A/N: I am so, so, so sorry for the long wait! I seriously thought I could finish this chapter sooner, but the exam project took up all my time and then there was an exam and yeah, suddenly a month passed by and only half of the chapter was finish around that time! But, now it is finish and I hope you all can forgive me for making you all wait so very long!
I hope you all will enjoy this chapter very much and that it was worth the long wait!
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, Sakura x ? and possible others
Warning(s): Possible OOCness, medieval era, mild mature hints
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
A Sense of Duty
Chapter 15: A Sense of Treason
Temari throw her older brother a dirty look after they had walked out of eyesight. And before Kankuro could say anything she slapped him. Fast and hard, leaving behind a burning, red handprint on her brother's right cheekbone. Kankuro winced out loud in pain:
"OW! What did you do that for, Temari? That hurt you know!"
"Well sorry, but my intentions were also for it to hurt! You should have kept your stupid mouth quite, you moron!" Temari hissed angrily at her brother.
"What? Why? What did I say that was so wrong?" Kankuro demanded his sister to explain herself.
"First of, you were pretty close at getting into an argument with that Konoha couple! Secondly, you pretty much revealed my gender, you moron! People are supposed to think I am a man since it is not common to meet female warriors! Thirdly, I saw that lusty glint in your eyes you got when you saw that brunette, you pervert! Control yourself and please for the Lord's sake behave in a proper manner, Kankuro!" Temari harshly lectured her older brother for his way of behaving.
"Well dear little sister, I must say that you are overreaction just a tiny bit too much. First of I did not intend to start an argument with anyone, it just happened, okay? I mean come on, how should I have known that brunette had such a short temper. Secondly, you are too feminine and delicate looking to pass off as a man, so your gender would have been revealed eventually anyway. Thirdly, I did not lust after that brunette, although I must admit that she was one good looking lady, I was merely amused by her temper, nothing else" Kankuro defended himself in a calm, yet cocky manner.
Temari glared at him and said:
"That still makes you a moron, dear brother"
"Fine, fine, I am a moron, happy?" Kankuro gave in and decided to tease her just a bit.
"Just shut up" Temari told Kankuro before she walked off, leaving her brother behind grinning like a fool since he loved seeing her pissed off.
"It is so easy to get under her skin" He thought as he watched Temari leave.
Temari decided to go outside the castle and into the garden to get some fresh air, but also to get away from her brother. She really needed it. She needed some space to breathe without him being near to get on her nerves. How she hated to babysit him.
Temari sighed out and looked at her surroundings.
The royal garden was truly a beautiful sight. The light of the fading sun made the trees and plants shine in a reddish colored while the reddish sky reflected itself in the water, making the water look like it was purple instead of blue.
Temari decided to seat down on a bench to enjoy the beautiful view of the garden, she was walking in. She looked over her shoulder and from side to side before she decided to free her hair from the tight ponytail it had been in.
Long locks of curly, sandy hair puffed out to the side as the ribbon holding it together was loosened up.
Ah such relief, she felt as her long, curly, sandy blond hair blew along with the soft wind.
"What a surprise. I did not know that the Suna Kingdom had female warriors" A male voice suddenly spoke from behind Temari. Temari was startled and quickly turned around to see who the voice belonged too.
"Who are you?" Temari asked the man, who stood hiding away in the shadows.
"No need to be afraid, I mean no harm, my name is Shikamaru Nara and my father works for the queen, I just happened to be passing by when I saw you" The man said with calm voice as he walked out of the shadows and into the fading sun light.
Temari looked at the dark haired man with a skeptic look as he walked up to her.
Away from the crowds of guests, inside one of the private chambers in the giant castle, the queen was sitting patiently waiting on a large chair.
The queen had to admit that she was worried for the safety of her granddaughter, but she simply could not let her own worry show on her face in front of the guests. If they knew that the crown princess was missing.
A riot will start.
As long as the guests knew nothing everything will be fine, well most of it.
"I need to speak to the Suna king and explain the situation before he starts to get suspicious about why his son cannot meet his maybe-wife-to-be as planned" The queen mentioned to herself.
Before she had left the balcony she had whispered to one her knights:
"Only you and the other royal knights must know that my granddaughter is missing, no one else must know unless I have told them! And please, do everything in your power to find her! Bring her back here safety, I beg of you, my royal knight"
The door to the chamber opened up and one of the queen's royal knights stepped inside. The knight then spoke out:
"I have brought the king of the Suna kingdom and his son with me as you informed me to do, your majesty, I will leave you three alone to discuss the situation" The knight left afterwards, closing the door behind him as he left.
The Suna king looked at the Konoha queen with a calm expression.
"What situation are we going to discuss? The situation between our kingdoms? Or the situation about your granddaughter not showing up when she was supposed to?" The Suna king asked coldly.
"The discussion about the future of our kingdoms must wait because I fear that someone has found a way inside the castle without any notices and kidnapped my granddaughter in order to ruin the engagement between her and your son" Tsunade explained to the Suna King, who nodded his head slowly.
