A/N: Finally it is finished! Took a bit longer than I first had intended, but I am kinda also a bit cut up in the NaruFest on Deviantart ^^'
I hope you will all enjoy this chapter! Happy reading! :)
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 16: A Sense of Outlawry
Hinata, Ino, Naruto and Kiba all watched from the distance as the knights left with Tenten while one knight stood behind with a Neji, who had collapsed on his knees.
Hinata wanted nothing more than to run over to her cousin and hug him. She could just see how defeated and distressed he looked even from afar. If she and the others were shocked by what had happened, then her cousin must be beyond that. She knew how much he admired the Royal Knights, but she also knew that Neji had grown to care quite a lot about Tenten, even thought he would most likely denial it, and that he right now was probably unsure of what to do.
To continue admiring the knights and forget all about Tenten or to keep on caring for Tenten no matter what anyone says and stop admiring the knights.
The decision was solely his. And it was a tough one, your childhood dream versus someone you care deeply for.
"Oh Neji, please be alright, I do not want you to return to your old ways again! Please do not lose yourself again, I beg of you!" Hinata pleaded to herself as she watched as her cousin stood up to follow the knight back inside the castle.
"Ehm should we follow them?" Naruto suddenly asked in a whisper.
They all looked at each other before Hinata said:
"Maybe we should find my father first. He may be able to tell us what is going on"
"That sounds reasonable, but we should probably try to keep a low profile. Who knows what will happen if the knights sees us here spying on them?" Ino explained.
"Yeah, the last thing I want is to be arrested for sticking my nose into other people's business" Kiba commented.
"I would not mind that actually" Ino mumbled her thoughts of loud.
"You can be so cold, Ino, since when I have stuck my nose into your business?" Kiba asked while faking a sad face.
"When you tried to peek on me, back at the manor when I was changing, that is when, pervert!" The blond hissed at the dog boy.
"Are you still angry about that? I told you it was an accident I was looking for Akamaru's bone, I swear! How should I have known you were changing, you could have locked the door or used the bathroom" Kiba defended himself.
"Hah as if I would believe you" Ino looked away from Kiba as she spoke, not believing in Kiba's words.
"Please not now" Hinata pleaded the two to stop before someone ended up hearing them since their voices was starting to rise from low to loud.
"Sorry, but she started it" Kiba whispered while he pointed at Ino, who crossed her arms over chest while she pouted her lips.
"I begun?" Ino gave Kiba an angry look as she spoke.
"And here we go again" Naruto mumbled to himself as Ino and Kiba began glaring at each other in an heating staring contest since Hinata did not want them to argue.
"At least they stopped arguing" Hinata attempted to look at the bright side.
"Ehm Hinata?" Naruto suddenly said, in an attempt to gain Hinata's attention.
"Yes, Naruto, what it is?" Hinata asked Naruto once she had turned around to face him.
"Was we not supposed to go look for your father?" He asked Hinata.
"Oh right, we were" Hinata remembered.
"Well then shall we go back inside the castle and look for him?" Naruto suggested.
"Of course, that sounds like a good idea" Hinata quickly agreed, smiling on the inside since she had yet to stutter.
"Okay, so do we do it with or without those two?" Naruto asked while he pointed at Ino and Kiba, who were still engaged in their staring contest.
"Kiba, Ino, we got to go now! Stop this fighting and move on, there is no win or lose in this anyway since neither of you are going give up" Hinata told Ino and Kiba, who finally broke eye contact and sighed in sync.
"Fine, we will settle it later, dog boy" Ino vowed to herself.
"Yeah, later, princess" Kiba agreed.
"Great, now come on, we have to find my father" Hinata said as they all ran back towards the castle while hoping that Hinata's father was easier to find for them than before.
"He better be! This running around is so tiring, I am not wearing the right outfit to run in!" Ino thought to herself as she ran along with the others towards the royal castle.
Neji and Tenten had barely managed to run far before Tenten stopped up all of a sudden. Neji stopped in his tracks and turned on his heels to face Tenten.
"Tenten, we do not have time to stop up, we have to get out of this castle before anyone realizes that we have run away" Neji told Tenten, who replied:
"I know, but I got to do this"
"Do what exactly?" Neji asked, slightly annoyed by Tenten. Tenten merely smiled smugly at him, but did not say anything instead she…
*Riiiiip*
Off one of the sleeves from Tenten's dress was ripped off in one go and dropped on the stony ground beneath them.
Neji looked at Tenten agape.
"Tenten, what are you doing?"
"Making this dress a bit more… practical" Tenten answered with a wink before she gave the other sleeve the same treatment as the one before. Off it went, down on the ground.
"Tenten, you…" Neji looked at Tenten hopelessly, unsure of what to say to her.
"Are releasing myself from this cage of a dress" Tenten said with satisfied smile as she bended down and ripped off the bottom part of her dress, exposing her legs up to the knee.
Neji watched on as Tenten destroyed the formerly beautiful dress she had wore for most of the evening. Ripping it into pieces, piece by piece. What a shame.
"Tenten, are you done yet?" Neji asked Tenten, who looked up at him with curious eyes.
