A/N: I think I'm just going to start off by apologizing for the very long wait! I had honesty not thought that I will get as busy with school as I did! I really hate myself for taking SO long to finish this chapter!
First, elective in advanced video then an exam project followed by an exam (of course) and now an internship, which is a part of my 4th (and final) semester of my AP in Multimedia Design and Communication, aside from that I have been busy with MEP parts – Valentine's is awful popular, I must say! xD
Nevertheless, the chapter is, finally, up and I hope you all will enjoy it!
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, psychological abstract elements/thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
A Sense of Duty
Chapter 19: A Sense of Attraction
Throughout their little journey they had been through a bit of everything, some mistakes had been made underway, but aside from that they had been able to keep it between the two of them.
Well… at least until they found themselves in each other embrace, faking a romantic and desireful moment in front of not just a bar of filled with strangers, but a group of soldiers, who happens to be looking for them.
Yet another wonderful adventure had been added to Neji and Tenten's story.
But what were you suppose to do in such a situation? Continue playing these almost sinful games or quit the act and run as fast as you can?
Both options were bad, no matter what.
Those were the extract thoughts both Neji and Tenten was thinking deeply over. To pretend and hope that the soldiers were easily fooled or to run away and hopefully not get caught.
Decisions, decisions. What to pick?
"I am going to ask you two only once more, where do you think you are going?" The soldier, who appeared to be the captain, asked them once again. The way he spoke showed clearly that he was not a very patient person.
Tenten opened her mouth, ready to speak, but was stopped by Neji placing two fingers over her lips.
"What does it looks like we are doing?" Neji said cockily, grinning an un-Neji-like grin as he pulled Tenten closer to his chest while holding on to her lower back, very lower back.
Tenten found her face heat up at Neji's closeness as well as because of how husky his voice sounded as he spoke to the soldier.
"Since when had Neji's voice been so… attractive to listen to?" She found herself wondering as she unconsciously began to play with a stand of his hair hanging over his shoulder. She placed her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat wondering how he could managed to keep his heart so calm in this situation?
It made her flush a bit as she caught herself enjoying the closeness.
"What is wrong with me?" She asked herself.
"Ehmm sir, why do we not just leave them be? They are clearly not the ones we are looking for and it seems like they just want to… enjoy each other's company in privacy, captain" Another soldier nervously tried to explain to his captain, who was looking at Neji and Tenten with his eyes narrowed down.
He was clearly a bit harder to convince, Neji decided before he leaned down to Tenten and kissed the back of her ear while slowly kissing his way down her neck, which caused Tenten to moan in surprise at the action. He needed to make their act believable to not just convince the other customers and the soldiers, but also the stoic captain as well since he was the one in charge.
Nipping softly at the soft skin on Tenten's neck, Tenten let out a small moan while she clenched on to his shirt with a tighter grip than previously.
Neji tried not to let Tenten's reaction get to him, although it did manage to make him flush a bit.
The captain was still just watching on with a blank expression on his face, which annoyed Neji. There was a limit to how far this act could go and Neji was not going to force himself on Tenten just to make a stubborn soldier leave them alone!
"Ahhh how beautiful it is! Such youthfulness, such love! This is the true display of youth, Lee!"
The sound of a man speaking in the background caused everyone to turn their attention away from Neji and Tenten and on to whoever had just spoken. Even Neji stopped nipping at Tenten's neck to see who had just spoken.
In the back of the bar two men were sitting, looking almost like twins. Both wearing weird looking green clothing and with bowl cut black, shiny hair. One looked somewhat old with tan skin, the other looked like he was about the same age as Naruto with paler skin than the elder of the two.
"Yes, Master Gai, I see! Such strong display of love, a stage of youth I have yet to get too! How I envy those two!" The younger said to his master with eagerness and determination.
The entire room was in silence, which was when Neji saw an opportunity for him and Tenten to escape.
"Tenten, I think it is time for us to make our disappearing act" Neji whispered in her ears. A cat-like grin appeared on Tenten's face and they began to slowly sneak their way out of the backdoor.
As soon as they were outside Tenten jumped up ready to scream in joy, but Neji prevented her from doing so by slapping a hand over her mouth and dragging her into a corner next to some big barrels.
"Shhh we should hide hear until they leave" Neji whispered to Tenten, explaining his idea to her.
Tenten nodded her head slowly and said with a low spoken voice:
"We need to thanks those two back in the bar, if they had not spoken up like they did we would still be in that bar faking an act, which seemed to become more and more physical"
"Yeah, you are right, but only if we run into them when we are done hiding"
"Hiding from whom?"
