A/N: Sorry for the long wait, things come up and school began -.-' Let's just say that I have been very busy and it sadly meant that it took me longer to finish this chapter.
It's a bit shorter than the former chapter, but I hope you all will enjoy it very much anyway!
This chapter includes a lot of flashbacks!
… = Time skip in flashbacks, they can go from being one minute to many years (it is either stated or implied)
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, Shikatema, 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 17: A Sense of Memories
Neji and Tenten wondered off on their joyful quest on finding the kidnapped princess and her kidnapper with their stomachs full and their minds at peace.
Well… mostly at peace…
"Tenten, hand the bag over to me" Neji told Tenten, who was currently busy eating a piece of bread from the bag with their supplies in!
"No. Why should I? I can take care of it just fine" Tenten said as she continued to chew on the bread piece she had taken from the bag.
"No, you cannot, we have to save the food for the journey, we have only been walking for a little over an hour and you are already eating AGAIN!" Neji harshly explained, taking the bread out of Tenten's hand as well as taking the bag off her shoulder, "I will hold things from now on"
Tenten growled at him and hissed annoyingly:
"Fine, be a jerk for all I care" Turning her head to the side while pouting her lips.
"A jerk? Tenten, do you not think you are acting a little bit childish? If you eat all our supplies within a day, you are going to regret it, we were lucky to run into that kind couple otherwise we would have starved and who knows? Maybe we would have been captured or worse died out of exhausting" Neji explained to Tenten, who with pouting lips she said in a low whisper:
"You are right, sorry"
"I am sorry, but what did you say? I am afraid I did not hear you?" Neji teased Tenten, who turned red in the face and said loudly:
"I say that you were right and I was sorry!"
"I heard you the first time, there is no need to shout, Tenten" Neji chuckled at Tenten, enjoying the look on her face. It was priceless!
"So, Neji, why do you think that couple was so kind towards us, I mean they barely know us, we could have been murders or thieves, so why? Why were they so kind towards us?" Tenten asked Neji , not understanding the old couple's kindness towards them at all.
"Why are you asking, Tenten?" Neji asked Tenten out of curiosity.
"I am…," Tenten paused for a moment, "just not used to people being so kind without a reason, I guess" Tenten answered with a hint of unsureness in her voice.
"My uncle and Hinata were kind to you without much of a reason, and I, myself, was also kind to you although you did not deserve it" Neji said, referring to how she was when they first meet each other.
"Kind you say? I would call it desperate, not kind" Tenten looked at Neji smugly as she spoke.
"Very funny, Tenten, you know well enough that I was far from desperate" Neji grinned at Tenten, chuckling under his breath.
"If you say so" Tenten teasefully smiled at him before she asked:
"Do you think Hinata and the others know what has happened?"
Neji looked at her for a moment before he looked up at the blue sky above them thoughtfully before he answered:
"Perhaps, I truly do not know" He sighed afterwards.
"He has to, does he not? I mean she and the others will start to wonder where we are, would they not?" Tenten pointed out.
"He could come up with some sort of lie about us staying at the castle for some special training or something, who knows?" Neji explained to Tenten, who responded by saying:
"I see, so… for all we know they could be walking around not knowing that we now are outlaws"
"Yeah, but then again, who knows how long we might me gone, eventually the truth must come out, not just to Hinata and the others, but to the whole kingdom, they need to know what is going on eventually" Neji reminded Tenten, who said:
"I hope they are alright, whether they know what is going on or not"
"Yeah, me too, I hope my uncle is being honest with Hinata. She, at least, deserves to know what has happened to her cousin" Neji spoke in a low voice.
"You really care about her, do you not? It is like you are her brother or something" Tenten commented, looking at Neji with a soft smile as she continued to walk next to him.
"Well we did grow up close like siblings, although after my father's death I grew rather distance to her and everyone else in my family, but yeah, I care a great deal for her. She, my uncle and Hanabi are the once whom I am closes to in my family, everyone else kind of ignored my existence" Neji admitted.
"Ignored you existence? How come?" Tenten asked, having this odd feeling in her heart. Like she knew that feeling, the feeling of being ignored…
Of being abandoned.
"The curse of being born to the second born in the family, I guess you can say. I inherit nothing, I got no rights, I am just a waste of space and the only useful thing I can do is to be a swordsman and serve my family, to follow my duty" Neji bitterly explained.
"And yet, your uncle cares about you like you were his own son" Tenten looked at Neji as she spoke.
"Yeah, although I am not his son" Neji said, a smile finding its way to his mouth.
"Your uncle kind of reminds me of the people, who adopted me when I was an infant. They could have left me there to die or killed me out of pity and mercy, but instead they chose to take me with them and give a place I could call home" Tenten told Neji with a sincere voice, smiling softly at the memories running through her mind.
"Home… my happy home" Tenten thought to herself as a single tear found its way from her eyes, down her cheekbone.
Neji walked over to Tenten, stopping her in her walking and whipping the tear off her cheek.
"Tenten, are you okay? I am sorry if I brought back sad memories" Neji apologized, not liking seeing Tenten looking sad nor seeing her crying.
"I am okay, it is not your fault, I was the one, who started this conversation, not you" Tenten assured Neji that it was not his fault.
