Destined To Live
Chapter 5: Lost and Found
"Are you sure that this place is still... erm..." Kagome started, inclining her head to look up at the tall, but obviously very old, apartment building.
"Stable?" Neji filled in for her.
"You could put it that way." Kagome shrugged, and eyed the crumbling sides of the building and fading peeling paint.
"To answer your question, yes. A... " Neji paused to grit his teeth behind his pursed lips. "... friend of mine lives here. He says it's perfectly safe. And cheap." Neji finished, wondering if he used the correct term when referring to Naruto.
Was he his friend? He wasn't so sure, Naruto did set him straight during the third part of the Chuunin exams. He supposed 'friend' was the right way to put it.
"Remember, it's still undecided if I live here or not. I might not be living here. It wouldn't be wise to decide on a living plan." Kagome reminded him, still confused if she would stay or not.
"..." Neji kept his silence. "Perhaps you would prefer staying at someone's home instead?" Neji suggested to her from the top of his head.
"That would be the smarter choice. Do you have any friends who wouldn't mind me living with them before I make my decision?" Kagome asked him, cocking her head to the side.
"My old teammate, Tenten, would probably be glad to have some company. She has enough room to spare." Neji informed her after going over a list of people in his head.
"Okay. Let's go to this Tenten's home." Kagome nodded and crossed her arms over her chest patiently, staring at Neji expectandly.
Neji arched an eyebrow at her fixated gaze, temporarily a little 'off' to take in mind that Kagome didn't know where Tenten lived.
"Well?" Kagome asked after a few moments of just staring at him without recieving a reaction.
"Well what?" Neji retorted, still not remembering that he was supposed to show her where Tenten lived.
Kagome rolled her eyes at his ignorance. "Baka. You're supposed to lead the way to your friend's apartment."
A light rosy blush washed over his pale cheeks, but he effectively hid it by turning on his heel away from her. Clearing his throat, he began walking in the direction he was faced.
Sighing at him in annoyance, Kagome's legs started working again and followed Neji obediantly, straying a few paces away from him. Not too much so that she might lose him, but not so close that she wasn't comfortable with.
Her eyes left the back of Neji's head and his swaying dark brown hair to look towards the sky. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't comfortable around men anymore. Or any person in general.
Still, traveling and living in solitude was lonesome, and she longed for compaionship for more than one occasion. But no matter how hard she tried to stay at one place, something came up and held her back from permanently settling down once and for all.
Flickering her eyes back to Neji, her eyes were glued to the back of his head intently. She didn't know what it was about this particular shinobi male, but she felt attracted to him for some odd reason she could not name.
If it was solely based on looks alone, then she would find him rather attractive. But Kagome wasn't shallow like some girls she knew ( for example, her very nosey and very talkative ex-friends ) who only went for riches and looks. And for the older women, something more.
No, she went for the type who had an interesting personality, had even the faintest sense of humor, and strong willed guys. Good looks were mainly just a bonus, but to some degree, she did care how well a man kept himself groomed.
Chivlary was nearly dead though sadly. Any man who met up to her standards turned out to be taken, secretly jerks and bastard who only wanted one thing, or they just weren't interested.
Shaking her head from straying so far from her oringinal thoughts, she ended up bumping into something very solid, but soft also. Nearly falling back onto her butt had she not regained her balance, she glared up at what she hit.
More like who she hit.
Distracted by her thoughts, she had run straight into Neji when they reached his female friend's home. Thinking while walking was not a good idea, nor was it good for her health.
"Thinking while walking? It'd be best if you dropped that bad habit." Neji commented playfully, though with his tone of voice, he sounded half serious.
Snorting, she picked herself up and dusted off the imaginary dirt without even taking recognition that she was doing it. Manners. Any guy that she might want to have a relationship with had to have manners.
Her expectations always seem to increase higher when she thinking, Kagome noted.
"Geez, you could've said something, or offered to help me up, Neji." Kagome said flatly, giving him a hard stare.
"Excuse my lack of manners, but it was the lady's own fault that she was thinking whilst walking." Neji said sarcastically, stressing out lady.
Biting back a chuckle, she rolled her eyes for the second time in five minutes and took a step foward to the white painted door. Rising her arm and knocking her fist against the stiff wooden door, several hollow knocks resounded on the other side.
Her ears perked up when she heard the shuffling of feet, and something crashing to the ground. Mumbling followed after the crash and more shuffling commenced.
The door opened to reveal a woman approximately her age with black hair pulled in two messy buns, and large light brown eyes. A thin layer of grim covered the surface of her face and her pink chinese styled top.
Giving Kagome an awkward half smile, she looked over her shoulder to spot Neji behind Kagome, smirking at her back.
"Oh, hey Neji! What brings you here? And who's your friend?" Tenten asked and opened the door more to reveal the rest of her body and part of the currently messy living room.
"This is Kagome, and she needs somewhere to stay while she contemplates whether she'll stay in Konoha or not." Neji informed her boredly as if he'd been saying this speech numerous times already.
"Is that so? Well, hi Kagome, I'm Tenten, but I'm assuming that Neji already told you that." Tenten said politely and stuck out her arm immediately.
Kagome smiled at the weapon's mistress. She seemed very kind; Kagome saw it hidden in the depths of her eyes and how it bellied her bold voice.
Taking the offered hand, Kagome said, "Like Neji said, I'm Kagome. Higurashi Kagome, and I hope I won't be a burden to you by staying here."
