Saturday, February 9th, 2013.

Birthdays:
Feb 4th: Dino Cavallone, KHR.
Yesterday, Feb 8th: 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Today, Feb 9th: Dr. Shamal, KHR.
Tomorrow, Feb 10th: Obito Uchiha.
Feb 18th: Suigetsu Hozuki.
Feb 20th: Konan, Yahiko, and Lal Mirch from KHR.
Feb 24th: Shikaku Nara.

Quite interesting, huh? Lal, Konan, & Yahiko all have the same birthday. And tomorrow's is Obito's, and yesterday was the 3rd's.

Has anyone read the latest Naruto chap? What an awesome chap. Hilarious. and the love theory, I realized it about Sasuke on my own almost a couple years back, and then "Tobi" some months ago, but I didn't know it applied to anyone else, too.

So yeah, I updated!

When writing the chapter, there's spiders in it. For NejiTen.

I have arachnophobia. Writing this chapter wasn't 100% fun. I loved writing Neji and Tenten, but the spiders...surprisingly, it didn't give me nightmares, though I wrote most of it at night. I got a nightmare Thursday night (I wrote the chapter yesterday and Thursday night) but it wasn't about spiders. It was something that would have been much more frightening for other people, but I was relieved it wasn't spiders.

So yeah. I say "so yeah" often, don't I?

I was thinking of continuing Karin, Ino, and Chouji's fights while adding the beginning of Neji and Tenten's in this chap, but Neji and Tenten ending up being so long, I decided to make it one chapter on its own. I'll continue the fights in the next chap.

Dedication: yeahthat'sme, my friend. Please read her writing on TeenInk . com! She's a 100 times better than me!

Disclaimer: Since today's Dr. Shamal's birthday (from KHR), he'll do it. I know he isn't a Naruto character, but I don't feel like the 3rd should do it this time, nor Obito.

Shamal: What? I have pretty girls to...go back to.

Me: Do your disclaimer, and I assure you you'll only have beautiful, female patients to work on for the next 2 weeks.

Shamal:...as long as I don't have to treat men, fine. Cherry doesn't own Naruto, KHR, Devil May Cry, One Piece, Halo, nor Kingdom Hearts. She does own an Xbox that she hasn't even opened yet, though.

Me: Thank you.

Shamal: Your welcome. Because you're a girl, I was willing to do this. Bye.

By the way guys, if you haven't seen/read KHR or haven't gotten to him yet, Dr. Shamal's a male doctor that hates to treat men. He's a ladies' man.

Enjoy!

Yes, it's about Neji and Tenten today. I hope you guys love the NejiTen!


Chapter 21: Arachnids

Tenten POV

"Tenten! Tenten!" I ignored Neji, continuing to grip his hand firmly, almost dragging him toward the only route our (my) target could have taken – in the forest.

"Tenten!" Suddenly, I was jerked back. Wha…!

Neji spun me to face him, his hand painfully gripping my shoulder to keep me still.

His glare froze me for a moment. Uh-oh…he's pissed.

"What is going on here, Tenten?" One look at his expression told me he wasn't moving until he got a satisfactory explanation.

Hurriedly, I spoke fast, telling him what was going on but not able to control the speed of my speech. I could only hope he understood me. W-what's wrong with me?

"ThegirlsandIdevisedaplantode featsomeofOrochimaru'slackeysthatweregoingtoassis tOrochimaruinkillingtheThird byputtingupabarriersobyshoot ingtheirhandsIstoppedthemfro mcreatingthemandforcedthemto scatterandweallranafterourde signatdedtargets(byTemari,Sakura,andKarin)andwe're/I'mchasingafterours."

Even after finishing, I couldn't relax; my blood was pumping quickly, I was breathing quickly, I was sweating, and my fingers twitched and wouldn't still.

I couldn't even stand still, shifting from foot to foot constantly, knowing it'd only make Neji angrier, and I was getting more…whatever this is by the second.

I don't understand what's wrong with me!

After a couple moments –or was it even one? I can't tell anymore!– Neji pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, then sighed, and took my twitching hands in his.