"Almost, there is one more thing to do before I am ready to run for my life to where only God knows" Tenten said to Neji before she took a hold on the collar of her dress and ripped it to create a deeper collar.
"Okay, I am ready, shall we go, I mean run?" Tenten grinned at Neji.
"Was that even necessary, Tenten?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow while he looked down at Tenten's, now exposed, cleavage.
"My breasts need to breathe!" Tenten loudly claimed, hand on chest.
"Of course, well then better take this off then" Neji said as he took off his doublet and dropped it on the ground.
"Are you ready to run? No more stopping in the middle to destroy other things?" Neji asked Tenten, hoping they could get out of this hellhole as fast as possible.
"I am ready then you are" Tenten replied with a smug look on her face.
Neji took Tenten by the hand and said smugly:
"Well then let the running begin"
The two then both resumed their escape mission, this time running at full speed following the pathway, which hopefully will lead them towards freedom and lawlessness.
Hiashi was standing in the room where the door leading down to the catacombs were. He was, currently, engaged in a conversation with the Royal knight, which had lead Neji down the catacombs to speak with Tenten in private.
"Is it really necessary to have Tenten locked up inside a cell in the catacombs? There must be a better solution than to treat her as if she is the criminal in this matter, which she is not" Hiashi told the Royal knight.
"I am just following the normal procedures that we have here, also were else should we keep her? In one of the guest chambers in the castle? I think not" The royal knight said to Hiashi.
"Well Tenten could always stay in my manor, she has done so for over a month now and it is a place she is familiar with, not to mention it is still close to the castle" Hiashi suggested.
"I am afraid I am not the one who makes these decisions, but I think it is best if she stays down there, secured from running away" The knight rejected Hiashi's offer without even thinking it over.
"Who says she will run away? If she had wanted to run away I do believe she would have done long before she was arrested. She is a clever, young lady after all" Hiashi said, complimenting Tenten's cleverness.
"There you said it, clever. Being clever means being sneaky and sly, which are dangerous traits for someone in her situation to have and therefore it is best to keep her locked up until we have gotten what we wanted out of her" The knight explained.
"Maybe she can be a bit sneaky, but dangerous? No, just a young woman with temper problems" Hiashi commented.
"Father!" A young voice called out from behind Hiashi. Hiashi recognized the voice immediately and turned around to face it.
"Hinata?"
"Oh father, there you are! I have… well technically we have been searching after you for hours!" Hinata said as she ran over to her father with Kiba, Ino and Naruto following behind her closely.
"I should be saying that to you, young lady, I have been waiting for you for quite some time now" Hiashi told Hinata.
"But father, I swear we have been looking all over the castle, but you were nowhere to be seen. Where have you been the entire time? Here?" Hinata asked.
"Well I have just arrived here, but otherwise I am been waiting in the ballroom for you and your companions to show up" Hiashi said to Hinata, who then admitted:
"Oh… Well we never actually reached the ballroom, father, sorry" Hiashi looked at his daughter with a raised eyebrow after she had confessed why he had not seen her all evening. Hiashi crossed his arms over his chest and asked:
"And why not? Did you arrive late or did something else keep you from reaching the ballroom?"
"Well yeah, I guess you can say that. We ran into Neji and Tenten… well actually they ran into us quite literally in fact, we then followed them out of curiosity since they were running and we had no idea why they were. We found them in the royal garden and- Father! Why did they arrest Tenten?" Hinata suddenly yelled out looking hopefully up at her father, searching for answers.
Hiashi's eyes widened.
His daughter knew!?
Hiashi did not say anything. He kept himself silent.
"Father? Please answer me! What happened? Why Tenten? What has she done to deserve this unfair treatment? She is my friend and Neji is my cousin, I deserve to know if something has happened to either of them! Father?" Hinata begged her father to answer her plead.
"Hinata dear, I would love to explain everything to you, but even I find it hard to believe and even harder to understand, but because you are my daughter I will try and explain it to you, but only if I am allowed too," Hiashi paused and turned to look at the royal knight, "Am I allowed?" Hiashi asked the knight.
"If your daughter and her companions promise not to tell everyone else unless they have been given the permission to, then I guess I can allow you to explain the situation to them" The royal knight said.
Hinata looked at Kiba, Ino and Naruto, who all nodded their heads before she turned back and looked at the knight while she said with a bow:
"We promise"
"Okay, you can tell her meanwhile I will go down and bring your nephew back up here, I think he has been giving more than enough time to talk with his friend" The royal knight when made his way towards the door, which leaded down to the catacombs.
Hiashi watched as the knight opened the door and walked down the stairs before he looked back at his daughter and said:
"The crown princess has been kidnapped by an unknown enemy"
All of them looked at Hiashi with their eyes wide open and their mouth agape.
"W-wait what?" Ino spoke out in shock.
"The crown princess to the Konoha Kingdom, Sakura, was kidnapped in the middle of the evening by an unknown stranger, mostly likely an enemy from another region" Hiashi repeated himself.
"I do not believe it, how can this be?" Hinata mumbled in disbelieve.
"But what does Tenten has to do with this?" Ino asked.
