Thank you Ichigo-chan, FruitySmell, AceAmi and marionne345 for reviewing the last chapter and filling my writing days with pure happiness. :)
The ruby red walls of the hallway was by far the most colourful section of the Gensho Academy of the Leaf, with a dark red carpet floor and plain white ceiling with Venetian gold chandeliers carefully attached to it, dazzlingly illuminating the corridor. Hammered into the two parallel walls were pure white doors, their serial numbers engraved into them with large, golden figures, each of which lead to large rooms decorated with single-coloured themes.
Neji sat up from his lying position on his rosy-coloured bed and massaged his temples, sleep having conquered the uneasy thoughts regarding his competitors only a few hours ago. He lowered his hands and finally allowed himself to survey the room he'd be sharing for the next month. Every inch of the dormitory practically screamed red; from the fiery tones of his walls to the antique rosewood desks sitting dejectedly in the corner. It was, therefore, to Neji's relief that the ceiling and carpet floor were white, lest he feel as if he was living in a furnace.
Neji never liked red. It was fiery, warm and courageous, but at the same time it emitted an aura of defiance, strain and aggressiveness - qualities he never liked to encounter in a person. He was raised in an environment where everything was controlled from the bottom to the top, and from the eldest of beings to the earliest stages of a fetus - order and the unchanging laws of fate were what led him to become the most skilled Gensho of his age group in Konoha. White was his colour. Pure, constant and simple. It was the shade he always saw when he cleared his mind out before training, the shade he was surrounded by in the huge, traditional Hyuga compound. White was hygienic, elite and sophisticated - he never felt the ridiculous need to personalise his room like so many others did when perfecting his techniques were much more practical to him.
He slid out of his bed and came face to face with his roommate - a tall red-headed boy sitting on a bed a few metres away from his, glaring at Neji with the intensity that rivaled his own. The boy, already dressed to the toe in his Tournament uniform, slipped on his gloves and turned his emerald green eyes away from Neji's, as though he had lost all interest in him. His heavily-lined eyes, outrageously unnecessary in Neji's opinion, were zooming around the room. There was something eerily familiar about the boy that Neji couldn't quite pinpoint.
"Where's the bathroom?" was the husky-toned question the boy asked. Neji directed his eyes towards the door on the other side of the room, seeing that speaking was not required for him to answer the question. The boy gave Neji and courteous nod as he walked away, light flecks of sand trailing after him. Sand. He recalled Suna's dramatic display during the Opening Ceremony last night, and remembered the metal-wielding brunette coolly scrutinising him under a steely gaze.
He shivered, and decided that there was no time to waste pondering over the other team's antics, especially not on the very first day of the Tournament. He swiftly dressed himself in his uniform, catching sight of a small piece of paper sticking out from underneath the door and picked it up curiously. According to it, he was to "meet up with his assigned competitor and give them an enjoyable tour of Konohagakure for the day." Neji scoffed and scrolled his finger downwards to where his name was written beside another's - Tenten, it said. To please someone with a tour of the village he knew so well instead of honing his skills was a preposterous idea to Neji. After all, elite Gensho such as the ones on the other team should learn how to adapt to different environments without the help of other people, shouldn't they?
He was tempted to defy the notice's instructions and resume his training immediately, but changed his mind upon realising he was the leader and role model of Team Konoha, and would bring great shame to his village if he did not participate as required of him. Letting out a resigned sigh, Neji strode out of his dormitory, shut the door behind him lightly and made his way to Hinata's room, where he knew her roommate Tenten resided.
Tenten was in a good mood after waking up to the sunshine. It reminded her of home, where the sun beamed down on them relentlessly every day.
She slinked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her so as not to awaken her roommate, and swiveled around, expecting to see the vibrant red walls of the hallway but instead found herself standing face to face with a slender girl dressed in the Tournament uniform - Suna's Tournament uniform. Good mood, goodbye. She looked calm and composed, as expected of the heiress of one of the most influential families in Sunagakure, and shone brightly from her position in front of one of the large windows that allowed soft rays of sunlight to filter through them and onto the soft carpet floor.
Blonde and beautiful were two of the most common words used to describe Yamanaka Ino, due to her baby blue almond-shaped eyes and toned, hourglass figure. Ino was the social butterfly of the Gensho Academy of the Sand, and placed second only to Temari No Sabaku herself, but who could beat her, the Kazekage's only daughter? It took Tenten years to figure out Ino's weaknesses, which were, despite her superior telepathic skills, the academics and physical sparring, the latter of which Tenten could easily beat the younger Gensho in. So Tenten held on to her status as one of the elite two females who could take on Yamanaka Ino in a fight.