"It is as we feared then" The Suna king began, "Someone is truly trying to ruin our alliance and weaken the Konoha Kingdom. Do you think is it could be someone from the inside?" The Suna king asked the Konoha queen.
"I highly doubt that" The Suna king's son, Gaara, spoke out surprisely.
"And why not, if I may ask, my son?" The Suna king asked his son.
"Because I have seen how loyal the people in Konoha are to the royal family, none of them could betray their own country even if they were tempted by it. I believe it must be someone from outside Konoha, someone who holds a lot of hate and anger towards the Konoha Kingdom" Gaara explained with calm and very sure voice.
"Question is just, who? Who could hold so must anger and hate, yet keep himself calm enough to sneak inside and somehow managed to make my granddaughter follow along with him without fighting back?" The queen wondered out loud.
"You speak of this kidnapper as if he was a man, but a woman could be behind it as well" The Suna king pointed out.
"No, it must be a man, who is behind this" Gaara shook his head as he spoke.
"And why is that?" The Suna king asked, demanding an answer.
"Because my granddaughter was seduced, Yondaime" Tsunade clarified calmly.
"Seduced?" The Suna king blinked.
"Yes, my granddaughter has not met many men her age in a her young life, I believe she went out to get some air and she must have run into a young, handsome-looking man, who used his charm to make her follow him without questionings his true intentions. She might be queen-to-be, but she is still a young, very innocent lady, who has yet to learn that some people are not as kind as they may look like. I do admit that I regret not teaching her that a lot sooner, but I had sincerely hoped that nothing bad would happen tonight. I now see, that it was I, who was at fault here, I am the reason why the heiress to my beautiful kingdom is in the hands of evil" The queen admitted as she bowed her head down in regret.
"Tsunade, do not put yourself at fault, we both should have been better prepared for this. But what is done is done and there is nothing else we can do other than to let your knights and mine look after trances from the princess that hopefully will lead us to her whereabouts" The Suna king told the queen calmly. Trying to assure her that the Suna kingdom will help in any way they can to find the missing crown princess.
The blond queen raised her head up again and said:
"Thank you, Yondaime, I appreciate your help"
The Suna king and his son, Gaara, nodded their heads before they left the chamber, leaving the queen alone to prepare herself to face the crowd once more. As much as she felt trouble by the whole situation as much her kingdom needed her stay strong with her head held high. The Konoha kingdom was not going to give up so easily. It will stay strong until the very end.
The queen stands up and walks up to the door to leave the chamber, but just as she is about to walk out of the room one of her knights stops her and tells her some rather disturbing news:
"Your majesty, I have done some research on the guests and I found out that one of your guests might have some connections to someone, who might be the one who kidnapped the crown princess" The silver-haired knight informed the queen with a low-spoken voice.
"Who?" The queen asked.
The silver-haired knight whispered his answer into the queen's ear. The queen's eyes widened.
So the person behind it all could havebeen let in by someone after all.
Hinata looks down at her hands shyly with a faint blush on her face. Next to her was Naruto sitting talking eagerly with Kiba, who was sitting opposite to them with Ino next to him.
Ino had a frown on her face, but aside from that she looked beautiful. It was the first time Hinata had ever seen Ino dressed so nicely. Normally Ino will wear her handmaiden clothes and that the only outfit Hinata had seen her wear, even when Hinata tried to convince her to wear one her many dresses.
Now, Ino was sitting with her legs over cross wearing a beautiful blue greenish dress with a dark blue rim at the bottom of the skirt and end of the sleeves. Her long, blond hair was down, for once, and she wearing black low boots. The neckline of the dress was slightly low, exposing the blond's collarbone and showing off her neck nicely.
Hinata shyly looked at Naruto from the corners of her eyes.
"He looks so handsome" She thought to herself as she blushed.
Naruto was wearing a white buccaneer shirt with a black sleeveless doublet over it, black trousers and a pair of dark gray leather boots. His messy, blond hair had been tamed just a bit, so it looked less messy and more soft-looking.
Naruto took notice in Hinata's stare and turned to her, smiling brightly.
"Is there something you wish to tell me, Hinata? You look like there is something on your mind, is there?" He asked out of curiosity. Hinata blushed and stuttered:
"Umm n-no, nothing r-really, I-I was just t-thinking"
"About what?" Naruto asked, leaning in closer to Hinata, making her even more nervous due to his closeness to her.
"He is so c-close, I can almost f-feel his b-breath on me" Hinata thought to herself, trying not to panic due to her nerves.
"Naruto, move away from Hinata, you are invading her personal space! Give her some room to breathe in, you moron" Ino harshly told Naruto, who did as he was told to and moved away from Hinata.
"Sorry" Naruto apologized, which made Hinata feel sorry for Naruto.
"Ino, be nice to him, Naruto may be an idiot, but he is a nice idiot! How should he have known that he was invading Hinata's personal space? He was curious to know what was on her mind, nothing else! Give him a break, will you?" Kiba tried to defend his comrade. Kiba was wearing similar clothes as Naruto, just a dark green buccaneer instead of a white.
