The Girl With Two Buns. A NejiTen Fanfic

25

The journey through the deserts of the wind kingdom proved to be heinous work without a camel. Sand entered Neji's shoes, eyes, mouth and clothes so much that the man was sure that the tiny grains were stuck in every pore on his skin. He mentally hailed servants world wide because walking for long distances wasn't easy, especially in places like this.

The sun was scorching at day and the wind was freezing at night, not to mention the unbearable thirst that Neji suffered throughout the journey. He was self disciplined not to drink water from his canteen more than three times a day so that the water would last him. Three days later, he was in the capitol of the wind kingdom, Sunagakure. He was one day late because he was almost caught in a bad sandstorm that lasted for almost twenty two hours.

"Neji-sama." One of the guard soldiers greeted him upon his arrival which had him surprised. The guard searched through his clothes for something and withdrew a letter from underneath his sleeves. Neji's brows met as he took the letter but lightened up as he realized who it was from. If the royal seal wasn't enough indication that it was from Gaara, the ink writing was.

"How did he know I would arrive here?" Neji muttered to himself and folded the letter neatly before tucking it under his kimono top. He nodded his thanks to the soldier and started his journey to the royal palace of Suna.

~ x ~

The weather was fair today as always. Children roamed the streets and market stalls lined each place with numerous items in display. Tenten loved this part of the town because it reminded her of her home village in Konoha.

She missed Konoha very much. Tenten wondered how everyone was faring. How was Anko? Lee, Gai? Ino? She bit her lip. Neji? Did he forget her already? Did he wed with Shion?

Over the months Tenten had been wandering through villages. The first month of her banishment was painful and strenuous because she was recovering from her wounds, both emotionally and physically. Tenten's skills came in handy for her at the land of Tea which was the first place she lodged. She worked as a black smith for some months and earned some money enough to decide that she would move away from the place.

Tenten wanted no attachment with any village or kingdom which was one of the reasons she became nomadic, the second and main reason being to look for the legendary sannin, Tsunade. From the land of Silence to the Hidden Lock village, Tenten journeyed, lodged, made some money and resumed her journey again. Many a times she was told to dwell in a land or village but Tenten refused. She needed to find Tsunade.

The fire kingdom was wonderful and  she almost settled there, almost. Tenten searched for Tsunade and kept an eye out for Sakura of the fire kingdom. Alas, Sakura was the prince's betrothed so she could not meet with her. She considered making a riot at the palace gates to draw Sasuke's attention but that would only land her in prison before the raven even noticed her presence.

Few months into searching for Tsunade, Tenten figured that the woman loved to gamble and had been dubbed the 'legendary sucker' for her luck. Further research into the gambling houses, the brunette found out that Tsunade never stayed in a village for more than two weeks which made her search more substantial.

At the land of rice patties where she worked as a waitress at a restaurant, she caught news of the legendary sucker being in town. Happiness filled her entire being at the good news but her hopes were dashed when she heard that Tsunade had once again left for another village. Tenten was livid. The woman whose hair was tied two buns grabbed the lord of the gambling house by his collar, which came as a shocker to everyone in the place because they clearly did not expect the small woman to possess such strength. They should meet Sakura.