Author’s Notes: Sorry the chapter’s a little late. The next update might have to wait a little longer than usual (I bet you have started to pick up on my updates-on-weekends pattern) because I will be working on projects for other fandom-related events, but I hope you will all keep with me. I promise you, the upcoming developments after this chapter with make it worth your while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

Cutting Water

Chapter Five

By Nessie

Saltwater lapped over Sakura’s exposed toes as she watched the sun ascend to rule another day. Navy blue and violet streaked across the sky like scratches from a beast’s claws, a blood-red hue lying beneath it all. It spoke to her of death, and memories of the last time she had stood on this shore swamped her more than the tallest wave could have done.

Three days, she mused. It took less than three days for a woman’s heart to curl in on itself and die, everything she had ever known wasting away. All that was needed was a previous death. Neji…

Scraps of ruined ship had been found in both China and Japan, enough that it had not been difficult to conclude that Neji’s ship had been destroyed in an unpredicted storm. In turn, there had been no survivors to speak of. Sakura had not once considered questioning the fact as it had been told her personally by Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the powerful clan’s house, only minutes earlier.

He stood behind her now, and Sakura was not certain if he too watched the horizon or watched her for signs of weakness. She had not as yet shown him any that she was aware of but simply stood with her back to him, gaze trained on the spot she had last seen Neji as he sailed away. Was that truly the end of it all? She had known Neji since childhood, and less than a year ago, they had come together with the announcement of Hyuuga Hinata’s future position. Neji had been released from any marriage obligations, and it had been only logical to turn to the one woman he could honestly call a friend.

Sakura’s jaw tightened. Logical. Surely it had been more than just that for both of them? She had never seen herself in the future with any besides Neji, and Neji had always implied the same. They had never spoken of marriage, of course, or even of love. They had simply…stayed together. Always. It was a constant expectation between them, as constant as the stars accompanying the moon.

And now, it seemed, the moon was dead.

All too suddenly, Hiashi was at Sakura’s side. She felt her whole body go taught – no one, least of all a non-Hyuuga, was comfortable around this intimidating man.

“Have you no tears for my nephew?” he inquired. His calm voice was even-toned, entirely unaffected, and Sakura recalled how much pain this person had forced upon Neji for the last fifteen years; the rigid lessons in Chinese, the nearly-constant training, the implications that he would always be sent to the place where his father was killed. Even though Neji had proved himself in talent, his hope of achieving his uncle’s approval had been denied him. And now…

Anger brushed chilled fingers over her heart. “Plenty for him,” Sakura murmured in response, careful to keep any dislike out of her voice. “But I do not cry in the presence of others.” She courageously risked a glance at his face – the eyes like marble, the hair like onyx. Everything about Hiashi gave the impression that he was cut from stone.

“That is honorable enough.” Practical words, not praise. Sakura wondered further; how hard it must have been for Neji to grow up knowing the exact image of his father in someone who cared nothing for him. “I see why he might have chosen you.”

“We shared no promise, Hyuuga-sama. Neji-san and I remained friends.”

“And you believe he would not have had more?” When she kept silent, Hiashi inhaled deeply. “By naming my daughter as consort to this clan’s successor, her future husband, I relinquished my say over Neji’s choice of a wife. Still, had he decided on you, you would have had my approval whether or not he accepted it.”

She had an inkling that the statement was meant to comfort, but Sakura’s eyes grew rebelliously wet.

Hiashi went on, “As you are a Haruno and not of my house, I’ve not any control over the decisions that you may make.”

Sakura did not know what he was implying, but she was certain that she could not bear any more of his fruitless attempts to console her and hurriedly said, “Hyuuga-sama…you’ve no obligation to show me concern. I fare well without friends.”

Hiashi comprehended that by “friends,” she meant “Neji.” And he knew that her brave front was about as solid as the stretch of water in front of them. “Very well,” he acknowledged, turning and striding away without so much as a final look in her direction, intending to leave her to whatever amount of grief she had.

As soon as his sandaled feet went from sand to grass, the sound of as woman’s sobs reached his ears. Hiashi kept walking.

Neji watched as Tenten, with her back to him, studied a distant target in her mid-afternoon archery training. The only sign suggesting that she had even heard him was a brief pause as she pulled back the arrow on her bow. Recovering quickly, she released the projectile, and a low whistle cut through the air before its point thoroughly embedded itself in a tree trunk marked with an outline of a man’s body.

