Title : How They Got Together (a.k.a. Sasuke no Sugoi Tokubetsuna Arashi no Jutsu!)
Series : Naruto
Character/Pairing : Hyuuga Neji x TenTen
Set : 1
Theme : #8 - Storm
Rating : PG-13
Word Count : 5, 598 words
Disclaimer : I don't own any of the characters that will be used in this story. Do I even seem or look like Masashi Kishimoto? No offense if you're blind, though.
I thought that it was more humorous thank you, Naruto-san, Sasuke-san than romantic. Gomen, gomen. There was just... far too much angst. There would be a wee bit of angst here, too. By the way... Sasuke no Sugoi Tokubetsu na Arashi no Jutsu can be roughly translated to Sasuke's Amazing Special Storm Technique. Uh, yeah, cussing. Cause it's Naruto. Is there an episode without cussing there?... I guess there is, but that's not the point. Oh, yeah, and there's Naruto and Sasuke. Lots of em so that receives a warning.
Having too much paperwork had a great effect on Naruto. It made him think like a wise man. Like Sarutobi, Iruka, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Well, at least the latter two were wise sometimes. And that sucked, the part about being wise, that is. Though some or, rather, most, like dearest Haruno Sakura, would think that that was a good thing. After all, she was the one who hounded after Naruto to do his paperwork when the blond ran away from his room for some good ol' Ichiraku ramen, miso ramen in particular.
Currently, Naruto was brooding in his Hokage office on his Hokage chair. He had just finished an enormous pile of paperwork that seemed to increase by one pile each second. Sakura was sadistic. Utterly and freakishly sadistic. That would come as a surprise for those who didn't know her so well. They just thought that she was some pretty, goody-goody girl. Tch. Goes to show them that appearances aren't everything. Not everything at all.
Naruto was brooding about something that he deemed important. Something that had something to do about certain people that he considered his friends. Something that had something to do about two certain people that he considered his friends. These two people who were fortunate to be the subjects of his after-paperwork-thoughts were one head of the Hyuuga Branch Family and one excellent weapon handler. A shinobi and a kunoichi. Hyuuga Neji and TenTen. Any more elaboration would've been so great for any lesser being to understand. This lesser being would be you. Then again... ah, well, Naruto was just far too great and complex, greatly complex, for any of you normal humans to understand. He was, after all, Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. The almighty human sacrifice for the nine-tailed demon fox. The one and only Rokudaime Hokage. Bow before his almightiness!
But enough about him. It was now time to think about the aforementioned subjects which were Hyuuga Neji and TenTen... The only coherent thought, for you normal humans, that is, that could be found in that stuff which was beyond Naruto's fluffy and spiky blond hair was... WERE THEY SO FRICKIN' DUMB TO NOT NOTICE THE CHEMISTRY AND THE TENSION, AND SEXUAL OR ROMANTIC TENSION AT THAT?! Though he shouldn't be one to talk seeing as not even he could feel the sexual tension between him and a certain top jounin who definitelywasn'tthattemeandneverwouldbethattemethankyouverymuch!
It had recently, or depending whether you think three years is recently or not, come to his attention that Neji and TenTen were harboring feelings for each other yet the two of them were extremely and so ashamingly at that since they were ninja and they were supposed to be aware of everything unaware of it. It was such a great surprise, at least it would be if others knew that he knew it, too, that he was actually able to see that those two had the hots for each other since he wasn't able to see the people who fawned over him. Like Hinata. Up until now, he was still oblivious to the obvious feelings of the Hyuuga heiress towards him.
Back to the NejiTen thing, then. And so he, the great Uzumaki Naruto-sama, was getting so fucking tired of seeing them dance around each other. The blushing TenTen and the uncomfortable and nervous look in Neji's eyes. It was unbearable. They needed to get together.
