Ack! How could I not update this in a few weeks? :O
. . . I sorry. I don't really have any excuse, other than I totally forgot this was here. . . Yeah, I know. I'm a bad person. :P
Gemina: Yep. . . FF can't get rid of me. ;) Yeah, it's a curse. :D Woot! KNO breaks the mold! :D You'll see. . .
nane: Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that. Sorry.
StrawberrySmoothie99: I know you're studying and focusing on schoolwork and things, so you probably won't be reading this for a while. . . Hm. . . :D Thank you for the well wishes! It was very . . . interesting. :D
nikoto: Finally someone who agrees!!! :)
Shubhs: No problem. . . And even though I don't know the situation: If you burn your bridges, just remember you can't cross them again . . . unless you have an airplane. And then it's a different story. ;) Good luck, dear.
HeavensPheonix561: Yeah. . . I modelled Kohaku after Neji and Naruto. . . :)
xXanime-mistressXx: . . . Sorry about the absence. :)
AnimeFreak218: No. She was just being our oddball TenTen. If anything, she wanted Kohaku to understand not all gifts have to serve a purpose. It was her unique way of telling him to have some fun while he's still a kid. . . Yeah. :)
hendi: Wow. You hate it now? :/ Were you reading? Neji was jealous! That's why he slammed TenTen into that wall and started making out with her!!!! Read in between the actions, dear.
e1nav57: Yeah, well, he didn't have much of a choice, now did he? :)
Mitsu-Inu: Thank you very much! I really appreciate your kind words. :) Hahaha. I have a Kiba fan in the midst, don't I?
anna: :/ I wouldn't feel disappointed in me, if I were you. I like what I wrote, and that's the purpose of the Fic. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.
*sigh*
I swear, I've had more trouble with this than other Fics. XD
Oh, well. I'm going to finish it out, so there. :P
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. Kishie owns. There, happy?
5.
TenTen woke up craving coffee.
She stumbled out of her bedroom, still wearing her clothes from the previous night.
She waited drowsily for the pot to fill before pouring it into a mug.
Meandering slowly around her house, she finally decided to sit out on her stoop.
The morning weather was good, an insistent breeze blowing.
TenTen one-handedly unpinned her buns, letting her brown hair fall to her shoulders.
She mussed it, allowing the breeze to blow it around.
The sky was pearlescent white, and it seemed to shimmer across the seeable stretch.
TenTen wondered if it would remain so the whole day.
She pulled her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
Easily, she sipped her coffee, sighing.
Her brown eyes casually flicked over to the street, where a broad-shouldered figure was walking.
Neji.
TenTen watched him approach.
She swallowed down more coffee as he ambled up the steps, looking at her.
"How's your head?" he asked after a moment of quiet.
"I feel like shit, what else do you want from me?"
Neji ignored her tone.
"I hope you realize you could have gotten alcohol poisoning."
TenTen raised an eyebrow at him.
"Lucky I didn't then, hm?"
Neji said nothing else for a while, and TenTen drank more of her coffee; she could see the dregs at the bottom.
"So. You came here to talk. Talk," TenTen finally stated, fixing her eyes on him.
Neji stared back, his eyes probing her.
"Sakura came and talked to me a few weeks ago. She said you'd been like this, but I didn't know. . ."
Neji stopped himself, shaking his head.
TenTen replied before he could start back up again.
"I'm not some medical case, Neji Hyuga. I'm fine."
"Of course that's an automatic indication that you're not fine."
He eyed her, his face tormented.
"How much have you been drinking, TenTen?"
TenTen snorted and rolled her eyes at the homes and stores across the street.
"Sakura's exaggerating," she murmured.
"TenTen, you can't just—just drink your problems away."
TenTen glared at him.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. Go."
Neji didn't budge.
"TenTen—!"
"Neji, if you want to talk about problems, then let's talk about problems. Compared to me, you've got the most out of the two of us. You have a wife that hates the sight of you, a son who's scared of his own father, and a lover who doesn't want you either! How's that for problems, huh, Neji?!" she interrupted in a biting tone.
