Nemesis' Judgement
Last time: She stared at the space where he once was. She looked at the people around her. All of them were deeply injured, but not dead. As a doctor, she would have stayed to help them. But as a humiliated woman, she stood up and left them injured to walk back home.
Author's Note: Done for midterms. Sorry it took so long. Last week was the last day of midterms.. Horray! Merry Christmas (:
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (the manga, anime and plot) or their characters.
- - -
It had been about three months since she last saw him. During random moments, she had wondered what happened to him. ANBU was still very lively indeed, but she had not seen him for a while and not on television or newspaper either.
"Aunty, may I please have the usual?"
"Sure thing." She stared at her. "Have you been okay lately, Tenten? For the last couple of months, you've been… daydreaming a lot lately."
Tenten nodded. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm just… tired. It's the holiday season and there's just so much work needed to do and a lot of stress flowing around."
"Sure… that's what you said last time too. Did you break up with… Keiji?!"
Tenten choked on her water. "What are you talking about!? I'm not even sure we were 'together' from the start!"
"He and Raki Lee haven't come back since that commotion between you two," she sighed, "I think I'm losing business because of you."
Tenten glared at her aunt. "Losing business? I think you should be thanking me instead. You've been complaining about Raki Lee not coming anymore, so I go and give some dirty men 'the eye' and here they all come hoping to see me and buy me a drink. And you still say you're losing business hm?"
"Well… it's just the company I miss I guess. Like you said, these dirty men only want you, not the café. So basically when you're not here, they just walk-in say 'oh, I guess I should eat somewhere else' and walk back out."
Tenten glared at her and sighed. "I'm sorry but I think I'm going now." She left her cash on the table and walked out. "See you some other time. I'm going to go shopping. I'll buy you something as well." She smiled and closed the door.
- - -
Nowadays, there were many types of people at the mall she noticed. They varied from young to old and from loner to a bunch of friends. She sat down at a coffee shop and drank her Frappuccino when a group of very loud friends came in. One of them eyed her.
"Hey little miss. What's your name?"
He had red markings under his eyes, dog-like teeth, and wild shaggy hair. "How childish," she thought behind those sunglasses of hers. "It's common courtesy for a self-introduction."
He smirked. "Dang, you're a tease. Haha. Fine. My name is Kiba." One of his friends elbowed him. "You guys worry too much! I'm not exposing too much anyways! What's yours again?"
When she heard 'exposing' she turned her attention over to the group – seeking out for one person. She targeted for him, and she caught him. There he was standing in line with the rest of his friends – Neji.
"Hello? Hello? Don't tell me you're def too!"
She coughed and collected all her belongings. "I'm sorry I have to go."
He held her wrist. "What's the rush miss? I didn't even get my drink yet and here you are leaving. That's no fun." He grinned. "Why don't you stay and chat with us for a while."
"Kiba let her go. That's why you're never going to get a girlfriend if you keep chasing her away." He had yellow locks of hair. Though, when he grinned, it was obvious that it was sincere. "I guess you can know my name too. It's –"
A guy with onyx eyes grabbed his hair and pulled it back. In the background, the yellow hair guy was saying 'ow, ow, ow' but the guy with black hair talked over him. "Whoever you are it's better for you to scram."
She admitted that he was a bit cute, but his cocky attitude made things worse. It didn't matter. She didn't want to know about any of their names or talk to any of them. She wanted to walk up to Neji and converse with him. Apparently, this obnoxious guy in front of her was determined not to let it happen.
"Um… Excuse me." She excused herself and moved over to the guy who was ordering. "Ne–." The person responded to his name.
"Ah. Who are you?"
She stared shockingly at his milk chocolate eyes, but he had to turn his attention away to the clerk and ordered. After he finished he turned over to her, "please move."
She moved according to what he said as he walked over to his friends. As he passed by her, he whispered ever so lightly, "Hachiko's at Shibuya, 1 hour from now."