Envy, she figured, was the root cause of her insecurity and hatred towards Ino. They were from two completely different worlds - Ino, the perfect blonde heiress, loved and supported by all; Tenten, the filthy orphan, hated by all, the outcast. She leaned against the wall, recalling a repressed memory, and a kind-hearted man.
Inky black sky was all she saw, no stars, nothing. It wasn't as if she could see anything anyway. The world was obscure, bleak - just like her future in this sand-infested hell hole.
She leaned back against the wall, barely feeling its grainy texture as she hurriedly unwrapped a freshly-baked loaf of bread hidden beneath her dirty, thin black cardigan and savoured its warmth before taking a medium-sized bite into it. She chewed slowly, trying not to devour the entire loaf that instance. It would be days, perhaps weeks before she could find or steal food like this again.
She parted with the loaf unwillingly. It took every ounce of self control she and her growling stomach could muster to wrap the bread in a relatively clean piece of cloth she stoke from a rich-looking last just yesterday to preserve her meal for the next few days. She stuffed the package into a leather bag she recently salvaged from an aristocrat's rubbish bin and wrapped her arms around her trembling body, trying in vain to get herself to sleep.
It didn't matter anyway. She would pass out from hunger, just like she did every other night. Sure enough, her eyelids began to droop, allowing her to slowly shrink into a cloud of darkness.
She heard voices, the violent whistling of Suna winds, footsteps. They came nearer to her, and she jolted awake.
A seemingly young man, judging by his physique underneath heavy brown robes, stood above her. His eyes, dark and heavily ringed, looked down on her as his cloak betrayed a few auburn hairs above his forehead. He held out a hand to her, as if motioning for her to stand up.
She cautiously took it, but firmly held on once realising she had nothing to lose. His eyes crinkled in mild delight and pulled her upwards. He lowered his scarf and revealed a stern-looking face, wisened far beyond his years.
"I am the Fourth Kazekage."
Tenten shook herself out of her reverie and turned her eyes upwards to glare at Ino, but was interrupted instead.
"I'm sorry," Ino looked up at her with cold blue eyes. No, she wasn't. "For the other night. I was being unreasonable."
"Look, I know, and everyone knows that you're not sorry. So quit trying to-"
"I know, Tenten, that I am trying to bury this bloody hatchet and call a bloody truce before the Final Battle starts. For the sake of the team, I'm letting go of whatever animosity I have towards you so that nothing can get in the way of our victory. Like it or not, I do possess a brain."
A fair argument. One that Tenten completely looked over. She let out a deep breath.
"Okay. Sure," they levelled their gazes with each other, "I'm sorry for being a major bitch last night, and I was probably thinking about myself more than I was about the team. Truce."
They extended their hands, meeting with a stiff handshake. If there was anything beneficial about whatever relationship Tenten and Ino had, it was the fact that they could always be honest with each other. Then again, no one could lie to a trained telepath. Except, probably another trained telepath, Tenten mused to herself.
Ino smirked, confirming that she'd heard Tenten's thoughts, and narrowed her eyes at the door behind her. Tenten turned around and pulled a piece of paper off the door.
'Market place, nine o'clock. -Hyuga Neji'
Tenten was late for the first time in her life, and it was for a meeting with the same boy who argued with Temari last night.
Hyuga Neji. Famed prodigy of the Hyuga Clan. Konoha Academy's poster boy. The amount of marketing Konoha did for him was shameless, and honestly, she'd been expecting more of a justification of his abilities on their first meeting than a petulant boy who took too much pride in his reputation. That was why, after deciding to delay their meeting time by an hour...or three, Tenten closed the distance between them slowly, pretending to take delight in the festivities surrounding her. She knew that he knew that she was there, judging by the way his eyes squinted at her suspiciously as she studied him from her peripheral vision. He'd made no move to join her when she was buying kebab skewers, nor when she pleasantly held a conversation with the local shopkeepers for over half an hour - about weapons. Then again, Tenten had had a grand old time enjoying herself and the Hyuga's frustration, and by the time she reached her destination, she was already five hours later than planned and carrying bags of festival goodies.
He was still standing in the exact place as he was two hours ago, for some strange reason, and fuming at her nonchalance. "Oh! You must be Hyuga Neji prodigy-san! Pleased to meet you!" She held out a hand, which he shook gingerly, furiously, silently. "Am I late?" She added, just to annoy him more.
That seemed to do the trick, and he immediately stormed away, muttering profanities under his breath. She decided not to push her luck and trailed behind him.
"Where are we going, Hyuga Neji prodigy-san?" He glared at Tenten wordlessly while a thought clicked in her mind. He wasn't screaming at her because he was trying to uphold the Hyuga's reputation. That was fine with Tenten, in fact, it was a win-lose situation for her, so she smirked contentedly. "I'm afraid I'm quite unfamiliar with your city."
