Chapter Summary:
Hinata loved playing cat and mouse. She's always the cat.
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Things didn't look good from where he was and all he could do is keep on repeating it out loud. "This doesn't look good."
Coarse words that ran down his throat, sickeningly thick and warm, that's what they were to him. Still, to the victim, it decided the fate of his innocent life. Why he ended up like this was way beyond everyone present who stood aghast before the corpse…
All they were sure of was that he was dead.
"Definitely dead," the journalist/photographer's assistant confirmed with a life-detecting device and a blood sample, "No pulse, no beat, nothing. He's nothing but a wet, red biological mass now. Good fertilizer, but absolutely not good news."
"Tell me about it," Lee moaned, scratching his head in fury and consternation, "He was Evergreen City's mayor. Stats say that he died of blood loss, major injuries and a bullet, just one, down his chest. Suicide is out of the question. He was murdered, no doubt about it." At this, Lee chewed on his thumb. Chief won't like this.
As Lee scanned the surroundings briefly with his rounded eyes, nothing fit. Even if the mayor lay lifeless on the ground in the middle of the zoo, there was not a trace of stray blood nor a single foreign footstep at the very least, not event the mayor's. The information gave Lee an idea that he was probably dragged into the place.
Although, the surrounding animals, three zebras, a cage of bats, two giraffes and a still sleeping elephant, were neither traumatized, frightened nor conspicuously behaving strangely, giving Lee the idea that he wasn't shot here. Maybe, just maybe, his theory was mistaken.
It formed another doubt. If he was thrown here for disposal, there could've been footprints or even astray blood on the ground at least. To Lee's misfortune, the zoo's whole perimeter is spotless as if nothing like this even happened.
"They're clever," Lee thought angrily as his assistant studied the soil under them for any more clues, "Too clever for my taste. The press doesn't have anything decent to cover this case, so I'm going to have to go my second option. I'm calling Rose for this."
At this, Lee took out his phone, dialed a very familiar number and started talking when the other end was picked up. "Rose, it's Young Man." He said, almost shaking in his knees, "Murder case 669. 16:38. Emergency. Rush to the city zoo ASAP. One of our agents is dead."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Three gun shots. Exactly. 2-month-old Beretta. Rubber tipped bullets. She's wasting bullets again.
Strangely, Neji wasn't startled by the shots. Not anymore. For the past few hours, from what seems like 10 p.m. to 5:15 a.m. this morning, Tenten has been constantly curling her finger on her gun's trigger with no particular objective. Thank goodness that she only aims at the target they put up on the wall across her bed.
Still, it worried Neji. Either she was turning crazy, turning aggressive or still going berserk over what they didlast night.
Maybe, just maybe, it was the third reason. Neji chuckled at the thought.
Standing from his comfortable seat on a pile of his unwashed clothes and setting aside the laptop he had on his lap, Neji walked out of his tent. Once again listening to the crunching of the grass beneath him, he felt all his energy evaporating into a Utopia he never knew.
He admits it as Twinkle-Top brushes against him like often. Destiny is really shitty to make him land on this job. Yet, Destiny is a genius. Passing by the washing machine by the glass door first to turn it off to avoid mixing his shirts' colors, Neji has certainly turned more responsible and humble than before.
Who knew, anyway?
Making his way up the stairs, he could feel the vibrations on the banister, the motions of Tenten upstairs, walking around restlessly. Ah, the consequences of laxity. Victims of the night and poison love, the poets would say.
Inevitably, Tenten wasn't sure if she should be just as composed as Neji. After all, she is the woman here.
"Neji!" she screamed, shocked out of her wits because of her sudden paranoia, "My gawd, don't do that, coming in without warning. Knock or at least tell me you're coming in, a'ight?" If anyone looked at Tenten now, 4 out of 5 would say that she appears to be… well, to be frank, fine.
At her reaction, Neji merely shrugged and questioned her, "Shot another three bullets over here, Tenten?"
"Sorry," Tenten mumbled in embarrassment, expecting that he'd confirm on the gunshots, "I can't help it sometimes, okay?"
Gun therapy, as Hanabi would call it, is a good way of expressing your anger with some gun power, a .45, some bullets and a non-living target. Effective, affirmative. Harmless, lower than negative. Which is why Neji checks up on her with every shot. It was just his luck that Tenten didn't know what a silencer was.
Neji knew that she wasn't done yet. As of now, he has already read Tenten's behavior pattern and is already five steps ahead of her.
First came the apology on the gunshots, which already came. Second, she sobs a little…
And there, as if on cue with his thoughts, Tenten falls onto her bunk and starts to blubber, her lips a crooked line and her eyes wet with beady salty tears. She neither hiccups nor wipes the teardrops away, oddly. Obligatorily, Neji sits beside her, wraps an arm around her shoulders and whispers, "Crying won't get you anywhere."
And precisely after that line, she'd burst angrily.
"Well, wrapping your arms around me won't get us anywhere either, you know!" Tenten screamed at him, jabbing her elbow softly at his ribs, "This is all your fault! All! Your! Fault! This wouldn't have happened to me… to us… if you didn't kiss me like that back there! You should've controlled…"
Neji would just silently listen to her ramble about how everything was his fault, but once she was done telling him all about his faults, she'd suddenly shift her beliefs.
She shakes her head, muttering, "But I can't blame you. You're a guy. You've got your hormones and I've got mine. It's nobody's fault, then. I guess we just have to face the facts. But thanks for still being here with me." At this point, she'd huddle nearer to his chest, giving the impression that she was his baby now.
And it was Neji's cue now to finish the sequence for now.
He rubbed her bare shoulder lovingly as he seemed to cradle her subtly. He'd softly brush his lips on her tiny forehead, making her gently squint her eyes shut as the hush of the moment was all they could feel. It felt like heaven in their own little way.
Then, Neji would speak up, in a discreetly amused tone yet he was careful not to offend her, "You know, Sweetheart, I already told you over and over again: You're not pregnant. Despite last night, you're not, alright?"
The Sweetheart pet name only popped up on the moment, slipping from between Neji's delicate lips. Still, hearing his words, Tenten's eyes shot open and she whispered back, almost choking on her words, "I'm not."
"I already told you this morning, remember?" Neji told her mutedly, caressing her sweetly as he rested his cheek on her head, "The result came in from the test and I was right: You're not pregnant. So, yeah, maybe you'd want to stop sulking and all, okay?"
With that, Tenten replied immediately, "I know that. How could I forget something you told me a few hours ago?"
At her answer, Neji cocked a brow, "Then why are you acting like this, then?" He didn't see this coming at all.
