A/N: Finally chapter 12 is up! I hope you all will enjoy it very much! ^^
I apologize for any grammar errors /spelling mistakes there may or might be. I try my best to avoid as many as possible.
Main pairing: Nejiten
Side pairing(s): Naruhina, possible Kibaino and others
Warning(s): Possible OOCness, medieval era, mild mature hints
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
A Sense of Duty
Chapter 12: A Sense of Trust
Kiba and Naruto stood still while they in silence watched Neji and Tenten's blurry figures vanished before them.
"Well that was a really nice way of saying thank you" Kiba commented sarcastically, looking quite unimpressed by Neji's way off leaving without even saying thank you to them.
"What do you mean by that, Kiba?" Naruto turned to Kiba, looking cluelessly at his friend as he asked.
Kiba shrugged his shoulders as he spoke:
"Well a 'thank you for finding my mother's pendant' would have been nice, but no, sir Neji is way too busy to do that!"
"I am sure he just forgot it, he will most likely thank you next time he sees you" Naruto tried to lighten Kiba's mood.
"Sure, like he forgets that we are pretty much the same" Kiba ranted on, not really believing Naruto's encouraging words.
"The same? How?" Naruto asked confusedly.
"Well… we are both swordsmen, we both work for Hiashi and we both comes from wealthy families, so he should treat us both with some more respect because we deserve to be acknowledgement too" Kiba explained holding his fist forward while he held his head up high.
"Yes, we do! Acknowledgement!" Naruto shouted out loud with his arms up high in the air.
"Will you two quit being so bloody loud and annoying!" A female voice spoke with a voice that did nothing to hide her clear annoyance.
"Ino, be nice!" A timid female voice said a moment after.
Both Kiba and Naruto froze in their stance as they recognized the two voices. These two voices where not to be mistaken.
"Lady Hinata and Miss Ino!"
He two boys turned around quickly to face the two females. Naruto grinned brightly while Kiba tried to look confident, smirking instead of simply smiling.
"Hi Lady Hinata, Miss Ino!" Naruto greeted brightly while he waved at them.
"Hello ladies, what brings you out here?" Kiba greeted in a flirtatious somewhat cocky voice.
"Not you, if that is what you thinking, dog boy" Ino coldly said to him. Ino was definitely not in the mood to deal with him.
"Ouch, you are hurting my feelings, Miss Ino, I am merely trying to polite" Kiba pretended to be hurt by her coldness.
"Well maybe that was my intentions" Ino told him coldly, she was clearly not falling for his dirty tricks.
"Ino, there is no need for you to be mean to Kiba. I am sure he meant nothing by it, he was merely trying to be funny" Hinata tried to calm Ino down before things turns ugly, Ino did have a bit of a temper problem and an angry Ino is not a very nice sight, quite scary in fact.
"Yeah, Kiba is just joking, he mean nothing by it! He is just really, really bad at jokes" Naruto agreed with Hinata, placing a hand on her shoulder, which caused Hinata to blush.
"Naruto's hand feel so warm" Hinata thought to herself as she blushed.
"Naruto, get your hands off Lady Hinata this instant!" Ino ordered Naruto harshly. Naruto panicked and quickly lifted his hand away from Hinata, much to Hinata's own sadness.
"Ino, Naruto was merely doing a friendly gesture!" Hinata tried to defend Naruto since she liked having him close to her.
"Well I am merely trying to prevent you from fainting, you will thank me later" Ino explained to Hinata, who nodded her head slowly. After all Ino was right, the most embarrassed that could happen would be if she fainted in front of Naruto like she tend to do whenever he is being is usual charming and cute self.
"Naruto, why do you have to be so cute and charming? I wish I could tell you how I feel, but… I just… cannot!" Hinata thought while she found herself starring at Naruto.
"So, why are you two here then? If I am allowed to ask?" Kiba asked the two, breaking the awkward silence.
"We are looking for Tenten" Ino began.
"And my cousin, Neji, who is looking for her as well" Hinata finished.
"Oh, well that is a shame" Kiba commented.
"What do you mean by that, dog boy?" Ino asked while looking at Kiba with a dark expression.
"Relax, I meant nothing bad by it, just… well it is a shame! If you two had arrived just a few moments sooner, you would have run into them" Kiba informed them truthfully.
"Oh yeah, that is true! They just left!" Naruto pointed out after words.
"Great, just great" Ino muttered under her breath.