Annoyed at her lack of response, Neji persisted. “You have men injured and risk their lives daily for a plot of land you use only a fraction of. Cannot you—”

“Neji,” said Tenten, raising her voice to compensate for the distance as she went to retrieve her arrow. “Out of respect for your late father—”

“Do not speak of my father,” he snapped.

She sent him a look with a question settled in her brown eyes. How are we to converse if we continually interrupt one another? “Then out of respect for my mentor’s faith in your abilities, I will tolerate your skepticism. But I will not abide your questioning of my authority.”

“And if your questioning causes needless deaths? Your Shikamaru has already been dealt a harsh wound, and Gai—”

“We have agreed once upon the foolishness of this battle. My loyalty to my father’s memory and to China itself are reasons enough for me to fight – for all of us to fight.” Arrow in hand, Tenten notched it, released, hit the target’s “head” and went for the arrow again. “You are Japanese. I do not expect you to understand.”

“It is not of understanding. There is too much I do not know because you have not told me.” Neji took a step closer to her. Tenten’s firing pattern continued, although it seemed her accuracy grew all the more deadly each time she let fly her arrow. “You talk of pride for China and yet you deceive your Empress. Half of your ‘family’ is Japanese.” He waited, but Tenten said nothing, only pulled back for another strike. “And you are trying to lead as an unmarried woman—”

The arrow was loosed and struck right between the drawn-on man’s drawn-on legs. Neji’s eyes narrowed.

Behind him, there was a deep, heartfelt chuckle. The Hyuuga turned to see Gai, his arms folded and a smile on his face. “My Tenten,” he said, “sometimes falls prey to a bad temper. Please do not let it ruin your impression of her.” He joined Neji and watched the young woman continue her practice, heedless of them. “You know, Neji, she has been through much the same pain as you have. And, like with you, I believe that it has increased her youthfulness, her strength, and her will. Her life is summed up by her sex. The solitary face that she is female makes her existence that much more complicated.” Gai, whose smile had faded a couple of sentences ago, now took on an uncharacteristically serious tone. “And, with all due respect, my young Hyuuga, she does not require a reminder of that from you. The two of you,” he persisted, giving Neji no reprieve, “are far more similar than I believe you realize.”

Too irritated to feel kindred, Neji shrugged, letting his silence convey his doubt.

“Well!” another jovial voice resounded. “It is nice to know that Hyuugas are as hardheaded and stubborn as ever.” Behind all three of them stood a man, tall and muscled from years, his hair almost as white as Neji’s eyes despite not looking very old. The most noticeable trait he had was the grin he wore – a you can hide nothing from me smile.

“Although, I admit,” he went on, “Hyuuga Hizashi only needed a couple of hours to warm up to us.”

“Tsunade said you would be coming, Jiraiya.” Tenten abandoned her bow and approached to clasp hands with the arrival. “All is well?”

“Of course. The Empress sends her majestic regards, my lord.” Jiraiya’s dark eyes left Tenten and turned to Neji. “I take it from that unlit look on your face that no one has told you who I am?”

“A pervert,” Tenten offered, a corner of her lips twitching. This put Neji in a momentary stunned state. He was still not certain of her capacity for happiness, let alone mirth.

Gai grinned. “Indeed.” Jiraiya winced. “And, incidentally, Jiraiya is also Empress Wu Ze Tian’s personal messenger and a bodyguard…when he isn’t working as the chief of Her secret police.”

Neji started. How far in was this Long clan? Secret police, China’s ruling body…these were contacts that thousands of leaders could ever only dream of.

“Don’t let the chatter of old men distract you from your training, young Tenten.” Jiraiya smiled warmly. “Not that you need the practice.”

“It is tiresome to draw back the same arrow for hours,” Tenten said, “but it is less boring than the listening to the three of you, I would wager.”

Gai and Jiraiya laughed, seeming to catch a hidden joke which Neji had failed to even glimpse. Tenten went away, however, leaving Neji to ask his own question of people he might receive answers from. “Then that woman, Tsunade. She is—”

“My Empress’s right-hand woman for the last ten years. And nine years ago, we began to lead Her police,” replied Jiriaya. Neji was pleased immensely to get a direct response for once.

