Is There Supernatural Love?
Chapter 1: Introduction & Bloodcurdling Screams
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or anything else I mention that is obviously not mine. ;)
A/N: This is the replaced-version of the 1st Chapter! It was my first fic, so I had too many Author's Note. In my opinion, this goes better as it goes on! (december 15th 07).
Tenten looked around the room, looked at Neji, looked at her fingernails; pretty much everything in the room. She spotted a chair, and started taking the few steps over to it.
"I don't know… " she mumbled, frowning while she took the seat.
Neji was just staring out the window, a few feet away. He was obviously in deep thought, but he finally answered.
"It will be best for the group" Of course, it was in an annoyingly professional-like tone.
Tenten looked to the side, an unsure look on her face, her lips pursed together. She was rocking slightly, and gathered the courage to say;
"Is it?"
He was clearly surprised.
"You don't agree with my opinion?" he asked.
Tenten's knee was jolting up and down; she was incredibly antsy.
"Well… I mean, I just think that the rest of the group sort of uh, well doesn't want to go..." she stammered out.
"In the long run, it will work out" he stated, as if that was final.
"But they'd rather take the chance staying here" she blurted out.
Her eyes widened considerably, and a hand flew to her mouth. She started cursing herself on the inside; she definitely didn't mean to say that out loud.
Neji scowled, shaking his head slightly.
"You're becoming too comfortable in my presence" he stated.
Tenten had nothing to say to that, and started grinding her teeth, looking down. After an awkward silence, and the realization dawning on her that he wasn't going to say anything else, she muttered a "Gomen".
Neji ignored it.
"Would they really rather stay here unsafe then try to find a new home?" he asked. Tenten bit her lip, and shoved her hand down to keep her knee from shaking.
"Yeah" she replied after a few seconds.
He turned from the window and looked over to her. She looked tired, obviously hadn't slept well in a few days. Her hair wasn't in the usual buns, but thrown messily into a pony tail. Her face was flustered, red splotched, and her cheekbones looked too defined; probably hadn't eaten well for a few weeks. Her brown eyes shown with fear, which he knew was not usual for her. She was wearing a pink tank top with black Bermuda shorts, but her socks were unmatched; yellow and white. Her hands were shaking a little bit, one placed firmly on her knee, which was twitching. He could see her mouth moving, and a soft grinding noise from between her teeth.
"We can stay…" he said after a moment or two.
Tenten blinked, and before she could say anything he continued,
"On one condition" Tenten nodded, biting her lip.
"Clean yourself up, and stay that way" he said indifferently. Tenten's eyes widened, but she replied "Hai".
He then turned away from her, a sign that she could leave.
She jumped up, and left the room, her heart racing. "Clean myself up?" she thought, and headed to her room down the hall.
Neji stared back out the window, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Are things so bad that she looks like that? What kind of leading am I doing?" he questioned himself.
Tenten opened the door to her room that she shared with Hinata, and walked over to the full-length mirror. She frowned, realizing what Neji saw. She was a total mess. She quickly grabbed some clothes from her drawer, and headed down the hall to the bathroom the eight shared.
She walked in, closed the door, flicked the light on, and turned the shower on. She adjusted the water to freezing cold, and started sliding her clothes off. After undoing her pony tail, she hopped into the shower. It was a cold, numbing feeling, like a frost-bitten winter day; and she liked that. After a few moments, she started washing her hair, which was tangled and greasy. She was lathering when she heard a knock on the bathroom door.
"Yeah?" she called out, all ready feeling better.
"Need to check on stock" she heard a male voice call out, causing her to sigh.
"Can't it wait, Uchiha?"
"No".
"Whatever, come in" she answered, rolling her eyes.
She heard the door open, and Sasuke open the cabinets. Every Thursday Sakura went shopping for groceries, supplies, toiletries, and other needed stuff. She probably told Sasuke to see what was needed. Tenten smirked, thinking evilly.
"Don't forget to tell Sakura about the Tampons. I think we're running low on them"
Sasuke only grunted, and a few seconds later he left. Tenten finished up in the next ten minutes, and got out. She dried off, and slipped on the black t-shirt and jeans. She hung up the towels, and grabbed a brush. She parted her hair evenly, and then pulled it back into her famous buns. She stared at herself, and noticed the tiredness in her face. Sighing shamefully, she reached down below the sink and grabbed some of the make up that was used a-plenty from the other girls.