Ino stared coldly at Kiba.
"Will you mind your own business?" She asked him coldly. Kiba smiled teasefully at her as he spoke:
"Only if you say please"
"How about a fist in the face?" Ino asked while she lifted her fist up.
"Awww why so mean?" Kiba asked childishly.
"Because you annoy me" Ino told Kiba.
"I do not mean to annoy you, I am just trying to express to you how I feel" Kiba explained to Ino, trying to be as charming as ever.
"Well you can stop that because I find it very annoying" Ino informed him with her head held high.
Both Naruto and Hinata watched with curiosity at the two bickering with each other.
"Is it just me or do they remind you of your cousin and Tenten?" Naruto asked Hinata, who nodded and said:
"It is not just you, they do act very similar, do you think we should we tell them?"
"Nah let them figure it out themselves" Naruto replied, stretching his arms out before leaning backward to enjoy the ride.
"Why do you keep on resting me? Just admit that you like me, I know I am handsome and desirable" Kiba grinned at Ino as he moved in closer to her. Ino reacted harshly by slapping him in the face.
"OW!" Kiba winced out loud in pain, holding his sore cheekbone.
"Sorry, but you deserved that one" Ino told him.
"Will you kiss it better?" Kiba asked with a goofy grin.
"Will you like another slap on the other cheekbone?" Ino asked in a warning tone while smiling in an almost sinisterly sweet way.
"Okay, I will stop now" Kiba said to Ino.
"Good" Ino smiled.
"Ehm guys?" Hinata spoke up.
Ino and Kiba looked at Hinata.
"Yes, Hinata?" Ino replied to Hinata as she turned her attention to the young heiress.
"I think it is time for us to leave the carriage, we have arrived" Hinata informed them.
Ino, Kiba and Naruto looked to the side and just as Hinata had said, they had arrived at the castle.
"Ohhhh that is one big castle" Naruto said as he stared at the castle with big, blue eyes.
"What did you expect, a small castle? It is our queen's home, so of course it must be big" Ino told Naruto with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I would love to live in a place that big" Kiba said as he stared at the castle in amazement.
"We better go inside, I am sure my father is waiting for us" Hinata said as she made her way over to the guard guarding the entrance.
"State your name please, miss" The guard said to her.
"Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga, and this is members of our household, who were informed by my father to come along with me" Hinata replied the guard politely. The guard nodded his head and moved aside.
"You can all enter, have a nice evening" The guard said, bowing politely.
"Thank you, you too" Hinata replied as she told the others to follow her.
The four of them walked through the garden as they made their way towards the castle where the gathering was held. Even the garden looked like a dream, it was a beautiful sight.
"This garden is so beautiful" Ino spoke out as they walked through it.
"Yeah, it is, I wish I could make our garden looks as beautiful as this one" Hinata admitted as she stared with envy at the heavenly garden.
"What is it with girls and gardens, Kiba?" Naruto asked Kiba.
"I do not know, maybe it some kind of fetish or something" Kiba replied to Naruto while he shrugged his shoulders. Ino looked back at the two, giving them a dark look while she said:
"What are you two whispering about, it better not be about us"
A chill run down Kiba and Naruto spine.
"N-nothing, w-we swear! W-we were just t-talking about the w-weather? Yeah, the weather! Lovely, is it not?" Kiba lied nervously.
"Truly lovely, not a single cloud on the sky" Naruto played along with Kiba.
Ino looked at the two skeptically with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmmm okay, but I am watching you two, just so you know" She warned them before she walked up to Hinata again.
"Puh, that was close" Kiba and Naruto sighed out in relief, whipping the sweat of their foreheads before they followed the girls once again.
Neji and Tenten watched as the queen left the balcony, both of them had an odd feeling about the lacking crown princess, but neither spoke out about it.
"That was quite… odd" Neji mumbled, only loud enough for Tenten to hear it.
"Yeah, it is, but I am sure they will find her. I would be hiding too if I had to talk to such a big crowd of people wearing a dress" Tenten commented casually.
Neji turned to Tenten.
"Tenten, you are wearing a dress" Neji informed Tenten the obvious.
"I know, but I do not have to make a speech or something like that" Tenten told Neji with her hands on her hips, "Let us get out of here and get some flesh air, I seriously need that after being forced to dance by those crazy grandmas" Tenten took Neji by the hand and dragged him out of the ballroom.
"Be nice Tenten, those women were not that old" Neji pointed out as Tenten dragged him along.
"I know, but they reminded me of a grandma, those really clingy ones" Tenten explained.
The two had finally reached the entrance out of the ballroom and had entered a more open area with little to no people. Truth be told, Neji and Tenten had the big room for themselves.
"Finally, I can breathe again" Tenten sighed out in relief, stretching out her arms and body.
"So, what do you think happened to the crown princess?" Neji asked Tenten, who tensed up a bit before she quickly turned around to face Neji.