"Well…" Hiashi rubbed his chin with a finger, "It is actually very hard to explain, but she was arrested because she may hold knowledge about the person, who they presume is the one who kidnapped the princess" Hiashi attempted to explain the situation the best he could.
"Presume? So they are not even sure, is that even fair? To hold her as a prisoner because they are assuming things!" Hinata said with a somewhat outrageous look on her face.
"I know, Hinata, that is why I do not blame Neji if he does something that is considered illegal" Hiashi told Hinata, whose eyes widened.
"What? Illegal? But what would he-Oh" Hinata stopped herself as she finally understood what her father meant.
Neji was going to free Tenten and run away with her.
"What are you two talking about? Do what?" Naruto jumped into the conversation with a confused look on his face.
"Naruto, what my father meant is-" Hinata was cut off by the royal knight coming running from the catacombs yelling:
"Hiashi! That nephew of yours has freed his friend and escaped with her!"
"What!? He has?" Hiashi asked, acting the role of the shocked uncle to perfection.
"Yes! Now, help me alert my comrades and the queen! We do not have much time, they could be anywhere for all we know!" The knight spoke before he ran off to alert the other knights and his queen. Hiashi nodded and followed the knight, leaving the rest behind.
"Oh!" Naruto, Kiba and Ino all understood what Hinata and Hiashi meant now.
It all made sense now.
Meanwhile Neji and Tenten, who had been running for quite some time now, finally seemed to have reached the end of the pathway.
"Is that…" Tenten mumbled as they ran, looking closely just to make sure she was not hallucinating, her face brightened up, "It is! Light! Neji, I see light! I think we are reaching the end of the pathway! Freedom here we come!" Tenten shouted in joy as she continued to run.
Neji looked at where Tenten was looking and grinned. Quite true indeed, a faint light, but it was late anyway so what else could they except? Sunlight?
"I think you are right, Tenten! It is also about time, I was starting to believe that we would never reach the end of it, but to call it freedom is probably too great of a word. We are far from free when we are out of this castle" Neji spoke seriously, knowing the consequences they both are facing after defying the queen.
"Yeah, yeah, I know! Just trying to look on the bright side" Tenten told Neji, sticking her tongue out at him before returning her focus back to the road.
Neji chuckled on his breath and said:
"Well at least one of us are enjoying themselves"
"But you like it" Tenten winked at Neji, whose face turned slightly pink as he recalled the kiss he had shared with Tenten only moments ago.
FLASHBACK
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.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Her lips were so soft" Neji thought to himself, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed over his own reaction and thoughts, "I should not be thinking about what happened in the catacombs! Nor should I be thinking about how Tenten's soft lips was or how right it felt to kiss her! We were both cut up in the moment! Neither of us meant anything with it!"
"Neji, is there something wrong? Should we stop running and take a break?" Tenten asked Neji as she took notice in the tense look on Neji's face.
"I am fine, I was just.. thinking, and there is no way we are stopping now, if we do they might catch up to us and then we will both be locked away in prison for more than just assumptions" Neji explained to Tenten, keeping a steady tempo as he spoke to Tenten, not slowing down one bit.
Neji and Tenten both turned their full attention towards the road ahead of them and as the pathway started to brighten up as they reached the end of the tunnel they both could not help, but to smile on the inside.
Maybe it was possible to get as far away from castle and the Konoha kingdom after all.
"We need to try and track down the kidnapper," Neji thought to himself as he slowly looked at Tenten from the corners of his eyes, "Could Tenten really know who the kidnapper? I need to try asking her about it, I just hope she does not get the wrong idea when I ask her. It is probably best if I wait"
"Neji?" Neji heard Tenten call out his name, he looked to his side.
"Yes, Tenten?" Tenten grinned at him.
"We are out," Neji and Tenten finally reached the end of the tunnel and ran straight into a giant, grassy field, "Now!" Tenten jumped up high, embracing the air.
"Will you keep a low profile? Being outside also means that we can run into anyone, even the Royal knights and the castle guards" Neji told Tenten with a grin.
"But it is almost night! No one from the castle can see us unless they can see in the dark, which I highly doubt" Tenten stuck out her tongue.
That was almost true. The sun was starting to vanish from the face of the earth, but was still not completely night yet.
Neji could not help himself, but to feel relieved that the royal knight had giving him an oil lamp when he went down to talk to Tenten, otherwise it would probably had taken a war to get out of the tunnel and to find out where they were after they had found their way out of it.
"We better make sure not to use up all the oil, we will need it when night falls completely" Neji thought to himself as he looked down on the bronze oil lamp, which had the shape of a lamp. Neji sighed in relief over that the flame was still intact despite all the running and Neji prayed that it will stay that way until they have found a safe place to hide over the night.
"When the sun rises we need to go look for supplies" Neji reminded himself.
The two continued to run with the wind blowing against them, making their long hair dance along with the wind. They ran until they had finally managed to reach the forest, where they could hide themselves away from the Royal knights and whoever else was after them.
Now they just needed to find a good place to rest, tomorrow was going to be an even tougher day.