Neji looked at Tenten and felt a desire to embrace her, but instead of embracing her he decided to ask her:
"Tenten, I know that you might not want to, but I have a feeling that you hiding a lot of things away from everyone that is secretly hurting you and it might help if you told some of them to… maybe me? Maybe I could help cease your inner pain?"
Tenten looked at Neji for a moment before she sighed and said:
"I guess I cannot keep on hiding my past, I mean you have told me yours..so, I guess it is only fair if I told you mine"
Neji smiled softly at Tenten before he suggested:
"There is a lake not far from here. Maybe we should go there to talk, it might make things easier for you if we are sitting down rather than standing"
Tenten did not speak, but instead she nodded her head and the two walked over to the lake, which were only a few meters away from the road they were walking on.
Sitting down on a quite large stone Tenten took a deep breath before she began:
"As you know my real parents abandoned me because I was a girl and I was adopted by a kind couple, who found me on the road crying for my mother. The couple who found me was Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha, head of the infamous Uchiha family"
Neji's eyes widened up at this knew found information.
"Tenten grew up with the Uchiha family? The family that was massacred by the Royal Knights for conspiring with the Iwa Kingdom? The family that was the reason why my father was killed?"
Neji was in shock. Firstly, because of Tenten's ties to the Uchiha family. Secondly, because it could mean that the presumed kidnapper was a surviving member of the said family. And thirdly, because he could not bring himself to hate Tenten even if she was practical a member of the family that backstabbed the Konoha Kingdom and the reason why his father was killed, instead he felt as if he and Tenten had more in common than he had first thought.
"Neji, are you okay?" Tenten suddenly spoke, bringing Neji back to his senses.
"Oh sorry, I spaced out, please continue where you left off" Neji told Tenten to carry on, determined to know about Tenten's upbringing. Curious about knowing what kind of family the Uchihas was.
"Mikoto and Fugaku, or as I like to call them mom and dad, brought me back to their home and I become a part of their family, the daughter they never had. My brothers… well stepbrothers, Itachi and Sasuke, became the most important people in my life… I loved them like brothers even though we were not related by blood, which was hard for them, especially Sasuke, to accept when my adopted parents decided to tell us the truth. I was seven years old back then…"
FLASHBACK
A little girl with brown messy hair pulled into two pigtails sneaked up on her raven-haired brother, who was busy playing with his toy made out of wood.
"Sasuke!" The little brunette yelled in joy before she jumped on top of her brother back much to the surprise of the raven-haired boy, who panicked and accidently tossed his toy into the wall.
"My toy!" The raven-haired boy screamed as he watched in horror was the wooded toy collided with the stone wall.
Must to his relief the toy survived the collision with the wall.
"Thank goodness" The boy sighed in relief before he turned to the girl and asked:
"Why did you do this? My toy could have been destroyed"
"Sorry, but luckily it did not" The girl smiled innocently. The boy pouted before he began poking the girl on her stomach, which caused her to laugh.
"N-no, s-stop! I-it is tickles, S-Sasuke, y-y-you m-meanie!" The girl giggled as she tried to speak properly.
"Payback time, Tenten" Sasuke told her with a smug grin as he continued to tickle Tenten, who could barely stand up straight nor speak properly.
"Sasuke, release Tenten" A mature voice said.
Sasuke pouted his lips before he released Tenten, who collapsed to the ground, sighing out deeply.
"You are no fun, brother" Sasuke childishly stuck his tongue out at his older brother, who simple chuckled in responds.
"Sasuke, you are supposed to be a role model to Tenten" The older brother told the younger.
"Why, big brother? I am way more mature than he is, I should be the role model, not him!" Tenten pointed out smugly.
"No, you are not!" Sasuke disagreed.
"Yes, I am!" Tenten said back at Sasuke.
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"N-"
"Ahem!" Tenten and Sasuke's argue was cut short by their older brother.
"Father and mother wishes to see us all in the dining room" The older brother informed his younger sibling before he made his departure.
"Wait up, brother!" "Wait for us, big brother!"
Tenten and Sasuke ran after their brother in a hurry.
…
Fugaku Uchiha looked at his children, unsure of how to break it all to them. He looked at his wife, Mikoto, for a short moment and she flashed him an encouraging smile while she took his hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze.
Fugaku took a deep breath before he began:
"I am not entirely sure of how I should break everything to you… I might shock you, you might end up hating me and your mother for keeping this secret from you, but I fear that if I do not tell you all now I might never be able to tell you. There is tensing in the air and I fear this war is going to devastate our family, break it apart and ruin it. Although you are all quite young and it might be too early for you to understand, but I hope you will try to"
"Father, what are you talking about? Who is going to break our family apart? And what secret are you talking about?" Fugaku's oldest son asked while both Sasuke and Tenten did not fully understand what their father was talking about. What war?
"Itachi, please let you father finish, everything will be explained just be patient, my dear" Mikoto assured her son, giving him a kind motherly smile.
Itachi bowed his head down apologetically.
"Sorry, mother" He said in a low-spoken tone.
"Go on, dear" Mikoto looked at her husband, waiting for him to continue.