So, who else should the amazing Rokudaime go to but his immensely worldly-wise ANBU Captain Uchiha Sasuke? Of course, there was Sakura-chan, but she would only tease those two which would not help them get together. Sweet Hinata-chan was also an option but Naruto couldn't drag her in this one. At least not until she solved her own love problem on Kiba which Naruto was also intent on helping her out with. Oh, sure, there was also smart Shikamaru, but he'd only say something about matchmaking being troublesome. Ino was also a candidate, but she was far too engrossed in her own love life... or lives for that matter. Iruka-sensei could help but he was far too busy at the Academy, what with the upcoming graduation and all.
Naruto knew for a fact that Sasuke was as good as asexual, but hell if he wasn't smart. Not once had it come across Naruto that matchmaking wasn't like coming up with a strategy for an assassination. He might be Hokage, but that didn't mean that he was exceptionally smart like Tsunade-baachan. Though that didn't make him any less greater than he already was. Nobody could have everything, you know!
Sasuke's reaction to the usuratonkachi's plan, when the latter told it to the former around three hours after he got bored of seeing Neji and TenTen like that, was a sigh and a mutter of 'usuratonkachi, your stupidity never fails to be put in a boundary'.
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, hearing that, most probably because of Kyuubi-san, and obviously taking offense.
"It's their life, not yours or mine. They should deal with it themselves," Sasuke said. "After all, you wouldn't want someone to butt into your life, now would you?"
Naruto loathed the fact that his best-friend/rival/subordinate/best-ANBU was chastising him like he was three-years-old or something. Yeah, that and the fact that Sasuke was right. He wouldn't want people to butt into his life. Then again, if he wasn't going to do anything about it, might as well get some help. Intentionally or not, willingly or not, whatever. Just as long as the problem was solved... There. Now he wasn't a hypocrite!
"They sure ain't look like they're going to do something soon!" he exclaimed.
"In the first place, what does this have to do with me?" Sasuke asked. "Usuratonkachi, I'm a Konoha jounin, an ANBU Captain, a former village traitor, a former Sunagakure and Takigakure villager, but I'm not a love advisor or matchmaker."
"We have to do something before something bad happens! You just don't know with those old clans like the Hyuuga."
"Gee, thanks for insulting my clan, dobe, thanks a lot. I really do appreciate it."
Naruto huffed and crossed his arms on his chest. Stupid bastard. Now was not the time to be sarcastic. Not that that didn't mean much since he never liked his bastard of an ANBU Captain being even the least bit wry since that made him feel stupid. Sasuke was the epitome of dry humor. Or belittling people, whatever.
That wasn't the important thing at hand. The important thing was Neji and TenTen's nonexistent, but not for long since the greatest Rokudaime Hokage, because he was, after all, the only Rokudaime Hokage as Sasuke would just love to point out to him, decided to butt in, relationshipThe future of those two were in their dearest Hokage's, and perhaps even Sasuke's if he would just be completely agreeable for just once in his life during things that didn't involve assassinations or missions that took him out of Konoha or were extremely important and bordering on life-threatening, hands.
Anyway, Naruto would be the only person who would've bothered bothering in someone's love life, much more Neji's. Nobody liked butting in Neji's life. They valued their life. Or, if they were like Sasuke or Shikamaru, they didn't think much of it since it had no relation or value whatsoever to or in their life or in living. Besides, it was hard fixing someone else's life when yours wasn't that peachy.
"Just help me out, won'tcha?! It won't kill you to do this just once," Naruto said.
"That's what you always say when we go venture into something that you would most likely screw up and need me to save your sorry ass," Sasuke said. "Sad to tell you, Hokage-sama, but I can't humor you today. Or have you forgotten that we're picking new ANBU this week and the week after that."
"It might not even take all of your time, teme!"
True, true. Sasuke was a master of the art of multitasking and time management. Though that didn't mean that he had the same view as Shikamaru on matters like these. Troublesome.
"By the way, have you finished your paperwork, usuratonkachi? If you haven't and if you don't shut up, I might be tempted to sic Sakura or Shizune or Iruka on you," Sasuke said.