Hinata was sitting down waiting along with Kiba, Ino and Naruto for someone to tell them what to do with themselves. An hour or so had almost passed since her father had been told that her cousin, Neji, had helped freeing Tenten and left with her to where God only knows.
She was worried for both Neji and Tenten.
Clenching the skirt of her dress while leaning forward, looking down at her own lap and clenching hands tightly. Trying so hard not to cry, feeling so useless and so helpless. Why could she not help them? Why was she so pathetic? So useless, helpless, a burden to those she cared for… Why? Why was she? Feeling so powerless…
"Please be alright, please!" Hinata begged inside her head, hoping someone would hear her pray and help her cousin and Tenten. They did not deserve to be viewed as traitors nor outlaws! They were just trying to figure out the truth, to help!
To clear their names and do what is the right thing to do!
Follow their heart!
"Hinata, Ino, Kiba, Naruto? What are you all doing here?" A familiar voice suddenly spoke.
Hinata slowly lifted up her distressed looking face to see who this familiar voice belonged to...
"Shikamaru?" Hinata blinked as she saw that the person, who had spoken was none other than Neji's friend, Shikamaru. A feeling of hope overwhelmed her, although she did not know why, but for some reason she felt as if Shikamaru could help not just her, but her cousin and Tenten as well.
"Hinata, what are you…" Shikamaru paused himself as he recalled that she was not alone, "and those three doing here?" Shikamaru asked with a somewhat blank yet confused expression.
"We are waiting for my father to return and tell us what is going to happen if…" Hinata stopped herself, "You are aware of what has happened?" Hinata decided to ask Shikamaru.
Shikamaru sighed and replied:
"Yes, I am afraid I do. Not good, not just the fact that the crown princess has been kidnapped, but also because of the situation Tenten and Neji are in now… well Tenten are in to be honest, Neji is just the one having to deal with the knowledge"
"Well actually they both have too" Hinata admitted.
"What do you mean by that?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.
"About an hour ago one of the royal knights went down in the catacombs to get Neji, who had received permission to talk to Tenten, only to come back up while yelling that Neji had freed Tenten and ran away with her" Hinata explained the new situation as shortly as she could to Shikamaru.
"He what?" Shikamaru pretty much yelled out in shock.
"Shikamaru?" Hinata had clearly been startled by Shikamaru's sudden outburst.
"That idiot! Getting himself into this mess! What was he thinking in the first place? He could have helped Tenten in a much better way than by doing something as foolish as this! Going against his own Kingdom, becoming an outlaw and completely ruining his chances of ever becoming a Royal Knight himself! That foolish fool!" Shikamaru continued to ramble on about how stupid Neji's little stunt was until…
"Will you quit the rambling for a second, sir genius? While your friend definitely did not choice to make the wisest decision, his decision had one really smart thing. It had a reason, which makes it a wise decision even if it was made in the heat of the moment without any planning" A serious, mature female voice spoke from behind Shikamaru.
Shikamaru turned around, quickly recognizing the voice, while the others simply found themselves looking straight at the person with curious expression.
A beautiful woman with sandy blond hair and sea green eyes dressed in warrior clothes with a serious expression on her face stood tall before them, hands on hips.
"Temari, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked the blond woman, who ignored him and walked ahead towards the others.
"Who is she, Shikamaru? A friend?" Kiba and Naruto asked Shikamaru teasefully.
"Will you two shut up?" Shikamaru asked, clearly annoyed by their teasing. Teasing was so troublesome, what a drag.
"The name is Temari. I am princess of the Suna Kingdom and general of the Suna Elite Troops" Temari spoke out proudly with her hands resting on her hips.
"Princess?" "Of the Suna Kingdom?" "General?" Was the reaction from Ino, Kiba and Naruto while Hinata reacted by saying:
"It is a pleasure to finally have the honor of meeting you, your majesty" Hinata bowed down politely, showing her respect like she had been taught to do since she was a little child.
"No need to bow nor call me majesty, Temari is just fine, dear" Temari told Hinata with a grin on her face.
"So, Shikamaru, do tell us how did you suddenly get to know the princess of Suna? I do not recall you mentioning being on friendly terms with her or anything" Ino tried to push Shikamaru into telling him what he had been hiding from them.
A faint blush appeared on Shikamaru cheeks, but he quickly shook it off and said:
"Actually tonight is the first time ever seeing and speaking to her, I ran into her by accident and-" Shikamaru was cut short by Temari, who said:
"Ahem! Correction, he followed me after seeing me with along my brother and we ended up having a conversation"
Shikamaru glared at Temari with slightly pink cheeks while he exclaimed:
"I did not follow you! I just happen to pass you by in the garden!"
"Sure, sure, just keep telling yourself that, but I know that you are lying! This is what actually happened!" Temari pointed out as she explained how she and Shikamaru had met each other.
FLASHBACK
"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.
"Okay, Nara, what is your business with me then? You could simply just have walked right by me without stopping to sneak up on me, have you not been taught that it is not nice to sneak up on others" Temari spoke as she stood up and walked over towards Shikamaru with her hands resting on her hips.
Shikamaru chuckled.
