Summary: She never backed down from a challenge before. Winning was in her blood. But she never thought that winning could be so hard.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto in any way, shape, or form.
Kazuki's corner: This is one fanfiction that's been sitting on my hard drive for who knows how long. Now, I've finally decided to upload it. For those wondering, the main pairing is TentenxNeji has little to do with the series itself, it's just an idea that randomly popped in my head. Now, on with the story!
On the Tip of a Dagger
Chapter One- And it begins…
It was four o'clock in the morning. Only those on watch and at work were up at this time in the morning. Knowing that made everything much easier.
Into the club the curvaceous woman ventured. Some sort of techno music blared through the overhead speakers as she scanned the uncivilized place.
Then she found him.
Through the jumping and screaming people, white eyes shone. Hair the same dark brown color as hers pooled down his back, framing his face. A headband held back those strands, the leaf village symbol engraved into the metal.
She would've been breathless, if this wasn't a mission she had to complete.
Silently, the vixen pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the cat calls and complements on her outfit: a black leather mini skirt and a mesh, long sleeved top with a leather vest over it. Knee high, black boots set off the outfit, accentuating her mesh stockings and fingerless gloves. So, of course, when she stepped in front of her target, it was natural for him to be surprised.
'Can I help you?" He asked slowly, his eyes locking with hers.
Her breath caught in her throat. Only then did she realize that his eyes weren't white; they were a pale lavender color. She bit her bottom lip. Never before could she not complete a mission assigned to her. She wasn't about to back down now.
'Are you Neji Hyuga?"
'Who wants to know?"
She paused. Would it hurt if he knew her real name? She decided to play it safe.
"Risa. Risa Nagano."
"What do you want?"
"Under the Hokage's orders, I am to bring you to Konoha for a meeting."
"And if I refuse?" He retorted.
Damn. This one was tricky, that's for sure.
"In case that event does occur, I will take you by force. The meeting's very important, and I would rather you get there unharmed, so let's keep that from happening, shall we?" She put on a fake sincere smile. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was faking her reason.
He smirked. She was looking for a fight.
'Alright. I'll come with you." Neji Hyuga stood up, and started to walk towards the back door. Risa followed suit.
'This is gonna be easier than I thought.'
Her hand slowly inched to the kunai strapped to her thigh. She needed to make this quick.
"And what do you plan to do with that, Risa-san?" His cold voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I told you already, Hyuga-san, I would prefer that you get to the meeting unharmed. I'm just taking a step of caution to ensure that. "
"Hm." He kept walking.
'I didn't even know his Byakugan was activated! Man, I need to focus!'
Risa took a deep breath and continued following him deep into the forest. Then he suddenly stopped. The dark shadows flickered dangerously around them.
"You're not one of the Hokage's subordinates, are you?" Neji questioned while staring straight ahead.
"Hmm…so you saw through it, did ya?" She purred as she twirled the kunai in her hands.
"What do you want?" His eyes narrowed as he looked at her over his shoulder. He stiffened as he saw her smile fade.
"Enough talk!" She snapped, charging at him at a speed so fast, he could barely dodge her attack.
He grunted as he turned around to attack her, in one of her vital areas like a true Hyuga warrior,. But he hit a shadow clone.
'When did she use a clone jutsu?'
He spun around quickly and ducked to avoid the high kick coming from his side.
'Damn. She fast…I've got to do something.'
Neji grabbed her leg and flipped her over his shoulder. In the process of doing so, he poked one of the tenketsu on her calf. When she tried to stand, her leg disagreed she nearly collapsed. Opposite to what he was planning, she grabbed three shuriken and four senbon from a hidden place in her outfit and sent them at him. He avoided getting hit by using a Divine Spin, but as soon as he stopped, six shuriken pierced his flesh.
"Umph!"
He stumbled back a couple of steps, glaring at her.
"Tough." Neji muttered.
'Same to you." She responded.
"Mind telling me the name of who I'm really fighting?"
"Hmm…Maybe a few seconds before you die….yeah…then you can never forget who I am!"
