppose." Neji added and Tenten tried to keep her mouth from gaping open. A good nights sleep must have done him wonders. Last night, Neji had been a wreck, not knowing what had happened or what was going on. Yet now, everything seemed back to normal. He was acting like his usual self, throwing around those stupid, annoying, jerky remarks and – and..
Tenten wanted to laugh. So she did.
It started with a giggle, which quickly grew louder and louder and Tenten was wiping at her eyes that had started to tear up. This time however, she knew they were more from relief than anguish.
It didn't solve everything, but it felt good.
"You look better today," Neji voiced when Tenten's breathing started to calm down. Wiping her eyes again, Tenten looked back to see a real – almost full smile on his face.
"I-idiot," Tenten laughed through a hiccup and Neji's smile formed more of a smirk than a smile.
"I'm surprised Hinata or Hiashi isn't here," Tenten sighed, her eyes directed towards the open window as she sat next to her old teammate of the bed. They weren't touching, but they were sitting much closer than they usually would, but Tenten still had the urging need to be as close to the Hyuga as possible. Neji hadn't said anything against the closeness, so she didn't move away. "I expected them to escort you home."
"I told them it wasn't nessasary."
Tenten peeked over at the man next to her, a confused frown on her face. "Why'd you do that?"
"I think they need some time to process everything," he replied, eyes still glued to the window. "And I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing my uncle fuss all over me again. It was...weird."
Tenten laughed at the word. "Weird?" she repeated. "Wow, Neji, I forgot how superior your vocabulary was." She smiled wider when Neji rolled his pupiless-eyes at her.
They sat in silence for a few moments more, Neji staring out at the blue sky. Tenten tried not to, but she constantly found herself stealing glances at the Hyuga. If he noticed – and she was sure he did – he didn't say anything.
"You're wearing clothes," Tenten suddenly voiced when her eyes caught the unfamiliar fabric.
"I see your eyesight had improved nicely – oh!"
"And I see that you've only gotten more moody in the mornings," she pouted, retracting her clenched hand, before looking back to his cloths. They were very similar to his normal outfit before the war, except this time, the robes he wore where a dark gray colour, almost blue. She blushed when she realized that more of his chest was displayed, he didn't seem to be wearing an under shirt and it allowed her to see so much more of his skin, but that was mainly due to the way he was sitting.
"Hiashi sent them after they left last night," Neji said and Tenten blinked her eyes back to focusing on the window, hoping her blush wasn't too noticeable. "These are some of his actually."
"W-why didn't he just send some of your old clothing?"
"I should hope that I might have out grown them, Tenten." And Tenten felt her face flush more. Right, of cause he would have grown. It wasn't like he had been a dead body for the past few years. "..Why? Don't you like them?"
"No-no! They look great!" Tenten answered hurriedly, her hands waving in front of her to try and clear any misunderstandings. "I just..um. I'm sorry," she breathed, lowering her gaze to fall to her lap. "It's stupid, but..I guess I'm just a bit..nervous."
"So this is what a nervous Tenten looks like," she heard him mutter and her eyes flew up to see him watching her intently. She felt her face get hotter. "I can't remember you ever being this way before."
Tenten didn't stop herself from shoving at his shoulder, enjoying the tiny smile she got out of him. "Jerk."
"I'm only stating the facts." Neji said softly, sounding slightly distracted. "I'm actually really glad to see you back to normal. You scared me last night."
'And I'm so glad to just see you,' Tenten thought, biting her tongue to keep the words from spilling. A part of her was a bit agitated about how he was worried about her, even though neither he or the village knew where he was for so long. Was it normal for someone to take their death-news so easily?
"I suspect that most of the village will have heard of my return by now," Neji changed the subject when Tenten remained quiet.
Tenten huffed amusingly at the statement. He had no idea. "I think you'll be happy to know that a rather large crowd has been stationed outside the hospital. I think it's safe to say that they are waiting for you."
She snickered at the grimace on the Hyuga's face. Neji was never the type to thrive off public exposure. He liked aknowledgement, but didn't care much for high popularity. He had always been the solemn type.
"I guess I can't blame them," Neji frowned and Tenten hummed in question. "To them I must be like a dead man walking. Their curiosity is natural."
Tenten lowered her eyes to her lap at his words. What would he say if he knew how pitifully she had hung on to his memory all those years? Would he understand and say it was natural? Would he think she was weak and pathetic? She doubted that he would have acted the same way if the roles were switched. No, not the Hyuga protigy. Neji would have been able to cope with anything, he'd always had that power.