Fugaku coughed before he said:
"The secret is that Tenten is not our daughter, she is not your sister, we are not your real parents, Tenten, I am sorry… we found you back when you were only an infant and brought you to our home to be the daughter we never had"
Tenten blinked in confusement. She did not understand what he meant, what father meant by his words. Not until she saw the sadness and guilt in both his and her mother's eyes.
"They are not mom and dad?" Tenten asked herself utterly confused and lost.
"Lies!" Sasuke shrieked out suddenly, startling both of his parents, his brother and Tenten.
"It is all lies! Lies! Lies! Lies!" Sasuke chanted on.
"S-Sasuke dear, please" Mikoto pleaded her son to stop shouting.
"Tenten is MY sister! She is family! She has always been and always will be! Stop telling lies! Liars burn in hell! Liars are sinners! Sinners kill and do evil things! You are not evil, you are not sinners!" Sasuke broke down in tears, his body shaking and his breath uneven.
Tenten found herself looking in both shock and surprise at the one, who she always had called her brother, feeling her heart ache at the sight of him crying because of her, his sister.
"But I am not his sister, I never was" Tenten bit herself in the lip.
"I should never have told them" Tenten heard her father mumble under his breath.
"They had to know the true, dear, you did the right thing, it just need to sink in" The encouraging words of her mother was spoken to her father.
A single tear escaped Tenten's eyes, but she forced herself not to cry.
"I have to stay strong for Sasuke, for my brother! Whether he is it or not!" Tenten swore to herself before she forced herself to look away from Sasuke, who was still in tears despite Itachi trying to calm him down.
She looked at the two, who she always had called mom and dad before she said:
"You are still mom and dad for me"
Much to Tenten's own surprise she suddenly found herself in the embrace of both Mikoto and Fugaku.
"You will always be our little darling, Tenten" Mikoto whispered to Tenten.
"You might not be our real daughter, but we love like one" Fugaku whispered to Tenten.
Tenten smiled.
"I am still your sister, Sasuke, we are still family!"
…
That very same night Tenten found herself unable to sleep. She kept on seeing the image of Sasuke crying and shouting out in her mind.
She did not like seeing him like this, she decided. She did not like one bit.
Slowly lifting herself up and stepping out her bed. She needed to see Sasuke and tell him that he was her brother no matter what.
On her tiny tiptoes Tenten left her room and made her way down the hallway towards Sasuke's chamber.
As she was closing in on his chamber something caught her ears' attention:
"You wanted to speak to me, father"
Tenten quickly recognized the voice of her older brother, Itachi, coming from the room opposite from where she was currently standing.
Curiosity stuck.
She looked at the Sasuke's door before she turned on her heels and tiptoed over to the room where Itachi's voice came from.
Leaning her ear close to the door, she began listening to the conversation between Itachi and her father.
"There is something you need to know, my son, as the oldest you need to know this" Tenten could hear Fugaku say.
"What it is, father?" Itachi asked, sounding both scared and concern.
"You remember that I mentioned to you, Sasuke and Tenten that I fear that someone is going to break our family apart?" Fugaku asked Itachi with a calm voice.
"Yeah, but I thought you meant…" Itachi was cut off.
"You thought I meant the truth about Tenten's true relation to us, but no, I am afraid that was not what I meant"
"When what did you mean, father?" Itachi asked.
"You know that right now as we speak the war between the Konoha kingdom and the Iwa kingdom is raging? We, the Uchiha family, have since this war begun declared ourselves for neutral, we were not to help nor fight for either side, but it has come to my knowledge that a small part of our family has gotten themselves involved in the war. I have been told that someone has betrayed the Konoha kingdom's trust by giving away secrets to the Iwa kingdom, endangering Konoha warriors fighting the war" Fugaku explained to Itachi.
Tenten, herself, found it hard to understand what her father was talking about, but kept on listening anyway out of curiosity.
"But why would it break our family apart, father? You can just ban them from the family and hand them over to the Konoha kingdom" Itachi said as if the problem was easily solved.
"Sadly, it is not as easy as you make it sound. The Konoha kingdom does not just look at those few at fault… no, they blame all of us. And I fear that the worse is yet to come. Therefore, my son, I need you to promise me something" Fugaku began.
"Promise you something?" Itachi asked confusedly.
"Yes, promise me that if something is to happen to our family and I tell you to run away with Sasuke and Tenten, you will do it! No questions asked, no hesitation! You will just run as far as you can and hide yourself away until it is safe for you to stop hiding" Fugaku told Itachi.
"B-but what about you and mom?" Itachi asked, sounding unsure in his tone.
"We will stay behind and fight. The lives of you, Sasuke and Tenten are more important than anything else in the world to us, you are our future, the Uchiha family's future" Fugaku explained to his older son.
"B-but father, wha-" Itachi was cut off by his father saying:
"No questions asked, son, promise me that"
"O-okay, father" Itachi answered timidly.
"Now, go back to you room and get some sleep, my son, try not to think too much about what I have just told you. Do not let it cloud your mind, son" Fugaku said to Itachi.
Go back to his room? Sleep? This caused Tenten to panic.
"Oh no! I better go before they find out that I have been listening to them!" Tenten panicked before she ran as fast as she could back to her room.
