Returning after an University academic year!!! Ahoy~ Make way!
A/N: It's been sometime, and I'm not sure whether it's my perception that's changed or my writing that's changed. Feel free to leave a comment - any words may set a trap for the plot bunnies. *hint*
This is dedicated to my font of inspiration.
Valiant Youth
The sky was a staggering blue and Konoha’s forest green, green and green with life. It was going to be a long summer fueled by the heat and bustling tension that stretched across the village. Two Genins, like shadows of leaves, flittered across the branches and the sound of metal echoed each time they met. The world was slow and dull in their eyes. Each clash and each clang brought a bit more sweat to their brows and made their hearts bit a little harder and added a bit more complication to their otherwise simple world.
This is the Flame of Youth Gai-sensei talks about, Tenten thought. A smile tugged at her lips even as her kunai slid over Neji’s and he, using their momentum, fluidly bent beneath her and half let, half flipped her behind him. All this happened in a second; then, they were sailing between the trees again, readying for their next encounter. Exhilaration pumped like fire and water in her veins. Adrenaline flooded her senses and she held her kunai tighter as she, once again, jumped towards him.
Neji met her half way in the air and they struggled for dominance. This time, it was a draw - both pushed back by the sheer force of each other. Their eyes met as the distance widened between them. Neji landed in a clearing and she stood above him on a nearby branch. An understanding, silent but like every other one, was shared. Neji slipped his kunai back in his holder before shifting into his stance, his arms held relaxed and palms facing outwards, and Tenten reached for the scroll that was carefully clasped on to the flap of her pouch. She pulled the scroll opened and began.
There was one day till the Chuunin tournament.
She was so proud, and envious, of his advancement as she lay in the dirt. Her weapons had been collected after being scattered by his Kaiten and she was exhausted. The sun was still hot but Konoha’s forest was vast and shielded her from the beams. The occasional wind trickled through the woods and she tilted her head when it brushed past her. She made a languid stretch and a slight sigh of satisfaction as her joints made audible ‘pop’s to relieve the buildup of pressure.
Neji sat underneath a tree, meditating and looking as if that was all he’d done in the afternoon instead of training in the heat. She gazed at him, wondering how it was possible to look clean covered in sweat and dirt. She gave another sigh. In Gai-sensei’s doctrine - Lee was a hot flame with burning passion, strong determination and sheer stubbornness which was somewhat ordinary if not for the intensity with which it burned; Neji, however, burned with a cold flame. It wasn’t that Neji lacked any of Lee’s passion, determination or stubbornness; but they were so well hidden beneath his somewhat passive-aggressive attitude and unadulterated gift as a shinobi.
And his unshakeable belief in destiny, she reminded herself with yet another sigh.
“You’re thinking noisily,” Neji said, stopping her in mid exhalation. He looked at her from his spot with a mixture of irritation and interest. She stared back.
“Hn,” she gave a non-committed answer, turning over and continuing to study him.
“What are you thinking?” he asked finally.
“I’m thinking that I will never fall in love,” Tenten said.
“And?” Neji pressed on, unimpressed and unsatisfied by her answer. A secretive smile bloomed on her face. She was too young and, she supposed, vulnerable for this; but Shinobi still lived in the moment even after all their careful planning.
“But I think, if I ever fall in love, it would be with you.”
“You’re not very subtle, are you?” Mild amusement was clear on his face and Tenten was glad that she had made him smile.
She grinned. “Subtlety would never work on you, Neji,” she declared while flipping onto her back again. She closed her eyes and welcomed the sunlight that suddenly infiltrated the foliage. “You don’t have to fall in love with me now.”
“You’re gambling,” he said, not accusingly, but as if she hadn’t realized what she was doing.
“Yes,” she turned around to face him with a smile.
Confusion flickered in his eyes and they became clouded; the conversation had taken a turn; and his next words were guarded and careful. “Why?”
“Because,” she gave him another beaming smile, “I believe: if I’m scared of losing, I’m never going to win.”
The frown on his face deepened, making Neji look older than his thirteen years. Tenten’s smile faltered slightly and she gave an exasperated sigh this time. “Because I choose my own path and whom I love.”
Tenten hopped up from her position and in a voice that gave away her insecurities, she told him: “Because I think you’re worth everything that I might lose.” She gave him another smile before turning around to leave the clearing, “Good luck tomorrow.”
She didn’t need to turn around to know the stony expression on his face and that his hand was reaching for his curse seal as he said, “It doesn’t matter whether I love you or not. Nothing can change; we’re all controlled by fate.”
The next day, Naruto broke Destiny and conquered Fate.