a/n:

Whooop! I got another chapter done! Which is very surprising considering the crazy-ass amount of homework my teachers decided to give on the first few days of school! Ahh well, I'm just glad that I finished chapter for you guys! Oh! And I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last few chapters! Your positive comments have motivated me to update faster than I had planned! Thank you so much!

Now, without further ado...

disclaimler: My birth certificate does not say Masashi Kishimoto. Nor am I a man. Therefore, I do not own Naruto.

~Cel:D

BUTTERFLY WINGS
CHAPTER 3
~Dreams~

Tenten furrowed her eyebrows, scrutinizing the Hyuuga boy in front of her. "I knew it wasn't out of the kindness of your heart. We always want something, don't we?" She smiled wryly.

"It doesn't matter." Neji shook his own head in an attempt to enforce the idea. "You don't have to answer them now. In fact, I don't want you to answer them now. These kinds of questions take time to answer."

"I don't get it," she stated suddenly.

"What?"

"You're wealthy, very wealthy," Tenten said, as if he didn't already know. "You have a huge house, expensive clothes, elaborate furnishings. So why turn to a homeless orphan for help?"

"It's not help. It's answers," Neji corrected.

She folded her arms, looking very obstinate. "Asking questions is like asking for help, Hyuuga-san."

Neji could only stare strangely at the girl, this girl who kept surprising him with every word that tumbled out of her mouth. He smiled inwardly; his life would finally have some light. "You don't have to call me that. Neji is perfectly fine."

"Somehow, I get the impression that I've just been employed and my salary is free room and board. Calling you 'Hyuuga-san' is only right," Tenten explained.

"Hn." Neji ignored the impulse to roll his eyes. "That makes me feel as if you are addressing my uncle and that's the last thing I want."

"Oh," Tenten muttered softly, realizing she had delved into the issues of family. "If you don't mind…why are you living here alone?"

He sighed and looked out the window, his face pained. "I do not hold a grudge against anyone. I was not thrown out, if that's what you're thinking. It's just that my future's laid out in front of me, I don't like what I see, and now I'm trying to change it."

"How far ahead can you see?" Tenten whispered, as if Neji was gazing at spectacular events in a crystal ball.

Neji closed his eyes and his whole face looked aggrieved, tense. "A few months."

Tenten, confused still at what he meant by 'seeing his future', decided not to press the issue lest she find out things that she didn't want to have knowledge of. "I see."

"No, you don't." He exhaled, trying to keep it steady. "Don't try to understand. I'd rather you not."

"You're right. I don't want to understand, Hyuuga-san," Tenten agreed, eager to please.

"I told you not to…" He stopped, thinking. "Never mind. Whatever you might think, you are not my employee. You do not need to call me Hyuuga-san. We're…" Neji broke off and swallowed. "…friends?"

"No, we're not," Tenten answered bluntly. "I just met you less than twenty-four hours ago. If you really wanted to put a label on it, we're acquaintances."

"You're incredibly well-versed for one living in such poverty for an extended period of time." Neji smirked.

"I'm naturally intelligent." She smiled for a moment and then her face dropped. "I'm tired. May I be excused?"

Neji nodded and Tenten walked to the stairs, taking them slowly, one at a time. He's very kind to offer me free room and board, she mused, all he says he wants is answers. But there's definitely a catch. There's always a catch. Somehow, I feel as if I've bitten off more than I can chew.

Tenten, in truth, was slightly apprehensive of the questions that Neji might ask. Were there any questions to be answered at all or was he simply using it to help her save face? There really were no legitimate questions that could only be answered by her that she could think of.

She wasn't special, nor unique, except for her tragic past but what about that qualified her to be Neji's answerer? Tenten had a feeling that he knew more than he let on.

Tenten opened the door, looked around her neat little room and sighed. The room was a decent size, big enough for a queen-sized bed, a writing desk and chair, a dresser and a full length mirror to fit. As much as she enjoyed these rare luxuries – a bed, food at your fingertips, running water – she knew it wasn't permanent. She'd have to leave at some point, although she realized that she didn't really want to.

