The walk back to her cell was something that Tenten felt she could do without. The dark musty feel of the dank corridors sent shivers down her spine that lasted long after she had been thrown into her cage. The way the guard was treating her did nothing to help her mood. Every now and then he would make a snide remark about what would happen to Neji and every time she felt herself tense against the ropes which bound her to him. She had a feeling that he was rather enjoying the whole thing, however.
"He may just be chopped in half. The boss has a fondness for a katana, you know," the guard jeered once more.
"Shut up!" the kunoichi finally snapped.
For the past few moments, she had endured his insolent attitude, but at this point he was just driving her insane. The guard did nothing but chuckle from under his hood.
"Heh, someone's a little touchy about her boyfriend," he jabbed.
"He's not my boyfriend and he's twice the shinobi you'll ever be!" she replied hotly.
"Eh, whatever happens, happens," he replied nonchalantly.
Soon they had arrived at her cell and Tenten found herself being pushed inside.
"Since he used the boy today, he'll probably use you tomorrow," the guard concurred.
"Who's he?" the bun-haired kunoichi wanted to know.
Ever since their capture, both the guard and with the exception of the first night, their captor or "boss" as he was commonly referred to, had kept their identities a secret.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the guard teased before shutting the door and leaving her alone.
Tenten narrowed her eyes at his retreating form, wishing she could shove a kunai down his throat. A moment later she sank to the back wall, drawing her knees up towards her chest, she began to brain storm.
They won't kill him, he's too useful as a means of getting information from me; Kami knows that he won't reveal anything. She deduced.
So what would they do with him? She thought for a moment, numerous answers coming to her, but none that would help in their situation.
It wasn't long before she dozed off, the exhaustion of the day finally overcoming her. Unfortunately for Tenten, however, even in her dreams she was unable to find tranquility.
-o0o-
She stood on top of a hill, the end of one of her scrolls billowing out beside her.
She couldn't remember where she was, but looking over to her right, she saw a lone figure standing with his back to her. He was a few meters away and the long, brown hair flowing around his head was a dead-giveaway as to whom he was.
"Neji, hey!" Tenten called from her position on the hill.
The ninja turned to face her and she realized just how great the distance between them was. They were standing in a semi-enclosed space with a vast forest surrounding them. The ground was eroded in some places and several craters marred the earth where Neji may have been training.
"Let's spar!" she called over the rushing wind when Neji gave no response.
A moment later and she had to fight to keep her balance. Above, an ominous purple cloud had formed and was quickly approaching where the two stood, precariously perched at the top of a hill none-the-less.
"Never mind, let's just go home!" she tried once more when her teammate gave no indication of moving.
By now the clouds were right over-head the two and Tenten found herself running towards the Hyuga, frantically trying to get him to move out of harm's way. It was obvious at that point that he wasn't going to move anytime soon and she felt compelled to drag him by force if necessary. But no matter how fast Tenten ran and no matter how much she pushed herself, she didn't feel the distance between them decrease. She kept running, hoping that she could move him before the storm hit, but her efforts were in vain. A tremendous rumbling came from the sky and a moment later the first steak of lightning fell. It crackled against the now dark-blue background and with every stroke, Tenten could feel her heart beat double.
"Neji, I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I'm sorry! Just please, move!" she gasped, but the jounin still didn't waver.
"Move, get out of the way! You'll be hit!" she yelled at him, watching in horror as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky.
In the next instant, her worst fears were realized when the final stroke of lightning came down and struck him.
"No!" the words were spoken in a gasp, for she had run out of breath a while ago. "Why, Neji, why?" she echoed as she saw his body violently shake as the electricity surged through him.
She suddenly couldn't breathe; her heart hitched in her chest but refused to carry the oxygen to her lungs. She fell to her knees and gasped for air, all the while looking on at Neji who was still suffering the effects of the lightning.
-o0o-
Tenten bolted upright, her breathing coming in ragged pants and shakily wiped the sweat from her brow.