Tenten merely shrugged and told him, "It's a complicated thing," she disclosed, "Sure, I'm ultimately glad that I'm not pregnant, but at the same time, I'm a little disappointed that I'm not. But, if I really ended up pregnant, I'd run around in panic endlessly with not the slightest piece of happiness in me. But, if last night didn't happened, I'd be all shitty and…"
Neji didn't like this. Why did women have to make everything complicated? He didn't know what they really want.
Silencing her with his finger on her lips, Neji mumbled, "Spare me the counselee act for later. I still have errands for today. And so do you. Ino called up last night, Lee said, and told you to rush to the pub as soon as you can. I have no idea what she wants you to do."
"Then, let's run to Ino's now."
"No, you go run to Ino's, Sweetheart. I said I have errands."
"But you're supposed to be with me, both for duty and personal reasons. Am I right?"
"Look, I'd spend the day with you if I could, doing whatever we want. Blue G just called me up and told me to spare an hour for a meeting."
"Oh, Blue Gun Shot!" Tenten exclaimed, almost excitedly, "How is she?"
Neji smiled a tiny grin and updated Tenten on his cousin, "She's doing good, I assume. When I got her call, her voice was still quaky but she says Grandma really took care of her. She'll be up in a few days."
Hearing the news, Tenten carved a grateful smile as she nodded and told Neji, "Then, go to that meeting. I'll go to the pub and you better pick me up after your meeting, okay?"
Thankful, Neji nodded back and airily replied with a soft thank-you. Hurriedly, he pushed himself from the bed and made his way towards the bedroom door. But before he left, before Tenten even got up to start dressing up, Tenten couldn't help but state one, just one, question…
"Hey, Neji," she began, hesitant. Once Neji had turned around, Tenten gave the question, "If I was pregnant, what could we have done?"
The mob boss pretended to think about it behind the blush, "I dunno," he dishonestly answered, shrugging, "We could get married. I love you, anyway." And there, as if he said nothing, he pushed past the door and exited into the second floor's corridor.
As for Tenten, she merely smiled there, gluing her eyes on where Neji stood as he said those words. The moment replayed in her mind like a broken record. And his statement haunted her beautifully.
"…We could get married… I love you, anyway…"
It was official: Neji Hyuga has mentioned marriage.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Whack.
"Agh!"
The mauled man fell onto the wooden floor, bloodied and ripped apart. At the sides were his mafia's main members, helplessly watching him bleed. His sunglasses shattered under his temples, crunching along with the sound of his bones crackling near his jaw. He has taken too many punches laden with clout. For a girl, his assailant could pack a real punch.
"You dirty, little, bloody, shit, yes you are," the woman growled at her victim, grinding her teeth under her breath, "I make you do a simple job that every other fucking moron can do without difficulty and you fail again! First your henchman, your best henchman, now you?!"
Shino tried to pull himself up with the last ounce of energy left in him, yelling at her, "Well, if you think you're so smart, then do it yourself, bitch! I've had it with you and your mafia, anyway! My mafia can go on without you or the money you pay me!"
Creasing her forehead with lines, Hinata screamed shrilly before pulling crudely at her soft locks, getting her frustration out. After minutes of frustration, Black Ivory breathed out through her mouth ever so quietly and calmed down, her brows untangling.
Transformed for the moment, Black Ivory unperturbedly held out her tainted nails, shining with a lusted red, checking for imaginary dirt. "Shino Aburame," she spoke, the name said as cold as ever, "We have agreed on certain terms, specifically the condition that I am to pay you with every done task. But, the scoreboard reads: Eagle Eye: 2. You: 0."
Shino hoped it wasn't so, but he had an idea of where this was going. All he could do was swear in his mind abruptly.
"Unfortunately, we, I mean I, never expected you to fail more than once." Black Ivory firmly stated, dilating her periwinkle eyes through Shino's bug black ones, "I expected more from the leader of the Black Widow. And, we also never expected that slowly, the police will uncover our plans dust by dust."
Shino, undoubtedly, had no idea what she was talking about. Police? It sounded impossible.
And so, Black Ivory bent down to stare him straight at the face and whisper angrily, "You know very well the mafia code, Mr. Aburame: Once the police is on the chase, destroy, eliminate or eradicate every witness, piece of evidence and proof you may have…
… It just so happens that I plan to do all three in the worst case scenario."
Not taking her eyes off of Shino, Black Ivory snapped her fingers at the six apprentices she brought with her. She smiled the smile of Hitler. "I want all of the members of the Black Widow swimming in their own blood…" Suddenly, a scowl raged onto her jaw as she bellowed finally, "… Now."
There, simultaneously, the six Hyugas taking the side of Hinata took out their primary weapon, 2 yards of chicken wire, from their boots and did what they did best: choke and slice all at the same time. As shrieks and more bright crimson tainted the room, Hinata's scowl deepened at Shino.
"You, my friend," Hinata grunted, sliding the chicken wire from her boot, "had the privilege of watching your friends die."
Actually, Shino simply glanced away in fear as his henchmen were executed mercilessly in one second, losing the so-called privilege Black Ivory mentions wordlessly. But once the chicken wire was already slithering around his neck, he felt the lump in his throat grow without a halt.
"Good night, Mr. Aburame," Black Ivory muttered through her clenched teeth, "Sweet dreams."
And there, with a swift and forceful tug on both ends of the wire, Hinata smirked at the sadistic thoughts that entered her as Shino fell on his side, not the least breathing but very much literally drowning in his own blood.
Hinata loved playing cat and mouse. She's always the cat.
Once she has satisfied her blood lust by staring at the glowing, spilt blood from who was once her tyro, Black Ivory turned to the silenced prisoner she held at the far corner of the stained rooms. Her majestic eyes gleamed restively at the captive, tied to the chair with a cloth over his lips.
Wiping her dripping hands on the sides of her leather jeans, Black Ivory neared the captive. "I heard you were working with the police when you low life shits went looking for anyone who worked with the Caged Bird." She mentioned in a superior tone, "Am I right?"
The poor man could only nod, afraid for his life after seeing what had happened to seven able-bodied mafia men earlier.
At his frightened reaction, Hinata's grin crept wider. It always pleased her whenever she is feared. "Kiba Inuzuka, I presume?"
It terrified the captive all the more to discover that the crazed mafia bitch knew his name… flawlessly.
As she untied the rough cloth that circled his jaw to keep him quiet, Hinata went on, "From what my assistants have researched on, you are neither a part of any mafia nor a graduate of criminology. You are nothing but a gym instructor. Bicep development program, correct?"