Creepy thought and Naruto was sure that Sasuke wouldn't hesitate to act upon it. The bastard was sadistic that way. So Naruto only pouted and continued to do his paperwork diligently. The way a real Hokage should.
Sasuke sighed. The things he did for Konoha. Well, at least Naruto was quiet now. A very much welcome change from the love crap he was spewing out of his mouth. Neji and TenTen could both solve their little love problem, Sasuke knew that. They just needed some time. A lot of time. Naruto was just being the impatient, idiotic bundle of bubbly blond boy that he was. Besides, the moron already had tons of paperwork in his hands. He could go worry about non-Konoha threatening, or seemingly non-threatening, things after his paperwork was reduced to nothing.
"So what about that mission report, teme? Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei told me that it was one heck of a mission," Naruto said all of a sudden, still diligently working on his paperwork.
Sasuke gracefully plopped on the chair nearest to Naruto's table, very aware that he was blushing. Hopefully that idiot wouldn't notice. Stupid mission. Stupid circumstances. Stupid teammates. Stupid Gama Sannin and perverted teacher. Stupid everything.
Naruto smirked and leaned closer to where Sasuke was. Of course, he just had to notice the blush. Sasuke was pale enough as it was.
"Where's the mission report, teme?" Naruto asked in all of his I'm-the-Hokage-so-that-means-you're-under-me glory and voice. "What happened?"
Sasuke growled and glared at him, the blush still stubbornly stuck on his cheeks, much to his chagrin. He hated his paleness. Even while exposed to the sun a lot, as expected since he lived in the Fire Country and in Konoha to boot, he still retained his milky white complexion. Or girly complexion as Naruto put it. Well, damn Naruto, too. The dobe and the paleness of his skin could go rot in hell... Then again, if his complexion went to hell, didn't that mean that he would go there, too? What the hell?! He didn't even believe in hell. He had just discovered the wonders of Taoism... that and atheism. Religion had never really been his thing. Being a traitor, a ninja, and training under Orochimaru kinda did that to one.
"Fuck you. I know that you know. Come on then, laugh at me, you dolt," he said. "It's better than being treated like someone with shit for brains."
Naruto laughed. He knew very well what happened in that mission or, rather, after it. It involved hormonal teammates, a towel-clad Sasuke, a pretty powerful aphrodisiac, and some other stuff. One heck of a story indeed. Too bad he wasn't invited. Damn, that would've sure been nice to look at.
Meanwhile, Team Gai were in their made-up camp in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere. They had just finished their mission and would go back to Konoha the very next day since they were very much spent. Stupid Kusagakure-nins and their stupid jutsu made things harder for them. Gai almost got crushed by some massive tree, Lee almost got his right leg's bones fractured, yet again, by some root, Neji almost got cut like fresh sashimi by leaves, and TenTen nearly got her body snapped into two by some vines. It was a good thing they brought lots of medicines and that Neji was somewhat like a medic-nin.
Neji and TenTen had been sneezing quite a lot in the past few hours. It was beginning to worry their two youthful companions. Who knew what those Kusagakure-nins had done? Maybe there was some sort of poison in the air. Stupid plants. Which was kinda funny for them to think since they lived in Konoha which was filled and surrounded with and by plants.
It was around three hours later when Naruto managed to finish his paperwork. Sasuke helped, too. Just a bit. Okay, so maybe it wasn't just a bit. It was more like half of the paperwork. He did it willingly, anyway. He was, after all, one heck of a workaholic. Perhaps he was also masochistic. Would that mean that he was also open to stuff like BDSM? Maybe even with some role-playing on the side. That was an interesting thought.
"So... what about Neji and TenTen?" Naruto asked out of the blue before thoughts of bondage and whipped cream totally corrupted his mind, his sanity, and his self-control. Stupid ANBU uniform! Cock teasers, that's what they all were!
Sasuke sighed. The dobe wasn't going to let this one up easily. He even managed to remember it after three hours' worth of paperwork. He was just so devoted to his friends. Even friends who tried to kill him once or friends that humiliated him.