"So the rumors are true" Shikamaru mumbled under his chuckling.
"What rumors?" Temari demanded an answer.
"That the women from the Suna kingdom have quite the temper, but enough joking around. What I was curious about you was that you are a woman and a warrior, which is not something very common around here. Not many have heard the term 'female warrior' and even less has let alone seen one, which was why I approached you in the first place" Shikamaru explained to Temari.
"So you approached me because I am a woman, who happen to carry a sword with me?" Temari raised an eyebrow at him skeptically.
"Well the whole woman with a weapon thing is something I am a little familiar with, what I am not familiar with is that you are a female warrior, which is a rare sight. Not many would allow a woman to fight alongside men" Shikamaru told Temari, who smirked and said:
"Well I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am far from an ordinary woman and you better start showing me some respect"
"And why is that, miss?" Shikamaru asked, pressing on to get some answers out of the blond warrior lady.
Temari merely chuckled and replied:
"Because I am not an ordinary warrior, I am the general of the Suna Elite Troops and princess of the Suna kingdom, Temari Sabaku, pleasure to meet you, servant of the Konoha queen"
Shikamaru seemed rather surprised by what Temari had just revealed, he had honesty not seen that one coming. A princess? Not just any princess, the princess of Suna! And she is only general?
END OF FLASHBACK
"You all should just have seen the look on his face after I told him, it was priceless!" Temari said as she was laughing over the mere thought of the look on Shikamaru's face.
"Will you stop that? Was it even necessary to tell the whole thing?" Shikamaru asked, clearly embarrassed by what Temari had told the others.
"And leave out the good part? Not in a million years!" Temari grinned at Shikamaru, enjoying pushing his buttons and making him blush out of embarrassment.
Naruto and Kiba was both pretty much rolling on the floor, laughing out loud with tears falling due to all the laughing. Hinata was giggling quietly, trying her best not to do it too obvious just to save Shikamaru's pride for the humiliation. Ino grinning devilish at Shikamaru.
"About time that mister 'know-it-all' became the one to be laughed at! I already like this Suna princess, anyone who can embarrass Shikamaru, cannot be such a bad person" Ino thought to herself.
"I hate you" Shikamaru mumbled to Temari, looking at her from the corners of his eyes.
"No worries, darling, the feeling is mutual" Temari smiled smugly right back at him.
*Click*
The sound of the door being opened up and then closed made the whole group turn their attention off Shikamaru and Temari and on to whoever had entered the room.
Hinata was the first one to react by standing up and running over to the person while calling out:
"Father! You are back!"
Hiashi rubbed his forehead just before he looked at his eldest daughter silently.
"So, any news on Neji and Tenten yet?" Hinata asked, feeling a bit uneasy due to her father not responding to her when she ran over to him. She had a bad feeling about it.
Her father in a slow motion shook his head 'no' while he replied:
"Sadly no, we have searched the entire catacombs, but have yet to find any sign or evidence of them. As far as I have been told the majesty and the King of Suna has arrange a bigger manhunt after them tomorrow, where they will be searching all over the whole region"
"A manhunt? But neither Tenten nor Neji has done anything wrong aside from… well going against the majesty's orders" Hinata said to her father. Was it not taking it a little bit too far to start a literally manhunt after two who are innocent in the kidnapping of the crown princess? Sometimes things just do not make any sense at all!
"Tenten and Neji are not the only ones they are searching for" Hiashi informed his daughter.
Hinata looked at her father with a surprised look on her pale face as she spoke with a low voice:
"They are searching for the princess' kidnapper? But he could be anywhere now and they do not even know what the kidnapper looks like"
"True, I agree, but they need to narrow down the kidnapper's whereabouts in order to find him and despite the fact that they are not entirely sure about the identity of the kidnapper, they still have one suspects, who one of the Royal Knights know from his past" Hiashi explained.
"So Tenten is not the only one, who knows the presumed kidnapper! Then why is she the one they treat as a criminal?" Hinata almost literally yelled into her father's face. How angry she felt at the moment. Angry and bitter.
"Tenten deserves a better treatment! I am happy Neji did the right thing! I just wish I knew their well being, I hope they are alright, please!" Hinata pleaded to herself.
"That is the queen and the Royal knights' decision, not mine. They have their reasons. Reasons, which I know nothing of. Sorry, Hinata, there is nothing else I can do. I am powerless in this matter" Hiashi told his daughter, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he understood the bitter anger she was feeling.
Because his nephew had felt it too, which was why he did as he did.
"Oh my dear brother, if you only could see how brave and honorable your son is. He reminds me so much of you with the same sense of justice and honor as you, if you had been here then I am sure you will have been nothing, but proud of the man he has grown into becoming" Hiashi told himself as he thought about his twin brother and proud he would have been of his son.
"What are you two talking about? Care to share what is going on?" The Suna princess butted into the father-daughter conversation, she had simply grown impatient over their long secret conversation.