I was so wired up I couldn't even let myself blush at the action, as he soothingly rubbed my fingers, somehow calming me down.

"Relax…what are you so jittery for? Is our opponent that strong?" Now that I had more reign over my emotions and body, my eyes softened at Neji's rarely-shown soft side.

I'm glad I get to see this softer, more caring part of Neji.

"Honestly, I don't know why I'm acting like this. I know we can beat him together – I know it! But maybe what I was feeling was fear…but for what?" I muttered the last part to myself, trying to find a way to explain my body's earlier reaction to…whatever.

Neji's eyes narrowed, but before I could ask why, I saw something that made my heart stop, then start up again just like before.

On the giant tree next to us, less than a yard away…was an enormous spider, about 1 meter long and half a meter wide, legs and all. It was black, slightly hairy, with yellow designs on it, its pincers snapping together, looking down at us.(1)

I froze in fear. No…no…not this! PLEASE!

I couldn't do anything but shake in absolute terror.

I stood and stared at the creature as my heart rate rose and rose and my body started twitching again like before, my breath speeding up.

I couldn't think.

Suddenly, I felt something on my shoulder push me back and something white and brown come into my view, another white and brown blur catching me as I fell back, pulling me into warmth. It murmured into my ear, "Shh, shh…it's okay now, Tenten…it's okay."

I buried myself in the warmth, to slowly realize it was a body. I dug my head under his (seems male) chest, trembling and wrapping my arms around him, trying to hold back my tears.

As he adjusted us so I was sitting between his legs and wrapped his arms around me, I recognized the cologne he was wearing.

"N-n-ne-j-ji…"

I felt a presence come next to us, and Neji looked up to it and nodded, and the presence disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Calming down my mind slowly began to clear – but only a little bit. Neji made a clone to kill…it.

Neji rested his cheek against my head and slowly rocked me. "It's okay to cry, Tenten. My clone killed it and disposed of the body. I know that was terrifying for you," he whispered.

As if on cue, sobs racked through my body, and I let them all out, finally finding release from one of my biggest fears.

Sp-sp-spiders…I almost forgot I had arachnophobia…

As Neji held me in his arms, slowly rocking me while I cried, I couldn't help but remember when my fear had gotten so terrible…


FLASHBACK:

I had always been afraid of spiders. That's a fact. As Neji might've said before, I was just "fated" to be frightened of them forever.

I wouldn't have argued.

Besides, when I had Naruto (while I was in the orphanage), Lee, Neji, and now Gai-sensei to kill them for me, who was I to complain?

Right now I was eating lunch in my apartment with Neji. It was just the two of us, 3 weeks after the failed retrieval mission of Sasuke and 3 days after Neji was finally discharged from the hospital. Lee had physical therapy with Gai so he didn't come.

I had finished my plate of pizza and placed the plate in the sink, licking my fingers.

"I'm going to get the new games from my room, 'kay Neji-kun?"

"Hn."

We decided we'd spend the day together, and I was eager to be with him more. I had almost lost my best friend and crush just weeks ago. The more of him I got, the better.

For the afternoon, since Neji couldn't do anything too strenuous, we decided we'd play video games on my Xbox. I had bought the latest Halo (4) game as well as a Kingdom Hearts and Devil May Cry game on discount a month ago, but hadn't played any of them yet. (2)

I entered my room and looked at my bookshelf, where I kept music CDs, movies, books, manga, and games, and pulled the three aforementioned games from the shelf, looking them over.

"Hmm…which one first?" I looked at all of them, but couldn't decide. "Maybe I should just bring all of the-"

My heart was caught on my throat.

In front of me, was a brown and white spider about the size of my palm on the wall.

Next thing I knew, I was on my bed at the other side of relatively small bedroom, shrieking, "Neji! Neji! Neji!"

He burst into the room, to see me crying on my bed and frantically pointing to something behind him.

Seeing what I was pointing at, he quickly grabbed a tissue from a conveniently-close tissue box, and trapped the spider in it, bringing the bundle closer to his person. Then, he crushed it with his hands.
He knew I wouldn't like to see arachnid guts on my wall.