Again, he just nodded despite the urge he suddenly felt as he sensed the cloth come undone behind his head, Black Ivory's slim fingers twiddling with tuffs of his brown hair once in a while. Strangely, even if she seemed horrific to a certain extent, Kiba felt welcome with her touch.
As his ability to speak audibly returned, Kiba got his dry throat cleared silently. "So," Black Ivory whispered, tracing his jaw almost stridently, "What is your purpose here? Why would you get involved in a fucked-up life as such?"
Intently, Kiba reminded himself to play fair and obedient. His mouth felt dry yet thick with saliva as he tried to speak up, "I'm… I… I tried to… But…"
The cut up words continued to escape him but once Hinata got fed up, impatient, she stepped back from him and exclaimed, near to grabbing his collar, "May I remind you, Mr. Inuzuka, that I have the initiative to use every interrogation technique possible just to get you to speak up?!"
Kiba had no idea what was coming.
When he didn't talk, Hinata rolled her eyes, snapped her fingers and growled to a nearby assistant, "Get my toolbox." At the command, Black Ivory smirked. Kiba was finally shaking. Still, he had no idea how much pain was in store for him.
Hinata flipped the golden plated tool box set on her lap. Enjoying herself as she hummed, Black Ivory deliberately picked up one tool after the other, from miniature maces, pliers that had blood stains on the sides to carving knives that were surely not used for vegetable decoration.
"Let's try this again, Kiba," she mumbled, still rummaging for the perfect tool, "Why are you working with the police? Being a civilian, you're probably a witness. Witnesses usually know something I don't." She took out a granite-headed hammer. "And I think it's only fair that you get to share your knowledge."
With this, her minions gathered around them, arms folded across their chests. One of them slipped his left arm out of the rope's grapple and laid his hand onto the arm of the chair. There, she forcefully stuck packaging tape on his forearm, taping his arm to the chair as Black Ivory questioned, "What do you know?"
Kiba knew that anything out of him would harm Tenten, which was one of the last things he'd want to happen. He has made too many mistakes as her friend nowadays. First the suggestion to leave Neji, then the building collapse (which is why his left wrist is bound due to a twist) and now this.
He failed to say anything. And at this, Black Ivory crashed the hammer's head onto one of his fingers, making him scream utterly in pain. His hand felt numb and he didn't dare look at his crushed finger. If there was any blood, he didn't want to know.
"I am not playing games here!" she shrieked, pressing the chilly hammer's head on his cheek, "Do you know anything about me?!"
"Just answer no,"Kiba thought to himself, "It'll be all worth it, I swear. Tell her nothing."
"N-No." came the reply. Hinata crushed another finger, making another yell escape Kiba. She was merciless.
"Do you know anything about Eagle Eye Hyuga?" Her voice neither quivered nor shook.
"N… No…"
Whack! Yet another scream and a new stream of tears.
"Kiba Inuzuka, speak up!"
Even with the sensitive pain striding in his fingers, he moaned, "No, no… No…"
Again, Black Ivory slammed the hammer onto his fingers, this time almost with the intention of chunking it off. Tiny drops of blood flew to the assistants' faces, yet they didn't even move to wipe it off. Such bloodlust.
"You're running out of fingers, Kiba!" Hinata shrieked at him, slicing her finger down his cheek again, "Now tell me: What do you know?!"
"I know nothing!" Kiba shouted back with tears slivering down his face from the unbearable pain, "Nothing, nothing, nothing!"
Irritated, Black Ivory tossed the hammer over her shoulder and stated, "Hm, maybe the hammer has no effect on you at all. You give me no choice, Kiba. Unless you talk, I will not limit myself in killing you little by little."
Kiba flinched. The scent of blood poked at his nose, making his eyes water all the more. The blurred sight of his mauled fingers sent shivers down his spine. The shattered bones imitated pebbles at a riverbank, damp.
Taking something out of her toolbox, Black Ivory screamed again, demanding an answer right away, "If you're not going to talk, you're going to meet the same fate the Black Widow mafia faced!" And Kiba's eyes widened at the sight.
What looked like a giant nutcracker was held up before him… only this giant nutcracker had the sharpest teeth. It didn't look like something for opening nuts. It looked like something for cracking bones into two.
Black Ivory handed the tool to an apprentice, saying, "Position it on his right leg. Whenever I give the signals, push the handles together slowly." As the apprentice fixed the apparatus on his leg, Kiba was tempted to tell her everything now.
"Want to talk now?" Black Ivory asked, wiping her hands free from the red stains with a handkerchief, "Let's try again: What is your business here?"
Still, Kiba squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for a round of physical pain again. "… I'm not talking…"
And there, Black Ivory sighed and murmured, "Push." As ordered, the apprentice pushed on the two handles, slowly pressing the apparatus' teeth harder onto Kiba's shin. Tiny blots of red poked from Kiba's pants as he cried harder and louder.
"I'm talking, I'm talking!" Kiba submissively shrieked with the tearing of his flesh. Black Ivory heard every word almost too clearly. She made the torture stop as she awaited Kiba's reply.
"I'm… a… friend of Eagle Eye's captive, Tenten," Kiba admitted, panting and absorbing the pain everywhere, "I tried to get Tenten out of it, but I failed in everything. So, I ran to the police for help. I told them about the Caged Bird Mafia, even if I didn't know much. Police said they didn't know Eagle Eye, but they knew you. So, we went to look for you to help Tenten escape. It was a save-and-eliminate plan."
Kiba wanted to add more, but he decided to conclude, "I just wanted… to help a friend… I'm no witness to any of your crimes… Just Eagle Eye's…"
There, Black Ivory's grin grew wider and longer. Her brain tickled with an idea. "Do you want revenge for what he is doing to you and your friend, Mr. Inuzuka?" Her question almost sounded like an offer.
Candidly, Kiba nodded almost faintly from the torturing, "I want to get rid of Eagle Eye! I want to break his hold from my friend!" Kiba thought that since Black Ivory was also a Hyuga, she'd be offended with the words and just kill him. To end the pain, he'd rather die now.
But, strangely, Black Ivory didn't even think of reaching for her gun. In fact, she told one of her men to get their medic. Kiba sat there in suspicion as Black Ivory explained, "I am the half of the Caged Bird that is against my cousin's side of the family. It's safe to say that we're on the same side."
It was hard to believe for Kiba, yet very fortunate. "I can help you." Black Ivory proposed as someone lifted his pants' leg to treat his interrogation wounds, "My, well, our plan is to get rid of Eagle Eye. By doing so, I get the birthright and hierarchy position I want and you get to save your friend. We both have something to gain afterwards, to make it simple."
