Ricochet
It was obscenely early in the morning when Neji and TenTen rose from bed. Beyond their curtained windows light was just beginning to spread over the horizion, hinting at the sun's slow approach in spite of a few twinkling stars still stubbornly spotting the sky. Normal people would still be asleep at this hour, but Neji and TenTen were not normal, and this would not be a normal day. The pair made short work of their morning routines, making themselves look presentable, and quietly slipped through the front door together. Side by side they kept a steady pace, neither wanting to rush to their destination nor to drag out the journey. Every step was a memory. Every step was a small victory. Every step was laced with pain.
They did not speak to each other; they didn't need to. Nothing they could say to each other would change anything. There were no words, no tears, no anger. Just a steady, careful determination. Stare straight ahead, don't think.
It was almost like marching. If Maito Gai had been given a funeral procession, this was how it would have looked.
They came to a hault, finally, their destination reached. The smooth marble surface reflectled the faint sunlight on their faces. There, on the stone before them, below hundreds of names of brave shinobi whose sacrifices had faded away into obscurity, was the freshly carved name Maito Gai. At the base of the stone were over a thousand neatly lined smooth pebbles, most likely from a river.
One for every day they'd been Team Gai.
Rock Lee had already come to pay his respects, it seemed. Hesistantly, as if not sure if it might burn her, TenTen outstretched a hand and let her fingers trail lightly over the grooves of his name before letting her hand drop back at her side. Neji is not sure he even sees the name carved there, not really, even though he knows it's there. He wonders how long it'll be before he can see it. Just one line above the place his sensei's name should be (because it's not there, if Neji can't see it then it's not there, there's nothing his eyes can't see) are those of Densetsu no Jiraiya and Sarutobi Asuma. Further up is Hyuuga Hizashi. He has never come to this stone before, but he decides right now that he hates it and that he will never visit it again.
TenTen kneels in front of it and he hates that he sees her reflection on it now. His jaw tightens and his eyes develop an aversion to the stone, seeking solace in all directions before he simply settles for staring at the rising sun. It brings sharp pains to his pupils as it peaks over the edge of the world and he keeps staring because maybe, just maybe, if he stares long enough he'll really go blind. He knows he won't.
They leave two hours later when a certain silver-haired jounin shows up.
It's early, but not too early when Ino rolls out of bed. As she rises with a full body stretch and inhales deeply, it strikes her that her throat is still somewhat sore from yesterday's crying, and with two fingers on her neck she quickly alleviates the mild pain. She yawns, shaking off the sleepiness, and gets ready for the day. Her feet make light taps on wood as she gracefully descends two flights of stairs, down to the family florist shop below their home. She almost goes straight out the front door but catches herself, backtracking to let her eyes roam over their stock, searching. She finds the bunch she wants and carefully nestles them in the crook of her arm and her bust as she heads for the door again.
After a quick pit stop her hands are free again, and Ino finally makes it to the place she'd intended to visit the day before. She knocks on the door and listens to the sound of movement on the other side.
"Just a minute! Asuka, NO! I'll be right there!"
Ino smiled to herself as she listened to the scuffle and in seconds the door opens in a rush, revealing a very frazzled Kurenai. Her inky black hair looked just as touseled as always but her face was unmade, absent of the eyeshadow and lipstick she was infamous for. Her ruby red eyes spoke volumes of both fatigue and contentness. There was a splotch of juice towards the middle of her shirt. She returned Ino's smile.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here! It's really something trying to get a toddler up, you know?"
She pulled the door open wider in invitation and Ino slipped in, kindly disregarding the apartment's state of disarray and instead focusing on the small form propped up atop three thick books to sit at the table. A mess of black hair shifted and gave way to hauntingly familiar little brown eyes. A messy mouth spread into an easy grin between cheeks still full of baby fat.
"Auntie Ino!"
Her little body began squirming, struggling to get down to greet the visitor. Ino saves her the trouble and comes to her side, enveloping her in a hug. She hopes the gesture is even half as comforting and protective as the hugs she used to get from Asuma. He'd never hugged Shikamaru or Chouji, said it was "gay", but he always was a softy for a girl in tears. She'd accumulated at least a dozen hugs in the heyday of Team 10 and she was going to pay them back now, with interest. When this girl finally became old enough to train under Shikamaru, she would make him hug her too. Konoha had taken both her grandfather and her father, they owed her at least that.
"Heya kiddo."
"Didja come ta play with me?"
"Of course I did!"