A few hours later, during a time that hung between midnight and dawn, Tenten was able to drift off into sleep after hours of lying in the dark. She still wore Neji's clothes and became conscious of how they smelled of him – cologne and the clean, crisp scent of freshly cut grass.

With that on her mind, she finally succumbed to sleep but was whirled into a terrifying nightmare. Everything around was surrounded in a blanket of eternal darkness, the empty space suffocating her. Directly in front of her came a bright pinprick of light, travelling towards her infinitely fast.

It came hurdling past her at the speed of light and, despite the impossibility, she glimpsed the sapphire wings of a butterfly. Her heart pulsated a thousand times faster than normal with premonition. Petrified, Tenten could only close her eyes and brace herself for either a quick death that would surely wake her up or the appearance of something frightening.

She felt a wind from a dozen hurricanes engulf her and lift her from her feet. Daunted, Tenten clenched her fist, trying to conjure up some bravery – this was only a dream, she told herself – but to no avail. She was scared witless.

When at last her feet connected to solid ground, Tenten dared to open her eyes and found herself looking at a mirror in her childhood bathroom. Her six-year-old self blinked back, a gaunt look on her face. With one finger, she beckoned the older Tenten to follow her out the bathroom.

The real Tenten's feet moved of their own accord and followed the phantasm of her younger self that could only be seen through mirrors. She could see the six-year-old flitting through the mirrors that lined the walls – she didn't remember them being so ubiquitous.

The specter led Tenten downstairs and she knew what she was about to see. Her mother, sprawled on the floor with blood gushing from her open wound, the kitchen in a disarray. She felt nauseous but caught sight of the six-year-old grinning from a mirror positioned above the stove. She pointed to the foyer and disappeared.

Tenten had no choice but to follow her, leaving her mother dead on the floor. No, she's not real, Tenten told herself. This is a dream, a dream, damn it! Wake up, Tenten!

In the foyer, she saw the note, crumpled and the words written hastily.

I'm not coming back.

She glanced at her younger self, whose grin had widened considerably, and looked back at the note, noticing how the words had changed.

You're not going back.

Tenten whipped her head up and saw that she was now encased in a box of mirrors, along with a million reflections of herself. On the mirror to the left, she saw her six-year-old self appear behind the reflection and stab it with an unknown object.

Already grasping what was to happen to her, Tenten turned around to see the child directly behind her, wielding a sharp knife that already dripped with crimson liquid. A quick glimpse confirmed what she suspected – the rest of her mirror images were now suffering the same fate.

The six-year-old smirked and unfolded two dazzling iridescent butterfly wings thrice her size. Tenten could only sit there and stare, wide-eyed, as the phantom stepped closer, twirling the knife like a baton. At the last second, she was able to close her eyes, praying that her 'death' would wake her up.

Indeed, she woke up screaming and bolted out of her bed to crouch in the corner, whispering to herself over and over again that it was just a dream. "I was only dreaming," she muttered. "That's not real. It won't happen. It can't happen. There's no way. It's impossible."

Shaking her head, Tenten pulled herself into a standing position and forced her body to stop trembling. "I need water," she decided and grasped the handle, pulling it open slowly to not wake up Neji. With light steps she ran down the stairs but stopped when a piece of paper caught her eye. Stooping down, she picked it up and frowned.

Trigger.

"This is Neji's paper," Tenten whispered, examining it and taking notice of how torn and bloody it was. Right below the second 'g' was a hole, burnt around the edges and still smoking slightly. "No…"

In the kitchen, she didn't see him right away. Her eyes instead honed in on a small gun lying on the table. She shivered and picked it up, deciding that it looked like a beckoning finger, asking death to come.

Quickly, Tenten set it back down on the table, on a piece of paper, and read the words.

He's not coming back.

