Chapter 17: Absolution
Death is not at all what Tenten imagined what it would be. Certainly, she expected to feel lighter, not still bone-weary. Idly, she wonders if she will be forever doomed to wander the land as an exhausted spirit. And where was the light at the end of the tunnel? All she seems to be able to see is blackness. Distantly, she hears a body hit the ground, and the muffled sound echoes strangely. Falling. That seems like a good idea. Tenten is so very tired. She pitches forward for a brief eternity...
...and lands in Neji's arms.
Her eyes snap open in shock and the ensuing flood of light and color causes them to water painfully. She can hardly see through the watery veil but the way he supports her is heartbreakingly unmistakeable and infinitely relieving. The weight of the world simply falls away from her and she returns the impromptu hug with all her being. He is warm and solid, not at all like a dead man should be.
"You should not have come, Tenten," comes the quiet murmur of Kimimaro's voice. Tenten jolts back and her vision clears to be greeted by the sight of spider silk hair. The thoughts are slow to come together, but when they finally click into place, her hand flies up to her throat, only to find the skin there unmarred.
"You didn't kill me," she realizes. A wry smile – so distinctly Neji – crosses Kimimaro's lips and he spares a glance over his shoulder, at the three prone bodies behind him, each staining the earth steadily crimson.
"And you returned the favor," he says in way of response. She frowns at her fist, still half-pressed against his sternum and jerks it away, as if burned. That's right. For a moment there, she had given into madness and had almost stricken down the one she meant to save. If she had just twisted her arm thirty degrees more, taken a half step extra...
The dark hissing claws at the edges of her sanity and she cringes. Neji – for only Neji can see through her so easily – notices immediately, and his searching gaze finds the cursed seal through the tattered remains of her clothes. His touch ghosts over it, his fingertips soothing and cool against her fevered skin.
"What did you do to yourself?" he whispers softly. She feels the reverberations in his voice resonate with every fiber of her being and she nearly collapses from the confused jumble that threatens to overwhelm her mind. She clings to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck to seek solace from the alien feelings which have become her own. She wonders if Neji is the more changed here or if it is, in truth, her.
"You should not have come, Tenten," he repeats.
She is courteous enough to let him finish before she smashes her fist across his face. It's hard enough to sprawl him out in the sand, but she doesn't feel the jarring feedback, doesn't hear the grunt of impact, doesn't see his surprised visage. All there is to her is the bubbling in her veins, the copper in her mouth and the fire that suffuses her body. Where is the light, then? Why can she see only smoke, black smoke? Roaring, screaming, smokeandfire she's falling and falling and there is no end.
【[_|[__§__]|_]】
The snapping inconsistency of brittle bones rouses Tenten. No, not bones. A campfire. She can feel the dry heat on her skin and her mouth feels like cotton. What happened? Is she dreaming? Or is she dead? Is Neji...? She tries to stand, but the blanket ensnarls her legs and she spills onto the ground heavily.
"Easy," a voice soothes and she knows she must be dreaming, for above her are three moons, one there, two there. She rises to them like the sluggish tide, but the waters are heavy and press relentlessly down on her. Neji's hand clasps hers and pulls her from her reverie. Those hands are so familiar, deceptively smooth and honed to be deadlier than any blade.
"Y-Your body," she stammers, the question implied in her expression. Tenten is still uncertain. Which is reality, the one she sees now or the one she will wake up to? And then she finds her reflection in the silver pools of Neji's sight, half-shadowed by the raven patterns of feathers. Is that what she looks like? She runs a hand over her own face, watching her mirror mimic her gesture.
"That seal is draining you dry. I had to revert to this body to stop the spread with my own energy. You won't be able to move properly for a while," Neji's velvet baritone explains. There is something unsaid in his voice, in his manner. Tenten flexes her fingers experimentally, and they feel foreign to her. She becomes aware of a strange sort of coldness courses through her, though it is comforting in the same way Neji's presence is.
"You aren't a traitor, then?" she dares to hope. Neji's regard shutters in a silent sort of sigh.
"I am here in the better interest of Konoha," he admits at length. Tenten can't help but laugh. It is ridiculous, really. That he has such difficulty confessing that he has not betrayed them. That they are here. That she is cursed. That he has saved her life again. That she is relieved. He frowns, clearly not finding the same sources of humor that her exhausted mind has.
"Let's go home then," she says, a weight finally lifting from her heart. She can breathe easy, now. To hell with her accursed iron wings, she feels lighter than she ever has before. The niggling worry of their reception is swept away by optimism. Lee and the Lady Hokage would understand, once she brings Neji back. It all seems simple, now that everything is about to be set right. But Neji shakes his head and the tension returns to her chest, constricting her once more.
"I cannot yet," Neji elucidates, "There is still something that I must do."
"What is it?" she asks. But the better question is the one she follows up with, the one that inquires, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Both understand that she is really asking why he did not tell her.
He opens his mouth to speak again, but only an agonized cry issues forth. His body is already convulsing, throwing him to the floor with the wild spasms of some insurmountable physical torment. Panic seizes Tenten's core thoughts as she watches her teammate's spine jerk and distort like a writhing serpent. What had happened? Poison? No. He is unwounded, save for the rough abrasions the sand now rips in his skin. Sickness? No. There is no disease in the world with such a rapid onset. Already, he is beginning to foam at the mouth.
His seal! Someone has activated his cursed seal. But a Main Family member, all the way out here? And in association with Orochimaru? Tenten scans the area wildly, cursing her impotent eyes once more. Neji goes limp behind her, but his breathing remains irregular and his limbs, shaking.
"S-Seal," he gasps out, "Tenten, i–"
Another scream swallows up his words and he claws his fingers into the earth, scrabbling for relief that will not find him. This fit is mercifully shorter than the first, though it leaves him rigid on the ground, cracking hard dust between his clenched teeth. A chuckle chills the air, though its origin lies with neither of them. Tenten snatches up the discarded hilt of her rapier, but her grip feels just as useless as the ruined blade. It is all she can do to remain defiant and on her feet.
"Ah, so it does work," an accompanying voice of the same pitch drawls. It is an unpleasant one – like oiled silk– prickling Tenten's flesh and eliciting a sensation of decided uncleanness. She has only a moment to evaluate her options before a flaring pain over a full half of her body crushes her to her knees and removes all of them. Through her unrelenting haze of burning, she hears the voice continue, "And my newest toy brought a friend."
The owner of the disembodied words steps into view, a pale figure framed by slick black hair, whose face is contorted in a mocking sneer of a smile. There is no mistaking that loathsome, serpentine visage, not for a citizen of Konoha.
"Orochimaru," Tenten snarls, every fiber of her being twisting that name into a profanity. His leering lips pull back further and she is suddenly ablaze in sickening fire, which immolates the silhouettes of her wretched markings. Her vision spins and spots dance before her unseeing eyes as an oncoming wall of rumbling white light erases her world.
Feedback is welcome.