A/N: I am gradually adjusting back into a fanfiction-writing schedule, despite my lazy nature…
Perhaps it's because I have found several songs that I love. That always helps.
…Have fun reading?
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Day 22
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Sakura was humming.
She quietly made her bed, shaking out the sheets with care and folding the sleeping back into a roll at the head. When Ino woke up, the pink-haired girl let the blonde use the restroom first, and went down the street to get them breakfast.
When she got back, she was smiles all over, and even set the table.
Tenten raised her eyebrow at her friend. "Wow. This is new."
"Can't a girl get her friends their breakfast?" Sakura replied cheerfully, digging in as she spoke and chewing vigorously on the flaky fried pastry. Ino rolled her eyes and took a tiny, disdainful bite as well.
"No, once you start doing that is when we start worrying," she snorted. Hinata smiled slightly.
"Did you h-have a good dream?" she asked innocently, tearing her food in half and spearing it with a glinting metal fork.
"Better," Sakura mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Ino wrinkled her nose in disgust and intrigue at the same time. Tenten had long since given up on imitating how Ino managed to wrinkle just the skin on the bridge of her nose. It looked like something out of a comic strip.
"So what happened?" the blonde insisted.
Sakura let a vague grin travel across her features, just to irk Ino more. "Uchiha came to visit me last night."
SMASH!
The shards of Ino's plate clattered to the floor with a bang, and Hinata leaped out of her chair as if she had been bitten. Tenten flinched and stared at the mess of blue pottery now scattered over the wood, and sighed. No doubt she would be forced to clean that up once Ino was done yelling at Sakura.
But the yelling never came. Instead, the blonde gaped open-mouthed at the pink-haired beauty. Then her blue eyes glinted mischievously. "Did you two have fun?"
Hinata flushed scarlet, Tenten gagged, but Sakura laughed. "Sure we did, but I assure you, it wasn't in any proximity with a bed."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Your mom."
O0O
Tenten ambled out into the sunlight an hour later, humming tunelessly in her throat. It as more of a buzz really, but it helped relax her and somehow caused her to think more clearly. She carefully treaded on all of the large pebbles imbedded in the sidewalk, almost running into a few other pedestrians as she did so.
She crossed the street and in between two large, brick apartment buildings. The alleyway was dark and lonely, filled with trashcans. She knew that you weren't supposed to navigate that type of setting without a buddy at least, and avoid it altogether if you could, but it was broad daylight and Tenten was sure she could take care of herself.
She was about halfway down the path when something skidded across the floor behind her and hit the heel of her shoe with a resounding clatter.
Tenten turned to see that it had been a trash can lid. And behind the now stationary lid about ten meters away was a leering Suigetsu, hands in his jeans pockets and white hair seeming all the more shocking in the bright sunlight streaming between the buildings.
Beside him on the left was another boy. This one seemed much calmer than Suigetsu. His eyes stared passively at Tenten from a doleful face, though there was nothing stupid-looking in that stare. Intelligence was written all over his expression. He didn't keep Tenten's attention for long.
On Suigetsu's other side was a man with long and straight black hair and serpentine violet eyes. His skin was so pale as to appear unhealthy, and he kept flicking his tongue out of his mouth like a snake. Tenten glanced at all three of them warily.
"What do you want?" she snapped at Suigetsu. "Leave me alone."
He shrugged. "Ah, so prone to temper, little Tenten." He turned to the relaxed boy next to him with the knowing eyes. "Juugo, this one's rather feisty, don't you think? All the more fun to play with." He grinned, revealing the pointed canines.
Juugo laid a restraining hand on Suigetsu's shoulder. "Don't get carried away."
The black-haired man smiled sinisterly. "Oh, but we wouldn't want to ruin his fun, would we, Juugo?"
Juugo hesitated, and then withdrew his hand, bowing his head. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
Tenten's brown eyes widened and felt her blood run cold as a tremor ran down her spine. …Orochimaru!
