School has definitely been getting the best of me. From having to deal with multi-subject projects from computing my grades to failing math (It's something that happens every single year), I can hardly breathe.
Kankuro: Get an ambulance! Get an oxygen mask! Bribe someone from Bay Watch to perform CPR!
Me: Anyone but Pamela Anderson!
Kankuro: Yeah, she'll be doing CPR on me. –smirk-
Me: -pulls on Kankuro's ear- I'm here to remind you guys of the poll and the spoilers yet again. The poll is untouched, people! You don't really have to read the spoilers, though, but they have links! Do you guys have any idea how MUCH I put my all in it?
Kankuro: Anybody can put links in their profile! It's not that hard.
Me: Yes, but can you at least think of how long it took me to look for decent web pages?!
Kankuro: The woman still has no point. Either she's ultimately lazy or a slow worker.
Me: -pulls harder on Kankuro's ear- Shut up! –bonks his head- By the way, we have SasuSaku moments over here!
Kankuro: And, trust me, this chapter has some sweet moments!
Me: Shut up, you! You'll spoil them! –pulls harder on his ear-
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
NEW FEATURE- Chapter Summary:
And there, something came into Neji's head. Why did Hinata spare Hanabi? Was it because she still had mercy for her sister? But, it couldn't be that. All of them have learned to be hardhearted in any situation. Unless… Hinata wanted Hanabi alive so she can act as… bait…
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It was seven thirty. Tenten was awake, no doubt about it.
Her eyes blinked softly, her sight still blurry from morning sand. Because of this, she closed her eyes again, hoping to drift back to sleep. But her senses were definitely awake now, only her eyes resisted to the call to open. She could still feel her hold on Neji's torso yet she didn't know if he has finally woken up.
What time was it? Was it already the next morning? What the hell? She slept there for more than 12 hours. That can't be healthy.
"Morning, Angel." Words that came around, making her carve a tiny smile. She knew it was Neji and it was odd to hear his voice so melodious and not the least cold. He was the angel here.
"Now where have I heard that before?" she giggled softly before adding, "Morning." Tenten replied tenderly with her eyes still closed, pressing herself nearer to him.
It surprised Neji to find her beside him last night, actually, despite the fact that he knew she had laid down beside him at around noon. He expected her to leave in an hour's time, but she ended up spending the night asleep in the tent.
"Mind if I ask what're you still doing here?" The question popped up from Neji and when Tenten absorbed it, her eyes suddenly shot open in realization. Only then did her senses completely wake up. She's in Neji's tent… and he was asking a good question. She was done acting like his wife in bed.
Immediately, she sat up and hurriedly stuttered, "I… I can explain."
"No need to, actually," Neji told her, chuckling as she blushed all over at the scene. Neji couldn't help but arch his brow and carve an indistinct smile, "I… don't really mind if you want to sleep… beside me, but why don't you tell me first, you know?"
"I-It wasn't that!" Tenten exclaimed, shaking her hands in embarrassment, "I… I wanted to talk to you but you were asleep and… and I fell asleep waiting for you to wake up! I swear! N-Nothing personal!" But she knew very well that it is something quite personal.
Neji snickered and answered, "Yeah, I'm sure." But he swears he could feel his cheeks burn as he tried to hide his sheepishness.
With this, Tenten just smiled shyly and giggle without much consciousness. And it somehow staggered her how he smiled genuinely back. But as the seconds passed, Neji suddenly leaned in and left a memorable smack on her lips as he said, "Excuse me for a little while."
And as he crawled out of the tent, Tenten's smile grew as she stroke her bottom lip lovingly, the spot where Neji's model lips touched.
The mob boss walked through the dewy grass, making sure that Tenten wouldn't follow him. But he can never be sure, though. He entered the house, and shut the glass door. Taking out his usual black marker, he wrote on the glass like always.
"I'm going out. STAY HOME. BE SAFE. If I'm not back in an hour, go tell Lee. Screw."
A few words written with thick black ink told a story that is yet to happen. As a single tear escaped his right eye, he whispered to him self, "I shouldn't be lying to her, but I have to do what I have to do." And after writing the message, he walked off, making his way out the door.
With his phone on his ear, waiting for Rose Pierce to answer, he whistled as he typed in a quick message to his assistant via his digital communicator. As the rings increased, Neji raised a brow in suspicion. It wasn't like Rose not to answer her phone.
Then, as quickly as he sent the message to his apprentice, the message came back with an error message. 'Database receiver not found. Please try again later.'
That kind of error message is only sent back to senders whose message recipients are either unconscious, confined, comatose … or dead.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
The raven-locked young man paced through the white, clean halls, feeling the atmosphere too familiar. A few days ago, he moved back into Org Base 68 because he lost his property to a fire catastrophe. And, now a little humble, Sasuke Uchiha wondered…
… Why is he being called for in the head agent's office?
As he passed the many huge windows with views of experimentations, demonstrations, trainees practicing their skills and meetings, Sasuke simply listened to the thump of his footsteps while he trekked through everything. It was as if it was only yesterday when he was a trainee, too.
"Hold your gun properly, Agent Crowe Blood!"
The voices that he used to hear everyday as an agent-in-training seemed to be coming back to him.
"Code 7070995 is an emergency situation. You don't have time to check the rate and disposal time. You have to act now."
His movements used to be so awkward, unimpressive and foolish. And to think he, after years of hard work, became a general agent in Division 5, a high position not even full-time agents could manage to obtain within 11 years.
"Congratulations, Agent Crow Blood. You saved the world yet again."
But he knew none of those awards, trophies, successions and achievements would ever come his way…
"I'm so proud of you, Sasuke…"
… if it wasn't for his partner, Sakura, Rose Pierce.
"Thanks, Honey."
A partner, an ex-girlfriend, an ex-fiancée who has the right to hate him all she wants.
Reaching the end of the corridor, he stopped in front of a bulletproof glass door, where he sunk his fingers into a gelatinously-textured pad for a fingerprint examination, where he tapped in his password and where he had his eyes scanned for granted access.