What was that? Her realistic dream came back to her mind and she was force to lie back down in order to calm her racing heart. After her erratic breathing had been stabilized, the brown-haired kunoichi slowly sat up, careful as to not give herself a head-ache.
"You're ok," she told herself and took a deep breath.
Still, the dream had seemed too real. It was as if her subconscious self had been trying to torture her consciousness. Tenten shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts to no avail. It did remind her however, that her hair was still in their buns, something that made it a little more bearable. When her hair was down, it tended to knot and tangle fairly easily and she didn't want to have to deal with that now of all times.
"Is the kunoichi awake?" a voice taunted from outside her cell.
"What?" Tenten snapped groggily. She was in no mood to play any games with the gate-keeper.
"The boss wants to see you," he said with sadistic hint in his voice and Tenten immediately wanted to slap him.
"Oh does he? Tell the sleazy ass to come back another time," she replied hotly.
The guard merely chuckled. "You don't get that luxury," he said and slid open the cell door.
He walked over to where she was sitting and bound her hands together behind her back. By now Tenten had given up on trying to escape through the cell and was planning a more elaborate means of exit after she had discerned the identity of their captor.
"Now if you'll just be a good girl when you talk to him, I think everything will go so much more smoothly," he said and led her into the lit corridors.
The angered kunoichi refused to dignify his comment with a response and the two walked in silence. Once they had walked up a flight of stairs, the guard stopped them in front of a door.
"We can't have you finding out too much stuff, yet," he said and produced a blindfold from the same pocket that had produced the rubber bands the other day.
He swiftly tied the blindfold around her head and only after feeling him make sure that it was secure did Tenten hear the creak of the door being opened. He walked her inside but a moment later, she felt him leave her side. Immediately she felt a presence somewhere to her left and turned her head in the general direction.
"You summoned me, your Highness?" she said sarcastically.
"Yes," he replied and she found herself wondering who he was. "I think it's about time we had those wounds of yours looked at,"
"Where's Neji?" she asked, ignoring his response.
"No where you need to know," he replied and led her to sit on a table of sorts.
Tenten remained quiet; it was a technique she had picked up from her sensei. If she listened carefully she wouldn't miss even the slightest indications as to the whereabouts of her teammate.
"Those scratches look deep. You don't want them to get infected, now do you?" he taunted in a silky voice.
The enraged kunoichi didn't want to respond, but felt obliged to when she felt the familiar cool-metal feel of a kunai being pressed to her skin. She almost flinched but before she could, she felt the blade run the length of her shirt, cleanly cutting it in two.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, turning to her left side again.
"Putting antibiotics on your wounds," came the reply.
"Oh no you don't. I can do that myself if you're so concerned," she said defensively.
"But applying that to your back is a feat that even you can't accomplish," he was teasing her again and Tenten felt her blood boil. If her hands hadn't been bound together, she would've knocked him out by now.
"Besides," he continued calmly. "This wasn't really a shirt after the whipping,"
Once her shirt was removed from her body, Tenten felt the metal again, this time, against her bra.
"No," she said sternly and moved away from the blade.
He pinned her against the kunai and she didn't dare move in the event that it cut away her undergarment and cut her in the process. She felt the material slide away from her body and she instantly felt the urge to cover herself up. Instead, she took a deep breath in order to keep her cool. There was no time for modesty in a life or death situation.
"I assume you have an extra bra lying around in my size?" she said half-sarcastically.
Her chest wasn't small, but not overly large either and for that matter she was grateful. If she had been like Ino, she would've been horrified. Nonetheless, whoever had stripped her of her modesty would surely pay.
"You can bind yourself with the ropes" he replied and she felt a cold hand touch the small of her back.