"And you are, miss?" Hiashi looked at the sand-colored blond lady, who proudly answered him:
"Temari, princess Temari of the Suna kingdom"
"Ahhh I remember the Suna king mentioning that his other son and only daughter where somewhere around the castle," Hiashi said before he bowed down politely and said, "It is an honor to meet you, princess Temari. I am Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's father and a close friend to the queen of Konoha"
"Pleasure meeting you, Lord Hyuuga" Temari said to the elder Hyuuga before she returned to where she was, "Now when we have gotten over the introductions, what where you two talking about anyway?"
"The current situation," Hiashi started, "You are aware of the missing princess, right?"
Temari nodded her head.
"We have been informed of what is happening, Hiashi" Shikamaru joined the conversation as he walked up to them.
"Shikamaru, you are here as well," Hiashi pointed out before he continued on, "You know what has happened to Neji and Tenten?" Hiashi asked, looking straight at Shikamaru, who sighed and said:
"I am afraid so, not good"
"Exactly, but I guess you can say that I am partly to blame of it… in a way" Hiashi admitted.
"WHAT!" Everyone shouted out.
"What do you mean by that, father?" Hinata asked, looking at her father both in shock and confusement.
"Well I might have told Neji that I would not blame him if he did something like that, not literally, but I did give him some hints" Hiashi explained to them.
"That was quite stupid, Hiashi, you could be put to blame if they found out about it" Shikamaru told Hiashi. Which made Hinata worried.
"Father to blame? But he… just did was the right thing to do! Could he really have put himself in a bad light?" Hinata thought to herself in distress.
"For what exactly? For telling my nephew that no matter what he does, I will not put in to blame! I never once told him to run away with Tenten, he did that himself and I do not blame him for his decision because I know he did it because he felt that it was the right thing to do. If they want to blame me for anything then it must be for convincing Tenten and Neji to go to the royal gathering in the first place! It was a mistake of mine. I should not have brought them along. It is my fault things turned out this way" Hiashi admitted.
Hinata took her father by the hand and said:
"It is not your fault, father, no one could have predicted this evening's events, no one!"
"She is right, Lord Hyuuga" Naruto surprisely spoke out, "You could never have foreseen the future, sometimes things happen for a reason. Maybe this happened for a reason too?"
Everyone just stared at Naruto completely dumbfounded. Who knew Naruto could be so deep?
Hinata merely smiled at Naruto, she knew. She knew all along.
"Naruto" Hinata thought to herself.
After that everything turned down a bit until one of the guards informed them that the queen had told her servants to prepare a room for each of them, so they all could rest and restore their energy. Tomorrow was going to be hectic, very stressful day.
The sun had just begun risen. The nature was slowly starting to wake up. Birds singing softly. Animals looking for food. The wind softly blowing into the trees making them dance alongside it.
Peacefulness.
"True peacefulness indeed" Neji thought to himself as he looked up at the still dark sky, which was slowly starting to lighten up.
It was beautiful.
The way the sun just seemed to lighten everything up, covering it up in a yellowish orange light. The transition from dark blue to blue and then to orange was truly an amazing sight. A sight Neji rarely had had the pleasure of seeing, spending most of his time training and nothing else.
"It is beautiful, right?" Neji was startled by Tenten, who he had thought was still asleep.
He raised himself up into a sitting position, using his arms and hands to lean on, and looked at her as he answered:
"Yes, it is very beautiful. I do not believe I have seen anything more beautiful in my life before"
"You have never seen a sunrise before?" Tenten blinked at him surprisely. Was it even possible?
Neji smiled softly and replied:
"Yeah, sadly I have not, sadly. I guess I have been too busy training to become a Royal Knight, hehe what a waste of time" Neji hissed the word 'royal knight' out in bitter manner.
"And to think I once wanted to become one, how pitiful" He thought to himself sarcastically.
"What a shame, I have seen plenty, but they never look the same" Tenten said to Neji, who looked at her curiously. Tenten was lying on the ground using her arms as a pillow while she looked up the orange colored sky.
"What do you mean by that? It is because you travel a lot?" Neji asked Tenten, who shook her head.
"No, they just never look the same there is always a slight difference and I do not travel that much. In fact, traveling here to the Konoha kingdom was my actual first time traveling outside of my own region" Tenten admitted.
Neji was beyond surprised.
"Close your mouth, Neji, unless you want something to fly into to it" Tenten commented teasefully causing Neji to blush. Tenten giggled at him.
"Not funny, Tenten" Neji told Tenten semi-annoyed, but Tenten just smiled at him before she asked:
"So, what is the plan now, Neji?"
"First off, we need to get some supplies. Secondly, we need to disguise ourselves. And thirdly, we better think about leaving this place before the knights finds us" Neji explained to Tenten, who nodded and said:
"Understood. So, about the disguise part… ehehe" Tenten pressed up innocently as if she was seeking something.
"What about it?" Neji looked at Tenten with a lifted eyebrow. That girl was up to something, but what?
"Can I… well cut your hair?" Tenten asked, finishing with a big, innocent smile-like grin.
Neji froze solid.
Cut his hair? H-h-his h-h-hair? His pride and honor? His symbol of being a Hyuuga?
"W-w-why?" Neji stuttered out, afraid of the answer. Why him? Why him? Why him? Why not someone else?