When the door's lock was deactivated to let him in, Sasuke could hear two people talking from inside the office, a woman and a man, probably his boss. And what pained him was the fact that the woman's voice sounded recognizable… maybe, too recognizable…
"Ah, Agent Crowe!" The head agent, Kakashi, greeted him behind his pixilated mask, "So you got my call? Good." The bionic man of the next century (this is so because he is man, machine and pixels all in one) allowed Sasuke to come in without hesitation.
As Sasuke has predicted, Rose is present.
At sight of the cherry-locked agent, Sasuke couldn't help but draw his gaze away. Seeing this, Kakashi chuckled nervously and began, "Well, um, I'm sure you remember Agent Rose Pierce very well. She's… the reason why I called for you."
With that, Sasuke's throat closed. He tried to straighten himself up as Rose observed him with a forlorn glance. "I'm going to have to leave you two alone," Kakashi clarified, getting up from his chair, "I hope I won't find you two shooting each other after I leave. I'll be back to dismiss you two later. Good luck." And there, he went out of the room.
As the cyborg exited, Sasuke turned his gaze on Rose. He seemed to flinch. "Decided to confront me or something, Rose Pierce?" A tone both elegant and dull dropped.
At first, Rose was resisting not to get into a fit and start slapping him all over again, until she managed to pull herself together enough to speak. From her slim jeans' front pocket, she took out a tri-folded piece of paper, a precious document to both him and her.
"What is this?" he questioned, as if accusing her blandly. But all Rose did was nod at him and still hold out the document to him. At this, Sasuke reluctantly stretched out his hand to take it. He unfolded everything and as he did, Rose did nothing but remain silent, serious yet delirious inside.
Sasuke's eyes sped through the paper, absorbing the letters neatly printed onto the white grain. "Sidony…" the taste of melancholy went bad in Sasuke's mouth, "This is Isle Sidony's deed. What do you want me to do with it?"
Isle Sidony is the island, once Uchiha property, that Sasuke handed to Sakura three months before their wedding, which was canceled eventually. Sidony was supposed to be where their honeymoon would take place, hence the name since Sidony means 'linen'. Ahem… moving on…
"I want you to have it." Her sentence was brisk, straight to the point, "It's a pity to know that you're back to renting space in the division."
But, Sasuke folded the paper again and calmly declined, holding it back to her. "This is your property. I appreciate the charity, but no thank you."
Still, Rose merely stared at the held out document and carved a tiny, unexpected smile. "Sidony is our property. I thought we had that clear when you gave the isle to me." She folded her arms across her chest and added, "Besides, don't you need a place to stay in due to the current situation?"
"I'll be fine here in the division for the meantime, Rose," Sasuke lied, throwing the deed onto Kakashi's table nearby.
"But wouldn't you be more than fine if you stayed in a place that didn't bring up the past?"
"I don't fear the past, unlike you."
With a growingly thin patience, Rose dashed towards Sasuke, nearing her furrowed face to his. Her snarl shone behind the locks that covered her face. A shivering fist tried not to land into his face yet again as she threateningly whispered to his ear, "I don't fear you."
Of course, it simply satisfied Sasuke to no extent whenever she revealed her weakness in such a way. A smirk once again grew on his jaw and he whispered back, almost coolly, "I know. You fear this."
And there, Rose felt his fingers run down her arm and to her right hand. Her features seemed to soften as Sasuke lovingly caressed her hand. All she could do was recall how long it has been since he last did that. And there, he slid the golden band she had from her ring finger.
Once he had it slid out, he smiled and showed her the golden ring she wore, held between his fingers.
"Why do you still wear it?" he simply asked her, curious but almost reproachful, "Basing theories on how everything's doing, I assumed that you had thrown away the engagement ring."
Indeed, she has never taken the diamond-rimmed golden engagement ring off of her finger. Ever since it went down her finger, she had never even thought of taking it off. Rose didn't want to say the true reason why she still had the ring, but she felt that it was right to say so.
Rose only spoke up with her head low, "The only reason why I keep that ring down my finger is so that I will always remember the only love I've ever had, how I found it and how I lost it." Sentimental as it may sound, it was the truth.
Sasuke scoffed, returning the ring down her finger, "You always have been the mushy kind of girl."
"And you," she snapped back, pulling her hand away from his grip, "have always been a jerk. Now, do you want Sidony or not? I have better things to do than fight with you again."
Strangely, everything sounded like an excerpt from Kramer VS Kramer.
Almost sympathetically, Sasuke shook his head and admitted, "Sidony, like it says in the deed, is your property. I have no intention of getting back. You can go do whatever you want with it, aside from handing it to me."
Somehow it seemed unclear to Rose why he was this way. She couldn't understand that by giving their parting gift back, after two years, she was also giving back his heart in the process, giving his love back, returning it as if she didn't need it anymore.
At this, Rose was overwhelmed by emotions she could never define. She wasn't done talking yet. "Sasuke, don't be stubborn!" she exclaimed, snatching the deed back, "I just want you to recover fast from what happened to you. Look, the deed says that Sidony is our property!" Immediately, Rose flipped the paper again and pointed at the paragraph that entitled Isle Sidony to her.
"That isle is not our property for as long as we are not married, understood?" Sasuke clarified, firmly putting a front on, "And I don't think that's ever going to happen."
Rose's jade eyes grew, taking in the words Sasuke just uttered. Rose pressed her teeth onto her bottom lip, letting the anger overflow. She raised her hand to slap him and as her hand dove across the air, nearing his cheek, she couldn't help but recall a time she wishes will never return…
"Rose Pierce is actually Sakura Haruno, a reporter of channel 17, 'News Central'. Public says…"
"It's disastrous, indeed. To discover that one of the world's top agents have lost everything she owned to her own fiancée…"
"She is a disgrace to the organization…"
"I heard she's pregnant. Of course, it's Uchiha's child. What will she do now? Agents are…"
"Uchiha completely mauled her life! How did he manage to make her sign a contract to entitle everything she owns before their marriage?"
