A/N: So, I realized I mixed up Kankuro and Temari's ages. So let's pretend I did that on purpose... Not much to say up here. I suggest you read it all, Author's Notes and all. This chapters kinda cheesy, so I apologize for that. It was pretty rushed too... and the action should be back soon! Once I magically heal them both...
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the songs mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 6: Vulnerable.
"I lo—I-I w-what?" I stuttered in shock. No way… Tenten? Oh c'mon, of all people! Shit, I don't believe this and I refuse to! Absolutely refuse to! They have no idea how dangerous that can be if she was indeed connected to the Phantom in any way. Of all people it just had to be the hot, dangerous, impossible one. Not to mention super cuddly… I mean, y'know. I don't know! God. This just complicated my life tenfold. I can't do this…
"Wow, Sakura-chan! You're so smart!" Ino said happily before jumping over me and tackled the pink-haired girl down. I turned away when the tongues came out. God if my relationship ever turns out like that, it's going to be pretty bothersome… But then again… Get you're fuckin' head out of the gutter, Temari…
A couple of minutes later, Sakura pulled away and sat up, gingerly pulling Ino with her so she was straddling her lap.
"Quit being so oblivious, Ino. I refuse to believe I realized before you did," Sakura said, raising an eyebrow. Ino only smirked before kissing her lover once more. I swear to god, if they keep making out in front of me like that I'm going to strangle them both. I don't care how hot it is I—wait what? Did I just call that hot? I mean…my face is burning again… I've seen Ino make out with a billion girls! So what the hell? Then again, out of all those times, I have never wished I was swapping spit with a girl like that.
Getting uncomfortably hot, I quickly turn away. I stole a quick glance at the digital numbers of the television clock. 8:35PM. Oh crap…Tsunade's dinner! I almost forgot about it! Well, I can't exactly get ready with these two ladies lounging around my apartment. I stood up quickly from my seat, my face still a tad pink. Ignoring the blush, I glared down at the busy couple. I growled quietly, knowing it went unnoticed. Well then, no time to waste. I suppose I'll have to use force.
"Alright you two, I'm expecting company in a couple hours. Off you go now," I said nonchalantly, grabbing the scruff of Ino's purple sleeveless turtleneck. She gave a small mewl in surprise as she tried to grab hold of Sakura's pink blouse. The pink-haired girl gaped at me as I held onto her struggling girlfriend.
"Okay, okay! Holy crap, Temari! No need to use force…" the DJ cried, taking back the blonde from my grasp. She carried her bridal style as they made their way to the door.
"By the way, Temari. You better call dibs on Miss I'm-so-perfect-and-Asian back there. If you don't want her, I know a lot of people that will," Ino said half-jokingly and half-seriously.
"Mmhmm, she's definitely Hyuuga's type." I eyed Sakura questioningly. What? Could it be…? Hyuuga…
"Hinata's cousin," the DJ said rolling her eyes and my disbelieving look, "as far as I know, Neji loves sassy anti-social people like her. He'd go both ways for someone like her." Both of them smiled at me before heading out the door. For some reason that felt like the time Kankuro threatened to eat my pet canaries. I punched the lights out of him when he said that. As for the birds, they flew off shortly after. I didn't talk to anyone for a whole two weeks…Well, I was pretty overprotective about the birds but that doesn't really relate to anything right now…
I looked around my apartment. It's so…quiet. Well I guess taking a shower right now would be a good idea. I'll just have to be careful not to wake the girl in my bedroom. When I got into the bathroom, I had that weird feeling as if I forgot something. It's usually a false alarm, so I just shrugged it off.
An hour or so later, I finally got out of the shower and realized what was missing. A towel. Yes, I was missing a fucking towel. If you've ever tried wearing tight clothes while you're soaked, you'd know it's not fun at all. And I highly doubt that sitting in the bathroom for a couple hours waiting for myself to dry is an option. I have no problem with walking right out and rummaging through my room while completely naked. Usually. But nope, I just had to forget it on the day I have a brunette made of pure sex sleeping in the very room I stash my towels.
