Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.
The first thing he heard when he stepped through the doorway was an annoyed voice saying.
"You're late."
Kazuya tried to look apologetic when he saw the red haired and equally fiery tempered young woman who was sitting on the sofa with an already opened envelope on her lap and an unreadable expression on her face.
"Gomen, Ayame-nee-san."
She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps and the arrival of small boy with the same head of dark blonde hair as Kazuya.
"Kazu-nii, I thought you wouldn't be back till six?"
"Something came up, Kosuke," Kazuya replied, giving his brother small smile. The boy immediately plopped himself onto the nearest sofa, his blue eyes alight with curiosity.
"Mom told me to give you this. She said you're supposed to go," Ayame continued, handing Kazuya the envelope. It was made of stiff, gold rimmed paper.
This was obviously no ordinary letter.
Kazuya flipped open the envelope's flap before gently pulling out the sheet of thick, heavy paper enclosed within. He turned over the slip of wax paper that was the first page and read the first line of the fine, flowing script on the card behind it.
'You are cordially invited to...'
"Why is Nii-san the only one who has to go?" Kosuke questioned. "Shouldn't Nee-san be going too?"
"As the heir, it's Kazuya's duty to attend such events in order to familiarize himself with our clan's business partners and strengthen our ties with them."
Kousuke rolled his eyes.
"You're just being lazy, Nee-san."
His sister shot him a look.
"Don't you have an exam to study for?"
The boy got off his seat and gave his sister a mocking salute before disappearing back into his room.
"Is there anything else?" Kazuya asked quietly, calmly slipping the invitation back into its proper place. When Ayame shook her head, he left the living room and walked to his room at the end of the hallway.
The young woman could only sigh as she stood up and walked out to the corridor in time to catch her little brother opening his bedroom door.
"Are you really okay with this?"
He wasn't. She could tell by the way he stood and by the way he forced himself to smile placidly as if nothing were amiss when their dark grey eyes would meet. But her gaze was concerned and his, expressionless.
"Yeah."
The door eased shut with a barely audible click.
With one hand still gripping the doorknob, Kazuya glanced at the now creased envelope in the other.
Even if I wasn't, I can't change what's already been decided.
The guards immediately stood at attention when they saw him approaching, the little day light there was left reflecting dully off their matching armour. They bowed respectfully when he passed, straightening only when he gave them a small nod.
With barely a pause, he reached into the pouch on his waist for his visa and gave it to the nearest guard without a second glance; a formality since every guard knew exactly who he was and every inhabitant of the small city was more than familiar with the symbol strapped across his forehead, but protocol was meant to be followed.
"Err...Hyuuga-sama." The man hesitated a moment before showing the Hyuuga what he had given him. It was a ridiculous looking, badly drawn picture of Lee and Gai's faces with the large words 'COME HOME EARLY!' scribbled in a giant speech bubble that took up the other half of the paper.
Neji sighed as he retrieved the right document and handed it to the guard before glancing at the darkening horizon, suddenly conscious of the weight on his back.
The last two weeks of his life had been hell on earth.
He had been constantly irritated by the scores of catalogues and stacks of order forms for various items that had been mysteriously appearing in his room every night, without fail for the last fortnight.
'The Hyuuga prodigy knew what, or rather who, was the cause. As satisfying as beating the culprits into a bloody pulp would have been, he knew that Tenten did not need or want to spend her birthday in a hospital ward taking care of those imbeciles. In the end, he had to settle for venting his irritation by unceremoniously dumping the entire lot in the store room for use as firewood during winter.
His ordeal was made even worse when he told Lee that he was going to Lava for a diplomatic mission today. The idiot had promptly wailed and cried buckets about him losing his 'youthful care' for their female teammate and had only shut up when Neji had agreed to go gift shopping with him. Although the only time he had displayed any interest throughout their little trip was when they were in leaving, it didn't stop Lee from shoving every object he managed to get his hands on into Neji's face and announcing to the rest of the world what a 'wonderful present it would make for Tenten'.
Neji actually cringed at the thought. He would rather fight a thousand Sound nins than experience that again.
At least he would have died sane.
Ignoring the sniggers coming from the man's fellow guards, Neji took back his travel documents and started to leave when the guard from earlier stopped him.
"Hyuuga-sama, what do I-"
"Dispose of it," he answered and the annoyance laced in his tone instantly shut the other soldiers up.