"Stupid people do very stupid things. And Sakura Haruno has found a space in this list of stupid people…"
"… But where is Rose Pierce now?"
Gossip, lies, betrayal and loss… everything that ruled her life ruined it for her, too. All because Sasuke had her around his finger, tight and secure, losing the ability to let go of being his little puppet.
And when her palm was merely inches away from causing injury to him, her wrist jerked, halting everything. As her eyes stared hard at his chiseled face, all she could do was feel the words she needed to say choke her. She found her fingers stroking his cheek instead as she muttered…
"If I were given a choice, I'd still get married to you. That is, until now."
Confused at her own binary feeling, shifting from two contradictory emotions, Rose wrapped an arm around Sasuke's torso, making her hand reach into his pants' back pocket and leave the deed there. She kept her gaze away, mumbling in conclusion, "Nice doing business with you."
After typing in the correct password, Rose stepped out of the office. Passing her boss, Kakashi, she hastily said a goodbye and walked away. On her way to the elevator at the end of the hallway, Rose kept her face straight through and through. But once she was inside the elevator's cold metal walls, she fell to her knees and broke down.
As for Sasuke Uchiha, he tucked his hand into his pocket to take out the deed. And as he unfolded it once again, he felt Rose's ring caught amid the paper.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Running down the deserted sidewalk, Neji tried to keep the tracking device intact. He managed to track down Blue Gun Shot's communicator and the search led him to an empty part of the city slums.
Amid the vandalized walls, rotting buildings and decaying whatnot everywhere, he continued to look for his cousin. How he prayed that his search would not be in vain. She hasn't had any activity or movements in the last 24 hours and she could be dead. What would he do at the worst-case scenario?
Eventually, in the hush and darkness of an alley, he heard a constant beeping noise. At this, Neji rushed through the dim alley and, to his relief, he stumbled upon Hanabi's torn body. Her communicator's light flickered on and off, simultaneous with the beeping.
"Gawd, please be alive," he thought nervously, inspecting her wounds. Aside from the minor cuts all around her limbs, she had a very deep and critical stab just below her chest. Through bone and muscle, the ice pick stood.
A little panicky, Neji knew that the best move was to try to remove the weapon from her. And as he tugged onto the bloody handle, he swears he heard a moan out of his cousin. "Sh-Shit, don't do that…" her grumble came out.
Amazed, Neji exclaimed, still trying to pull out the ice pick, "Blue G! My gawd, I thought you were dead! What happened?"
Hanabi's eyes were shut, as if she wasn't even alive. As Neji tugged on the ice pick, taking it out little by little, Blue Gun Shot explained, "My bitch sister caught me off-guard. It was my fault. I didn't follow your advice on always wearing a bullet-proof vest."
"I don't want to hear about how stupid you were," Neji coldly stated, still working on the ice pick, "I want to know what happened. I want every detail down and fast. I have to get you to a hospital soon."
Hanabi flinched as the pain ran through her. "Black Ivory said she was already going to kill you. So, I immediately made a move, trying to make it to you before her. But we met somewhere in between during the journey and she started shooting at me, carefully avoiding my vital parts."
Blood, thick and dark, started to flow through Blue Gun Shot's wound as the pick moved slowly out. Between the cringes, Blue Gun Shot went on, "And she caught me here. The bitch drove that ice pick down my side. Up till now, it makes me wonder why she didn't just… kill me…"
And there, something came into Neji's head. Why did Hinata spare Hanabi? Was it because she still had mercy for her sister? But, it couldn't be that. All of them have learned to be hardhearted in any situation. Unless… Hinata wanted Hanabi alive so she can act as… bait…
"It's a trap!"
What did Black Ivory have in store for them?
Quickly as how the thought came into Neji's mind, another foreign sound came. It was the sound of three devices, beeping in harmony.
"What… What's happening?" Blue Gun Shot questioned as Neji finally drew the ice pick from Hanabi's side. Without delay, Neji turned everywhere, to all three walls facing the alley for any devices that Black Ivory could've planted. But, to his dismay, he found none.
Unable to even sit up, Blue Gun Shot screamed wearily in alarm, "Pocket bombs! We have to find them before they explode!"
"No, we're getting out of here before they explode!" Neji suggested, ready to pick his cousin up from the drenched ground.
"Idiot, a pocket bomb is enough to destroy a building. What more from three?! We'll never get away in time, especially with me in this state!" Blue Gun Shot opposed to him, also frantically looking for the bombs.
The beeping seemed to hasten and it felt like they were seconds from death. As Neji tipped every trashcan in sight and even peered through the holes of the walls, Hanabi could only examine the ground for any cracks or opening where the bombs may have been planted.
"We're running out of time!" Neji said, still searching for the bombs with sweat beading his face, "Blue G, we have to get out of here and take our chances! If we stay here, we'll definitely die!"
But then, as the beeping got louder, Hanabi traced them. "Roll me over!" she ordered Neji, frenetically trying to get up, "Get me out of this position now! Hurry!" Not knowing why, Neji simply followed and brought his cousin into his arms, lifting the tiny girl from the ground.
And there, she uncovered a bar-covered sewer hole, not even big enough for Blue Gun Shot to fit in. When Neji saw this, he understood on that instant. "She planted the bombs in the sewer hole under Blue G so both of us would get hit directly. Clever girl." Running as fast as he could with Blue G in his arms, Neji heard the beeps end, followed by a hollow yet resonating explosion.
Faint, Blue Gun Shot could feel the ground shake under Neji's feet. As debris, dust and smoke filled the air, her sight darkened, blurring in the process. She swore she could feel her wound throb harder.
She was sure that she, if not both of them, were not going to make it.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Three hours have passed. Tenten knew she should've called Lee two hours ago.