I poked my head out of the bathroom and sure enough, Tenten is still sprawled over the sheets. "Hey, Tenten! Wake up!" I called from the bathroom. No response at all. I tried again and again to wake her up. After a couple minutes, she finally stirred. I called her again. She groaned and flipped herself to the side. One more time and she finally sat up and glared at me sleepily.
"Ugh, what the hell?" she muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Finally! Get me a towel will you? They're in the closet."
"Get it yourself."
"Well, you know, I'm kind of naked right now," I retorted with a roll of my eyes.
"Yeah, so? Get it yourself. I'm too comfortable," the brunette said, flopping back onto my pillow.
"Goddammit you—" I called back. Well, since she's "asleep" now, I guess I'll have to run. No wait, why would I run? I've showered with a million girls before. Once again, Temari, this girl is no different from other girls. Except for the attitude.
I slipped out and began to walk towards the closet, which was in the farthest corner of the room. I walked normally and coolly in all my naked glory. I felt her eyes on me but pretended not to care. She was burning holes into my skin, and I'm starting to feel my skin burn as well. A full-body blush? Impossible. Temari does not blush, especially full-body blushes. I was soaking my carpet but I don't care. I just needed to get out of her line of vision! God, I feel like a sheep in a pack of wolves. I finally reached the closet door.
"I don't know what you were afraid of, you've got one hell of a body," came the brunettes voice behind me as I stood in front of the door. I saw her smirk at me through the full-length mirror on the door. Wow this can't be any more embarrassing I doubt I can get any redder than this. I glared into the mirror at the now grinning Tenten and quickly slipped into the closet.
Half an hour later, Tenten and I are both in the living room. The brunette was busy running my brush through her hair while I lazily flipped through the TV channels.
"Hey, you are going home tonight right?" I asked seriously at some point.
"It depends," came her simple reply with a ribbon in her mouth as she was tying up her hair.
"What do you mean 'it depends'? Don't you have your own place to stay?"
"In a way, yes."
"Then can't you stay there instead? I'll get you a ride if you want."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she said waving the second ribbon at me accusingly. I wasn't too sure how to answer that question even if it is a yes or no question. I wanted to say yes but at the same time my head is screaming no..
"I'll let you decide," I answered to be safe. She smirked at me as she finger- combed her bangs into place.
"Then I'm sure you won't mind me staying here until someone comes to get me."
"What? How long would that be?"
"Hours, days, weeks, months? No clue." I inwardly groaned hoping it was the first one. This could get very difficult… What if she tries to kill me in my sleep or something!
After nearly an hour of lounging around and idle chatter, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to see a dark-haired nurse smiling at me. "Good evening, Temari-san," Shizune greeted politely with a slight bow, "Tsunade-san sent me to get you. She's waiting for us at the restaurant, and I'm hoping you would know where Tenten is. Tsunade-san didn't give me her address…"
I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when the brunette walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of pop (1).
"I heard my name," she said casually, popping open the pop bottle.
"Ah, Tenten-kun! I didn't expect to see you here. Well that just made my job a whole lot easier," Shizune sighed.
The three of us drove to the restaurant wordlessly. We got there pretty quickly as it turned out to be a nearby Japanese restaurant. Nothing too fancy I suppose. Tsunade wasn't hard to spot either. Her booth was the only one with two jumbo-sized bottles of sake. I have a feeling that's not even going to be enough. Ah, it's going to be a long night…
"Took you guys long enough! I was starting to get bored," the blonde doctor said as we approached the table. She picked up her pair of chopsticks and began twirling them between her fingers.
"Ah, it was faster than I had planned since Tenten-kun was at Temari-san's apartment." Tsunade look at us with a surprised expression and dropped the chopsticks immediately.
