Disclaimer: Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!
A/N: Apparently, the last chapter, though highly praised, made some people confused… so to make it a little clearer, I decided to rush this chapter (updated just 15 hours ago, can you believe that?)… well that, and as I was swimming laps this morning, the chapter came to me, practically wrote itself…
WARNING: Lots of scene shifting again…
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!
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INSIGHT
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It was dark.
No, not just dark; it was pitch black. Tenten couldn't even see the tip of her nose; it was that dark.
"What's going on?" Tenten's whispered voice broke the silent darkness.
She attempted maneuvering her nearly nine-month pregnant body into a sitting position; hoping her eyes would adjust to the blackness of the cold room she was sitting in.
"Where am I?" Her throat was parched, making her voice sound raspy and coarse.
What was going on?
The last thing Tenten could remember was being in the forest of Konoha; relaxing near the river with her sons, Xiu-Juan, Hinata, Kiba, Hanabi and Hiashi. Her mother had gone back to the house to bring them a picnic lunch; taking the former Hyuga leader along to help her carry everything back. The rest of them had decided to play hide-and-go-seek while they waited, and Tenten had been 'it'. She had finished counting to one-hundred, when suddenly, she had come face to face to a white-haired man she had never seen before.
The man had smiled and greeted her politely… and then everything went blank.
Tenten couldn't remember anything after that.
"What happened?" She rubbed the back of her neck; it hurt for some reason.
"I see you have finally awoken." A chilling voice in the darkness startled the kunoichi.
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"NEJI!" Kiba and Akamaru ran up to the two masked men leaping through the forest.
It hadn't taken long for Kiba to find them. Even with their masks on, the Inuzuka could tell it was them. His nose was infallible.
"You've got to hurry," Kiba urgently addressed the two masked shinobi. "Tenten's missing." He informed them; immediately turning to race back toward the village as the two anxious ANBU unquestioningly followed after.
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"Who are you?" Tenten asked the man in the shadows; though unable to determine where the voice had come from.
"Tekinai." The disembodied voice replied. "I am an old friend of your fathers."
"My father?" Tenten narrowed her eyes, hoping it would help bring the man in the shadows into focus. "What possible business could you have with me then?" She wearily questioned; worried about where this was going.
"Long ago, your father took something from me." The man named Tekinai took a step closer towards her; his steps echoing in the empty room.
"What does that have to do with me?" Tenten nervously questioned.
She tried listening to the man's footsteps; but they seemed to be coming from all sides.
"What he took was very precious to me." Tekinai slowly continued walking forward; his footsteps getting closer, but so far away.
Tenten's fear began to grow, as she realized how eerily familiar this scene was.
It was her nightmares all over again.
She couldn't see. As she sat, nearly nine-months pregnant, on floor, he had the upper hand. With the ultimate advantage of height, there was little she could do to defend herself. Even if she could get up, chances were her movements would be limited and slow. Even worst, her hands had yet to find anything within her close proximity that might be used as a weapon.
"He took away my happiness." Tekinai continued, as his footsteps grew closer and closer. "And I intend to do the same."
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"What's going on?" Neji demandingly yelled, as he and Ryoku, along with Kiba, entered the Hokage's office.
He pushed passed Naruto and Sakura, who stood worriedly at the doors entrance, out of his way.
"We're not certain." Oushi cut in before Tsunade could admonish the anxious husband for his uncharacteristically enraged attitude.
"Lee and Gai have already been sent to Suna to find out whether the Wind Daimyo knows anything about Tenten's disappearance." Tsunade informed the fearful pair; forgiving the worried Hyuga for his out of line behavior; as she understood that it came from a place of fear. "Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino and Hinata have been sent to the Earth Daimyo. As for right now, we are working under the assumption that this is related to what happened five years ago."
"But it doesn't seem likely." Oushi interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Ryoku asked the older man.
Though his demeanor was controlled and less visibly anxious than Neji's, it was clear to everyone the man was just as worried and impatient with the lack of action in the room as the younger ANBU. But Ryoku knew Oushi well enough to know the man was intelligent. Whatever he had to say, Oushi would surely provide some deep insight into the problem.