She put on some cover up, which gave her face a little bit of a shine, and covered up the lack of sleep look. Then, she put on a light pink lip stick, since her own lips were closer to white, bloodless from lack off food or sugar or anything. She stared at herself, and gave a small 'eh', while putting the make up back below the sink. Before leaving the bathroom, she grabbed her old clothes, threw them in the hamper, and then walked out to the hallway.
She went to the kitchen, and found Sasuke and Sakura fighting.
"Come on Sasuke-kun, I need to someone to go with me, there's going to be like twice as much as stuff as normal!"
"So? Get someone else to go" he replied indifferently.
"Lee is out god-knows-where; Ino's out on a report for Neji; Naruto and Hinata are out talking to the Rent Guy; Shikamaru is a lazy-ass whose busy anyway with trigonometry homework; and it's Tenten's night to make dinner" Sakura replied, folding her arms over her chest.
He stared at her, and finally replied.
"Fine"
Sakura smiled, and looked over to Tenten triumphantly.
"Oh wow, you look good Tenten" Sakura said, surprised.
"Did I really look that bad before?" she groaned.
"Yeah" Sasuke answered, grabbing the keys to their car.
"Well, I mean, you looked really worn out. We all do I guess, but you looked ready to break down" Sakura replied, trying to say it more nicely. Tenten sighed, and said
"Well Neji said we can stay here, but we better make sure no more problems occur"
Sakura smiled brightly, "Really?" she cried out excited.
"Yep" Tenten said, unable to come up with a smile though.
She wanted to stay, she definitely did, but she had totally pushed the limits talking to Neji like that. He was the leader, and she had spoken against him. Sasuke noticed something was up with Tenten, and knew Sakura wouldn't. He gave her a look, 'you're-explaining-later', and then grabbed Sakura's arm, heading for the door.
Tenten stared at him blankly, but inwardly sighed. Sasuke could read people like a book, and all though he was a cold-hearted bastard with chicken ass hair [as Sakura put it so affectionately, he was somehow caring and somehow one of her best friends. Well, the whole group was best friends in a way, but Sasuke was more involved, usually by being less involved. She shook it off; the thoughts were confusing her, so she moved over to the cabinets and tried to find some food.
There was Mac & Cheese or Ramen.
"Shikamaru!" she called out. She heard a groan as a reply.
"Mac and cheese or ramen?" she called out again.
"Latter" he replied, barely loud enough.
"KAY" she yelled out, and grabbed the ramen.
Shikamaru was a smart guy, a 200 IQ or something, but just incredibly lazy. He was a year younger then her, only 18. Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Naruto, and Hinata were all also 18. On the other hand, eccentric Lee, herself, and their leader Neji were all 19. The group was simply "The Group" or "The Gang", sometimes even "The Pack". They were basically inseparable, a mess of different personalities colliding into one.
She started cooking the ramen, and texted all the members to let them know it'd be served in an hour. She knew she was cooking it way early, but she didn't care. It was ramen; it tasted the same if you reheated it again anyway.
--
Neji was in his room, sitting on the floor in front of his bed, meditating. It was his me-time, and it was something that helped him calm his mind and control his thoughts. It was a tradition he did every day, and no one dared to ever interrupt him from it. If he was interrupted, he usually ended up in a very bad mo-
"BEEP" came a loud noise, causing his light pearl eyes to snap open wide, breaking his concentration. He looked over to his left, and saw his cell phone lighting up. He snatched the blue phone, and flipped it open. "Yo guys, dinner in one hour, be there. –Tenten", read a text. He knew she had it on auto sent, to the 8 members, but he growled angrily anyway. He exited out, turned the ringer off, and threw the phone to the other side of the room. He tried closing his eyes, to go back into his meditation, but it was already messed up. No longer could he concentrate.
He got up, a pissed off look trying to over take his stoic face, and he left his room. He traveled down the hall way, and into the main house area. He saw Tenten in the dining room, carrying bowls, chop sticks, napkins, salt, and pepper over. He walked over to her, and grabbed the bowls, lighting her load. She looked up at him surprised.
"Dinner's not for another hour" she told him slowly.
"I got the text" he said plainly, as she put down the salt and pepper.
Her eyes enlarged, "Shit, I thought I took you off that. Gomen!" she rushed out, looking up at him apologetically.
"Hn" he grunted, but then asked "Why are you preparing the meal so early?"
She shrugged lightly,
"Nothing better to do"
Neji nodded, and for the first time looked at her. She had gotten a shower, put on new clothes, took time to do her hair, and surprisingly put on some make up. Her socks weren't matching, but only because she was in bare feet, her toe nails a chipped (but clean) looking black.
