"You don't really expect me to care, do you?" Neji looked down at the brown haired girl with a cold stare. It was raining.
Tenten blinked away an upcoming onslaught of tears, her voice cracking as she answered, "Your teammate- our teammate was almost killed. How could you not care?"
He laid his gaze upon her, his snow-white eyes emotionless. "It was in his destiny to loose to that sand nin. The Gods would not allow his victory."
She shook her head furiously, water droplets flying. "No. Shut up- shut up! You and all your 'destiny' talk. A person lives life whatever extent he or she chooses! They don't have a certain destiny laid down before them! You're wrong Neji... you're wrong..." Her voice trailed off at the end, loosing the false facade of strength that she had tried so hard to uphold.
"You would never understand."
Tenten screwed her eyes shut, crying out, "Maybe if you told me I would!" She grabbed onto his arm as he turned to leave. "Neji, please. Please! Show me, tell me, explain to me. I- want to- need to understand!"
The black haired male stood still for a moment, looking down at the hand that was clasped around his arm, trying to hold him back. His gaze moved upward onto the girl's face, and he found desperation and tears.
"Tenten," he said calmly, removing her hand from around his arm, "you don't need to know. It would just scar you- further confuse you, and maybe even hurt you. You don't need to worry yourself with my past- or me at all."
The female ninja looked downward and whispered, "But I do. Neji," she looked him in the face, staring into his cold white eyes, "please, tell me. Please."
Neji closed his eyes for a minute, as if reliving a past memory was too much for him to bear. "Alright." He said, giving in.
Tenten watched as her teammate pulled his arms up, and removed his forehead protector. She looked on in confusion as a teal sign was revealed. "W-what is it?" she asked.
Neji turned his back to her. "The Hyuuga clan is split into two: the main family line and the branch family line. I, as a branch family member, had a cursed seal placed upon my forehead at the age of four. This forces me to protect the main family or else face the consequences: death."
The brown haired girl listened in shock, finally understanding why Neji was the way he was.
"The main house-" Neji's perfectly controlled voice cracked, "killed my father as a demand of the Lightening country. They killed him in place of Hinata's father."
Tenten watched as her teammate's back shook. He took rasping breaths. "You understand now, why I speak of destiny. Tenten. I am a caged bird- there is nothing I can do about my future. That is why I carry an extreme hatred for the main family of the Hyuuga line."
The rain continued to pour down on them. Tenten reached out, and touched Neji's hair. He instantly recoiled from her warm fingers, saying, "Tenten. Go home. Please. Go away." His voice shook as she reached out to him again. "Tenten, please. Leave me alone."
Tenten took a step forward to close the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around his still form and rested her forehead on the back of his shoulder. "No," she whispered. "Neji, you don't have to go through the pain alone. There are people out there who care for you, love you even. Just open up, and accept their love."
His voice shook with emotion. "I told myself that many times when my father was killed. No matter how much I try to imagine- wish, want, hope- I know it isn't true. The word ‘love' was deleted from my destiny the moment this cursed seal was placed upon my forehead."
They stood silent as the rain continued to wash away the impurities of the Earth.
Neji felt Tenten's hold around his loosen, and he thought, with a strange pain in his heart, that she was going to leave. He had proved his point to her; there was no reason for her to stay any longer. But instead, she moved around his lithe form and rested her forehead against his. In a meek voice, so quiet that he wasn't entirely sure he heard her, she asked, while staring into his eyes, "Then why do I love you?"
The rain continued to fall.
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