Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. When you recognize anyone or anything from the anime, I'm just borrowing.
Here are the names of Tenten's brothers in order of birth:
Ichida (1), Nida (2), Sanyu (3), Yonda (4), Goku (5), Rokuda (6), Nanaru (7), Hachiru (8), and Kyuuro (9)
Yes, I've named them in numerical order. ; P
Please forgive my little cross-cultural pun. It just amused me so much. For the record, I do know that Tenten's name refers to her marksmanship.
This chapter is dedicated to Kaotic312, to whom I promised I would not read any more fanfiction until I'd updated this story. It worked!
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Chapter 22
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Mika bit her lip and tucked the blankets around Shibiki's sleeping form. He'd passed out in the middle of their "conversation" and was sleeping like a baby. Mika was trying not to think of it as an interrogation. She briefly contemplated leaving a note, but she knew nothing would make him forgive her. Shibiki had told her what she needed to know: the Supaichuu were gone, destroyed by the girl with the weird eyes.
The Supaichuu were very strange, almost unnatural, creatures. One female was born along with hundreds of males. After the Supaichuu pair and their progeny devoured their host from within, the new female Supaichuu fled the decaying host. The males would remain and engage in deadly competition. They would devour one another and the original pair until only one bug remained, the Alpha Male, which would go on to track the female to a new host. Although the Supaichuu preferred hosts filled with bugs, they were not picky and would enter the nearest available candidate if no better one was nearby. Mika and Rika had been sent to recover the new Supaichuu. It should have been a simple matter of finding the most recent sickly Aburame and extracting the new female, but they had not counted on detection. The Supaichuu had not been actively used in a war in many years. It should have been easy.
Father would be furious, but she had to make her report all the same. The hotel cashier eyed her curiously but did not comment as she paid for the room for the next three days with a subdued expression.
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Neji pushed off from another tree and sped through the air as he moved from one enormous tree limb to another. Hanabi was fast, and she was at least several hours ahead of him. He had a few more hours until sunset, so he would make the most of his time. The Hyuuga prodigy couldn't quite quell his sigh of frustration, however, at the thought of having to chase after his bratty cousin after an already draining day. She was far too brash, just like Naruto.
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Tenten nervously tapped her foot and looked around the clearing. She'd gone through her usual training exercises, but there'd been no sign of her handsome boy all day. She'd been expecting to see him and talk to him before the dinner with her family, and it wasn't like Neji to be late or forgetful.
The sun was kissing the horizon goodbye when she finally trudged home with a heavy heart. How would she explain this to her parents? Well, in theory her mother had only prepared enough extra food for one more mouth, but still…. Tenten felt hurt that Neji obviously had something better to do today than train with her…even though he'd kissed her goodnight with that sexy smile of his and said he'd see her the next day…
"Hey, sis!" Nanaru exclaimed as he jumped down the last few steps of the staircase and tackled her in a bear hug.
"Hi, Nanaru-niichan," Tenten returned miserably.
Tenten's seventh oldest brother pressed his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes with worry. "Imooto-chan (Little Sis)? What's the matter?" he asked as he rubbed his forehead against hers. Nanaru was the most physically affectionate of her brothers. In public he came across as a normal young man of twenty-two years of age, but most of the time when at home he acted like a little puppy.
When they were little he used to give her piggy back rides all the time and they would dance around the house together. Yonda taught her to read and to write her elaborate scrolls elegantly, but Nanaru taught her to hit her brothers, Goku and Rokuda, in the back of the head with a spoonful of peas and never miss. He was always the first one to sneak her a piece of candy when she was sick and usually the first one to notice if something was amiss, like now.
"Nothing," Tenten shook her head.
Nanaru frowned. "It doesn't look like nothing to me. Come on, Tenten-chan, you can tell your oniichan. I'll go beat up whoever's bothering you."
"It's nothing like that," she sighed. "I just…misunderstood something." That must have been it. Maybe Neji had said he'd see her later, not necessarily the next day. Memory clashed with hope, but Tenten ruthlessly squashed the former. She must have been mistaken.
"So where is this lover boy of yours?" drawled a smug voice from the stairwell. Tenten studiously avoided looking up as she ducked into the kitchen.
"What?" Nanaru demanded of his brother, Rokuda, as the latter sauntered down the stairs.
