Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ MONTHLY BEGINNINGS ❯ 1 ( Chapter 1 )

MONTHLY BEGINNINGS

Disclaimer: clearly I don't own Naruto; orange is my worst color anyway…

 

Seated in the lotus position, back against a tree with eyes closed, he looked every bit a calm and contented individual; the surrounding trees swaying in the morning breeze completed the serene picture. However, not even meditation could quell the growing irritation he felt at that moment.

It had been 3 hours, 3 hours!! His patience was running thin. Hyuuga Neji waited for no one!

With a sigh of exasperation he opened his eyes. The day seemed perfect for training and he was not going to just sit there and let it be wasted. He shot off into the woods, heading for his partner's residence. It was a miracle he was not leaving behind a trail of destruction that bespoke of his infuriation.

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An involuntary groan escaped her throat as she curled up into a ball while the cyclic pain unmercifully tore into her abdomen making her shiver with fatigue. Tenten was most certainly not new to pain, but this was different; it felt like…like someone was repeatedly trying to wring the blood out of her intestines. This particular pain worried her; she knew there was something seriously wrong.

Gasping, she clutched at her sheets while another cycle of pain rose up and her body once again went into spasms. It was almost 8.00am and she had been tossing and turning since 4.00am.

Wait a minute! It was 8.00am?!!

“Oh no” she groaned. Neji was going to have a fit, and then he was going to kill her.

A million thoughts ran through her head:

`I could hide, oh! - He has the Byakugan. Damn! Perhaps I could run away, face the harsh elements of the weather on my own with nothing left but the clothes on my back…wait, this isn't making any sense. I will just face him and tell him that any normal human being has “sick” days and he should just leave me be.'

But that was just it, Neji was not normal! She sighed just thinking about it. He didn't even try to act like the rest of them. Sure he had softened since Naruto beat the crap out of him, but he had not changed much…

With all this running through her head, she never even heard the knock at the door. Had she been paying attention, she would have thought that if a knock ever sounded irritated, this one most certainly did.

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Neji tried to keep himself from knocking the door down when he didn't get a reply. This was getting more frustrating with each second. Grunting in irritation, he activated his Byakugan. It was not meant for such simple matters but he had long since abandoned any polite behavior. Tenten had fallen from his good graces when she left him to endure those 2 green beasts for an hour and then made him wait for 2 more.

He scanned the small apartment until he found a familiar chakra signature. The chakra flow was slow, almost sluggish. Neji frowned; he had only seen this in those who were unconscious, tired or asleep. The first two options didn't make sense because she had been fine the day before, so that meant she was sleeping.

Sleeping?!! This had gone far enough. He opened the door knowing she rarely locked it and strode purposefully toward her bedroom. Neji Hyuuga would not be insulted in such a manner! Without knocking, he pushed open her door, none too gently and sharply called out to her.

Neji took a second to glance around the room. The curtains were closed but even in the dim light, he could see the room was spotless. On any other day he would have nodded in approval but today, his training partner did not deserve such niceties.

Tenten slowly sat up. Her hair, usually in tightly wound buns was disheveled and hanging loosely around her face. She was still in her bed clothes and after blinking several times, she peered at him through squinted eyes.

“N-Neji?” she groggily asked.

He didn't answer, just glared at her, off-white orbs never leaving hers.

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He replied. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Tenten opened her mouth as if to say something but ended up gasping sharply and then clutching her abdomen. Puzzled, Neji walked over to her.

“Tenten…?”

He reached out a hand and touched her forehead; an action he would never do for anyone else, but he needed her to be healthy so he could at least get some training done before the day ended.

Neji frowned, she was not warm and the chakra flow he had seen earlier did not indicate any abnormalities. While he was still trying to figure out what could be wrong, Tenten's hand shot out suddenly and her fingers formed a vice-like grip on his arm. He glanced down at her in surprise and it was only then that he noticed the color change in her bed sheets. On any normal day they would have been blue but at the moment, they had various patches of deep crimson.

Neji's eyebrows shot up in alarm. If Tenten was bleeding, he had to get her to a hospital fast. But still, if she had a wound that was bleeding, her chakra would have dwindled as the life liquid oozed out, yet it was not the case. Any amount of blood that passed out of the body affected its energy flow unless…unless…oh no.

The blood drained from Neji's face as realization hit him. It all suddenly made sense; the pain, the blood, even her ashy pallor, the fact that she was 14 years old; Tenten was maturing as a female!

But why oh why did it have to happen in front of him. Fate was a pain in the butt sometimes. He let out an involuntary groan.

“Neji?” Tenten peered up at him. “Are you alright, you look pale…uh, more than usual.”

Neji frowned in response. The abdominal cramps seemed to have passed for sometime if she was able to make a joke. But she seemed to be unaware as to what was going on. Perhaps due to the pain she had not yet figured it out. But what female would not know such a thing, especially when she was of age.

It was then that Neji remembered that Tenten had no parents or caretaker. She never talked about it so he had let it lie. That meant no one had talked to her about such matters and being the tomboy that she was, she probably never engaged in such talks with other girls.

That was when all the blood rushed back to his face as Neji realized he would have to tell her what was going on.

No way!! He had had enough of fate's sadistic nature; he would not be the prey this time.

Trying to keep the panic from his voice (after all, he was Hyuuga Neji), he said: “let me go and get some assistance for you.”

He then tried to pry her fingers loose from his hand. Neji let out a sigh of relief as she let go but stiffened again when she bent over in pain and grabbed his leg instead. Startled, he tried to take a step back but she wouldn't let go.

“Don't leave me,” Tenten rasped.

“Tenten…”

She looked up at him, her eyes perplexed. “Why can't you help me?”

“…..” Neji was speechless.

What had he gotten himself into?!! He tried to keep the shock from his face as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. Surely his genius brain could come up with a plan, but for some reason, he couldn't think properly. An idea suddenly hit him!

“Tsunade-sama is better suited for such a situation” he said knowing very well Tenten would accept seeing as how the Godaime was her idol.

“Ts-Tsunade-sama?” she whispered. She then let go of his leg. “Alright, don't be long.”

Sighing in relief, Neji almost ran out, fleeing from the uncomfortable situation. He tried to take steady breaths hoping his face was not so red, and went in search of the Hokage.

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Tsunade raised her eyebrows as she saw the blood rise in the kunoichi's face. It was amusing how innocent people could be. She suppressed a smirk when she remembered how the Hyuuga boy looked when he tried to explain the situation to her. He had rushed in, face ashen and then tried to explain in mumbles and whispers. She had never seen the boy in such a state and so thought that he was the one with the problem. Her attention turned to the girl in front of her as she finally said something.

“That means that Neji…and my…h-he knows; oh no.”

Tsunade smiled as she watched the girl bury her face in her hands. The way these relationships developed always amused her. The stoic Hyuuga genius had showed an abnormal amount of concern (well, abnormal for him) for the currently squirming female, she wouldn't be surprised if he felt more for her than he showed. Things were getting more interesting around the village.

 

A/N: this is my first fan fiction, please review and tell me what you think.