"No, not at all! It gets lonely living alone, and having another female my age will be nice." Tenten reassured her, her smile never wavering.
"I take it that your peers are made up of mostly males." Kagome stated jokingly, then paused. "Must be..."
"Awkward?" She asked Kagome, and waited to see if she used the right word. The miko nodded. "You bet it is! Trying to explain my... erm... 'time of the month..." This part was whispered in a hush voice. "... is hard!"
Kagome giggled as Tenten turned a bright shade of red. Behind her, she felt Neji's aura spike, and his heat waves grew more intense. He was blushing also.
"Yes, I know how that feels!" Kagome added in, trying to lighten the now tense atmosphere. True, traveling with Inuyasha and Miroku got sometimes embarrassing, especially when she started bleeding and it stained the back of her skirt.
It only gave the perverted monk another reason to stare at her behind...
"Well what in the world are we still doing out here? Come in, although it is a bit... unorganized... at the moment..." Tenten murmured the last part, glancing back to her living room.
"Sorry, but I have to go now Tenten. I'll stop by later to check up on Kagome." Neji announced, and with a swoosh, he disappeared from the premisis.
"Don't mind Neji, he's always blunt and to the point. Distant too, but not as extreme anymore." Tenten sighed at her teammate and stepped aside to give Kagome more room to come in.
"I can see that. He reminds me of a certain someone I used to know..." Kagome snickered under her breath. No matter how she saw it, Neji seemed too much like Sesshomaru! She could just imagine Neji referring to himself in third person like Sesshomaru used to do.
I, Hyuga Neji, shall defeat you human. Kagome pictured Neji saying that, but in her mind, he was wearing Sesshomaru's clothes and held Tokijin in one hand.
Pressing one hand against her mouth to supress her laughter, she stepped into Tenten's home unconsciously. Kagome was simply having too much fun imaging Neji saying phrases that Sesshomaru would normally say.
"Um, Kagome, are you feeling okay? You're looking a little red." Tenten asked worriedly, and brushed her palm across Kagome's forehead.
"Don't worry about me, just thinking about something funny." Kagome covered up, waving her hand rapidly in the air and plastering a cheesy smile.
Tenten laughed a little at the eccentric girl. By the way she was acting, she knew that they would get along just fine.
Later On...
"So who are you taking me to meet?" Kagome asked her new friend as they walked side by side through the forest.
"My old teammate, Rock Lee, and my old sensei, Gai." Tenten answered her immediately, grinning at her, anticipating the endless onslaught of questions Lee would surely ask her.
"What are they like?" Kagome questioned curiously, cocking her head to the side slightly.
"Oh, they're out of this world. They're definately..." Tenten paused to figure out which word would be correct. "... unique." Now that was the understatement of a life time.
"They sound interesting." Kagome chirped, excited to meet the teammates of her new friend.
Involuntarily, she cringed mentally. She scolded herself for already claiming Tenten as her friend when there was always a chance that she would leave. She should not and could not impose, knowing what the consequences might be.
"They're interesting all right..." Tenten mumbled under her breath, then chuckled lightly. When they were a team, they sure were a strange one. She, the weapon's mistress who could not cook to save her life, she knew that already. Once she tasted her curry, she knew that she was not cut out to be a cook. And then there was Gai and Lee and... well, there was no explanation needed once you met them.
Finally, the Hyuga prodigy Neji, who used to be cold and distant before Naruto kicked his ass in the Chuunin exams. It really was a shame though that neither became Chuunin. Eventually they did, but their battle was absolutely spectacular!
Tenten's ears twitched unnoticeably, picking up the fuzzy shouts of Lee and Gai somewhere in the distance. Not too far away, though. Grinning like the loon she sometimes was, she took Kagome by the arm and raced to the place where Lee used to practice his Taijustu.
"Stay here Kagome. I'm going to go get Lee and Gai. I'll be back in a minute." Tenten instructed her, running through her words so they jumbled together and barely made any sense to Kagome.
"Uh... okay." Kagome nodded, taking in the words and sorting them out so they formed actual words.
With that, Tenten flashed her a small smile and leapt off, leaving Kagome alone.
Quickly becoming bored, Kagome noticed that there were three thick vertical logs, and the middle was worn down on the sides and the front. The others seemed to remain untouched.
Walking over to the middle log, she ran her hand across the rough surface of the abused log. Blinking at log with the deep gashes and splinting ends, she decided that as long as she was out here, she could practice so she wouldn't get out of shape.
Backing away from it a few feet, she spread her feet and moved into an advanced stance. Determination and fire shone in her eyes as she beat her hands against the logs in a steady rythm.
It was a basic technique in which she used her hands to stop the flow of someone's energy, but it was very effective. Similar to that of the Taijutsu used by the Hyuga clan, her hits struck the veins that lead to the major organs in the body. Instead of chakra, however, she used her miko powers. She knew the basics about chakra, and where it came from and how it was used, but she didn't really bother to study it that much.
A tingle went through her body, setting off the mental alerm in her head, signifying that some people were approaching. She recognized two out of the four auras heading her way. Tenten and Neji, the other two were unfamiliar to her. She guessed that it must be 'Rock Lee' and 'Gai'.
Sighing heavily, Kagome stepped away from the log and lept onto one swiftly to wait patiently for everyone to arrive.
"Hmm," Kagome muttered to herself. "I wonder what Rock Lee and Gai are like." Kagome asked no one in particular and arched her head upwards to watch the clouds float lazily across the sky.
She shrugged. Her answer would come to her soon enough.