Nejiten - Meant To Be (Completed 2014)

Chapter Three

Ino Yamanaka sighed and looked at Tenten in confusion and slight aggravation.

So did her teammates Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi.

Sai looked around the gates with alert eyes while Sakura Haurno crossed her arms in impatience, and Naruto Uzumaki stationed himself on top of the main gate with Lee.

Sakura finally became fed up and said irritantly, "Tenten, why was I brought out of the hospital, only to have waited here for over fifteen minutes and so far hear nothing?"

"Because," Tenten replied, "Neji is still trying to gather the rest of our comrades. Just be patient."

"Patient?!" Ino intervened, "You seriously expect us to be patient?! I'm sorry, but we don't wait around for the almighty Hyuga to get here!!"
Tenten grabbed Ino's arm and snapped, "You already know he's not that, Ino! Whatever beef you have with him, now isn't the time to reveal it!"
"Oh excuse me, I'd rather not see his highness at the moment; my team was about to head out on a mission!!" Ino cried out angrily, grabbing Tenten's shirt.

Sakura jumped in and said loudly, "Okay, that's enough! So what if Neji acts that way, Ino?! You'd know all about being all high and mighty, Ino Pig!!"

Just when Ino was about to go off on both kunoichi, Neji cleared his throat.

Everyone was silent.

Ino and Sakura looked very guilty, and Tenten was on the verge of exploding.

Behind him stood Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka and his dog Akamaru, Shino, and the Sand siblings.

Temari glanced at Tenten, but her usual smirk wasn't visible.

Neji said tightly, "As much as I would like to argue how I'm the opposite of high and mighty, we don't have time for that. We, in fact, have no time for anything aside from the situation currently taking place."

As Neji went further into what was going on, quite a few faces turned pale.

Tenten kept her eyes to the ground.

"What we can do now," he said calmly, "is protect the village with our lives. We must not let any of the villagers know, nor must we cause a panic. We will all split up into teams of two. I will be the one to check all the areas you all are in."
He stopped talking for a moment to take a deep breath. He then said quietly, "What we must do to stay alive is stay calm, stay ready, and trust your teammate. And that goes for ALL of you."
Tenten looked up at Neji, and sensed something about his voice.

It was fear.

Straight out fear.

~

Tenten sighed.

She understood that she had to work with whomever she was placed with, but who she was working with was too ironic.

Both Tenten and Temari were stationed together, and both were told to attack anyone not a leaf shinobi.

Temari thought the same thing, and they avoided talking for hours.

Finally, Temari sighed and broke the silence. "Do you hate me?" she asked softly.

Tenten said, "Shouldn't I be asking that?"

Temari laughed and said, "Does it have to do with the Chunin exams, because if so, it's been over two years since then."

Tenten turned to look at her and asked, "Then why do you act the way you do around me?"

Temari said, "Because you act the way you do around me. Look, can we stop this? I don't want to argue. If we can't be friends, then we can be comrades at least."