Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto. It is all owned by Masashi Kishimoto, Studio Pierrot, Hayato Date, and other publishers/companies.
I do own this story and it is copyrighted to me, Eijimi. For everyone's sake, don't try to plagarize. Not that my reviewers would.
Pre-reading - I changed the name of the village from Fragrance to Kuroiheiya because I thought the name was horrible and uncreative. Enjoy!
Recap :
"Sorry for making you two wait." Kiba stood up from the wall and walked over to him.
"What took you so long?" Kiba asked a little irritated. Neji looked at him.
"Situation at home." He turned to look at Tenten seeing her carrying a pack. "Ready?" The two nodded. "Alright let's go." He ran towards the trees leading the way with Tenten second and Kiba and Akamaru last.
Village Of Kuroiheiya(black plains)
It was a quick day and a half trip to the Village of Kuroiheiya. Neji didn't feel like taking the trip there at a slow pace and so, rushed the other two. Kiba, having been accustomed to Shino's laidback way of leading missions, grew agitated and would occasionally break out into an argument with Tenten because of his complaining. After a while Tenten managed to ignore him.
On the afternoon of the second day the village's high walls could be seen among the foliage.
"We made it." Tenten said a little relieved.
"Yipee!" Kiba said sarcastically. Tenten pressed her lips together trying to withhold her urge to yell at Kiba's taunting comment. Neji ignored them and walked ahead towards the main gates of the village.
Kiba and Tenten followed him. A guard around his mid-thirties stepped in front of Neji gripping his sword offensively.
"State your business." His voice was gruff and eyes were stern.
"We're Konoha ninja. Your lord requested for us." Neji retrieved a small paper from his shuriken pack and handed it to the man. The guard examined it discretely. He glanced up at the four members of the team, including the giant dog, Akamaru. The man nodded finally.
"Right, let 'em pass!" He yelled up towards the wall. The large wooden doors slowly started to open and the guard gave the permission slip back to Neji before they proceeded into the village. "The Lord's home is in the middle of the village." The guard yelled to them. A loud creak sounded behind them as the doors closed again.
"Why don't they just go after the bandits and kill 'em if their causing that much trouble?" Kiba asked out loud with a bored tone. His dog barked agreeing with him. Neji shrugged as they made their way towards the feudal lord's home.
"They probably don't like resorting to violence." Neji stated. Tenten nodded at his suggestion.
"Or maybe they ran into some trouble and ask for our help!" She said excitedly.
"Yeah! That would make this mission actually worth while." Kiba yelled equally excited.
Their eyes were wide with amazement when they reached the feudal lord's home. It was extremely large with multiple gardens surrounding the main building. The air smelled of jasmine mixed in with lilacs.
Tenten's eyes shone as she clasped her hands together.
"Oh, it's beautiful." Kiba rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"I hope the girls aren't brats." He stated as the three walked up to the entrance.
"Kiba, shut-up. The guards will hear you." He shrugged at her statement. Neji once again showed the guard the permission slip and were let through. The Konoha ninja stepped into the main courtyard and looked around. A few servants stood around and seemed to be waiting for someone or something. A young man sixteen years old spotted them and walked up to them smiling kindly.
"Good afternoon." He bowed. "Are you the ninja from Konoha?" They all nodded and his composure became relaxed. "My name's Itaigo I'll be escorting you in." The boy half-smiled and looked over at the party members. His eyes stopped a few seconds on Tenten, his lips forming into a slight smile before he quickly turned his gaze to Kiba's dog. She gave him a slight smile recognizing his hesitation. Neji who was standing next to her had caught this and frowned, staring at the young man.
"He better not get any ideas." Neji thought. Itaigo scratched the back of his head.
"Um, not to be rude, but I don't think your dog can be allowed into the building." He gave Kiba a grim smile.
"What?! Where's he gonna go!" Kiba yelled making one of the guards turn to look at them. Neji sighed irritated.
"Just let them take the dog. I don't think they'll maltreat it." His eyes were stern as they looked at Kiba's. The young man nodded agreeing.
"Yes, we'll take perfect care of your pet." The escort tried to reassure him. Kiba growled and crossed his arms.
"Akamaru's not an 'it'." He said seriously glaring at Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy shrugged in return, not really caring either way. "Hmph! You can take him." He looked away from his leader and bent down, rubbing Akamaru's unaware face. The dog panted and closed his eyes in delight of his master's affectionate caress. "See you soon, buddy." He stood back up looking at the escort.
