"So what's the point of all this?" I asked, sipping my coffee. Shikamaru convinced me to go for coffee with him after school. What he knew still freaked me out, but I wanted to know how he knew it and how much he knew. Besides, he interested me, regardless. If he didn't have to talk to me about something important, I'd think it was almost like a date.
"I'm part of an ancient organization of people with supernatural powers, like you. We want you to help us." Whoa. How's that for a conversation starter?
"Awesome, do I get to fly?" I joked, not taking it sincerely. One look at his confused expression and my smile dropped. "Oh, you're serious."
"You need to realize you need our help as much as we need yours." He said. "You have to believe me. It shouldn't be hard, thinking about it. I mean, what happens to you in the wind is proof."
"Proof of what? That I like being outside on windy days? Sure, it's a little weird, but that doesn't prove the existence of some ancient supernatural organization." He rubbed his temples and I realized he didn't want to be here at all, which kind of offended me. True, I was only being argumentative and he was potentially insane, but I still had the irrational feeling of wanting to impress him. I was just offended enough to try and walk out.
"This is a waste of my time," As I rose from my seat and started walking, a hand that caught my wrist pulled me back. I shivered as it created a bracelet of warmth.
"Wait, please," he dropped my hand immediately, like something was wrong with it. "It's all true, I swear. How else would I know anything about it? You have powers, and you two need help, especially Tenten. If you won't let up help her know, she'll really go crazy." It was funny how just the mention of Tenten could change my thought patterns immediately. If she was potentially in trouble, I had to hear him out.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with her?" I sat back down.
"Don't worry, we're dealing with it. It shouldn't be a problem at all if she cooperates. We aren't going to let her go crazy, but that's not what we're dealing with here. I was sent to deal with you." Again, I was picking up the vibe that there were other things he'd rather do. It really wasn't helping him to win over my good side.
"Me? What do you need with me? If what you're saying is true, we should be helping Tenten, she's more important." He raised an eyebrow, like he hadn't been expecting that response.
"Neji's got that covered. He's convincing her to let us help. The only way you can help her right now is hearing me out and learning to trust us, so you can get her to let us help her too. Right now, you need to understand and learn how to use your own power," He said.
"What power? Liking going out in the wind is hardly a superpower."
"What you are experiencing now is just a manifestation of you powers growing to the point it can no longer lie dormant. Most people learn to use it at a younger age and it shows up when you actively try and control it, but your powers have been growing too long with being defined, so it shows up another way. Once trained, you'd be able to control the wind and draw information from it," He explained
"Draw information?" This was getting pretty crazy. I like to think myself pretty open-minded, but come on now.
"The wind is everywhere in the air. It sees everything, and you can control it. You can draw out the information it carries," he said.
"Sees everything? Like the shadows?" You can see everything from the shadows, I remembered him saying. He must have recognized it, because he smirked at me.
"That's one of the reasons I was the one sent. Our powers are somewhat similar." I smiled back before realizing what was happening. I was buying all of his crazy ideas, just because it was such an easy explanation and I was afraid what he said about Tenten was true, but I would be hurting more than helping if I let the wrong people close to her. I needed to remain objective.
"I hope you know I still don't believe you." He groaned at my being difficult, but it wasn't my fault really. I wanted to believe him. He was too interesting for me to want to push him away for no reason.
"You have to. Here, I'll—" He was interrupted by three harsh gunshots that shattered the shop's window completely. I got the gut feeling that the next round would be aimed at us specifically. More shots rang out and I flung my arms up to cover my head, but none of the shots hit me. The shooters either had really bad aim or my feeble attempts at defending myself worked. I opened my eyes, though I didn't even remember closing them, to see what had really stopped us from getting hit. I wanted to know what was going on.
There was a wall of… something between us and whoever was shooting. It didn't look like it could stop bullets, it being thin enough to see through, only tingeing it in black like a tinted window. When the next shots sounded, I flinched just as the bullets struck the shield and ricocheted off. It was unreal.
"Stay close," Shikamaru grabbed my arm and murmured in my ear. "I can't keep the shield up as we move. Don't let them get you." He didn't even give me time to process it before our protection broke down and he bolted for the door. I followed as we fled through the suburban streets as I struggled to keep up with him. As he skillfully navigated through the web of interconnecting roads, I got the impression he knew my own town better than I did. It felt like hours we were running away, the gunshots still raining down on us. Most of them missed, but occasionally one would stray too close and what looked like a tiny piece of the shield from before flashed up and deflected it. Assuming Shikamaru had the control over it, he must have had amazing control over it.