"Because it makes you to easy to recognize, also I do not believe you can change your own eye color, so you need a different hair style" Tenten explained while holding a blade in her right hand.
Wait a minute! A blade?
"Tenten, where did that blade come from?" Neji asked Tenten, looking at her suspiciously.
"That is a s-e-c-r-e-t, but I never leave without at least one of my precious weapons" Tenten said while she caresses her blade like kitten.
"I figured that much, I just could not help, but to wonder where you keep most of them hiding… nevermind, we better go look for some supplies" Neji brushed the dirt of his clothes and looked at Tenten, "Hand me over that blade, Tenten" Neji held a hand forward.
"Why should I?" Tenten held the blade close to her in a protective manner.
"I need it in order to shorten some of my hair and while we are at it do you happen to have some sort of robe or ribbon on you that I could borrow?" Neji asked Tenten.
"Of course, I do, why?" Tenten asked Neji as she handed a ribbon alongside her precious blade over to him.
Neji took the ribbon and blade. While holding the ribbon with his mouth he cut of the ends of the hair he normally wore over his shoulder, he then took the ribbon and pulled the rest of his hair in a low ponytail.
"Done, thanks for letting me borrow your blade" Neji thanked Tenten, giving her back her blade. Tenten took it and lifted her skirt up before hiding the blade under the skirt. She then ran her fingers through her own hair, messing it up before pulling it up into a hair ponytail.
"Okay, I am ready to leave" Tenten said with a grin.
Neji raised an eyebrow at her, looking her up and down.
"The first thing we need to find is some new clothes for you" Neji commented.
"Why? It looks fine!" Tenten looked at Neji with mouth agape.
"We cannot have you run around in a ruined formal gown. Someone could recognize it for all we know" Neji pointed out. Tenten sighed out deeply:
"Fine, you win, but I get to choice my own clothes this time!"
"Fine, have it you way" Neji replied to Tenten, who said right back:
"Good"
Suddenly Tenten remembered something and looked at Neji while saying:
"Ehmm Neji?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Neji asked.
"We are in the middle of the forest, right?" Tenten asked Neji, who answered:
"Well not in the middle of it, but we are in a forest"
"What forest exactly?" Tenten then asked, which caused Neji to feel unsure because he did not know which forest they were in!
"I have no idea to tell you the truth" Neji admitted.
"Neither do I" Tenten admitted as well.
"Well no matter which forest we are in, we have no choice, but to continue walking until we find someone, who can help us. Hopefully someone lives inside the forest because it is best if we stay inside it at least for now" Neji explained, which Tenten agreed in:
"You are right, I guess, but it is still too bad we have known idea where we are exactly"
"Why is that, Tenten?" Neji asked Tenten out of curiosity.
"Just because well… nevermind me, Neji, I am just over thinking, shall we leave or not?" Tenten asked, pretending that her previous comment meant nothing at all.
"Is there something wrong, Tenten? You seem a bit out of yourself" Neji looked at Tenten, feeling somewhat worried for her.
"It is nothing, trust me, nothing I cannot deal with myself" Tenten assured Neji before she began walking. Neji stood behind watching as Tenten walked off before he followed her a few steps behind. The sudden change in her mood and personality worried him, but he decided to not to ask her any further about.
"Hopefully she will come to me and tell me eventually once she feels ready" Neji hoped to himself as he followed Tenten.
Neji and Tenten had been walking for quite some time now, they were both starting to feel both thirsty and hungry, but so far they had not seen anything, but trees and more forest.
*Stomach growling*
"I need food!" Tenten yammered in her own misery.
"Stop complaining, Tenten, it does not help at all" Neji tried to encourage Tenten, which failed sadly.
"I am not complaining! My stomach is!" Tenten corrected Neji while referring to her stomach.
"I know Tenten, but the complains are coming out of your mou-"
*Stomach growling*
Neji felt his face heat up and he found himself frozen still.
How embarrassed.
Tenten began laughing loudly at him, which only made him feel even more embarrassed.
The nerve of her!
"It is not funny, Tenten, quit laughing!" Neji tried to make her stop of humiliating laughing at him!
But Tenten just kept on laughing while she said:
"I am sorry, but it is just so funny! The look on your face, it was just priceless! Hahaha I will forever remember that face! For all eternity! Hahaha "
"Tenten" Neji spoke in a warning tone.
Tenten's laughing slowly decreased and she whipped some tears of her face as she said:
"Okay, okay, I will stop, sorry"
Neji opened his mouth to say something, but something caught his attention making him shut his mouth and study what his eyes had spotted a little more closely.
"Ehm Neji, something the matter?" Tenten asked Neji out of curiosity, not to mention he was ignoring her and she hated being ignored for no reason.
"I think I see a house from the distance" Neji answered as he continued to look at the object before his eyes.
"A house? Here in the middle of nowhere? You are sure you are not hallucination?" Tenten looked at Neji, founding it very hard to believe his words.
Neji's eyes brightened up before he replied Tenten:
"It is a house!" Neji suddenly began sprinting towards the location of said house. Tenten completely taking by surprise just ran after him unsure of whether he was telling the trust or not. For all she knows he could be lying just to make her forget how hungry she is!
