Guess who's hit 120reads? Yes me! Thank you all so much for supporting my fan fiction. UwU.
This chapter is dedicated to @AriSkye066
~ x ~
Neji opened his eyes slowly, barely registering the figure lying next to him until it stirred. The woman beside him did not awake, which made him relieved as he sat up very carefully on his bed. Tenten was there for him every day and night through his illness. That was nothing short of heart warming. She saw him through his weakest moments and was patient with him.
One of her buns had come loose, leaving a wave of cinnamon brown hair to cascade down her back like a glacier as she slept. She was beautiful. Neji reached out to remove the hair that fell over her face but his Aphrodite stirred awake. Tenten's brown eyes widened as she gasped and sat up. "Neji-sama, you are awake!" She exclaimed and touched his forehead.
That touch sent pleasant thrills down his back bone. He watched her as she compared his body temperature with her own and suddenly remembered something. Neji held her hands in place and reached forward to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. A satisfied smirk played on his lips when he heard her surprised, albeit guilty gasp. He was awake when she kissed his cheek which he was thankful for. Now he was sure that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
"How am I certain that you did not molest me in my sleep?" Neji teased, trying to arouse that amusing temper of hers. It worked because she hit his arm rather harshly. "Itai[1]!" He complained.
"I see that you are up and doing to be able to flirt like that. Mataku, you seem like a prudent man but nobody knew that you had this side to you." Neji chuckled in amusement, the sound of which was music to Tenten's ears. The woman suddenly found herself holding Neji in a tight embrace. "I was worried, Neji-sama. It was not fun seeing you in pain, I do not want that." Tenten murmured.
Neji wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, relishing in her scent. Too soon, Tenten pulled away. "I should fetch you some breakfast." She said gently.
"I liked the food you prepared." This made Tenten stop in her tracks and spin around. It was then she noticed that her hair was not in her usual buns and tied it back. Neji watched with enthralled eyes as her body flexed ever so slightly at every move she made. Naruto was rubbing off him and that was not a good thing.
"How did you know that I prepared it?" Tenten asked, snapping him from his perversely progressing thoughts. He caught himself with a cough and blinked twice.
"It tasted different from the meals I have been eating. Thank you for taking care of me, Tenten." The woman smiled and went out to get him breakfast. When she left, Neji sighed and made up his mind to strangle his brother-in-law to be whenever he arrived for influencing his thoughts.
The days that passed after that were not necessarily lovey-dovey but were close enough. Neji flirted and Tenten flirted back. The Prince had embarrassingly choked on rice when Tenten flirted back for the first time instead of a frustrated remark. The woman had laughed instead of helping him, it was a day that she didn't let him live down.
"Do you know how to ride a horse?" Neji suddenly asked as the both of them were coming back from one of his lessons.
"Er no." The maid replied. On the journey to the country of Whirlpools, she had walked unlike the royalties who rode in palanquins.
"Come." Neji held her by the hand and led her to the Royal stable.
"E-eh?! You want to teach me?" Tenten squeaked to which Neji smirked at. He led her inside the place, nodding curtly to the stable workers, and took her to meet the horses.
"This is Hanabi-sama's horse, Rain." Neji pointed to a brown and white pony. "This is Hinata-sama's horse, Maelstrom." He pointed at a beautiful white mare with black stockings.
"Maelstrom? As in Naruto*?" Tenten laughed.
"Yes, Hinata-sama was really infatuated with her fiancé." They moved on to a beautiful brown stallion which had a black mane, tail and muzzle. "This is Tsubasa*, my horse. Now then walk around and meet the horses to see which one likes you."
"Likes me?"
"Trust me Tenten, horses are picky creatures."
Tenten shrugged and made her way through the stables looking for the horse that 'likes her.' Some horses snorted and turned away when she approached while others bluntly turned their rumps to her, ignoring her. Tenten scoffed. "I don't like you either!" She huffed and moved on to the next one.
It was a black horse with white patches all over its body. It had a white muzzle and stockings and was best of all friendly to Tenten. She giggled when it nuzzled her neck and pat its head. "I like this one." She commented.