"Tenten's got a boyfriend, now. Didn't you know?" Rokuda leered. Usually Nanaru was the first to hear news about Tenten, so Rokuda couldn't help rubbing in the fact that he knew something important before his little brother. "He's coming for dinner."
Nanaru's eyes widened in shock before he dashed after his one and only sister.
"Tenten-chan! Why didn't you tell me you've got a boyfriend?" Nanaru whined piteously.
"Because you would have threatened to beat him up?" Tenten shrugged.
"Well, that's true, but you still should have told your oniichan," Nanaru huffed.
"You were going to meet him tonight, anyway. Now you'll just meet him later."
"Neji isn't coming?" her mother wondered.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Tenten sighed guiltily. "I messed up. Is it okay if we reschedule?"
"Of course, sweetie, though I don't know how you could have 'messed up.'"
"Your boyfriend isn't coming?" Rokuda asked. "Isn't it rather rude of him to stand you up on your first date?"
"It's not our first date," Tenten hedged. "And I messed up, so he isn't really standing me up."
"Who stood whom up?" Yonda inquired as he slid into the kitchen, his ANBU mask hanging from his belt.
"No one," Tenten groaned. "I thought I was going to train with Neji today, but he didn't show up, so I didn't get a chance to invite him for dinner."
"He stood you up for training?" Yonda frowned. "I don't think I like this guy."
"No! It's not a big deal. I'm sure something important must have come up," Tenten defended loyally.
"Well, why don't we start dinner, then, since everyone's here?" their mother intervened diplomatically.
The two eldest brothers were away on missions, but everyone else was home. It would have been a good night for Neji to meet them, Tenten thought to herself.
Goku was late, but he was always late. He spent a lot of time chatting with people around the village and was known as the rumor monger of the family. The rest of the family knew not to wait for him. Tenten's brothers ate quietly, each of them sneaking cautious glances at the youngest of the lot. Their normally cheerful little sister was strangely silent, not depressed but not happy.
Goku finally slid into his seat twenty minutes later. He studied Tenten for a full minute before quietly saying, "Hey, little sis."
"Hey, Goku-niisan."
"About…well, about this boyfriend of yours…. How much do you know about him?"
Tenten raised a brow at the tentative, serious note in Goku's voice. Normally he was quite loud and talkative. "He's my teammate and a good friend," she shrugged, "I know him pretty well, maybe as well as anyone does."
"Hm," Goku offered noncommittally.
"What?" Tenten asked suspiciously.
"Well," Goku began then stalled. He seemed to make up his mind before leaning conspiratorially forward. "I've heard some things about him today. Where is he anyway?" Her brother looked around as if expecting the Hyuuga to pop out of thin air.
"There was a misunderstanding, so he's not coming," Tenten explained for what felt like the twentieth time.
Goku fell silent, but he sent meaningful glances at each and every brother over Tenten's unhappy head.
After dinner, Tenten quietly excused herself and went upstairs to take a bath. Her brothers gathered in the family room for a conference.
"Where does he live, and how are we going to kill him?" Nanaru demanded.
"Who do we get to kill?" Hachiru asked with an eager gleam in his eyes.
"Weren't you paying attention at all?" Kyuuro wondered. "The guy that hurt Tenten!"
"You haven't even heard my information yet," Goku pointed out. "This Neji was seen groping a fourteen-year-old genin in an alleyway this morning."
Nanaru growled angrily, and Hachiru eagerly smacked his fist into his open palm.
"I also heard some news," Sanyu added quietly. At this, every brother turned in shock, for Sanyu was the quietest of them all.
"Early this morning he was seen exchanging a love note with…"
"Who?" they all demanded.
"With…that blue-haired ANBU captain that Yonda's been in love with for years," he finished.
"No, that's impossible," Yonda denied.
Goku made a derisive noise. "Don't even try to deny it. You've got it bad, and you don't even have the balls to ask the woman out. You've been hopelessly into her ever since you first joined ANBU."
"That's…! I meant that there's no way Yugao-san would ever be involved with a lowlife like that. She doesn't date because she's still hurting from the loss of her lover. She'd never stoop so low as to, as to…with an ugly, disrespectful–"
"That Hyuuga's not bad-looking," Kyuuro pointed out – unhelpfully, in Yonda's opinion. He was only a year older than Tenten and so remembered her teammates from school, even though they'd never had classes together. "A lot of girls are into him. He's actually got quite a fan club. There were pretty girls even in my year that used to follow him around and refuse to date any other guys because they wanted him to notice them."