"Indeed," he replied in a cold voice, "and quite unfamiliar with common etiquette as well. I suggest you enter the building on your right, up to the second level, and enrol for the etiquette classes they hold there every Tuesday afternoon."
"Love to," she grinned, "But you see, I have other things to focus on, like this upcoming Tournament, for example."
"I'm sure you do," he sneered at her assortment of bags, "I'd hate to get in the way of your...training."
"That's very kind of you, Hyuga Neji prodigy-san," she tipped her top hat at him mockingly as he took in deep breaths and proceeded with the tour. "Behind you is the Hokage Monument, envisioned by the Shodai Hokage - Senju Hashirama - to be a symbol that our Hokages always watch over the village. Situated on top is Konoha Archive Library and the safe house where we evacuate to in times of danger. Of course, behind that is the Gensho Academy."
"Of course."
Neji pointed to a large red building directly underneath the four engravings of Konoha's Hokages.
"Underneath is the Hokage Building, in red."
"Yes, I see that."
"In front of you is the main plaza, branching out into many other streets, where you may shop."
"Wow, really?" She lifted up the bags in her arms in a sarcastically, which he ignored.
He lead her around the village, pointing out significant buildings and landmarks in short, clipped tones. They passed Konoha's Shinobi Academy halfway through the tour ("A place where the bravest of children learn to hone their chakra control and the fundamentals of all ninja techniques"),and ended at the public garden.
"I'm allergic to pollen." She looked around, indicating the masses of flowers surrounding her and Neji and scrunched up her nose uncomfortably. They were ready to bloom, she presumed, as all the buds looked like they were about to burst into a blanket of hues. One grain of pollen on me, rose, and you'll never see the end of it.
He blinked at her, perplexed and for the first time since they'd started, not angry. "I'd assumed that Suna didn't have flowers to be allergic to."
She shook her head and laughed at his ignorance. "That's true, Suna is sadly lacking in the flowers that you know of." Tenten walked away from the garden gingerly, signalling Neji to follow her with a wave of an arm. He trailed after her, keeping his distance suspiciously. "Relax, I don't bite. Fine. Keep standing there, whatever. Suna does have flowers, only more...live. And hazardous."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "For instance?"
"Mooncatchers."
"Oh?"
"They're these white flowers that bloom every midnight, and emit this really nice glow to lure in desert wanderers. When someone lands in their trap..." Tenten snuck a glance at Neji from the corner of her eye slyly, taking in his curious expression. "They eat them alive. I've heard," she handed a shopping bag to Neji dismissively, which he smacked away grumpily. "that their favourite part of the body is the eyes. Particularly the special ones."
Neji seemed to catch on to her insinuation. "Then I'll be sure never to visit your country, lest my superior abilities overwhelm it's savagery." Tenten snarled.
"You're a dickhead."
"Then you shouldn't have pushed your luck. Good luck navigating yourself back to the Academy." He walked off in frustration, leaving her standing beside the garden's marble-white entrance with a smirk adorning her features. Tenten soon realised the predicament she was in, however, and contemplated her next course of actions. On one hand, she could easily suck up her pride and apologise to the Hyuga boy for offending him. On the other hand, this would be the last day of relaxation before the training week begun, so she could easily spend some time enjoying some leisure time around the city. Deciding on the latter, Tenten strode away from the gardens and into a dark alleyway, just for the fun of it.
Suna's alleyways were often littered with trash in every shape and form, and she'd moved on from her fear of the dark a long time ago. Konoha, a place of rainbows and smiling pedestrians, wouldn't even hold a candle against the brutality of a sand-worn nation filled to the brim with scoundrels. There was a strange crate lying underneath a dimmed, flickering lamp, as though someone had intentionally left it there for a (unlikely) passer-by to pick up. It looked new and clean, cleaner than the rest of the grimy alley, so she opened it up regardless of its true purpose. Sasuke had always said that her curiousity would be her downfall.
To her surprise, there was another box inside of it, buried underneath piles of rags. It was simple, made of white stone, with a symbol engraved into it - the Hyuga symbol, Tenten noted with widened eyes. She lifted the lid carefully before setting it back down onto the crate and pulled out a dark cape. She wanted to scream, but held it in.
Tenten knew that symbol, the blood red ghosts that dotted the landscapes of her dreams. The ominous clouds that fluttered around menacingly against the screams of her loved ones. Her mother, father. That bloody, red mark - the legend that no one else believed because they were too blind. The Akatsuki.
But then, Tenten heard herself think through the screams echoing in her mind, why the Hyugas?
Please review, constructive criticism encouraged!
~misspandalily