Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own the plot.
AAAHHHH! I couldn't believe you guys actually like this story…I guess I should've posted this sooner lol. It had been in my computer for so long. I'm about to finish chapter 3 for this chapter along with chapter 5 (or 6 depending if you include the prelude) for my Some Kind of Fairytale. As for the Operation one, I'm starting on chapter 15 but I still have a few things to work out first before I can post it.
However, despite all these, I won't be able to update till after next week, simply because I'll be going on a 7-day vacation. My computer will be with me but I won't have access to the internet; therefore, I won't be able to update lol. I might be able to complete this story by then or something…we'll see since I don't know how much time I'll actually be awake in the hotel room (probably collapse on the bed in a dead sleep right away).
Aries Stephastone: As an answer to your question, I tend to repost. It's an annoying habit but that's what I do. Therefore, ff net might say that I have another chapter when I'm just reposting the same chapter lol. Therefore, there's no chapter 6 to Some Kind of Fairytale yet.
PS. I can't seem to get over the fact that most of the readers actually want Isamu to die rofl. Don't worry, I want him to die too (insert evil laughter).
Just A Mission-ch2
When Tenten felt the pain on her back, she grunted and started struggling. He was able to hurt her because she was taken by surprise. She admitted that it was her fault for being too confident since things had went so well. However, she wasn't going to let a little mistake hinder her.
Immediately, she grabbed Isamu by his left wrist and twisted, trying to break his hold. Tenten was about to knee the man too when she heard a loud crash. Even though she wasn't in the bedroom area, she could still see that someone had smashed through the windows, causing pieces of glass to fly everywhere.
The two in the room froze, not knowing which side the intruder was on.
However, when the person came toward the pair at the door, Tenten realized the person was Neji. The next thing she realized was that Neji had (somehow) yanked Isamu back and was beating Isamu to a bloody pulp with his Hakke Hyaku Ni Ju Hashou (128 Points of Divinity).
After Neji had hit 16 of Isamu's tenketsu, Isamu leaned back, trying to dodge. However, he wasn't able to avoid Neji's fingers. He slammed into the desk behind him (Neji followed immediately by stepping up) and the furniture practically exploded.
"Stop Neji!" Tenten screamed. "You'll kill him!"
If Tenten was to make an analogy, the 64 Points of Divinity aims to hurt, the 128 Points of Divinity would aim to kill. After the person gets 128 of his or her tenketsu sealed, the person will be completely devoid of chakra and blood. Having the inner coil of chakra cut off is not as fatal. Yes, you can't perform anything other than taijutsu, but it does not endanger your body. With the 128 Points of Divinity, it cuts off the person's blood supply to certain parts of the body. The person will lose conscious immediately as the body tried to allocate the saved resources to something more useful and needed. Some will never be able to regain consciousness.
In her life, she could count the number of times Neji had used it. The attack simply consumed too much stamina and chraka. Why the hell is Neji using that technique knowing that the Hokage wanted Isamu alive? Isamu didn't even get a chance to block Neji's rapid attacks. That is how powerful the attack is, once a person is hit, it'll be more and more difficult for the person to avoid the upcoming strikes.
"Stop damn it!"
She had only tried to stop Neji verbally, not willing to go in between a Hyuuga and his or her target for it will be suicidal. However, if you were someone like her, who had been assigned to be with Neji for the past five years, then you will start see patterns in his attack.
Tenten's chance came when Neji moved back slightly from Isamu to get into position that was needed for his next set of attacks. She will have to be quick and careful because the 128 Points of Divinity is difficult to stop once it gets going. She had a greater chance of stopping him using her weapons but she didn't want to waste too much of her stamina or chakra. Not to mention she didn't want to injure her team-mate.
"God Neji!" Tenten tried grabbed him from behind and hooked her arms around his shoulder.
She missed…
Neji elbowed her hard on the jaw.
If Tenten was not a shinobi, then she would've probably flown several feet before hitting the ground. Instead, she did a back flip and landed in a crouch position. Neji had stopped his rampage, looking at her. Isamu collapsed with a loud thud and remained unmoving on the ground. Things in the room lay battered and broken, like a raging hurricane had swept through them.