Tentatively, she peered down and saw the deep red. Against the moonlight, it almost looked black. But there it was, soaking and seeping into the soles of her feet and coming from a dead body under the table. There was no mistaking the white eyes that stared back at her, the face contorted into a perpetual mask of horror.

And she screamed.

Neji woke up with a start. Was that a scream he heard?

"Tenten," he murmured, throwing the blankets off of him and heading for her room. Seeing her bed empty, he began to panic and was about to turn around when he heard a choking sob coming from a corner.

Upon closer inspection, he saw a small figure huddled in a shadowed corner, rocking back and forth on her heels. She's having a panic attack, Neji concluded, unsure of what he could do to comfort her. How, though?

He took a step closer and Tenten's whimpering grew louder as he approached her. "Tenten?"

"It's his voice," she yelped, her voice muffled by her arms that were encircled around her knees. "Then, he's not…? No, that was a dream! This isn't a dream! Don't die!"

He crouched beside her and laid a warm hand on her shoulder, causing her to scream and look up at her attacker. "Hey, relax, it's just me," Neji whispered soothingly.

"No, no, you're dead," she insisted hysterically. "I saw you die!"

"I'm not dead," he stated.

Tenten looked up and their eyes met. "I saw you die," she reiterated.

"It was a dream, a nightmare." Neji frowned as he wrapped both arms around her shoulders comfortingly, realizing how hard she was shivering.

"A nightmare," she repeated, "that's what it was?"

Neji nodded and felt her relax in his arms. Her labored breathing slowed to its regular pace and she leaned her head into the crook of his neck. "Are you really alright?" she asked.

He chuckled, realizing the irony that she was asking him and not vice versa. "Yes, I'm fine."

She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Being troublesome," Tenten answered dejectedly.

"It was only a nightmare. There's nothing to apologize for," Neji reassured her.

"Real…it felt so…real…" She wiped away the tears.

Neji tried to smile at her but found that that was hard to do in such a situation. "You should probably go back to sleep."

Tenten shook her head vigorously, curling into a ball once more. "I'm scared."

"I'll…" He sighed, letting go of her and climbing to his feet. "Come on," Neji prompted, holding out his hand, "I'll stay with you."

"No, you've done enough for me already." Her eyes, however, still conveyed high levels of fright.

"And so I might as well do more while I'm being so nice." He smirked when he felt her hand creep slowly into his and helped her up.

They lay down together on the bed and Tenten's heartbeat only rapidly increased despite Neji's intentions. Here she was, sleeping beside the handsome Neji Hyuuga, a position she guessed that many girl would sell their souls to be in. Growing up in a world where romance and attractions were near nonexistent, it didn't take long for her to banish these thoughts.

The dream had still shaken her, though. It had been a long time since she had had a night terror like that. No matter what Neji told her, saying it was just a nightmare, Tenten still had this haunting feeling that her dream was as close to reality as she'd ever get.

When she was younger, a few months after her mother's murder and her father's disappearance, she began having these varied nightmares where she would revisit the scene and relive the ordeal, each with its own unique, twisted variation.

Sometimes her father would come back to finish her off. Others, her mother rose from the dead and attacked the first thing she saw: Tenten. And occasionally, a neighbor would find her beside her mother's bloody corpse and blame her as the murderer.

But never, never, had she been the one to kill herself.

This was Neji's doing, she was sure, but she didn't know whether it was a positive or a negative thing. He given her a home, a roof over her head, but were there any dire consequences she needed to be warned of? The only significant thing she could think of would be if the house burned down.

Neji, noticing that Tenten hadn't fallen asleep yet, spoke up. "Hey, you want to tell me what the dream was about?"

She pulled the blanket around her tighter, trying to suck some bravery from it. "No."

He was quiet. "Ok." After a moment of shifting his position, Neji continued. "Are you still scared?"

"No," Tenten lied.

Neji knew she wasn't telling the truth but decided not to press the issue. "Good." He waited for hours until she truly was asleep and only then did he allow himself to drift away, trying to ignore the urge to hug her close to his chest and banish the nightmares that terrorized her.

