Weapon of Choice
Chapter the Second
Getting Settled
Even if I clap my hands three times and say
"I believe in fairies" I still won't own Naruto
Neji was absolutely appalled, there was no other word to describe it, simply appalled.
"This is where she…LIVES?" he demanded as he motioned towards the dilapidated tenement building that he and Lee were standing within.
"Lived." corrected Lee.
Neji glared at him.
Showing no acknowledgment whatsoever Lee knocked on the door marked Manager. After a second, or four it was answered by a rather short, plump, balding gentleman with an unidentifiable stain down the front of his too small undershirt. It was a nearly nauseating sight. Neji winkled his nose in disgust.
"Yeah?" he questioned as he raised a bushy eyebrow.
"We are here for Tenten's things." said Lee.
"Yeah, yeah…the Weapon Chick…ah, right, though here." Neji and Lee followed him into a back room, Neji being exceedingly careful not to touch anything. The place was absolutely filthy. Ignoring the man for a moment he rounded on Lee, his fists clenched.
"Did YOU know our teammate was living in this...this..." he searched for a word that would adequately convey his complete and utter disdain, and failed miserably. "...place?"
"Hey!" protested the Landlord, but immediately quailed under Neji's penetrating glare and wisely scuttled away.
"Weapons are expensive Neji, even the ones she makes herself."explained Lee
"Hn..." Neji let the matter pass, for the moment, but he would make a definite point of speaking with Tenten about it the next time he saw turned his attention to Tenten's rather humble possessions, just a pair of bulging steamer trunks and an oversize wooden cabinet. They each grabbed one of the trunks and took them outside to the cart Gai-sensei had gotten from somewhere. It was their duty as her teammates to help Tenten move, or at least thats what Gai told them when he cut training short, much to Neji's irritation. Oh well, he would just make her train longer tomorrow. They went back inside to get the cabinet. Neji eyed it warily. It was battered and remarkably old but was also very well made, Tenten had made a point of telling him to be very careful with it as it was some sort of heirloom from her deceased parents.
"Okay." said Lee, rubbing his hands together, an apprehensive smile on his face. "On three."
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
There was a collective grunt as the cabinet failed to move.
"Heavy Isn't it?" said Lee.
"Hn." agreed Neji.
0-0
"And this is where you will be staying." said Hinata, as she openedthe sliding door and ushered in a curious Tenten. "The bathroom is over there." She said motioning towards the far wall. "And if you n-need anything N-neji is r-right next door."
'Wow' she thought 'this is way nicer than my last place.' It would be great to sleep on an actual bed instead of making due with the bedroll she used on missions. The decor was a bit plain, but she could put up with it for a private bathroom that she didn't have to share with twelve other people. She had the sudden feeling that she was overlooking something important, what was the last thing Hinata said?
"Um, sorry, what?"
"Neji's room is n-next d-door, t-that's not a problem is it?"
"NO!" she exclaimed far more quickly and louder than she had intended. She had to fight down the reddening in her cheeks. "Um... I mean that's fine, why wouldn't it be? Really, he's my teammate after all, right, good ol' Neji, heh heh, yeah..." Hinata gave her an odd look but before she could comment on it they were interrupted by the arrival of Lee, Neji, and a half dozen Naruto's who were carrying a rather large cabinet.
"Hiya Tenten, where d'ya want this?"
"Put it over there for right now." she said indicating the wall opposite the bed. Neji, Lee and the Narutos heaved the cabinet into place. Five of the orange ninjas disappeared into puffs of smoke, leaving what one presumed was the original.
"Geez, whats in that thing?" he asked, rubbing his sore back. Tenten beamed and nearly skipped over to the cabinet and flung the doors open.
"My Babies!" she exclaimed as she burst out laughing. The cabinet unfolded outward in an intricate dance of multiple sliding racks of various sizes, which revealed more implements of personal destruction than the human mind could comfortably comprehend.
Tenten's laugh just escalated as the others looked on in disbelief.
"So many..." whispered Naruto in awe.
"...bigger on the inside." mumbled Hinata.
Neji and Lee had sort of been expecting something like this. Lee just grinned proudly, while Neji smirked in approval.
During the commotion Hiashi had managed to slip into the room completely undetected. "That certainly is an impressive collection Miss..." he interrupted. Neji hissed in surprise and dropped into a kneeling position and after a split second pulled a confused Tenten down with him.
"This is Tenten, father." introduced Hinata, as she bowed her head.
"Indeed." he had immediatelyrecognized the hairstyle. "Hinata."
"Yes, father?"
"Take these two with you." he said motioning towards Lee and Naruto. "And go retrieve the rest of Tenten's possessions. Now I need a word in private with her and Neji." He sent her a small sly smile. She blushed at his unaccustomed approval, no matter how subtle.
"Yes, father." she obliged, and escorted the two boisterous ninja from the room. Hiashi turned to face the room's two remaining occupants.
"Nephew, it was my understanding that traditional Hyuuga custom dictates that all guests must be vetted by the Clan Head before being moved into the compound." He was eying Neji seriously. "Or is it your belief that I am mistake? Perhaps you could enlighten me if this law was changed without my knowledge or approval." A hint of condescending sarcasm was leaked into his voice. He was frowning at his nephew, his expression completely unreadable. Tenten bit down on her lip nervously, she didn't want Neji to get in any trouble because of her.
"It is within my rights as the Head of Branch House to offer accommodations within the Branch House to any potential allies under these particular circumstances." Hiashi was pleased but didn't let it show on his face.