"Oh well, then they must be heading back to the manor. In what director did they go?" Hinata asked kindly.
"They went in that way," Kiba pointed at the direction behind him, "And I think I heard Neji mention something about a scheduled or something"
"Well that is great" Ino tried to sound happy before she bended over to Hinata and whispered in her ears:
"Come on let us go now before those idiots take up all of our time" With that Ino took Hinata by the hand and was about to walk off, but Hinata stopped her.
"But Ino, they helped us?" Hinata told Ino with an innocent expression.
"And?" Ino raised an eyebrow at Hinata.
"Why not let them follow along with us?" Hinata suggested.
"Why? They will just slow us down and we do not need they help anymore" Ino complained, she did not wish to spend any more time with them.
"Ino, I think they deserve a treat" Hinata told Ino while she looked quite determined.
"A treat?" Ino looked at Hinata with an odd expression.
"You know, something in return for being so nice and helpful, like a piece of cake or something in the lines, please Ino! Please let them go with us!" Hinata pleaded, giving Ino a puppy-like look.
Ino gave in and sighed deeply:
"Fine, they can have their stupid treat and fine, they can come with us, although I do not approve of any of this"
"Did someone say treat?" Naruto and Kiba looked ecstatic at them. Hinata smiled kindly while Ino face palmed herself.
"Yes, but first after we have returned to the manor with Neji and Tenten, so you two will have to follow along with us" Hinata explained to the two boys.
"Thank you so much for your kindness, Lady Hinata!" Kiba said as he hugged Hinata by the legs while fake tears ran down his face.
"Yeah, thank you so, so much! I love you, Lady Hinata, you are the best!" Naruto said while he wrapped his arms around Hinata, hugging her tightly.
Hinata blushed a deep scarlet red.
Ino stared at it all in horror.
Oh shit, no!
"Naruto is hugging me! Naruto is thanking me! Naruto is complimenting me! Naruto is saying he loves me! Naruto's body is close next to mind! I think I am going to faint, I think I am going to…" Hinata's thoughts was running wild until everything become black.
*Thunk*
"I DID T AGAIN! LADY HINATA, I AM SO SORRY! I DID NOT MEAN TO!" The sound of Naruto's voice started to ring as he found an unconscious Hinata in his arms and yeah he panicked.
Was she truly allergied to him?
"Pretty please, WAKE UP, Hina-Ow!" Naruto winced out loud as he received a slam on top of his head by Ino. Naruto lost his grip on the unconscious Hinata, who luckily was caught by Kiba before her body had hit the ground.
"Will you be quite and quit panicking, your moron!" Ino told Naruto with a harsh tone. Yelling and panicking did not solve or help anything at all.
"B-but I did it again… well we did it again" Naruto said, referring to both Kiba and himself.
"Nope, it was all your doing, but I think she will be fine, she just fainted and this time she was caught before she could hit the ground, so no need to be all so bloody worried, just… stop surprising her like that and she will be fine, a bit dizzy, but fine" Ino explained to Naruto while she looked at Hinata with a soft expression.
"She really does need to learn how to control her own emotions, we cannot have her faint every time Naruto gets affectionate with her without thinking" Ino thought to herself.
"Naruto?" Naruto looked at Ino, "Can you carry her on your back? We need to go find Neji and Tenten, and I cannot tell when Lady Hinata will wake up" Ino said to Naruto, who nodded his head slowly.
"Okay, but what if she wakes up and faint again? Why not let Kiba carry her?" Naruto asked with a confused expression.
"Because I say so" Ino replied shortly.
"And because I am doing Lady Hinata a favor, a big one" Ino spoke to herself, not wishing to expose Hinata's secret feelings to Naruto, who also happens to be the one Hinata feel these secret emotions towards.
"O-okay? Kiba, can you help her up on my back?" Naruto turned to Kiba, who nodded his head and lifted the unconscious girl on to Naruto's back, making sure she was secured before he let go of her.
"Great, now we better get going" Ino told the two boys as she began walking.
"Understood, my lovely lady" "Aye, aye, Miss Ino!" The two boys spoke as they began followed the blond female.
"I am NOT your lovely lady, dog boy!" Ino informed Kiba loudly.
"Sorry, a boy is allowed to wish ehehe" Kiba awkwardly spoke.
"Hmph, then keep on wishing" Ino muttered on her breath.
"Ouch so cold" Kiba muttered to himself in a self-pity kind of way.