"What makes you think that something has happened to her?" Tenten asked Neji.
"I am not sure, I just have this feeling that something might have happened to her. It just seems odd that the queen did not know her whereabouts, so I figured that something unexpected might have happened to the crown princess" Neji explained to Tenten how he felt about the situation.
Tenten rubbed her chin, frowning while she did so and suddenly her eyes widened.
"Oh no! It could not be? Could it? But why? What business does he have with the crown princess of the Konoha kingdom?" Millions of questions ran through Tenten's head. The look on Tenten's face made Neji feel somewhat worried for her.
"Tenten, are you okay?" Neji asked Tenten, trying not to sound worried. Tenten blinked at looked up at him.
"What? Oh right, I am fine, I just…" Tenten mumbled on.
"You just what, Tenten? Is there something bothering you?" Neji asked Tenten.
Suddenly Tenten took a hold on Neji's arms, holding on tightly almost dragging Neji down with her tight grip.
"Neji, I have a really, really bad feeling that something bad has happened to the crown princess" Tenten admitted to Neji, looking straight into his eyes with a deadly serious look on her face.
Neji's eyes widened and he was too shocked to speak.
That serious look in Tenten's eyes, gave Neji a bad taste in his mouth. Did Tenten know what had happened? Or was she just having the same bad feeling as he had had since the queen's speech?
"Tenten, do you?" Neji began.
"I do not know what have happened, but I just have this feeling that I should have known it would happen, which scares me a bit actually" Tenten admitted to Neji before she took him by the hand and dragged him off to.
"Tenten, where are we going?" Neji called after Tenten as he was dragged off along with her.
"I honesty do not know, but I have this feeling in my gut that this way will tell us something about the princess possible whereabouts" Tenten answered Neji as she dragged him out of the big, empty room and into the hallway.
Neji forcefully forced Tenten to stop and freed his hand from her grip.
"Tenten, please tell me what is wrong with you? You are acting very odd right now, please take it easy, you have nothing to do with the princess' disappearing, so you have no need to feel like you are to blame for what happened because you are not" Neji tried to assure Tenten, who was panting hard trying to catch her breath.
"I know, but I have been taught to always trust my instincts and they tell me to go in that direction, please trust me on this one!" Tenten told Neji, who looked at Tenten stunningly.
"Okay, but please stop dragging me, I can go just fine myself thank you very much" Neji informed Tenten, who could not help, but to smile a bit at him.
"Fine, but do not complain when you cannot keep up with me" Tenten grinned at Neji before she turned around and ran. Neji smirked and chuckled darkly.
"Two can play that game, Tenten" Neji said before he ran after her.
"So, where were we supposed to meet your father, Hinata?" Kiba asked Hinata as they walked inside the giant castle.
Hinata looked at Kiba, somewhat unsure before she answered:
"Well he told me that he would wait at the entrance of the castle, but I have yet to see him so maybe he went somewhere else while he was waiting for us, we are a bit late after all"
"Whose fault is that?" Ino asked, looking towards Kiba and Naruto, hinting, who she blamed for them being late.
Kiba and Naruto took notice in Ino's judging eyes.
"Do not look at us like that! It was not entirely our fault!" Kiba tried to defend him and Naruto.
"Not entirely? Well I think it was" Ino said while she ran a hand through her long, blond hair.
"Not entirely? I Well I think it was" Kiba imitated Ino in his own way, which made Ino's face turn red in anger.
"Stop that, this instant!" Ino yelled at Kiba. Kiba grinned before he imitated Ino once again:
"Stop that, this instant!"
"Agh!" Ino growled, clenching her hands together.
"Agh!" Kiba imitated Ino, finding it way too amusing to stop now.
"Kiba, be nice" Hinata tried to make Kiba stop teasing Ino since she knew Ino's temper was beginning to run short. The last thing they needed was to cause a scene, not to mention her father would not be happy with them should something like that happen.
"I want your all at your best behavior, do not cause a scene and please try to fit in. No odd behavior or yelling, no fights or loud arguments. The last thing I need is to have my reputation ruined because of your lot causing a riot!" Hinata recalled the words her father had spoken to her earlier today.
"Father, is not going to be pleased with me at all" Hinata thought to herself with her head down.
"Hinata?" Hinata head Ino call her name out.
"Yes?" Hinata looked up.
"Are you okay?" Ino asked with concern.
"Ehm yes, I am fine, I just spaced out" Hinata lied.
"You are sure?" Ino asked, trying to make sure Hinata was really alright.
"Yes, I am sure" Hinata nodded her head.
Ino looked at Hinata with a skeptic look before she slowly nodded her head and said:
"Okay, if you say so, but do tell me if there is something bothering you"
"Do not worry, I will" Hinata tried to assure Ino.
"Hinata, Ino! Are you two coming or what?" Naruto and Kiba called after the two girls from afar.
"We are, wait up for a bit!" Ino replied as she took Hinata by the hand and dragged her along towards the two boys.