Tenten touched the place where Neji had struck her and winced. She tasted something metalic in her mouth, probably her gum is bleeding. Usually she would've spitted the liquid out of her mouth; however, this time, something told her to swallow it instead.
Neither Neji nor she said anything.
Although Neji and she kept on training together after their genin years, she hadn't been hit by him for a long time. She might not be able to land a hit on him (damn his Kaiten) but that doesn't mean he could touch her either. Her agility matches his.
It wasn't the pain that was getting onto her nerve right now; it was what Neji had done. It was irrational and simply unnecessary.
The amount of noise he had caused…Oh dear god! It had probably waked up the whole neighbourhood! It will only be a matter of time before the owner of the hotel comes up and check on them. The hotel is a small one, having only two floors only. It had about twenty rooms in total. The first floor consisted of a reception desk and a small restaurant that is specialized in making beef bentos.
Her assumption was confirmed when she heard someone knocking at the door. Tenten gave Neji a look before heading toward the door. Although she was not pleased with what just had taken place, now was not the time to yell at Neji. She'll get that chance when she had returned to Konoha and after she had completed her mission.
Rubbing her bruised jaw that had already gone numb; Tenten opened the door slightly so that there was just enough space for her to peek out. She didn't want the person outside to see what had transpired in the room unless it is absolutely necessary.
She saw a man who was in his early fifties. He was a little shorter than her, around five foot seven. He had auburn hair that was trimmed neatly. His usual round friendly face was replaced with a serious look. Out was his usual business suit and in were a typical white t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. His stomach was protruding from the shirt, probably due to lack of exercise and years of beer-drinking. He looked like he was woken up from his bed.
The owner of the hotel stared at Tenten for a moment before pushing the rim of his glasses, which was sliding down from the bridge of his nose, back up.
"What's going on in there?"
Tenten gave him an uneasy smile, "My apologies. It was my friend. You see, he goes into a drunken frenzy every time when he had too much to drink."
She had to come up with an idea quickly and all she could think of was the past incidents when Lee was drunk.
The owner raised an eyebrow, "I'm afraid that I'll have to go in."
Holding back a defeating sigh, Tenten swung the door wide open and took a step back, giving the man some space to enter the room. She bit her lower lip as the frown deepened on the owner's face when he saw all the damages. The lucky part was that Neji and Isamu were no longer there. Instead, their presences were replaced by Lee, who was lying on the bed face-down. He had his arms and legs spread out like he was making a snow angel. Loud snoring sound could be heard and not far from him, a bottle of sake laid horizontally on the ground with its content still spilling out, wetting the carpet.
Tenten could feel her eyebrow twitching, Lee had over done it!
The owner was about to open his mouth when Tenten stopped him. "I'm sure we can work this out. After all," she took out a small gold bar from her backpack that was discarded on the ground beside the broken circular wooden coffee table. "my friend and I are just trying to have fun. We didn't mean to cause so much trouble."
She tossed the gold, which was about the size of a small Kitkat chocolate bar, up in the air before catching it casually. The owner's eyes had followed the movement of the gold up and down.
Tenten smirked. "I'm sure that we can come to an agreement without alerting the authorities."
If that didn't work, she could always tie him up, stick a sock into his mouth, and shove him into a closet.
The owner didn't answer but she saw the pondering look on the man's face. She added, "in fact, my friend and I will be out of here immediately."
Needless to say, it didn't take long before the owner made his decision. The amount of money he could get from the gold was more than enough to refurnish the whole room. In fact, it was probably enough money for him to live without working for two years.
When the man left the room, Tenten closed the door. Leaning against the door, she mourned for the lost of her money. The gold was supposed to be used to bribe Cloud shinobis, not an owner of a small hotel. It was her last resort too!
Sighing for the god-knows-how-many-times for the night, she walked toward the bed. Lee had already gotten up and was holding her backpack for her. She wrinkled her nose when she retrieved her bag.
"You stink."
Lee reeked of alcohol.
"Shino dumped two bottles of sake and other things which I don't want to know about on me when I was coming in." Lee explained to her when both of them jumped out of the window and landed on the street below. Lee also told her that Neji and Shino will be waiting in the forest just outside of town for them.