He left to my bathroom, and I heard a flushing noise. A thorough disposal of the carcass.

He came back and climbed on the bed, pulling my trembling and silently crying body into his arms.

He winced when I frantically and tightly wrapped my arms around him, so I loosened my grip, remembering he was still recovering.

After I calmed, he spoke. "You've always been afraid , but not this afraid. What happened?"

I found it difficult to speak. I was just getting out of my frightened-child mode – it only happens when I am beyond terrified of something. Very rare.

But it has never happened over a spider barely the size of my palm. My hands aren't even that big! They're a little small, really; at least compared to Neji and Lee, I thought.

But after the rescue mission, and hearing about it from both Neji and Shikamaru and the others, maybe…

"Was it because of…who I fought? Did he make your fear grow?"

Surprised at the soft tone of my crush, I looked into his eyes. Looking into them, it hit me.

He's right.

Neji was right.

Kidomaru had made my fears of spiders even worse, him being part spider and "kido" meaning spider.

The fact that a spider-man (I have to look away every time I see a spider in the movie, and that includes the one on Spider Man's back) had nearly killed Neji, nearly took him away from me, scared me. It scared me so much. I hate him so much.

Now, I had 2 big fears – losing my best friend, and #2; spiders.

Curse you to the fiery pits of hell, Kidomaru.

I nodded into Neji's eyes, and rested my head against his chest softly, as he pushed us down unto my pillows and under my blankets.

"Sleep. You and I both need it. I'll be here, Tenten. You won't need to be afraid…I'll protect you…"

The two of us drifted off at the sound of each other's breathing, video games on the floor, forgotten.

END OF FLASHBACK


After the retrieval mission, my fear had escalated to the point where I was sometimes virtually useless in a fight with a giant spider. I was getting better as far as reaction went, but I was so caught off guard today, I couldn't even move.

This memory also explained my body's earlier jitteriness – I knew we were facing Kidomaru. The man who had almost killed my best friend, and was a spider-man. I was terrified of facing him. He gives Spider Man a bad name.

Suddenly, a random thought came to me, lightening up my mood enough to calm my body down from my shivers. Thank God there hasn't been a Zoan type Devil Fruit in One Piece (3) that turned the eater into a spider person. That'd be awful.

"Tenten?" Neji's voice forced me to remember we had a mission to complete, and we couldn't let our target get away.
Who knows how much time has passed?

I shakily wiped my eyes of my tears, standing up. Neji stood as well.

However, I continued to lean against his chest and he continued to hold me.

I looked up into my love's eyes. "I guess my fear escalated as time passed." My voice wasn't as steady as hoped, but it would have to do.

Neji looked a bit skeptical, but decided to let it go.

I stepped back a bit and grabbed Neji's hand, craving contact still.

"Our opponent-…our opponent is a teen, our age, 14.(4) His name is K-kidomaru." I closed my eyes, fearing Neji's definite angry reaction.

He nearly exploded.

"Kidomaru?! Why the HELL would you be willing to fight a man who has the word spider in his name?! What? Does he have 8 limbs and shoot spiderwebs too!" He was furious, but it made me feel better to know it was because of his worry for me and the chances of the two of us beating this guy.

"Yes." I muttered silently, at the 2 rhetorical questions Neji asked.

"Yes?! Tenten!" Now he was even angrier. "How do you plan on fighting him! Are you insane?"

"We're the only ones that can fight him, Neji! His webs can only be cut by chakra, and is resistant to almost anything else! Together, seeing the state you're in, only we can beat him! I've been over this a thousand times with Karin, Sakura and Temari!" I yelled back. If I can't convince him, he'll never fight with me!

"And what? Do you plan on freezing up again at the site of him? Chances are, he has spider summons and spiders listen to him. Do you plan on freezing up again on the battlefield, then?! You'll get us both killed!"

A pang of hurt hit my heart, but I pushed it aside. "I'll be strong Neji! I'll do it! We'll win, I promise you that!"