Suddenly something or rather someone pushed Kiba and Naruto aside as they ran from the hallway Kiba and Naruto were walking towards.
"Watch it!" Kiba hissed after the runner, who surprisely turned out to be a female due the long dress she was wearing.
"Was that who I think it was?" Hinata asked herself out loud as the unknown woman ran pass her and Ino.
"Tenten?" Ino said with a surprised look on her face.
"I do not get it, why was she running?" Naruto asked cluelessly. No one was fast enough to answer him before someone else from behind him pushed him aside.
"Ow" Naruto winced as he landed on his ass.
"Cousin?" "Neji?" "Hyuuga?" Hinata, Kiba and Ino all said at the same time.
"Why is he running after Tenten?" Hinata asked without a clue of what was going on.
"No, no, no, the question is, why is Tenten running from Neji" Ino corrected.
"Why are they both running in the first place?" Kiba asked.
"Maybe we should follow them?" Naruto suggested while he rubbed his sore ass.
"Good idea, Naruto!" Kiba grinned, agreeing with Naruto. Hinata looked at Ino and said:
"While I really hate to stick my nose into my cousin's business, I am really curious to know why they were running and here of all places, father would not be pleased if he knew"
"Well okay, let us follow them then" Ino gave in.
The foursome then went to follow after Neji and Tenten.
As Neji followed Tenten, he could not help, but to feel like there was something else bothering her. Like she was trying to hide something else, whether it was related to the missing crown princess or not, he did not know. And frankly he did not care if it was or not. What he cared for was that there was something Tenten was hiding, that was bothering her and for some unknown reason he wanted to know what it was, perhaps he could help her in a way.
Cease her trouble…
He was so cut up in watching Tenten as he ran that he did not see nor care for the person he pushed aside once he ran out of the hallway. All he heard was the sound of someone falling to the floor and wincing in pain.
On normal occasions he would have stopped like a true gentleman and apologized, but not tonight. Tonight he was too busy keeping up with Tenten, hoping that by following her she would reveal to him what there was bugging her.
What she is hiding…
Finding it hard to catch his breath while wearing such tight fitting clothes, Neji, without stopping in his tracks, loosened his collar and unbuttoned a few of the top buttons on his doublet.
"This outfit is not made for running, at least not after Tenten" Neji told himself sarcastically.
They had finally made it out the huge castle and into the even bigger royal garden. Once they had entered it, Tenten changed her formerly very straight direction by turning right and running deeper into the garden instead of running towards the castle gates.
"Tenten, why are we changing direct-" Neji began asking, but stopped himself when Tenten suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Something had made her stop and it was not Neji!
Neji stopped in his own tracks, a few meters away from Tenten. He watched as Tenten with a blank yet shocked face looked down at the grass beneath her. Neji watched as Tenten bended down and picked something up from the grassy floor.
Neji began making his way over to Tenten as he watched Tenten study the item in her hands.
"What is it that you found, Tenten? Does it belong to the crown princess?" Neji asked as he walked closer to Tenten.
"No, it does not" Tenten answered him while she gently ran a finger over the item as if the item was familiar, perhaps dear to her.
"When what it is then? It is familiar to you?" Neji asked as he finally reached up to Tenten, who turned around to face him while holding the item close to the chest, to her heart.
"It is… mine… well it looks like mine" Tenten said as she showed Neji the item, she had found lying on the grass.
Neji's eyes widened.
It was Tenten's… well it looked like Tenten's.
"It looks like Tenten's dagger!"
But how? How can it be here of all places? How did it end up in the garden? And if it was not hers, then who could it belong to? It could not be possible? Tenten had been with him the entire time and neither of them had been here.
"And it is not everything" Tenten suddenly spoke out. Neji looked back up at her as he saw Tenten open up her other hand.
"No, this cannot be true! This is IMPOSSIBLE!" Neji told himself as he stared at Tenten's open hand in disbelieve.
Inside of Tenten's hand laid a lock of the crown princess' pink hair…
"Tenten?" Neji began.
"I have no idea why my dagger is here along, if it is mine, with this lock of pink hair, it belongs to the princess, right? I have heard tales about the princess of Konoha having pink hair, but I have never actually believed it… well until now because this is definitely pink hair" Tenten said with calm voice.
Neji said nothing.
"Neji? Please you have to trust me! I may keep a lot of things hiding from you, but kidnapping the princess is not one of them!" Tenten told Neji, hoping he would believe her.
"Of course I trust you, Tenten! You have been by my side the entire evening! You could not have done it even if you wanted to! This person is simply trying to frame you for something you have not done! Even if it is your dagger, I still believe in your innocence!" Neji said to Tenten, holding Tenten close to him by her shoulders while looking straight into her beautiful, brown eyes.
"Neji, you-" Tenten's sentence was cut short by the loud, cold voice of a black dressed figure.
"Sir Neji Hyuuga, step away from the traitor immediately!" The figure harshly ordered.
"Traitor? Tenten?"
Both Neji and Tenten were startled by the intrusion, and both of them looked towards the voice to see who it was.