Ino helped Asuka out of her chair and onto the floor. Before the youngest Sarutobi even got a chance to suggest a game, Kurenai directed her to the bathroom to clean up first. Ino watched their backs, a wistful emotion painted across her face. Kurenai Yuuhi would once again become Kurenai-sensei in six months, when her maternity leave timed out. She hoped the two of them continued to enjoy this time while it lasted, all too soon that little girl was going to find out that a kunoichi was not exactly a stay at home job. Still, Asuka was a very lucky girl. She had Team 10 to teach her, Team 8 had promised to babysit her, and Konohamaru had promised to protect his little cousin. No matter what the future had in store, this child would know that she was loved.
He found Rock Lee easily enough, the little Green Beast being every bit as predictable as a clock. Neji knew that Lee always woke up an hour before the birds sang, did his morning calesthetics at home, and would be at Team Gai's old training grounds by the time morning had established itself. It didn't matter to Lee if he trained alone or competed against someone else: as surely as the sun rose in the east, if Lee was in a functioning condition he was going to train. At least, as long as Lee was in physical functioning condition, he never gave a damn about his own mental functioning. (As was made obvious by his glaring symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) And that was why Neji came. Team Gai had been many things - ambitious, overzealous, eclectic - but never unstable. They weren't going to start now.
Lee noticed Neji on the edges of his peripheral vision and turned to greet him as the pale eyed shinobi took a seat on a large tree stump.
"Neji, my rival! Have you come to accept my challenge of doing 300 sommersaults around the academy?"
He beamed at him with a smile ninjas their age should no longer be capable of.
"No."
"That is a pity! But I shall enjoy your coming to visit me this morning!"
Neji said nothing. Something about Lee was...off. If he didn't know better, he'd say Lee wasn't quite at the full volume he usually spoke in, like he was he wasn't as full of energy as he usually was. If he didn't know better (not that he wanted to notice), he'd say that the green jumpsuit didn't cling as tightly, like a second skin, like it used to.
"Lee, have you eaten?"
Rock Lee stretched himself overtop the ground and started on a round of push-ups.
"No. I shall not eat for the next 32 days in honor of Gai-sensei!"
"Lee, you must eat."
Neji stared at his comrade, the slightest hints of concern hidden in the depths of his eyes. Lee continued his push-ups, undeterred.
"Absolutely not. I must fast for 32 days. One day for every year our sensei-"
Neji cut him off and tried not to become annoyed. Truthfully, he'd expected Lee to go to some sort of extreme, to perform some showy stunt in dedication to Gai. It would have been disturbing if Lee had not made some completely ridiculous declaration, but this...this small turn down a road of self-destruction, this he would not allow. Lee could find some other way to grieve.
"If you cease eating, you will lose strength and then you will be weakened and unable to train. Is this something Gai-sensei would have approved of?"
It was a very manipulative way to go about stopping Lee, but Neji didn't feel any guilt. Over the years he'd come to learn that only verbal manipulation could override Gai and Lee's sheer stubbornness.
At the mention of Gai's name Lee's body goes rigid, his eyes bugging and mouth opening in shock as if Neji had told him that Sakura is actually a crossdressing boy. In a fraction of a second he sprung to his feet and slipped into one of the many poses taught to him by Gai.
"You are absolutely right, Neji! How could I have possibly considered doing something to wither my sparkingly youth?"
Lee's bottom lip quivered and his eyes teared up practially on command.
"Gai-sensei must be so disappointed! I must eat 100 vegetables to earn his forgiveness!"
Neji fixed him with an unenthusiastic stare despite feeling a sense of relief. He would never let Rock Lee know that he had worried about him, even if only for a second. NEVER.
"Neji, I must thank you for-"
"No."
"Then I will-"
"No."
Lee shifted into the Nice Guy pose and flashed his trademark smile, ping and all.
"Very well, comrade! Then I must go now and fufill my task for Gai-sensei's forgiveness! Thank you for your help!"
"Hn."
Lee sped away from the training grounds, heading straight for Konoha's produce vendors. Neji, good deed done, looked after him for a second before turning and walking home. As he neared the Hyuuga compund, he searched for traces of TenTen's chakra and was faintly surprised she hadn't beat him home. Unfazed, his eyes narrowed as he reached the edge of the walkway leading to his front door. Something was laying in a heap at his front door. He kept his leisurely pace and bent down to inspect the item when he reached it.
Poppies. A small bundle of red poppies.
Without realizing it, he smiled. There was no card, and none was needed.
TenTen paused, eyes locked on the vision before her, and she could not stop herself from leaning nearer to the glass. In the shop display window, shiney new tonfa gleamed under the shop lights and swords shone their brilliant, razor sharp edges that promised even to slice through reasoning if it stood against them. TenTen's lips parted as she gazed adoringly over the merchandise. Her hands itched for a demonstration of such masterfully crafted weapons; craved the feel of the smooth, cool steel and the lightness in her grip just as much as her ears ached to hear the blade sing as it swung through the air. They would make such beautiful music together.