"Enna-chan, can you please take the dog with you?" Itaigo ordered one of the girls younger than him that was standing behind. The girl came running and smiled nervously.
"O-oh, right." She petted the dog gently retrieving a sugar dumpling from her apron pocket. "Come here, boy. Come on." She said with a childish tone while seducing the dog with the sweet pastry. Akamaru waged his tail excitedly and followed the young servant girl to the back of the property.
"Well, Hamase-sama thought it best if you three were given something to eat before seeing him." Kiba grinned.
"Alright! At least we get something good out of this." Itaigo walked ahead to the entrance of the mansion where they took their sandals off before being led to the dining room. There an array of foods awaited them on the table. Kiba's eyes grew wide as his mouth salivated. "Oooh!"
"Wow, so many different kinds of food." Tenten proclaimed. Neji shrugged already accustomed to such delicacies in the Hyuuga home. Itaigo motioned with his arm for them to enter, staring at Tenten with a queer smile splayed on his face. Luckily, Neji had gone into the room first not able to see the servant boy's attitude toward her. He sat down at the left side of the table, while Tenten sat across from him and Kiba at the far end of the table.
Both Kiba and Tenten struggled to choose what to pick. Their leader on the other hand had already filled his plate just enough to fill him. A young woman around her late twenties stepped in from a sliding door behind them and served them warm tea. She bowed and left the room.
Meanwhile, Itaigo had settled himself at the entrance of the room. He observed them as he knelt down on the floor. His eyes wandered to Tenten. At that instant she turned to look at him and smiled politely. He was caught a little off guard, but managed to grin in return. She continued to eat as the boy felt his face turn hot. He averted his eyes towards the floor trying to calm himself, so the rosy color would leave his face. Yet again he dared to look back at the girl.
"What a heavenly face she has and..." His gaze took in the curves of her body as an even larger grin formed.
Neji looked up from his food to look at Hamase's servant. An enraged frown grew on his features seeing the perverted way he stared at his teammate. Itaigo stopped looking at the kunoichi and turned his gaze to the pale eyed young man. Their eyes locked onto each other. Neji's eyes cursed him, but Itaigo's indulged in his jealousy.
"Hmph." Itaigo let out and broke the flow of negative energy by looking ahead of him. The genius' jaw tightened and his left hand twitched. He looked at Tenten, then down at his plate of food.
After a half an hour of eating, the ninja were ready. Itaigo looked up at them smiling and avoiding any interaction with Neji. He stood up and opened the sliding door. The three passed through thanking him, except for the Hyuuga.
They walked many halls and walkways further indulging their senses with the beauty of the mansion. Minutes passed and the group had reached their destination. Itaigo knocked the door to the feudal lord's quarters.
"Come in." A young masculine voice called out. Itaigo stepped in first and bowed down to the floor. The ninja followed his example. The room was a pale lime green color with simple decorations. It was 4 yards long and 3 yards wide. Hamase sat at the far end of the room kneeling on a canary yellow cushion. His kimono was dark brown and his hair was a rosy color tied back in a high ponytail.
"Hamase-sama, the ninja from Konoha that you requested are here to see you." The lord smiled warmly at them.
"You may sit up." He said. They obeyed. "I hope you liked the food?" They nodded. "Good. Now, uh, I think your Hokage already enlightened you with our situation. You don't need to worry about it because my soldiers are taking care of the bandits. I've called you hear to guard over my daughters while they go on their outing. I don't want them bored out of their minds in this house." Kiba scoffed at his last comment making the feudal lord stop. "Do you have a comment?" He asked him. The dog-boy hesitated a little.
"No, just can't see why they'd be bored in a huge place like this." Kiba responded. "I'm sure their brats." He thought to himself. Neji closed his eyes wanting to tell Kiba to keep his mouth closed.
The feudal lord stared at him and smiled.
"Yes, well, they get rather bored in the house and want to see more than these walls. But I guess it's a tough concept for a ninja to comprehend." Kiba winced a little.
"Is he calling me stupid?" He thought annoyed.
"Anyway, Itaigo will be escorting you three, since he's my most trusted servant. Two of my other guards will also accompany you too." He sighed and nodded to Itaigo. "Take them to the carriages at the back." Itaigo obeyed leaving his master to do paperwork.