As Black Ivory continued, Kiba became more interested, "You tell me where Eagle Eye is and I will take care of him for you. We win, he loses…" And with a quick slice of the rope that bound Kiba, Black Ivory finished, "I'm sure you can't refuse such an offer, Mr. Inuzuka."
Everything was becoming clearer to Kiba. It was strange. It felt strange. Yet, a smile carved onto his jaw. While he was getting treated for the injuries inflicted onto him, he simply said as if he was never afraid in the first place, "We'll make a very good team, Ms. Hyuga."
"Please," Black Ivory whispered, sliding her nail under Kiba's chin almost sweetly, "Call me Hinata."
She smiled back at him. His grin yearned for victory in saving a friend. Hers flawlessly said, "Finally, I have a use for you."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
The sound of breaking glass and a thump against the wall came from Blue Gun Shot's recovering room.
Alert, Harumi rushed to the room, worried. "Hanabi? Hanabi!" she called out as she briskly raced through the narrow hall. Solemn faces of generations of Hyuga stared at her as she paced towards the door, her steps quickening.
"Hanabi!" Harumi exclaimed as she pushed the door open, "Hanabi, are you alright, lass?"
Groaning, Blue Gun Shot pushed herself slowly from the frosty floor in her nightgown with her hair in places. "I'm fine, Mamam," the girl assured her grandmother unconvincingly, amiably using her grandmother's nickname, "I just tried my skateboard for a little while. Nothing to worry abou—"
"Oh, you little duckling!" Harumi exclaimed as she rushed to Blue Gun Shot's side, helping her up, "Hanabi, dear, you know how you're still recovering from your state yesterday. How can you even think of getting up? And how many times have I told you that ladies don't stand on painted planks on four wheels?"
Hanabi rolled her eyes as she cringed because of the prickles on her buttocks, where she landed, "It's a skateboard, Mamam. And I don't wanna be a lady anyways. Can I have some Screwdriver?" Screwdriver was a cocktail made up of vodka and orange juice. Hanabi's personal favorite.
"No, you may not!" Harumi loudly said, aiding Blue Gun Shot back onto her bunk, "One, I can call that… that thing of yours whatever I want. Two, you have to be a lady! No one can change that, dear. And three, you're too young for a Screwdriver."
Watching her grandmother take the skateboard, Hanabi complained, "Do you have any idea how boring it is in here, Mamam? All I can do is stare at the ceiling, feed the parrots paper or play stare down with the sunlight coming in until my eyes sting." At this, she heaved an annoyed sigh and questioned, "I don't even have a gun to play with!"
"You should not play with guns!" Harumi told her grandchild as she picked up the broken teacup and teapot from the floor, "And you shouldn't play stare down with the sun either. You could hurt your eyes." With everything at hand, Harumi added, "And don't feed Martha paper! You could poison her!"
It pained Hanabi how the parrot in the bronze cage that hung by the door was named Martha. Harumi then stated, "I heard that you told your cousin Eagle Eye to pass by?"
Blue Gun Shot fervently nodded with a passive glare. "Cuz and I need to talk about business things. You wouldn't be interested, Mamam. And don't worry: We're not going to talk about anything PG 13." Unless you're not in the room, though, Hanabi thought mischievously.
"Business again, dear?" Harumi meekly said, "Can't you take a break, Hanabi? You're really busying yourself with a life of crime, you and your cousin. Do you remember back then when you used to play dress-up with your sister? Do you still do that?"
Blue Gun Shot swore under her breath. She ultimately hated it whenever her grandmother tried to make her feel guilty. She was just lucky to be trained a mercenary. "Mamam, I was seven. I'm fourteen now. Older. Besides, my sister's a psychotic bitch now! She was responsible for getting me hurt, right?"
Still, Harumi pursed her lips and said, "Well, if you, Hinata and Neji didn't decide to take the mafia life, you three wouldn't be in such terms."
"We chose this on our own, Mamam. You know that." Hanabi stated, still looking cross, "And you're in no position to speak. You shouldn't be reprimanding us three indirectly about taking the mafia road. You're taking the same road, which is why you're here."
"No, no, no," Harumi opposed gently, shaking her head on her way out, "The only reason why I'm here is because you three are. Without your parents here, there's no one to take care of you but me." And there, Harumi exited with Blue Gun Shot's skateboard and broken porcelain.
Blue Gun Shot chewed on her nails. Why did her grandmother enjoy making her suffer with guilt-influencing statements? And another question is: How come she still has a conscience? Mafia should have none. It's a golden rule.
"Ni-chan, does this look good on me?"
Everything was getting screwed up, definitely. She's dead bored, injured and her conscience was rising from the dead. Her sister's deranged and plotting to kill every Hyuga left just to get the birthright. And her cousin, Neji, is busy fucking a girl, who is someone he's supposed to be holding captive, not making out with.
"Of course, Hanabi! You always look good!"
Her grandmother, Harumi, is the last one alive but she was here amid all the chaos they bring instead of sleeping on a hammock in Puerto Rico with all the other Hyuga grandparents. Their parents were all dead, including Neji's father, Kosa Hyuga who was killed by his own niece.
"Where's Cousin Neji, Ni-chan? He promised to attend my 12th birthday party!"
Seriously, what happened to their family? What happened to her?
"Nah, he's out, somewhere. Probably in a club again. You know him. Anti-socially social."
When she turned 12, Hanabi was exposed to the truth on mafia life and the bloodline that she had to follow. She had a choice: Either she took the road to becoming a major part of the Caged Bird and take her gun or fly to Puerto Rico and rot there as an ordinary little girl. She believed that the first choice was the best.
And so, as she grasped her first gun for the first time on the night of her 12th birthday, Hanabi got her codename Blue Gun Shot because she uses blue bullets, even to this day.
At this, she snorted, propped her legs up and mumbled through the intercom, "I want a Screwdriver up here."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
After noon, Tenten approached the pub that was slowly coming into view from where she was. The sticker on the door said Closed for Renovation, but the talking billboard was still functioning rather well, to everyone's surprise.
"Oh, there you are," Ino's familiar voice ringed back at her. She was standing just outside the pub, counting wads of money while Shikamaru brought boxes of beer to her feet, "I'm glad you could come. I am paying you, after all, so you should come."
Tenten walked towards Ino curiously. What the hell was she doing? "Since the pub is closed for renovations for that shooting shit from last time, I decided another marketing scheme." Ino motioned for Tenten to follow her inside the pub.
Pushing the entrance open, Ino entered the pub. "Voila," she remarked, holding her hand out at the interior of the pub. Tenten stared at everything in the place. The walls were done already, newly painted even. The furniture was gone, except for benches that were placed everywhere. The counter remains and the alcoholics are still there.