"Why wasn't I noted with the change in the plan?" Tenten asked in low tone as Lee and her past through the residential area.
If there is even a slightest change, she wants to know about it. Originally, Neji and Lee was suppose to be on the look out while Shino and her was to take care of Isamu and take him to the designated area outside of town to meet up with them. However, tonight, Neji had burst into the room, beating Isamu up with the intention to hurt the man badly. If the objective of the mission had changed from retrieval to extermination, then she should have been told about it.
Fortunately, the owner of the hotel could be bought over. If not, then everything could've gone down the drain! What Neji had done…he could've jeopardized the whole team.
"There isn't any change," Lee said as he jumped over the wooden fence, which barricaded the town from wild animals, with Tenten following closely behind him. The two dashed into the forest, going to the designated spot. "Neji had made the decision to move in suddenly…I think. Even I wasn't informed of the changes and I had been next to him for the whole night. I followed him but I had to remain outside of the hotel to observe the surrounding."
Tenten's frown deepened. Neji should've known better than to take independent actions. That idea of teamwork was practically drilled into every shinobi's brain. They are a team; therefore, they move as one. Everybody is to know what each other is doing all the time. As a shinobi, discipline is vital.
It didn't take long before Lee and her met up with the othe two. Tenten adjusted the straps of her pack to make herself more comfortable. Her whole team started to run. It will be a four day sprint back toward Konoha.
Pulling something stupid like that…Tenten thought.
Neji owe them an explanation.
The group decided to take a fifteen minute break before continuing on.
Their formation consisted of Shino being at the front, retrieving his bugs that he had dispose ahead of time. His bugs acted as a lookout, making sure that the route going back to Konoha is free of ambush and traps. Lee was the second following Shino, carrying the still unconscious target on his back. The one after Lee is Tenten, since she attack was mostly long range, she is suppose to back Lee or Neji up if something bad happens. Neji will be the last, using his Byakugan to survey the area, making sure to inform his team-mates if something pops up.
It was almost night time, and they were about a day away from the border of the Leaf Country. Although the chance of being discovered decreases with each passing minute, Tenten won't feel safe until she is within Konoha. By then, it's too late of the Cloud to do anything.
Tenten took out an aluminium pot and four packs of instant noodles for they will be their dinner for the night. She tossed the pot to Lee, since he was on his way to refill everyone's water bottle, might as well get him to collect the water for her pot too. Shino was sitting on a log, meditating. She could understand that because being at the front of the formation means he is responsible for sensing everything. It is a stressful position, not to mention it takes a toll on the body. Isamu was still sleeping like a baby after she had injected a tranquilizing drug into his system, just in case.
Neji announced that he is going to gather some wood for the fire. Tenten watched him as he walked away before standing up herself. Brushing some dry leaves off her pants, she followed Neji.
Tenten didn't get the chance to talk to Neji for the whole time they were running because she had to focus on her surrounding, making sure that there's no enemy around. During the several break time throughout the last few days, Neji would come up with excuses to leave every time she approaches him. The only times when he came close to her was when she had to carry Isamu.
When it was her turn to carry Isamu (Lee and her alternates), Neji would take the man out of her hand and carry him instead. He told everyone that a man like Isamu is not enough to hinder him. He said it in a serious tone, not giving anyone to say anything otherwise. Therefore, she let him be, telling him that she'll take over when he had to fight since he was the taijutsu type.
He didn't answer her. Instead, he got back into the group formation.
Frankly, Tenten was starting to get annoyed with the whole situation. If anyone should be angry, it should be her! After all, she's the one that got hit in the jaw. Why the hell does he act like she is the one at fault? She could tell that something made him angry and it had something to do with her. However, she couldn't possibly come up with an answer. She recalled the mission. He acted normal, to say at least, until the night when Isamu showed up. Not only did he not apologize for nor explained his action, he was avoiding her like she had some infectious disease.
Even Lee had no clue about his sudden change of moods and Hyuuga Neji is not supposed to have a mood-swing at all!
Of all the years which Neji, Lee and she had been as a team, they were good at reading each other's body language. A simple gesture or a glance would be enough to communicate. It was something that comes along with the years of teamwork.
For the first time in her life, she felt as if there was a barrier between Neji and her.