The wind was blowing softly. Through soft, brown locks of coffee and chocolate. Leaves where dancing through the air, falling from the sky and brushing softly against soft skin.
Lavender orbs stared into chocolate orbs in silence.
Neji and Tenten felt… contend.
At peace for once in a long, long time.
But suddenly, realization hit them both like a tidal wave.
What where they doing there staring at each other?
"What I am doing?" Neji asked himself, trying to force his eyes to break eye contact with Tenten, which he found hard to do. Why could he not look away?
"Why I am feeling like this? And with HIM?!" Tenten's mind panicked, these odd emotion- Emotions were making her feel so… unlike herself. She felt like a stranger to herself. She was…
Confused…
And so was Neji… confused, lost, uneasy… just…
"Tenten…! Ahem, I apologize for… well for misjudging you so harshly without considering that you might feel the same as I do about life and all" Neji tried to explain himself, but found himself stumbling over his own words while a blush started to rise upon his cheekbones. He found it hard to pinpoint why he was acting so unlike himself.
Tenten looked at Neji with her mouth shaped in a 'o' shape, looking quite surprised.
"Ehm well that is okay… at least you admit it, so I forgive you… just do not do it again, understood?" Tenten looked away, trying to appear angry at him for misjudging her, despite the fact that she oddly enough was not angry at him.
"Understood, but only on one condition" Neji told Tenten, this time with a more controlled voice than before. Tenten looked at Neji with a curious look on her face and replied with a confused sounding voice:
"Condition?"
Neji nodded his head at her.
"Yes condition, something you must promise me to do, if you want me to stop misjudging you like I have done so very often" Neji clarified to Tenten, who then said:
"Well fine, fair enough, name your condition then?"
"Trust me" Neji spoke out shortly.
Tenten open her mouth up, but she did not speak at first since she was unsure of how to react.
"I am sorry, but trust you? In what way and how? I am afraid I do not get you at all, could you please explain yourself to me?" Tenten asked Neji, not really understanding what Neji meant to be exact.
"I have come to the realization that the one problem that has kept us from working together properly, is that we do not trust each other and trust is the key to improvement, without trust we cannot work together to achieve something aside from getting into these ridicules arguments and fights, which leads us to nothing. If you promise me that you will try to trust me and I promise you that I will try my very best to trust you as well" Neji looked into Tenten's eyes as he spoke to her, trying sincerely to win over her trust seeing as that may make things between them a lot easier than before.
"Trust?" The word ran thought Tenten's mind as she remembered something from the past.
FLASHBACK
"Come on, Tenten, there is no need to be shy, I promise I will not drop you! Just jump and I promise to catch you!" The young, little, pale boy assured a young, little Tenten, holding his arms out for her to jump right into.
"No!" Tenten stubbornly shouted back at the pale boy as she clenched the tree tighter while she with a fearful expression stared down at the pale boy beneath her.
How she had ended up in the tree was a long story, but she fully blamed him for it. It was easy to climb up the tree with her petite and flexible body. Climbing down… well that was then she realized how high up in the air she was and well…
She did NOT like heights!
Biting herself in the lip, trying to prevent the threatening tears fall from her brown eyes. She hated feeling like this, so hopeless, so afraid…
So alone.
"Tenten, I am sorry! I did not know you were afraid of heights! You never told me!" The pale boy told Tenten, feeling guilty for making Tenten climb up the tree in the first place.
"I am NOT afraid of height! I just… it is not as easy to get down as it is to climb up!" Tenten tried denying the very obvious fact.
"Tenten, please trust me! I will catch you!" The pale boy pleaded to her.
"What is all this yelling about?" A deeper, more mature male voice asked, "And why is Tenten sitting up in that tree?"
"Bro-" The boy began, but was cut off by Tenten.
"It is his entire fault! He told me that there was a squirrel inside this tree, but there really was not, and now I am stuck up here! He did this on purpose! Just because I won over him!" Tenten yelled loudly.
"It was not my idea of climbing up the tree, it was yours! Also, I saw a squirrel up that tree, but you scared it away when you decided to climb up that stupid tree! It was your own decision, I did nothing wrong!" The pale boy defended himself.
"Liar! Liar!" Tenten began chanting.
"No, you are the liar! Liar!" The pale boy hissed back at her.
"Now, now, there is no need to argue, you two!" The older boy tried to calm the two youngsters down, but they just kept on arguing, ignoring him like a shadow.