"They'll find a way someday," Sasuke said. "And if they don't get together, they're not meant to be together."
"Kami-sama, I never knew that you were fatalistic, too!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Oi, oi, urusai zo."
"Anyway, what if, like, they thought that the other weren't the least bit interested in them. Neji has these asexual vibes, yanno."
Sasuke rose an eyebrow.
"And how would I know? I haven't looked at him that way," he said.
Once again, Naruto huffed. He didn't look at Neji that way. No way would he do that!
"Listen, dobe, I think they're better off without any help. It might cause them problems in the future," Sasuke said.
They both knew the words that were hanging in the air. Like that person...
Naruto looked at Sasuke and became guilty. Damn it. He never expected that this whole conversation would go there. He just wanted to help his friends, that was all. He had successfully added salt to the injury. He truly was deserving of the name "dead last" more than ever. In fact, he even felt like killing himself. He had sworn that he would never ever make that silly bastard remember about that since that would only make him sad. But he had, oh he fucking had, and without even knowing it.
The room was bathed in uncomfortable silence. At least until Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Naruto had just found out that that was one of the not-so-many ways that his friend relieved himself of stress and some other stuff.
"Look, usuratonkachi, before we go all sentimental and shit, just... think about it," Sasuke said. "You just can't help everyone."
I never helped you, too, didn't I?, Naruto thought sadly. Silence ensued.
"But I can try, can't I?" Naruto suddenly asked. "I became Hokage for a reason, teme. Sure, I want to be acknowledged and all that crap, but I also want to help people. Ninja aren't just tools. We're humans, too. We have every right to be helped. Especially in situations that contain love. By nature, shinobi aren't really that good with their feelings since it's more or less a requirement for us to hide our feelings," here Sasuke snorted, thinking about the possibility that Naruto actually hid his feelings and his thoughts, "in order to function well. If we, the people who do know, don't act, those two might end up having miserable lives, only thinking of the what-if's nd stuff."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, as some sort of reflex or something when the idiot did something surprising or such, while successfully hiding a smile. Naruto...
"Whatever, dobe. Don't tell them I didn't warn you," he said.
At that, Naruto smirked.
"You're going to help me, remember, teme?" he asked. "You're obliged to help me."
Sasuke rose an eyebrow. There was no way that idiot would bring him along that particular path that would lead to their downfall, since Neji was, after all, a pretty private person who liked to keep his troubles for himself and solve them in his own way. Well, perhaps except the clan problem.
"Under what circumstances am I obliged to help you?" Sasuke asked. "And I'm actually surprised that you know what obliged means."
Naruto ignored the latter comment and merely kept on smirking. Kinda creepy. Evil-and-Scheming-much-like-Orochimaru-Hokage!Naruto had now made his appearance. Sasuke, in all his years of being an ANBU, ANBU Captain, and ninja in general, had never been more afraid in his life. Hm. Maybe he was exaggerating a bit...
"Might I remind you, Captain Uchiha, that the ANBU is under the jurisdiction of the Hokage. A-class mission, get Neji and TenTen to hook up, starts now. You're the only one I can trust, so I hope that you don't fail me," Naruto said.
Sasuke was inwardly seething. That dobe was abusing his power, dammit! Though it wasn't as if a 'no' could do anything. Naruto may be a total moron, but he sure was one fucking determined one.
"Fuck you, Hokage-sama," he said. "And you owe me one."
"Don't care. Just do your job, Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto cheerfully said.
Sasuke walked out of the room. Fucked-up Hokage with shit for brains. It also just so happened that Sasuke was just as determined as their Hokage and was adamant that his mission success rate stayed at 100.
Nighttime, Neji and TenTen were sent on firewood duty. The two were rather reluctant at first, seeing as Gai and Lee weren't exactly the most sane and practical of people and putting them together without anyone to watch over them would obviously have catastrophic results. Or so Neji and TenTen said.