"What are you thinking?" Neji asked, his head now turned to look at her, abandening the window again.
"Nothing...uh, so Sakura said that you've been cleared to leave. Mind if I walk you home?" Tenten quickly changed the topic, smiling innocently up at the Hyuga when he noticed the slip.
'Please stop worrying about me. It's you I'm worried about.'
"..If you insist," Neji replied after a couple seconds and it filled Tenten with relief to know he was dropping his earlier question.
Tenten lifted herself off the bed when Neji did, the weaponist forcing herself to keep from helping him up. It turned out that she didn't need to in the end anyway. As gracefully as she remembered him to be, Neji easily walked around the bed and towards the door with her following behind. She still kept a close eye on his body language though, but he seemed to be fairing much better than last night.
Neji was about to exit the room when Tenten suddenly remembered the state of the waiting room, not to mention the hospital's entrance.
"Wait Neji," Tenten instructed, not being able to stop her hand from reaching out to grasp his sleeve. "Um..do you-? You don't actually feel like going through the crowd right now, do you?"
Neji blinked at the words, probably remembering what she had said earlier, before turning to face her properly. "Obviously no."
The female teammate then grinned brightly at him, before tugging at his sleeve. "Then follow me, Hyuga-san. I'll sneak you out passed the dreaded villagers."
A dark eyebrow rose at her playful words, but the slight tug of his lips had Tenten pulling him towards the window. She might have been doing him a favor, but honestly, she didn't feel like sharing the man just yet. She was still trying to adjust to having him back. The rest of the village could wait a bit longer.
"Out the window? Really?" Neji murmured when he realized Tenten's plan, the girl already opening it up. "I'd imagine Naruto doing such antics, but not from you."
Tenten only shrugged, her one leg already outside the window frame. When she was fully outside, she turned to give the Hyuga an impatient look when he didn't move to follow her. "Hey, it's either this or confronting the crowd down stairs."
She didn't have to wait long before the man sighed his defeat and followed her outside the window, onto the slope outside. She didn't stop the happy giggle she let out at the look on his disapproving face.
Tenten led the way as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Looking downwards as she jumped, she could still see the large crowd trying to get into the hospital and was instantly relieved that she had convinced Neji to escape through the window. She just hoped he didn't have anymore papers to sign, but Sakura did say that he was all set to leave, right?
A glance behind her and Tenten realized that Neji had stopped following her. Stopping too, Tenten landed softly on another rooftop, and turned to see Neji a few houses away. He wasn't even facing her anymore, his body instead directed to look out at the village, but she knew he wasn't admiring the view.
The Hyuga was slightly tensed, his void eyes locked out into the distance. Looking out in the direction of where she knew had been his last memory. The location of where The Great Ninja War was at.
Neji didn't flinch when she moved to join him, landing silently behind him. Tenten desperately wanted to reach out and touch him, to offer her support, but something stopped her. Would whatever she had to say to him really make him feel better? She didn't have any answers for him, she couldn't give him back the years he'd lost.
"Neji?"
But that didn't mean that she shouldn't at least try. She wanted him to know that she was there for him.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" she whispered, her eyes glued to the back of his head, following the long, brown stands of hair as they moved with the slight wind. "Me, everyone, we're here for you."
She watched as the man's shoulders lifted and fell in a heavy breath. He didn't answer her.
"We're going to figure out what happened to you," Tenten vowed, taking a step closer to him, wanting to reach out. Her hands tightened into fists when the Hyuga slowly turned around to look at her. He wasn't smiling, but his eyes held some sort of emotion she was uncertain about.
"I now, Tenten," Neji said, his eyes closing for a long second. "I want to find out too, I hate this feeling."
"You can count on me," Tenten whispered, more to herself than to him, but he smiled at her anyway. When it grew quiet again, Tenten cleared her throat, before her damn emotions could drive her to do something stupid again like hug him. That would be embarrassing, even if she could use the excuse of missing him. It wouldn't be much of an excuse though, they didn't really hug before either, so it would just be strange to him. "So, anyway..." Tenten averted her eyes away from his, her left fist tapping against her thigh to keep her busy. "We were on our way to the Hyuga compound?"
She wanted to kick herself as soon as the words left her mouth. Yes, she was getting nervous, but she didn't want to rush their time together, who knew when she'd be able to see him again. She was actually surprised that Kakashi hadn't sent someone to escort him home.