"Not again!"
Hinata looked through the big pile of paper, in search for a map over the Konoha and the Suna kingdom. So far she had no luck in finding anything of use.
The royal library was massive, so they had decided to split up to cover a larger area and to increase the chances of finding what they were searching for a lot faster.
Hinata was searching on her own in the far east of the library, Ino was somewhere in the center, Kiba along with Naruto up north, Temari somewhere in the center like Ino, Shikamaru south and Itachi was in the far west of the large library.
Tons of old documents were so far all Hinata had been able to find, not even an old map had turned up yet. She let out a sigh, feeling both tired and somewhat bored.
"Have you found anything?" Hinata looked up and saw Ino standing not far from her.
"She must have finished her area pretty fast, either that I she got bored" Hinata noted, they had only been searching for about an hour's time.
Hinata shook her head and sighed as she said:
"Sadly, nothing so far, just a lot of old documents"
Ino sighed deeply before she walked over to Hinata and said:
"Same here and it does not help in our search that the royal library is a bit of a mess, everything is out of order. Someone needs to clean this place up and put everything in the right categories plus maybe throw out the partly destroyed papers that are to no one's use anymore"
Hinata giggled a bit and nodded her head:
"Yes, I agree"
"I wonder if the others have better luck finding anything than we have?" Ino wondered out loud.
"Yeah, me too" Hinata replied before she returned to her search.
"I will help you, Hinata" Ino went over to Hinata to give her a hand with her search.
"But should you not search the area you were to search?" Hinata asked Ino with a confused look on her face.
Ino winked at her and said:
"Already finished my part"
"Really? That was fast" Hinata looked at Ino with a surprised look on her face, she was quite impressed.
"Oh it was nothing. The area I got was just filled with books about things such as cooking, house cleaning and the royal family tree. How are those things going to help us find your cousin and Tenten?" Ino explained.
"Ahhh I see" Hinata nodded her head as she smiled and let out a little giggle.
*CLASH*
Ino and Hinata were both startled when the sound of something big falling to ground from not too far away from them.
Moments after the loud sound had echoed in the room they heard Temari yell:
"What in the world did you two do THAT for?"
"It was not us! We swear!" Two voices yelled. Hinata and Ino quickly recognized, who it belonged to.
"Naruto?" "Naruto and Kiba? How am I not surprised?"
They looked each other in the eyes.
"Should we go see what happened, Ino?" Hinata asked Ino, unsure if it was okay to stop what they were doing just because she was worried about what had happened. Hopefully neither of the two boys had gotten hurt.
Ino sighed before she replied:
"I guess, we can take a look and see what just happened"
Hinata smiled softly at Ino, who returned it by giving Hinata a half-smile.
"Come on, Hinata, let us go see if your beloved is okay" Ino teased as she took Hinata by the shoulder and guided her towards the location where the loud sound had occurred from.
Ino's comment caused Hinata's face to lit up.
"Ino, he is not my b-beloved" Hinata told her with blushing cheeks.
"But you want him to be" Ino replied, giving Hinata a teaseful smile. Hinata blushed a deep red color and she slowly nodded her head.
"Yeah, I would love too, but… nevermind" She spoke in a whisper as she pictured Naruto's kind, smiling face in her head.
He had always managed to brighten her day and encourage her to move forward, believe in herself and never let her doubt get to her.
Always…
Since the first time I meet him.
FLASHBACK
A little Hinata was leaning against one of the big trees in the huge Hyuuga mansion's garden. Dressed in a pretty, pale, yellow dress she was watching something with amazement and interest. The source of her interest…
A blond-haired boy with whiskers on his cheeks and a big grin on his child-like face. He was about the same age as she was. But was not dressed as nicely as she was. His clothes was slightly baggy on his lithe body and it was dirty from him playing roughly with his friend, a boy with brown hair and sharp looking eyes, and a white, small dog.
"Yes, Akamaru! Go fetch!" The brown haired boy yelled as he tossed a stick as far as he could.
"Yip! Yip!" The small dog barked as it ran after the stick, tongue hanging out of its mouth.
"Whoa! That was a good throw, Kiba" The blond boy told his friend, who grinned victoriously and said:
"I know right!" The brown boy, Kiba, winked and stuck his tongue out.
"Can I toss it next time?" The blond asked.
"Sure, Naruto, just do not break it! It was really hard to get it. I had to climb up in one of the big trees to get it" The brown boy explained.