Miles away, a couple was winding through the fields and meadows of the countryside, alone on the dusty road illuminated by a pale moon. They were silent, only the sound of a revving engine permeating the air. The atmosphere was laced with unspoken tension as they neared their destination.

The woman sat back in the passenger seat, her black purse resting on her lap, both hands surrounding it protectively. She appeared to be in her late forties but was still very beautiful; midnight black hair streaked with the occasional strand of silver and startling green eyes with a surprisingly fit body due to all of her time spent at the gym when she wasn't at work.

Every now and then, she would glance at the man beside her. Their eyes would connect briefly before she'd turn the other way, disapproval clear in her eyes. The man also looked troubled and disappointed, apprehensive even. His brown hair had begun to fall out but there was apparent dominance and confidence etched into his eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" The woman's voice was tentative, not bothering to look at her companion.

He sighed. "I'm not turning around, Sayuri. I told you that I had to do this."

"You're blowing your cover, you idiot!" Sayuri hissed, finally directing her glare at the man. "After all these years, you're going to go back?"

"You didn't have to come." He smirked at her angry expression and took a sharp turn to the left.

"Someone's got to make sure you don't get yourself into any more shit, Hotaka," Sayuri muttered darkly as a small suburban town came into view, the streetlights blinking welcomingly.

"That's right. You saved my ass that one time. I would've ended in jail if you hadn't whisked me away just in time," mused Hotaka as they drove through a slumbering neighborhood.

Sayuri frowned as they pulled to a stop in front of a small house. Bright yellow strips covered the front of the house, the words "DO NOT ENTER – POLICE INVESTIGATION" scrolled on it. "Are you really sure you want to do this? I have a feeling this is going to end badly," she warned.

Hotaka didn't answer right away, instead fumbling through his pockets before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. He smoothed it out, studied it, then crumpled it once more. "I've covered my trail remarkably well. This shouldn't be a problem." He exited the car and gestured for Sayuri to follow.

"But are you sure they never found the murderer? Are your 'reliable sources' completely reliable?" Sayuri demanded.

"Yes, I have faith." Hotaka paused to duck under the tape, holding it up just long enough for Sayuri to duck under also. "It's the least I can do."

Sayuri's face softened considerably. "You loved her, didn't you?"

"And my daughter…" Hotaka bit down the tears.

"Then why did you-"

"I did what I had to do, alright?" he interrupted, taking out his note. "Don't blame me for what I did to them. I'm going to find my daughter if she's alive!"

"How are you sure she even wants to see you? She saw the last note. She must hate you," Sayuri mentioned quietly, momentarily apprehensive as to how Hotaka would react.

Instead of blowing up as she had predicted, he looked utterly defeated and world-weary. "I have to try, don't I?"

Without waiting for an answer, he placed the piece of paper on the doorstep, holding it down with a piece of tape and rotated on his heel, walking back to the car without waiting for his companion. Sayuri watched the paper flutter in the early morning breezes, like a white wing against a black sky, and tried to make out the words written hastily on the paper.

She instantly sighed and reentered the vehicle to face a stony-faced Hotaka. "They'll find it," she reassured him.

He didn't answer, but sped away.

I come here every day and think of you.

a/n: So, how was it? Lol I like the thought of Tenten having a nightmare and Neji comforting her by sleeping with her. Of course, this is much more complicated than that. XD

Now, we have some insight on what's happening outside of these two. Yes, Sayuri and Hotaka are OCs. I apologize if you do not appreciate the use to original characters but it's better than using already existing characters, especially with the roles I have for them.

Neji's family relations/problems, as well as his past, are supposed to be vague and not quite clear. And, I also find myself thinking that Neji is slightly OOC. By that, I mean he's too nice. There's no one word answers or 'Hn's although I did throw one in there. I don't know how I'll be able to make him more 'Neji-like' without changing the outline of my story, so if you have any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated!

This chapter's review topic: best NejiTen fic you've ever read?

PLEASE REVIEW. :)

~Cel:D