“It was Tsunade,” added Gai, “who spoke on behalf of this clan shortly after Empress Wu Ze Tian’s reign commenced. It is thanks to her loyalty that we are still able to live here like this, despite our unusual standards for a clan. Tsunade is related to Tenten.”

Neji’s eyebrows darted up. He thought of the dark Long daughter and the fair-haired Tsunade, failing to see any connection besides, perhaps, their eyes.

“Distantly. You see,” Gai furthered, “Tenten’s life is more entangled than you can possibly imagine, Neji. Her loyalty to China is fierce from her upbringing, but so too is her openness to people not of Chinese blood. Long Tao Huang, her well-remembered father, was strictly Chinese-only for a very long time. As you know, Tenten is the only child he ever had, and she was not born until his had passed his prime. This is partially because he spent so much energy of fighting the Uchiha clan. The other is because he married late. When he did, it was to a beautiful young woman called Takanashi Amaya.”

“Japanese.” Neji’s voice came out clipped in his surprise, and he craned his neck to view Tenten. She was adjusting the string of her bow, wisps of hair too light to be pure Chinese hangings from the binds on her head and sticking to her damp neck. He could see it, now that he knew…her eyes were too wide for Chinese, but not by much. Her complexion was tanned now from the summer heat but would be paler than others’ come the winter.

Gai nodded. “Amaya died as Tenten first started to live, and though Tao Huang’s marriage to her mother had opened his mind exceedingly, mannerisms and sternness leftover from his young life still managed to be passed into Tenten. Despite her ancestry, she lives for China. And yes, it has made her somewhat hypocritical. Longs were all very stubborn. Not unlike Hyuugas,” he finished merrily.

A Chinese-Japanese woman leading a clan of mismatched families hailing from both worlds of which she was born; that was Tenten. Something sparked in Neji’s mind, and he witnessed her loose her arrow yet again – her finest shot yet – he felt a sort of caution fill him. Admiration snuck in before he could beat it down. And he wondered, if esteem for her could work its way past Neji’s defenses against Tenten, could anything else do the same?

Sakura. He tried to bring himself to thoughts of Japan, of hair the color of spring blossoms, of eyes green as the sea, but all such images were thwarted in place of an armed woman with mahogany hair in disarray and arm muscles that gleamed with sweat.

“Do you see what I see when I look upon her, Hyuuga Neji?” Neji’s attention surged back to the men, but Gai was gone, presumably to announce Jiraiya’s return. Jiraiya remained, standing beside Neji with proud eyes on the undistracted archer. “I see a woman, doubtlessly, and the daughter of my good friend Tao Huang. Both of those things should bring her honor. Have you ever before seen a woman take so much upon her shoulders? Others like her are married, having children, living for one man and not for themselves.

But Tenten…she exists in a way that surpasses such a traditional life. She too lives not for herself but for others, and not for just one man alone but for over a hundred people who depend on her for guidance. She has done this for only two years, and yet does she not perform masterfully?” Jiraiya did not speak for hope of reply, Neji knew, and so he stayed silent. For several moments no words came forth, until there was another whistle from Tenten’s arrow and an ensuing splintering of wood from another flawless hit.

“Do you understand, Neji, how much of an archer this young woman truly is? It is enough for most warriors to know that they have hit their target and hit it well. Tenten is more skilled than many of the most aged, experienced archers within this compound in that she does not only know that she has struck her target…she knows why she has struck it.”

At last, Jiraiya turned to Neji and addressed him consciously. “Serve her well for, if nothing else, the knowledge of her lifelong hardships. Having you here, a person who symbolizes all that she has ever known, is greater a comfort to Tenten than you can comprehend.”

“How could I possibly symbolize,” began Neji, but Jiraiya held up a strong hand.

“She will let you know in time, in her way.” His grin broke out once more. “She is very good at that.” Saying so, the elder man turned on his heel and left the clearing, a lighthearted tune trailing behind him.

Mysteries, Neji reflected. China was a land of mysteries, with its female ruler and its secret clan wars. Tenten most of all, he thought, was enigmatic to him. Watching her now, he knew she sensed his presence but said nothing at all to him. He leaned against the rough bark of an adjacent tree, choosing for now to simply watch her exist.

They stayed like that until sunset – Neji’s pale eyes gazing out as Tenten’s arrow was launched again and again, the cracking of the hits rhythmic, like waves crashing down on land.

Or like the slow-paced progression of the battle that trapped them.

To Be Continued…