It was when they were about to head back when it began to rain heavily. It was just like cats and dogs. Running to camp wasn't an option since it was relatively far away from them. Not to mention Neji was prone to colds. Besides, it wasn't as if they were following a schedule.
Luckily enough for them, there was a nearby cave. They decided to use that as their shelter, after making sure that no wild animals that had the potential to decrease their life spans or create damage to them inhabited it. Not that those wild animals could do those since they were ninja that could kick some serious ass, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Back at the camp, the fire was crackling merrily. A lot of firewood, which were neatly stacked up in a pyramid-like formation, could be found just beside Gai's tent. Sasuke was sitting on a log that was a makeshift bench, indulging in nicely hot sencha. Gai and Lee were sitting right in front of him.
Just right after Neji and TenTen had disappeared to get firewood, Sasuke had appeared. The two colored Beasts of Konoha, one Green and the other Blue, could still remember what Uchiha had said.
"I'm here on an A-class mission that Rokudaime Hokage-sama himself assigned me. Don't complain or babble, just make me some tea."
Then he gave them a packet of sencha which Lee took. Gai boiled some water and a few minutes later, this was how they ended up.
"What exactly is your mission, Uchiha-san?" Gai asked, very much aware that Uchiha was the ANBU Captain.
Sasuke took a sip of his tea, then looked at the two with all the seriousness that he could muster which was saying a lot.
"To get Hyuuga Neji and TenTen together," he said. "And you are not to disclose this information with anyone else, even with the two of them."
That was an interesting one. Though they weren't that surprised that much. Naruto was a weird Hokage, but they were sure that he had only Neji and TenTen's welfare in his mind. Besides, the Hyuuga Clan Genius and the Weapons Mistress would make a good match. Not to mention Lee and Gai had noticed the tension between them. Such a beautiful show of youth, love was!
"Ah... so what will you do, Uchiha-san?" Lee asked. "I suppose that you've already gotten a plan. Though if you haven't I'm sure it would be in your best interest if you thought of one now. They're doing firewood duty."
"I'm already on it," Sasuke said. "And... prepare some towels for them, will you? My jutsu isn't the driest of techniques."
Lee and Gai panicked. Just what did he mean by that?
"Tokubetsuna Arashi no Jutsu. It is used to stimulate a storm within an area of choice or, rather, within a certain roughly circular boundary," Sasuke said. "We use it in training ANBU."
Truly, Sasuke would be a formidable foe for anyone who had the misfortune to fight against him. Even for the Hokage himself. Gai had just realized that fact, one again, when he heard of the jutsu.
"I know for a fact that weather-changing jutsu drain a lot of chakra. Especially yours, Uchiha-san. Weather-changing jutsu were made to change the whole weather of one country that would be equivalent to at least Kirigakure or perhaps even the whole world. Yours has a boundary limited to a space much smaller Kirigakure and thus, uses up more chakra so as to keep it limited to that and only that place. Not to mention it's a storm jutsu. The nearest body of water here is around... sixteen kilometers from here, in Kusagakure," Gai said. "You're wasting an awful lot of chakra. Dangerous amounts..."
Not to mention one of my two elements is far from water... fire and that I've just done a kuchiyose in order for me to be able to keep tabs on my targets, Sasuke thought. Fuck. He was going to kill himself. Oh, wait, that was why the sencha was here for.
"This sencha is laden with chakra to temporarily replace the chakra I'm using," he said.
"This sure sucks," TenTen said as she looked outside.
The rain, which was actually beginning to look like a storm since the wind was becoming fierce and they could hear thunder, still showed no sign of stopping. They had been stuck in the cave for fifteen minutes now. It was a good thing that they ate something before heading out into the wilderness.
Neji nodded. Fate truly was such a sadistic bitch. Really, to put him in a cave with TenTen and with such a horrible weather outside. There was bound to be some awkwardness, for sure. He didn't like awkward. It made him act differently, especially when she had something to do with the awkwardness.