"Y-Yes, sir-"
Without waiting to hear the man's reply, Neji swiftly leapt into the trees leading to the forest, the fastest route back to Konoha.
If he hurried, he just might make it back in time.
It was almost midnight by the time Tenten got home.
Each year when their birthdays came around, Gai-sensei would treat the entire team to a meal at the celebrant's favourite restaurant, a tradition that had yet to be broken since their days as a team began.
After dinner, Gai had rushed off for a Jounin meeting, but Lee, always the gentleman, had offered to walk her home. It had started drizzling when they were about halfway there and neither of them had an umbrella, so Lee's exuberantly chatter about his latest mission had been cut short as they made a run for it through the rain.
Needless to say, both of them were completely soaked.
"Lee, I think you'd better come inside to-" she stopped when she saw the long, thin parcel leaning against the door to her apartment.
Puzzled, she picked it up and examined it. The barely crinkled brown paper it was wrapped in was dotted with tiny, damp flecks of darker colour and stained that same shade where her wet hands touched it.
Tenten opened her door, bringing the package inside with her. Lee followed her in, hovering over her shoulder expectantly as she unwrapped it.
Beneath the layers of paper was a finely lacquered wooden box which she opened with a growing sense of anticipation.
Nestled in the black velvet lining the box's interior was a magnificent katana.
She lifted the sword out of its case and unsheathed it. The pale steel of the gently curved blade glinted in the dim fluorescent lighting, its flawless surface so finely polished that it was almost white, contrasting beautifully with the dark grey hilt and matching sheath. The design was simple, not too elaborate. Just the way she liked it.
When she studied it more carefully, she realized that the length, the thickness, the weight, even the colour of the hilt and dyed linen wrapped around it were all perfectly calculated and made according to her measurements and personal tastes.
As if it was made just for her.
At the bottom of the box was a small card with her name neatly printed on it and the words 'Happy Birthday'. Tenten checked the box to see if she had missed anything, but she there wasn't anything on the card or any other note saying who the present had come from.
Lee and her sensei obviously had no hand in this. A katana of this high quality would cost more than what the average shinobi earned in a year. Tenten didn't know anyone well enough that could afford to give her something this costly.
She wished she knew who it was so she could thank him for the precious gift.
"Who could it be from?" she wondered aloud, not seeing the merriment that was threatening to show itself on Lee's face as he took two towels out of a closet and handed her one.
He didn't know exactly who it was, but he had an inkling of who the 'mysterious present giver' might be.
Originally, Lee had been severely disappointed in his eternal rival's lack of youthful enthusiasm in celebrating the anniversary of the birth of their favourite female teammate. Apart from inquiring briefly about whether or not he and Gai-sensei would be taking her out for dinner like they usually did on her birthday, his other teammate hadn't made any other indication that he had even remembered that Tenten's brithday was coming. He hadn't even bought her anything when they went gift shopping.
But, looking at the way things had turned out, he needn't have worried.
Especially about the last part.
Lee turned around quickly to hide his tears of joy.
Gai-sensei! Our efforts have finally paid off!
His grin resurfaced when he saw Tenten drying off the handle of her new katana and the surprise and happiness that brightened her chocolate eyes, something he hadn't seen for a long time.
Since Neji couldn't say it, he decided to say it for both of them.
"Happy birthday, Tenten."
Author's Note:
This is a pretty short chapter, just a little something to wrap up this part of the story and to kick start the next arc. Big thank yous to Midnight Memories for beta-reading this and to all the people who have reviewed/favourited this story so far. :)
My exams will be starting some time in October (3rd I think) so I'll have to take a break from writing to start cramming. I'm usually pretty cool with exams, since I'm perfectly okay with the subjects I know I suck in sucking and the ones I'm good in being good, but for some reason, my brain has been on vacation for the last nine months and it only came back when my teacher told us the exams were coming. T-T
Anyway, I will plan my chapters out when I get sick of trig and the Merchant of Venice (something which will happen very often/soon) and hopefully, I'll be able to get it out before the end of October.
Before I forget, I just wanted to address a teeny issue. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but there'll be a few more OCs appearing/coming back in the next chapter as well as the ones following it. I know some of you may feel like killing me for not including most the original characters from the actual series, but none of them really fit the bill for any of the characters I wanted for this story. There's a chance I'll include one or two of the Rookie nine in the later chapter(s), but it's not really confirmed.
Please tell me if it gets too confusing so I can clarify/add stuff into the story that will help.
That's all folks.