"Wow. That's sad," Rokuda laughed. "They actually told you that so they wouldn't have to date you?"
Kyuuro glared at his older brother. "I'm just saying it's not impossible that an older woman might be attracted to him."
Hachiru chuckled menacingly, "This means I get to cream that little weakling, doesn't it?"
Nonplussed, Kyuuro raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The Hyuuga, who is the same age as Tenten, made jonin a while back. You, Hachiru, barely scraped chuunin," Kyuuro reminded.
"Shut up, twerp," Hachiru growled, reaching out to smack the younger man.
Sanyu calmly intercepted his arm. "Mother doesn't like fighting in the house," he reminded softly.
Hachiru reigned in his temper. Sanyu had that effect on people. He was just so damn calm sometimes that you couldn't help but copy him, but Hachiru continued to grumble silently.
"He's leading her on, cheating on her, and he stood her up," Goku outlined.
After several minutes of brooding silence, a voice finally said, "We've got some Hyuuga ass to kick." It didn't matter who'd said it because they were all thinking the same thing.
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Mika crept hesitantly into the clearing where her clan was encamped. As she should have expected, Mika had returned to her sister's room to find it empty. At least Rika hadn't barged in during her time with Shibiki and ruined her reconnaissance. Still, Mika was a bit upset to find that the younger girl had left despite her promise.
The dozen or so men, her so-called family, sitting around small campfires didn't even look at her as she passed. She walked quickly to the main tent and coughed to signal her presence to her father.
After several minutes, a gruff voice called, "Enter."
Mika entered the tent and stood silently until her father gave her permission to report. He and his brother were having a Clan Head meeting. Half an hour later, he finally looked her way.
"Report."
Although her voice trembled a bit, Mika stood straight. "The Supaichuu were detected and destroyed before the infection could fully take root. There were no survivors."
"Impossible. You failed to recover the Alpha Male Supaichuu. How dare you lie to your Clan Head!" her father hissed. He rounded on her with a vicious backhand slap across the face, and Mika stumbled helplessly against the tent wall.
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"Let's play Kabuki!" Karimi suggested.
"You want to put on a play?" Hinata asked cautiously. She didn't like being on stage.
"No, no. Kabuki is played in the dark in an empty room—that way nobody gets hurt. A person is chosen to start as It. They have to catch someone in the dark. If they can guess the identity of the person they catch, then that person becomes It."
"Karimi, since you suggested it, why don't you be It first?" her husband suggested.
"Shouldn't you move the furniture aside first?" Iiko-baasan pointed out benevolently. "And shouldn't you evacuate us old people?"
Her grandsons chuckled. "Iiko-baasan," Sori smiled, "you always beat us whenever you play because you know everyone, even with your eyes closed.
Iiko-baasan chuckled and patted her belly. "Normally, I would, but I'm quite full of Hinata-chan's delicious cooking, so I think I'll sit this one out." Several more relatives quit the room in pursuit of calmer pastimes. Shino's own parents slipped from the room, as well, most likely for a little cuddle time.
"Hinata, no cheating with the Byakugan," Shino intoned seriously from where he'd suddenly appeared behind her.
Hinata gasped and whirled around with adorable indignation as she cried, "I wouldn't cheat!"
Then she took in Shino's little smirk and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. If it were possible, Hinata would have said there was a twinkle in Shino's…sunglasses.
"What?"
"I said nothing more," Shino returned.
"What?" she insisted.
"Hmm?" Shino asked politely, and with a little too much innocence.
Hinata looked back at him and then quickly faced away before asking quietly, "Shino-kun, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" he asked solicitously.
"Like…I don't know," Hinata shrugged. She chanced a peek back at him. "Like you know something, or you're going to do something." Ever since the game of Twister, he'd been looking at her a little differently, almost hungrily. It was a little thrilling, but it also made her very nervous.
"Hm."
"Shino, what–" Hinata broke off as the hubbub grew. She turned to watch as Shino's cousins appeared to be haggling over numbers in the corner. Mystified, Hinata turned her face up to Shino's only to find him gazing intently at her.
