Chapter 4: First Assault
Tenten woke up in her room at the agency. She stretched and went to take a shower, ten minutes later she stepped out of the shower and back into her bedroom when she heard a knock at her door.
"Just a sec" she yelled as she put on her night gown "Alright come in" she watched the door open and saw her teammate walk in
"White Lightning what are you doing here?"
"I just came to check on you, see if you're alright"
"Yeah I'm fine; I mean I was a little shaken up after the incident but nothing serious"
"I see, that's good to hear" he faced the other way as he saw her open her wardrobe meaning that she was changing
"Is there any chance that you came to see me for another reason?" she asked as she put on her navy jeans, white crop top and black blazer with gold buttons
He sighed…
"I found this addressed to you, obviously it's from the killer" he handed her the white envelope with her name written on it. She was afraid if what was on the inside. She didn't know what to expect as she opened the envelope. There was a folded paper inside-a photo-with a message written on the front 'Your suffering has just begun'. She unfolded the photo and was horrified at the picture; it was a close-up picture of her dead parents. She froze at the sight of it—her heart raced in her chest and tears immediately welled up in her eyes blurring her vision. Tenten fell to her knees trying to calm herself down. Neji took the picture from her and he held her in his arms as she cried. Based on her reaction and what she told him; he figured out that it was a picture of her parents after they'd been killed.
'And all it got me was watching my parents get killed in front of me' he remembered her words
"Your parents?" he asked softly
"Yeah" she whispered back wiping away the tears "Sorry I just need to be alone for a bit" she broke away from him and left the room before he could say another word
Xxx
Neji walked into the Intelligence Division and was about to sit at his desk when Ino called him over, she was sitting with Shikamaru.
"Is there a particular reason that Tenten's in tears?" she asked him seriously
"Yes this arrived for her, it's from the killer"
She read the note and opened the photo
"Oh my gosh! There's so much blood" Ino exclaimed
"Who are they?" Shikamaru asked
"Tenten's parents"
Both of them looked up at him in shock.
"I knew they were deceased but I never knew they were murdered"
"Do you know where she is?" Neji asked
"She's on the training grounds for the Weapons Division"
The clouds were rolling in—a storm was about to start when Neji walked outside in search of Tenten. He'd walked for a few minutes deeper into the training grounds of the agency when it started drizzling. He'd finally found her, she was sitting high up in a tree in the centre of the training grounds. He made his way up with no difficulties
"I thought I'd find you here" he stood on the branch next to hers
"We used to come here all the time during our trainee days" she managed a weak smile
"After a few hours of training with Gai sensei…and Lee"
"Things just keep getting more and more serious; first he kills Lee, then he can control people and now he hits me with something I wished I'd never see again and for what; we're barely any closer to finding out who did this and why than we were in the beginning" she started crying then Neji sat next to her and put his arms around her
"I know I shouldn't ask but…what happened to them, your parents?"
She sighed
"It happened when I was eight. Both of my parents were cops although my mom retired young and stayed home with me. My father had just busted a serious drug circle and put the gang members in prison and the police department was having a celebration that my parents were going to attend…"
An eight year old Tenten helped her mother put on her make-up and watched as her father got his car keys and went downstairs.
"Ryowa's on her way over, she's going to look after you while your father and I are out alright?" she smiled and placed Tenten in her lap. Tenten smiled and nodded enthusiastically in response
The doorbell rang
"Oh that's probably her now" she stood up and carried Tenten with her to the bedroom door when they heard a gunshot. Her mother put her down and told her to hide under the bed while she went to check on her father. She made her way downstairs and walked into the living room to find her husband in a pool blood. He hadn't only been shot but hacked with an axe. She looked around the room for any signs of the perpetrators but she turned around too late and was struck on her shoulder with the axe and fell to floor.
Tenten heard her mother's screams from downstairs followed by a loud thud on the ground. She tried as hard as possible to stay quiet but she couldn't stop the tears rushing down her cheeks.
"I think that's it sir, there's no one else coming down" one of the men said
"No you're wrong, they have a daughter, find her and bring her down here" said their leader
Tenten's heart sank to her stomach, she heard the footsteps grow louder and louder as they came upstairs and eventually into her parent's bedroom. She saw two pairs of feet walking around the room. She froze when they both stopped in front of the bed. Before she could even blink, the bed had been flipped over and one of the men picked her up by her hair and dragged her downstairs.