"Lee, Neji hasn't returned in three hours," she said, leaving a message for Lee's answering machine, "He told me to call you up if he wasn't back in an hour. I know I should've called earlier, I'm sorry. Please, please call ASAP when you can. Bye."
With this, she placed the phone back onto its cradle and snit her finger. Where did Neji go? Why didn't he tell her, anyway? And stay home?
As Tenten grabbed her cellphone and jacket, she rushed out of the house and thought, "Stay home? No way. I'm gonna look for you, Neji."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Coughing, Neji yelled out for Hanabi. "Blue G!" he called out in between all the destruction. All around him, there were destroyed buildings, cracked (and even holed) cement, flames and smoke. But she was not in sight. "Blue G!"
With his face smeared with gray and blood, he pushed himself off of the ground and looked for Blue Gun Shot. "Shit," he murmured, clenching his fist as he went around for his injured cousin, "Blue Gun Shot, speak up! Where are you?"
Finally, he found her lying almost 20 yards away from him. He knew that when the explosion came, the force made him fall and drop her. All he was wishing for out of her was a pulse. Reaching her, he grabbed her wrist and checked for her pulse. Either it was difficult to feel for it in all the vibrations and happenings around, or maybe there was none anymore.
Desperate, Neji grabbed her shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her up, "Hanabi! Hey! Hanabi! You have to get up, you moron! Get up!" But with every shake, her face remains still. At this, Neji's brows furrowed lower while he continued to try to shake her awake.
In the effort to call for help he could trust, Neji took out his phone and dialed Rose's number. Once again, she wasn't picking up. "If she can't answer her phone because she's tonguing Sasuke right now, I swear I'll kill her!"
Bending lower, Neji placed his ear next to Blue Gun Shot's mouth. To his panic, he couldn't hear her inhale nor exhale. His breath was untraceable. Hopeful, he placed his ear on her flat chest, praying for a heartbeat. His prayers weren't heard.
"Blue G!" he shouted out, wishing she'd just sit up and be okay, "Blue G! Get up! This isn't a good time to joke around and show me how you've mastered the art of playing dead! Wake up now!" But the lass remained icy and immobile.
Neji felt strings tug on his chest. He never thought that losing a partner, a close friend, a cousin was going to be this painful.
Again, he took out his phone and dialed for Lee. Instantly, he was answered by a busy tone. "Fuck these people! They have awful timing not to be available!"
But then, he was truly fraught enough to ask help from her.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
When Tenten left the house to go after Neji, she had no idea where to go. But she plainly kept on running through the sidewalks, aimlessly hoping she'd end up somewhere eventually. But she was glad when her phone rang, especially when she discovered that it was Neji calling.
"Where are you?" she immediately questioned him after picking up, panting, "I can't contact Lee so I decided to go after you myself."
Neji couldn't help but feel touched at her concern, "I'm somewhere in the slums of the city," he said, shaking Hanabi awake with his other hand, "You have to help me! I can't contact everyone else. Blue Gun Shot's hurt. Hell, she's unconscious!"
"Oh my gawd!" Tenten exclaimed, trying to get onto a bus that passes through the slums, "Is she all right? What happened?"
"It was a trap," Neji explained, examining the area's perimeter, "Black Ivory stabbed her then left her here. I looked for her to help, but we ended up getting bombed. I'm fine, but she's almost dead." But, in fact, Neji wasn't sure if she was dead or almost dead.
As Tenten took a seat on the bus, she stated, "I'm on my way to there. Question is: Where, exactly, is there?"
Honestly, Neji also didn't have the faintest idea. But he could direct her by telling her of the landmarks and signs he passed through on his way to where he was. So, he said, "When the bus reaches the statue of the giant pigeon, get off."
Tenten then replied, wanting to tell the driver to go faster, "All right. I'll tell you once I've arrived. While I'm still here, you have to do what you can to try to revive Blue Gun Shot. We can't waste any more time! Do CPR!"
"Gross."
"Neji, a life's at stake!"
"But I don't know how to do CPR at all! I'm not a doctor!"
"Well, so am I but I know how! Do as I say, all right?"
"I don't know if I can do it right."
"Neji, you're good kisser. If you kiss well, you'll do CPR well!"
"You think I'm a what?!Just a good kisser? Not amazing or something?!"
"My gawd, how am I supposed to know? Then, prove to me that you're so damn amazing later!"
"You're talking to a guy, Tenten! Specifically one whose hormones rage for you! So stop it!"
"Good gawd, what a disgusting confession! I didn't say anything about going beyond kissing, damn it!"
Indeed, Tenten was already raising her voice at Neji while talking to him on the phone. So, the other riders thought that she was either crazy or simply arguing with someone about how awesome of a kisser the guy on the other end was.
"All right, let's get serious already," Tenten tried to calm down so they could manage to help Hanabi, "We'll settle the kissing thing later. Right now, we have to think of Blue Gun Shot's state. Is she breathing?"
"No!" Neji exclaimed, almost bellowing, "That's why I'm panicking!"
She clicked her tongue in irritation and demanded, "Calm down, Neji! Calm down! Panicking won't help since I'm panicking, too! Now, put your hands on Blue Gun Shot's chest, one over the other. Then push hard thrice! That'll help the air go through from her lungs."
"Tenten, Hanabi's a girl!"
"A one with a flat chest, at that!" Tenten commented, almost like a wife dictating her husband's movements over the phone, "Just do it!"
Cradling the phone on his shoulder, pressing it against his ear, Neji put his hands on Blue Gun Shot's chest and gave three heavy pushes. "Now what, Tenten?"
"Place your mouth over hers, hold her nose and breathe out into her mouth and do it fast!" Tenten instructed, looking out the window and sighting the pigeon statue a few buildings away, "I'll be there soon. I can see the pigeon statue."
Neji stared at Blue Gun Shot's pale face and told Tenten, "Good! Run over her quickly so you can do the CPR!"
"Hey, do it now! I might take long!"