He had been feeling it for quite a long time now. He didn't know exactly what it was. All he knew was that it made him act slightly unlike his stoic self. It made him feel. It made him notice things about TenTen, even the simplest of actions such as closing her eyes. He didn't want to have feelings like those. He didn't want to act like that around her. He didn't want to be awkward because that would mean that he was unprepared which would be so out of character for someone like him, someone who came from the Hyuuga Clan.
Though that didn't mean that he completely hated this feeling. He liked it. In fact, he might not even hate it at all. He might just hate the fact that it made him act slightly, hardly noticeable to be more exact, goofy, but he didn't hate the feeling itself. It made him happy. It made him want to smile. It made him warm. And it had been quite a long time since he felt warm, at least this kind of warmth. He didn't know what it was called, perhaps because it had been a long time. Maybe... maybe TenTen was here to make him remember what it was. Perhaps she was here to make him happy.
He was fine if he didn't receive any special attention from her, although that would be a big bonus. He would be alright even if she was just there. She didn't need to see him. She didn't need to talk. She didn't need to do anything. He needed her presence. He just needed her. He just needed to see her, to feel that she was there.Without her presence, he felt like a stranger to the world. He felt unguarded. Perhaps, that was one of those things he hated about it. It made him weak. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he registered it as a nice kind of weak. The part of his mind that he rarely visited told him that it should be fine to be weak like that.
Ninja were tools for their countries, for their villages. They were meant to be used by their villages in whatever way they thought would benefit the village. It was their destiny. Neji was a ninja. He felt like a ninja, acted like a ninja.
However, when he was with TenTen, some part of him thought that... he wasn't a ninja. He never was a ninja. He was just a human being, nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't Hyuuga, he wasn't the genius of his clan, he wasn't the rookie of his year, he wasn't the heir of the Branch Family. He was just Neji when he was with her.
Frankly, it scared him. And it was only natural for humans to hate things that they were afraid of. It was natural for humans to hate the unknown. Neji didn't know what it was. It was the first time he felt it so strongly.
Maybe someday... someday, he'll find out what this it is. TenTen will help him, for sure.
"Uchiha-san... I think you should stop the jutsu now," Gai said.
Orochimaru wasn't dead yet. Sasuke was well aware of that fact. He could feel the Cursed Seal burning. He really shouldn't have literally knocked some sense into those new ANBU. Even though the sencha was there... It had never failed him before, so why now?
"I have never failed in any of my missions and I won't be starting now," Sasuke said.
"Neji... you look cold. Can I... can I sit close to you?" TenTen softly asked. "You know, to share body heat. You might catch something..."
Without waiting for his answer, she sat right beside him and put an arm around him. Neji would've laughed out loud if he wasn't so cold. This whole situation was odd. It was supposed to be the other way around. The boy was supposed to hug the chilled-to-the-bones girl. But, as they said, beggars can't be choosers. He really was cold and he assumed that he hardly had any body heat to offer to TenTen. Warm TenTen. Somehow, everything became a lot warmer when she put her arm around him.
Neji wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he was happy. Really happy. He didn't know why, but he was. In times like these, when one was stuck in the middle of a storm with someone, it was best not to care about the why's and the how's. They should live the moment and ask questions later.
He put an arm around her waist. She was too warm. Maybe she'd love some of his cold, then there would be some sort of balance. Perhaps he was right because she inched closer to him. The temperature was just right. The moment was just right. Neji couldn't have asked for anything better. He wouldn't. He was complacent with just this. For one moment, for one night, TenTen was his. Her attention was solely on him. She truly was with him. This was enough. Just one touch that didn't involve fighting or risking their lives. Sure, he was getting addicted to this kind of half-hug and he was sure that he'd want more of this, but even if they went back to their status of just comrades and nothing more, even if she wouldn't truly notice him like she did now, it was fine. All he wanted, no, all he needed was just... just her presence. Just the knowledge that she was here. That she was alive.
Neji didn't ask for a lot. He wouldn't. And he didn't understand why just one touch from this person made him so happy. He thought that it had something to do with it, but right now, he just didn't care. He was happy and warm, and that was that.