Nothing could prepare her for what she saw—her father lay dead in a pool of blood and her mother-still alive-was bleeding from her shoulder and had bruises on her face.
"And who is this little girl?" the leader walked over to her mother and held a gun against her temple as he asked with a wicked grin on his face
"Please, please don't hurt her, I'm begging you" her mother cried
He cocked his gun and pushed it harder against her skin
"That's not what I asked; I asked who she is, what's her name?"
"Tenten, her name is Tenten"
"Isn't that a pretty name" he walked over to her "Well Tenten I want to teach you something. I'm going to teach you what happens to people who get involved in other people's business when they shouldn't. Make sure she gets a proper view boys." Said the leader as he walked right in front of her mother and aimed directly at her head
The two men in question brought Tenten to her mother's side and made her watch as the leader pulled the trigger on her mother multiple times. Tenten was screaming and crying as each gunshot was fired. By the time he stopped firing her mother looked almost unrecognisable just covered in bloody holes.
"Now Tenten I hope you remember this lesson in the afterlife" he turned his gun on her and aimed. Tenten closed her eyes and covered her ears and waited for the inevitable but it never came as the police burst through the door and quickly apprehended the three men.
One of the female officers took her outside and sat with her while the rest of the team took care of everything inside. After that she was taken to the station and waited for her aunt to pick her up—she'd been brought up to speed about the situation. From that day she'd been living with her aunt and cousin out of town. She'd sometimes forget how serious the situation was and ask when her parents would pick her up, leaving her aunt with the difficult task of explaining to an eight year old that her parents weren't coming to pick her up and that they were gone.
It took a few years but eventually Tenten accepted that her parents were dead and that her life would never be the same again.
She closed her eyes and rested her head against Neji's shoulder. He looked outward trying to gather his thoughts. He thought he knew everything about Tenten but he'd just realised that he knew very little about her childhood and her family life, all he knew was that her parents were dead but he never would've imagined that they were brutally murdered in front of her when she was no more than eight years old. She told him that they were killed back when the investigation was still in its first week but she hadn't gone into the details. And yet despite all that she'd been through she was easily one of the kindest and happiest people he knew, clearly she didn't let her past keep her from living her life—she did that all on her own. She was a lot stronger than he'd given her credit for and he'd definitely given her credit. With all the serious injuries she'd given him during their training, he'd had to acknowledge her.
A bolt of lightning broke him from his thoughts
"I think we should get down from this tree before lightning decides to strike it" he said
The two of them headed back to the agency just before the rain came down harder. They were back in Tenten's room with coffee watching the rain come down.
"Listen Neji…I know we're still on assignment and everything but—
"You should take the rest of the day off, you've just been forced to relive something traumatic and you wouldn't be able to focus. So stay here, I'll clear everything up with The Director" he cut her off to say what they were both thinking
"Thank you"
"Of course" he stood up and headed to the door and she walked with him "I should get back to the Intelligence Division…if you need anything—
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, he was slightly taken aback
"I could really use a hug" she said with her eyes closed
He eventually put his arms around her and held her like he never wanted to let go
"You're an amazing friend you know that?" she broke the silence
"And you're a lot stronger than I give you credit for, you're pretty amazing yourself" he held her a little tighter then let go before leaving.
Xxx
It was ten p.m. and most of the agents had gone home for the evening, Neji was one of the last few to leave. After he said goodnight to Tenten-who decided to stay in her room at the agency-he drove off in his black Mercedes. Half way home he stopped at a red light and noticed two completely black cars with tinted windows stop on either side of his car, he immediately became suspicious and drove off as soon as the light turned green. The two mysterious cars kept up to speed with him and before he could even react, the windows rolled down and gunshots were fired. Luckily for him all the agents had completely bulletproof cars but the assailants didn't stop there, they wedged his car between theirs and drove at full speed off the road and straight into a tree.
The windscreen shattered in front of him and he seriously whip-lashed and banged his head against the roof of the car that caved in. the two cars drove away immediately—leaving him for dead. The last thing he saw was his bloody reflection in a shard of mirror and the plume of smoke from the burning engine before blacking out.