"He better be telling the truth, otherwise he is so dead!" Tenten promised herself as she ran as fast as she could behind Neji.
And much to her very surprise a house suddenly appeared before them. An old house made partly of wood and partly from stones stood, hiding behind the giant trees of the forest.
To Tenten it looked old, but in a kinda cozy way. It reminded of a bit of a smaller version of the house she grew up in with her adopted family. An old, cozy home with a chimney.
"It smells like home too!" Tenten pointed out to herself.
"What did I tell you, Tenten?" Neji looked at Tenten with a smug expression on his face.
"That cocky bastard" Tenten thought to herself with a glint in her eyes.
"How did you see? It because I did not" Tentenasked Neji, who quickly answered her:
"I did not exactly see it, but I saw the smoke coming out from the tree tops and made a lucky guess"
"And here I thought you happened to have had supernatural eyesight or something, but you just made a lucky guess" Tenten looked at Neji with both envy and surprise. Lucky bastard!
"Pretty much. Now, shall we go and knock on the door? Or should we just stand here and wither away?" Neji asked with a teaseful glint in the eye.
"Hmmmm let us knock on and hope that someone lives here, what other choice do we have?" Tenten replied while she shrugged her shoulders.
"True" Neji nodded his head before he walked over to the house, with Tenten behind him, and knocked on the front door.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
From the other side they could here footsteps coming towards them, which gave them a sense of hope. At least someone was home!
The door handle was pulled down and the door opened up. Neji and Tenten were greeted with a quite large-looking adult with long red, hair.
"Well that was a surprise" The man spoke in a calm, kind sounding tone, "I did not know that we were having any guests"
"Ehm we apologize for the sudden interruption, Mister Ehm…" Neji began.
"Choza, Choza Akimichi, and you two are?" The man, Choza, asked kindly.
"The name is Neji and this is Tenten, we are travelers, who kind of got a bit lost here in the woods and we-" Tenten cut in:
"We were wondering if we could stay here and rest, before we continue our journey?" Tenten asked politely.
"Of course, you two arrived just in time for lunch. I am sure my wife will not mind a few people joining us, she always tends to make too much food" Choza said before he turned around and called out, "Darling! Is it okay if two travelers join us for lunch?"
His wife's head pepped in from the kitchen and she quickly spotted Neji and Tenten, which caused her to fuss over them:
"Those poor young sweethearts, of course they can join us! Just look at them, they are nothing, but skin and bones!"
Neji and Tenten were then lead inside by Choza's extremely motherly wife, who even insisted on giving them some new clothes.
"Oh there is no need to, you are way to kind, my clothes is just fine" Tenten tried to excuse herself, but the woman just kept on insisting until Tenten gave in to her kindness. Neji was a bit easier to convince, but he also promised to repay them back once they had finished their traveling.
"I promise your kindness will be repaid once we have finished our traveling" Neji promised politely.
"There is no need to, we rarely get visitors over. Our son would have been so frilled had he been here" Choza said to them.
"You have a son?" Tenten asked out of pure curiosity.
"We have and we are so proud of him" The woman said in pure delight.
"If I may ask, why?" Neji asked.
"He works as a chief for the queen herself, it is so hard to imagine that my little boy has achieved such high position just by doing what he loves, cook food" The proud mother whipped a few tears of her eyes.
"I can understand your feelings, it is not everyone who gets to work and serve the queen" Neji said with a small smile. It felt… nice to meet the proud parents of someone, who serves the queen. Just like he once wished to have.
"But that dream is over, right? Because of my actions" Neji sighed to himself.
"I am sorry to ask, but do you happen to have a map over this region that we could borrow? We are kind of lost, which is why we ended up here at your house in the first place" Tenten told the kind couple.
"As a matter of fact we do, quite a few actually. We have a hard time throwing things out" The woman answered, "Choza dear, can you get one of them?" She then asked her husband, who answered with a smile:
"Sure, darling" Choza left to look after one of their maps. Not many moments passed before he returned with a map, rolled together, in his hand.
"Here you two go" Choza said as he handled the map over to Tenten, who took it and attached it to bag they had received by the couple to hold their supplies in.
"Thank you, we really appreciate all the help, not mention the food and the supplies. Thank you so much!" Neji thanked the kind couple before he and Tenten stood up and made their leave.
"Have a safe trip!" The couple called out after them while waving them goodbye.
"What a cute little couple, they really suit each other, right dear?" The woman asked her husband, who agreed:
"They do, darling, they really do"
Neji and Tenten waved back at them before they smiled at each other and continued their journey this time with a goal in mind.
"Find the princess and clear our names!"
To be continued…
A/N: That was chapter 16, a bit longer than I first thought it would be, but I guess I kinda found it hard to stop once I had begun xD Almost 9.000 words, oh my!
Yep, yep, Neji and Tenten met Chouji's parents. Not sure why I choice them, perhaps because they are so kind and caring.
Next chapter will focus on Neji and Tenten's journey, not to mention Tenten's past!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, leave a review and tell me what you think ^^