Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, DarkAnonymous324, and Celtic-Memories for all your kind reviews, and to all those who added this story to their favorite and alert lists!

Author's Note: And I give to you the long awaited chapter: Neji's first official appearance! I'm really excited about this one, and the coming ones. So much juicy stuff in store for you all! Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

*~Chapter VIII~*

~Encounters~

"Really, Tenten, you d-don't have to walk to the Tower with me. I know you're l-looking forward to using the guards' training f-facilities," Hinata said as the two girls left the main house, heading for the administrative tower. "I've been doing this the last F-Friday of the month since I was f-fifteen."

"Wow, seriously? You've been managing a household the size of this since you were fifteen?" Tenten gave her companion a respectful look. "That's impressive!"

Hinata's cheeks colored slightly. "It's j-just what I've b-been trained to do since I was little. Now, what you d-do - being able to t-take care of yourself the way you d-do - that impresses me!"

"Which you're also learning to do," Tenten reminded her. "You're doing so well with the shuriken, I think we're going to add knives to the training. And I know I don't have to walk you to the Tower. I just want to walk there with you. And if it'll make you feel better about it," she grinned, "this is just what I need to start warming up my muscles!"

Hinata giggled. "I'll admit, it is n-nice to have your company."

They finished crossing the remaining distance in companionable silence. Just before she went up the steps into the building, Hinata pulled herself to her full if slight height and said with mock severity, "I order you to take the entire day off, Tenten. I expect you to enjoy yourself thoroughly. Understand?"

Tenten bowed, trying all the while to stifle her own fit of the giggles. "Thank you, milady. You have a good day, too." She watched until Hinata vanished into the interior of the tower, then set off briskly toward the left rear of the estate. Despite her growing affection for her charge, she welcomed some time to train more intensely than she could within the confines of the heiress's quarters. After growing up doing training sessions with Kakashi at least once most days of her life, she worried she might be - well, not exactly losing her edge, but maybe in danger of going just a little soft. The only thing that could possibly make this day any better would be if her brother were able to share it with her. Unfortunately he'd spend it standing in a corner of Lord Hyuuga's office, bored out of his head as one dull meeting succeeded another. . .

The gateway to the compound-within-a-compound which contained the barracks for the guard cohorts currently on active duty, the baths, kitchen and dining hall, along with the armories and training facilities, stood open. Just as she drew even with the portals an unidentified something - a sound, a puff of air from an unexpected direction, or just some gut-level, intuitive feeling - snapped Tenten into a state of high alert. Reacting to that stimulus, she automatically launched herself into a high forward flip as the knives concealed under her sleeves dropped into her waiting hands. Even before her feet touched ground again she'd thrown them, one to either side of her. As she tucked and rolled her ears registered dual solid thunks that let her know both weapons had connected with their targets.

Movement flickered at the extreme edge of her vision. Her hands dove into the pouches on her belt and came out holding a pair of shuriken in each. She pirouetted, casting the weapons at precise intervals with all the grace of a maiden tossing flowers. Chunk! Chunk! Chunk! Chunk! Four more assailants went down, and stayed down. Tenten came out of her spin, her katana already in hand, and got her first clear look at her ambushers: Figures clad entirely in black from head to toe, with only the barest strip left uncovered over the eyes. She only had time to think: Ninja. Here. Seriously? before the last trio left standing rushed her, their katana already slashing toward her in deadly arcs.

Tenten yielded herself to the fierce beauty of the dance, her body reflexively flowing from strike to counterstrike to evasion and back again while her entire mind focused on absorbing and analyzing every detail of her opponents' methodology. Staged fight or genuine, it didn't matter. Her whole existence drew down to this moment, this fight. If you don't come at me prepared to kill me, you'll never be any good at this. Kakashi had spoken those words to her at the beginning of her training. He'd repeated them often during the following years, especially when she felt unmotivated or complacent - and matched his actions to his words until she shook off the cobwebs. It's the difference between keeping yourself and your client alive, or dying.

Only one attacker remained. Tenten felt a little winded, but kept her breathing even as they circled warily, content to wait for the other to make his opening move. It came. Their swords whispered and sang to each other in a lightning-fast exchange of blows. Tenten saw an opening and took it-

-And in the next heartbeat not only found her blade trapped and immobile, but herself chest-to-chest with her opponent, the tiniest pinprick in the hollow at the base of her skull warning her not to move. Tenten stared into dark brown eyes only a couple of inches from her own, that still gave no hint as to whether this were a test or in earnest.