"Mama says that liar goes to hell!" "Then you can come join, because if I am going to hell, then so are you!" "No, no, I am not!" "Yes you are, you are a liar!" "No, you are!" "No, you are!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No, no!" "Yes, yes!"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP BEFORE I MAKE YOU!" The older boy had finally snapped.
Both Tenten and the pale boy stopped speaking and stared blankly at the elder boy.
Blink. Blink.
"Thank you" The older boy breathed out in relief before he walked over the small boy and looked up the tree, where Tenten still was. With his arms held open, he said:
"Jump, Tenten, I will catch you, I promise"
Tenten stared at him, hesitating.
"Come on, Tenten, it is okay to be afraid, just close your eyes and jump" The older boy assured her.
Tenten bit her own lip, feeling nervous and unsure.
"You can trust me, Tenten" The older boy looked at Tenten with a kind and sincere expression.
Should she jump? Was it safe? Could she trust him?
"Tenten" He spoke again, Tenten looked at him. He smiled at her kindly, dark eyes shined as they reflected the sun and then he spoke, words that she will never forget:
"Trust me, I will not let you fall"
And she jumped.
No hesitation. No fear. No nothing, but trust.
She felt… safe.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Tenten?" Neji called out Tenten's name as he realized that she had been staring blankly for a bit too long for his liking.
Tenten blinked and shook her head.
"What?" She asked, looking at Neji confused.
"You spaced out" Neji told her. Tenten rubbed her forehead while she said:
"Hmm I guess so"
"So?" Neji looked at her as if he was waiting for her to say something, but what?
"What?" Tenten looked at him with a lost expression.
"Will you try to trust me?" Neji asked her, hoping that she would, so things between them maybe could become a lot easier than it previously had been.
Tenten looked at Neji with a thoughtful expression before she answered:
"I guess I will try my best too, but I must warn you, it is not easy for me to trust others"
"Is there a reason why?" Neji asked, but he then quickly added, "I am sorry if that is too forward, I am just curious, I guess you can say"
"Well… In a way you can say there is a reason" Tenten admitted.
"Would you mind telling me this so called reason or it is too personal for you to speak of?" Neji asked Tenten carefully, trying not to offend her in any way. For some reason he really wanted to know what that goes on in her mind and who she is.
"It is personal" Tenten told Neji.
"Well then there is no nee-" Neji began, but Tenten cut him off.
"But I think it only fair if I tell you it since you already told me something personal about yourself" Tenten explained to Neji, who remembered telling her, and the others, about his parents, mostly his father.
"Well the reason why I do not find it easy to trust others is because… when I was born my parents… they abandoned me" Once the words had left Tenten's mouth Neji looked at her in shock.
"Abandoned her? Why?" Neji wondered to himself. Tenten saved him the trouble of wondering over it for too long by saying:
"When my mother was pregnant both of my parents wanted to have a boy and I was, sadly, not one… so, they left me outside in the forest, not caring if I died or survived"
"This explains why she hates being referred by her gender because her gender was the reason why her own parents left her alone to die, how can any parent do this to their own blood? How can anyone be so heartless and uncaring?" Neji stared at Tenten, having this awful bitter taste in his mouth. He suddenly felt like wrapping his arms around her.
He was lucky! At least his parents had loved him while they were alive. Tenten's, on the other hand, had not cared a bit for her because of what she was born like, a female. They had left her all alone in this big, cruel world.
Neji bit his own lip, clenching his hands tightly, feeling anger rise.
Tenten saw this and looked at him as she said:
"No need to be angry, as you can see I did not die out there," Tenten paused, "No, I was found by a couple, who took me in and cared for me like I was their own child, their daughter… they loved me and protected me… they become my parents" The saddening expression on Tenten's face told Neji that the happiness Tenten felt back then did not last forever and he decided to save Tenten the trouble of dealing with her own emotions by changing the topic.
"Tenten, do you not believe that it is time for you to show me your skills with a bow and an arrow, I have only seen them once?" Neji asked Tenten, hoping it would bring the fiery glow back into Tenten's eyes.
A glint in Tenten's eyes flashed as she smiled smugly and replied:
"Well, Neji, that must be the best idea you have ever had since we met each other, I will love to show you how a real warrior fights"
The game was on and Neji was going to see something that will blow his long, beautiful hair away!
"So tired… cannot… take it anymore… need… a break" Naruto said completely exhausting.