She turned around to look at his back when she heard his friends question him about her. She rotated her head back to the front and walked out of the store when she heard someone else whisper to her. "It's dangerous for you and Neji. Please do not make contact with him in front of anyone else." She turned to her left as Raki Lee walked to the front of the line saying, "Hello, may I have a tall strawberries and crème Frappuccino?"
Tenten immediately walked out of the coffee shop trying not to gape fearing for her life and possibly, Neji's.
"Hey, do you know her?" Kiba asked. "She's kinda hot. I think her beauty makes me want to chase after her despite knowing what would happen to me."
Neji sat down. "You're always looking for trouble aren't you? How do you expect to get away with it?"
"Well, do you know her?"
"Of course not. She probably thought I was someone else."
"Yeah! Besides, it's Neji we're talking about here. It's not likely for him to socialize with someone else. In fact, it's a girl." Lee brightly smiled as he made room for himself to sit down.
Kiba pouted. "That sucks. But damn, I've never seen anyone like her." Slight pause. "Well I have actually, but none of them ever resisted me."
Naruto laughed loudly, "You're just like a dog! Every one wants you except for that one special person!" Naruto and Kiba started to bicker around.
Sasuke stared at Neji. "She seemed as if she knew you inside and out. Are you hiding something?"
Neji stared back at him and returned a smirk, "What makes you think that?"
Lee interrupted, "Okay everyone. Let's all be friends here, alright? We're all about trust and love, so…"
Sasuke excused himself. "Sorry, I'm meeting Sakura," he smiled a Lee. "I'm sure she wouldn't be happy if I brought everyone on our date."
Lee bit his lip while his face turned red. "Why you…" He pounded his fists onto the table. "I swear I'll never lose to someone like you!"
Sasuke smirked and walked away, "Are you sure you haven't loss yet?"
Lee stared angrily at Sasuke's back. "Gah! How could beautiful and nice natured Sakura like someone as ugly and cocky as him?"
Neji looked from Lee to Naruto and Kiba. "Opposites attract I guess."
Lee cried. "If I become ugly and mean like him, do you think she'll come running back to me?" He had a huge grin over his face.
Neji snickered a little. "You? Run back to you? I don't think she ever went to you first of all. Other than that, you've pretty much completed half of the 'ugly and mean' thing."
Naruto joined in the conversation, "Yeah Lee. You're a god friend and all, but I think Sakura only wants to stay like that."
"Since when did you join in our talk?"
Kiba laughed, "Ever since Sasuke talked about him and Sakura. I think they're the new 'thing' at our place."
Lee wept, "How come no one ever tells me these things?"
Silence overtook the group until Neji spoke up. "I think it's because no one wants to hurt you… other than that, I'm leaving."
Naruto frowned, "This was suppose to be an all-guy thing today. Shikamaru and Chouji went off way ahead. Now you and Sasuke too? What is this?"
"I don't feel like being seen with two loud mouths and a crying boy here. Laters." He quickly walked out leaving all of them gaping back at him.
- - -
Tenten walked over to Hachiko's statue and waited. It had been about 37 minutes since they last spoke.
"Next time, don't make contact with me around other people other than Lee."
She gasped. "You scared me. What are you doing here so early?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Walking away from her and turning around when he noticed she wasn't following. "You're annoying. Are you coming or what?"
She stared at him, smiled, and then nodded. She followed him not knowing what she was getting herself into either way. When she caught up with him, she decided to lead him around the place – taking him into shops, stores, and mini snack stands. As he followed her, silence followed them.
"So… what have you been doing?" Tenten asked out of the blue.
"I was suspended. Today is the first time I've been out."
She glanced at him, "How come?"
He gave her a small smile. "Because our leader thinks that I made contact with someone else other than the ANBU members and affiliates." He eyed her when he said that.
"Oh…" She quickly turned her head in the opposite direction to avoid letting him see her pink tints on her face. "Why am I such a child? Acting like those high school girls blushing when they see someone they like? Except that I don't like him… I think," she thought inside of her head. She laughed a little. "I'm sorry. Are you talking about me?"