And so, after a whimper, Neji leaned over to place his lips on his cousin's… until a gunshot came out of nowhere, narrowly missing him. "Ah, shit!" Neji yelled out as he turned around to see who did it. And he found a mysterious man in a hood and sunglasses with a machine gun loaded with live ammo.
"Shino…" Neji muttered, angrily eyeing the leader of the Aburame Black Widow Mafia. He went back to Tenten on the phone, saying, "Tenten, I have company here. Once you're here, please be careful. Very."
At this, Tenten felt the need to get there faster. Hurriedly, she got off the bus, nearly falling over in the haste, and started running for the pigeon statue since the bus she rode wasn't moving due to traffic. "I'm on my way there!" Tenten told him, "Once I'm at the statue, where do I go?"
Taking his gun out, Neji said, "Turn right. From there, don't make turns until you see the yellow closed insurance building. Tell me once you've reached the yellow building, all right? I'll take care of this while you're still not here."
Obedient, Tenten dashed past the statue and after making her way to the right, she didn't stop running. Her feet throbbed as they smashed against the uneven concrete, broken glasses and other things unknown. The alleys seemed to never end, winding her through the paths.
And there, Shino smirked and prepared himself for a shooting frenzy. Cautious, Neji stood up with his .45 at hand and when he felt that the time was right, he darted towards a wide pillar nearby to shield himself. When Shino saw this, he cackled and started shooting for Neji.
Every bullet swerved through the air at a dangerous speed. Neji felt his legs scream in pain, willing to give up. But he threw himself to the back of the pillar and landed with a loud thud. Despite the sting at his side because of the fall, he was ready to put up with this.
Placing the phone back to his ear, Neji called for Tenten, "Where are you now? Reached the yellow building yet?"
Tenten panted and as sweat touched her cellphone, she faintly said, "I'm not yet there! Are you sure there's a yellow building somewhere? It's like I've been running through everything senselessly!" She knew very well that she was slowing down due to exhaustion.
Neji bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm down. "Oh, gawd, how am I going to try to take care of Hanabi and get rid of Shino all at once? Tenten's not even halfway near. I don't have any of Black Ivory's devices or bombs right now. And I don't have back-up."
As he caught his breath, Neji told Tenten over the phone, "Tenten! Are you there yet?"
"I'm at the yellow building. What now?" Tenten finally said, almost collapsing at the foot of the building. Still, she was glad to have made it.
Half-grinning, Neji continued his instructions after trying his best to recall his way, "Behind the yellow building is like a staircase leading below the ground; it looks like a subway entrance. Go down there and once you're down there, turn to the third corridor."
Without hesitation, Tenten dragged herself towards the back of the building, tired and worn out. Going down the stairs, her feet rushed through the steps and in the middle of the stairway, she missed a step. Groaning, she tumbled down, letting go of the phone and making it drop to the bottom.
Picking herself up, Tenten rushed to her cellphone and listened to Neji's worried voice at the other end, "Hey, you all right?"
"Yeah, just fell." She answered, trying not to make him think of her fall. The shots she heard from the phone made her cringe worriedly, anxious for him. How was Neji doing? Is he injured? She wanted to fret for him, but the pain that ached at her thigh made her think of herself first.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the blood blotting from the cut on her thigh. And on her thigh, on top of her pants' material, were numerous pieces of broken glass, sharp and offensive. Yet, she knew that there was no time to spare, so she painstakingly moved faster, ignoring the stings.
Practically limping, Tenten paced to the third corridor told her. Through the dimly lit hall, she moaned as her leg seemed to fail her. She wasn't sure, but maybe she had sprained her ankle with the nasty fall. Either way, her diagnosis was unknown, like the conclusion of this moment's tragedy.
Increasingly, she noticed streaks of light coming from the end of the corridor. Assuming that it was a way out, she ran faster, gasping for breath with every move. The blasts echoing from her phone coming from the other side was her only motivation.
And as she ran out of the corridor, she entered the light. Finally, Neji, Hanabi and Shino were in full-view.
"Tenten!" Neji yelled to her, crossing from pillar to pillar, "Go help Blue G out! I'll divert Shino's attention!"
At this, Tenten rolled her eyes in annoyance, thinking, "My gawd, like Shino didn't hear that!" And there, she swiftly made her way from the corridor exit towards Blue Gun Shot, lying on the ground.
While Neji dealt with Shino, Tenten was on the side with Hanabi, trying to bring her breathing back. But after several failed attempts, Tenten knew that nothing they could do was going to work. This situation is too complex.
"Neji, I can't do anything!" Tenten admitted, turning to the profusely sweating Hyuga, "She's not coming back with CPR. I don't know what will! We have to take her to a hospital now!" Feeling the urgency, Tenten tried to bring Blue Gun Shot up into her own arms to bring him.
Neji and Shino continued to exchange shots, hiding behind posts every now and then. Neither one was going to give up. But, no doubt about it, Neji was down on his last few bullets while Shino had only a few strings of bullets left. Seeing this, Neji knew that it wasn't worth keeping up.
Reloading his gun behind half a wall, breathed in and promised to himself silently, "I swear, if ever all three of us get out of her alive, I'll never call Hanabi a bitch again!"
After a quick internalization, he speedily turned from behind the wall and sent three shots off… then found his opponent not there.
Still searching for Shino from his place, Neji wasn't able to take note of the presence behind him, the cock of a machine gun and the chuckle of a confident Spanish mafia boss.
Only then did he trace the harsh yet thin cackle of Shino at his back, touching Neji's nape with his gun's nozzle. "¿Palabras del ultimo?"
Despite the gravity of the circumstances, Neji jeered in a murmur, "For a moment there, you sounded exactly like Antonio Banderas."
Scowling at the comment, Shino poked the gun harder to Neji's nape, ready to pull the trigger and set off a shower of Hyuga blood. Of course, Neji knew that Shino had disarmed him. Even if he had his gun, the moment he twists to face him, he's done for it.