"Naruto" Hinata thought to herself, liking the sound of his name, "He looks nice, I wonder if he would… be my friend?" Hinata asked herself, wanting so badly to join the two boys and their cute dog, but her shyness got the better of her and she found herself unable to move forward.
Why did she have to be so shy? Why was she so insecure? Why was she so…hopeless?
Biting her own lip to prevent herself from crying.
"Why do I feel like crying? There is no reason for to cry?" Hinata asked herself, wiping her eyes.
Out of nowhere the stick the boys had been throwing was tossed just right next to her and the next thing she knew was that she was laying down on the ground with a small dog standing on top of her while wagging its tail and panting with a big, pink tongue handing out from its mouth.
Hinata blinked her eyes confusedly, her eyes felt weak as the sun hit them with its brightness. The back of her head hurt, her body felt sore and she had most likely dirtied her clothes, which her father would not be happy about. She had no idea of what had happened, staring confusedly upwards she saw past the dog and saw the two boys looking down at her with worry in their eyes.
"Are you okay?" One of the boys asked, removing the dog from her.
"You should apologize, Naruto, since it was your fault" The other told the first boy while he took the dog away from Naruto and hugged it closely to his chest. The boy Hinata had been watching.
The one, who looked… nice.
"You have to apologize too, Kiba! Akamaru is your dog and it was him who tackled her!" The blond pointed out.
"Well I am so very sorry, you moron, that my dog accidently mistook your lady for a wooden stick! You were the one who tossed it at her!" The brown haired boy named Kiba basically yelled at Naruto sarcastically.
"H-his l-lady?" Hinata froze still as her cheeks burned up and she found herself unable to swallow properly.
"She is NOT my lady! I do not even know her!" Naruto shouted at Kiba.
Hinata felt a bit hurt by his words, but did not understood why since it was true. They did not know one another and they most certainly were in some sort of relationship like her parents! She was FAR too young for that kind of thing! Or at least that was what her father always told her when she asked him when she was to get married like he married her mother.
"Marriage? You, young lady, is far too young to get married or even think of it!"
"Ehmm I am okay" Hinata finally spoke out with low-spoken tone while looking down at her hands as she sat upwards.
The two boys looked at her surprised.
"You are okay?" Kiba asked while blinking his eyes confusedly at her.
Hinata smiled and said:
"Yeah, I am okay… I was… just taking aback I guess"
Naruto looked at her and walked up close to her, leaning in so their noses where touching.
"Are you sure? Because I honesty did not mean to let you get hurt! I am so, so sorry! My aim is really bad!" Naruto apologized while he wrapped his arms around Hinata, hugging her.
Hinata found herself, again blushing, but this time she had a feeling why.
Because he was being kind to her, despite not knowing who she was. And it made her day seem brighter than it was before. She did know what, but his smile and kindness made her heart beat faster and her lips smile.
She had found friendship in a stranger.
And that made her happy.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Ehm Hinata? Are you still in there?" Hinata's daydream was ruined by Ino waving a hand before Hinata's face, which startled her a bit. Waking her up from her…
"Well it did happen… so, it's not really a dream… memories perhaps?" Hinata wondered to herself before she looked at Ino and said:
"Yes, Ino, I am still here, I just… lost myself in my own thoughts I guess you can say" Hinata smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed, but tried not to let it show.
"So?" Ino looked at Hinata as if she was waiting for something Hinata seemed to have forgotten all about.
"What?" Hinata blinked at her confusedly.
"Did you want to go check on Naruto? Or do you just want to stand here and daydream about him?" Ino asked with a teaseful tone.
Hinata blushed a deep pink before she answered while looking down at her own feet:
"Of course, I want to go check on Naruto" Folding her hands as she played with the skirt of her dress shyly.
Ino smiled at her with a slightly smug smile, but said nothing instead she took Hinata hand and began dragging her along with her towards Naruto.
-o-
Neji and Tenten stared at the two men, who looked much alike aside from the clear age difference between the two.
The two men who, in a way, had saved their sorry behinds from the soldiers they were running from, was standing right in front of them.
Neither Neji nor Tenten knew what to say, so they just kept on staring.
"Are you two okay? You two have been staring for quite some time now?" The younger man asked, walking up close to them.
"Lee, do not just walk so close to them, they are most likely in shock for our handsomely great looks" The elder spoke, which caused both Tenten and Neji to twitch.
"Handsomely great looks? Really?" Tenten wondered to herself, raising an eyebrow.
