Blood Tainted Roses

• 32 • Realizations •

I ended up using a lot of time to get this chapter done but I hope you enjoy it.

***

He was thinking about preparing some abalone porridge for the morning as that would be easy on the stomachs of both the sick and elderly he had in his care. Neji grabbed the old umbrella lying in a corner at the reception and went outside to get the things he needed for the food. It was going to be a long, uneventful day.

***

It was well past noontime when Tenten stirred fully awake from her slumber. Her nose was stuffy and her head pounded from crying so much the evening before in the worst way possible but she was feeling far better than she did some hours ago. A look around the room told her that it was empty save for herself.

Her bones creaked as she pulled herself up from the futon she laid on. The blanket was still half wrapped around her shoulders as she staggered out of the room because she felt somewhat cold and hot at the same time, like her sick body couldn't decide which one it wanted to be at the moment.

Tenten was looking for Neji. She didn't think that it was something she would end up doing one of these days but here she was, missing his presence.  Though it was vague she was aware of how the man took care of her throughout the night and the early hours of the morning. She had been so stressed out that her body broke down and staying under the rain didn't particularly do wonders for her, but Neji saw her through it all. Tenten flushed red at a particular memory of him bathing her but strangely, she didn't feel offended like she normally would.

Instead she felt warm and fuzzy inside. Warm that Neji had respectfully kept his eyes off her body while he washed her and fuzzy that he devoted his night to taking care of her weak self. Tenten shook the confusing feelings off almost as soon as she thought them. It had to be her illness making her notice the man's good points all of a sudden. Why else would she think the perverted thief a caring, loving person for just one night of kindness he showed to her?

Where was he anyway? The inn was silent and empty, however there was some chatter coming from outside so Tenten headed towards the entrance door. She tugged it open and stepped outside. The brightness hit her so hard that she had to close her eyes to maintain her balance. It wasn't from the sun, the brightness. The sun was still covered by thick clouds which were the residue of the storm that happened overnight, but outside was still so bright in Tenten's eyes that she had to squint to take in her surroundings properly.

Everywhere was thoroughly thrashed outside the inn. The ground was marshy and half flooded with water that didn't flow through the drainage system. Fields were wrecked and a few trees in the neighborhood were broken into splinters as a result of the high wind yesterday. Some buildings even caved in to the storm, the sight of which had Tenten reevaluating the structural integrity of the creaky inn Neji chose and thanking him for it.

People were scattered about on the street so it was quite busy, hence the chatter. The locals had gathered themselves to clean up the the remains of the storm. Some people, mostly men, were doing the heavy lifting while other people cleared the drainage systems in case of another rain.

There was a food stand where some women were cutting up fruits and preparing drinks probably for the workers to replenish their energy. Tenten recognized the old owner of the inn sitting among those women. Some children lingered around the place for bits of fruit, they weren't chased away.

A woman called out in a loud, accentuated voice for everyone to take a break and come for fruit. At once the labouring men and women, about ten of them in the small neighborhood, stopped their hard work and went to the stand for the healthy snacks. Tenten's eyes were instantly attracted to Neji's tall frame as he walked amongst some older men to the stand and the cold fever must've really gotten into her head because she found that she could not avert her gaze from him afterwards.