She charged at him. How, he couldn't figure out. He disabled the flow of chakra in her leg, but she still able to move at such a speed…
He sidestepped her punch and threw one of his own. She blocked with her arm and punched him in his gut with her free hand. He coughed and doubled over. His eyes widened. He saw her knee rising to hit him, but he couldn't move in time. As her knee connected with his chin, he flew backwards, groaning. She towered over him.
"This is the end."
"Oh, really, you must not have down you research on me."
Neji kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying away from him. She landed in a crouched position, with one hand and knee on the ground. Neji stood up and stared at her.
"You still think I'm so easy to defeat?"
The woman growled, jumping up and throwing an assortment of kunai at him. He dodged them easily, and saw her pounce at him from her position. He evaded by stepping back. Her attacks kept coming at him. He blocked every one.
That is. until she pulled out a kunai and slashed him in the arm.
He stepped back a little bit, holding his arm as blood slowly trickled through his fingers.
"Yes.' She said, spinning into a roundhouse kick. He was slammed against a tree. She stood in her place, waiting for his next move. He didn't get back up.
She walked over to him, kneeling beside him, with the kunai in her hand.
"Since it's over now, I'll keep my word…" She purred. "My name's Tenten." She finally admitted. "You put up a good fight."
"Not….done…yet…." Neji panted.
'Wha?"
Neji smirked as he was quickly replaced by a log. Tenten blinked, then screamed in frustration.
"I'll get you, Neji! You just wait! I NEVER fail my missions!" She yelled to the stars.
Behind a tree, Neji Hyuga smiled to himself.
'She's a tough one, alright…I look forward to fighting her again…'
Then he was gone.
"Ow! Ow!"
'Stop moving and maybe it'll get done faster!"
"Grr…whatever, just hurry it up!"
'There. Done."
Tenten huffed and stood up, rubbing her calf as she glared daggers at her medic.
"Bout time."
The medic kunoichi growled. "If you had killed him, maybe you would've felt a little better." Her jade eyes held a fire within them.
"You could've told me that restoring chakra hurt, dammit! Maybe then I would've been prepared for it a little more!"
"You never asked!
"Sakura, Tenten, cut it out, would ya?" A irritated blonde kunoichi hissed. A giant war fan was strapped on her back. "The guy's tough, she couldn't have beat him on her own."
'Are you calling me weak?" Tenten snapped.
"I said nothing of the sort. "
"You insinuated it!"
"How do you figure?"
"Tenten was about to snap at her, but the remaining member of their squad stepped in. She was the most modest one, but also the mediator.
"That's enough." Her voice was soft. No one would've thought it possible for her to be capable of some of the most brutal murders out of the group. "It's only one mistake. It won't happen again…" Hinata looked at her brunette teammate. "Right?"
She reluctantly agreed.
"You should go get some rest Tenten. You've had a hard day." Then she turned to Sakura and Temari. 'I need to discuss tomorrow's plans with you two. I want to know exactly what this Neji Hyuga is capable of." Her eyes, which resembled Neji's a lot, narrowed. Apparently, it annoyed her that a member of her team was unable to complete a mission because of lack of information.
"Yes." The two kunoichi agreed in unison.
"All right…" The weapons expert muttered walking to her room. She wasn't tired but what Hinata said usually goes.
'Be on guard, Neji. For the next time we meet, I will kill you.'
In a hideout somewhere in the forest….
Laughter echoed through the woods, coming from a small camp set up in a wooded area.
"So you're telling me, you go whooped by a chick?" An loud, blonde haired, blue eyed ninja roared in amusement.
"Shut it Naruto…" Neji warned.
Standing off a little way from the others, a snicker came from a dark eyed brunette.
"Heh..What was it you said before? Don't let your guard down when it comes to women?"
"Quit it, Sasuke!" Neji was getting annoyed now.
"Hey, leave him alone, guys." The last remaining member stepped out of the shadows. "It's not like any of you could stand up against the Hokage."
That shut them up.
"Thanks Shikamaru."
"But you did get whooped by a girl, Neji." Nara smiled as the laughter resumed and Neji growled.
'I'm going to kill all of you!" The Byakugan user yelled.
Kazuki's corner: I had to do it. Making Neji mad is so fun! So why are the girls out to kill Neji? And why is his team hiding? Find out next chapter. Read and Review! Onegai?