AU: assassin school (somewhat)
Pairings: NejixTenten
A/N: Thank you, FruitySmell, Guest, Giada Luna, keroRiBBIT, chibinejiten, imjustanotheroneofthem, fanofthisfiction and Tabine for leaving such kind reviews last chapter. Worry not, Bodyguard will be returning, but it is still a work in progress.
He's thrown into the centre of the sparring pit at exactly midnight, precisely 2 years after she first encounters him on a solo training mission. The sight of him, trembling and so unlike the confident boy she'd known years ago, makes her skin crawl.
Morino's watching him from the sidelines, scar-streaked face betraying no emotion, no flicker of pity for the newest addition to their group.
Tenten doesn't sympathise with the boy with pale lilac eyes either. They're all orphans, children whose identities are defined by a maximum of three syllables. They exist without an inkling of who their families are, who their loved ones were, or what their first word was.
They're all children raised to fight, raised to maim and injure without a second thought. They're the perfect soldiers; ruthless killing machines who don't yet see or fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.
After all, they belong to no one but the man who trains them to cut down their opponents' weaknesses and execute clean strikes through the eye for the perfect assassination.
Only, this new one is different to everyone else. He's almost definitely lost the memories of his former life, just like the rest of them. But the fact that Tenten knows - knew - him makes all the difference in the world.
His name is Neji Hyuga.
Clearly he doesn't remember that - he shouldn't - because he slowly blinks and stares at the crowd of blank faces surrounding him.
How old is he now? Tenten is assaulted with the vivid memory of him covering her shivering form with a jacket. Seventeen, most likely. Her age. She'd managed to get her hands on her personal files just last year, when Morino promoted her to a senior position.
March is her favourite month of the year.
Morino commands Neji to stand up on his two feet, finally stepping out of the shadows and looming ominously over the disoriented boy.
As Neji stands up, his eyes flicker to her cold brown ones and linger for a few seconds. The slight glimmer of veiled comprehension nearly frightens her.
He must not recall who she is, or everything she's been fighting for will be lost.
If Morino had seen the brief exchange, he said nothing of it. The man reaches for his pocket and pulls out his trademark, steel grey tablet.
"Your name is Tori. You will sleep in room 037." With that, he scrawls down the new details onto his device and walks out of the room.
The rest of the children edge towards Neji curiously, but back away when Tenten's steel-toed boots clack against the flooring towards him. Neji's grown taller, she realises, and is now standing a head above her distinctive twin buns.
"Follow me," she barks out harshly. He seems to recognise her as the authority, and follows silently. They stride through the industrial-grade corridors, with her stiffly directing him through the labyrinth of bathrooms, dining rooms, training rooms and bedroom quarters that is their Headquarters before leading him to the room adjacent to hers - 037.
"This is where you will sleep." Tenten finishes off in a slightly gentler tone. "Training starts at 6 in the morning, with a one hour lunch break at noon."
Neji wordlessly nods and opens the door to his room when she gives him a nod of approval. There's another boy inside. His roommate, Lee. The troublemaker. She wonders how this arrangement will work out, when Morino is usually so pedantic about keeping troublemakers solitary and newcomers with model "students".
The door closes behind Neji when Lee doles out his customary greeting and introduction as The Green Beast. Tenten's eyes narrow at the door before she retires to her own quarters for the night.
It's been a long day.