"Tenten, come. We still have something we need to discuss," she said quickly, slipping out of the booth and dragged Tenten towards the main entrance. I raised a brow at Shizune, who only shrugged back. The two of us slid into the booth across from each other as we waited for the other two to return.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking…how long have you been together?" Shizune suddenly said as she looked through the menu.
"What do you mean?" I inquired back, putting my glass of water to my lips.
"I'm just curious about you and Tenten…" I spewed my water and choked, coughing violently. Shizune stood up to pat me on the back, an apologetic look on her face.
"What the hell gave you the idea we had that kind of relationship? I'm very much straight, thank you." I said, slightly irritated after I had stopped coughing.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that the way you two behave around each other is…interesting," she smiled as she handed me a napkin, "it's cute though." Great. Now someone else thinks I'm "in love". This is getting annoying… But I don't seem to mind too much.
"Yeah well, you probably know her better than I do. I just met her at the hospital, you know," I stated a-matter-of-factly.
"Well, I had no idea… I thought you would at least be close friends or something. Why was she at your house then?"
I shrugged and explained to her, "I tried to be nice and give her a ride home but she wouldn't tell me her address, so I brought her home."
"Ah…well, I think Tsunade would know. I doubt she'll give it to you though since it is, after all, classified information."
I just snorted, "Yeah whatever, guess it can't be helped. She'll leave when someone comes to get her she said."
"Irasshaimase (2)!" interrupted the waitresses' singsong voices from behind me. I turned around just in time to see Tenten shove one of the waitresses out of the way as she hobbled towards us on her crutches. She slid into my side of the booth rather roughly, shoving me closer to the wall. I craned my head back again to see Tsunade coming in slowly, apologizing to the waitress that was shoved. She sat down next to Shizune and massaged her temples. Shizune and I look at each other, deciding it was best not to ask.
"Well then, shall we order?" Tsunade said, forcing a smile.
"Uh, sure," I said cautiously, afraid she might explode.
"Are you alright, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said, reaching over to massage her shoulders. I guess I'm not the only one who's scared of her since she used "sama".
"I'm fine, just need a drink or two." Or ten… I thought as I rolled my eyes, which fortunately, went unnoticed.
A cute dark-haired waitress came to take our orders. She glanced at me first, waiting for me to say something. I smiled at her and quickly placed my order. I watch as she blushed and turned to Shizune, fidgeting with her note pad. I saw her steal glances at me as she went around the table. I winked at her when she was scribbling down Tenten's order. She blushed a deeper shade of pink and scurried away. I get these often but it's always fun to play along even though I'm straight.
"You're quite a flirt," came the voice beside me suddenly. I grinned back at the brunette cockily. Tenten said nothing as she went back to poking her chopsticks with a somewhat pissed off look on her face. I couldn't tell if she was angry at the chopsticks or me. I secretly hoped it was me because it would mean she was jealous…
Throughout most of the dinner, the four of us just talked about random things. It was going pretty smoothly…until the third bottle of sake came. I'm pretty tolerant when it comes to alcohol, but I didn't drink as much as Tsunade and Tenten did. Shizune refused to drink at all, saying she needed to drive. Things started getting crazy when Tsunade declared a drinking contest. Hey I thought it would be fine since it was only sake. But nope, Tenten is extremely drunk now. What the hell am I going to do with her?
"Shit, I think you should take the two of us home now," I told Shizune as I took away Tenten's drink after the fifth bottle. She immediately began whining and clawing at my shirt. Tsunade was still drinking.
"Uh, yeah, I'll go get the car," Shizune said as she hurriedly walked out of the restaurant. Since I was left to take care of the two drunkards, the first thing I did was take away all alcoholic drinks. Tsunade eventually got tired of wrestling me for it and fell asleep on the seat. Tenten was still clawing me for sake.
