Okay here's the chapter (and in a kind of rushed manner) it may not be as good as previous chapters. And for that I beg humble apologies! There might be a few errors and non accordances left that I might have missed but I'll fix them (eventually) and put up a better version in a bit.
Oh and... I've finally got a better idea of where the story is going and I've found a couple places for inspiration. So as soon as I get my lazy bum into actually writing what happens next, the fourth'll be up.
And sorry for this chapter being so boring! bows deeply I'm sorry there had to be some filler in this part. But I did try and put some fluff in. Um... and I hope you enjoy it.
The two of them arrived back at Amaya's room slightly out of breath and giddy from the close call. The two of them stood in the sparsely furnished room until Neji realised they were still holding hands. He quickly yanked his hand out from hers and stalked to the far side of the room. He seemed slightly troubled but Tenten only knew that from long experience with him.
"Are you hurt?" Neji asked once they both seemed to have recovered.
"No, I'm fine. It didn't hurt all that much." Tenten knew this was his way of apologising. Tenten has never once heard Neji say the words 'I'm sorry,' but she's used to that. With Neji you have to read between the lines to get what he's truly saying. The fact that he's even asking shows his concern for her.
There was a rapid knock on the door and without waiting for permission a serving girl popped in. She had long dark hair and large dark eyes. "Amaya-chan!" The girl giggled. "Did you hear they have fireworks tonight?"
"Really?" Tenten exclaimed, she had never seen fireworks before and the fireworks would provide excellent cover for them to sneak out tonight. The serving girl then noticed Tenten's ruffled and half-undressed state. Then casting her eyes about the room saw Neji.
"Oh my god!" the girl spoke, her eyes wide. She had obviously come to the conclusion that they had been in the middle of something before she interrupted. "I'm so sorry for intruding!" The girl bowed deeply and rushed out of the room, a blush covering her face.
Tenten turned away and quickly did her shirt up, her hands fumbling with the buttons. It wasn't like Neji had never seen her like this before, so why was she blushing? Finally she managed to compose herself and get the buttons into the right spots. She turned around to see Neji looking disinterestedly at a small painting in the room.
"Let's go to the gardens," Neji spoke seemingly ignoring the fact that Tenten was still embarrassed and she was still blushing slightly.
"We might as well..." Tenten grudgingly agreed, they had a few hours to kill before it was dark enough for fireworks.
The Sato Family compound was richly decorated with vibrant colours and expensive wood. They were quick to show off their wealth and influence. They were quite unlike the Hyuuga Family, the closest thing to nobility that Konoha had. The Hyuuga settled for functional, from the strictly white walls to the practical design and family structure. However for all of that the Hyuuga garden was simply a devotion to beauty itself, with the sweetest smelling flowers, large ponds full to the brim with carp and even carefully placed benches in the cool shade of sakura trees.
There was even a saying, 'As fair as the Hyuuga gardens.' Tenten having actually seen the gardens knew it to be true, still as she caught her first sight of the Sato gardens, she grudgingly admitted that they were beautiful in their own right. Little streams wended their way in between sakura trees and small patches of flowers. As Neji led her through the gardens, Tenten observed that he seemed at peace here, as if he belonged.
Then she realised she had never actually seen him in the Hyuuga gardens, it had been Hinata-chan who had showed her that great marvel of the world, on his request oddly enough. "Have you ever been to the Hyuuga gardens?" Tenten asked, as she fussed with her hair. She simply placed it in a ponytail, forsaking her usual hairdo, as she didn't have enough hair bands.
Neji handed her a small pink blossom. "I visit every morning," was the soft reply.
"This is a beautiful place," Tenten sighed as they crossed a small bridge. "I almost wish I had something like this."
For a moment Neji seemed like he was going to reply, but then changed his mind and said nothing. The two of them walked through the garden, barely speaking but rather enjoying the garden and just spending time in the other's company.
When the sun began to set, and they could hear people gathering together to observe the firework display, Tenten stumbled across something quite by accident.
Neji had stepped on the hem of her skirt, and Tenten not quite used to skirts had lurched forward, arms windmilling in an effort to stay upright. Neji had reached out to steady her but instead Tenten knocked him off balance causing the two of them to fall into a nearby bush. They were accompanied by a loud bang, which came from Tenten's head hitting the wall previously hidden behind the bush.
"Are you okay?" Tenten asked a minute later, her voice slightly hoarse. She was trapped below Neji and the bush as well as the wall prevented any further movement. Strangely at the moment she couldn't help but enjoy being this close to Neji.
"I'm fine," Neji said curtly. "Are you?" Neji stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.
"I think I hit my head a bit too hard--" Tenten managed to stand up, though she swayed slightly.
"There's a door behind here," Neji said abruptly, interrupting her. "It goes outside the Sato Grounds."
"Guess we found a way to leave then," Tenten said. "I'll probably need my lockpicks then, or even a sharp senbon would work if you have it."
Neji shrugged, he almost never carried weapons his chakra and strength being enough for him. Sighing, Tenten cut open the bottom of her skirt to show where she had cleverly stashed some senbon. She skilfully picked the lock in a matter of seconds. Opening the door she saw that it led out into the foothills and that there was plenty of trees. It was all in all, the perfect escape route.
The two of them rearranged the bush in some semblance of order, though it still looked a little trampled. "We should get ready for the fireworks this evening. Meet me in the hallway later." Neji ordered Tenten, brushing past her to head to Isao's room.