Once lying on her bed again, under the sheets, she thought to herself:
"I wonder what father meant"
Darkness then slowly clouded her mind as she finally was able to fall asleep, having forgotten all about her brother's distress and tears.
"Lies! Lies! Lies! Tenten is my sister!"
…
Tenten was looking at Sasuke, who was avoiding eye contract, looking down at the toy in his hand instead.
"Sasuke, why will you not speak to me?" Tenten asked, sounding somewhat hurt.
"…" Sasuke continued to ignore her.
Tenten grew frustrated and shouted out:
"You are also just one stupid, stupid brother!"
A moment after Tenten's outburst.
"Sorry" Tenten heard Sasuke mumbled. She looked at him with a surprised look on her face.
"What did you say" She asked him confusedly.
Sasuke was looking away, blushing while pouting his lips.
"I am not going to repeat myself" Sasuke told her with red cheeks.
Tenten smiled before she jumped at him, hugging him tightly.
"Sasuke!" She said with joy, hugging her brother.
Sasuke smiled at Tenten before hugging her back.
"It is good to see that everything is back to normal with you two" The two heard Itachi commented from behind them. They turned around, still hugging each other tightly.
Tenten smiled and said:
"Yep, Sasuke is my brother no matter what!"
Sasuke smiled at her and replied:
"And Tenten is my sister!"
Itachi merely smile at the two.
…
Happiness does not last forever… sadly.
"Sasuke! Tenten!" Itachi called out as he ran through the manor in search for them.
"Brother?" "Itachi?" Sasuke and Tenten looked at Itachi confusedly, unsure of why he looked so distressed and out of breath.
"There is no time for questions, we got to go now! Hurry!" Itachi told the two, who did not understand what was going on. Hurry? Why? What was going on? And where were mom and dad?
"B-but what about mom and dad? Should we not wait for them before we leave?" Sasuke asked his brother.
Itachi took Sasuke by the wrist and told him:
"There is no time to explain, take Tenten's hand and held on to mine. We have to go now!"
Sasuke, unsurely, took Tenten's hand and they all began running towards the back entrance of manor. From the distance they could hear loud unfamiliar sounds.
Scary sounds…
They finally made it out and Itachi leaded them towards the forest, which was not far from the manor. As they ran Tenten turned her face around to look at the manor.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
Black smoke was erupting from the main entrance of the house, members of their family was fighting mysteriously men dressed in black. Bodies covered in blood were lying on the ground.
Some, which seemed awfully familiar.
"Tenten, do not look!" Itachi told Tenten harshly.
"B-but mom and dad are still there, they could be hurt! We need to help them!" Tenten looked up at Itachi, who merely shook his head and looked straight ahead.
"I promised not to turn around, we have to get as far away as possible! Otherwise we might not survive this!" Itachi tried to explain to Tenten.
"B-but-" Tenten was cut off by Sasuke, who squeezed her hand comforting and said:
"Mom and dad are going to be fine! There is no one better at fighting then them! They will join us soon enough, just have faith in them!" Sasuke smiled at her, which encourage Tenten to believe that everything was going to be alright and that they soon enough will all be together again.
If only we had known better…
END OF FLASHBACK
"And that was last time I ever saw my adopted parents again" Tenten finished.
Neji looked at Tenten, who had a sad expression on her face, and asked:
"And what happened afterwards, what did you and your step brothers do when it was clear that you had no one left, but each other?"
Tenten smiled bitterly before she replied:
"We were forced to grown up I guess you can say… and to learn how to take care of ourselves, how to protect ourselves… for our parents' sake. We had to keep the Uchiha family line alive and rebuilt it from the ashes, bring it back to its former glory" Tenten chuckled to herself before she carried on with her story.
FLASHBACK
Tenten shot another two arrows at the target plates, hitting bullseye with both arrows on different target plates. She heard someone clapping and lowered her bow before she turned to see who was clapping at her.
"Itachi" She spoke calmly, greeting her brother.
"Your aim has improved significantly, I am impressed" Itachi told her, giving her a soft smile.
Tenten smirked and flipped her bangs as she said smugly:
"No need to flatter me, my aim has always been perfect and you know it"
"Hn, that might be true, but that does not mean that you have not improved, Tenten, you are a lot more faster at aiming than you were before and the time between each arrow you shot has shorten within a small period of time" Itachi pointed out.
"Quit all the compliments, you are making me flush!" Tenten teased Itachi.
"You are such a child, Tenten" Itachi commented under his breath.
Tenten responded by sticking out her tongue.
"Brother, when do you learn never to compliment Tenten on things she knows she is good at" A cocky voice spoke.
Itachi and Tenten turned around.
"Well well Sasuke, you finally decided to show up" Tenten said cockily.
"But, Sasuke, you know how happy she gets when she is complimented" Itachi explained innocently himself to his younger brother.
"Perhaps, but still. There is no to enlarging her already big ego any further, especially not when it comes to her skills with a bow. Her skills in swordsmanship are a whole other story thought" Sasuke spoke, rolling his eyes as he spoke the last part.
"What are implying, Sasuke?" Tenten looked at Sasuke with a lifted eyebrow. Sasuke grinned at her and replied:
"Nothing special other than that your swordsmanship skills got nothing on me"
"You want to try me out, Sasuke" Tenten walked up to Sasuke, leaning in close.