When they arrived the young girl, Enna, was waiting nearby, with Akamaru sitting next to her.
"S-sir, your dog." She said shyly. Kiba jogged over to them smiling and pet his dog.
"Akamaru! Thanks." He told her as she bowed.
"No problem. H-he's very cute." She commented making Kiba smile with his teeth showing.
"Heh, yeah. See ya." The girl didn't respond keeping her head down as he left her.
"Hamase-sama's daughter's are in the second carriage." Behind him the two girls stepped out complaining loudly.
"How long do we have to wait in that stupid carriage?!" One yelled, with red hair around twelve. The other had orange hair and looked around eight.
"Yeah! It's hot!" Itaigo laughed with a hint of annoyance in his tone hearing Hamase's daughters. "I think I and one of you should stay with them." He suggested and looked at Tenten.
"'I and one of you?' Nice grammar." Neji thought with his arms crossed.
"Um, what about-…" Neji cut him off ahead of time.
"Kiba you go with Itaigo-san." Kiba grumbled glaring at the bratty girls.
"Man, this sucks." Itaigo eyed the Hyuuga.
"The girls are scared of dogs." He stated seriously. Kiba grinned at this.
"The dog can ride with the driver." Tenten suddenly said. "It's that simple." She shrugged and walked to the first carriage. Itaigo stared at her blankly.
"Oh, right, of course." He responded in his kind voice. Kiba walked to the second carriage grinning.
"Come on, Akamaru, let's go scare 'em." He whispered.
Neji's eyes gleamed looking at Tenten and followed after her, giving Itaigo a look of victory. Itaigo frowned and headed towards the second carriage.
As Kiba approached the girls he caught their attention and they started to yell out, staring in horror at Akamaru.
"AH! A dog! Itaigo!" The two chorused and ran grabbing hold of each of Itaigo's arms. He sighed frustrated.
"Ari-sama, Gami-sama calm down. The dog will sit in the front with the driver." Itaigo reassured them. Kiba looked at them with a grin on his face as he instructed his dog to go up with the driver. After Kiba had gone in the carriage the girls cautiously stepped in as well, eyeing the dog as they went. Itaigo looked ahead of him at the carriage in front before going in.
Ahead of them, Tenten was seated next to Neji looking out the window thoughtfully. Neji glanced over at her for a few seconds, looked down, then back at her.
"So, you didn't want to be with Hamase's daughters?" He inquired trying to see if she had noticed anything about Itaigo. She didn't move.
"No, I didn't feel like spending the ride with those two brats." She sighed and stuck out her bottom lip bored. Neji nodded and turned to look out his window as their carriage started to move. About five minutes went by before Tenten spoke again.
"I really expected this mission to be more exciting." She sat up and crossed her arms and looked at Neji, who was looking out his window this time. "Sure, the mansion was nice and the food was good, but when Hamase-sama said that he didn't need us for anything else, but babysitting…I just grew bored."
"Hmph, yeah." He turned to look at her, their eyes locking to each other. They stayed like that for some seconds, but both looked away. "…Tenten." Neji said a little seriously. She looked up at him as he looked ahead of him with his hands on his knees.
"Yeah?" She asked. "What's he gonna say?" She thought.
"What do you think of Hamase's servant?" He looked at her face, not directly at her eyes. "He seems…" Tenten looked to her right, thinking.
"He's annoying, but don't know much about him." Tenten looked at him curiously seeing his shoulders relax more. "Could he be jealous? No, that's just my imagination. He just wanted to see if I thought him suspicious or really trust worthy. Right?" She was frowning as she thought and shook her head looking down.
This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers, alertists, and favoritists. - shizuka-ai, Kratos Wilder, angel0fdestiny, Archerelf, TenTenHyugax, Neji's fangirl, thaikeroppi, Luna.the.betrayed.ninja, duckichan87, Inu Anime Girl, Matahari, 'A'lusy, Death By Numberz, Dragonlord224, Plushi-Sensei, signius, David's Harp, Lumiere, jack525525, & soraya217!
Oh, by the way, the reason I don't really force anyone to leave me a message is because I don't value myself by them, just by what you think and what I think myself(hey you gotta, right?). Anyway, I'll try to update as pronto as I can, but I can't guarantee, since, I already disapointed many by breaking my promises. Sorry.
I would love to know what you think. Have a great day, all of you!
Eijimi, out.