His expression contorted into rage.
"And look at you! Some alcoholic who can't have a functional relationship if she tried!"
TenTen's eyes burned and she stood, dropping her mug onto the concrete.
It broke into pieces.
TenTen and Neji stared down at it.
Slowly, TenTen bent and reached out to collect the broken shards of ceramic.
"Don't," Neji said.
He lightly brushed her hands away, his fingers leaving skin prickling where he touched her.
"You'll cut yourself," he finished.
TenTen blinked as Neji picked up the pieces, closing his fingers around them.
He rose back to his full height and met her gaze.
TenTen closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm sorry I said those things. I shouldn't have."
"I shouldn't have said what I did either," Neji returned.
It was quiet for a moment on the stoop, and somewhere above, a bird chirped.
TenTen exhaled deeply.
"Can I come inside?" Neji asked lowly.
His forehead collided with her hairline.
"I thought you said you couldn't do this anymore?" TenTen replied back, quiet.
Neji said nothing for a second before finally murmuring, "I think I've come to the realization that restricting your own desires is a recipe for disaster and malice."
"I agree."
And she reached out and opened the door, Neji following without compromise.
—
Kohaku woke up abnormally late, as directed by his ringing alarm clock on the night stand.
Confused, he switched it off and blearily glanced around his bedroom.
Why hadn't his mother woken him up? Shouldn't she have heard it and come to turn it off, at least?
Kohaku sighed and pushed off his covers, stumbling to the floor.
He impatiently smoothed down his hair as he dressed, his feet fumbling into his shoes.
He walked around his house aimlessly, realizing there was no one there but him.
Puzzled, Kohaku went outside, walking all the way to he and his teammate's training grounds.
They were deserted as well.
Where is everyone? Kohaku asked himself, turning in a slow circle.
Eventually, Kohaku decided to pay his sensei a short visit to find out why they were not meeting.
It was only after TenTen's apartment was in sight that Kohaku recalled her words from last night: that they would be meeting after the New Year, not before.
Kohaku sighed; so he had traveled all this way for nothing!
He stopped in the middle of the street and stared at his sensei's apartment.
He was debating on whether or not to go and speak to her when the door opened.
For a reason unbeknownst to Kohaku, he moved into the shadows of a building across the street.
Kohaku was surprised to see his father exiting the threshold, his sensei behind him.
His father was smiling, which intrigued Kohaku; his father never smiled.
Kohaku watched, curious, as Neji grasped TenTen's waist and leaned down.
He kissed her desirously, and TenTen slid her hands around his neck, pulling him close.
Kohaku's heart stopped and froze in its place.
What?
Kohaku scrambled away while they weren't paying attention, running down the road to get as far away from them as possible.
Kohaku sobbed, finally coming to stop at a building.
With a quick glance up, he noticed it was Noriko's parent's store.
Kohaku sank down against the extra space next to the door, attempting to dry his eyes.
His tears had stopped, but he was still coughing dryly, emptily.
How could his father do this to him? How could his sensei do this to him? Did his mother know?
Millions of questions ran through Kohaku's mind, and he realized he had no answers to any of them.
"Kohaku?" an anxious voice prompted.
Kohaku looked up, seeing Noriko standing there, her expression contorted into dubiousness.
"Kohaku, what's wrong?"
Kohaku broke their gaze, staring emotionally at the sky.
He sniffed, before glancing back at her.
"Don't tell Hayato."
—
Hours after Neji left, TenTen answered a knock at the door.
It was late afternoon by now, and the sun was setting.
TenTen wondered if Neji had already come back, so eagerly, she opened the door.
Instead of Neji, she found another Hyuga standing there.
Her Byakugan eyes were narrowed, her long hair dark and straight.
Her aquiline nose just added to the cynical air surrounding her.
As if it was causing her pain, the bitter woman opened her mouth.
"TenTen," was her restricted greeting.
TenTen replied back, just as grim.
"Cho."
Guess who that is?
:)
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