"The new Wind Daimyo is Tenten's uncle. He doesn't have any problems with her or with what occurred five years ago. The old Daimyo, who is currently imprisoned, can not possibly have anything to do with this either." Oushi reasoned. "Furthermore, the Earth Daimyo has been replaced by his son. The son was as eager to cancel the engagement as Tenten was. Therefore, this current situation can not possibly have anything to do with the matter from five years ago."
"Then what?" Neji hurriedly question. "Tenten has no enemies. And she wouldn't run off on her own. She's about to give birth!" He yelled.
Out of frustration, he slammed his fist on the Hokage's desk; denting the wood with the dagger in his right hand.
"What is that?" Oushi approached the desk; ignoring the younger man's emotional outburst.
"We found it at the encampment." Ryoku explained, as Oushi picked up the weapon.
"This is…" Oushi curiously stared at the engraved crest on the dagger's hilt.
"Hai." Ryoku nodded; knowing that Oushi recognized the design.
"From the armory?" Oushi wondered aloud; his voice darkened by a serious tone.
"I believe so." Ryoku affirmed.
A chill ran through the pair, as they began wondering what the significance of the dagger might mean to the current situation.
"I have a theory." Oushi placed the blackened dagger on the wood table; a worried expression on his face.
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"You should thank that Hyuga boy for stealing you away from the village five years ago." Tekinai emotionlessly asserted as his lightning charged eyes pierced through the darkness to see his fragile prey sitting anxiously across the dark room from him.
"What?" The pregnant kunoichi stared confused into the darkness; still unable to locate her captor.
"If not for him, you would have died upon arriving at the Wind Daimyo's palace, five years ago." He indifferently informed her.
"…" Tenten looked questioningly in the direction of his voice; no doubt wondering how that was possible, given that the treaty to was to wed the girl to the Earth Daimyo's son; not kill her.
Tekinai scoffed; knowing exact what questions were running through the kunoichi's mind. "How do you think the Wind Daimyo even knew of you and your mother's existence?" He replied. "Not even the Hokage was aware of your linage."
"You-" Tenten incredulously began; seemingly understanding that it was he who had been pulling the strings all those years ago.
"That is correct." Tekinai cut the girl off. "You are Ryoku-san's most treasured person." A hateful grunt escaped the man as he uttered Ryoku's name.
"You should thank me." He disdainfully smirked; though the girl could not see it in the darkness of her prison.
"For what?" The girl angrily questioned.
"If it wasn't for me, your parents never would have met." Tekinai snidely remarked; remembering the mission he had orchestrated to annihilate the Dragon ANBU. "Those idiot guards allowed for him to escape the chaos in the palace." He recalled; his voice laced with venom as he remembered his failed attempt at ending the Furi-iki clan once and for all, the night of the coupe. "But it is better this way." He added. Now he could take from Ryoku, what he took from him.
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"You're not going to like it." Oushi warned.
"Just tell us." Neji harshly demanded. "Please." His tone softened. It was clear the boy was desperate. He needed an answer, and he needed one now.
"I suspected for a long time…" Oushi hesitated as he looked over at large ANBU behind Neji. "But it has been thirty years now." He picked up the dagger from the desk; confirming to himself that it was what it was. "He stopped fighting; but he was never the same." A sorrow-filled look crossed the ANBU head's stony expression. "When he agreed to go on the mission to Wind, I thought I was wrong. I thought things would be better." He looked down at the weapon he held in his hand. "It never made sense to me that someone would enter the compound after raiding the armory. And the fact that they all died with their weapons still unsheathed…" He was reluctant to continue.
"Tell me." Ryoku plead; knowing his friend's hesitation was due to his worry that whatever information Oushi knew, would be hurtful to the gargantuan Furi-iki.
"There's only one attack I could ever come up with," Oushi apprehensively continued. "That could take down a group of steel-covered shinobi without leaving any time for a counter-attack." He looked up to face his old friend.
The cold seriousness in his eyes told Ryoku everything.
"Lightning." Ryoku's face fell at the sudden insight.
"Hai." Oushi nodded.
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TBC
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What more can I say?... Did I surprise anyone?