The snake-like man seemed to catch her hesitation, because he smiled even wider in almost a friendly way. "I see you have heard of me, little girl."
"You…" Tenten said uncertainly. "You're that drug dealer."
Orochimaru placed an intrigued expression on his face. Suigetsu snarled slightly. "'Course, the Snake here ain't just any old drug dealer. He's the best." The feral grin was back, as if he were teasing Tenten. "I bet you think he's quite handsome, don't you, little Tenten?"
Tenten felt an angry blush rise up her neck as Suigetsu roared with laughter.
"I suggest you back off, if you want to keep all your limbs," she said in a barely controlled tone.
Suigetsu laughed wildly and leaned forward slightly into an aggressive stance. "You stole the words right out of my mouth."
He lunged forward just as Tenten did. He had good aim, Tenten realized. The white-haired boy threw a punch at her jaw, which she blocked relatively easily, and then tried to hit her in the diaphragm with the other fist. She caught that too, and maneuvered so that her next snap kick should have connected soundly with his second and third ribs.
It didn't. He twisted agilely away, and tripped her.
Tenten sprawled in the dirt, but vaulted back up so that Suigetsu's punch landed right where her face had been a second before. She threw a few hits at him, he blocked. He aimed for the side of her neck, she twisted and blocked that. They were pretty evenly matched, until Suigetsu faked a right punch and she fell for it.
Tenten realized that she had left an opening just as Suigetsu reached up and pinned her by the neck to the wall.
His grip tightened slightly around her throat and she sputtered, wincing, as she tried to pry his fingers away to no avail. He easily pinned her two fists above her head.
"Not so loud now, eh, Tenten?" he breathed into her face. "What have you got to say for yourself?"
"Go to Hell, Suigetsu," she choked out.
Suigetsu laughed loudly, and dug his nails into her flesh. She refused to cry out, though her eyes watered. "Beg for me to let you go, Tenten, eh?" he said. "Plead for me to spare you."
She spat in his face.
"Ah, well, you had your chance," he said serenely. "I'll take care of her," Suigetsu called to Juugo and Orochimaru. The two nodded and walked around and out of the alley the back way leading towards people and safety.
"What shall we do with you now," Suigetsu purred once the two were out of sight. His tongue flicked out against her ear and Tenten recoiled in disgust. "Eh, Tenten-chan? Exactly what punishment would be good enough for you?" She lashed out and attempted to kick him in the shin, but he jumped to the side slightly and then slammed her to the wall with his entire body so hard that she saw stars. She couldn't even wiggle her toes, let alone try a kick now.
"Behave now," he cooed, releasing her neck and trailing his hand down to her waist. "Don't try anything." He nudged the thin sweatshirt she had been wearing off of her shoulders and stroked his fingers along her collarbone.
Tenten opened her mouth to scream, but his hand was over her mouth just as fast. "I don't like that," he said in the same amused voice. "Do try to be more docile."
"I do not think that is possible for her," said a voice.
Tenten's eyes widened just as Suigetsu whirled around and released her. She collapsed on the floor of the alleyway, coughing and sputtering.
"…N-Neji?" she choked out in disbelief.
His white eyes were cold and furious under his calm demeanor, she could tell. "Who are you?" he demanded of Suigetsu.
The white-haired boy shrugged, his easygoing personality immediately back in place. "Nobody of importance, I assure you…pleased to meet your acquaintance, none the less!"
Suigetsu rushed forward meaning to give a blow to the head, but Neji caught his wrist and twisted it so that Suigetsu's expression contorted in pain. He wrenched his wrist free a moment later, wincing, and swung again. This time, Neji blocked and punched back.
The scuffle was over in under a minute. Suigetsu was lying in a bloody heap by the wall, barely conciousness with bruises and cuts all over and panting. Neji had a growing purple bruise under his eye and was clutching his ribcage as though it were broken, but he was still standing.
Neji turned towards Tenten, who was still on the ground and staring at him as if in shock. The fury in his eyes had subsided. "Tenten," he acknowledged, stumbling a little as he walked over and held out a hand. She took it and he hauled her up. Unexpectedly, she threw her arms around him and buried her face his shoulder.