"Oh no, you do not dare fall over! Especially not while carrying Lady Hinata!" Ino harshly told Naruto with a pointy finger.
"But, but-" Naruto was stopped by Ino, who lifted a finger in front of him.
"No buts, man yourself up and stop whining like a little baby! Carrying Lady Hinata should not be the biggest challenge, considering the fact that she is not that heavy!" Ino gave Naruto a dark look, telling him if he disagreed she will break his bones apart.
Naruto swallowed.
"But it is not carrying Hina- I mean Lady Hinata, it is just… we have been walking for so long and I am so, so hungry and so, so out of energy!" Naruto spoke in an almost whining tone.
"You get to eat when we have found sir Neji and his problem of friend, Tenten, so keep on walking and for the Lord's sake stop complaining before I knock you unconscious like Hinata and leave you behind!" Ino warned Naruto, who felt a chilling cold run down his neck.
"Yeah, Naruto, stop annoying the lady and let us get going, we are wasting time here anyway!" Kiba tried to impress Ino by siding with her.
"Traitor!" Naruto shouted at Kiba.
"Traitor? Huh, I am just speaking the truth" Kiba denial being a traitor.
Ino looked at Kiba with a skeptic expression before she shook it off and turned ahead to follow the route that hopefully will lead them to Neji and Tenten.
Neither of them spoke afterwards. Naruto due to fearing Ino's wrath, Kiba due to being so happy with himself for saying something to Ino that did NOT piss her off and Ino for not wanting to speak with either of the two, finding them to be a pure annoyance to her at in general.
"Ino is scary" "Victory! I did it! I impressed her! Score!" "Those two… Agh!"
The three had walked for about ten minutes in pure silence until voices speaking in the distance caught their attention.
"Okay, the most important thing an archer must keep in mind when using a bow is to keep the mind calm, and ALWAYS have a steady and firm grip on the bow! Otherwise the bow might end up being the object you shot instead of the arrow" They all quickly recognized the voice as belonging to Tenten.
"Is there anything else you must keep in mind?" They heard a voice, sounding very much like Neji's, ask.
"Yes, never aim at someone you do not want to shot! And by God's holy feet never shot randomly after your enemy, you aim to hit, otherwise you might find yourself without any arrows left to shot when the right moment finally comes to you" The voice that resembles Tenten's explained.
"It sounds like sir Neji and Tenten" Kiba muttered to the others.
Naruto opened his mouth to speak up, but Ino stopped him and lifted a finger up to lips.
"Hush, I think it is best if we go a little closer and see what they are up to before we do something unnecessary" Ino suggested, much to both Kiba and Naruto's surprise. Ino wanted to spy on them.
"We are going to spy on them?" Kiba asked confusedly.
Ino gave him an annoyed look.
"No, we are going to watch and wait until Hinata has awaken, sir Neji will not be happy to find out that you, Naruto, have made Hinata faint once again especially not when she has to watch Neji and Tenten's training in manners. Also, I want to know why they are playing with arrows instead of going back to the manor" Ino explained to the two.
The two boys nodded their heads and then they all walked, with almost soundless footsteps, over to a quite large bush, where they could watch Neji and Tenten at plain sight without being noticed unless they wanted too.
Naruto laid Hinata on the ground, using his shirt as a pillow for her while Kiba and Ino saw how Tenten was explaining to Neji how a bow works:
"A bow is a very flexible weapon, it is easy to carry and once you have mastered it fully, it can be a very deadly and powerful weapon. You can attack from long distance, but you can also use the bow in a close range battle, although it takes lots of practices to master close range shooting and it requires that you are very fast, have fast reflects and most important a good aim with perfect accuracy"
They saw Neji nod his head before he asked:
"So, are you going to show me your skills or are you just going to lecture me about how superior your bow is to my sword because I think you have already told me about it once before, just with a different use of words" There was a hint of teasing in the way Neji spoke, which surprised both Ino and Kiba.
Since when did Neji tease and use sarcasm when he spoke?
Tenten grinned at him and stuck her tongue out childishly as she said:
"Fine, fine, mister bossy, I will show you why swords can lick my boots" With that said Tenten took an arrow and placed it on the bowstring, holding it firmly and steadily before she pulled the string, stretching it backwards, increasing the gape in the bow. In a blink with an eye, she released the arrow and it hit the tree on the opposite side of them. It went so fast that both Neji and the others watching barely could see it as it flew through the air and towards the tree.
