The Tale of the Dove and the Orphan (Completed 2017)

Chapter Thirteen

Tenten couldn't will her legs to move. Even her breath was five seconds from stopping, merely out of pure terror.

Neji looked up at Yoru and said, "I don't have too long. He's still barely conscious. And I want him to see everything." His voice was menacing; it almost pained Tenten to hear him.
Yoru shrugged before glancing down at Tenten and saying, "Your precious Neji is just about gone, dear. And guess what? You're next."

Tenten looked at what used to be Neji and said, "No... He's not gone... I know he's not." Neji laughed and said, "You're amazing. If you were a little less of a cry baby, I might actually like you. Too bad our fates have collided like this." Tenten shook her head moments before yelping as Yoru lifted her to her feet.

"Come on now," Yoru said, "We haven't got all night."

Tenten looked at Yoru in confusion. Yoru rolled her eyes and said, "We're giving you a time limit to run and find your team. They're nearby; we can smell them. And we know they're looking for the both of you now."

"So, that means that you need to start running, my dear," Neji added in, standing up and glaring down at her.

Tenten's knees were all but water, and she was barely able to keep herself upright. Yoru shook her head and started counting down from a minute.

They were playing a game with her; a game that she would lose.

And Tenten didn't have any choice but to run, or die.

Painfully holding her arm, Tenten did her best to run out of the cave, when all she was really doing was limp-walking to the entrance.

Even as she exited the cave, she could still hear Yoru's malicious countdown, and knew that if she didn't find help, Neji would have her in his grasps.

'No,' she thought as she fought back tears, 'It's not Neji anymore. He's really...' Tenten's legs moved as fast as they could, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to escape from him.

And as that minute ran out, she could barely hear the faint footsteps of her demise closing in on her.

"You know, I couldn't ever understand why he was into you so much," Neji said softly, his lips suddenly inches from her ears.

She gasped as he pushed her over and stood over her as she painfully tried to get back up.

He chuckled and said, "You were always annoying, Tenten. I don't know what delusions he created for himself to ignore that part of you." Tenten could barely contain a sob as she got up and tried to run away.

Neji simply watched her and waited to chase her until she was almost out of sight.

Just when Tenten thought she might've lost him, he'd be all over her once more. Tenten almost cried out when Neji sunk his claws into her shoulder.

"Just look at you," he cooed, shoving her up against a tree, "You couldn't defeat Temari, you could never defeat me or Lee; you can't even defend yourself." Tenten cried and begged, "Neji, please stop."

Neji retracted his claws before shoving Tenten down once more.

She managed to roll downhill and land in a squatting position, finding him almost hovering above her; his eyes red and full of glee.

"You are so pitiful, you know that? I guess I can understand that, since I was the same."

"You're not Neji!!" she cried out, pulling a kunai out and aiming for his leg, but he backed up just in time and grabbed her wrist.