She remembered the first time she did this; the first time she stood in front of this shop, eyes full of admiration and wonder. She was nine and not yet a gennin, much to her dismay no matter how many people told her that was normal. TenTen didn't want to be normal, she'd wanted to be legendary, and her mediocre skills in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and even taijutsu were implying that she wasn't getting any closer to that dream. Not to be defeated by mediocrity, she'd decided she needed an edge, a specialty to push her further. That was when she found this nice little blacksmith shop, seamlessly blended into the heart of Konoha's shopping district. The first time she held her own custom made weapon in her tiny innocent hands she no longer felt like she was the Plainest Jane you ever saw, ordinary at best in both looks and skills. The first time she held that first dagger, for the very first time in her life TenTen had felt powerful. She felt like she was in control of something for once. Others might have kekkei genkai or massive amounts of stamina or chakra but she had finally found her niche. In this one area, TenTen could shine brighter than all others. And thus her collection begun.
Now, new weapons lined the windows for the public to see, untouched and dazzling in all their perfection. And here she stood before them; not legendary, but a has-been. Maybe a never-was; she hadn't even made jounin when she retired. She'd been a chuunin, a mid-level ninja. Middle rank. Mediocre.
Damn the Hyuuga clan's stupid rules about wives working. Damn them to the fiery pits of hell.
With a sigh, she grudgingly walked away.
It was well into the afternoon when Kurenai put her daughter down for her afternoon naptime and Ino seized the opportunity to slip away. Playing with a two year old wore her out far more than she'd expected and she made a mental note to visit them more than twice a month. The bell jingled as she opened the door to her family's shop and breezed inside, breathing in the comforting scent of many, many flowers joined together in one fragrance. She loved the smell of home. Tossing a greeting at her mother, Ino hurried up both flights of stairs and entered her room. She clumsily dropped her weight onto her bed and simultaneously pulled the tie out of her hair with one hand. Asuka, bless her little heart, had pulled on her blonde tresses a number of times during her visit and the ponytail had become painfully tight. After a moment, she flopped onto her back and gazed at her ceiling, contemplating if maybe she too needed a nap now. Downstairs, she faintly heard the bell signal another patron to their shop. She ignored it, closing her eyes and deciding to go ahead and snooze. Seconds later, her eyes flew open. For the briefest of moments, she'd felt another chakra signature near her, but with her guard down she hadn't had a chance to identify it. A frown crossing her features, Ino tried to mentally dismiss it as probably belonging to someone just speeding by on the rooftops. It didn't work. For peace of mind's sake, she sat up and glanced at her window.
On the other side of her windowsill was a single pink rose.
Ino is startled when she sees it, and that's saying something because hardly anything has the power to startle her anymore. She turns over onto her knees and reaches up to open her window and retrieve the lone flower. Running her fingers around its perimeter, she brings it to her face and takes a deep whiff. It is not from downstairs, that much she can tell from the scent. Then she smiles because she doesn't remember seeing flowers near his house and wonders where he found this perfect bloom. She doesn't particularly remember him paying that much attention the last time she was rambling about flowers, but now she thinks he may be listening more than he lets on.
Ino was clearing a spot for it on her dresser when she sensed another presence in the room. She tried not to let her smile falter when it's Shizune's small form crouching in the window that her eyes land on.
"Lady Hokage wishes to see you right now."
Ino nodded and Tsunade's apprentice disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Her hand delicately set the rose in front of her mirror and she turned, running down the stairs yet again. The hospital wasn't very full last she heard, so she assumed she was being summoned to be assigned a mission. She said a goodbye over her shoulder as she raced past her mother and broke into a full sprint once she was outside. If she was right about being called for a mission, this was going to be number 75. So far, she had a failure rate of 5. Ino hoped it stayed that way.
There is a fresh bunch of poppies in a vase on the dining room table when TenTen gets home. He has never bought her flowers before, not even when they were dating. She eyes them curiously, but doesn't ask for an explaination. Neji doesn't offer one.
TenTen never questions him. And maybe, just maybe, that's a problem.
A /N: Is it narcisstic to say that I am impressed with my own lack of TenTen bashing? I want you to sympathize for her, but not enough to root for her. Haha xD No really, there might be a little bit of self-discovery in it for her, just not enough to overshadow Ino. And FYI poppies mean condolences/consolation and a pink rose symbolizes appreciation and thanks, that's how Ino automatically knows the rose is from Neji. One more note: yeah, I notice that I switch a lot between present and past tense, does that bother you guys? I really don't know why I do it but lately it's become a habit. I'll try to keep it under control.