If you don't come prepared to kill. . .

"Nice trick," she said as steadily as she could. "But you really should look down at my left hand."

A sound - half growl and half chuckle - came from behind the man's mask. "You've got a knife ready to sever the groin artery, don't you?" he asked.

"Guaranteed to pierce the chinks in any body armor. Shall we call it a draw, sir?"

The corners of the eyes boring so intently into hers suddenly crinkled at the corners. Used to reading her brother's moods and expressions past his mask, Tenten knew the man was grinning broadly. "So, Kakashi," he called out, "do we call it a draw?"

To Tenten's immense (if carefully concealed) relief, her brother stepped into view behind the man holding the senbon to her neck. Drooping his eye in a wink and casually holding up a hand in their signal for No tricks! he said, "A draw works for me, Genma. Stand down, Tenten."

As they carefully disengaged and stepped away from each other, Kakashi came to stand next to her. The captain of the Hyuuga guard tugged down his mask. Suddenly, fallen "ninja" were springing to their feet all around them, sweeping off their own masks and hoods as they fell into two rows facing Tenten.

Genma bowed to her, the men behind him following their captain's example. "Please forgive the deception, Tenten," he said as he straightened. "We intended no offense to you or Kakashi by seeming to doubt your capabilities. But we of the Elite Guard Corps hold Lady Hinata in the highest esteem. There isn't a man of us who wouldn't gladly die in her service."

Tenten bowed as well. "I hold Lady Hinata in equally high regard," she replied, "and agree it would be an honor for any man - or woman - to die for her. I hope I proved to your satisfaction I am well-fitted to protect her."

"You have indeed," Genma said. Absentmindedly sticking the senbon in his mouth as though it were his toothpick, the captain called over his shoulder, "Okay, you lot, pull Tenten's weapons out of your body armor and return them to her on your way to getting back into uniform."

Each squad member introduced himself as he gave either a knife or a shuriken to her, praising her skill and thanking her for the honor of testing her. The two she'd "taken out" with her katana came last in line, displaying the slashes in their costumes and admiring the accuracy of her strikes. During the exchange of compliments, she heard Kakashi in the background murmur to Genma, "Believe me now that she never misses?"

Tenten sighed contentedly, lifting her face into the breeze and feeling pleasantly tired. "This has been a wonderful day, big brother." It had been, too, including a personal tour of the guard compound with Captain Genma, and lunch in the dining hall with him and the men who'd taken part in her test. "I'm so glad you were able to be here, too." She thought for the twentieth time of asking Kakashi what he knew of the Hyuuga tragedy, but repeatedly shied away, not wanting to cast such a dark shadow over the day.

Kakashi nodded and stretched a final time. "Almost like old times. I've enjoyed it, too. Even if," he added deadpan, "I've had to turn down at least three offers for your hand." Getting to his feet where they'd been doing cool-down stretches on the grass under a neatly-trimmed willow, he offered her a hand up. Grasping it in her own, she let him pull her to her feet, feeling slightly surprised when he kept hold of hers. "All kidding aside, Tenten, what you did here today will be told throughout every cohort of the Hyuuga guard. They respect you and accept you now, and will back you to the utmost if you ever need it." The corners of his finely-shaped lips curved up in a wistful grin as he squeezed her hand a little more tightly. "In case I haven't told you this recently, Panda: I am very, very proud of you."

Wondering slightly at his mood, Tenten flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. "I owe everything to you, big brother. Thank you so much for, for- Well, you know."

"I know. I thank the ancestors daily for bringing you into my life." Kakashi lifted a stray strand of hair away from her face and wrapped around one of her buns. He kissed the top of her head as usual, then covered the lower half of his face again. "Sorry there aren't separate bathing facilities here, but-" He shrugged. "You'd better scoot if you're going to get cleaned up before meeting Lady Hinata at the Tower. Love you, Panda Bear."