After what seemed like hours, Shizune finally came back. She wordlessly came in, paid for the food, and dragged Tsunade out of the restaurant, leaving me with the now mewing Tenten. I piggybacked her outside while she started hitting my head, demanding more drinks.
Throughout the whole drive home, she would not let go of me. She thrashed, punched, kicked, clawed, and a whole lot more while howling for more sake. I let her hit me since she didn't hit very hard anyway and she missed most of the time. Shizune looked at me with a worried expression through the rearview mirror while Tsunade was still very much stoned in the passenger seat.
Once we got to my apartment, I carried her upstairs, with her still screaming at me. I quickly shoved her into my apartment and locked the door, afraid to upset the neighbours. The first thing she did when she saw the couch was flop. I rolled my eyes and picked her up again, which resulted in more screaming. I put her down on my bed and tucked her in. She immediately shut up. I rubbed my temples as I gazed down at her sleeping form. I have to say, it's quite a contrast from the Tenten five seconds ago. I was just about to leave when I felt someone tightly clasping onto my arm. Oh shit. I tried to shake it off, but was afraid to wake her. I pulled gently, trying to escape. Getting a bit irritated, I tried to shake her off, expecting her to eventually lose her grip. She only held on tighter and pulled me down with her. Well gee this can't be good.
I tried to squirm away, but she held on tighter every time. She pulled me closer to her, forcing me to face her. I felt the blood rush to my face as she stared at me with hazy eyes. The brunette inched closer to me, still holding onto my arm.
"Don't resist," she whispered into my ear. I froze as she started to crawl over me. She grinned at me drunkenly as she hovered over me. Tenten let go of her hold on my arm and slowly brought her arm up to the zipper of her hoodie. I swallowed thickly but didn't resist. I didn't move at all, just watched her. I was afraid to do something stupid if I moved. The brunette pulled down the zipper, revealing a grey sports bra underneath. I forced my eyes upwards, trying my hardest not to look at her erect nipples. Fuck, I know where this is going if I don't do something. She started reaching for her belt, but I grabbed her wrist, flipping her beside me. She just giggled drunkenly as I kept my hold on her arm. She didn't resist as I held her so close.
Honestly I have never spooned anyone before. None of my boyfriends had even thought about spooning without it leading to something else. Usually it was pretty uncomfortable having his erection right on my ass. But since I'm the one behind her and obviously, I don't have a penis, it was…enjoyable. I felt her chest rise and fall to the rhythm of her breathing as I held her. She was asleep. I had no way out since she was sleeping on my left arm. I didn't mind though, it was comfortable not to mention very warm. I fell asleep quickly as well.
I was jolted awake a while later as I felt something move, or someone rather. I looked down and realized Tenten had turned around so she was facing me. I smiled as she snuggled closer to my chest and fell asleep quickly again. At that point, I felt like everything was right.
The sun hit me in the face early in the morning and woke me up. I was in my room, and there's something warm snuggled into my chest. I turned over so I was on my back and rubbed my eyes. It took me a couple of seconds to register everything in my head. I looked down on my chest where a sleeping brunette held onto my waist tightly. Needless to say, I mentally panicked. I looked under the covers to see that both of us were still fully clothed, I sighed in relief as I thought back to last night. I'm surprised I had such good self-control last night. Sighing, I started to contemplate on what to do next.
I looked down at the brunette to see a set of oversized brown eyes staring back at me. I swallowed and whispered a hoarse, "Good morning." She just groaned and snuggled back into my chest. Well, at least I don't have to be anywhere until tonight. I need to get back to my bar tonight because I don't exactly trust anyone with it. And Gaara said he told Lee to help me watch over it, which makes me all the more worried.
"Hey do you know where you are?" I asked coolly.
"Yeah," she mumbled sleepily. Seconds later, her head sprang up. "Wait, Temari? What the hell are you doing here?" Tenten said with a panicked expression.