At that Tenten wanted to make a face. It was a misconception that kunoichi bound their chests like they use to. Most nowadays wore bras because they were light-weight and didn't hinder movement like traditional ropes did. They also didn't take so much time to put on and honestly, no one wanted their male teammates to walk in on them while getting dressed. The weapon's mistress merely tossed her pride out the window in order to maintain her dignity. She resolved not to speak to the man that had exposed her, but that intention left her a moment after a she felt something cool on her back.
At first it was a numbing type of feeling, but then it started to sting and she couldn't help but give a slight "ouch."
"Does that hurt?" he purred close to her ear.
Tenten still refuse to answer his question and he did nothing to provoke her.
"If you had been a good girl, you never would've gotten these scratches in the first place," he murmured, his voice like honey.
Tenten realized that had she not been such a strong kunoichi, then she would've fallen for this man's charms a while ago.
"Stop trying to seduce me. It's not going to work," she said haughtily.
The man behind her gave no response, but she could feel his touch getting softer and lighter, almost as if to calm her down. Tenten realized this however, and was determined to keep her sanity.
"Don't be so tense," he said and bent his lips to brush at the side of her neck.
Tenten audibly gasped, her mind racing back to her stolen first kiss.
"Don't. Touch. Me," she enunciated each syllable, which only earned her a chuckle from the man.
He had finished rubbing the salve on her back and now moved to her front. Tenten felt the urge to kick him, but realized the idea was rather stupid as she would be doing so blindly and he would see it well in advance.
Don't waste energy. She thought ruefully.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said and began to apply the salve on her chest in slow, deliberate strokes.
The pain on her chest was more painful than the one from her back and Tenten immediately jerked.
"Stop moving so much," he told her and stroked his thumb over her cheek.
"Stop that!" she hissed, her anger taking over. "You stole my first kiss, you bastard!" she seethed.
A chuckle emitted from the man and she realized just how little he cared.
"I'll do more than that if you don't cooperate," he said darkly and Tenten immediately swung her leg at him.
He caught it with ease. "Nice try," he told her, much to her anger.
"Pervert," she mumbled and he didn't respond.
"I don't need to be," he said, all traces of maliciousness gone and replaced with a silky voice that any girl would die to hear her name from.
Her whole torso now stung and Tenten made that evident with her squirming.
"The pain will go away momentarily," he said the words with such ease and fluidness that Tenten almost believed him.
He then shamelessly trailed kisses from her collarbone down to the space between her breasts, much like a lover would.
"If you don't give me grief, you'll be much better off," he sighed against her clammy skin.
Tenten by now was hyperventilating. There was no way that she was going to last long with this torture. She didn't feel heated by their captor, but with his relentless means of torture, she felt that she was going to crack if only to get away. And just like that she had an idea.
I can't believe I'm about to do this. Kami, please never ever let Neji or Gai or Lee find out! She prayed.
A moment later, she melted into his caresses. The man seemed to be surprised. He smiled and ran a finger along the edge of her face. Tenten shuddered at the feeling it gave her. She then felt him leave and grab something from nearby. He then wound a cloth around her torso and was immediately grateful.
"Better?" he teased.
"Definitely," she replied with obvious sweetness.
"Good," he said and at that, Tenten started to feel affected by his voice.
It was soothing and calming, with the right amount of perversity and fierceness that even a strong woman would have trouble fending off.
"Let's take it a step further, shall we?" she forced herself to say.
"It looks like someone wants more than just a taste," he said wryly.
She wanted to gag on his metaphor, but Tenten persevered.
If he's like most of the other guys I know, he should melt pretty soon. She thought happily. I just need to last until then.
"Please?" she replied, with the right amount of minx in her voice.
She didn't hear his reply, but felt him stand up and pull her up.
"Yes," He replied after a moment.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to either this story or myself! I appreciate all the comments and subscriptions, truly! This chapter is where the M rating does come into play, I suppose, so just a warning to everyone out there, don't expect fluff. With that said, I'm grateful for those who are sticking with me on this trying story. Thank you and see you during the next chapter! Oh and as always, reviews are appreciated!