"If you don't mind me asking, what you send Ino on?" she asked after a few seconds, looking up at him.
"Spying" he replied monotonously.
Tenten nodded. Each person of the group had a different ability and area of special expertise. Ino had telepathy, and could read minds. The people she'd be spying on knew this about her though, so she probably wouldn't be able to learn anything too vitally important, but it always helped. After all, there were a few members, called "Newboes" who couldn't hide their thoughts from Ino, and she could probably pick up something from them.
Also, Naruto had unlimited energy. He could draw strength, power, and speed when everyone else would be passing out from exhaustion. This usually made him quite hyper, talkative, energetic, and surprising.
Hinata had special eyes, and she could see what normal people couldn't; inside the body, far away distances, the power within someone, and some other small things.
Sakura had inhuman strength, and was quite strong. A mere punch from her could create a crater in the earth. She also was studying in the medical field, and was the group's "nurse".
Sasuke also had special eyes, but not like Hinata's. His eyes would turn red, and he could see through people's disguises, create illusions, copy combat moves, and even predict them, which pretty much made him psychic, as he often had side premonitions once in awhile.
Shikamaru was just amazingly smart, and could control shadows. It was odd, but he could hold down enemies, and force them to do things. For example, getting one man to strangle his own partner.
Lee had super speed, and was an amazing close combat fighter even (without his speed).
Tenten had heightened senses. She could see better then most humans, which gave her a perfect accuracy in eye vision [like throwing things, which she often did, and the fact that she had completely mastered the expert level of weapon usage only proved it. She could hear things some people couldn't, smell freakishly [well which gave her a tracking ability, and her taste was usually off the charts (causing her to have a huge reaction when eating spicy foods, like jalapeños). Her most used habit though, and was that she could place her hand on the floor and be able to feel where everything in the room was. She rarely used all the talents though, and mostly focused on her weapons.
Neji though, was the strongest, physically and emotionally. He was smart in battle, strong in general, had good stamina, and controlled emotion that would get in the way of a fight. He had the same eyes as Hinata's (they were cousins, and shared the same odd blood trick), but his were much stronger and advanced. He specialized in close-combat, and could hit points in your body that left you on the ground unable to move. His cold face and no sign of emotion was also a bit frightening when fighting him.
Not many humans had abilities like this, but these eight knew they were different, and grouped together. The organization against them, the Akatsuki (a/n: just name, not people or anything) knew there secret. Akatsuki chased them everywhere, trying to get a hold of there powers for there own villainous benefits. The group spent a lot of time running and hiding from this organization, and it led them to have even more irregular lives.
Right now, the organization had sent someone to try and capture Lee as bait, but it was a failed attempt. Neji wanted to leave again, for the sake of the pack, but all of them…. Well, they loved it here. It was a small house, five bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen, dining room, living room, den, and huge basement. They were renting in it, could go to school to actually learn, and had the closest thing to a normal life possible. They didn't want to leave…
"Tenten?" she heard Neji's voice.
She visibly snapped out of it, and looked up at him, probably a bit disoriented.
"Gomen" she said quickly. He looked at her, studying her.
"I'll finish cooking, take the rest of the night off" he said flatly.
"Nani? Why?" she asked, confused. He stared at her like it was obvious, but finally answered.
"You need rest"
Tenten frowned, "I want to be here for Ino's report, I'll get sleep tonight, I promise" she persuaded lightly.
Neji silently reviewed the situation. He knew that if he didn't let her stay for dinner, that she would be restless all night anyway. He looked at her, 'fine', was in his eyes. Tenten gave a small smile.
"Ariagoto (sp?)"
He folded the napkins, placed them down behind each plate, and then nodded as an exit, leaving. Tenten listened as he left; he was headed to Shikamaru's room.
A few hours later, they were all surrounded at the table.
Neji
Tenten --- Naruto
Lee (not here) --- (Empty Seat)
Shikamaru --- Hinata
Sakura --- Ino
Sasuke
Tenten had placed the hot food down, and they were passing it around, dumping there servings onto there own plates. After basic before-digging-in procedure, they began to eat.
Ino, probably because she was so familiar with everyone through her telepathy [even if she only read their minds when given instruction or permission to, was the most talkative and didn't hesitate at all for anything. She usually started conversations when no one else would, even if she could sense the tension or awkwardness.
