Well friends all, I'm sorry to say that it's been a long time. But here it is the (long-awaited, highly-anticipated) Chapter 14. So now that it is done... you should expect Chapter 15 a bit after Christmas... Oh and parts of this chapter were inspired by the song "Follow Me" By Uncle Kracker.
So here is Chapter 14!!! Enjoy.
They left early that morning before any of the men following Yamada-san could notice their departure. No sooner were they out of the town that Tenten began to regret leaving so early; before the sun had even had a chance to warm the earth. The wind blew in fierce gusts about them, channelling between colossal mountains. The cold seemed to bite deep, even through her thick clothes.
Fortunately, the wind calmed down just as they were setting up their camp. They found a small cave that offered reasonable protection from the elements and set up their tent inside for extra insulation. For a while the three of them sat in the tent and talked casually none of them mentioning their worries.
Neji was the first to fall asleep, though Tenten remained awake as Lee kept watch outside the tent. Gently her fingers traced his hand that cupped hers beneath the covers. She drifted off to sleep; wondering how long things could last before tearing themselves apart. How long before their time together was over?
Lee's quiet breaths indicated that he was still asleep and she could hear Neji pacing just outside the tent. She unzipped the tent and smiled shyly when his head snapped over to look at her.
"Good morning," she said softly. He was silent, but she could sense the carefully caged emotions concealed beneath his skin. She took one of his hands in hers, in an attempt to reassure him.
As she held his hand she reflected, there was more she wanted to say, but the words seemed stuck in her throat. Which was maybe for the best, she didn't need to destroy this small moment of comfort.
Now is not the time for words, but soon it will be, she thought. His hand brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. Tenderly he pulled her against him, his lips resting on her forehead.
The sound of the zipper caused the two of them to jerk apart. Lee's head poked out of the tent. "Good morning! It is cheering to see that your flames of youth have risen before the sun!!" he greeted them enthusiastically.
"Good morning," Tenten smiled as she repeated the greeting, but she was not looking at him, rather her eyes were focused on Neji.
"We'll be leaving in a bit," Neji said, avoiding her gaze. As he headed towards the tent, Tenten couldn't help but feel hurt. She was being pulled apart, torn between too many conflicting feelings and emotions.
As she kept watch that night, huddled into her cloak she wondered if she'd been accepted into ANBU, she'd surely gotten the reply by now. When would she tell her teammates about this change? When would she tell Neji? What would they—he think?
There was still a few hours remaining before Lee would come and relieve her watch. In an effort to make time pass more quickly, Tenten sorted through her weapons bag.
As she sifted through the bag she came across the tessen that her friends had given her. Then she noticed that there was something different about it. On the front, which she had never really noticed before was written in the same lavender colour was the word: Promise.
Why had she not noticed it until now? Gently she traced her thumb over the edge of the blade, pleased when a drop of blood collected on the finger. It was still sharp even though it had been months since she'd touched it.
Then Lee came; signalling her watch was over. She packed up her bag, but on second thought decided to keep the tessen with her. When she crawled into her customary spot next to Neji she realised something. Her promises made with such passion, such sorrow, were ones that she could never keep.
Team Gai was already travelling by the time the sun was visible above the smallest of the 'hills.' "If we keep up this pace we should be able to make it back on time," Neji said as they walked along a narrow mountain path.
"If we don't get caught in a blizzard first," Tenten grumbled sourly, she was sick of the weather, sick of this mission, sick of the constant worries—Neji, ANBU, making it home. Neji…
"Don't say that Tenten-san, otherwise it'll really happen," Lee warned, frowning just a bit at hearing Tenten complain.
Neji pretended he'd heard neither of them speak, and the three shinobi continued on, trying to push further past exhaustion and frozen limbs. They set up camp as usual, trying to make the best of it because there's not a cave in this stretch of mountains. The wind howled around the tent, snatching at the thin cloth.
A week passed and setting up camp each night was a weary task, made that much harder by numb fingers and frozen limbs. Their camps were cheerless without a fire to keep them warm, and the nights became colder and colder.
Belatedly Tenten realised they had forgotten to find out what the weather would be like before setting out. To her displeasure it grew colder and began to snow a few hours before midday, though the wind snatched up the snowflakes before they touched the ground.
At first she was glad, because otherwise the terrain would have been even more hazardous than usual due to slippery, wet surfaces. She soon forgot even that small bit of luck as the wind seeped in through her layers, chilling her to the bone. The snow slowly faded as finally the sun sullenly rose high enough to brighten the sky although the wind did not let up.
Neji insisted that they press on that night, even though there was more of a risk of being caught unaware travelling in the dark, and with the terrain more chance of injury. Still Tenten understood why, the snow however quickly it had faded, had unnerved her as well.
