"The best method to capture a fish with your bare hands is to approach the fish you want to catch (downstream, from behind, since they spend most of their time facing and swimming upstream), and getting your hand in the water without startling it—slowly and from behind" Itachi suggested as he demonstrated the method towards Tenten.
In one swift motion, Itachi managed to capture a smallmouth bass. It wriggled in Itachi's hands wildly before Itachi tossed it aside in one fluid motion; it landed right into the bucket which was resting on the hard ground.
Tenten blinked her eyes, "That was major cool. I bet none of your teammates ever had to die of starvation whenever you are around..." Itachi smiled as soon as those words formed out of her mouth, Itachi felt the tingling feeling within his skin, butterflies fluttered in his tummy.
Tenten took her stance in the lake, she was ankle deep in water, (Itachi suggested to be in the water instead of being on top of it, to blend in with the lake.) Her body slightly hunched with her arms outstretched, "Let's do this!"
Her sharp eyes saw a fish swimming by, in one precise movement, she launched herself forwards and grabbed the fish from the back, to only let it slip away from her grasp. Tenten tried to reach out to the said fish again, only to lose her balance and fall forwards, splashing into the lake water.
Itachi smirked quietly at the side before he realised something was wrong; his Teiji did not resurface from the water.
"Teiji?!" Itachi called out urgently, he instinctively activated his sharingan before he felt clammy chakra filled hands pulled him by the ankles, he lost his footing and fell backwards with a splash. He quickly regained his composure; as he sat in the lake, his entire outfit was all wet as Tenten resurfaced from the water giggling loudly.
"I caught a huge fish Senpai!" Tenten howled as she laughed uncontrollably.
Itachi looked annoyed initially, but the look on his Teiji's face was- breathtaking. He could not help it but to be mesmerised by it. When Teiji laughed, he looked exactly like the female version of Teiji- the one Itachi was falling for. Itachi stood up and walked swiftly towards Tenten who was clutching onto her tummy in a fit of laughter. He gently placed a hand on Tenten's shoulders and motioned her to straighten up.
Tenten looked at Itachi oddly, surely he was not that upset over her little prank? Just then Itachi pulled her closer to him, filling up the space between them and embraced her.
"Thank you. For making me feel this way. But I am confused. Extremely confused. I will definitely miss you. But I have to go for a while to do a little soul searching. I will be back. Please wait for me." Itachi whispered delicately against her ears.
Tenten did not understand what was going on, but she did not want him to go, where was he going? Why was he telling her this? All of a sudden the lake lay silver in the bright sunset, irregular like an splatter of paint on canvas. The rippled water ran right into the fissures, washing the soil from the rocks. The only sound was the soft whispering of the trees and someone's legs splashing through the lake. Tenten was caught in a genjutsu. Itachi had planted a genjutsu on her before he left.
"Snap out of it!" Tenten heard a familiar voice commanded her. "Damn it Takagi! Expel!"
It was Neji, he was holding onto her shoulders. She realised that she was kneeling in the lake looking at a fuming Hyuuga.
"What happened?" Tenten asked quizzically.
Neji looked at her incredulously before he looked away and replied, " The Uchihaa was embracing you, before you became completely still. You were in his genjutsu weren't you?" Neji turned to see her again to only be shocked by an entirely unexpected scene.
Tenten was crying, she had perhaps unwillingly transformed back into a lady due to the overwhelming emotional breakdown. She was sobbing in front of Neji.
"What did I do Hyuuga? He is gone." Tenten cried out through sobs.
—————————————————
"Now where are you going?" Airin asked Itachi as he made a move towards the Konoha gates in the dark.
Itachi sighed before he turned towards Airin, sharingan activated, "Good evening Airin-Senpai. I am pretty sure you know where. Given the fact that you have transformed into your cursed form."
Airin had indeed transformed into the cursed fighting transformation. Her hair had turned blonde, eyes an eerily light shade of grey and her face had changed, she had sharper more intimidating look on her face. Not many knew of the transformation form that Orochimaru had cursed upon her. She only transformed into this form if she was either extremely upset, which would lead to another bad thing, she called it her "wolf problem" or when she was fighting an extremely strong opponent. In this case it was the latter. She had sparred with Itachi before and he was not a person she would ever want to mess with.