"How do we get rid of them?" Neji asked himself, already finding the two a huge pain.
"You are right, Master Gai!" The younger named Lee replied to his master?
"I am sorry, but who are you two and why did you help us?" Neji finally decided to ask.
"Oh right, how could we be so rude and not introduce ourselves properly? The name is Gai Maito and this is my apprentice, Lee Rock" The elder named Gai answered while Lee continued for him:
"Master Gai is a Royal Knight and one day I will be one as well!"
Neji's eyes widened.
"Royal Knight?"
"You are a Royal Knight?" Neji asked, pointing at Gai while preparing for both him and Tenten to run from their lives.
Of all people to run into, they run into a Royal Knight? What a lucky day it truly was for them.
"I am" Gai said with a proud look on his face.
"But if you are a Royal Knight, why are you not with the other Royal Knights back at the castle?" Tenten asked.
"Because I am busy training my apprentice, Lee, and when a knight is training his apprentice all other duties are pushed aside in order to prevent the training from getting ruined. If I was at the castle, Lee would never learn how to go around as a Royal Knight and he would not become a real man" Gai explained, flashing his teeth.
"I see" Tenten nodded her head.
"You never answered my full question, why did you help us? I know you know that we are not some romantic couple looking for some privacy. You know we are on the run from the Kingdom, right? So, why did you help us?" Neji decided to ask his question once more this time he took a more serious approach.
The cheerful expression on Gai's face turned into a serious one as he answered:
"That is correct, my young man. I know you two are the ones the queen is looking for. Although I might be busy training Lee, news always gets to me fast. The reason for me helping you is because I believe in you two's innocence, I have been how do I put it? Observing you two since you are arrived to his village" He admitted much to Neji and Tenten's surprise.
Neji looked for a moment into Gai's eyes before he replied:
"You have been following us?" Neji questioned.
"We have" Gai answered with a grin.
"Why?" Neji asked.
"You two are looking to save the princess as well, am I correct?"
"Yeah, we are" Neji answered after some time.
"Well you just got two new allies" Gai told Neji.
"You want to help us?" He asked in disbelieve.
"We do!" Lee answered him, giving him a thumb up while flashing him a bright smile.
Neji looked at the two with a look of shock on his face, he turned to Tenten, who smiled at him before he looked at the two again and said:
"Okay…Well then let us continue our journey to save the princess and clear our names"
With that they all four walked over the border.
Towards the horizon.
Towards freedom...
"If everything goes well that is" Neji reminded himself as he looked up at the darkening sky above him.
"…but most important, I want revenge for the sorrow I had to endure" Sasuke looked into Sakura's eyes intensely as he spoke. Sakura stood there frozen by his intense stare and the emotions it was filled with.
Sorrow. Hate. Anger. Loneliness. Confusement.
And hope?
"But how can he find hope in revenge?" Sakura found herself wondering over before she decided to speak out:
"My grandmother always told me revenge gives you nothing in return, but emptiness at the end"
"And since when did your grandmother become an expert in this matter? As far as I can recall she herself become queen out of revenge" Sasuke told Sakura harshly, dismissing her opinion without a second thought.
How dare she try to reason with him in this matter? It was his revenge! His desire!
His peace.
He saw Sakura flicker at his words, but choice to ignore it.
His words might be harsh, but it was her own fault, she asked for it herself! He had no reason to feel bad for her nor feel like apologizing! She needed to know when to mind her own business!
He was NOT going to say sorry because he was not sorry! Not one bit.
"Sorry"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized it was Sakura, who had spoken. He looked back at her, blinking in confusement for her sudden apology. He had not seen that one coming; he had expected her to get angry with him, not say sorry!
Sakura was looking to the side, avoiding his eyes.
"I am sorry, I did not mean to anger you or make you question your own goals and beliefs, I was just… trying to help you, I guess… And it is true, in a way, that my grandmother, Tsunade, became queen out of revenge. She lost her lover doing the war and her father was getting weaker because of illness and age, she had to take a stand in order to save the country her lover and father loved so much! She may have done it out of revenge, but she also did it out of love! So please, Sasuke, answer me this one question! Who or what do you love so much to make you want to go so far in your seek for vengeance?" Sakura looked Sasuke straight in the eyes as she spoke.
Her emerald orbs were shining brightly with courage, determination and hope as she looked into his onyx black ones.
Sasuke froze.
Was he doing this out of love?
No! Of course not! There was no one left for him to love! His family was all dead! Gone, never to come back again!