"Well, I have some results from the scouting" she said, shoving some more rice into her mouth.
"Hm?" Neji asked, telling her to go on.
"They've recruited a lot of Newboes, and all of them are antsy and anticipated something. I scouted [her word for invading people's minds further, and found out why" Ino said, a small frown coming onto her face.
"Why?" Sakura asked immediately, swallowing some noodles. Ino shrugged,
"They think they're going to have test subject #67094 by this Monday (today was Friday) and will be able to 'study' it" she replied, not sure what that meant exactly. Sakura choked on her food, but after a few seconds, she was able to speak.
"That's Naruto"
Hinata's eyes widened considerably, and she immediately looked over to the blonde boy next to her.
"Well, they can't have me" he said, smiling.
Hinata frowned, and all of the others looked over to Neji, while Sakura sipped some water to clear her throat. Neji's face remained the same, and he looked to Sakura.
"What else do you know?" She gulped.
"Not much. Just that that is Naruto's number, and I know all of yours too. I've been able to pick it up from all the time's we've been around them. But, uh, if you think about it, it makes perfect sense for them to want Naruto first"
She replied, using her intelligence she was known for. Shikamaru thought about it, and put in his thoughts.
"The strategically best thing to do would be to steal Naruto, study him, find out what makes his energy run, and then go for the rest of us. If they were able to use Naruto's abilities, then they could mix it with any of us to replicate our powers"
"And without Naruto's blood and DNA, the rest of our powers would be useless to them, because the human's they infused it with wouldn't live long enough. With Naruto's energy however, they could survive" she finished.
Naruto scratched his head, trying to understand. Neji didn't even bother to nod, but flicked a finger in the general area of Sasuke. Sasuke nodded, knowing what it meant.
"Naruto, you're on house arrest for the next three days. If you have to go anywhere, me, OR two of the other's will be with you" Sasuke said bored-like, taking some shrimp from his ramen bowl.
"What? Why with the teme?" he protested, a bit loudly. Sasuke smirked.
"Because you love me, dobe"
Naruto grunted, and shoved some more ramen into his mouth. Tenten started eating again, just thinking. That was when she started hearing something. She looked up unexpectantly (making that a word), but only Neji seemed to notice. She narrowed her eyes a bit, as she listened. It was a small buzzing noise, and it was seemingly coming from her own head. She moaned, placing her hand on her forehead.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, looking up from his bowl, broth dripping down his lips.
"Just a headache. I think I'm going to go lay down" she said, abruptly getting up.
Sakura watched her leave, and when she was gone, turned back to the others, a rebellious gleam in her eye.
"I'm not doing dishes" she stated bluntly.
Hinata laughed, as did Ino. Naruto grinned, and replied "Me neither!" They all, well not Neji, turned to Shikamaru.
"No way, I did it Monday" he blurted out, placing his fork down, ready for an argument. After that, it turned into a play-fight over who would finish up Tenten's dishes responsibility.
--
Tenten stumbled into the room, and rubbed her temple furiously. The buzz wasn't getting louder, but it was annoying the hell out of her and she couldn't concentrate. She lay down on her bed, and closed her eyes tightly. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she could faintly here a movie playing, someone doing dishes, and barely noticed that someone was coming down the hallway.
One knock landed on the door, and she jolted off the bed, opening her eyes. Sasuke walked in, and looked at her expectantly.
"I'm fine" she mumbled. He raised an eyebrow skeptically, obviously dissagreing.
"Something is troubling you, more then the rest of us" he said, sounding careless. So encouraging, she thought.
"Just tired" she replied, unable to say more with the noise bouncing off around her head, disrupting her thoughts.
He glared at her, and said "You're lying".
She pinched her face together, but not because she knew he was right. The noise was suddenly getting louder, and it was piercing her brain like a sharp blade. He noticed that her face looked distorted, and after a few seconds realized it was from pain. He took a step forehead, "Do you need Tylenol?" he asked.
Tenten couldn't respond, as the noise escalated even higher and her head felt read to explode. She collapsed to the ground, her hands placed firmly on her ears, and she cradled down holding her head. Sasuke immediately flashed to her side, and knelt down.
"Tenten?" he asked sternly. She wasn't thinking straight, but only of the immense pain strangling her mind. It was getting louder and louder. She suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream--
IGNORE THE AUTHOR'S NOTE(S) IN THE NEXT ONE,
it had to do with this little a/n i had down here, but i deleted it since it was too much, and yeah!
Keep on reading & review :D!