It was terrifying, no question, but not as much as I would have thought being shot at would be. There was always the possibility of one slipping his attention, but Shikamaru had it covered. He seemed so in control of the situation, it was hard to react with the appropriate amount of fear. I hadn't even known him for a day, and I trusted him with my life. I knew he would pull through.
"Temari, watch out!" he called out. Maybe he wasn't so perfect. More bullets came from a different direction entirely than expected— too short notice for Shikamaru to respond to. Frozen in shock, I couldn't move. Panic welled and built inside me until… it was gone. It just snapped right out of me the second a strong wind hit it like a wall, sending it spiraling another way.
"Did I do that?" I wondered aloud.
"No time, we're almost there." He grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. I wanted to ask where we were going, but again, I was alerted to the urgency of the situation that shut me up.
Finally, we reached our destination when Shikamaru jerked me up a driveway. I watched in awe as the bullets that whizzed past us and struck the house bounced off without making even a dent.
"Stopping to open the door will leave us in a vulnerable position. Try and use your wind to cover us, okay?" He grabbed the doorknob before I agreed, like he already understood that I would. He trusted me, I couldn't let him down. In our brief pause the barricade of bullets was heavy as ever, but I worked well under pressure. Not sure if I was doing what I was supposed to, I focused on creating a huge gust of wind. Something about it seemed so natural, so primal to me, I wasn't even surprised it worked, blowing away all the projectiles coming our way.
An arm reached out, circling my waist and yanking me in, another arm closing the door. Connected, both of us lost our balance falling to the floor on our asses.
"What… the hell… was that?" I asked between pants. He unlatched his arm from around me, but I was still pretty much on his lap. It would have been kind of sexy if we weren't recovering from a life endangering situation.
"Do you believe me now?" If he dodged another question, there would be fire spitting out of my mouth.
"Seriously, what was that? Just answer me or I swear—"
"I'll tell you when Neji gets back with Tenten." New terror shot through me as he pushed me off of him.
"Oh my God. Tenten's still out there, do you think she'll be okay?" I couldn't lose her. Not now, not ever.
"I'm sure she's fine." I heard real gentleness in his voice for the first time, soothing me like a balm. I didn't know why I had so much faith in him. Maybe because he just saved my life. "She's with Neji. He'll protect her. Worry about yourself, you have cuts all over you." I didn't even notice until I looked down at the tears in my clothes and shallow, bright red cuts. I must have gotten them when the window burst. I was still too pumped with adrenalin to feel them. "There are clothes your size in the yellow bedroom upstairs and there's a shower connected to it. Go clean up."
"But I still have questions. What are you going to do?" I asked as he got up and walked across the room. He flopped down on the couch, but even it wasn't long enough for his long limbs. In light of the past situation, I could now notice the lean muscles packed beneath his skin.
"Take a nap." Finally, I gave up on him with an exasperated sigh as I stalked up the stairs. So much for his reliable superman image.
~*Tenten*~
When the last school bell rang, I was ready to dance in happiness. Against all odds, I was able to avoid Mr. Huuyga for the entire day. After this morning, I was in no hurry for that confrontation, but I had to bolt out of there then before he could hunt me down.
"Tenten, I need to see you," Mr. Huuyga popped in the moment before I started sprinting for escape. He had perfect timing. I hated him for it. My mood plummeted just like that as I grudgingly followed him back to his own classroom.
"How long is this going to take, because Temari is waiting for me?" I asked as his sat down in his spinny office care and lifted his legs up to rest his feet on the edge of his desk. If I was trying to be mad at him, it really wasn't fair of him to look so sexy at ease.
"No she isn't," he said with confidence. "She's with Shikamaru; they have their own things to talk about. I told you know to come to school today." I vaguely recognized Shikamaru's name as the new kid that all the girls were raving over. Whatever. He probably wasn't that cute, just something new to look at.
"Can you remember me ever doing what I was told?" I was infamous among the teachers as a trouble maker, though I could never imagine why. I'd actually been on good behavior, only punching one person that marking period, but only because she was making fun of Temari's poor fashion choices. Jealous bitch.
"No, I suppose not, but this is serious Tenten. You know what you see and hear aren't always there, right?"
"I'm not crazy," I defended myself. It wasn't until the words left my mind that I realized it was the worst thing I could have said.
"I know," He said, surprising me. "But you will be if you don't get help."
"No. You can't send me to get help. I know what they do to schizos. You can't take me away from Temari." As scary as it all sounded, it was nothing compared to not being there to protect her.
"I wouldn't dream of it. In fact, you two will need each other now more than ever."