A knight. A royal knight. And not just one knight. Seven of them stood tall, surrounding both Neji and Tenten, preventing them from escaping in case they decided to run for it.
"Miss Tenten, you are herby arrested for treason against the Kingdom of Konoha and the queen!"
"But sir knight, Tenten is innocent, she has nothing to do with it, she is-" Neji was cut short by the same knight, who ordered him to move away.
"Your friend is just as much a traitor as the one, who kidnapped the crown princess!"
"What? Why? She has nothing to do with it! She has been with me the entire time!" Neji defended Tenten once again.
"She has everything to do with it! Your friend is according to my sources very, very close to the culprit, who kidnapped our crown princess and her main reason of being here in Konoha is to distract, sabotage and prevent us from doing our works; protect this kingdom from coming in harm's way!" The knight spoke out while pointing an accusing finger at Tenten.
"No, you are wrong!" Neji angrily yelled back, refusing to believe the words of the men, who he used to admire.
"Am I? Do you even know why she is here in Konoha?" The knight asked Neji.
"No, I do not, but that is her business, not mine!" Neji answered.
"How sad, even with the evidences lying right in front of you, you are still denying the true, the fact that you have been lied to and betrayed by someone you trusted!" The knight cruelly pointed out.
"She has never lied nor betrayed me because I have never asked her about any of the things you are accusing her off. She has not committed treason!" Neji said to the knight, standing in front of Tenten in order to protect her from the knight's cruel words.
"Neji, please stop trying to protect me! I can take care of myself just fine!" Tenten tried to convince Neji to leave before he got himself into trouble as well.
"Tenten, for once just shut up and let me protect you! They cannot touch you while you are by my side, my family has a special status here due to our close relationship with the queen!" Neji explained to Tenten.
"Move aside, sir Neji, the last thing I want is to hurt you" The knight warned Neji.
"No, I will not move! She has done nothing wrong, therefore I shall not move aside, sir!" Neji stood by his decision of protecting Tenten, who he knew had done nothing wrong.
"Well then I am sorry, but I have no other choice, but to force you to surrender" The knight darkly spoke as he draw his sword and moved forward.
Neji moved his hand down, ready to draw his own sword.
Taking a deep breath. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead while he forced himself to breath calmly.
The knight slowly moved forward until…
"Do it!" The knight spoke out and suddenly out of nowhere someone came from behind and took a hold on Tenten, holding a sword against her throat while holding her still.
"Tenten!" Neji called out, ready to draw his sword and slash the man with his sword.
"Hold it right there, put your sword down and nothing will bad will happen to her, I might even let your little act of trying to protect her slip" The knight told Neji while he draw back his own sword.
Neji glared at the knight, but after taking a look at the captured Tenten he sighed and moved his hand away from his sword.
"I am sorry, Tenten" Neji said before he fell to the ground, refusing to look her in the eyes. Feeling the bitter taste of injustice and defeat. She was innocent, he knew she was! And yet, no one believed him. No one! Why did they not? He simply could not understand!
"Get up, sir Neji, we need to find your uncle and explain the situation to him, he needs to know what is happening as well" The knight explained to Neji.
"Where are you taking Tenten?" Neji asked, refusing to meet the knight's eyes.
"To the prison cell in the catacombs of the castle, where she will wait until we are ready to interrogate her, now get up we do not have all night" The knight spoke to Neji quite harshly as Neji stood up and followed the knight while the other knights took Tenten to the catacombs.
He needed to save Tenten, he had too!
A few meters away from the scenery, hiding behind some big trees Kiba, Naruto, Hinata and Ino had been watching the entire scene and they were all in shock.
"Tenten a traitor? Treason?" "Poor Neji and poor Tenten! I hope Tenten will be alright" "What is going on? I have a bad feeling about this?" "I wonder how Lord Hiashi will react to all of this?"
Inside the castle Hiashi was brought into one of the isolated parts of the castle. Inside there he found himself face to face with a distressed looking nephew and seven of the Royal knights, all wearing entirely black clothing.
Hiashi looked at the knights and then at his nephew before he asked:
"What is going on? Why was I told to come here and why is my nephew here?"
The sound of the door slamming in could be heard from afar as the sound of heels came walking right behind Hiashi into the room.
The queen.
"You are here because I told my knights to bring you here, Lord Hiashi, I am sorry to ruin your evening here at the palace, but something unexpected turned up that I feel is necessary that you should know off" The queen explained calmly as she walked up to the seven knights along with the last three of her knights behind her.
"Okay, then please tell me what you feel is necessary that I know off, your majesty?" Hiashi calmly spoke.
"My knights have captured and arrested your nephew's female companion" The queen calmly informed Hiashi. In a very short moment you could see the shock and surprise shine in his eyes, but it only lasted shortly and only Neji managed to actually notice it. Aside from that Hiashi kept his usual calm expression and posture.