Squinting his eyes in surrender, Neji waited for the blasts that will end everything. But, instead, he heard a powerful whack resonated from behind him. Almost dumbfound, he dared to turn his head to check out what was going on. There, he found Shino at his feet, moaning and drifting to unconsciousness.
To his sheer shock, Tenten stood before him with her fist balled up in the air, sore. She winced, rubbing her hurting knuckles, as she spoke almost as if she was superior to both him and Shino, "He said 'Any last words?'."
Grabbing Neji by the hand roughly and quickly, Tenten stated, rushing to Blue Gun Shot limply due to her twinges, "Come on, we have to help Blue Gun Shot. She's not breathing yet and— Neji?"
She was cut off when Neji fell from his feet in the middle of their way towards Hanabi. With their hands still held together, Neji groaned in pain while he clutched a portion of his torso, his left side where his skin seemed to rip up. "Aw, shit," he grumbled, "Why now?"
"What is it?" Tenten questioned him firmly, squeezing his hand tight, "What's wrong? Are you wounded?"
Achingly, Neji lowered his gaze to his bleeding side, inspecting it. "Remember the shooting in Ino's pub? I got shot on that day, right? I had the wound treated properly, but I was told that the stitches are still delicate. Too much activity would tear me up literally." At that, he recoiled.
Hearing this, Tenten couldn't help but tingle at the thought of skin splitting up. Even so, she tried to get him to stand up slowly and carefully towards Hanabi. Upon reaching Blue Gun Shot, Neji bent to pick her up, but he ended up grunting with the piercing pain.
Conclusively, Tenten and Neji each grabbed one of Blue Gun Shot's arms and made their vigilant rush towards the way out of the slums area. With Blue Gun Shot as flimsy as a rag doll in their supporting arms, Tenten continued to move with her throbbing ankle and Neji tried to bear the stings that came with his opening wound.
"We have to get you and Hanabi to a hospital fast!" Tenten told him as they painstakingly kept moving, "She needs special attention and you need to get stitched up again. I don't want your cousin to end up dead nor have you bleeding to death!"
"No!" Neji opposed, glaring at her, "Can you take note that we're mafia? We're like outlaws. Do you think any decent hospital will take us in? Probably on the moment we enter the emergency room, they're already plugging away our life source!"
Still, she argued with him, trying hard to convince him that it was what's best for them, "Hospitals are supposed to take care of injured people no matter who they are! It's their job! Can't you trust in that?"
Mulishly, Neji soured his features and shook his head, "Caged Bird HQ is three minutes away from here. We're in a really big hurry, anyway. If you promise to keep quiet, you carjack someone for us, drive there and Blue G and I can get fixed there. Since you're under my eye, they won't kill you, I promise!"
"Oh, come on, like going to your HQ will help get Blue Gun Shot's pulse back or something…"
"My HQ's one of the best. I trust them."
And there, it struck Tenten. Wasn't Neji, Eagle Eye himself, the one who mentioned something about never putting his trust in anyone? It surprised her that he had so much faith in his mafia, so much belief in them. Because of this, she nodded and said, "So, how exactly are we going to hijack someone from the traffic?"
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
He found it pathetic. "Of all the cars on the road…"
"Shut up, Screw."
"…Of all the trucks in the traffic…"
"I'm driving here!"
"…Between all the Volvos, Lamborghini Diablos, Ferraris and Corvettes…"
"Screw, you're not helping me here!"
"…You just had to carjack the ice cream truck!"
She dug her nails into the wheel, yelling, "We're in a hurry, remember? So, keep quiet and let me drive! We're going at more than 120 mph so let me concentrate on the road unless you want us to die in a car crash before lunch time! Shit, men."
At the back, Neji snorted at her amid all the ice cream Popsicles and coolers. Hanabi, slumping beside him, was still out cold… like the ice cream. Of course, the melodic yet catchy tune that sang from the truck's megaphone echoed through and through. No doubt about it: It was 'Pop Goes the Weasel'.
"And turn that fucking thing off!" Neji ordered crossly, ready to fling a yogurt stick down Tenten's collar while she drowned in pressure at the wheel, "It's driving me crazy! And you're trailing children below 6 years old at our bumper! If I were you, I'd back up and run them over!"
Discreetly, she chewed on her bottom lip, thinking, "Wow, and he says I'm a nagger." Still, she turned it off, nevertheless.
Recalling what happened an hour and three minutes ago wasn't really enjoyable for Tenten. As she sat on Hyuga property (specifically a liger fur sofa in the sixth floor lounge), awkwardly chewing on foreign pastries and licking the English tea from her lips, she awaited the lady's reply.
The elderly woman seated opposite her held a delightful grin amid her loose cheeks. Beyond the pulled back salt-and-pepper hair, the grandmother could only keep smiling as she held up a cup of tea. "Is that so?" she mouthed, her voice unexpectedly shrill like an old palm reader's (palm reader's because her tone had a touch that made her sound right always), "Chronologically speaking, those were the proceedings?"
Tenten nodded meekly, donning the tiny frown of the child in her. Her slender fingers even seemed to quiver as he held onto the porcelain teacup she had. It made her wonder. Did she fear this old lady? Why?
And when the elderly woman turned her gaze to her, she couldn't help but shake all of a sudden. She'll be frank: The woman's deep blue pearl eyes sent chills down your spine. It was as if she wasn't someone who'd make a good Mary Poppins… Maybe a Nanny McPhee…
"Tenten, I deduce?"
Fervently, more feverishly though, Tenten bobbed her head in response.
At this, the woman bared her ivory teeth, impressive for someone aged above 90, "I don't believe my grandson has even bothered to introduce me to you." She grunted loudly before adding, "Well, Ji-Ji never really did learn proper decorum from his father. His father did nothing but get rich!"
It shocked Tenten when his grandmother used his private pet name.
It was true, though. Once they've arrived at the manor, Neji simply paged for a certain 'Viperess'. This very same old lady came down with three assistants and there, Blue Gun Shot was sent off. Meanwhile, Neji was sent to a specific room to be stitched up again while Tenten followed the elderly woman to the lounge and recounted what happened.