"Then how exactly to do suppose I get help?" I asked with distain.
"I told you, you aren't crazy, Tenten. You're special. The things you see are flashes of scenes or knowledge from the future. Morbid things like violence or death scream out at you, the most desperate to be seen, so it can be prevented. But one person can only take so much of it before going insane. You need to let me help you control it and help you keep away the bad things you pick up unconsciously as soon as possible. I'm not going to let that happen to you." Now I wasn't quite sure which one of us was the crazy one.
"Wait- so you're saying you think I'm psychic?"
"Yes," He answered the confidence still clear in his voice. I would love to believe him, love to wish I could make the bad things go away, just like that, but still, his idea itself was psycho.
"And why should I believe you?"
"Why not? If I'm lying, you'll go crazy, but if you don't believe me and ignore it, you'll go crazy. No one wins. You can't help Temari much like that. It would probably just make her worry more. However, on the off chance you trust me and you get better, everyone's happy." He had a point. What did I have to lose? He seemed harmless enough himself.
"Why do you care," I asked. "What's in it for you?"
"The people I work for what to see you safe." He put his feet down so he could lean forward and looked me in the eye with that wonderful intensity of his. It's funny how while I'm so reckless and fun-loving, it was his seriousness that drew me in. Maybe it was even because of my recklessness. His next words came with chills. "I want to see you safe."
"Why? Being safe is never any fun." As soon as the words left my mouth, a loud pop rang in my ears. I recognized them from my time at the shooting range. Karma was a bitch.
"What do you hear?" I realized I was the only one who could hear them, and if he was right about visions…
"Duck!" I yelled only seconds before the bullets started raining down, shattering classroom windows and heading straight for us.
"Crawl under the desk," Mr. Huuyga ordered and grabbed a handgun out of a drawer and climbed up on top of the desk so he could get a better shot at whoever was shooting. I didn't take notice of wear they were, but the direction of the bullets would tip Mr. Huuyga off.
Terrified and confused, I listened to him. I'd never really understood what it was like to be genuinely afraid until that moment. Waiting under the desk was agonizing. I hated being passive, I needed to be in the center of the action, but I'd seen too many movies were the stupid girl makes things worse by busting in without a plan. Too many times had I wanted to slap them for being such an idiot. Somehow, I was able to bite my lip and keep myself from moving.
That is, until another vision popped into my head—Mr. Huuyga lying lifeless with blood soaking the material of his shirt over his chest. I knew I had to do something to stop it.
Quick as I could manage, I pushed Mr. Huuyga off the desk and grabbed his gun out of his hand in the same motion. He screamed, taking a bullet anyway. Hopefully not as bad as it was going to be otherwise. Taking his place I lined up a single shot. Pulling the trigger, my bullet flew straight into the man I could barely make out on the next rooftop over. He slumped, but even though he was so far away, I knew I only hit his shoulder like I aimed. I never missed any mark.
Without anytime to spare celebrating my victory, I pulled down the classroom flag and balled it up to press on his wound, which was thankfully only on his leg. Legs weren't as important as say, his heart, but that didn't mean he still couldn't bleed to death or something.
"You shot him." Mr. Huuyga's voice rose high in shock. It would have been comical if not for the situation we were in.
"And he shot you, which I think is the more pressing issue at the moment. What do you want me to do?" I asked, trying to sound calm for him. That's what nurses were supposed to do, right? I wasn't good at dealing with situations like that. I wished Temari was there. That made me think of another problem. "Oh My Gosh, Temari is out there! What did those people want? Temari will be safe, right?"
"She'll be fine, she's with Shikamaru." He winced trying to sit up. He was making a gunshot look like a scraped knee with all the pain he was show, but I knew it must be a lot worse than he was letting on. "But if Shikamaru were taking her anywhere safe, it would be the house I've been renting. We should get there and make sure. Help me walk."
"Are you sure you're okay to walk, Mr. Huuyga?" I asked knowing he wasn't. What I really meant if it was important enough. He seemed to understand.
"It's important. It will put us in a vulnerable position, but we have to move." He struggled to get up. I moved to help his, admiring his composure. If I got shot, I wouldn't be able to even talk, I would be so busy screaming and crying. He must have been superman or something. Then he added, "And just call me Neji."
I appreciated the gesture. He knew I was better in a more casual setting, but it was that little relationship change between us that made me realized how much everything was about to change. We were equals now, partners or sorts for whatever it's worth. I could really see visions of the future, what just occurred proved it. My whole world had been flipped, turned upside down.
And something told me no simple flashes were going to show me the entirety of what was about to unfold in front of me.