"Forever" He thought to himself feeling both bitter and sad at the mere memory of the loss of his family.
His home.
"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"
"Brother" Sasuke thought to himself, his hand clenched his hands tightly into a fist, "Why did you leave?"
"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, mean nothing to him!"
"Tenten?" Sasuke blinked, "Of course, I still have Tenten… well I used to until I gave her that mission and…"
Sasuke's eyes widened as reality hit him.
He had not heard a word of or about Tenten these pasts few weeks!
Why had he forgotten her? She was the only one who stayed and this is how he repays her loyalty to him by sending him on a mission, which he knew she would never do because…
"I only serve myself"
Grinding his teeth together, he took a hold of his own hair. Pulling it tightly, almost ripping it out. Forgetting all about Sakura standing right in front of him, watching the sight before her in pure shock and horror.
What she had she said to hit him so hard?
A feeling of anxiety began to build up within her. She felt a strong desire to embrace him. To help him with whatever it was he was fighting with! But…
"But… what I do? I know nothing of what he is fighting, what there is hurting him…" Sakura bit herself in her lip as she forced herself to look away, wrapping her arms around her own shaky body.
Sasuke falling to his knees caused Sakura to look back at him and this time she could not stop her body from moving. She ran over to his falling body and went down on her own knees in front of him, placing her hands on his face making him look up at her face.
"Please, please, will you not please stop this… whatever my words made you think of please I am sorry, I did not mean to cause you pain" A tear fell down her chin as she spoke with a shaky voice.
Sasuke looked at her with eyes wide open. His eyes filled with something she had not seen in his eyes before. An almost childlike innocence was shining through his black eyes.
She found herself lost from words.
Sasuke continued to stare at her until he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, standing up without giving Sakura a single glance. He turned his back to her in silence, as if he was making his way out of the room, but before walking out he turned to face her.
Cold back eyes meet Sakura's own warm emerald eyes.
"This never happened" He spoke shortly before he turned and walked out without looking back.
Sakura was left in confusement. Feeling somehow oddly empty.
Why did Sasuke's cold words cut her so deep?
"What is this painful feeling?" She found herself asked no one, but herself.
"Okay, out with it boys, what did you two just do? We are actually trying not to get caught" Temari asked the two boys… well young men before her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, which she had puffed upwards to look more intimidated and she was looking at them with a warning look.
The look she gave them made both Kiba and Naruto swallow out of fear.
"And I thought Ino could get mad" Kiba thought, noting down never to piss of Temari. The Suna princess seems to be a quite dangerous princess, not your typical princess at all!
"If looks could kill, we would be dead by now" Naruto thought to himself. A drop of sweat slipped down his forehead, down his face.
Hinata came rushing towards them.
"Naruto, are you o-" Hinata stopped herself as she saw what damaged they had done, "kay… Was this place hit by a storm?" Hinata simply could not stop herself from asking as she saw what a mess Kiba and Naruto had created.
Thousands of different pieces of paper were spread everywhere! The ground was almost covered entirely by paper, almost.
How did this happen?
Hinata blinked her eyes, not sure if her eyes were just playing tricks with her head. The sight she was met with was quite surreal to her. What had those two done to make such a huge mess?
Opening her mouth up, trying to find the right words to say she stopped herself, closing her mouth as she could think of nothing to say.
She was speechless, to put it bluntly.
Shortly after Hinata had arrived Ino came walking. Instead of looking towards the boys she laid her eyes on Hinata, who looked paler than normally. Not to mention, she was with Naruto!
"Hinata, you seem awful pale, whatever they did I am sure it not-" Ino stopped herself for a moment as she looked at what Hinata was looking at, "so bad… How did THAT happen?" Ino practically ended up yelling unlike Hinata, who seems to have lost her voice.
"He did it!" Kiba and Naruto said in unisons with each other. Pointing accusing fingers at one another, while feeling their sweat run cold.
Now they not only had to deal with an angry Suna princess, but an angry handmaiden.
"Why is it always the blonde ones, who have the scary temper?" Naruto found himself asking himself, somehow forgetting that he himself was a blond.
"What is it with me and females with blonde hair getting mad at me? It must me some kind of curse" Kiba tried to find reason in his luck with blondes in general.
And just as they thought they had been humiliated enough, Shikamaru turned a corner holding up a piece of rolled paper.
"Good news, everyone, Sir Itachi found- For everything that is troublesome, what happened here?" Shikamaru asked, demandingly. Clearly annoyed judging from the tone he spoke in.