Holding out her bony hand, the woman showed off her bejeweled fingers and wrist, saying, "My true name's Harumi, Neji's grandmother in his mother's side. I'm the infamous Viperess. Foolish name, ne? I am very much pleased to meet you. Hanabi has been telling me so much about you."
All Tenten did was gawk back as she shook hands with Harumi. Sitting back on her seat, Viperess went on after a sip of her sugar-less tea, "Why don't we agree on simply formally addressing me with Madame? I'd very much value that albeit how everyone calls me Madame anyway."
She suddenly got into a fit of laughter, making Tenten uncomfortable all the more. But then, Harumi smiled finely at her guest as she pushed the pastry tray nearer to Tenten as she spoke in her coarse voice, "I'd like to speak with you more; I hope you don't mind my being very articulate. I will not consume more than fifteen minutes of your time."
Talking to a sophisticated elderly lady with a cleaver stare wasn't in Tenten's mind, but what harm would it do?
Once Tenten had put down her cup onto the coffee table before them, Harumi began, "I have always been looking out for my grandchildren, especially Neji since he's the only progeny of my daughter. And I only want to discern fact from assumption with a quick question and an candid answer from you."
When Harumi paused to drink more tea, Tenten couldn't help but notice the old woman's attire and equipment strapped to her shins and cord belt: pockets filled with surgical tools, pouches exploding with cherry bombs and a single cloth purse sagging with countless coins. She obviously approves of her son-in-law being a mafia boss.
Finally, Harumi formed a grim expression as she mouthed her query, "Do you have an affair with my grandson?"
Tenten almost choked on her own saliva at the tasteless and tactless subject. She could've sworn that her fingers almost shook in disgust. "My gawd, no!" she suddenly screamed, regretting it eventually. Unnervingly, Tenten cleared her throat and grinned sheepishly.
But, in spite of Tenten's reaction, Harumi chuckled softly with her beam slowly growing, "Ah, however I see it in the glimmer of your eyes that you wish you did. I am certain that you're telling me the truth, be assured." As she poured more tea into her cup, she added, "I can't blame you."
Tenten's iris seemed to dilate as Harumi 'confronted' her about surreptitious matters. "Shit," she shrieked like a mourning banshee in her head, "Are these mafia people mind readers, too?!"
Strangely, Harumi laughed again, throwing her head back in amusement. "Oh no, child," she told her, wiping a tear away from behind her thick glasses rimmed with rhinestones, "We're not mind readers. It isn't very complex, even. It just shows in your eyes, my child."
"Fuck!" Tenten swore behind her front, "They are mind readers!"
"And you look like you're very troubled, young lady," Harumi stated, wrapping her features in worry, "I think you have a grueling internal war between studies and love. If I were you, though, I'd put studies first before everything despite amor vincit omnia. Love can always wait. True love, that is."
That did it. Now, Tenten is infinitely sure that she's a mind reader.
Eventually, Harumi just ended up snickering devilishly, speaking in her ominous and still croaking voice, "Ah, ah, ah. This is something. Both you and my grandson," she leaned forward before continuing, emphasizing every syllable with a condemning tone, "don't know what you truly want."
All Tenten did was stare back with wide eyes, almost near to foaming at the mouth from insanity. Did old people really find the youth that predictable… and stand correct?!
Of course, Harumi had no more intention of mentally disabling the poor girl, so she stood up cautiously, watching her scoliosis, and invited Tenten, "Come, come. I can't leave you here while I'm gone. We're going to check on Ji-Ji now and I'm going to need you. Goodness, I remember when he was about six years old when he fell from the stairs and cried all afternoon. Oh, such juvenile exclusion we gave him!"
Past the sinister and wrinkled up woman, Tenten thought Harumi wasn't so bad for a grandmother. She didn't smell like mothballs. She smelled like Jasmines and roses. She didn't carry a fuzzy, fat cat around. She carried a golden one in her purse. And she wouldn't tell you to eat your vegetables.
Nope. She tells you that you're in love with her grandson. Why do things like this always come up?
Past the swirling corridors of velvet carpet and carved frames of pictures, up what felt like a hundred staircases wound with varnished oak and into the tenth door at the right, finally, Tenten saw Neji seated, slouching, amid thick goose feather duvet and satin pillow cases with his shirt off his back with a new bandage wrapped around his torso.
As Tenten walked in with Harumi into the vast bedroom, she couldn't resist looking around. On the walls were pictures of Neji, from his infant days, toddler years, graduation pictures and random photos. Every table had cup circles and every chair had gum under them. Plus, Tenten was sure that he managed to hide the dirty magazines under his mattress.
"How're you now, Ji-Ji?" Harumi asked Neji, stroking his dressed wound carefully.
Neji groaned, looking away from his grandmother, "Madame, please. Don't call me that in front of other people." It surprised Tenten that even Neji called her Madame obligatorily.
As Harumi continued to examine him, Neji simply smiled at Tenten in embarrassment. It was written all over his face: His grandmother has always been this way, even in front of visitors. And he assumes that she had succeeded in making her feel uneasy earlier in the lounge.
After checking Neji's temperature and blood pressure (which, actually, seemed quite unnecessary), Harumi picked up the clipboard with details on his wound's condition and headed for the door. "I'll be back, you two. I merely want to scold the idiot-of-a-nurse who made this substandard record."
When they heard the door close with a click, Tenten sneered at Neji, "Ji-Ji?"
"It's a forbidden name." Neji snapped at her with a grin that was neither glad nor amused, "She's the only one who calls me with that gay name."
Laughing, Tenten neared him, taking a seat beside him on his bunk, "I actually like your grandma. Not really like mine, fortunately. Mine hated me. She never really liked seeing me as her grandchild. So, I'm hoping to the heavens that Madame Harumi will adopt me."
Neji chuckled sympathetically, "You'd get sick of eating her pastries everyday."