"You can always talk to someone about it Itachi-Kun. I know you inside out. You can talk to me. You don't have to leave. We can sort this out. Come on man! Think of the lengthy report I would have to submit to the Hokage if you leave!" Airin groaned.
Itachi rolled his eyes before he started, "I love him Airin-Senpai. You knew from the start didn't you? The fact that I cannot be with him, is killing me. My clan will never approve of him. I need to get him out of my system. Just a few days and I will be back. I promise. Allow me to settle it on my own." Itachi replied calmly.
Airin clicked her tongue disapprovingly, as she shook her head, "When will you young people ever realise? You will achieve absolutely nothing by running away from the problem! You will not be able to get him out of your mind no matter how far away you are! Communication is the key to your problems, Itachi-Kun."
"I have made up my mind Airin-Senpai. Please allow me to leave. I know you care about me, but this is something that I need to do, alone. Give me 3 days and I will return. I promise you." Itachi pleaded, he would want to avoid engaging in a fight with his ANBU senior. Despite her laid back flair, she was a really talented fighter, she was pretty invincible in her cursed transformation.
Airin sighed, she needed to use her last trump card to ensure his return, "Fine. You know I would never force you to stay. But just so you know, you are not the only one who harbours feelings towards Teiji. Your impeccable departure would only make it easier for him to make his move."
Itachi blinked at that statement. He nodded quietly, not entirely sure how he should be reacting to that.
With one fluid movement, Airin was standing in front of Itachi, eyes glistening with worry, she had transformed back to her original self, she quickly embraced Itachi in a warm hug, "Stay safe. You are like the little brother that I never had."
Itachi looked surprised but unbothered by the hug, this was the first time Airin had ever hugged him. It felt nice, like having an actual sister showing her concern towards him.
"Thank you. See you in 3 days." Itachi said out gently before giving her a gentle peck on her forehead and disappearing under a mass of crows.
—————————————————
Neji was carrying Tenten; bridal style, from the lake towards Anko's apartment. It would not be a wise idea to bring her to the Hyuuga household. It would be hard to explain what had happened to Tenten. She was drenched in lake water, her clothes were entirely soaked, one could literally see everything through her soaked clothings. Neji had to cover her modesty using his top that he had on. He was currently shirtless, carrying a lady who had his top on. It would look like he had outraged her modesty. He would rather be dead than be caught in that kind of situation.
"We are here~" Neji started before he had to dodge an array of weapons that flew straight towards them. "Seriously Takagi?! You and your guardian set up traps even though you were gone only for a short period of time?!"
Tenten sighed as she got off Neji's warm arms and disabled the traps by cutting one of the fine chakra wires up. She looked up at Neji and muttered, "Thanks, sorry for being a total burden on you. You may leave."
"No." Neji exclaimed firmly.
Tenten raised her eyebrows towards Neji questioningly, "And why is that?"
Neji cleared his throat as he locked his gaze defyingly towards Tenten, "I will only leave once your guardian gets here. You already tried drowning yourself, I am not eager to find out what you might attempt to do next. Now go shower and change before you die of hypothermia and worst, I will be the final witness to your death for the police. I hate liaising with the Uchihaa police department."
Neji zipped his mouth shut as soon as he said those words out. He just mentioned the dreaded clan's name. The one she was trying to forget.
"Say.. Hyuuga.." Tenten started gently.
Neji looked up towards her as her voice changed, she rarely spoke to him in gentle tones. It was always filled with malice or sarcasm.
"..do I come off as annoying to you? I mean is that the reason why you find me a burden?" Tenten asked him softly.
A flicker of guilt appeared in his pale eyes as he cursed himself for his earlier outburst. Truth be told, he was not even sure why he had yelled at her like that. It was not her fault, it was totally uncalled for. But when he saw her with Itachi, something snapped within him.
"No." Neji answered, he took a deep breath as he continued, "I was.. wrong.. I apologise for using that term towards you. If anything, you are relatively normal. The abnormal ones are the two maniacs in green."
Tenten snapped her head towards Neji so quickly that it literally made a cracking noise, she could not believe it, the rude, obnoxious, arrogant Hyuuga was apologising to her!
"Then why.." Tenten started but was given a hard glare by Neji.
"Shower first. We will chat later. I will prepare dinner. Go." Neji commanded her.