"Ah, I see Spirit already made a friend. You, young lady, are tha first pers'n tha horse ev'r liked. Here, give 'im som' appl's." The man in charge of the stable handed two apples to Tenten to which she fed Spirit with.
"Are you ready?" Neji asked.
"Hai."
Neji smiled and beckoned her to the corral where she would learn how to ride. Tenten, with the assistance of the stable manager, led Spirit following closely behind Neji and Tsubasa. Neji taught her the various parts of a horse's saddle and their functions which she easily understood. The difficult part was to climb the horse. As easy as Neji made it seem, Tenten hit the floor twice before she finally sat on the saddle without slipping off.
The look of victory on her face when she sat on the horse gave Neji stomach butterflies but he caught himself with a faux cough. "Listen. When you hold the reins you have to make sure you hold firmly yet gently. Any tug or pull of the reins can lead to a misunderstanding on the horse's part so you have to communicate well."
Tenten did as she was told. "Now to get the horse to move, gently hit the sides of the horse with your legs." Neji moved his horse as a demonstration. Tenten followed his instructions and moved Spirit successfully. Neji got in step beside her. "Good job. Now to halt the horse, pull backwards on the rein."
Neji halted Tsubasa and waited for Tenten to do the same. It however seemed that something as easy as stopping an horse was not as it seemed. Spirit kept moving sideways instead of halting which vexed Tenten. "Stop. Stop! Stop moving you-!"
"Tenten!" Neji interjected before she could cause further misunderstandings for the horse. "Remember what I said earlier when we started this lesson, any tug or pull can lead to a misunderstanding. In this case, you are tugging the reins to the right and not backwards which is why the horse is moving sideways instead of halting." Neji explained.
"Oh." Tenten muttered and steadied her hand. This time, Spirit halted. "Yata! I did it! I did it-!" Tenten started a little victory dance on the horse but before Neji could warn her about anything, Spirit mistook the way her legs hit his sides for a command to move. The sudden movement made Tenten to jolt and hit the horse's side accidentally which the horse interpreted as a command to move faster.
Tenten screamed as Spirit dashed around the corral and went outside through the unlocked gate. "TENTEN!" Neji yelled. "Hyah!" He commanded Tsubasa and they started chasing after Tenten.
Tenten on the other hand kept hitting Spirit's sides and jolting his reins. The poor horse didn't know what he was doing but he followed his master's orders anyway. "Move away!" Tenten yelled at the servants that were passing by but that didn't need to be done for they had scrambled like chickens upon hearing the horse's mad galloping. After Tenten had passed, they emerged from their hiding spots only to have Neji galloping towards them like a one man stampede.
Neji hissed as Tenten's horse made a turn for the palace's second gate and dashed past the guards. Neji sped up to catch up to Tenten's unstable horse but the gap between them was much. What Neji feared was that Tenten and her horse would go inside the town and cause a commotion. There might be children on the streets! Market stock would be destroyed! Oh no, what about the elderly?!
To say when Spirit made for the forest that Neji was relieved was an understatement. In the forest, there were surrounding trees that would force Spirit to stop. Things did not go as Neji hoped when he saw where the insufferable horse was headed. "HYAH! TENTEN! HYAH!" He forced his horse to move faster and faster as Tenten and her horse were heading towards a cliff.
"Oh no no no NO! HALT! HALT SPIRIT! AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Tenten screamed as she tugged harshly on the reins. Spirit skidded to an abrupt halt just at the edge of the cliff and backed off from the fifty feet drop. Neji stopped his horse and sighed of relief. "That. Was. AMAZING! I AM DOING IT AGAIN!" Tenten squealed in delight as if she did not just almost fall to her death.
"Enough! I warned you about making the horse misunderstand you Tenten, do you know what commotion you caused? What you could have caused if you went to town and not the forest?!" Neji scolded. Tenten's smile morphed into a pout, Neji's ultimate weakness. The man sighed in defeat, this woman would be the death of him. "Thank God I taught you how to stop the horse." He muttered. "Come."