"Love you too, big brother." She stretched up to peck his cheek just above the edge of his mask with a quick kiss, then made her way swiftly out of the guard compound. A glance at her timepiece made her pick up her pace and decide to take a shortcut through the gardens at the rear of the estate and enter Hinata's quarters from there. In fact, maybe she should just run-

Relying on her internal compass, Tenten wove her way along the fragrant and colorful maze of paths threading the intricate plantings, her sandeled feet making very little noise as she skimmed along. As she skidded around a sharp corner she registered the presence of a dark-clad figure kneeling in the path at the edge of one of the flowerbeds. The morning's experience flashed through her mind. Her hands made an abortive twitch toward a weapon, even as she realized it was just one of the gardeners going about his work. He sprang to his feet, eyes and mouth rounded in alarm; she tried to backpedal, but couldn't stop herself, slamming into his broad chest. It felt like she'd run into a wall.

Out of instinct, she grasped the fabric of the gardener's shirt to steady herself as his hands (warm, rough, work-hardened, she automatically noted) curled around her upper arms. "I am so sorry!" she gasped. Embarrassed, she took a step back and let go of his shirt at the same moment he snatched his hands back from her arms. She offered a quick bow before looking up to see who she'd nearly flattened in her haste. But instead of responding, the young man bent, snatched up his implements, and hurriedly pushed past her, vanishing almost immediately behind a stand of ornamental bamboo.

Tenten stared after him, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock. The long dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail, the black clothes trimmed in grey signifying his position as one of the lowest-ranking servants in the house, or even the bandages wrapped around his forehead didn't startle her. Instead, her shock resulted from the fleeting glimpse she'd had of his eyes when they'd so briefly met hers: pale, pupil-less, touched with just a hint of lilac. She'd met several servants during her short time in Hyuuga House, and not one of them possessed such distinctive eyes.

Tenten started to turn and resume her interrupted journey to the main house. Another shock struck, bringing her back to a standstill, as she realized she recognized him. He'd been the closely watched servant who had delivered her bag the day she'd been hired by Lord Hiashi as Hinata's bodyguard. Details forgotten since that day resurfaced, and she remembered how he'd kept his head bowed so shorter strands of his hair hid his face, and his eyes lowered to keep them from her view; remembered also the way his guards' eyes had tracked his every movement.

Hyuuga Hiashi is employing one of his own relatives as a menial servant? She shivered with more than a little bit of horror as pieces began clicking together in her mind: The tragedy of Lord Hyuuga and his twin brother, Hinata's bitten off reference of running as a child through the rain with an unspecified someone, the fact he looked to be about the same age as Tenten herself. A suspicion formed, twining icy tendrils around her heart, and she knew she had to discover whether or not it were true.

Quickly as she rushed through her ablutions, Hinata was already standing in the Tower's doorway when Tenten hurried up and bowed. "Sorry to keep you waiting, milady-" she began to say, but her charge laughed and ran lightly down the steps to meet her.

"I didn't mean f-for you to have so much fun you'd forget about m-me!" she exclaimed, poking a teasing finger into Tenten's ribs. "You must have had an awesome d-day and I can't wait t-to hear all about it!"

The two walked back to the main house, Tenten fighting the urge the whole way to blurt out what she suspected. Maids were already setting out the evening meal when they got back to the suite, forcing her to keep strictly to an account of her day within the guard compound. Hinata was at first inclined to be indignant over what she regarded as the "trick" played on her friend; then reduced to blushing speechlessness when Tenten repeated Captain Genma's reason for conducting the test.

But at last, the meal finished and the remnants cleared away, Tenten steeled herself to ask the question she had to have answered, however much she hated how asking it would destroy her mistress's lighthearted mood. "Hinata," she began, then had to stop when her voice unexpectedly wavered. "We're friends, right? About what you told me last night- I think you would have told me the rest of the story then, if you had not been so distraught. I beg you to answer me truly now."

Worry and a hint of fear flashed through Hinata's pale eyes, but she nodded once.

"Tonight on my way back to the house from the guard compound, I ran into someone in the gardens between here and there. Someone dressed as a servant - the lowest of the low. He wore bandages around his forehead, he had long hair about the same shade as your father's, and his eyes were the exact same shade as yours. I remember you saying it was your birth that tipped your uncle into plotting to overthrow you father. Because by the time you were born, he already had a son, didn't he?"