"No," Neji's reply made Tenten look back up at him in confusion. He was frowning again, his own eyes looking back out at the view ahead of them, but at least he didn't look so lost anymore. At least for now. "I still don't think I can stomach my uncle fussing over me. The people back at the compound will be just as bad as the crowd...I think I'll stay away a bit longer."
Tenten blinked at the statement, racking her brain for something to say, but finding nothing. She hadn't expected Neji to want to avoid his home, but in some way, she probably should have seen it coming.
Taking her silence the wrong way, Neji turned back to look at the still confused Tenten, stepping up to stand a few feet away from her. "Thank you for coming to see me, I won't keep you longer. I'll find something else to do," he said emotionless, but before he could turn to leave, Tenten finally snapped out of her thoughts.
"Hey," she called, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips when her old teammate looked back at her questioningly. "Since you want to blow off some time...how bout I show you my shop?"
"..You have a shop?"
Naruto watched as the piece of land that once acted as Neji Hyuga's grave site was dug up. He had been here since they started, Kakashi having kept to his word in calling the blond hero when they began. They had been here for almost two hours now, he, Kakashi and a few ANBU troops.
The digging of the grave itself had gone fairly fast, to Naruto's standards at least. He wasn't sure what to expect when the troops started to dig up the grave, the tombstone having been discarded first. There was no doubt in his mind that the man he had spoken to last night was non other than Neji, but for whatever reason, he still expected the Hyuga to be laying in the ground.
Stupid, he knows, but instinct.
"This is giving me the creeps," Kakashi sighed, coming to stand next to the blond, Naruto turning his head to greet his hokage.
"What? I'd figure you'd be used to dead people coming back?" Naruto tried to joke, but only managed to half smile at his own words.
The hokage merely rolled one eye at the attempt. "Revived dead people – I can handle, it's the digging up graves I don't like. I feel like we're grave robbing." Naruto caught the way his ex-sensei's visible eye flinched when he looked out at the dug-up grave. He could understand the reaction.
"...So there really isn't any body, huh?" Naruto asked, despite having looked earlier himself when the troops dug deep enough. They had even gone a bit further to make sure, but there was still no body found. It made Naruto feel better, but more confused at the same time. He had watched Neji be buried after all.
"At least we can report this, along with the blood results back to Hiashi," Kakashi sighed. The Hyuga head had been so confused and skeptical when he was told the news, despite being in a rush to see his deceased nephew. "This might be able to give him some clarity."
However, it also left a lot of unanswered questions.
The villagers would be banging down his doors for answers, he just knew it. He didn't even want to think about what the other Kages would say when they heard of Neji's return. He'd try to keep it under raps for as long as possible.
"..By the way," Naruto started, his eyes following the movements of the quick troops. "Was it really necesarry to call in the ANBU troops to dig up a grave?" He hadn't said anything at first when he arrived, but thought it was strange. Did Kakashi expect some sort of danger when digging up the grave?
"Well...I wasn't going to dig up a dead-man's grave. That's just some bad luck," the silver-haired man hummed, his eye closing and Naruto's shoulder's slumped at the explanation. The Leave's Hokage everyone.
"Hokage-sama."
Both Naruto and Kakashi turned to see Sai walking up to them and Naruto grinned at his old teammate and close friend. Sai had been promoted to one of the ANBU's troop leaders about a year ago. Naruto had been pretty happy for his friend at the time, while the stoic man had only given his trademark smile at the announcement. The blond knew he was grateful for the position though, Sai was a pretty decent leader too. He was good at getting things done quick and he was never one to question his orders.
Naruto didn't think anyone would suit the position more, but don't get him wrong, Sai had developed into much more than just an emotionless ninja after the war. Naruto still joked that Sai still had more expressions than Sasuke, to which he'd always get scolded at for.
"Sai, thank you for your teams hard work today," Kakashi eye-smiled at the pale ANBU leader. "I couldn't have asked for a faster team."
"It's not like I could have said no," Sai replied, but his tone had no bite. Both Naruto and Kakashi had accustomed themselves to his way of speaking a long time ago.
"Heh, so did you find anything down there?" Naruto asked, his eyes going back to the grave for a quick glance and then back to the pale man.
Once they were sure that there was no body – or dried up bones/remains, Kakashi had ordered for them to search for any clues or abnormalities, just in case.
A shake of the troop-leader's head told him that they hadn't found anything after all.
"Nothing, but we'll keep looking," Sai informed and Kakashi let out another sigh.