He looked at her and gave a slight nod. "You still have my cloak."
"Sorry… I have it at my place. Would you like it back?"
This time, he shook his head. "No thanks. I'll end up giving you another possession of mine."
She smiled and felt her heart beat faster as she tried to calm herself. "I guess you would have to." She bit her lip to hide her smile even though he saw it and smirked.
"I guess I would."
They walked around Shibuya while having short conversations here and there. Not knowing it became late and dark, he offered to buy her dinner. "Where do you like to eat?"
She glimpsed at him. "Oh uh… Um… Anywhere is good."
"Okay." He led the way to a restaurant at the top floor of a building.
While in the elevator she said, "Wait. We're in casual clothes. Are you sure we're allowed to go inside dressing like this?"
He nodded. "They know me pretty well. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
The elevator doors opened as the front desk greeted them. "Neji! It's been so long! Where have you been?" She looked around him. "Where is Sasuke and everyone else?"
He pointed to the woman behind him. "Sorry I didn't bring Sasuke."
She made a loud gasping sound and smiled. "Is that your girlfriend?!"
Tenten looked at her. She was dressed in a cute maid suit and looked very young and cute.
Neji glared at her. "I'd like a table for two please. Oh, and Sasuke has a girlfriend or something of that sort."
"Wha?! You mean Sakura?" She frowned.
"You know he was always protective of her, and I'm pretty sure he had feelings for her all this time as well. Besides, don't you think you're too young for him?"
"I know… but…"
Tenten couldn't hear what she said after as she thought to herself. "Neji? How does she know about his real name? Could this be an affiliate to ANBU? Could this be a… trap?" She took a step back away from him.
"Eh? What's wrong? You're shaking a little," the girl started to talk to her.
"Huh? Oh. It's nothing."
"What's your name miss pretty lady?"
She shook her head. "I'm not pretty, but you can call me… Tenten."
The girl smiled. "My name is Fuyuko." She gave the biggest grin Tenten had ever seen. "Neji can be an ass, but please take care of him."
"I don't need anyone to take care of me." He pushed Fuyuko's head forward. "Do your job and lead us to our table." He followed her and looked back at Tenten. "Are you not following?"
She took a small breather. "Right…" She followed him to the table. It was a decent restaurant and obviously for the people who lived wealthily.
"Here you guys go! Have a good dinner!" She hopped away.
They both sat down. "Order whatever you want."
She gaped at the prices. "But… it's so expensive… Are you sure?"
He looked at her. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't want you to eat here. It's pretty good. One of the best restaurants there is out here."
She looked back down at her menu. "How does she know your real name?"
He smirked. "You're pretty observant aren't you? That silly girl probably thought you were part of the organization and that's why said my real name out loud. To tell you the truth, this restaurant is a famous restaurant. But it's also a partner of ANBU."
She looked up back at him. "Oh… isn't is dangerous though? To go to a partner's restaurant? What if someone sees us?"
He looked up at her. "Everyone already sees you. But if they're smart, they wouldn't mess with you unless I told them to."
She kept her silence thinking, "I'm really getting myself into a big mess."
He smirked. "Are you regretting that you ever met me? Involving yourself into one mess that you'll never be able to take back and could inflict damage over you forever."
She stared deeply into his eyes and confidently said, "No. Although I'm not sure who you are, I want to be able to understand you." She looked back down at her menu and closed it, "I'll have #95 please. If you please excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."
He watched her back as she walked into the bathroom. He had a genuine smile on his face. "I've never met a girl who wasn't afraid of me. And to think she'd try to understand me…"
"Big brother, Neji!" Fuyuko bent down to his face. "Would it be by your order or Tsunade's order to kill her?"
He looked at her. "It really irks me when you always have a fake smile on your face. It's quite annoying."
"Fake smile? What are you talking about? I love to smile. And every smile is a truthful smile." She squinted her eyes at him. "Is she a target or are you just toying her?"