Before Tenten finished, Hinata's facial expression changed. She raised her hands to cover her face, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. When she looked up again, tears still streamed down her cheeks. "Y-you are r-right," she whispered. She cast a nervous glance around her. Then, seizing Tenten's hand, she stood, pulling Tenten up with her and out into the garden, where she sank down onto a bench next to fountain.

"The servant you m-met tonight is m-my cousin, N-Neji," Hinata said, her voice barely above a whisper. "H-he was f-four when it - it happened. M-my f-father spared his l-life b-because of h-his age at the t-time. B-but F-Father still f-fears he w-will f-follow in his father's f-footsteps if g-given the chance - and s-succeed where Uncle f-failed."

Only one more day after today, and then she goes home. At times on Friday Itachi thought that was the only thing helping him cling to his sanity: The fact that Temari would leave Konoha on Sunday to return to Suna.

Only one more day after today, and then she'll be gone. At times on Friday Itachi doubted his own sanity: Because once Temari left on Sunday, Konoha would feel strangely empty.

From the moment Sasuke left him, throughout another sleepless night and during the seemingless endless day, it felt like two different people lived inside him, ripping him apart.

He'd made dinner reservations for them at Akimichi's for that evening. Itachi siezed the time spent in preparation for it as a lifeline, an opportunity to regain a measure of internal balance. It's not Temari's fault, he kept telling himself. She's as much a victim of Father's ambitions as Sasuke and I are.

By the time he'd bathed and dressed in loose black trousers, matching silk shirt and long, open-fronted, sleeveless tunic he'd achieved something close to his usual state of calm. Flicking his ponytail free of the shirt's upstanding collar, Itachi met his own eyes in the mirror. Just keep reminding yourself that none of this is her fault, and maybe you'll get through this.

He made his way to the small room in the main house where he and Temari had been interviewed by Naruto, fully expecting to be the first one there. To his surprise, his betrothed was standing at the same window as on that day, back turned toward the door.

"Temari!" he exclaimed, stepping into the room. "I am so sorry, I've kept you waiting-" She slowly turned to face him. Words and breath suddenly failed him.

The princess from the sand village wore a deep violet garment similar to a kimono, but which clung to and showcased her figure. A sash of some color he couldn't immediately decide was pink or lavender emphasized her trim waist. Flowing panels nearly the length of the dress itself hung from the long tight sleeves, emulating the full sleeves of a traditional furisode. Instead of her usual ponytails her golden brown hair was swirled into an intricate coil on top of her head, a hair ornament brushing her right cheek and ear with its jeweled strands. She tilted her head ever so slightly to one side as the corners of her lips turned up in the tiniest of smiles.

Itachi paused just inside the doorway to bow - and get a grip on himself. "If I could beg your indulgence for a few moments more, my lady," he said as he straightened, "perhaps I should return to my quarters long enough to fetch my katana. For surely I will be the envied target of every man who sets eyes on you tonight."

Temari laughed and flicked her fan open as if to wave away his words. But still, he thought as he crossed to stand just in front of her, she looked more pleased than not. "If it's all the same to you, I think we'll dispense with the katana," she said. Her amazing turquoise eyes flicked over him. "You look very nice yourself."

"Thank you. Shall we go?" Smiling, Itachi indicated her to precede him. Temari inclined her head, took three steps, then suddenly turned to face him.

"Itachi," she said, all traces of her smile gone, replaced by an almost wary expression, "we don't have to do this, you know. I mean, go out to dinner." She looked away from him, adding in a rush, "You've been - distracted all day, and I-I don't want you to feel obligated to take me out tonight."

Remorse stabbed his heart. It's no more than the truth, what I've been trying to convince myself of all day. None of this is in any way her fault. Reaching out, Itachi very gently took one of her hands between both of his. It felt icy with tension. "Temari," he said softly, "I apologize profoundly for distressing you. I thought I'd succeeded in concealing it from you, but evidently I'm not as self-controlled as I've always prided myself on being. I was to be released from all clan duties this week so I could devote myself to getting to know you, but Father," Itachi ruthlessly assigned his parent the role of sacrificial goat, "hasn't exactly gone along with that. My inbox has been full every night. Please, can you forgive me?"

Temari's eyes lifted to his as he spoke. By the time he'd finished, a hint of her earlier smile had returned and her hand had relaxed. "Well, if you do fall asleep over dinner, I promise I won't be insulted," she said.