"Stop it," Hinata whispered nervously with a quick glance to see that nobody was watching them. The ladies were watching their husbands bargaining in the corner, Tachoro was writing down information on a pad of paper, and the little ones had already trooped off to bed. Kaoru had offered to watch the babies, and her husband had volunteered to help.
"Stop what?" he purred quietly.
"Y-You look like you want to eat me or something."
"Mmm…" he hummed from right behind her ear.
A frisson of electricity shot down Hinata's spine as Shino's warm breath caressed the spot just behind her ear. She trembled for a moment before jumping away and scampering to a safe spot near Karika. What's the matter with Shino-kun? It's like he's possessed
Shino kept from stalking after her by turning to listen passively as his uncles made their wagers. Every year they bet to see which Aburame could find his own wife the fastest.
Shino sighed. He wasn't quite sure what was happening to him, but he had his suspicions. Having never dated anyone before, he had no basis for comparison, but he seemed to be more aware of Hinata than ever before. Like a moth navigating by the glow of the moon, he found himself drawn to her, pulled closer by her presence and her scent. If he entered a room, he automatically found himself walking toward her, even if he hadn't meant to. Her beautiful, pale eyes had always reminded him of the moon's soft glow. Perhaps one day he would write a poem for her.
"Shino? How about it?" Sori asked with a wink, wondering if he wanted to get in on the wagers.
Shino merely shook his head. He knew exactly where Hinata was, and he suspected that from then on he always would. Catching her when she was trying to avoid him was an entirely different matter.
OOOOO
Neji sighed. Still no sign of his errant cousin. The resort was a day's journey from Konoha, but at a shinobi's pursuit pace, it could easily be done in five hours, less if the shinobi was willing to sprint for it. Even though Hanabi had a head start on him, he didn't think she'd have made it to the resort area already.
By now it was fully dark outside and the moon was high in the sky. He slowed to a halt and concentrated his Byakugan. She had to have made camp by now, he thought to himself. Hanabi was good, but she was still young and couldn't possible keep up Neji's pace in the dark. He would find her. He set off once more and continued at his punishing pace.
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Tachoro groped blindly in the dark, trying his best to listen to each soft footstep or quiet rustle of material. He lunged forward and caught at some material with his left hand. Who could it be? He patted the person gently. A tall frame and a strong chest.
"Tachoro, you are very lucky I happen to be a guy, or you would be in big trouble, mister," drawled the voice of one of the three brothers.
"Oh. Heh. Sorry. Um…Sora?"
"Shouldn't have said anything, brother," chuckled a voice from the corner.
"Yup. Okay, Tachoro, switch with me."
Even though Karimi dodged behind her sisters and flat out ran across the room at one point, Sora had his wife in his arms in under two minutes. Hinata hid a giggle behind her palm as Tachoro dutifully recorded the score on his pad.
Each time one of the Aburame men found his wife, he always said with a self-satisfied grin, "See? An Aburame can track his woman anywhere." Hinata noted that it seemed to be a sort of ritual. It was pretty funny because it seemed more like what she would have expected from a clan like the Inuzukas instead of the straight-laced Aburames.
This game is pretty easy, Hinata thought to herself. No one seemed particularly out to get her, though she was fairly good at getting out of the way. Suddenly Karika seemed to stumble in front of her. Hinata was closest and dashed to catch her. Even though she'd been closest, Sori was also there immediately.
"Oops!"
Hinata was about to let go when Karika suddenly clasped her arm and shouted, "Hinata!"
Hinata gasped. "You tricked me!"
"It comes from being the wife of a shinobi," Karika preened as she handed over the blindfold.
"No Byakugan," Shino suddenly whispered once more into her ear, the teasing smile evident in his voice.
Why does he sound so smug?! Hinata bristled. Just because my family's fighting tradition relies heavily on sight doesn't mean I'll be completely inept with a blindfold on. Shino had been making little insinuations to her throughout the whole game, and it was finally starting to get to her.
"I can track you even with my eyes closed!" Hinata retorted indignantly. "And without cheating!"
"Hmm," Shino hummed noncommittally.
"You don't think I can do it!" What is Shino doing? He's never acted like this before. He's…He's…He's baiting me! Hinata's feathers were visibly ruffled by Shino's out-of-character teasing.