"Well, I don't know, maybe because I live here?" I said sarcastically, raising a brow at her. She groaned again and rolled over so she was on her back as well.
"Ugh, it's cold…wait," she sat up quickly, looking down at her clothes. "Why the hell am I half naked?" she said glaring at me angrily. I started to turn over to look at her but she pushed my face away.
"Don't look!" She cried as she looked around for her hoodie. She must've taken it off in the middle of the night because of the heat.
"I demand to know what the fuck you did to me!" Tenten said angrily after she had zipped her hoodie back up.
"I didn't do anything!"
"Liar! Then explain the vest!"
I sighed, "You did that yourself. You were drunk and tried to…you know. I stopped you before you could take off your belt. I had to hold onto you so you don't go overboard." I looked her straight in the eyes, trying to prove to her I was genuinely telling the truth. She didn't say anything and an adorable pink blush spread across her face.
"C'mon let's go out for breakfast since my kitchen is practically empty." I said with a smile to make things less awkward for her.
"You know it wouldn't hurt to go grocery shopping once in a while," Tenten said as the two of us walked down to a nearby café.
"Didn't I tell you I rarely cook?"
"Rarely cook or can't cook?" I glared at her knowing she hit the bulls-eye. The brunette just giggled and patted my shoulder.
"Don't worry, you're not the only one. Let's go grocery shopping after this. I don't know when I'm leaving so I might as well do something to help out."
"You've gotta stop deciding things for yourself… not that I mind having someone cook for me. You might as well do my laundry too, you can act as my temporary wife," I said grinning jokingly.
"Don't push it, Temari." Wow, is that a blush I see? Hm, maybe not… I kind of wish it was. Wait, you're thinking weirdly again! Stop it!
"Uh, Temari are you okay? Why are you slapping yourself…?"
"Huh?" I stared at her confusedly, "oh! Uh, there was a…uh…bug…on my face. Yeah."
"That's a lot of bugs," she said with a smirk. Great, I just had to go and embarrass myself again.
Breakfast went by pretty uneventfully. The highlight of that would probably be Tenten licking jam off her fingers. I feel like such a pervert but I had a lot of fun watching that. This whole thing love thing is still pissing me off. But c'mon, you don't have to be in love with someone like her to get aroused by her. Wait, you didn't hear that from me…
The grocery store! Damn, I haven't been to one in months! It's kind of exciting, actually. Tenten looked through everything slowly as I raced up and down the aisles with the cart.
"Oi, be careful--" I was just about to turn but I slammed into another cart. I flew forward due to impact since I was going pretty damn fast. I managed a back flip and landed on my feet in front of the cart. I turned around to see Tenten gaping at me.
"Looks like your acrobatic lessons finally paid off," came a familiar nonchalant voice from behind me. I spun around to see none other than my little brother.
"Gaara! What are you doing here?" I asked him, barely being able to contain my excitement. I haven't seen him for over a week, but I can't act too giddy in front of him.
"Grocery shopping, that's what normal people usually come here for. You should be careful Temari."
"Just having some fun."
"Well, I never thought I'd see the day where you go grocery shopping by yourself. Do you need help picking out frozen foods?" Gaara asked teasingly with a smirk.
"I'm not alone, I have a friend with me," I said nodding in Tenten's direction. She walked up to me with an armful of random things and dumped them into the cart. The brunette nodded at Gaara, who returned it with a nod of his own.
"Gaara-chaaaan! I found the Kool-Aid!" A familiar voice yelled from behind me.
"I see you're not alone either, can't keep up with him can you?" I said with a light laugh.
"Gaara-chan-nee-san?" Gaara's boyfriend gasped rather loudly, "Ten-chan! Wow, I didn't expect to see you here!" He tackled the brunette onto the floor in a tight hug. I looked at Gaara, who looked back at me and shrugged.
"Wow, Ten-chan! I haven't seen you in…" He paused to count his fingers, "ten years? I don't know but we were really small then. You've really grown up!"