"Neither."
"Wha?! What do you mean neither? She can't be neither! She has to be one or the –" she paused and held her silence. "Do you like her…?"
He looked at her and offered nothing more to say except, "I'll have two ice waters, one premium salad with one thousand island dressing and crab meat, and one BBQ ribs plate."
She gave him a hard stare. "I promise I won't tell boss that you're not toying her but she's not a target either. But I want to know if you like her and if she knows of your little secret."
Tenten came back staring at both of them feeling a bit uneasy. "Am I interrupting something?"
"It's possible, so yes."
Fuyuko nodded and smiled back at Tenten. "Oh no, he was just ordering!" She turned back to Neji, "You sure got lucky… she's very pretty and pure."
He glared at her, "Go away."
She giggled her way. "What were you talking about?"
"Nothing."
- - -
"Sasuke," Sakura called out for.
He stared at her. "Will you stop whining?"
She tugged on his arm. "Can we go eat at Fuyuko's dad's place?"
He smirked. "Are you trying to tease Fuyuko because you think you won?"
Sakura pouted. "That's mean. I don't need to brag." She smiled and pulled herself closer to his warmth. "The food is just really good there. And I like it a lot."
He gave a brief sigh and nodded. Really, he didn't know why he liked Sakura so much. Years ago, he thought she was just a pest constantly bugging him and trying to understand him when he knew she couldn't. She just didn't have the right touch to understand what he went through. Yet, it must have been because of her innocence that drew him to her. The girl who hooked her arm with his was surely different from everyone else at the organization.
- - -
Sasuke and Sakura went up the elevators and greeted Fuyuko. Like usual, Sakura and Fuyuko would have a bit of a temperament verbal fight.
"Either way! You're way too young! You're like 10 years younger than him!"
"Well it doesn't matter as long as I like him and he likes me!"
"Who said he liked you? He's taking 'me' out right now!"
"So? He just feels sorry for you and that big forehead of yours!"
Sasuke tired from all the bickering said, "Fuyuko, I'm sorry, but would you please get us a table?"
Fuyuko dropped her mouth while Sakura clapped happily. "Fuyuko, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be fighting with you. We're 'partners' right?" She tried to give a friendly smile even though it didn't pull through.
"Right…" Fuyuko gave her a 'friendly' smile too. "This way please."
They both followed Fuyuko as they made turns around the place when Sakura stopped. She stared at the couple a couple meters away from her place. It was more like she was staring at the girl however. "Tenten…?"
"What are you lesbian? Oh! I know! You like Neji! So it's settle then. You can trample over to him while I take Sasuke away!" Fuyuko smiled but dropped it when she saw the sadness of Sakura's face.
Sasuke stared at Neji and glared when he saw Neji eating and conversing with the girl they saw earlier at the mall. "Sakura."
She turned her attention over to him. "I'm sorry… I can't eat here. Can we go now before they see us?" She let go of his arm and ran out to the lobby of the restaurant panting. "Shit. How did this ever happen?"
Sasuke and Fuyuko followed back to Sakura. "Sakura…? I know we're not exactly good friends, but are you okay?"
Sakura stared blankly at the ground and said, "I… never thought I'd see her again." She pressed the button for the elevator and waited for it to come up.
"Who is she, Sakura? We saw her at the mall earlier. She seemed to know Neji, but he doubted anything." He smirked and looked up. "I knew he was up to something."
Fuyuko turned her attention away. "Neji! Tenten!"
Both couples turned to stare at the other couple.
"Look Neji! It's Sasuke and Sakura!"
While Neji and Sasuke glared at each other, Tenten stared at Sakura as Sakura looked down and turned to meet Tenten's face.
"Sakura…"
"It's been awhile, yes, Tenten?" She tried her best to give her most sincere smile.
- - -
Author's Note: Hm… what an interesting scene, don't you think so? Again, please leave some comments and suggestions on how I can improve my writing and story. Please and thank you! Merry Christmas, XOXO.