Tenten smirked superiorly as she turned to Neji with one hand resting on her hip.
"So, happy?" Tenten asked cockily. Neji grinned smugly to himself as he walked up close to Tenten and said:
"How about you try that with your eyes blindfolded?" Neji suggested as he covered Tenten's eyes with his hands, leaning his body close into hers.
Tenten, now blinded by Neji's hands, smirked and turned her body back to its previous position, her back to Neji. She reached down for another arrow and repeated the same steps she had done with the arrow before.
"Be prepared to loss that smug look of yours, Hyuuga, try not to blink you might miss it" Tenten told Neji as she with a confident smile released the arrow.
Bull's eye!
The arrow penetrated the arrow that had been shot before, splitting it in half perfectly at the middle.
It was quite a sight in fact, seeing how the arrow hit the exact same spot as the other one.
In her ears Neji whispered:
"Well done, archer" He then removed his hands and took a step away while Tenten tried to shake the chilling feeling she felt when Neji had breathed down her neck like that.
Behind the bush both Kiba and Ino was looking with shocking expressions while Naruto was too busy looking at Hinata, who was starting to wake up.
"Kiba , Ino, Hinata is starting to wake up" Naruto tucked Ino's sleeves as he whispered to them .
Ino was quickly to react, pushing Naruto aside to look at Hinata, whose eyes opened up.
"What happened? Where am I?" Hinata spoke confusedly as she looked around.
"You fainted, Lady Hinata, but everything is fine, we have found your cousin and Tenten, but we have yet to reveal ourselves because I felt that it was wiser to wait till after you have regain concisions" Ino explained to Hinata softly.
"So, that explains why you all decided to spy on us instead of simply informing us of your presence" The sound of Neji's voice made everyone froze in their spots while Ino cursed herself from making the decision to watch them in silence instead of simply saying 'Hallo, we have finally found you'. Hinata was still quite confused to what was going on.
"Suddenly I have a feeling that stupidity is contagious" Ino thought to herself while she looked Naruto and Kiba.
Shikamaru was continuously stumping his feet into the ground. He was growing quite impatient and most important he was tired.
"I really need my afternoon nap very soon, or else I will go crazy. How long can it take three people to find one stubborn woman? I do not get it and I will probably never! What a drag this truly is" Shikamaru thought to himself as leaned back against the tree he was standing next to.
Unlike everyone else, Shikamaru had decided not to go on the whole search the entire Hyuuga Garden until you find Tenten mission. Since he found it to be a complete waste of time. Being the genius he truly is Shikamaru was smart enough to pretend he was looking when he was really just standing near the Hyuuga Manor since everyone in the end will have to go back eventually, with or without Tenten.
Leaning his head a little backwards, so his head was against the tree while he was in the right angle to watch the sky, he began daydreaming as he followed the movement the clouds made on the sky.
Slowly moving, changing shape and dissolving into nothing.
Clouds… To Shikamaru a wonderful creation made by Mother Nature, how they can go from pure white to the darkest color of gray was a mystery he longed to solve. How watching them dancing on the beautiful blue sky, was both calming and fascinating. Yeah, Shikamaru liked clouds, just as much as he liked knowledge.
"Knowledge equals power" Shikamaru told himself.
Because Shikamaru was smarter than most people in his age and that gave him a sense of pride. True be told back when he was younger he had envied Neji, greatly. Neji was strong, talented with a sword, admired by others and most of all the ideal of how a true man should be. A true warrior.
Shikamaru was no warrior, he is no warrior. He preferred speaking rather than fighting and he was well… very lazy, why waste energy on physical strength when you can save it for later. He still is lazy today, but back then his laziness was mostly due to him knowing he could never be like Neji.
But not anymore, now he feels no ill-emotions towards Neji. They are friends and watching the clouds run in circles reminded Shikamaru of why exactly they are.
FLASHBACK
A young Shikamaru watched as a young Neji continuously lashed his sword out. The young Hyuuga had a look of determination while the young Nara had a look of boredom as well as annoyance.
Neji showing off annoyed him.
"Why is it that every time my father drags me along to meet the Hyuugas that I end up struck here watching that little prodigy show off his stupid skills, if only there was a way for me to show off my skills then maybe I could show father and everyone else that knowledge can just as powerful as a sword!" Shikamaru thought to himself grumpily.