"They obvious made a mess" Temari answered shortly.
"I can see that and I asked about what happened, not what I am seeing. I have eyes just so you know" Shikamaru told Temari, who snickered a bit under her breath before she spoke:
"You are more than welcome to ask them yourself, so far all they have done is blame each other"
"Why am I not surprised?" Shikamaru wondered shortly before he cleared his throat and told Kiba and Naruto:
"We could care less about who caused this mess, now explain to us what happened and please do it quick, Sir Itachi can be here at anytime and I do not think this mess will make him happy in anyway"
Both Kiba and Naruto looked for a moment at Shikamaru before looking at each other. A short moment after, they both nodded their heads and Kiba started off by saying:
"Ummm we kind of fell"
"Fell?" Ino and Temari raised an eyebrow at Kiba.
"Kind of?" Hinata cocked her head to the side.
"From what?" Shikamaru asked more directly.
"From the rack ehehe" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkward manner. Grinning while trying to pretend that he AND Kiba were not feeling embarrassed at all.
"The rack?" Temari asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously as she eyed the rack behind Kiba and Naruto.
"Yeah, we- well actually… just me. I kind of tried to climb up it, but Naruto had to try to do the same as well, which the rack could not handle" Kiba explained, putting all blame onto Naruto, who gave Kiba a shocked look before he, himself, spoke up:
"Me? No, no, no! It was you, who decided to climb! I was just trying to stop you since the rack started to shake"
"Well if you wanted to stop me, you could have spoken to me, not climb up yourself" Kiba informed Naruto.
"Well that is kind of true, but you probably would not have listened to me. You never listen to me!" Naruto complained, leaning in on Kiba closely so his face was pressed up against Kiba's, glaring angrily at Kiba with his sky blue eyes.
Kiba returned the glare and said:
"Well maybe because you always like to joke around and make up stories!"
"You joke around and make up stories too!"
"Only because you do it!"
"Well then stop mimicking me!"
"You cannot tell me what I can or cannot do!"
"I can when you blame me for your own foolish mistakes!"
And that was Kiba and Naruto continued to do while everyone else was just staring at them without knowing what to do other than to sigh and pray that no one could hear these two's stupid argument.
"Otherwise our mission could be ruined before it even begun" Shikamaru thought to himself.
"What are Naruto and Kiba actually arguing over?"Hinata found herself asking out loud rather than to herself, which she had intended to. Once she realized, she began to flush a deep pinkish color and looking down, feeling embarrassed.
"Good question, Hinata, it seems like what began as a blame game about whose fault it was that we have this mess of paper turned into a childish argument of who can do what" Ino said, agreeing on Hinata's question. She had no clue of what the point was in their argument nor what exactly it was about aside from who can do what and who cannot.
"Maybe we should stop them?" Hinata turned to Ino as she asked, Ino looked at Hinata with slightly lifted eyebrow before she looked ahead and smiled just before she again turned to Hinata and said:
"I think your prayers have been heard"
Ino turned her head ahead and Hinata looked ahead as well to see what Ino meant by her words.
"Oh" Was all Hinata managed to think as she saw the blonde haired princess walk up to Kiba and Naruto.
A moment after.
*SLAM*
"Ow my head!" "Ow what was that for?"
Temari had simply taking the two arguing boys behind the heads and slammed their heads into each other before releasing the two boys heads and dusting off her hands while looking at the two, know in pain, boys with an amusing look on her face.
"Now, will you stop arguing and just admit that you were both equally to blame for creating this mess?" Temari asked… well not quite asking more like deciding their answer for them.
"If we agree will you stop being so violent?" Kiba had the courage to ask.
Temari gave him an angry look and Kiba retreated behind Naruto, saying a low:
"Sorry, I will be quiet"
Ino could not help, but to smile at the pleasing sight.
"Good" Temari spoke, feeling pretty pleased with herself.
"Is someone going to be so kind to explain to me what has happened here while I was away?"
Everyone froze as they all recognized who had just spoken to them.
"Sir Itachi, how nice of you to join us now"
Neji had no idea of how many hours had passed since they had crossed the border, going into no man's lands.
Two hours, three hours, maybe even five. It felt like they had been walking for hours.
"Or maybe only one hour? How should I know, I did not look at the sun when we crossed the border, so I do not know how much it has moved over the sky" Neji looked up at the sky as he thought. He turned his eyes over towards Tenten, finding his eyes looking at her closely.