Itachi had taken the precaution of ordering a horse-drawn litter to take them to the restaurant and home again. When they entered Akimichi's, he instantly registered the discreetly admiring glances accorded to Temari, and experienced a moment of smug satisfaction. The proprietor of the establishment, Akimichi Chouza himself, seated them at the best table in the house.

"This is very nice," Temari said once the important business of placing their orders had been concluded. "Suna has nothing like it. When you come to visit me, I'm afraid you'll think very poorly of my village."

Gazing at her, Itachi said with simple sincerity, "How could I possibly think poorly of a village so fortunate as to be your home?"

Temari's startled eyes snapped back to his. He smiled warmly at her; a few seconds later she shyly returned it.

They took their time over their meal: Not just because the quality of the food demanded it be savored, but also - on Itachi's part at least - to prolong this evening of fragile rapprochement. However, near the end of it, Itachi sensed a sudden stiffening in Temari as her gaze went past him. Just as he tilted his head in puzzlement over her change in demeanor, she said sharply, "I know that's the girl from the flower shop at that table over there with that guy with the funny hair, and she's been glaring at your back for at least the past five minutes. What is her problem?"

"Yamanaka Ino," Itachi replied calmly and promptly, all the time silently calling curses down on Ino's head. "She is very - excitable, to put it mildly." He set his teacup down. "I think I have an idea why she's wanting to speak with me. Would you please excuse me for a moment?"

That hard, glittering look had returned to Temari's eyes. She inclined her head briefly, and Itachi stood. Just as he turned, someone else came into the restaurant: Sasuke. Their eyes met, and his brother instantly responded to Itachi's unspoken summons.

"Lady Temari. Itachi." Sasuke bowed as he halted next to them. "I didn't expect to see you here. Weren't your reservations for tomorrow night? Or did I get my days mixed up?"

"You got your days mixed up - again," Itachi replied with a lightness he was far from feeling. "Younger brother, evidently Ino would like to discuss a small matter with me. Would you please entertain Temari while I see what she needs?"

Sasuke slanted a glance in that direction himself. "Yeah, it looks like she's got her panties in a wad over something," he said casually. He added over Temari's gasp, "Situation normal for Ino. Better you than me, older brother." Slipping into place across from his future sister-in-law, as he turned away Itachi heard him say, "So, Temari, what would you like to talk about?"

As he approached the other couple's table, Itachi noticed the blue of Ino's furious eyes precisely matched the blue of a gas fire. Before he could even bow politely, she said in a low, fierce voice, "Uchiha Itachi, I want to talk to you!"

"Yamanaka Ino," he replied softly but coldly, "not here, and not now." Staring directly into her eyes, he let his dark gaze overwhelm hers. "You may speak to me about a certain matter after my Lady Temari has left to return to her home. In the meantime, you have not only disrupted our evening, but caused her distress with your behavior." A slight exaggeration, he thought grimly, I think she was as ready to throttle you as I am! "Now, we need to come up with a plausible, innocuous reason why you so urgently wanted to speak with me."

Barely five minutes later Itachi was back at his own table, where Temari and Sasuke were studiously not looking at each other. He laid a hand on his brother's shoulder while smiling at his betrothed. "Thank you, Sasuke," he said, "dilemma solved." And as the younger man stood with a little more haste than was seemly, "I meant to surprise you when you come back to Konoha. Ino's father, Yamanaka Inoichi, has developed a new rose cultivar and Ino couldn't remember if I had ordered the bushes or the trees. I had ordered two of the trees," he knelt across from Temari again, "but if you prefer the bushes instead I can still change the order."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Typical Ino. I'm going over to Kiba now." He bowed, then paused in the act of turning away. "A new cultivar, huh? Has it been named?"

Itachi flickered an amused glance up at Sasuke. "Indeed it has - in fact, the name is one of the reasons I ordered it." He smiled deeply into Temari's eyes. "Because of its color, deep gold in the center shading to lighter gold at the edges, it was named Desert Rose."

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: I know Neji didn't have a huge part in this chapter (I really hope I didn't disappoint you all because of it...), but I promise there's a very good reason, and that you'll see more and more of him in coming chapters. In the meantime, I really hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!