The Royal Adversity (Nejiten Fanfic)

7

Tenten woke up to the rays of light penetrating through the panelled glass windows. Wait. Sunlight? Tenten straightened herself on her bed. Grumpy Neji disallowed any windows to open up; so that no one would be able to see Tenten in the safe house.  If the sun has managed to penetrate through the windows that must mean, Neji had allowed the windows of her room at least to open up.

"Hard boiled." Tenten heard Sasuke say.

"Omelette." Neji retorted flatly.

"Bet?" Sasuke asked, Tenten could imagine a smirk forming on his lips.

"Seriously Uchihaa? We are betting on the type of eggs that she might eat?" Neji replied incredulously.

Tenten sighed softly as she woke up to see her two bodyguards leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. As usual, not giving her the privacy she had requested for due to safety reasons.

"Glad to hear your beautiful voices EARLY this morning." Tenten grumbled.

"How lucky are you? You get to hear the voices of two hot guys early in the morning, princess. Thousands of ladies would die for this opportunity." Neji exclaimed in amusement while Sasuke sniggered in agreement.

Tenten rose from her bed and moved towards the small table situated at the far corner of her room, her breakfast waited for her timely arrival.

"Full English breakfast? Fancy." Tenten exclaimed, impressed. "Didn't know the two of you cook. You never as much as WAIT for me to get ready. What's the deal?"

Sasuke had shifted away from the doorframe and looked a little uncomfortable. While Neji's previously cheeky  glint had turned serious.

"You passed out last night. After you touched me, your excellency." Sasuke spoke. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets he looked up and continued, "What exactly happened?"

Tenten, who was eating gestured the two men towards her and asked them to sit on the chairs before her. She gave Sasuke the boiled eggs and the omelette to Neji. "I prefer sunny side up." Tenten explained with a smile. "Eat as I explain."

Both men gave her quizzical looks. But they didn't budge from where they stood.

She sighed out loud and spoke, "Togukawa clan myth. Have you heard anything of it?"

Sasuke shook his head but Neji nodded. Tenten gestured him to continue, "Togukawa were said to have supernatural powers. No one knew exactly what these powers were but one particular clan found out about this and made use of their abilities by blackmailing them. This led to the segregation of the Togukawa clans into two branches.."

Neji paused when Tenten scoffed softly at the words used. He continued to stay silent as he gestured the Princess to say what was in her mind.

"There never were two branches. There was and had always been a single branch. The "other" branch who called themselves the "Togukawa II" branch were traitors. The knowledge they gathered of our abilities was used AGAINST us. They lied to my great grandmother, impregnated her so that they could carry on the "gift" within their bloodline." Tenten spoke angrily, she breathed in a considerable amount of air, exhaled and continued, "What they are unaware of is that.. the "gift" that they inherited.. is not as strong as opposed to the Togukawa pure bloods."

Sasuke looked slightly disturbed at  Tenten's revelation. He did not like where that was going. He phrased the next question cautiously, "Your excellency, your abilities; is it the ability to heal?"

Tenten looked at the Uchihaa's dark eyes and nodded before she continued, "..and I could sometimes see the future.. well.. a glimpse of it. But this ability, is subjective. The future CAN be changed. So relying on this vision alone without working towards the vision itself is risky."

Neji clicked his tongue when he heard that and took out a cigarette from his back pocket. Sasuke gave a curious look at his partner but kept his silence. Neji smokes for two main reasons, when he was stressed and when he needed to concentrate.

Neji blew out an impressive circular smoke from his mouth after 2 quiet minutes and asked, "So what happens if you heal someone? You lose consciousness like you did last night?"

Tenten shrugged, "I get exhausted. It depends on the severity of the wound I guess. I healed Sasuke's scar and the wounds on his back and on top of that I had a long day. So if my energy reserves were Low, it affects my strength after healing someone."

"Which means.. You could have died healing him." Neji concluded as he finally stopped smoking and discarded the cigarette in a nearby bin.

"Why would you do that, your highness?" Sasuke asked her curiously, "We are merely your bodyguards. Easily disposed off and replaced. YOU are the heiress to the throne. The future that this country needs. Why would you risk dying trying to save a mere bodyguard who you barely know?"

Neji was surprised to be honest. Sasuke spoke quite a number of words in the presence of someone he was clearly not really comfortable with. Tenten was beginning to turn into a game changer.

Tenten looked at him, evidently annoyed by his question. "So you are saying, that I should have let you suffer in pain? Sasuke even if it's not YOU, I would have saved them. I hate seeing others in pain. I see someone hurt, I help. That's what I do. I can't really help myself in that department."

Sasuke fell silent, he didn't know how to react to her statement.

"People can use that against you, you know." Neji pointed out.

"Then let them. They won't change my stance." Tenten retorted.

Neji chuckled at her outbursts. She was one spunky Princess. He wiped his face with his right hand and shook his head in disbelief. It would get harder to protect the Princess. She was a liability, she not only has the power to rule but also a vulnerability that could be used against her. Her kindness. She would help just about ANYONE and she might get weak in the healing process; that alone could take her out.

"Welp we are screwed."  Neji exclaimed, a little too loudly. Sasuke and Tenten were currently looking oddly at him.