"Of someone, who hates being refereed by her gender, Tenten seems to like wearing corset and low cut blouses quite a lot" Neji took notice in Tenten's appearance as he watched Tenten's hair move from side to side, looking at Tenten's exposed shoulder blades before letting his eyes wander downwards her back, looking closely at how the corset she was wearing hugged her curvy waist.
"You know it is very rude to stare" Sir Gai whispered into Neji's ears from behind, which startled Neji and caused his cheeks to flush pinkish.
"I… was not staring, just taking notice in something I had not thought of before" Neji tried to explain himself, looked to the side feeling awful embarrassed for getting caught looking Tenten's body over.
Sir Gai placed a hand on Neji's shoulder, laughing a bit as he told him:
"There is no need to feel embarrassed. Being in love is nothing to feel ashamed about, it is perfectly natural and very youthful for a young man like you"
Neji's face heated up. And thank goodness Tenten was walking up front with Lee, too far away to hear any of this.
He felt Gai's eyes on him and fixed his eyes at him as well.
"Will you stop that?" Neji muttered to Gai, trying not to speak too loud despite wanting too. He was getting annoyed by him.
"Stop what exactly?" Gai asked with a wide smile on his face. Neji took a step backwards, there was something about him that made Neji feel uneasy and it was not his odd haircut.
"That, the staring and the leaning in close to me, I do not like it" Neji clarified himself.
"Why?" Gai asked, pressing on.
"If you are trying to make me admit my undying love for Tenten then you better bury those expectations in the ground, I do not love" Neji told Gai. The constant asking and staring was getting on his nerves.
"And why do you not?"
"Because love gives you nothing in return, but sorrow and pain" Neji explained to him.
"That is not entirely true, my young man. What made you think something like that about something as pure and beautiful as love?" Gai asked. This time he seemed to be more sincere and less annoying in his way of speaking.
He was not trying to make fun nor tease Neji this time. No, he was trying to understand him, trying to help him.
"It makes it more painful to lose someone" Neji said with a sorrowful look on his face. He really did not feel like talking about his father, but for some odd reason he felt the need to speak of him even towards someone he barely new.
An outsider. A stranger.
"You are referring to your father, am I correct?" Gai asked with a somehow sincere look on his face. Gone was the teasing tone and in its place was a more comforting one.
"How do you-" Neji begun, but he stopped himself for a moment, "You knew him?" Neji instead asked calmly, trying to keep on a calm expression.
"I did, but only a little, I never really got to know him well… sadly. He was a good man and a proud father" Gai looked at Neji before he turned his face up towards the sky, "I felt a lot of saddens when I heard about his passing, but what saddened me the most was the knowledge that his departure was going to leave behind a very sad, very much alone, little boy with no one left to care for him"
Neji stayed silent. He did not know what to say, he was both surprised and somewhat in shock over what Gai had said and how honest he sounded. For a short moment his eyes left Gai and wandered over towards Tenten, who was still far ahead along with Lee.
Could he really be feeling something more than what he thought he did towards Tenten? What was or rather what had she become to him? While he was well-aware that he did not find her to be such a pain as he did when he first met her, he was still unsure of what she had become to him aside from perhaps a… good friend?
"But friends do not do what we have done in the heat of the moment" Neji reminded himself, feeling a mixed feeling of both desire and shame over the mere thought of what he and Tenten had done.
It was not right for him to feel such animalistic emotions, nor was it right for him to act upon them.
And yet, he did.
Why?
"Neji?" Gai speaking to him broke Neji out of his own thoughts.
"What?" Neji looked at Gai, feeling utterly confused at the current moment.
"It was the sudden death of your father that is the reason why you are afraid to love, right?" Gai looked at Neji, waiting for him to tell him if he was right or wrong, although he was not really asking since he already knew the answer, but he needed Neji to say it. Not because of him, but because Neji needed to admit it in order to move ahead with his life and not live in the past.
Neji kept quiet for a moment before he spoke:
"Yeah, the death of father, killed my trust in love and everything that comes along with it. Me and Tenten are just helping each other out, there is no love nor will there ever be" With that Neji started to walk faster while he felt this odd feeling that something was just not right. This time he choice to ignore it instead of questioning it.
"Tenten and I are simply too far apart in our way of thinking and acting, it would never last in the end" Neji told himself as he glanced at Tenten from afar for a moment before he walked up to join her and Lee.
It was better this way.
For both of them.
Sasuke walked with heavy steps down the hallway.