"You can't promise me that-"

"Yes I CAN!" I shouted that line, silencing Neji. "For you…for you, I can hold myself together enough to fight him. What happens after…is undetermined. But we really do need to go now, Neji."

For a couple moments, Neji simply stared at me.

Then, he sighed.

"Do you really want to do this, Ten?" Neji's voice was softer than usual, and I knew I had convinced him.

I smiled softly at him. "Yes. We must, Neji-kun."

He smirked at the suffix I tended to throw around.

"Alright. Let's go. Are you prepared?"

Neji turned and started heading in the direction we were going in before we stopped, twisting around for a moment, to see if I had all my weapons.

I nodded and patted my ninja pouches around my waist and knee.

He grunted back to show he saw, and turned back. Looks like he reverted back to his normal self.

I smiled to myself, and ran up to him and spun him around.

"Wha-"

I cut him off with a hug.

Hesitantly, he hugged back.

After several seconds, Neji softly asked, "Are you ready to go now?"

"No." I said. Before he could say anything back, I quickly pressed a lingering kiss on his cheek. Thank you so much, Neji-kun.

Embarrassingly, if was closer to his mouth than I anticipated. About a centimeter away from the corner of his lips. Maybe one day, I have to guts to kiss his lips instead...

As I pulled away after a moment or so, both our faces were red. He's blushing too? Good…

I smiled at the thought, and starting walking ahead, inwardly giggling at Neji's dazed look, staring into space, not moving from his spot.

"Now I am. Come on, Neji-kun." I spoke. That got him moving.

"Turn your Byakugan – we'll need it."

"Aa."

Maybe this will go better than I first thought, I thought as we soared through the trees of the forest(5) in our hunt.


(1): Like I said, I had a nightmare Thursday night, since I wrote that specific part of the chapter right before I went to sleep for school the next day. Probably wasn't the best idea, with arachnophobia and all. Luckily for me, the nightmare was spider-less, but to others, it may have been a thousand times scarier than a spider. As for me, I was merely disgusted, a TEENY bit frightened of the fact that I had that nightmare, and relieved there were no spiders in it.
(2):
I don't own Halo 4, Kingdom Hearts, nor Devil May Cry in real life. I'm planning on getting DMC and the Kingdom Hearts series, and possibly Halo later. And yes, Tenten's into video games.
(3):
Yes, Tenten's into One Piece. And I'm also glad there isn't such a Devil Fruit. Yet... If you don't know what a DF is, you can ask me via PM or review and I'll tell you.
(4):
Yup. I was surprised to learn Kidomaru was 14 when he died, too. Didn't see that coming.
(5):
Like Ino and Chouji, they're in the forest behind the arena. Just a different part.

I'll be updating ReWind next week, kay?

Oh, my school Science Fair is next Friday! I'm in it, with my 2 partners! Wish me luck! This is the one time I was excited for science fair and will probably get something other than a C on the project and a participant's ribbon! I usually HATE SF! I actually really like this one!

Maybe we'll go to SARSEF! (Southern Arizona Regional Science E-something Fair, I think)

Oh, a senior from my school got accepted into Yale. I think I know another guy who's accepted into another prestigious school like MIT or something but I'm not really sure.

OH! Please read my close friend's poems and tribute on TeenInk . com! She's yeahthat'sme! Her writing's 100 times better than mine. She has a Pinterest and Polyvore, too. So do I. I'm epicotakucherry. (I think. I might have spaces in one of them.)

I still have a facebook! Please friend me!

Don't forget my friend's poetry!

Read and review, and I might update earlier, kay? Maybe add a treat in the next chap of either or both DoOver and Rewind!

Sasuke's birthday present in Rewind is still up for debate!

NEW POLL QUESTION:

Should I or should I not add Sora (not from KH. If you don't know who he is, look him up in Narutopedia . com) in ReWind? He's a pseudo-Jinchuriki, and all...and it's too late to add him here, unless you want me to. I probably won't add him in either, but it's just a suggestion.

REVIEW, LOVES!