When they finally stopped for the night it was pitch black and she could hardly see what was beneath her feet, trusting in Neji's superior eyesight to keep her and Lee from walking off a cliff. Still she wanted to keep going, she worried that they would not make it back in time, and that thought weighed heavily on her mind.
Three weeks passed by fairly quickly despite the dull monotony of the mission. They were making good time, faster than the trip north had been, but only because none of them wished to be trapped in a hostile foreign country for the winter.
The day had started off the same as usual though it began to snow early that morning. By late afternoon Tenten could not see more than a few feet in front of her. The wind howled and tugged fiercely at her clothes. It seemed determined to blow them off the mountainside.
"Neji this is a blizzard. We need to find shelter," Tenten called out to her teammate. Tenten did her best to not shiver, as she waited for Neji's answer.
When he didn't reply she grew worried, he'd been just in front of her. Lee was still beside her, a hand resting on her shoulder. She waited a few moments more and then Neji grabbed her hand to her immediate relief.
"There's a large cave nearby. We'll stay there." Lee grabbed her other hand and together they followed Neji as he guided them to the cave.
For a moment Tenten was bizarrely reminded of another mission that took place a bit after their first Chuunin Exam. They'd gotten separated from Gai-sensei in battle and it had begun to rain heavily.
Neji had found shelter for them, but by then they were soaked to the bone. The three of them had huddled together for warmth until Gai-sensei had found them, almost frozen solid.
This had been the first time that she'd actually felt like they were a team. It had been just them huddling into the crook of a tree. Before they'd never really been a team, they'd been together but that was decided mostly by fate, in that moment though they were teammates.
When they finally stumbled into the cave, she did not let go of their hands immediately. The warmth of their hands in hers reminded her of that day long ago when they had truly become a team.
For a moment she was swarmed by guilt, this was possibly their last mission as a team, as Team Gai. She turned her eyes to gaze outside, troubled by her feelings. Outside all she could see was white.
"Tenten?" she jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Lee's concerned voice.
"Yes?" she responded, turning to face Neji who although his face was carefully schooled his eyes reflected his worry.
"You're shivering," Lee said finally but not before casting a glance at Neji. For a moment Tenten was confused, then she realised that Lee and Neji could feel her shivering because she was still holding their hands.
She pulled her hands away. Her teammates dropped the matter, allowing Tenten to retain her dignity by not prodding further. They both knew that Tenten was still weaker than they were, but that she did not need them to treat her as such, she did the best she could with her own boundaries. The same as Lee did his best to overcome his own handicap.
"W-well we might as well settle down for a long wait," She did her best to stop the chattering of her teeth. The three of them set up the tent and settled in. They talked quietly while outside it got colder and colder. When Neji suggested that they might as well rest, the others agreed readily.
Normally Lee would be asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, but now he was looking over anxiously at the flower of their team who was still shivering violently. Then casting a glance at Neji that indicated as the team leader he should deal with it. "Tenten," Neji said firmly.
"Y—Y—Yes—s Neji?" Tenten chattered out.
"Come here and climb in with me."
"B—but…" Tenten tried to protest she was so cold she couldn't think straight, there was only the need to get warm.
"Maybe she feels it would be intruding on Hanako-san…" Lee attempted to explain what he thought Tenten was trying to convey.
"Are you going to share a sleeping bag with her then?" Neji asked archly.
"That's not what I meant… maybe we should all three share. Then we'd have a better excuse and we'd all be warm, Neji-kun." It was amazing how Lee could say this with a straight face and complete sincerity ringing from his mouth.
"Co—c—cold…" the words drifted from Tenten's mouth.
"Fine…" Neji sighed and climbed out of his sleeping bag. The longer they delayed the worse Tenten would get.
Lee quickly climbed out of his bedroll shivering in the cool air. Tenten was much harder to convince to get out of her sleeping bag, but once she was out Neji deftly zipped the three sleeping bags together and let his two teammates crawl in before joining them.
Tenten was clearly so cold that she wasn't even noticing that her face was mashed into his chest or that her frozen feet were pressed against Lee's leg. "Warm…" she sighed contentedly.
When Tenten woke up, she was still trapped between her two teammates one of them still asleep. Neji was awake but he had not moved. She turned to face him, her face guilty. "Neji…" she started to say, but he cut her off.
"This isn't the time, Tenten," he told her. The truth was that he didn't want to hear what she would say, not right now. She had that distant look on her face, the look that made him worry that she was leaving. Because he couldn't turn around and say goodbye to her, despite how much it was tearing them apart.
She gave him a half-hearted smile and settled comfortably back into her spot between the two of them. Lee gave a particularly loud snort and she held her hand over her mouth to smother her giggles. She belonged here, but soon she'd be leaving it, to attempt to find her own place.