Neji's back stiffened, but tentatively he patted her on the back. Tenten's fists tightened on the fabric of the shirt on his back and she clutched him even tighter. Neji sighed and resigned himself to the fact that she was hysterical and not letting go anytime soon, and hugged her back.
O0O
"Oh my God, you freaking idiot!" Ino fussed over Tenten as she poured the girl in question a cup of hot tea."What kind of person takes shortcuts through dark alleys without other people with them? Especially if they're a girl?" Ino demanded as she pulled out a chair and sat down across from Tenten.
"I did," Sakura said pointedly as she, too, pulled out a chair and sat down on Tenten's left.
"Yeah, and look where that got you," Ino scoffed.
Tenten smiled slightly into her cup of scalding hot tea. Hinata came over too, and grabbed another mug to pour tea into.
"You s-should be more careful, T-Tenten-san!" she said worriedly. "Next time, Neji-nii-san might n-not be there to help you!"
Tenten set her mug down firmly on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I know, and I was really lucky," she said, rubbing her throat. The tea had helped her voice to recover a little.
"Hell yeah, you were," Sakura laughed. "Wish I had that sort of luck. I mean, if he had come by like a second later…" She trailed off into silence.
"What was he doing around there anyways?" Ino asked curiously.
Tenten shrugged. "I didn't ask. A lot was going on, if you didn't catch the drift," she said sarcastically.
"Well, you were g-going to the Hyuuga compound, right?" Hinata asked. "Perhaps Neji-nii-san had been c-coming to meet you."
Tenten shrugged again noncommittally. "Probably. In any case, I'm grateful that he was there." She shuddered slightly as she thought of Suigetsu's wild eyes and his nails digging into her neck. She wondered if Karin had the slightest inkling of what the boy did with his free time.
She thought about it, and concluded that she probably did. Karin wasn't the type that could be kept oblivious to that sort of secret. Yet, she chose to stay with him. For what reason, Tenten couldn't imagine. Perhaps she was addicted to some illegal substance that he had in copious amounts.
"Hey, we should go out today," Ino suggested.
"Why?" Tenten asked dully.
"To cheer you up, of course," Sakura smiled and straightened the plaid tie she was wearing over a plain black tank top embroidered with the words UDON ROCKS MY WORLD. Tenten raised her eyebrows and decided not to ask.
Ino straightened her two high pigtails and the pink dragonfly shirt that she was wearing. "Shopping, anybody?" Tenten and Hinata exchanged a silent look. Neither of them were big fans of the mall.
"P-Perhaps we could go to the park and s-skateboard?" Hinata suggested to everybody's surprise.
"But I thought that you hated skateboarding!" Tenten said.
Hinata smiled a little. "I think it's an a-acquired liking of mine."
Tenten joined her friends as they went out the door.
O0O
She sat out for most of the skateboarding session at the park. Naruto and Lee had come along, so they taught Hinata how not to fall flat on her face while she zoned out.
Tenten had never been the type to mope for long periods of time, cry unnecessarily, be frightened of things such as bugs and the dark that other girls were, or feel sorry for herself, (well, perhaps she did do that one a lot). She had never been disturbed by scary movies, and she dealt with stressful things relatively well.
She was a bit surprised that she wasn't feeling more…well, something at least. She had just been through one of the most traumatizing situations in her life and now she was sitting in a sunny park skateboarding with her friends. She didn't feel very strange. Mostly anger and disgust with Suigetsu, and disappointment that she had lost so badly to him, yes. But she was no longer frightened or…or…whatever else was normal to feel.
Hm. Strange.
The next time that Naruto whined that she wasn't skateboarding enough that day, she smiled at him, got up, and took her board.
She proceeded to do better than him at all of the tricks he had been teaching Hinata.
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A/N: God, I'm updating so slowwwlly now --; That was an interesting chapter to write…xD