Meanwhile Neji decided that it was time to tryout the new technique he had been practicing for weeks.
Cutting the pumpkin before him in half, in just one swift move with his sword.
Neji tightened his hold on the hilt of his sword and in one swift movement he lashed his sword down, aiming toward the middle of the pumpkin.
*Bump*
Neji's eyes widened.
The pumpkin was still intact while his sword was stuck on it. Neji did not know how to react. He had trained so hard, for so long and yet he failed!
"You are not fully focusing on the pumpkin and you strike without fully analyzing the situation" Shikamaru decided to speak up, having seen exactly what the prideful Hyuuga had failed to do correctly.
His time to shine had finally come.
"What?" Neji seemed surprised by Shikamaru's suddenly speaking, never had he spoken to him before. Not once, always staring with bored eyes, but never had he said a word to the young Hyuuga. Neji had at some point believe him to be mute, which he obvious was not.
Shikamaru found himself sighing.
"I said that you need to focus on the pumpkin, not your goal because if you keep thinking about what you want to accomplish, you will never accomplish it. It is as simple as that, forget what you want and just do it with a clear mind" Shikamaru walked up to Neji and took Neji's sword out of the pumpkin to return it to Neji.
"Okay, this is what you need to do," Shikamaru walked up behind Neji and showed him where to place his hands on the sword's hilt, "Hold on to it tightly, make sure your feet a planted solid into the ground and make sure there is space between your legs otherwise you might lose you balance when you strike the pumpkin" Shikamaru explained to Neji, who nodded his head loosely.
"Are you sure this will work, it feels kind of stupid?" Neji admitted to Shikamaru.
"Trust me, I know what I am talking about, it like breaking a piece of wood into two pieces. If you lose focus, you break your hand, if you keep focus, you break the wood" Shikamaru told Neji.
Neji followed Shikamaru's advice at took the stand Shikamaru had told him to take.
"Okay, now what?" Neji asked Shikamaru, who in return grinned at him.
"Strike"
Neji returned his grin before he turned his focus back towards the pumpkin and moved forward to strike and…
STRIKE!
*Slash*
This time the pumpkin did not survive as the two separated pieces of the pumpkin fell to the ground.
"I did it!" The young Hyuuga's lavender eyes shined brightly as he looked at the pumpkin, which had been cut into to perfect pieces.
"You did it, well done, Hyuuga" Shikamaru congratulated Neji, who turned to him.
"Thank you, for helping me with my training, Nara" Neji bowed politely as he spoke.
"No need to thank me, I am the one who should be to thanking you" Shikamaru explained to Neji, who looked somewhat surprised.
"For what? I did nothing, but to trust the words that you spoke to me. You on the other hand, you helped me with your advice" Neji replied to Shikamaru, not fully understanding what Shikamaru meant by thanking him.
"Yes, and that is why I am thank you! For trusting me and listening to me!" Shikamaru explained to Neji, who after some time smiled a small smile and said:
"You know we make a good team, mind helping me with perfecting my cutting technique, friend?"
Shikamaru smiled and answered:
"It would be my pleasure, friend"
END OF FLASHBACK
As Shikamaru thought back on the past he found himself becoming sleepier and sleepier. Slowly his eyelids become heavy and his vision turned blurry as he body began sliding down the tree until he found himself sitting oddly on the ground while leaning against the tree.
His head feel down as he slipped into sleep.
Somewhere else the ones Shikamaru was waiting for were all making their way back to the Hyuuga manor as one big group.
"So, Naruto, Kiba, why were you two with Ino and Hinata in the first place? I mean, Neji and I left you guys and… now you two are with us, again" Tenten turned to the two males as she asked them.
"Well, after you two just left us hanging, Miss Ino and Lady Hinata came and said they were looking for you two. So, we helped them and Lady Hina-" Kiba was cut short by Naruto, who with a bright grin on his face said:
"Hinata! Oops I mean Lady Hinata, my bad! But well… she promised us treats as a thank you! Although I do not know what kind of treat, but I hope it is edible and tasty, VERY tasty! Delicious treats for us ONLY!"
"Will you quit interruption, you idiot" Kiba growled at Naruto.
"Only if you quit being such so prissy" Naruto hissed at Kiba. The two boys were walking side bu side with their cheeks pressed together while glaring at each other.
"Morons" Tenten muttered to herself as she decided to go join Hinata, Neji and Ino, who were all walking in the front.