"I think I will just leave you two and your childish challenged alone, how fun you two!" Itachi told them before he left them on their own.
"Well what do you say, brother, up for my challenge or do you want to run off with your tail between your legs like a scared animal?" Tenten challenged Sasuke, who grinned smugly at her and answered:
"I am up for it, sister, but do not cry when I beat you" Sasuke drew his sword his scabbard while Tenten took one of the trainings sword.
They walked around in a half circle as they waiting for the right moment to make their move. The two teens watched each other's movement carefully, trying not to blink nor show sight of hesitation.
And then they went for the attack.
…
"I cannot believe that you won AGAIN!" Tenten hissed out loudly in frustration.
Sasuke chuckled at her.
"I told you so" He said to her.
"Next time I will beat you!" Tenten vowed to herself loudly.
"You can try, but the result will be the same. You can never defeat me at this, Tenten" Sasuke explained to her.
"But I will, be sure of that" Tenten told him, extremely confident what she would be victorious next time she fights him.
"Hn" Sasuke responded.
The two teens was sitting down in the grass, looking up at the sky, which was slowly starting to turn darker.
"It is hard to believe that 5 years has passed by since we lost mom and dad" Sasuke mumbled.
"Yeah, and everyone else we knew" Tenten sighed a saddened sigh.
"Tenten?" Sasuke suddenly spoke. Tenten looked up at him.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"I swear to you that one day we will be able to come out of hiding, one day we will able to rebuild our family from its ashes and reclaim what is rightfully ours" Sasuke promised Tenten, who asked:
"Reclaim what exactly, Sasuke?"
"Revenge to those who ripped our family apart!" Sasuke vowed to himself.
"Could we strike the revenge part out, revenge would only worsen our family name anyway" Tenten informed Sasuke.
"Fine! Forget the revenge part! But we will still reclaim what belongs to us! Our home and our glory!" Sasuke corrected himself.
"That sounds better! I really miss our old home, It was so cozy and yeah home-like!" Tenten said as she smiled at the memories.
The good ones.
…
Tenten watched on as Itachi took the back with his supplies over his left shoulder before looking at both her and Sasuke, giving them a small, encouraging smile.
"Do you really need to go? Everything is fine here, brother!" Sasuke tried to reason with his older brother, who sighed and replied:
"I am doing this for you two's sake. Someone has to clear our family name so that we all can live happily without hiding away in the shadows"
"But you promised mom and dad always to be there for us! If you leave, then you are breaking your promise to them!" Sasuke yelled at his brother.
"Sasuke?" Tenten looked at Sasuke with a sad yet shocked expression. Biting her own lip, feeling helpless and frustrated.
"I have to, I am sorry. I promise that I will return, I when I do everything will go back to how it used to be" Itachi promised.
"Just without dad and mom" Sasuke mumbled under his breath. Tenten looked down at floor.
Silence surrounded the three.
The bag Itachi was holding fell to the floor.
*Thunk*
"There is something I need to explain to you two" Itachi then spoke in a monotone, "Follow me this way"
Itachi left the entrance and walked towards the dining room. Tenten and Sasuke followed him silently.
Itachi sat down on one of the chair. Tenten and Sasuke did the same. Neither of them spoke a word until Itachi decided to speak:
"Dad told me something a month before it happened. I did not understand him fully back when he told me, but I wish I had"
Neither Sasuke nor Tenten said a word, both waiting for Itachi to continue.
Itachi took a deep breath.
"Mom and dad knew that something terrible was going to happen to our family, they feared it and dad told me that if something really did happen then it was my job as the eldest to protect you two from any harm that might come your way" Itachi explained.
Tenten could not help, but to remember that very night, on the day she was told that she was not a true Uchiha. She had been eavesdropping at Itachi and her dad's conversation. Although she had not understood what is was about back then, she understood it all now.
The reason why their family was attacked by black mysterious men!
And without thinking she said:
"I know"
Itachi looked at her with a shocked expression while Sasuke looked utterly confused.
"I am sorry" Tenten bowed her head down, "I heard your and dad's conversation that night, but I swear I did not understand what he meant and I forgot all about it until now that you have mentioned it!" Tenten tried to explain herself.
Itachi sighed.
"What are you two talking about? Do you two know something that I do not?" Sasuke demanded answers.
Itachi and Tenten looked at Sasuke unsurely.
"Well true be told, I had no idea that Tenten knew" Itachi admitted.
"Knew what exactly?" Sasuke asked, slightly annoyed by how they were avoiding his questions.
"About his conversation with dad a month before you know happened" Tenten clarified to Sasuke, who nodded his head in a slow motion.
"Okay, what did dad told you, brother? Please explain it to me" Sasuke asked Itachi, who answered him by saying:
"He said that a few members of our family had betrayed the Konoha kingdom's trust by giving away secrets to the Iwa kingdom putting warriors of Konoha in danger and that the Konoha kingdom was not going to ignore such a great treason without it having a consequence, a great one"
Sasuke looked at his brother in shock and asked:
"So, what you are saying is that it was the Konoha kingdom, who killed mom and dad?"