"I'm surprised you recognized me, Lee. It's been so long! You stopped sending me emails last year," Tenten said with a huge smile on her face as she hit him lightly on the head. Wow, her first genuine smile…I'll have to thank Lee for this! Ah my face is getting red again…
"Small world," I muttered to Gaara, he just smirked as he dropped the Kool-Aid box into the cart.
"So who is she, really?" He asked, looking at me skeptically.
"Like I said, just a friend."
"Hn. You make a cute pair." I gaped at him, trying to force the blush away.
"W-what are y-you trying to imply?" No! I'm stuttering again! Why me?
"Temari, you never stutter or blush. Look what this girl's reduced you too. You can't hide it from me. Lee and I will support you."
"Y-you're kidding…we're j-just friends, you know."
"You're in denial. Go see a doctor," Gaara said unenthusiastically as he pushed the cart away.
So somehow, my brother, his boyfriend, Tenten, and I all ended up here, Ichiraku's world famous ramen. I don't know how it happened but I have a feeling its all Lee's doing. Just sitting in a booth talking about our life. Well, Tenten and Lee anyway. Gaara and I just sat quietly eating our ramen and listening to their conversation. Not that we can really help it, but it's nice to learn a bit more about Tenten.
"What have you been doing lately? Are you going to school?" Lee inquired happily.
"Well, I've just been doing odd jobs. I stopped going to school lately 'cause tuition was getting really troublesome." Tenten sighed, twirling her ramen onto her chopsticks.
"No scholarships?"
"Nah, art schools are all biased," she muttered irritably.
"Art? Oh, right! Wood and metal work?"
"Sculpting, carving, anything really. My current interest is weapon forging though. Nothing lethal, it's just for fun." I stopped in mid-bite. Gaara looked at me briefly before going back to his ramen. Weapons…this can't be just a coincidence can it… At the hospital too, she had so many cuts it couldn't have been a normal accident. No, only my fan could've inflicted that many cuts. The only people that have ever suffered the wrath of my fan would be the Phantom, some very persistent cops, and the Silver Raven. Yeah, years ago, he was the most prominent person on the Wanted: Dead or Alive list. Until my siblings and I took him down. He's been in hiding since. He'll probably be back one day, but honestly, we pretty much forgot about him. I don't even know what he looks like anymore.
"—Boyfriend." Tenten said suddenly, breaking my train of thought. Wait, what? She has a boyfriend? Why does that hurt so much? This weird pain always starts when I think about her love life… it's not even my business. So why?
"Yeah, I didn't think I would either? But youth is a mysterious and surprising thing! I wouldn't even think about replacing him. What about you? How is your love life, Ten-chan?" He asked excitedly completely ignoring both Gaara and I. Angry butterflies in my stomach replaced the pounding pain in my chest. I was painfully nervous at what she was going to say next.
"I never had a boyfriend myself. Unlike most girls though, I'm not really excited for one either." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Gaara looked at me strangely while Lee and Tenten ignored me. Thank god.
"Maybe you're into girls?" Lee said, smiling at me. I looked at him expectantly.
"Maybe. I'll just wait until it happens. Usually people are too scared of me to approach me with a confession, especially since I don't talk much to strangers. It takes a while to get me talking I guess."
"Same old Tenten," the raven-haired boy laughed, "knowing you, I wouldn't be surprised if you beat up the first person to confess to you."
"Well, I don't know. I hope whoever it will be isn't that weak," the brunette giggled. My heart started beating violently. I don't know what to do. I can't shake the feeling she was implying something. Maybe…she…no, forget it Temari. Don't even think about it.