"For what crimes, your majesty? As far as I know she has done nothing that can be considered illegal aside from being really good at getting into fights, but that is nothing uncommon in the streets of the Konoha kingdom" Hiashi pointed out in an almost cocky way.
The queen did not see the humor in Hiashi's words and chose to ignore it.
"Someone managed to make their way into this castle and kidnap my granddaughter without anyone noticing" The queen harshly revealed the secret not many knew of.
"And you are assuming it is Tenten because she is stranger in this kingdom?" Hiashi asked the queen with a lifted eyebrow.
"No, I do not believe that she kidnapped my granddaughter, but one of my knights told me something rather disturbing just a few moments ago" The queen explained as she recalled what had happened not so very long ago.
FLASHBACK
"Your majesty, I have done some research on the guests and I found out that one of your guests might have some connections to someone, who might be the one who kidnapped the crown princess" The silver-haired knight informed the queen with a low-spoken voice.
"Who?" The queen asked.
The silver-haired knight whispered his answer into the queen's ear:
"Itachi's younger brother" The queen's eyes widened.
"He is alive? But Itachi has always said that he lost his entire family doing the famine that rages in the south-eastern parts of Suna after the war had ended" The queen said with a surprised look on her face.
"Apparently he did not lose everyone, but do not blame Itachi for not telling the entire truth, he may have his own reasons for keeping it to himself, but this is not what is important right now. What is important is that Itachi's younger brother, according to my sources, holds a heavy grudge against us and not only that, but he has, for what I have discovered, managed to gain a lot of power and control in a so far unknown area between the Suna Kingdom and the Konoha Kingdom" The silver-haired knight told the queen.
"An unknown region between us and the Sunas?" The queen asked, in which the knight replied by nodded and saying:
"Yes, according to my sources"
"So, you believe that it was him, who has taking my granddaughter?" The queen asked.
"Yes, I believe that it could be him, but that is not all, your majesty" The knight informed the queen.
"Is there something else that matters? We already have an idea of who is behind the kidnapping of Sakura, what else could there be to it?" The queen questioned.
"My sources also told me that there is one guest, who holds strong connection to this younger brother of Itachi" The silver knight explained.
"Who?" The queen asked.
"The young woman, who is accompanying Lord Hyuuga's nephew, Neji Hyuuga" The silver-haired warrior informed the queen.
The queen stared at the silver knight for a moment before she spoke:
"Kakashi, please bring Itachi to me, I need him to tell me the truth"
END OF FLASHBACK
Before speaking the queen looked one of her knights in the eyes without anyone taking notices in it.
"Do not worry, my knight, I shall not giveaway your relation to him or his name" The assured the knight before she spoke:
"Your female companion, Tenten? If I am not mistaken, holds a strong relation to the person, who we presume is the one, who kidnap- No, stole my granddaughter. Family, some might even call them, yet not related by blood, but close like family indeed they were and still are. Your dear friend would not even be here if he had not told her to"
"So, let me get this right, my queen. You have arrested Tenten because of her possible relation with the one, who you all presume to be the person behind the kidnapping of the crown princess? Is it not a bit unjust?" Hiashi asked the queen as carefully as he could.
"Perhaps, but so far we have only arrested her in order to question her and to prevent her from running away in case she did play some sort of role in this whole situation, we will take good care of her" The queen explained to Hiashi, who nodded his head slowly.
"Well then, your majesty, do you think it could be possible for my nephew to speak with Tenten? This whole situation must have come as quite of a shock for him and I am sure he needs to speak with Tenten himself privately just to sort things out between them" Hiashi suggested.
The queen looked at Hiashi, as did Neji.
"Hmmm well that makes sense, I guess I could arrange that as long your nephew does not try anything to help her escape" The queen said.
"Do not worry, your majesty, I will have a conversation with him to assure that he does not try anything before I let him speak with Tenten" Hiashi promised the queen.
"Well then I will leave you two alone for a moment before I will let one of my knight escort your nephew down for a short visit, follow me my knights" The queen spoke as she left the room along with her knights.
"Uncle!" Neji walked over to his uncle, completely in shock, "What are you up to?"
Hiashi lifted a finger to his lips, indicating that Neji should speak less loud.
"Neji, I shall let you know that no matter what you do or what happens today, I will never blame you. Your father would have wanted you to follow your heart and so do I" Hiashi told Neji, who looked at him dumbfounded.
"U-uncle, what are you trying to tell me? I am afraid I do not quite understand" Neji felt utterly confused. What was his uncle trying to tell him? Follow his heart? What did he mean by that?
Hiashi grinned slightly.
"You shall know when the time comes, now let us get you down to Tenten" Hiashi turned around and walked towards the door. He stopped walking when he notices that Neji had not followed him and called out his name:
"Neji!" Neji broke out of his trance.
"What?" Neji asked his uncle.
"Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?" Hiashi asked his nephew.
"Oh right, I am coming, Hiashi" Neji ran over to his uncle, still trying to figure out what he meant by 'to follow his heart'.
Tenten ripped the hair pins out of hair, freeing her already messy hair. With an empty, bitter heart she sighed out deeply.