The rain still showed no signs of stopping, but they were still warm. TenTen sighed a bit.
"Neji... I want... I want to stay like this," she said in the same soft voice that she used when she talked to him about sharing body heat.
In the back of their minds, it was registered that the awkwardness was slowly ebbing away. Clouds of doubt were drifting away. And Neji... he still couldn't put a name to the name of that feeling he always had whenever he was with TenTen. He was sure that it wasn't love. No, it was something deeper than love. Love was just a four-letter word. It was something that was slightly tangible, slightly explainable. But what he was feeling towards her... he was sure that it was something else. Something more. There was loyalty and acceptance and giving and taking. There was far too much.
Neji didn't know how one sentence, one statement made him solve the mystery of it. How it made him see. Made him see her. He was a fool. He should've seen it earlier. They were the same, the two of them. They saw only each other, they wanted only each other, the only needed each other. They should've seen it earlier. They just thought far too much.
He found himself pushing away these thoughts. He didn't need to name this feeling. The important thing was that he was feeling it. It was kind of funny. They saw things when they weren't looking for it. They became enlightened when they weren't thinking about it. There was no need for words or thoughts. What they shared was something tangible to only themselves. There was a shared understanding.
"I do, too," Neji whispered.
He then completed his side of the hug by putting his other arm on TenTen's stomach, then linking his fingers. She moved closer and put her head on his shoulder, filling up the hollow there. In a way, they became one. Their souls were united and their hearts sang in harmony.
Neji couldn't ask for anything more. He would never ask for anything more than her. The two of them... they were truly happy.
The snake summon went back to its master. The mission was a success. Soon after that, the storm stopped. Neither Neji or TenTen budged. It would take a while for things to dry. They couldn't bring back soggy wood now could they? The perfect excuse to stay in an even more perfect position.
With his curse seal burning strongly, the marks already obvious on his neck, slowly moving to more unmarked skin, Sasuke made his way to Konoha, riding on Manda's back. He was barely conscious. Thankfully the seal still gave him a lot chakra. Thankfully he had enough willpower not to fall into the temptation of going berserk and in a killing spree. Thankfully Manda favored him above all of the other snake summoners, not that there were many, but still.
Fuck Itachi for killing the clan, fuck Orochimaru for giving him this shitty heaven seal, and fuck the dobe for sending him on this mission. Hopefully those two would be happy. Oh, and slightly fuck Sai.
"Hang in there, ningen," Manda hissed. "And I'm going to maim that Hokage of yours."
"Ah, once I get better, I can do that myself," Sasuke said.
"You're too kind. Especially with him."
Sasuke would've blushed if he was any lesser being, but he wasn't. Though he did have a ghost of a smile on his face. Manda noticed this and went faster. His summoner would be much better off if he was with that stupid blond as much as Manda didn't want to admit it.
The next morning. Team Gai was back in Konoha. Sasuke was in the hospital. Naruto was in the hospital (he and Sasuke were next door neighbors) after an unlucky encounter with Sasuke and his Kusanagi, not to mention Manda after Sasuke got inside the hospital, while being shouted at by Sakura for stressing 'poor Sasuke-kun who was already quite high strung with the picking-of-new-ANBU-to-torture-and-have-complete-control-over thing.' Lee and Gai were visiting Sasuke, expressing their concern for him and thanks for helping Neji and TenTen get together even though it was a mission. Kakashi was also in the hospital, visiting his favorite former student, not that he would admit to that...
And Neji and TenTen were walking around Konoha, enjoying the sunny day. They held hands whenever they could sense that nobody was around them.
The two never did get to find out about that mission that had hooked them up... for life. They were hooked up on each other and that was the only thing that they really needed to know about.
The deal on Sasuke being a Sunagakure and Takigakure villager : A friend of mine had this idea wherein Sasuke became a traveler after he ended his days with Orochimaru. So, yeah. He went first to Taki and then to Suna where he was found. Hope that clears out some stuff.