"I do not know, Sasuke, I am sorry. Those thugs could have been anyone, many started to hate us after our betrayal" Itachi told his brother with a sad look on his face, caressing Sasuke in a brotherly manner.
Tenten looked at Sasuke, understanding how he felt.
Like her and Itachi.
Hopeless, confused, lost, angry, sad, shocked, empty…
Bitter.
After some time and a long, comforting silence Itachi suddenly stood up.
"I have to go now" He said shortly.
Tenten and Sasuke looked up at him before they both stood up and hugged him. Both at once.
"You promise to return, no matter what, brother?" Sasuke asked, sounding like he was about to cry.
"With or without the Uchiha name cleared?" Tenten asked, she too was fighting the tears that threatened to fall .
Itachi returned the two's hug and replied with a smile:
"I promise"
END OF FLASHBACK
"So, Itachi left, did he ever return?" Neji decided to ask Tenten, who shook her head and said:
"No, he never did, but I never lost faith in him. One day, he will return, I am sure of it… sadly everything is never going to be the same. We all changed, especially Sasuke" Tenten looked down with a sad expression.
Neji looked at Tenten with a worried expression. He regained his courage and decided to ask her:
"How did he change?"
Tenten sighed and answered:
"He had some bad influence and his personality changed, he become consumed with anger, rage and hunger after revenge"
"By whom, if I may ask?" Neji asked Tenten, who looked at him and said:
"I did not know that he was a bad influence until it was too late, I wish I had done something back when we meet him. Back when we meet a man by the name of Orochimaru"
FLASHBACK
"Tenten!"
Tenten heard her name being called out by Sasuke, who was running towards her with a grin on his face.
"What is it, Sasuke? Did you find Itachi?" Tenten asked with a hopeful look on her face.
Sasuke shook his head and said:
"No, sadly no, but I found someone, who says that he wants to help us clear our family name! Fantastic, right?"
Tenten blinked at Sasuke, her mouth slightly agape.
Someone wanted to help them?
"Really? Who?" Tenten asked with a curious smile on her face.
"His name is Orochimaru and apparently he owns his own manor in this forest, not so far away. I run into him by accident and apparently he could tell I was an Uchiha by my looks. He told me that he thought that the Uchiha family was wiped out for no reason at all and that he was glad to know that there was still a few alive, he wants us to live with him, train us and most important help us!" Sasuke explained.
He sounded awfully optimistic and it made Tenten smile.
"It has been so long since he sounded this happy" Tenten thought to herself.
"Well I would love to meet him, just before we do anything out of haste" Tenten told Sasuke, who nodded in agreement.
"Of course, shall we go give him a visit?" Sasuke suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea, you show the way, brother" Tenten winked at him as she spoke.
"As you wish, my sister" Sasuke grinned at Tenten.
The laughed before they began walking towards their destiny.
…
"So, you are Sasuke's sister, Tenten?" A man with extremely pale, almost white skin, striking moss green eyes and long, black hair asked. His appearance reminded Tenten of a snake.
There was something about him that gave Tenten an odd feeling, but she shook it away and answered him:
"Well true be told, I am his sister, just not by blood"
Orochimaru looked somewhat disappointed for a moment before he said:
"Ahhh I see, how… lovely"
"Sasuke told me that you wanted to help us clear our family name, is it true?" Tenten asked, going straight to the main topic.
Orochimaru smiled and said:
"It is true, I desire for the Uchiha family to be revived in all its glory"
"Why? I mean you do not know us or our family, why are you so interesting? And why do you want to help us?" Tenten decided to ask Orochimaru out of curiosity.
"Well to be honest, I guess you can that I am fascinated by the Uchiha family, such an old, traditional family with such long history behind it. I still find it hard to believe that someone would go as far as to massacre almost everyone because of a few does something stupid. That is why I wish to help you two clear the name of the once proud Uchiha family and rebuild it" Orochimaru explained.
"And you want us to live with you here?" Tenten asked. Referring to manor they were inside of. Orochimaru merely smiled and replied:
"It will be much more secure for you to stay here"
"But Itachi? What if he returns?" Tenten mumbled, unsure of what to do.
"He is not coming back, Tenten, he left us" Sasuke told Tenten coldly.
"Sasuke?" Tenten looked at Sasuke with shocked look on her face.
"Sorry, but it is the true" Sasuke said to Tenten before sighing.
"I think I will let you two think it over" Orochimaru stood up to leave them alone, but Tenten stopped him as she called out:
"No, wait! We will love to stay here!"
Orochimaru turned to face Tenten, smiling at her and said:
"Great"
"There is still something creepy about that Orochimaru-snake-guy, but he wants to help us so he cannot be that bad" Tenten thought to herself. Hoping that a brighter future was going to be in store for both her and Sasuke.
…
Sadly, things did not turn out as Tenten had imagined.
Time passed by and things changed, Sasuke changed…
*Clink* *Clank* *Clink* *Clank*
Tenten and Sasuke's swords clashed together as they continued on sparring.
Tenten long, curly brown hair blew in the wind as she elegantly moved her body from side to side avoided Sasuke's straightforward attacks.
"Just give up, Tenten, you cannot keep on avoiding my attacks. Just one slip and I will be the one victorious" Sasuke told Tenten, who grinned at him.