"At least I have something in my stomach, you know. What is being served to me is superficial. As long as it's edible, it'll do."
"Well, that's typically you, anyway."
After a quick exchange of snickers, Neji suddenly drew what looked like a concerned and reflective face. His left brow seemed to arch involuntarily while his lip pouted deeper. It was palpable to anyone that he's thinking too much of something. But by the looks of it, it wasn't shallow.
Benevolently, she nudged him and questioned, "What, did Madame Harumi tell you something to get you bothered, too?"
Moments of silence came rushing in, with Neji's hesitation to speak up. But sooner or later, eventually, he shrugged and mumbled almost effortlessly with his eyes away, staring at his blanket-clad feet, "Meh, it's nothing. Grandma just asked me something weird earlier."
Tenten cocked a brow. "No way. She asked him too about the 'You and Tenten don't know what you want' thing?"
"What did she ask?"
"Nothing really. Just some odd thing about…" he stopped there. He gazed at her at the corner of his eyes, almost jovial in his grin, "what I want."
Unknowingly, Tenten shook a little, absorbing the chilliness of the air more than before. Still, Tenten was more than curious. What were the two things Neji couldn't decide over and how did his psychic grandma figure it out?"
Interested, Tenten scooted nearer to him, bringing her bare feet up onto the white sheets with the cold tingling her toes, "That so?" Tenten began, ready to listen to everything, "She asked me, too. But you go first. What two things couldn't you choose over?"
Tenten crossed her fingers under the duvet. She was sure that there were slim chances that he'd feel the same way. Still, it was a fifty-fifty possibility. Recalling the kiss-in-the-car incident and all, there are chances. She remained hopeful.
Explaining, Neji replied, telling her everything, "I couldn't choose what I really wanted, she said. I couldn't choose between my obligations as the son of Kosa Hyuga and…" He halted, biting his lip. Fully, he turned to her and felt his cheeks grow warm.
"And…?" Tenten said, wanting him to continue.
But all Neji did was keep his stare blank as he plainly muttered one word that didn't make any sense: "This."
Before Tenten could react, respond or even think of what he just uttered, he had cupped her chin gently, softly and delicately pressing his lips against hers. Taken by surprise, Tenten only sat there and realized what was happening a second too late. Here they were again, kissing. Only this time, the world was at their side.
Tenten came to the conclusion that everyone in the Caged Bird Mafia can read minds. Especially Neji Hyuga and Harumi.
Yet, before she decided to kiss him back, she carefully parted her plump lips from his by half a centimeter as she spoke, making Neji's lips tickle as hers moved, "Wait, what are we doing? Wh… What are—" Cutting her off, Neji slid his index finger between their faces, touching her lip lightly as he hushed her.
"I'll tell you what we're doing," he whispered, smirking as their foreheads touched, "We're picking up from where we stopped the other day, in your car. I hope you still remember." Without doubt, Tenten could never forget. And there, he pursed his lips back on hers, this time with her grinning amid the kiss.
This time, they weren't in her car. This time, there was nothing but the sound of the air conditioner's hum. This time, there was no wine. There was no wine to blame. So, she had no right to say that she's drunk or drugged. This time, she's doing everything under her own free will.
Her chances were never slim. They have always been one hundred percent right.
Tenten wrapped her arms around his neck, holding herself closer to his bare upper body. He, on the other hand, had already cupped her whole face in his tender hands. With every second flying by, they both wished that they could take it back, to make the moment feel longer than it already is.
For a split second, Neji let go of her lips and smoothly began to trace a few kisses down her jaw line, saying in an airy whisper, "Okay, so I admit it. We've crossed the border. Somewhere, there's an unwritten law about how illegal it is to have criminals falling in love with their captives and we're breaking it."
At this, Tenten just giggled softly and muttered back to him softly at his ear, "You know what? No one will ever know."
There, they both smiled simultaneously with their eyes simply thin lines, closed in a real-life dream. As the placed their lips back together once again, their warmth overwhelming each other, Neji mumbled with his lips on hers, unhurriedly parting, coordinated with every word, "And another thing: Is this enough proof that I'm an amazing kisser?"
Hearing him, Tenten giggled mutely then said with her breath entering him, "More than enough."
Finishing her sentence, Tenten pushed herself closer to him, tightening her hold on him and intensifying the kiss. Between the shifting tilts of the head, the pleased giggles and chasing of lips, Neji knew that his Dad was right: Girls who can kick ass were better. They even kiss better.
As for Tenten, she was sure now. Undoubtedly, undeniably and submissively, she has fallen in love finally with someone who seems to be the right guy…
… She was now wondering how Tenten Hyuga sounded.
To the old lady's fortune, the couple was too engrossed to notice the small gap in the door.
"I knew it."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Me: FINALLY!
Kankuro: -jumps up in shock-
Me: Tenten finally, finally, finally, finally admits it without hesitation! She has admitted her love a couple of times before in her mind, yes, but this time, she is not scared anymore! She now fully trusts Neji! She's finally strong! My gawd, they finally had a decent kiss, too!
Kankuro: Good gawd…
Suspense Questions!
Will Hanabi live? Have Neji and Tenten already decided on what they really wanted? If so, do they want each other (LOLing)? When will the secret of Kosa Hyuga's murder reach Neji? How's Shino doing (aside from the massive headache)? Is Hinata going to strike on Neji next? Is Harumi really a mind reader (My grandma can read my mind un-supernaturally, though)? Will Sasuke and Sakura ever get things between them fixed… ever? Will Sasuke accept Isle Sidony? Does Tenten Hyuga sound good (My answer: HELL YEAH!)?
And will the controversy between the rivaling Hyuga cousins tear the mafia unit and also tear up Neji and Tenten's relationship with it?
Find out soon.
By the way, I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. My laptop hours are regulated nowadays (From 24/7 to an hour on weekends. No!) and that's why. It's not writer's block, I swear. –crosses fingers- Alright, and that, too.
Thanks for reading, guys! Leave a review! Promise?