Embracing the Darkness

Chapter 2

"I believe a man once said: 'Where there is light, there is darkness.  In our case, I am your light that will lead to what your petty mind desires."—Zen by @Hisaki

Naive Treachery

After bidding their goodbyes to the Leaf genins, Toujou makes the wrong move when he rubs his stomach and yawns at it.  It blocks the way Tayuya and I completely disappear and ditch him.  But it's one-sided, because for all I know it's Tayuya who's doing all this funny business.

She says Toujou deserves it for being a dipshit, and I simply don't understand what she meant by that.  Because what's wrong with being a dipshit?

What's a dipshit anyways?

I focus my attention then to Tayuya as I let her lead me.

She and I are probably never the best combination, and even 'til now.  I remember how she hated how weak I was before everything came down to this.  And it's strange, how all she did before was hate that side of me, and now...

Tayuya finds herself letting go of my wrist when a boy brushes by a little bit too much for comfort and both of them stumble back.

It's the boy's female companion that warns us though.  "Watch where you're going."

I assess her, taking in the fact she's the same age as Tayuya.  I try to apologize in behalf of her then, just to ease the tension, but Tayuya herself stands up before I can do anything. 

"Watch where I'm going?" she asks in mock.  "I will if your Hyūga friend watches where he's going!"

"Well, of course he was looking at where he was going!" the female stranger fires back and she glances back at her companion.  "Right, Neji?"

Unfortunately though, what he does is sigh.  "That's enough, Tenten."

Tenten seems a bit flustered by this, Tayuya on the other hand seeming amused.  I sigh when Tayuya does this though, shaking my head too.

The Hyūga then turns to us.  "You two, you're not from this village, are you?"

"What is it to you?"  Tayuya clicks her tongue as she now narrows her eyes.

"State your business," Neji demands with equal demeanor.

"Can't take a hint?  Obviously we're here for the Chūnin Exams, duh.  What else could have brought us here in this stupid village?"  Tayuya rolls her eyes with an edge to her tone which Tenten glared at.  "And you, girl with the buns."

"My name is Tenten."  The Leaf genin narrows her eyes.

"I didn't ask for your name, girl with the buns," Tayuya grounds lowly before she smiles.  No, not a smile but a smirk.  "You're also a participant, right?  Are you positive you'll make it with your mouth like that?"

"Excuse me?"

"You only bark.  You don't bite," Tayuya muses.  "That's not a fine move."

Tenten's about to lash out at Tayuya then, if it weren't for the Hyūga who suddenly blocks her back.  "I'd say the same to you, outsider.  She your teammate, that girl?"  He cocks his head to the side and towards me.  "With someone as frail as that, what makes you think that you have a chance too?"

Tayuya's about to retort something back again, probably to say that I'm not even a she, but I hold onto her sleeve.  Both Tenten and the Hyūga look at me then, and I know they finally feel the sudden change.

"Please don't refer to me as such gender..."

They flich at the sudden drop of key on my tone, and even Tayuya notices it too.  She glances at me then, but I've already turned away.

"C'mon, Tayuya-san," I murmur, this time pulling at her.  "Let's not waste time on useless opponenets."

Throughout the whole time we walked, in search of Toujou, much to Tayuya's distaste, she's quiet.  I can tell that she wants to say something, but it takes a lot of time before she finally decides to start.

"Yūki-sama..." she calls on.

Sometimes, it worries me that this side if Tayuya also fears some side of me.  Like that time, back in the hideout, when she bowed her head and begged.  It worries me that I might scare her again.

Truly, I don't want Tayuya like before.

Before she can begin again, we come to a sudden halt.  She stiffens when I suddenly hug her after that.

"Oh, Tayuya-san, you tsundere," I tease her.  I laugh openly at her reaction.  To her board-like body and sudden ice stiff stature.

Sometimes, this is the only solution I can think of.  Although playing dirty, but it's still better than not doing anything at all.

"I-Im not a tsundere," she huffs, pulling away with a look that seems of someone upset.  But I know she's not upset.  I know Tayuya better than that, so I laugh at her again.

She tries to stop me, continuously groaning at the fact that she knows it's useless.

Truly it does ease our tension.  And throughout I end up smiling the whole time while Tayuya's expression is twisted into a cute frown.

How can I even know that?  I read through wind vibrations.  And it's funny, because with that even I can read hidden expressions. Tayuya hates that though, because she can't hide anything from me.  But it's kind of cute.

It's not a moment later that we finally find Toujou.  But I don't think he notices us yet.

"What's Toujou doing?"

We only left him for a few moments and here we find him peeking over a corner.

"Stalking" is what first comes into my mind and mouth.  Toujou himself stiffens when he suddenly feels our company when we also peek the same way he's doing.  Or so I try to...

"What—"

Tayuya shuts him up immediately when she slams her hand over his mouth.  He also falls on his bottom as Tayuya continues to peek.

"Why are you watching those brats?" Tayuya mumbles and he looks over.

I try to wide-spread my sensory before I feel who Tayuya is referring to then.  Two of those three genins from before, Naruto and Sakura-san, and two unknown.  But I recognize the familiar scent of the desert, which hints of their origin.  Suna.

There are also four other children, but only one of them catches my attention.  I almost stiffen just when her scent assaults my senses.

She's being held up by one of the Suna genins.

"Those Suna participants are creating trouble, oooh," Tayuya muses excitedly.

"Maybe we should help them..." I mumble.

"No, Yūki-sama.  We might get tangled."  Toujou shakes her head.

"Unfortunately, Toujou's right, Yūki-sama."

"What's with the unfortunately?" Toujou huffs.

"Oh nothing.  Besides, watching them is fun."  Tayuya smirks.  "The Leaf are panicking, but the one being held up doesn't seem to be in trouble.  Which is ironic..."

"The Kumogakure kid, you mean?"

"Yeah," Tayuya mumbles.  "Probably a participant too..."

Toujou looks up.  "Participant?  But she looks..."

"Young?"  Tayuya raises her eyebrows.  "How would you know when she's wearing a mask?  It can be that she's just short on height.  And besides, what other explains her reason to be here when she's an outsider too?"

"Well, that's true..." Toujou mumbles.

"And there's something about her..." Tayuya trails off.  "Well, we have something to look forward from the exams after all, huh?  Other than that hoe, I mean..."

"Tayuya-san..." I sigh and Toujou looks over at us, confusedly.

"Can't help it."  Tayuya shrugs.  "A hoe's a hoe."

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