She didn't like now things were going at all. She hated to guess, not only because most of the time she would be wrong, she would also consider the worse case scenarios and they, in combination, would do nothing to lift her already fouled mood. Therefore, she prefers to take action and that was what she is doing right now.
"What is wrong?"
Tenten jumped off from a tree branch, landing gracefully before him.
The man being questioned didn't even look at her before sidestepping. He carried on with his branch collection like it was the most important task in the world.
Tenten narrowed her eyes. She moved in front of him, blocking his way once again. She demanded, "Tell me what the hell is wrong?"
She was fed up. Confused, frustrated, annoyed with him, she wanted to get everything sorted out now so she could get on with her life. She hated to be stuck in between awkward situations.
Neji eyed her for a moment with an expression she couldn't really understand. Tenten tiled her head to study him but he had turned away.
"You should put on something before you get sick."
With that, he headed back to camp, carrying a bundle of branches with him.
Tenten gave a silent 'huh' as she looked at his retreating form. She looked at the clothes she was wearing. She was still in her red tank top and the same long black dress. Since she only has one more set of clean clothes to spare, she didn't want to change into it until later. During the short breaks, it wasn't as if she didn't have time to change but she had other things to do, like refilling her water bottle by trying to locate a (clean) water source and stretching or sitting to relax her tensed muscle. Not to mention she didn't want change in an open area, she's not an exhibitionist.
She had thrown on a white windbreaker when it was cold in the forest during the night. However, she had taken it off when the sun came up because of the humid and hot temperature. Currently, the jacket was tied around her waist. Although night was approaching, she didn't feel cold because of the long period of travelling the group had done.
As a shinobi and as a woman who is eighteen years old, she knows how to take good care of herself. Tenten was glad because Neji was concerned about her well-being but she was expecting him to tell her what is the matter…
She sighed as she headed back toward the camp.
Maybe next time…
The whole mission had gone smoother than what Tenten had anticipated. There was no interference from the Cloud, Sound, or the Akatsuki. Instead of taking four days to come back to Konoha, it had taken them in total three days.
When her team and her handed Isamu (who had finally woke up when the team past through the gate of Konoha) over to Ibiki, she could've almost sworn that his eyes had widened. In fact, they widened so much that she worried his eyes were going to pop out of his sockets.
Tenten had specifically requested Ibiki to be the man for the interrogation. Not only is Ibiki skilful in what he does, his questioning sessions often involve emotional and physical distresses.
Part of the reason was to get back at Isamu for taking advantage of her and shoving her against the door. His actions had caused two large ugly bruises on her back (particularly on her shoulder blades), they still hurt whenever she moves. Other reason was that she blames him for what happened between Neji and her.
When Isamu was dropped off at the interrogation room, Shino, Lee, Neji and she headed toward the Hokage's office to give her their report. Everyone had came to a silent agreement to not to bring up what Neji had done during the capture of Isamu. Therefore, Tsunade-sama nodded approvingly and handed each of them a cheque for completing the mission. Just when Tenten was about to leave the room, Tsunade-sama asked what had happen to her jaw.
She told the Hokage that she got hit by Isamu when she was trying to restrain him.
In other words, she lied…
To make matters worse, she lied to her idol just to save Neji's ass!
Her team-mate said nothing as they filed out of the room, with her being the last one. By the time she exited the room, Neji was nowhere in sight. Shino, Lee, and she looked at each other for a moment before saying their good-byes and going their own way.
Neji owe her big!
Well, at least on her way out Ibiki invited her to watch the next torture…questioning session. She declined, telling the man that she is simply too tired to do anything and just couldn't wait to hit the bed.
Tenten didn't even bother to stop by the hospital to get the medicine needed to treat her wounds. She headed straight home, took a quick shower and hopped onto her comfy bed. By that time, it was already midnight.
She loves her job but there were times when it demands a lot out of her. Even so, she couldn't see herself in any other occupation. She smiled satisfyingly as she turned off her bed lamp that was placed on top of her wooden dresser next to her bed.
She closed her eyes.
She'll figure something out tomorrow as to what to do with her situation with Neji.
With that in mind, she fell asleep almost immediately.
However, not for long.
Love it? Hate it? Please review! It really motivates me into writing!