It was quite. And he was by himself, thankfully.
His mind seemed clouded with thoughts and he was struggling to keep not just himself calm, but to keep his face from showing that anything was wrong with him.
He was fighting himself, his own ideals and struggling to come clean. Struggling to understand himself, understand why he doubted himself!
Why he doubted his own mission.
His revenge.
"Tenten," Sasuke thought to himself, "Where are you? Are you gone like Itachi? Did I chase you away or did something happen? How could I forget about you? We are family… It has only been a few weeks since you left… why?" Sasuke asked himself a million questions, hoping someone would help him, guide him towards the right answers.
"My grandmother always told me revenge gives you nothing in return, but emptiness at the end"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he remembered the words Sakura had spoken to him moments ago before he left her coldly, hoping she would forget wha happened. Forget how he lost his façade in front her. Forget all about him breaking down.
"Who or what do you love so much to make you want to go so far in your seek for vengeance?"
"My family, those are the ones I love so much to make me what to avenge them, avenge their deaths! Fill that hole of emptiness inside of me and give me, give THEM please! I cannot bring back the death, therefore those who killed my family shall taste the very same fate! I will show them no mercy, they will no the hurt, the pain and sorrow that I know and feel every day of my misery life!" Sasuke clenched his hands together and grinded his teeth together, almost biting his own lip to draw blood.
His muscles tensed up and he felt his blood boil with anger, with hatred, with a need.
He needed it!
He needed his vengeance, he decided.
He needed it in order to live a normal life… again.
And not even Sakura's pretty words or silly, attempt to understand him will make him change his mind. She was just a puppet in his plan, a tool, a scapegoat.
She was nothing.
"Then why do I care so much for how she is treated? She is just a prisoner, after all" Sasuke found himself wondering about. Not that he needed too.
He already knew the answer. Perfectly well.
He had come up with it himself because for some unknown reason he felt sorry for her. He felt somewhat bad for getting her involved, yet he felt happy. Sickly happy.
Satisfied and pleased with himself.
Sasuke chuckled under his breath while a smirk found its way to his pale face.
"If I play my cards correctly I might manage to gain her trust and by gaining her trust I get one step closer towards my goal. Towards my vengeance and one step closer towards the fall of the Konoha kingdom" Sasuke spoke, snapping his hand into a fist, crushing an innocent fly in the process.
Not that he cared. Because he did not.
A fly is a fly, worthless, without much purpose unlike him, who has more purpose than most.
"A purpose to change the country and get my vengeance" Sasuke thought almost evilly while smirking. He was going to shake this misery little world to its core.
"My Lord, Master Orochimaru has been looking for you" The annoying voice belonging to Master Orochimaru's servant, Kabuto, almost made Sasuke want to vomit.
Oh how he despised this man and his annoying voice.
"He wants to speak to me? Again?" Sasuke asked, lifting an eyebrow while managing to keep a calm and controlled face.
"He did not tell me why, only that he has been looking for you" Kabuto replied.
His distaste for Sasuke was pretty obvious to anyone even Orochimaru himself, which was probably why Kabuto was always the one, who had to bring Sasuke when Orochimaru wanted to speak to him. Orochimaru liked to make people do things they did not want to, especially if they were undoubtedly loyal to him like Kabuto was and still is. He treated Sasuke and Tenten differently because of the very same reason.
Sasuke was never going to trust him fully, no matter what, while Tenten was anything, but loyal towards Orochimaru.
"Tenten never really liked that snaky guy" Sasuke thought, almost laughing out loud at the thought of it. Tenten never really changed much after the death of their parents. She just got even tougher and more independent. Maybe a bit too independent.
"Do NOT call me girl!"
Sasuke looked up at the ceiling for a moment while he thought to himself:
"Tenten"
To be continued…
A/N: Well that chapter 19, I hope you enjoyed it! Again sorry for the (very) long wait!
I'm currently an intern, working fulltime, but my hours are very flexible, so I will try to finish the next chapter within at least a month! I'll work on it whenever I can and write at least a few paragraphs a day or something like that.
In case anyone is curious about Neji and Tenten's current appearance, go check out my dA account where I posted a drawing of their current "outlaw" design ^^
Also, if any of you like fanvideos (amvs and such), my activity level on YouTube is greater than ever; I take part in a lot of MEPs, are in a couple of studios including an amazing Nejiten studio (FatesBladeStudio) and I also create personal video project, my most recent is a Valentine's amv :)
I have so many hobbies xD
Please review and tell me what you think ^^