"Oh no, you will not!" Tenten exclaimed before she went in on the attack.
*Clash*
Tenten looked behind her at her sword, now struck to the ground.
"I l-lost, again" She mumbled stunned.
"You fought well, Tenten, but when it comes to swords you do not stand a chance against me" Sasuke told Tenten.
"Thank you very much for the encouragement, Sasuke" Tenten looked at Sasuke with pouty lips.
"Just being honest" Sasuke smirked at her.
"Hmph" Tenten grunted in responds.
"My Lord, my Lord, my Lord! Where have you been?" A gray-haired man with glasses was running at full speed towards them while yelling.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked with a bored expression.
"Oh no, no, no, my Lord, do not think that you can answer my question with a question! I asked you where you have been. Now answer" The gray-haired hissy person demanded.
"I was here" Sasuke asked in a monotone.
"Doing what?" The man asked.
"Sparring with Tenten, what else?" Sasuke replied as if it was obvious.
"With her? My Lord, please think about your mission, you are never going achieve your goal when you are wasting your precious time with this girl" The gray-haired man told Sasuke while pointing a pointy finger at Tenten.
"I have a name, just so you know" Tenten angrily pointed out.
"Oh right, a very important one" The man mumbled under his breath.
"That is it!" Tenten saw red, took her fallen sword and ran towards the gray-haired man, who attempted to hide himself with his arms.
But just before Tenten's blade hit its target another blade went in between, stopping Tenten's attack.
"Sasuke's sword?" Tenten blinked, not believing that Sasuke was siding with him.
"That is enough, both of you! Tenten, never attack a fellow companion" Sasuke explained to Tenten, which caused the gray-haired man to grin proudly, "And you Kabuto!" Sasuke pointed at the gray-haired man, "Never insult Tenten, again!" Sasuke warned, sending a deadly glare in Kabuto's direction.
"Of course, My Lord" Kabuto bowed down in fear.
"Just leave already" Sasuke dismissed Kabuto.
"Yes, My Lord!" Kabuto left again.
"Tenten, how many times do I have to tell you not do that? What would Orochimaru say if you killed his advisor?" Sasuke harshly lectured Tenten, who corrected him:
"Your advisor, My Lord Sasuke! Someone has to keep an eye on you when snake guy cannot"
"Tenten" Sasuke began in a warning tone.
"Oh please! Do not 'Tenten' me! Snake guy is only interesting in you, why else would he give you the title 'Lord'? Me, on the hand, means nothing to him!" Tenten spoke out without a care in the world.
"Tent-" Sasuke was cut shut by Tenten.
"It is 'Miss Tenten'! Remember what snake guy told us 'you must not speak to each other as casual as you do', so I have to call you 'Lord' or 'My Lord' and you have to call me 'Miss Tenten'" Tenten explained, she was clearly making fun of the rules they had to follow.
"Well Orochimaru is not here, so I do not have to, Tenten" Sasuke told Tenten in a teaseful manner.
Tenten giggled.
"At least he still have some sense of humor"
"Speaking of Orochimaru, I better go back inside, he told me he wanted to speak to me privately later today, which is probably why Kabuto was looking for me" Sasuke explained before he began leaving.
Tenten watched as Sasuke vanished from view, feeling empty inside. For some reason she had the feeling that today was the last day Sasuke was ever going to joke around with her again.
And she was right.
…
Things changed.
He changed.
She changed.
They both changed.
"The mission is pretty simple, Miss Tenten, you need to infiltrate the Konoha kingdom and figure out their secrets. What weaknesses they have, how well protected the castle itself is, how strong their soldiers are and how easy they are to let down their guards. Is that understood? Miss Tenten?" The rough tone of Sasuke's voice echoed across the room as he spoke.
Tenten was too cut up in her own thoughts that she barely paid any mind to his words.
"Miss Tenten, did you even hear a single word of what the Lord just said to you?" The annoying voice belonging to Sasuke's annoying advisor, or whatever he liked to be called, asked. He was clearly annoyed by her behavior, but Tenten could care less about it.
He was not the master of her!
Standing up straight with a grin playing on her lips, she lied:
"Of course, I heard, sir! Clear and yeah loudly ehehe" While grinning nervously and laughing to herself hoping to fool both him and the Lord.
"Sure, you did, like you always do," He mumbled sarcastically under his breath and turned to speak to the Lord, "My Lord, you cannot be serious about this? This…this girl is clearly a bad choice for such an important mission. She is going to be the downfall for all of us!" Kabuto pointed a finger at her.
That angered Tenten and she snarled out at him:
"Do not insult me!"
"Insulting you? As if I would ever bring shame upon my Lord by discriminating you in his presence! I was merely pointing out your gender, Miss Tenten and please behave yourself then you are in front of the Lord" Kabuto spoke with a calm, but arrogant voice. Head held high as if he was something, she was not.
"The nerve of him" Tenten twitched before she hissed out:
"Do not tell me how I should or should not behave, you are not superior!"
"But the Lord is and-" Tenten did not give him a chance to finish before she smugly said:
"I'm sorry, but I serve no one, but myself!"