"Well, well what have we got here, the 'I-do-as-I-please' has decided to join us, how nice of you" Ino spoke as she saw Tenten joining them. Tenten gave Ino a look and said:
"Well I will rather do as I please than do as you, miss 'overprotective-maid'"
Ino glared at Tenten. A glare, which Tenten returned.
"Ehmm Ino? Tenten?" Hinata, who were in-between them, tried to speak up since she really did not like the idea of anyone fighting with each other, especially not Ino and Tenten.
"What is wrong with everyone today?" Neji asked himself as he studied the tension happening between the two females and the two males.
Shaking his head, he decided NOT to interfere. If they wanted to argue or fight each other he would not take any part in it, they should be able to think rational when it is needed after all. Therefore he should mind his own business and simply ignore them.
After some moments Tenten's eyes caught something that made her turn her focus off Ino and on to what her eyes had taken interest in.
She blinked and a smug smile appeared on her face.
"Well, well what a surprise" She thought to herself before she said:
"Neji, it is just me or it is really Shikamaru I am seeing sleeping against that tree over there?" Tenten pointed her finger at a big tree not far from the manor.
Neji looked at Tenten before he looked at where she was pointing.
And indeed it was Shikamaru sleeping against the tree. Sitting in an awkward looking position with his head hanging down.
"That little midget, how dare he lazy around while everyone else waste their time" Ino was clenching her hands in anger as she spoke.
"At least, we had no problem finding him" Hinata tried to look at the bright side unlike Ino.
"That is so typical him, I should have known that, he hates wasting time" Neji rubbing his forehead as he realized his mistakes.
"What an uncomfortable sleeping position" Naruto commented.
"Yeah, I am guessing he will be complaining a lot when he wakes up" Kiba pointed out.
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let us wake that lazy advisor son up" Tenten said as she walked up to Shikamaru, took a hold on his shoulders and forcefully shook him.
"Wh-what the-" Shikamaru jerked away from Tenten, leaning closer into the tree until he realized that the person, who had destroyed his peaceful nap was Tenten, "Oh, it is you" Shikamaru said looking unimpressed.
"Yes, it is me and them" Tenten pointed at the others.
Neji walked up to Shikamaru and held his hand out for him to take. Shikamaru took it and, with Neji's help, stood up. Brushing the dirt off his clothes before he asked:
"What are you all doing? I have been waiting for over an hour on you all, so please enlighten me on why finding one person can take so long?"
"Maybe if you had helped, it would not have taken so much time" Ino hissed at Shikamaru.
"You mean if I had walked off in a random direction? If I had done so, I would be the one you are looking for and not Tenten. I just decided to do the smartest thing, I stayed and waited for you to return, if you have done so too then maybe we would have spared off some time" Shikamaru explained to Ino, who looked like she was ready to do some nasty things to his face if he did not shut up.
"Shikamaru, while I do agree with you that you waiting instead of looking like everyone else was a smart decision, it is not really Ino nor my cousin's fault that it took so much time" Neji told to Shikamaru, who lifted an eyebrow at him.
"Are you telling me that it is your fault?"
"In a way yes, me and Tenten had a talk" Neji replied with seriousness in his voice that everyone looked at him with curiosity and interest.
A talk?
"A talk? About what exactly?" Shikamaru asked Neji, who looked at him and answered:
"About trust, about trusting each other" Anymore explaining was not needed, at least not to Shikamaru, who understood Neji fully.
To Neji, asking someone to trust him and the opposite was like asking someone to be his friend, but… this time it was different.
Shikamaru knew that it was more than trust Neji and Tenten talked about. Neji's eyes told him so.
The two had found an inner understanding, much deeper than the understanding Neji has between Shikamaru and everyone else.
Neji might not want to admit it, he may even denial it, but he is, even thought he is not aware of it, starting to fall for Tenten.
And she is starting to fall for him…
Shikamaru knew all of that because he is a genius and Neji trusts him because of it.
To be continued…
A/N: A little Naruhina moments as well as a hint towards Kibaino.
More hints about Tenten's past and who she is; you are all welcome to try figuring out the people in Tenten's flashbacks, but I will not tell, it will be revealed and it plays a big part in the entire story – no spoiling the mystery! ;)
A little more Nejiten moments and some Shikamaru "screen time" since I love writing it plus he plays an important role in Neji's life being his closes friend ^^
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, leave a review and tell me what you think :D