That night, I got Ino and Sakura to drive me to the bar since both my brothers were busy. It's so inconvenient when you only have one arm… Good news is that my arm should be healed in a week or so. The cuts the Phantom gave me left some scars, but it's fine. Speaking of which, Tenten's cuts disappeared rather quickly… If she was the Phantom, then the damage my fans inflicted shouldn't have faded so fast. Weird. Maybe she's not him after all…
Anyway, I gave Lee the day off and Tenten's to help me behind the bar since she got bored and refused to drink. Heh, I guess she's afraid of embarrassing herself again. Making drinks got a bit clumsy for me, but I got used to it quickly. The night went by pretty smoothly. Until…
"Hey. You there," A mysterious hooded man called to me. There was something really fishy about him…
"What do you want?" I said eyeing him suspiciously.
"Get me that brunette that was with you," he demanded. What could he possibly want with Tenten?
"And if I don't?" That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Next thing I know, I was staring down the barrel of a gun. I raised an eyebrow at him, not intimidated at all.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" I asked mockingly with a smirk. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was angry.
"Just bring me the fucking girl if you want to live!"
I yawned and smiled at him. "Yeah, okay. She's in the back." He slowly withdrew the gun, unsure whether or not he could believe me.
"It's just back there," I pointed lazily, propping up my head with my elbow on the counter. The sucker turned around to follow my finger. That was all the time I needed. I used my good arm to support me as I flipped over the counter to deliver a kick at the back of his head. He lost his balance and doubled over. I used my good arm to flip myself over his back and kneed his face before pushing his head down with my good arm, forcing him face-first into the dark tiled floors. The man tried to scramble to his feet again, but I kept him down with my leg. A crowd had gathered around me. Most of them cheered while others headed for the exit.
"You little bitch!" He roared, reaching for his gun. I dug the tip of my steel-toed army-style boots hard into the joint of his arm, causing him to grunt in pain and drop the gun.
"It'll hurt a lot more if you resist. Now tell me, who are you and what do you want with Tenten?" I roughly tore down the man's hood, revealing grey-blue hair tied up in a small ponytail.
"Don't think it's that easy, Temari," He smirked as he suddenly flipped over and socked me in the stomach. I grunted at the impact as he came up from behind me and knocked me onto the floor. He chuckled in a disturbing way as he pined my arms behind my back.
"You're lucky that I'm just a pawn. If I could I would've killed you on the spot. If you try to hide her, you'll die as well. Understand? You can remember me as Kabuto. And don't worry, I'm sure we see each other again very soon." He bent down and whispered in my ear, "Very soon indeed, Midnight Tempest." My eyes were wide with fear and shock. I flipped over to kick him, but he disappeared. Everyone in the bar had left once he started fighting back.
I crawled over to the counter to sit down and rest for a bit while thinking things through. Endless questions flooded into my head, one leading to another. What bothered me the most is how he knew my name and identity. But if what he said was true, that means Tenten is in grave danger. He was pretty damn strong for a pawn. Oh shit! Tenten! I forgot all about her!
I quickly got to my feet and began to look for her. "Tenten, where the hell are you?" I called. I eventually found the brunette huddling under the bar counters. She was trembling rather violently, her eyes wide with fear. I had to be careful so she wouldn't break.
"He's gone," I said gently, slipping under the counters beside her. She immediately clung onto me so tightly it was as if I was her last strand of life. I held her tightly, as if she was my last strand of life. I whispered comforting words into her ear in attempt to stop her from trembling. It only made things worse as she started sobbing into my neck.
"N-no, he'll be back. T-they always c-come back. I- I'm going to die…" she choked, crying even harder.
"I'll protect you, even if they're going to kill me too."