"Miss Tenten-"
"Please stop this ridicules argument, it is starting to get on my nerves!" Sasuke finally grow tired of them both and spoke out.
"Yes, my Lord" They both replied automatically while glaring at each other. Tenten answered with a bitter taste in her mouth, how she hated this new Sasuke.
"Good, now Miss Tenten, will you please explain why you were not listening to what I said to you?" Sasuke asked calmly.
"Do not get me wrong, my Lord, I did listen to you. At least until you began talking about what I can and cannot do, which I could care less about since I do not like to follow orders from anyone, especially not when they are from a man," She looked him deeply in the eyes with fiercely brown eyes, " I do what I want and you cannot tell me otherwise" Tenten flashed him a smug smile before she turned around and walked away.
"Miss Tenten!" Sasuke called out after her, but she simply ignored him.
"My name is Tenten! Not Miss Tenten and you should know that!" She thought to herself as if she was expecting him to read her mind.
"Come back, you ungrateful girl! The Lord has not allowed you to go yet! You cannot do as you wish and you can definitely not disobey the Lord that you serve! Miss Tenten!" Kabuto demandingly yelled after her.
She ignored him, just like she ignored Sasuke. Her former brother.
Once Tenten reached the gates, she stopped and turned her body a little to the side. With a sly smile on her lips she said in a low spoken voice:
"I do not serve a Lord, I only serve myself" With pride and determination she turned around and walked out of the gate toward her true destiny.
"I shall save you, Sasuke. From yourself. And in my quest surpass men in everything I do" That was the last thought that ran through her head before she walked out of the place that had turned her once perfect life into a nightmare.
END OF FLASHBACK
"And that was the last time I ever saw Sasuke before I left on my so-called mission" Tenten finished.
Neji found himself staring at Tenten in silence.
Something about Tenten's story did not make sense. If what Tenten was telling him was truth then…
Sasuke is not the real villain in this whole 'kidnapped princess' matter!
He was a victim!
The true bad guy was that Orochimaru guy, who apparently has managed to influence Sasuke to seek revenge on the Konoha kingdom.
Neji clenched his hands together in anger and frustration.
Tenten took notice in Neji's behavior and asked him:
"Neji, is there nothing wrong? You seem… tense"
Neji breathed out before he answered her:
"I just… everything is so messed up, they are chasing the wrong guy and… agh! Things are just so messed up with lies or misunderstood truth!" By 'they' Neji was referring to the Royal Knights, who was going after Sasuke and Tenten plus Neji since his betrayal.
Suddenly Neji placed his hands on Tenten shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes as he spoke:
"Tenten, I am sorry! I am sorry for the pain, the sorrow, the confusement, the anger and the unfairness that you have went through! You never deserved any of that to happen to you! To be abandoned, to find happiness in a new home only to lose it again by the cruelty of life, to watch someone you care for leave and never see that person again, to see the one you loved like a brother to turn into a twisted version of their former selves and to be viewed as a criminal even if you are truly innocent! You are one brave and very strong woman, Tenten"
Neji looked Tenten in the eyes sincerely.
Tenten was quite mesmerized and in shock by Neji's words. She felt odd. All warm and… fuzzy?
Eyes slowly closed as the gap between them slowly decreased until their mouths connected in a blissful kiss filled with desire and a want for more.
Hands grabbing and touching hair, legs, arms and back. Bodies pressed tightly together. An arousing feeling bloomed inside them both, but neither knew what it meant and neither cared.
Just once.
Just this once, just this single time they did not care whether it was right or wrong. For once they just wanted to forget. Forget the unfairness of life, forgot all the bad things that had happened to them.
Forget it all.
Pieces of clothes fell to the ground, it suddenly felt distracting and unnecessary. Gone was any sense of hesitation, any doubt, any modesty.
Anything was gone. Except the raw emotions they felt rush through their veins.
It was addictive, it was wrong, yet it felt so right and it was a moment only for them to share.
It was bliss.
Emerald green eyes finally opened up slowly as she woke up from her long slumber.
"Where… I am?" She mumbled sleepily. Looking around her surrounding with confusement.
"I see that you have finally decided to wake up, my princess" A smooth male voice said to her. She blinked to get a clearer vision of the man, who was talking to her.
And her eyes widened.
"It is you!" She spoke as she found herself looking at the handsome man, who not only took her breath away with his handsome face, but took her away.
He smiled handsomely at her and said:
"Indeed it is, my beautiful princess, welcome to my castle and your new home for the rest of your sweet, princess life"
To be continued…
A/N: Done!
A slightly different version of the prologue with more of Tenten's own inner thoughts. The flashback only included what Tenten can see and hear, everything that has happened where Tenten was not presence (or unable to see) is therefore still a mystery.
Neji and Tenten had a…rather intense moment together. No need to further explain that! xD Tell me if you feel as if was a bit too mature and I'll change the rating, although I do not think it was that mature since it could for all we know just be one heavy make out session.
What is Sasuke's intention with the princess? And what is the agenda of Orochimaru? And how will Neji and Tenten react once they realize what just happened between them?
Leave a review and tell me what you think ^^
P.S. Next chapter might take some time to finish since I have a school project, which is quite time consuming, but I will try my best not to let you guys wait too long for the next chapter! :)