Tenten made Spirit to stroll behind Neji and Tsubasa as they led her through the forest. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the horseshoes hitting the earth and the constant chirping of birds. The weather was nice and sunny. Gentle breezes blew through the forest once in a while and carried Neji's beautiful hair with it, the sight of which Tenten found mesmerizing. She wondered where he was leading her but decided to keep silent.
The sound of running water soon reached her ears and as they progressed, a waterfall came into view. Neji stopped and got down from his horse, causing Tenten to do the same. Both led their horses to the river that flowed from the water fall to allow them to drink. After the horses had their fill, Neji gave Tenten a small smile and led his horse towards the waterfall. "Come." He commanded.
Tenten followed her Prince with her horse, wondering where he was leading her to. When Neji disappeared behind the waterfall, she gasped with surprise and followed him. A cave was hidden behind the falls. It had an opening at the other end which lighted up the cave and led to another place Tenten never knew existed.
"Sugoi [2]" Tenten gasped as she took in the magnificent sight before her and the smell of flowers hit her nose. The place was a lush flower field that was filled with mostly dandelions, daises and wild sunflowers amongst other flowers which was the reason for the fresh smell. A small stream flowed out of a rock and formed a brook which reflected the brilliant blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
Neji and Tenten left their horses to graze on the lush grass as he pulled her by the hand into the flower field. "How did you find this place?" Tenten asked in awe.
"I stumbled upon it when I was younger. I often wandered the forest alone to escape from overwhelming emotions and this place had been my secret peaceful place since I found it." Neji explained.
"Tell me what it was like when you were young." Tenten requested.
Neji gave her a wry smile. "I am rather ashamed of my past." He commented flippantly.
"I want to hear all of it." Tenten muttered softly. Neji was quiet for a moment until he rested his head on Tenten's lap. Startled by his sudden action, Tenten tensed (no pun intended) but relaxed and ran her hands idly through the soft dark brown tresses of his hair.
"I was rather offstanding and cold when I was younger. I used to detest my family and the royal system a lot, especially after my father had died. The country of Clouds abducted Hinata-sama as a hostage in exchange for the King's head on a platter and my father, being King Hiashi's identical twin brother was killed in his stead."
Tenten gasped. She had heard of how the princesses was abducted but she never knew how deep the story went. "How horrible." She breathed.
"Indeed it was. My father, the only person I had, was killed indiscriminately so I was livid. I closed myself and harboured animose feelings towards the main branch of the royal family until the fateful day I met with Naruto. He set me on the right path and coincidentally, I found a letter left for me by my father that very day. I learned that my father sacrificed himself in order to protect. That statement had me lost in confusion. Why would he give his life to protect? What did he want to protect?"
Neji reached up and stroked Tenten's cheek tenderly, a small and peaceful smile tugging his lips. "I never apprehended it until recently, after I met and came to love you." Tenten could see the strong emotions burning in those unique and ethereal lilac eyes. "Father loved his twin brother, he loved his nieces, he loved his servants, he loved his country, he loved me." Neji whispered. "That event could have caused a war but jijiwe[3] sacrificed himself to prevent it."
"Your father was wonderful." Tenten spoke softly.
"He was. It is thanks to you that I could understand his feelings before he died and why he felt fearless towards death." Neji's eyes glazed over just for a brief moment before cheering up. "Tell me about your younger self."
***
Hello! I really suck at love moments and mushy feelings but I feel like I am trying. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
-
[1] Itai- Ouch
[2] Sugoi- awesome, whoa, wow
[3] Jijiwe- a formal way of calling your father which is a person of high status.
-
*Naruto: literally means fishcake but can be read as maelstrom. This is a reference to Hinata's love for her fiance.
*Tsubasa: this means wing, a reference to Neji's love for birds.
Edit: I previously wrote Tsubaki instead of Tsubasa I the chapters but I am working on correcting my mistake.
Disclaimer: Not mine! Not mine! Just using Masashi Kishimoto's characters and some cool fan arts from awesome artists and pictures from dopesome cosplayers.
Don't forget to vote and review!
Till next chapter.
-Star.