What really caught her eye was what sat on the middle.
"A mechanical bull?" Tenten mumbled in question as she stared at the huge, wooly machine, "A mechanical bull? I don't get it. Are you starting a high-tech rodeo?"
"Of course not," Ino growled, eyeing her pathetically, "I'm going to re-open the bar with a new attraction and that new attraction is this mechanical bull. I'm getting all of my employees back to work, but I have a special job for you."
Tenten cocked her brow in question. "Me?"
"Yep," Ino said, smiling, "You're going to be what I'd like to call The Bull Wrangler."
"And… what does the Bull Wrangler do, exactly?"
Smugly, Ino fanned herself with the dollar bills she held and mentioned, "Nothing hard, actually. Simple, even. You just operate it, that's all. I'm sure you can manage that!" Distinctively, Ino pointed at the control panel on the mechanical bull's nape, behind the head and said, "There's the power switch. You just flip it on and off."
Still, despite the simplicity and under-complexity of everything, Tenten was suspicious. "How come I have to do it? And it's so special… why?"
"No one else will do it."
"Why so?"
Ino knew a demonstration would do her good. So, with a whistle, Ino summoned her newest recruit, Kurenai (who is actually older than her by decades), and ordered, "Do me a favor, Kurenai-san, and please start the mechanical bull." It was the first time Ino ever said please.
With that, Kurenai lifted her short skirt a few inches above her knees' peak and climbed onto the bull gracefully, circling her thighs around the fuzzy bull. After she flipped the switch, the bull came to life, rocking to and fro violently as Kurenai hung on tight lest she fall to the ground.
Her hair swam in the air with the bull's movements and onto the bull's back, she frankly looked seductive and tasteful (refer to boys for that kind of description of a woman). "Aside from the fact that the bull can knock you over or hit you any time, customers may need a push up, too. You're a strong girl. You can do it."
"… My job is to look like a whore?!" Tenten screamed, infuriated as Kurenai hopped off the bull after turning it off, "Do you have any idea what Eagle Eye will see when I see me letting loose like that like some slut?!"
Ino snorted and said, "No, your job isn't to look like a whore! That's my job!" Tenten stifled a laugh as Kurenai went on, "Your job is just to turn the bull on and off for customers who want to ride it. You're also the one who'll collect the 5 dollars they'll pay up for to ride the bull. Got it?"
Tenten chewed on her lip. Sounded fair, except for the men who will probably jeer at her. "How much is my salary?"
"Still the same. Plus half of the 5 dollars you collect from customers who want to ride the bull."
"Alright, alright, I'll do it. As long as I have a job." Tenten sighed, walking past her employer and into the dressing rooms yet again. This was the disadvantage of working in a bar run by a prostitute (or at least someone who could be one): Your job can turn sensual sometimes.
Ino pocketed the wads of money she had and let Tenten in on the information, "Tomorrow, come to work like always at 10 and you can go home at 5. Today, you can go home since your work starts tomorrow. Understood?" All Tenten did was nod. With that, Tenten turned to leave.
"Oh, by the way…" Ino called to her before leaving. As Tenten turned around, Ino grinned devilishly and said, "I'll make a promise: If you earn more than 30 dollars on any night with the mechanical bull payments, I'll let you and your mafia boyfriend take a ride. Trust me, it's fun."
Tenten snickered. That wasn't a bad idea.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Neji blinked painstakingly behind the afternoon sun as he entered the bank. The brown contacts were stinging his eyes, making them water. With his hair pulled back under the jacket hood, no one can tell that he's a mob boss. Still, his .45's cocked, tucked safely on his belt.
He shifted in the line of the ATM as his turn came. He quickly pulled Sasuke's card from his pocket and fed it to the machine. As the digital screen lit up with stiff words regarding transactions and account balances, Neji went to check Uchiha's total balance again.
It still had about 155 million and the maximum transaction he can make is 20,000 dollars. So, he did so, pressing the buttons swiftly. The whirrs of the machine internally were quite perceptible. As the money slid from the thin slot, Neji imagined what he planned on doing after tomorrow's transaction from Sasuke's card, which he swore would be his last one.
He didn't want Sasuke to go looking for him because he emptied his ATM card balance, so he plans on only taking as much as he needs, which is 10,000 for Tenten's debt and a few more thousands for another reason which he plans on revealing to Tenten some other time.
Neji waited for the receipt to come out and as he held out his hand impatiently, he couldn't help but look left and right. If anyone recognizes him, he could get caught. Finally, the tiny slip of paper fell onto his palm.
But when he was about to leave, a firm hand grasped him followed by a gruff and very unfamiliar voice. "Son, d'ya mind if you comes w'me for a minute?"
Shit.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Some people are getting hungry. Skipping lunch did nothing good to the Org team.
The autopsy led the Org team nowhere, even. As Rose Pierce removed the mask from her mouth to get a whiff of hospital air (No better than the stench she gets from the mask, but healthier she assumes), she stated with the scalpel at hand, "Not only was he shot. He's got numerous injuries everywhere."
Taking his own mask from his jaw, Lee questioned, "I know. Holes around his wrists, slashes circling his shins, crushed fingers and screws brutally yet professionally driven down his back. If I didn't know better, I'd say these injuries are because of—"
"Interrogation?" Rose mentioned, finishing his sentence for him, "Yes, I thought that, too. But if these are interrogation wounds, then the interrogation techniques used on him are ancient, almost thousands of years old."
Lee nodded in agreement as he carefully prepared a wet mound of the corpse's tissues for the compound microscopic examination. "I know only a few criminals who use such techniques. All the other criminals would just shoot you if you didn't speak up."
As Rose ran her gloved hand over the mayor's deep wounds, she stated, "Unless, of course, these aren't due to any interrogation nor torture. Maybe they want to frighten everyone in the Org." She shook at the thought of it.
Adjusting the coarse adjustment knob while peering through the microscope's eyepiece, Lee muttered, "Well, who knows? Maybe they interrogated him and sent back the corpse, through the zoo grounds, to scare us all."
Rose shrugged. Even if she loved opening things up to see what was inside and become more fascinated, she flinched at the stare of the cadaver at her. It made her sigh to know that this dead man used to be an agent, too, someone who also used to work in the medical division like her.
"Despite the fact that political officers usually are blacklisted, I doubt that agent here was assassinated because he's mayor." Lee added, taking notes of the tissues' image, "But if anyone were to kidnap this mayor, they'd hold him for ransom instead of killing him."
Rose turned to him and suggested, "I'll get someone to investigate on the bullet. I'll go flip through the criminal history later so we can get a lead on our Jack the Killer here. Anything weird on the tissues, Young Man?"
Nodding, Lee took the slide from under the objectives and transferred it into an electron microscope, where the image of the slide is projected onto the white screen nearby. After turning the adjustment knobs, the image on the screen became clearer than earlier amid the bright screen.
"There's nothing wrong with the tissues, actually," Lee commented, recording it into his clipboard, "except for the fact that all of the cells are dead, which is… well, expected."
Again, Rose heaved a heavy sigh. Working with dead people always made her tear up. Lee stored the slide safely in the DNA record cabinet. Then, he proceeded to pry the corpse's eyelids open to see the man's pupils, if they were dilated or not.
After recording his find, he told Rose, "His pupils are dilated, which means he died in a dark place, probably an alley or a room, which means we might not have any witnesses. This is bad, Rose. The case might not even be closed." It was what he feared the most.
But then, something got to him. Case. This agent was working on a certain case. The case revolved around a murder of three employees in a lingerie boutique, Peach Poppy's Lingerie Shop. And the prime suspect was Black Ivory Hyuga and only this agent knew. He wasn't to expose it to the police till next week.
Maybe, Black Ivory got rid of him so she can't get a police chase tailing her around. Also, she must've interrogated him so he can tell her where the file on that certain case was so the record can be destroyed. Still, no one can ever be sure if he sang or not.
"Rose," Lee started in a stern tone, "I want to know who in our criminal records have used the interrogatory techniques used on agent… now."
Hearing the urgency in Lee's voice, Rose rushed to the notebook laptop beside the compound microscope and began scanning through the computer files filled with criminal identities and crimes. Then, after she typed in the word Interrogation Specialist, she got six results, where only two fit the matches…
Black Ivory Hyuga and Spider Shino Aburame.
"Bingo," Lee thought as he and Rose glared at the screen in satisfaction, "We have a lead."
Quickly, Lee accessed the top secret criminal records stored in the agents' individual files. After accessing the mayor-agent's solder, Lee gasped.
Indeed, Hinata deleted the crime record. Clever bitch, she was.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mousse of Foie Gras, Fugu Sushi and Croquembouche.
It has been a long time since Tenten last got a good look at fattened duck liver, bought a pack of Fugu fillets (She wouldn't risk her life and try to eat a poisonous fish no matter how delicious it is) and tried to pronounce a French pastry's name. Dinner will be perfect. She's been preparing things since she came home. Still, she was sure that it's all worth the hardships since she's celebrating getting her job back with Neji (okay, and Lee) tonight.
As Tenten chopped up the foie gras on the chopping board, she sang along with the belching radio to the song Fallen by Lauren Wood.
I can't believe it, you're a dream comin' true.
I can't believe how I have fallen for you.
And I was not looking, was content to remain.
And it's ironic to be back in the game.
While she carried the chunk of duck fat in her hands towards the fridge, Tenten twirled in a state of lovesickness. Strangely and very ironically, things were going smooth. Back then, she thought Neji would ruin her life.
But here she was, chirping in a sweet tone as she recapped how everything is better. She's got one hot, kick ass bodyguard/boyfriend, money enough to be added to her college tuition fund (Thanks to Lee's rent) and Neji was paying her debt for her. Plus, she has her job back. Oh, and she's not pregnant.
Everything feels so beautiful.
You are the one who's led me to the sun.
How could I know that I was lost without you?
Laying out the nori, Tenten danced perkily with the song's tone. It was amazing how love can do you wonders.
And I want to tell you, you control my rain…
And you should know that you are life in my veins.
But little did she know that a black Corvette soundlessly parked in front of her mansion. The car windows slowly and cautiously lowered, revealing the faces of two men with machine guns. One of those men, seated at the back seat beside a black-clad woman, had three fingers gone.
Luckily, Tenten peeked out of the window, past the kitchen curtains above her sink. "That's definitely not Neji," she said in her head. There, something tugged at her. She saw the men cock their guns. They were going to shoot.
Instinctively, Tenten ran from the window with the intention to escape the shots. But once the glasses started to shatter due to the flying bullets, she dropped herself onto the wooden floor, her arms over her head. Everything felt like the pub incident, only now, Neji wasn't there… again.
Everything got hit, including a spot near her healing and wound up injury from yesterday's situation in the slums. As she screamed at the shot, Tenten felt the whole world fall apart all around her. Picture frames fell from their hooks, her Croquembouche tower crumbled and the radio croaked, making way for the sound of ricocheting bullets.
With blood in her hands, Tenten turned her head all around to look for the nearest phone. To her luck, the kitchen phone was merely an arm's reach away. At this, she pulled on the cord and when the phone crashed to her, she started dialing Neji's cellphone number.
In between the firing, Tenten could hear the ringing tone in her ears, never ending. Very bad timing.
All of a sudden, the shots ceased. It could've been to Tenten's relief if it wasn't for the sound of car doors opening and closing. Thinking fast, she pulled herself up, but collapsed again at the weight of her new wound. "Geez, why am I always getting hit there?"
But when she heard fists trying to break the door down, she tried to think straight.
The two men in black jackets and black slacks ruthlessly entered the house without warning. Turning the tables, inspecting behind the sofa and examining every crook and cranny of the room, they realized that nobody seemed to be home. But Kiba had doubts. Who would leave their house with kitchen tools and ingredients laid out?
Someone was definitely home.
"But then, Hyuga must've escaped in the nick of time. Knowing bastards like him, he's slick." Kiba assumed, pocketing his gun. But before he could motion for his assistant to move out with him, he noticed a trail of blood, scraping the floor, beginning at the kitchen and trailing across the living room.
"Go out." Kiba told his accomplice, "I'll be out in a minute." As the other man left, Kiba followed the trail of blood instinctively, like a predator trying to find a way towards his prey. He followed the bloodstains, walking noiselessly through the carpeted floor. There, the trail stopped before the glass door leading to the pocket garden.
Kiba proceeded to push open the sliding door and looked around in the grass lawn. The tent surprised him, though. As Twinkle-Top hissed at him, he tore the tent apart, hoping to find someone or anything valuable that could help them in their chase. Past the clothes, the blankets and the empty bullet shells, there was nothing… and no one.
Giving up, Kiba reentered the house, towards the front door to leave.
Luckily for Tenten, no one looks inside the outhouse. Catching her breath, careful not to make a sound more than a heave of breath. The trickling blood at her leg hasn't stopped, expectedly, and hurriedly, she dialed for Lee's number, praying that he doesn't have a busy tone.
"Hello?" the voice at the other end spoke.
"Lee, it's Tenten," she choked on her words as she whispered to the receiver, "Some car of snipers shot my house from outside—"
Lee almost dropped the laptop on his lap. "What?! Are you hurt?" Lee exclaimed, jolting Rose Pierce, who was reassembling the blood slide on her microscope. After a sympathetic look at Rose, Lee went back to his phone to hear Tenten's reply.
"I'm… I'm shot."
"My flippin' gawd, the idiot got shot!"
"Lee, this is not helping!"
"Well, don't you know that whenever a person asks you if you're alright, you answer fine even if your head is hanging by the wall clock?!"
"Lee! I'm serious here! What's worst about this case is Kiba's with them!"
Lee's eyes dilated. "Hang on there. I'll get someone to fetch you and treat that wound." Quickly putting away the laptop, Lee turned to Rose and stated almost abruptly, "Rose, I need help here."
Sensing the urgency, Rose snapped her gloves off. "At your service."
Standing up with a scorn feature on, Lee told Rose in an almost panicky sense, "I want you to take the fastest chopper we have and fly to the mansion by the bay. A friend of mine's shot and I want you to treat her immediately. She's in a recovery state from a previous wound, too."
Without hesitation, Rose nodded, took off her mask and remarked, "I'm taking the Double O 1159 chopper. Instruct your friend to stay where she is and press a cloth over her wound so the bleeding won't be so bad once I arrive. Give me five minutes tops." And after grabbing her belt of medical equipment, Rose rushed out of the autopsy examination lab.
As Tenten hung up, she gazed down at her wound. It was the last thing she was worried about.
There was something inside her that made her want to call Lee back and tell him to watch over Neji instead, wherever he is.
So much for a beautiful day.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
The policeman has been on the phone for quite some time now as Neji sat obediently on the seat next to the phone, handcuffed.
"Damn it," he thought, pissed with himself, "I can't believe I let myself get caught like this. And it isn't even high security. Just one puny guard. Honestly, this is very humiliating for any criminal. This is disrespect!"
In their part of the world, criminals should be kept under maximum security, whether it be only for a minute or for twenty years. If that kind of security wasn't displayed, it meant the police were underestimating their caught criminal… which was shitty indeed.
"Yes, sir," The policeman nodded as he kept his ear on the telephone, eyeing Neji intently, "We got your card, Mr. Uchiha. And the criminal behind it is here with me. Yes, sir. Right away, sir. I will, sir. Okay, goodbye." As the man hung up, Neji growled. He had an idea that it'd be Uchiha.
"Someone's gon' tah have tah talk t'ya," the policeman mentioned, walking towards the door nearby to let the guest in, "I'ma leave you two 'ere. He wants ta talk t'ya bout his ATM card, a'ight?" Neji neither nodded nor flinched. Without a word, the policeman added, "You gots no guns this time 'round, boy. So behave."
As the policeman left, the raven-haired millionaire Sasuke Uchiha stepped inside, unarmed, bringing a suitcase and not a bodyguard in sight. Great, not only did the police underestimate him. Even some unlikely civilian like Uchiha did, too. Unless, of course, he was confident that Neji wouldn't hurt him.
"Good day, Mr. Hyuga." Sasuke greeted, smirking smugly. As he took a seat opposite the handcuffed mob boss, he took out a cigarette and offered it to Neji, only to have it rejected sourly. Nicotine never really got to Neji. Alcohol did, sometimes, though.
"I am here" Sasuke began as he pocketed the pack of cigarettes, "to offer a bargain. I believe that you stole my ATM card when you attended the grand opening function in my brother's hotel. I must admit, Mr. Hyuga, that I was very, very impressed. But I am sure that you could've succeeded in remaining hidden if it weren't for the locks of hair you left."
Neji gnashed his teeth. He never really wanted to recollect that night, especially since Uchiha was the bastard who tried to get himself on Tenten… his Tenten.
"Now, I will tell you this:" Sasuke said, leaning closer so Neji can hear better, "I will personally hand over 1 million dollars to your mafia's little petty fund and wipe your criminal record clean." Neji's eyes grew. It was unbelievable to know that Uchiha was offering to clean his record. No one can offer that without changing his or her mind less than 24 hours later.
"Plus," he added sleekly, "I will offer my services and support to you and your men. According to my sources, you are under a genocidal spell. Seeing your state right now, I am absolutely sure that you are in need of a rich man's facilities per se the not-so usual armory."
Sasuke's proposal was too good. There had to be a loophole or something.
The twinkle in Sasuke's eyes glimmered brighter. "All you have to do," Sasuke continued, "is to help me with a little something."
"I knew it." Neji thought, rolling his eyes. Still, he awaited Sasuke's reply.
And so, once again, Sasuke grinned and told him, "I want you to help me win back the woman of my life. Sounds easy enough, Mr. Hyuga?"
Then and there, Neji muttered, "What the hell? Is that it? You want to win some girl over again? And that one little act is already equivalent to all those rewards you offered me?" It intrigued him and surprised him: Uchiha had a heart.
Nodding, Sasuke explained further, "This woman I'm trying to win over again was a… very, very good friend. A few years ago, we were engaged to marry. But certain awful things happened to her… to us. And she cannot forgive me for all those mistakes. Will you help me win her back?"
"I'm not some marriage counselor to know what to do, Uchiha."
"Ah, but you have a girl, do you not? And I heard that she was your captive. Really, Mr. Hyuga, someone who is capable of making a woman who is supposed to be under his watch become literally under him is to be looked up to in the masculine world."
Neji grumbled inaudibly a few swears before telling Sasuke, "Because I need that 1 million and the armory, I'm taking your challenge. But do I have a guarantee that I will get the money once I've already succeeded in helping you get your bitch?"
Sasuke smiled. This is where he'll surprise Hyuga. He took his suitcase, laid it before Neji and unlocked it, revealing rows and rows of crispy, new 500-dollar bills. Voluntarily, Sasuke took out his ultraviolet laser and scanned the top row for Neji, revealing the truth: The money was real, not the slightest suspicion of counterfeit.
"I am not on a 50/50 basis that this woman I'm aiming for will eventually come back. There is a possibility that we will never be together again, so I am willingly handing the money and the clean slate condition this very moment, to save the both us and our time." Sasuke confessed, tempting the mafia boss.
As Neji continued to stare, Sasuke added to the conversation, "So, Mr. Hyuga, do we have a deal?"
The two contradicting colors of their eyes, black and lavender, lit up with a cunning amazement. Finally, Neji raised on of his chain-bound hands to the suitcase and after he shut it, he pulled it towards himself. "We have a deal."
Satisfied, Sasuke beamed and took out his cellphone to contact his IT to clear Neji's criminal record as promised. But then, Neji questioned him out of 'business' reasons, "Say, who is this girl, anyway?"
Immediately, Sasuke slid a wallet-size picture from his pocket and said, "She's Sakura Haruno, alias Rose Pierce. She used to work as a reporter, but now I think she's a half-time nurse in the local government hospital."
No doubt about it, Neji has hit the jackpot. Rose Pierce is one of his colleagues.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
She cringed as Rose poked at her wound, searching for the embedded bullet.
"You got quite a hit, Tenten," Rose commented as she pushed through tissue and muscle with her scalpel and retractor, "I'm just glad you're fine. It looks like you have a high pain threshold to be actually resist tearing up right now. Usually, this procedure makes people scream, even with anesthetic."
All Tenten did was whimper at the stings flowing down her thigh. Not only was the glass cuts she got yesterday acting up, but the cold metal tools on her torn muscles were making her want to shriek and make Rose stop. Finally, Rose got hold of her graspers.
"This'll hurt a little," Rose warned, sinking the tweezers deeper into Tenten's flesh, "I'll just get the bullet out then I'll sew you up. Don't worry so much." But once the bullet was tweaked with inside of her, Tenten proceeded to grunt louder again.
Hoping Tenten will stay firm, Rose could feel beads of sweat streaming down her face with every passing second. It was one of those rare days when she'd have to do something without any anesthesia to aid the patient. She has everything to worry about.
"Almost there," Rose consoled her with a white lie. In truth, the bullet seems like it has no plans of budging. Initially, Rose assumed that this would not take more than five minutes. To her dismay, they've been dealing with the bullet wound for almost twelve and a half minutes.
Retaining her full concentration, Rose went back to finishing her medical procedures, but she didn't think of how much this will hurt Tenten this time around. No, this time, she was dealing with it in the state where she knew that Tenten would much rather deal with this rather then die.
As expected, Rose had managed to carefully pull the bullet from the cut, relieving Tenten from most of the pain for now. "Wow," Rose commented as she examined the bullet up close, amid all the blood, and added, "Copper-tipped. This must've hurt a lot. I'm going to have to give you some tetanus shots to be on the safe side."
While Rose swabbed a portion of her arm, preparing it for the injection needle, Tenten reached for her cellphone and started dialing a number. As she did, Rose cocked a brow and questioned, sticking the needle's end through the bottle of solution, "Calling someone, Tenten?"
Placing the phone near her ear, Tenten nodded and told Rose, "Yeah, my boyfriend."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Finally back to walking down the sidewalk, with a briefcase and a clean slate criminal record this time, Neji felt relieved. Getting what he wants has never gotten this easy. Even if nothing was easy for the mafia, he had to be an exception.
Without much thought, he turned his cellphone on and found a missed call from Tenten. But once he was about to call her back, his phone began to ring again due to a call from Tenten. "And she calls me a mind reader." He thought, rolling his eyes as he picked up.
"Hello?"
"My gawd, Neji, you're fine! Thank goodness!"
"W-What do you mean I'm fine?"
Tenten's throat felt dry as she mouthed her words carefully with the syringe touching her skin, "A car drove in front of the house and started shooting the house. I got hit, but I'm alright now. A friend of Lee's helping me out. The press has really good staff to be so ready 24/7."
Neji nibbled on his lip. Tenten had no idea that Lee was a part-time government agent. She also didn't know who Rose Pierce was, but that was out of his thoughts. "Any idea who it was?" Neji asked.
The question struck Tenten a little like how the syringe pushed into her skin. "I don't know who the others were," Tenten honestly answered, "But one thing I know is: Kiba's one of them."
Hearing this, Neji almost missed a step. "Inuzuka?!" Neji exclaimed, catching many people's attentions, "How'd you know?"
"He entered the house to check for anyone injured or something. I dunno, he just came in! And he didn't look like he was looking for any of us to help us." Tenten admitted as Rose cleaned her injection, "He even had a gun with him. I trusted that guy."
"I know," Neji muttered, promising himself that he'd beat up Inuzuka, "Do you have any details on the assailants? Anything can help." He needed to know who had the shits to actually try to harm his Tenten.
Trying her best to recall, Tenten finally said, "A black car. That's all I remember. I think it was a Corvette or a low-rider. I don't really have good IQ on cars. They had machine guns and they were in black, too. The description sounds too general that it might not even help."
But Neji already had a clue on who he was dealing with. "No," he murmured at the phone, "I have an idea of who we're dealing with." As the silence grew between the two lines, Neji questioned Tenten, "By the way, who's taking care of you there? Lee?"
Tenten turned to the agent beside her and told Neji, "Her name tag reads Rose Pierce." Funny how she had one on.
Rose merely smiled at Tenten, pocketed her tools, proceeded to plant a band-aid on Tenten's arm before she said, "Tell Neji I said hi."
With that, Neji's lips turned to an angle. "I need to talk to her, Tenten. Please give her the phone."
Obediently, Tenten did. "Hey, Eagle," Rose greeted Neji informally as she cleaned her syringe, "Tenten's doing good here. Don't worry about her, alright?"
"Rose, listen to me," Neji said immediately, "It's almost nightfall. Please do me a really big favor and watch over Tenten. Take good care of her… Better care than the time in Uchiha's hotel, okay?" Rose just huffed and acknowledged this.
Once Rose had given the phone back to Tenten, Neji spoke in the softest and sweetest tone he could muster, "Sweetheart, I don't want to put you into more danger and I think your leg will wither from the many wounds you got there. To protect the both of us, I'm suggesting something: What do you think of moving?"
"Moving?" Tenten repeated the word, "To where?"
"Uh… I dunno… Does the Hyuga Manor sound good?"
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I am ultimately sorry for taking 2 weeks plus to update! I'm just really busy! Especially since my periodical exams are coming! And I'm failing Math again! I have remedial classes and I don't come home as early anymore.
Kankuro: -slams Math book onto the table- Lots more where that came from!
Suspense Questions:
Will Sasuke keep his part of the deal with Neji? Will Tenten be fine? Will Rose eventually be won over by Sasuke? Is it cute that Neji's calling Tenten Sweetheart(I think so)? Is Neji serious about moving to the Hyuga Manor with Tenten? Is Hanabi better now (By gawd, I think she is)? Will Kiba really and completely go to the dark side? …Is Tenten reallynot pregnant –sheepish smile-? Will Hinata prevail?
And how will Neji defeat Hinata in the end in this chase of genocide (Irony, I love irony)?
Find out soon.
Please, please leave a review! I don't want to lose readers, too. Thank you, anyway! You guys are the best!