"Great job, Tenten, getting yourself arrested for a crime you did not even commit!" Tenten cursed to herself bitterly.
"But then again, my reasons for being in the Konoha kingdom were originally not that pure, but I was not to kidnap nor to hurt anyone unless they deserved it, so why am I here? And who even told them who and why I am here? I have told no one and so far I have done nothing of what I was supposed to do because of… because of meeting Neji" Tenten froze in her tracks.
"Neji…" Tenten mumbled off, feeling utterly confused. This feeling, she had felt it before when she and Neji had danced on the floor and back then when decided to work with each other instead of working against each other, when they started to trust each other.
This odd, unfamiliar feeling she felt in her heart. What was it? What did it meant? Why was she feeling like this?
"Tenten!" The call of her name broke Tenten out of thoughts. She looked ahead, through the bars in her cell and saw Neji?
"Neji, what are you doing here?" Tenten asked as Neji walked up to her cell, leaning in close.
"My uncle asked the queen if I could talk to you since… things happened so suddenly" Neji explained.
Tenten leaned in closer to Neji and they looked at each other through the bars.
"What do you want to talk to me about, Neji?" Tenten asked as she looked Neji deeply in the eyes.
"I-I…" Neji found himself unable to speak, "Well… I believe in your innocence, no matter what relationship or relation you have with the one, who they presume kidnapped the crown princess. I believe that you have nothing to do with it! I-" Neji was cut off by Tenten's lips on his.
"What is wrong with me?"
"Is Tenten kissing me?"
Tenten pulled away and said:
"I am sorry, I think I got cut up in the moment, all this emotion is messing up my head. I just… could not stop myself"
Neji found himself smiling smugly and asked:
"Well what if I told you I like it when your emotions messes with you head?"
Tenten looked up at Neji and grinned at him as she catch up to his hints and leaned in again to steal yet other kiss, a kiss which Neji this time returned.
Neji was the one to pull away and suddenly turned his attention to the lock on Tenten's cell much to the shock of Tenten.
"Eh Neji, what do you think you are doing?" Tenten asked Neji as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Neji suddenly took one of Tenten's hair pins, which was lying on the floor not far away from the bars, and began trying to pick the lock.
"I am going to free you and we are going to save the crown princess, save the day and clear your name" Neji explained as he continued to pick the lock.
"What? Are you insane? You want to become an outlaw? What about your dreams of becoming a royal knight? You will never become one if you go against your own kingdom and the law! What happened to your code of honor?" Tenten tried to talk some sense into Neji.
"I have sworn to fight for justice and if fighting for justice means becoming an outlaw, a criminal of my own kingdom, then so be it!" Neji with determination declared as he finally managed to unlock the lock.
"Okay, it is open. Now, come on out, Tenten, we do not have much time" Neji said as he grabbed Tenten by the arm and brought her out of the cell.
"But Neji-" Neji cut her off and said:
"Tenten, there is no turning back now, you have to trust me on this one please" Neji looked Tenten deeply in the eyes.
"Okay, I trust you" Tenten said as she squeezed Neji's arm with her free hand.
Neji smiled before his expression become serious and said:
"Let us get out of here"
"But how?" Tenten asked Neji.
"Me and Shikamaru used to study the castle just for fun using an old map and I remember we once found a hidden way out of the catacombs, which will lead us to the most eastern side of the castle, follow me it should be somewhere nearby as far as I remember" Neji told Tenten as they began walking in the opposites direction of where Neji had entered until they saw something that looked like a hidden door made of stone.
"Is this the way out? How are we supposed to move it, it must weight a ton?" Tenten asked as she looked at the door with skeptic eyes.
"It has to be possible, come and help me push it open, if we work together we should be able to move it just enough for us to get through" Neji told Tenten as he, himself, began trying to open the heavy, stone door.
The two used up all their strength in their quest to open the door and when they had finally opened it up enough for them to squeeze their way in they stopped pushing and one by one they made their way through it.
Afterwards they looked at each other, then at the door and then they ran. They had no time to waste, they had to escape no matter what!
"I just hope that they have not notices that we are gone yet" Neji hoped to himself as they ran through the narrow passage.
To be continued…
A/N: Finally! Neji and Tenten have shared not one, but two kisses and a bit of some openly firing as well! But have they admitted their feeling? Or is it just a sudden moment of heat? And what will happen now when they are both outlaws on the run from the Konoha kingdom? Will they get out? And can they find the crown princess?
I am sure you all know who the "princess stealer" is ;) Question is just: what was Tenten's original mission? And who was the one who told the knights about it?
And if you feel confused to why Tenten was arrested and the reason behind it then you are pretty much feeling what Neji is feeling because it doesn't make much sense, but there is also more to it than what was explained in this chapter! You will know more as we dig in deeper to it in the following chapters!
The hunt for the true has begun!
Now, that I have vacation and no school I will do my best not to keep you all waiting for the next chapter!
Leave a review and tell me what you thought! ^^