"Fine! Oh sure, ask my opinion on things!" Tenten huffed.
Once back in the room she looked through the closet that Amaya had, surely she had to have a yukata in there. Ino and Sakura had once proclaimed that every woman had at least one yukata hidden in the depths of their closet, Tenten had been too embarrassed to admit that she had none. She was quite pleased when she finally found a dark blue one, with golden, swirling patterns across it.
Trying it on, she was pleased to discover it fit, but she couldn't help but feel like an outsider wearing it. It wasn't from her native country and she had always felt like she didn't belong when dressing traditionally, it was also technically a stolen garment and she knew that yukata and other ceremonial garb could be quite expensive. Still the more she stood there contemplating she couldn't help but feel it was right for her to wear it. She put her hair up in her standard style but used two-disguised senbon to hold the hair in place.
She stepped out into the hallway shyly, surprised to see Neji not there yet. As she waited for him to show, other people, servants most likely walked past her all of them dressed up in a similar style. When Neji appeared a few minutes later, he was wearing a yukata as well, his was simply black. She had expected that, he was not one to dress flashily and he chose clothing based on comfort and practicality.
"Shall we go?" Tenten asked him.
"Hn," Neji replied and Tenten covered a smirk with a sleeve, she had expected that as well. The two of them walked out to the entrance hall. People were gathered here, chatting amongst themselves until the Sato Family Head bid them welcome and invited them to sit on the grass outside. The air smelled strongly of sakura and a few servants were serving some sake. Everyone here wore symbols of their power and status, the rich talking amongst themselves and gossiping.
As they descended down the steps, Tenten couldn't help but feel awkward and out of place. This was not someplace where she belonged, looking at Neji from the corner of her eye she knew he would fit in here. He was a Hyuuga, powerful in his own way and no matter the change of clothing, no one could mistake him as a simple servant. He could sit here and converse with these strange nobles and not feel out of place. Still Tenten followed Neji meekly when he went to sit down in some out of the way place.
A servant girl politely with a huge smile on her face offered them, or rather offered Neji some food. He declined, looking elsewhere not interested in the least. The girl, slightly miffed offered to Tenten instead. She graciously took a small piece of nikuman and the girl went off to chat with another group of girls, obviously people she knew.
"It wouldn't have hurt you to accept it," Tenten said as she slowly munches on the nikuman. Neji doesn't answer, but then on the other hand she didn't expect him too. He's always been one for keeping things closed, the less he does or says, the less there is to be analysed, to find weaknesses. She thinks that in some way he's afraid of himself. "I think I hit my head too hard," Tenten mumbled to herself. She doesn't usually spend her spare time contemplating her teammate.
The Sato Family Head walked in, trailing a bunch of other Family members. He is dressed in an expensive silk yukata, pale blue and with a golden dragon bearing his claws fiercely on the front. He is wearing jade earrings and practically sings of wealth and power. He has dark hair and he seems decently aged, forty years perhaps. "Welcome dear guests!" He announces, his voice is loud and strong. The crowd all bowed as one, to their host.
"Shall we perhaps retire to the lawn, to watch the firework display?" The Head of Family, Kenji Sato asked his wife, a beautiful woman of about twenty-five standing off to the side. Together the two of them exited, followed by their entourage. Neji and Tenten quietly walked along a fair distance behind them. The Sato Family had claimed what was obviously the best spot, lying futons placed on top of richly woven mats next to a quiet pond. Neji had gone to see if he could find a spot and Tenten was waiting for him to reappear beside a Sakura tree.
A young man lightly pinched her behind causing her to whirl around and gasp with indignity. She would have slapped him except she had seen from his robes that he was a Sato Family member. "Sato-sama!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Now, Amaya-chan I thought I told you to call me Nobu-kun," The man was teasing her. "Come let's go somewhere more private." His hands were around her wrist now, pulling her towards the gardens.
"Please... not right now Nobu-kun," Tenten tried to pull away from him. "Someone might see."
The man snorted. "You were flirting openly with me the entire week before you left. In front of my wife no less. I think a good tumble in the gardens should satisfy you for a while..." Tenten was desperate, but there was no way she could fight this man off without revealing that she was a ninja. Where was Neji?
"I believe she said she didn't want to," Neji was suddenly between her and the man. His face close to the other man's, a threat looming in his disconcerting eyes. Neji was tense, his stance firm, he was prepared to do battle at a second's notice. At that moment Neji seemed so... protective... threatening even.
Nobu released Tenten's wrist. "I'll talk with you later," he mumbled to Tenten as he passed.
Once he was gone Tenten relaxed. Neji turned to face her, his eyebrow quirking up. It was a silent question asking why she hadn't defended herself. "I... I didn't want to reveal our position," Tenten muttered awkwardly after a moment of scrutiny, he deserved some kind of explanation after all.
Neji showed her the spot he had found. It didn't have the greatest view but it wasn't crowded and it provided a quick entrance back into the building. It was a wooden bench placed beside the wall. Careful, mindful of the borrowed yukata Tenten sat down. Neji sat beside her and without thinking about it she let her head drop to rest on his shoulder. He jerked away. "Sorry," she mumbled, forgetting that of course Neji wouldn't like to make unnecessary contact.
"No, it's okay. I was just startled," Neji said after a few minutes in an uncharacteristically soft voice. Gingerly, half-afraid he'd jerk away again Tenten lowered her head on his shoulder her face still looking skyward for any hint of fireworks.