"Great," the older man said. "Guess this really isn't going to be easy."
"Is it ever easy?" Naruto agreed, a tan hand moving to scratch at the back of his neck.
"With this village? I suppose not," Kakashi breathed, before giving one last look at the grave site. He really didn't like this. "Alright, I'm going to draw up the report and inform Haishi Hyuga. Sai, let me know if you find anything."
"Understood."
"Great," Kakashi nodded tiredly, before looking at Naruto expectantly. "If you plan on staying, try not to get in their way."
"Hey!" the blond flushed at the accusation. It wasn't like he was that troublesome kid anymore. He didn't need to be warned of his behavior!
"I mean it," Kakashi sighed one last time, before turning to leave the scene, Naruto frowning at Sai when he noticed the stupid smile he held.
Naruto pouted as he watched the Hokage stride away from them, only relaxing when he couldn't see him anymore. Going back to the mention of Hiashi, Naruto's mind went to the focus of Hinata. He wondered how she was doing today? If she had seen Neji again yet? He hadn't seen her since last night and she hadn't been in the best state when she left the hospital.
Naruto wanted to go and see her today, but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. He didn't want to intrude on her and her family's re-bonding with Neji. Still, maybe he could swing by to see how she was doing later?
"You have a scary look on your face," came Sai's voice, breaking the blond from his thoughts to glare at his supposed friend.
"Very funny," he muttered, his nose scrunching up.
"But I wasn't joking."
The words made Naruto sigh heavily. He could really go for a nap right now, but with everything that's going on, he'd probably wouldn't even be able to get to sleep.
"You look troubled," Sai stated more than asked and Naruto grinned at his friends antics. Some people changed more than others. Himself for example, he was way more mature!
"Uh, it's nothing. Just a bit tired, you know?" the blond smiled while Sai remained neutral.
"Then sleep."
"Maybe later," the blond shrugged, stretching his arms over his head. "I think I will hang around with you guys just in case you find something. Maybe later I'll go over to see if Hinata can do lunch." He really wanted to see if she was okay. At the same time, he would also check how Neji was doing.
"That's very considerate of you," Sai hummed, his attention turned to his still busy troops.
"Heh, yeah well-wait, what do you mean?" Naruto frowned in confusion.
"You having lunch with Hinata Hyuga," Sai said casually, not looking back at the blond, seemingly uninterested. "It's very kind of you considering your position."
The Uzumaki had to take a second to try and figure out the man's words. "Huh? I don't get it, isn't it natural for me to want to see how my girlfriend is doing?" He was pretty sure that's how boyfriends were supposed to be.
"...The two of you are still dating?" Sai blinked widely, glancing back innocently at the now surprised blond.
"Um..yeah," Naruto replied, before panic started to build up inside of him. "Why? Did Hinata say something to you?" Had Hinata dumped him without him even noticing? It didn't seem like something the sweet Hyuga would do, but it was possible that she had finally gotten sick of him. He hoped he was wrong.
"No..." Sai slowly replied, taking in his friend's worried expression. Seems he had been mistaken. "It's just that the two of you don't really act much like a couple, so I just presumed she dumped you."
His words stung more than Naruto cared to admit. There had to be a problem if Sai of all people thought something was wrong. The Uzumaki almost deflated at the concept, before glaring suspiciously at the other man.
"Hold up – you, of all people is critising my love life?" Naruto frowned. Sai wasn't even dating anybody – at least not that he had noticed, but to be fair, it was hard to imagine the almost-emotionless man making kissy faces with any women.
It was almost on the same weird level as seeing Sasuke with Sakura.
"Ino has been teaching me the nature of 'couples'," Sai smiled at the bewilded blond. "The information is quite helpful, but you and Hinata do not match her descriptions. So I didn't think the two of you were still together."
"Don't you think I would of told you if we broke up!?"
"I assumed you were embarrassed. I was trying to spare your feelings by not bringing it up."
"Why would I be embarrassed!?"
Sai's smile seemed to stretch uncomfortably at the question and Naruto almost didn't want to hear his answer.
"I think if one of you was going to break up with the other, I'd pick Hinata to end it."
"..."
"…?"
"..My friends suck."
Hi everyone!
Hope you all enjoyed this new chapter of 'Shackled'. I'm really touched by the reviews, thanks so much and i hope to hear from you guys again soon!
Sorry about Sai's character, if it feels too oc. I adore Sai, but i find him very hard to write.
I have such big plans for the story and I'm so excited!
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading!