Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Naruto.

Destined to Love
By: Chigiri Sasaki

Summary: He was a prodigy, with a damaged past and no future. She was a commoner, with a hidden secret. Strung together by fate, it was only a matter of time before she changed his life forever. AU, NejiTen

Chapter Eleven

Akira's entire body reacted upon hearing her name. Her muscles contracted and her hands balled into fists. She instantly tore her arm away from his grasp. The sun had already risen and with each passing moment the town stirred to life, but to the two shinobi, it was still as quiet as ever, the tension that lingered around them so heavy and suffocating it was almost as if the world was closing in on them.

"Suzuki Akira…" His voice was eerily quiet.

Akira didn't move or show any indication to confirm that she was, indeed, Akira. There was no need in revealing that the land of lightning was seeking for revenge, whether Neji and the rest of the clan were aware of it or not. She remained motionless in her defensive stance, waiting for Neji to make his next move.

"Akira," he said once again, and immediately Akira felt the underlying hatred in his voice. She instantly drew out her long sword and switched her stance from defensive to offensive, directing her sword squarely at his heart.

But although she had made such a move, Neji still advanced towards her steadily, his eyes and face blank as if he was oblivious to the pain she was able to inflict upon him. Did he want to be killed?

"It was clever of you to poison me," he said, and bent down to pick up something.

Akira's gaze followed his movements and looked down. To her slight surprise, it was the weapon scroll that she had dropped earlier when she had attempted to kill the messenger bird. Her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what he would do with it, but her frown slowly changed into a tiny smirk when she saw Neji's body trembling. Akira could tell that Neji was trying to ignore the numbing poison, and was attempting to summon his remaining energy to put up a fight. It was pitiful to watch.

"Damn it," Neji hissed dangerously. "Damn it all." He closed his eyes and began concentrating on his blood and chakra flow. He had practiced this before; Hiashi had once closed up all of his chakra points and left the young prodigy to unblock them by himself. Remembering what he had done in the past, Neji relaxed his muscles and began to concentrate. If he could only…

On the other side stood Akira, whose eyes were fixed intensely upon the focusing prodigy, staring at him unblinkingly, watching him tremble as he struggled to gain feeling back into his limbs. There was no way he would generate more chakra in such a short moment's notice—he used it up when he trained back in his training area—she saw it all.

But she suddenly caught her breath when he stopped moving. What now? She felt her grip tighten around her sword. Although she was not supposed to injure him, she felt the need to defend herself—she found it very unsettling and uncomfortable when she started to feel such a sudden and dark aura coming from Neji.

The Hyuuga prodigy felt queerly powerful all of a sudden. He felt bursts of chakra suddenly gushing into his body, and he felt his body regaining even more strength and speed than ever. Raw emotions of hatred and anger from everything that made him bitter made his blood bubble and he suddenly felt a strange urge to get rid of Akira—the source of Tenten's departure, the source of their families' feud—the source of his bitterness.

Neji's eyes suddenly snapped open and his Byakugan activated instantly and Akira immediately saw the murderous intent in his eyes. By the next tenth of a second Hyuuga Neji was already charging at her.

It was all too fast, really. She had never expected him to overcome the numbing poison that she had inserted into his drink in such a short period of time. All along she had a deep gut instinct that she had not put enough poison to numb him completely, but at the same time she knew she couldn't risk the chance of killing him by an overdose. Akira cursed; at this rate, she would be discovered.

Neji came faster and faster. His speed was intimidating, but it wasn't fast enough for Akira to lose focus—her sharp eyes kept up and saw through every step. She fingered her sword, knowing in a matter of milliseconds she would have to draw it out.

But Neji disappeared at the last moment.

Akira's head instantaneously snapped upwards. She swiftly swept her sword all around her to prevent a surprise attack, but Hyuuga Neji was nowhere to be seen. After looking all around her the kunoichi finally realised that only quietness surrounded her and that Neji had probably escaped.

Akira stabbed her sword into the ground and cursed. This wasn't part of her plan. This wasn't supposed to happen—she wasn't supposed to be here, trying to find her victim and waiting to be caught—she was supposed to be on her way back to the land of lightning! Akira pursed her lips and anxiety filled her eyes simply wondering what punishment she would have to face. But she knew that she had to leave now—if Neji really did leave, then he would probably be heading towards the Hyuuga manor to report her to the clan head. Annoyance immediately surfaced in her pools of hazel.

The distraction was all Neji needed.

He instantly charged at her, his mind driven by nothing but hatred and bitterness. He didn't care how much stronger she was or what after-effects his body would suffer later on or how the results would be—he ran and ran with everything he had.

He knew she noticed him at the last second and redrew her sword, but he knew it was too late.

The dark chakra surrounding Neji's palm flared as he aimed it towards her heart.

Hyuuga Hiashi-san,

I was puzzled when you sent the contract asking for my consent to allow Mikya's marriage to Hyuuga Neji. I was puzzled, because there is no marriage. In fact, there is no Mikya. Not anymore, at least.

You see, my daughter Mikya was killed the day before her arrival at Konoha. The shock and misery has overwhelmed my family. There were no traces or evidence of the murderer, though I have tried everything within my power to discover his or her identity. I've employed the very best, and everything they tell me is the same—that the murderer had to be an elite Jounin.

I had sent a messenger to tell you of this news; had you not received it?

Only after reading your recent letter of the confirmation of Mikya's marriage did it hit me that the messenger had not gotten to you, nor did it return back to the Bird country. I was too busy grieving over my daughter to notice that, hence the turmoil the Hyuugas are experiencing right now. Yet oddly, nobody else from the Bird country took note of the missing messenger bird either; the guards had not reported any sightings or missing birds that we have sent. It was then that I realised that something strange was going on.

My daughter was killed the day before she set off to Konoha and the letter claiming that the marriage was off was not successfully sent. Furthermore, you had sent the confirmation even with the absence of my daughter, which could only mean that an impostor had taken my daughter's name and place. It is likely that the impostor is the murderer.

There have also been disturbing rumours floating between the countries; I heard that there would be revenge taken upon Konoha from either the Sound or the Lightning. At first I had thought that it was simply a hoax, and brushed it off… but considering the current situation, perhaps there is an enemy after Konoha…

Please forgive me. I sent this as quickly as possible to warn you; I truly hope that it isn't too late.

Sato Isamu

Hyuuga Hiashi did not know what to think.

Even after reading it twice he still couldn't tear his eyes away from the letter that arrived just ten minutes ago. Swirling emotions of bitterness and nostalgia and worry and shock all washed over him at once, leaving the poor clan head with his eyes closed in an attempt to clear his mind. Just when he had begun to think that the entire drama that came with Neji's engagement was over, another problem showed up unexpectedly, hitting him like a tidal wave. How could he have not noticed? How could Neji not have noticed?

Neji was the most ruthless, conservative and untrusting person Hiashi had ever known—it was unbelievable that he didn't see through her cover. And on top of that, Neji had the Byakugan; he could have easily seen what evil plan she was doing when she thought that nobody was looking.

Weariness made its way to Hiashi's wrinkly features. The impostor was obviously after the Byakugan's secret. He thought he had ended everything years ago when he witnessed his brother Hizashi's death, but obviously they found out about the Hyuuga's scheme and they now wanted revenge. So they probably had a kunoichi to reveal their secret through a different approach—she came here as Mikya, hoping that Neji would accept her as his wife and after that she would eventually figure out everything.

A deep crease appeared on the clan head's forehead. And they believed her—they believed every lie the impostor said because they were all too busy being concerned about Tenten and her closeness with Neji. And then Neji chased Tenten away, thinking she was up to no good when he was protecting thereal enemy. They had all been foolish. Right now the impostor was probably with Neji, watching him train—

Hiashi's eyes widened in alarm when the realisation finally hit him.

Neji's in danger.

"Where's Neji?" he instantly demanded, grabbing the nearby servant's shoulders.

He didn't even wait for the poor, frightened girl to reply. He stomped past her, pushing her out of his way and tore past the hallways of the Hyuuga manor to head outside. He instantly activated his Byakugan when cold, fresh, morning outdoor air reached his lungs. Despite the chilly temperature he walked out with only his robe to protect him against the cold, and he examined the area that Neji would usually be found training in. But to his great dismay, it was empty.

His eyes instantly travelled towards the Konoha borderline, where he knew the impostor would be heading towards if she were to carry out her escape plan. More than anything did he hope that Neji had figured out her plan and was holding up well fighting against 'Mikya', but something told him that the impostor was, by far, stronger than the Hyuuga prodigy.

And when Hiashi finally spotted them two, he knew he was right.

"It's a sunset, little one," said a soft voice. "It rises every morning and sets every dusk, but it never becomes any less beautiful." Her ever-present loving smile was in place and the light cast a soft glow over her lovely features. Tenten looked up and smiled at the woman. Her mother was always one of beauty and grace.

Tenten was resting her head on the woman's lap. She felt her mother's fingers run through her silken auburn strands as she watched the sun disappear into the horizon. "It's so… so beautiful," Tenten whispered childishly, her stubby little fingers reaching out. "I want to bring it home, mommy!"

The woman's soft stroking suddenly stopped. She then exhaled a sigh that was sounded so sad it made young Tenten sit up in response and tilt her head questioningly at her mother. "What's wrong, mommy?"

"Tenten… there is no 'home' anymore. We—"

The words wouldn't come out. The corners of the woman's soft brown eyes began to mist up as she stared into her young daughter's bright and innocent amber eyes, wondering how she would ever be able to forgive herself after all this ended. She swallowed hard and held her daughter gently by the shoulders. "I can't do this," she whispered, her voice cracking, "I can't do this to you, Tenten… I-I can't."

Tenten woke up with a start. Beads of perspiration trickled down her back and her forehead gleamed with sweat but at the same time she was freezing. Her hazel eyes were wide with horror and her head was pounding and then Tenten sat there completely in a daze, her mind trying hard to decipher the situation. Where was she? Her frantic eyes darted across the room back and forth, scanning the airy white room in the process. Through the open window on the left, the chilly morning wind darted in—a ruthless, cool touch that seeped through the thin material of her Chinese-styled attire. Although cold, Tenten found it to be rather calming.

"Tenten!" a voice cried as someone suddenly burst into the room. Tenten jumped and her first reaction was to defend herself, but she relaxed slightly when she saw the warm but worried cerulean eyes of her friend Yamanaka Ino. "Tenten! Are you alright? What happened? I knew Sakura or I should have stayed home with you! I'm so sorry that I didn't—"

"Where am I?" Tenten asked hoarsely.

"At the hospital," Ino replied, blinking. "Don't you remember? You collapsed at my house, and no one knew until Sakura and I came back. I'm so sorry that I didn't come home right away… we had so many shifts to cover at the hospital and there was just so many patients and everything—" Ino paused. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Tenten rubbed her temples. She had a terrible headache, but she didn't exactly have the heart to tell her friend to go away.

"Well," Ino said, getting the message, "I better get going now—Tsunade-sama told me to call her when you wake up. So stay put until Tsunade-sama comes, okay?"

Tenten caught her breath. Did she have a disease so severe that she needed medical attention from the Hokage herself? The brunette had always anticipated for the moment where she would meet her idol Tsunade, but not in a place as sombre as the hospital, where Tsunade might deliver news that could place her in an unstable position for the rest of her life.

Just then, the door opened, and in came Tsunade, the beautiful and powerful direct descendant of the two greatest shinobi in the leaf village. She looked a lot older from up close, but, Tenten figured, it must have been all the hours that she had to stay up working at the hospital. Tenten glanced at her idol in admiration. Her skill, strength, compassion and strong sense of leadership was what the young kunoichi looked up to.

"Tenten," Tsunade said nonchalantly as she wrote on her clipboard quickly, not even looking at her patient. "You fainted after seeing a scenario, right?"

"Yes."

Tsunade pursed her ruby lips for a moment. "Was it about your parents or your early childhood?"

"Yes," Tenten answered, "I saw my mom, but I still don't know where or who my parents really are."

"I see." The Hokage continued to write, professionalism evident in her movements.

An uneasy tension lingered in the atmosphere. Tenten bit her lip as she watched Tsunade go out the room to consult with the doctors that passed by. Tenten didn't mean to be impolite by blurting out questions, but as soon as Tsunade came back in, the inquiry just rolled off her tongue. "What's wrong with me?"

"Well," the blonde-haired woman said slowly, reading off the papers, "the doctor that examined you says that you're in pretty good health, except you're lacking a few nutrients—"

"No, as in what's happening to me. I need to know."

Tsunade didn't seem to mind the rude interruption and set down her clipboard. She looked directly at Tenten for the first time, her piercing eyes boring into her soul. "Tenten," she said solemnly, "you are going to get your memory back."

Right then, everything stopped for Tenten. Silence immediately enveloped the hospital room. Outside, cries of urgency and sorrow still filled the hallways, and sounds of heavy footsteps still echoed continually through each corridor, but Tenten couldn't hear it. She couldn't hear any of it.

Tsunade didn't seem to notice and continued. "But I must let you know, Tenten, that you didn't lose your memory naturally from an injury or something of that sort. There was a jutsu performed on you—a jutsu so rare that I don't know anyone in Konoha that knows how to do it exactly. But after a certain period of time passes, the after-effects from the jutsu will start to fade away, hence the brief scenario your mind just recalled."

Tenten was looking at Tsunade, but she couldn't hear her. It was as if she was looking right through her because her brown hazel eyes were wide and lifeless and dull. The only thing that occupied her thoughts was the fact that she was going to remember her past; half of her had went into complete shock, while the other half was rather happy that she would finally know who she really was. Her swirling emotions just seemed too much and too overwhelming and the truth just seemed too strong, and eventually Tenten clamped her ears and closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to shut everything out.

"Tenten?" Tsunade suddenly called, gently shaking her shoulders. "Tenten!"

Her voice was commanding and strong but Tenten could barely hear her. Her voice sounded so distant and faint to her, blending into the background with such ease. At this moment, the only thing she could hear was the uneven beating of her heart.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

When the beating became so loud that Tenten actually thought that the pain would actually obliterate her mind, something cool and soothing touched her forehead and suddenly everything felt better—and then, eventually, all the pain was gone.

Tenten slowly opened her eyes to see Tsunade's hand hovering over her forehead, releasing a steady, constant amount of glowing blue chakra. Tenten's eyes trailed off to the distance where a few other doctors as well as Ino and Sakura stood presently, staring and observing Tsunade's actions intently.

"Tenten," the Hokage said, drawing her hand back. She turned back to her clipboard. "From now on, you will be experiencing such pains until you remember everything from your past to the present. The part of your brain that had kept all your memories up to now was… dead, if you will, and it was suddenly activated a few days ago when you fainted. Your mind is not used to the extra knowledge, so it's completely normal if you feel extreme discomfort."

Tenten nodded slightly. "So what can I do about the pain?"

"Regular painkillers will do the job." Tsunade turned to doctors that were standing a few feet away from the bed. "You all should return back to your regular jobs; I can handle it from here. Call in one of the nurses to look after the patient."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," they all chorused at once, bowed to bid farewell, and left the room in an orderly fashion. Tenten watched in slight amusement; something about their routine suggested that they had been practicing that for quite some time. Her attention, however, was instantly averted back to the Hokage when she tapped the clipboard with her long ruby fingernails.

"Where do you live, Tenten?"

"I live in the south of Konoha," she answered promptly. "You know, the rural area surrounded by the forests."

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed. "That's really far. So what brought you here?"

"Well, I was here to tutor Hyuuga Neji"—Tsunade saw something flash briefly in her eyes—"but then things got complicated and I quit and was about to go back home. But then Ino found me, and I've been living in her house for the past week with some other village girls."

"That's odd, because there have been rumours that the Land of Lightning is coming back for revenge and their representative is living with the Hyuugas. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Tenten cast a questioning glance to the Hokage. "Me? No, I don't really know anything about Konoha's past or anything like that… I've been living in my little cottage all my life. It's all I know."

"I see." Tsunade quickly jotted down some notes and after a few moments she stood up. "Well, you're good to go now," she said, handing the brunette a few papers and a pen. "Please fill out these forms and give them to the receptionist when you leave." Tsunade gave her a brief smile. "Feel better, Tenten."

Tenten smiled gratefully and watched the retreating figure of her idol. When the door slammed shut and everything became quiet again, the overwhelming reality hit Tenten once more and the dreadful feeling came back. Tenten instinctively reached for her neck, as she would whenever she was nervous, but her hand instantly dropped when she remembered that her precious necklace wasn't there. Tenten sighed.

She had first discovered that it was gone the first day she had slept over at Ino's. She noticed the missing jewellery right before bed; she would always hold her necklace before she went to sleep because it would always provide comfort of some sort to ease the burden she bore on her shoulders every day. It had always helped to know that she had an identity—something to prove that she was human, something to prove her existence as an individual.

It meant the world to her. Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, Tenten had gone out that very night into the rain, searching every street and garbage can for that piece of jewellery for hours. She had been searching desperately for the following few days as well, but to no avail. When Ino told her that even Hinata couldn't find it in the Hyuuga compound, Tenten had finally come to the realisation that it was gone forever.

Tenten's heart suddenly grew heavy with dread. What if her memories were sealed for a good reason? What if her parents weren't what she thought they would be?

Tenten looked out the window and tilted her head to the boundless sky, deeply lost in thought.


The impact was deafening.

Birds fled from their nests built in the nearby trees, leaves fell from their branches and roof tiles rattled even though the collision took place on ground. Never in his life had Neji witnessed something with the likes of this. Though he was the attacker, he was the one who laid breathless and paralysed on ground right before the large crater that was caused by the impact. He cursed. He should have known that Akira would be able to deflect his attack with an even larger amount of chakra and a sword to top it off.

"Still the strongest out of us three," he commented resentfully, wiping the blood off his chin. He was perfectly aware of the dark red pool of blood growing beneath him. "Gai-sensei would have been proud of you."

"Still remember me after all these years?"

Neji eyed her coolly. "Who could forget the disloyal betrayer?"

Akira shook her head gently. "I did it for the clan, and don't try that on me, Hyuuga Neji. You would've done the same thing. You would've done the exact same thing."

"So that's your excuse?" Neji questioned bitterly. His eyes hardened. "So because it was for your clan, it made it okay to throw away everything?" His voice rose. "Was it really okay to let everything go and betray your own team?"

Something flashed in Akira's eyes and she looked away.

"And now you're back for revenge, aren't you?" His breath was rather laboured as he spoke, and his hand was clamped over the side her sword had punctured. "You're doing this all for your clan."

Akira sighed softly. "Yes, but I wouldn't have agreed to the mission if it weren't for the fact that I would see my old teammate again. After all, we were sparring partners. We made a great team." Her voice softened. "How are you? And Lee and Gai-sensei?"

"We're all doing great without you."

Akira smiled tiredly. "Don't be so bitter. I already feel bad for blaming everything on other people."

"Do you?"

"Well, no," Akira admitted, "because Tenten's a ninja too. And if she were a real ninja, nothing should have been able to hurt her."

Tenten.

The name of his tutor made Neji's mind unlock memories of her—how he had found her years ago and helped her in her time of need, and how he had chased her away and accused her of doing something she would never do. "You and I are both ninjas," he said quietly, his strained voice becoming more and more hoarse. "But Tenten's different—she's a person. She has dreams, hopes, and more than anything does she want to find out who her parents are." He unsteadily stood up. "She isn't strong, but she works hard for everything she has ever dreamed of. She's everything that we aren't."

Every trace of coldness in Akira's eyes disappeared as she looked at her former teammate in awe. He resembled the little boy she used to know, but somehow, she couldn't see his old self anymore.

"You've changed so much, Neji," she said quietly, in admiration. "We used to be so alike… so cold, ungrateful, unloving. You know, I still remember the time where we made a pact that we would be the top in our own clans." The seventeen year old paused when she glanced briefly at her sword, which was dark to the hilt. "And I'm sorry, Neji. I had never had the intention to take away Tenten. I can see that she means a lot to you."

"She doesn't mean anything to me," Neji retorted impassively, his eyes emotionless. "And I never changed. And by the looks of it, neither have you. You're still the same girl you were five years ago—smart, conniving and uncannily strong, but always getting distracted."

Akira looked up, and Neji saw those cold stony emotionless eyes once again. "Not quite."

Her figure instantly disappeared into a cloud of smoke, and Neji's eyes widened slightly when she appeared behind him. "You," she breathed into his ear, "were the one distracted."

The Hyuuga prodigy didn't make any move to respond. There was no need to anymore, he figured. He had lost too much blood and he had over exerted himself. He couldn't put up a fight either way—whether he actually tried confronting her or running away. Neji closed his eyes. Maybe his time was up. Maybe this, him standing on Konoha grounds with someone he hated, was the end.

"You won't win, Akira."

"Repeat?" she growled.

"The body your clan took twelve years ago was the one of my father and not Hiashi-sama's, as you might have guessed. Your clan did not find any trace of the Byakugan because my father had a curse placed upon him. Once the wielder died, the bloodline limit would go along with it. And now," Neji said, with both emotional and physical pain, "I suffer the same curse that my father had once bore. So there's no point. You won't figure out the secret."

"Don't test my patience, Hyuuga Neji." Akira raised her sword and Neji immediately felt the cold steel press against his neck.

"I don't need to. My uncle is coming. He has read the letter and has figured out that you're nothing but a fake, and likely, there would be backup coming as well. No matter how strong or fast you are, you won't leave without a fight."

Akira pursed her lips.

"Try to bring me back, and you'd be slowed down by my weight. You'd be stopped on the way by a four man team, and you wouldn't be able to fight without putting me down." Confidence surfaced in his pools of ivory. "Leave me here and I will report you."

The corners of his lips uplifted and Neji smirked outwardly. "Either way, you won't win."

"Hm. Still the genius, I see," Akira commented airily. "What you're saying is actually true. But what if I did"—Akira drew her sword from the side of his neck—"this?"

There was that sickening squelch that both Neji and Akira had become used to after years of missions and training, and that was the sound of pierced flesh and blood spurting. Even though everything was going at a pace too fast for his mind to comprehend, Neji knew she had plunged her sword into his chest and grazed his heart.

His insides tightened and intolerable pain seared through every fibre in his body, and Neji's eyes widened and his face paled from suffering. He sank to the ground moaning in pure agony but the pain quickly subsided when his body went completely limp. He couldn't feel the pain anymore, but his sleeve was turning red as dark blood oozed out. But to his horror, there were tints of dark purple around his wound on his shirt.

Poison.

Neji found himself unusually weak all of a sudden, his vision distorting and breathing was suddenly hard. More than anything at that moment he wanted to let those eyelids drop. This couldn't be the end, he thought faintly. He was too young—he hadn't been around long enough to prove himself and be the leader of his clan…

The last thing Hyuuga Neji saw was his former teammate disappearing into the light.

-

-

-

-

A/N: Betcha didn't see that coming. Haha.

Okay, I'm soooo sorry I didn't get this out earlier. Life has been hectic and school was torture… and well, time just flew by! Well, hope y'all are still interested. Cause I have the next 12 chapters planned out (not written, though), so there's no more writer's block for me! Yay! And also, I sort of re-edited the previous chatpers. another yay!

and omffffggg. Who loves hockey here? I can't wait to see Detroit vs. Pittsburgh!! I was always rooting for the canadiens. Go habs go! :))

And ommfffggg-er! Who here loves Twilight?! I swear to God, you cannot read the book without falling in love with Edward Cullen. I can't wait 'till the movie comes out!! Have you seen Pattinson playing Edward Cullen in the trailer? Uh, can you spell G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S hot vampire?!

Much thanks to my beta Philyra. She's totally awesome.

Love always,
Chigiri Sasakii