"Greetings Lord Hiashi." interrupted Tenten, kowtowing respectfully "Please allow this humble kunoichi to accept the Branch Head's generous offer to stay in your magnificent home, as she has no other place to go." Hiashi eyed her objectively, pretending to mull it over.
"Very well then, you shall be presented to the clan at dinner, be sure to dress appropriately." And with that he turned and swept out of the room with all the regality of a king. Only when he was long gone did she breathe a sigh of relief. She then noticed that the remaining Hyuuga was giving her a confounded look.
"What? Don't look at me like that. Come on, I didn't sleep through all the etiquette lessons at the academy."
0-0
Hiashi was pleased, well as pleased as he ever got anyway. Hinata had done well in getting her targets under the same roof. Physical closeness was often a key part in achieving emotional intimacy. He was quite happy with the council's choice for Neji's bride. Most of the research he had done suggested she wasn't as mannered as she had been. He went over her pros in his head as he walked back to his office. She was an orphan, so no deadbeat relatives looking for a handout. She had no bloodline ability to interfere with the Byakugan. She was quite a good ninja, definitely not a prodigy like Neji but was still far and beyond the average. Her file indicated that the Research and Development Team was interested in her because of her extensive knowledge of weaponry; but she had turned them down in order to continue working with his nephew. After seeing them together he could see why. He'd hardly ever seen two people so in sync with one another. The way Neji kept himself between her and any perceived threat, in this particular case Hiashi himself, and the way Tenten always seemed to be watching Neji's back. It made him think of ninja with perfect aim in three-hundred and sixty degrees, but perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe the Elders knew what they were doing?
…nah.
0-0
Tenten sighed in relief as the warm water flowed through her hair and down her body. It had been a busy day, and she still had to meet Neji's relatives. She was not looking forward to it. Neji and Hinata she knew fairly well, the rest of the clan however was another matter entirely. She would be downright lying if she said she wasn't nervous but she would rather eat her own kunai than admit it out loud. She shook her head, it was best not to think of it. She turned off the water and exited the shower. Apparently the Hyuuga's dressed for dinner, and as their guest she was expected to as well. Also, it had been made clear to her that her only dress, a red cheongsam that she thought was rather fetching, would not be appropriate and was thus lent one of Hinata's old kimonos. Hopefully it would fit, for Hinata was far more full figured than she herself was. She dried herself off and left the bathroom, she eyed the kimono warily, the only thing she knew about them was that you weren't supposed to wear underwear with them. She figured out the robes fairly quickly, but found herself confused by the ribbony-belty thing. Nothing she did seemed to look right. Perhaps there was some sort of trick to it. After about fifteen minutes of attempting to puzzle out the darn thing herself, she cursed colorfully before surrendering and calling for help.
"NEJI!" she bellowed.
0-0
Neji was having a bit of a moral quandary. Should he or should he not use his Byakugan to watch Tenten in the shower. Not to see her naked, he lied to himself, just to see if she was okay. She could slip and hurt herself. Then he would be forced to spar with Lee. He shuddered at the thought; that was clearly unacceptable. Then he noticed the water had stopped, rendering the matter moot. He inwardly cursed himself for being so indecisive.
All was quiet until,
"NEJI!" Thinking she was in trouble he rushed over to her room and burst through the door.
"WHAT?" he demanded, his eyes scanning the room for enemy ninja.
"Help me." she pouted and thrust the ribbony-belty thing at him. Neji sighed.
"Fine." he replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"My hero…" she said sarcastically, as she batted her eyelashes at him, smirking all the while.
"Hn."
0-0
Tenten tried to hide subtly behind Neji, to no avail, as they entered the Hyuuga dining hall. Dozens of blank white eyes and even blanker expressions greeted her.
"They're all staring at me!" she whispered to Neji.
"Just don't make any sudden moves." Before she could show Neji what she thought of his advice, Hiashi started his introduction.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House of Hyuuga, tonight for the first time in recent memory, we have an outsider staying among us. She has proven a good friend to our prodigy Neji, and I am sure you will make her feel most welcome as she may be with us for some time."
'What did he mean by that?' thought Tenten, frowning.
"I give you Tenten." he finished. There was no applause but neither were there any protests, which she took as a good sign.
"Um...Hi." she grinned sickly and gave a weak wave. This was going to be a long night.
0-0
"Hi." Tenten muttered to herself. "I'm such an idiot." The rest of the dinner had passed in eerie silence. She had split as soon as she thought was polite, and was now hiding herself in Hinata's room.
"It r-really wasn't t-that b-bad." reassured the most empathic Hyuuga. Tenten sent her a scathing look. Hinata flinched a little. "W-well at l-least you d-didn't t-throw up."
Tenten nearly snorted in laughter. "Did that really happen?"
"H-hanabi d-doesn't like to t-talk about it."
"Hanabi? The little ice princess?" she laughed obnoxiously again.
"S-she was only f-four." Hinata giggled softly behind her hand.
Then as fate would have it Hanabi walked into the room the very next moment.
"Hey, new fish, Neji's looking for..." she trailed off at the way the two girls were looking at her. "What?" The Weapons Mistress and the Hyuuga heiress exploded with mirth.
Hanabi regarded them coolly for a minute or two. "Freaks." she muttered, and stalked off.
Thats another chapter done and in record time too! Well, for me anyway. I would once again like to thank my beta temarixshikimaruluva and once again ask for matchmaking ideas 'cause I've got nothin'
next time?
Who knows?