Shino, on the other hand, was quite happy with himself. He loved her exactly as she was, but he'd just managed to discover another side to his Hinata. Before this trip, he never would have conceived such a notion, but Hinata was incredibly hot when she was just a little worked up. Her chest heaved slightly as she took deeper breaths, and her pale eyes flashed even in the dim lighting. It was a heady thought, but Shino realized he wanted her to chase him—and only him.
As Hinata was tying the blindfold over her eyes, Shino stepped behind her and blew on her neck. With an almighty squeak, Hinata jumped about three feet into the air.
Off to the side, Karimi raised an amused eyebrow. "Who'd have thought that Shino would be worse than all three of you combined?"
"Maybe we should sneak out?" her husband suggested in a hopeful whisper.
"And miss the show? No way!" she laughed.
Hinata took in several deep calming breaths. Her senses were honed to the point where she could "read" the number of people in the room and their relative positions. Actually, some of the games that she and Shino played were geared to developing their chakra sensing skills. In such a situation as this, the shinobi stood out clearly. There were four strong chakra signatures, and four other people in the room, so Shino's was one of the chakra…wait, no…. Hadn't there been five shinobi and three civilians playing?
With a gasp, Hinata realized that Shino was expertly masking his chakra signature. Still, if she got close enough, she'd be able to hear his kikaichuu. Barring that, she knew his scent. She headed straight for the person to her left.
A feminine shriek told her to switch directions and choose another target. She darted with sure steps and everyone scattered as soon as she drew closer. To Hinata, the world narrowed to a series of "glowing" spots. The chakra of Tachoro and the three brothers stood out clearly. While the civilians and Shino did not stand out as clearly, they were still easy to pinpoint. Also, the civilians, unlike Shino, were not particularly good at masking their movements. Hinata formed a plan. She would move quickly and almost randomly at the four possible targets. If she could hear them moving out of the way, then she would know the civilians from Shino.
Hinata suddenly sprinted across the room and barely missed an arm. In reality, she had avoided the girl on purpose. This continued for several minutes. Hinata was pretty sure she had an accurate mental map of who was who by this point. This chase is actually exciting, she thought to herself as the thrill of being the hunter washed over her.
She slowed to a stop and rotated slowly until she was facing the person she thought was Shino. Unconsciously, she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. Shino, who had taken off his sunglasses to watch her face better during the chase in the dark room, inhaled sharply and felt his heartbeat thump a rapid staccato in his chest.
When the figure's chakra spiked for a moment, Hinata knew she'd found her man. She grinned slyly and dashed toward him. Shino barely jumped aside and did some quick maneuvering to get away.
I was so close! A little frustrated frown appeared on Hinata's face. It wasn't enough to know where Shino was. He had the upper hand when it came to dodging her. The only way to catch him would be to take him by surprise. She turned abruptly, hands outstretched to feel her way along the wall. Hinata made her way to the door and paused as she made sure she'd actually found it.
Shino started. Was she angry? Had he pushed her too far? He didn't want her to leave or give up. It wasn't like her. His chest clenched with remorse, and he moved to follow her. He would apologize for being a jerk and coax her back into the game.
Suddenly, Hinata rushed up the wall, across the ceiling, and flipped down gracefully behind him. He whipped around, and she tackled the surprised Shino to the ground.
"Got you, Shino-kun!" she cried happily as she whipped off the blindfold.
"Yes, you did," he smiled with amusement, even though he'd face planted into the tatami mat floor. He rubbed his cheek a little and turned onto his back.
The lights went on, and Shino quickly put his sunglasses back on. Hinata's proud grin stretched from ear to ear, and her eyes seemed to sparkle down at him. It changed into a worried frown when she noticed the red mark on his right cheek.
"Oh, Shino-kun, I'm so sorry! I hurt you," she exclaimed apologetically.
"It's nothing," Shino shrugged. It had been worth seeing her face lit up with victorious excitement. Then he grinned and whispered quietly into her ear.
Hinata flushed from her collar to the roots of her dark hair and promptly passed out.
Author's Notes:
There was a lot of Hinata/Shino fluff in this chapter.
Hopefully, you all didn't mind too much.
Reviews Creative Energy! I appreciate them so much!