Neither of us said anything after that, just sat in the dark holding onto one another. She eventually fell asleep. Quietly, I called Kankuro to come pick us up. He came within five minutes, looking awfully panicked. I was tempted to tell him what happened, but I don't think Tenten would appreciate it. It was strange, but what I said about protecting her… I really meant it. At first I thought I'd say it just to make her feel better. But after it came out of my mouth, I realized I have never said anything truer. Ugh, this is getting out of hand… growing up as a criminal, my brothers and I have learned to do things only for our own benefits. I've donated a couple dollars but that barely counts. I mean, I have done some good things in life, hooking up Ino and Sakura was my doing after all. But this is big! If anyone else asked me to take a bullet for them, I would probably shoot them myself. Then why would taking a bullet for her make me happy? I'm pretty sure I'm no masochist. Hell, I'm a lot more of a sadist than a masochist. Maybe it is…love? Heh, love… I don't even know what that is. I suppose I'll figure it out later. I just dubbed myself the Knight in Shining Armour. Go me. I guess that gives me more of a thrill in life.
"We're here," Kankuro sighed, cutting my thoughts short. I just nodded in response as I got out of the car.
"Do you need me to help you carry her upstairs?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me alright? Gaara and I are always here for you," my brother said small smile and a worried look on his face.
"Don't worry bout me," I said with a smile.
He grinned back at me and sang, "A laundry list of problems doesn't make you interesting, and never asking for help doesn't make your brave. Never listening to reason doesn't mean you have faith. Badada dada, Badada dada, you want it you want it all! (3)"
I just laughed at him before turning around and heading up the stairs. Dying for a belief… Hah, as if.
I tiptoed into my room, the brunette still in my arms. She snuggled closer to me before I could leave.
"Don't leave me here by myself… T-they're going to…" she started sobbing and shaking again. At least it wasn't a repeat of last time. No, don't think like that Temari. She needs you right now! I slipped into the covers beside her, not letting go of her. Tenten continued sobbing but stopped trembling as soon as I wrapped both my arms around her. I couldn't help but notice again how much smaller she was. She was small and vulnerable… strong on the surface, not all the way through (4).
"It's okay, I won't leave your side." I murmured into her hair. I reached up to pull out one of her ribbons, but instead my hand found its way to her cheek. I caressed her tear-streaked cheek softly. She tilted her head back slowly, meeting my gaze.
"I don't know if you're saying this to make me feel better. But even if you are, thank you," the brunette said with a small smile before reaching up and pulling my head down in a gentle but passionate kiss. The two of us fell asleep soon after.
It was one of my most memorable nights, despite it being utter trauma for Tenten. I don't think I'll ever get over the feelings she gave me that night. I'm acting like the lovesick puppy I've seen in both my brothers… would this really be love? Why am I scared to know the answer to that?
(1) I just can't bring myself to say 'soda'. It's weird for me since I've been saying pop or Coke or something all my life. Maybe I'm just not American enough? Or maybe just too much of a Canadian, eh?
(2) Welcome. Those Japanese restaurant greetings. I always feel a bit more special when I hear one of those.
(3) Straylight Run's Sympathy for the Martyr. I did skip ahead on the lyrics, but whatever. I just wanted to make Kankuro sing the last part.
(4) I stole that from Linkin Park's Leave Out All the Rest. I thought that line suited Tenten pretty well. I think that song is pretty TemaTen… in a way. From Temari to Tenten I suppose. It'd be pretty one-sided though.
Surprise! I was pretty stuck on this chapter, so I did a bit of drawing. My scanner is pretty much dead right now so I drew on paint! Yay, paint!
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1252/temasketcheo6.jpg
Temari. That was my first one for the story, not too happy with it but it's a decent one. This costume isn't the original either. I did make it up but it wasn't what I originally intended for her to wear. It was more of a spurr of the moment costume. My first copy is a lot better but my scanner is dead... and I do realize it's kinda distorted in some places and it's not very clean. It's just me being tired I guess...
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1029/tensketchxq3.jpg
Tenten. She came out a lot smaller and skinnier than I had intended...so it seems kind of off for me. But I think it's pretty cute. Not to mention a hell lot cleaner.
Both of these were actually just supposed to help me kill time... I mean...brainstorm. But yeah so here they are. And no, I don't use DeviantArt.
