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Heaven: Ch 2

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Chapter 2



The woods were peaceful at night. Aside from the odd call of a nocturnal insect, and the rustling of small animals in the undergrowth, all was silent. The moonlight shone onto Tenten's little clearing, casting a silvery glow over daytime greenery. No breeze stirred the leaves and her view of the distant stars was unimpeded by clouds. Sleep, and the accompanying silence, had fallen over the world - not that the forests outside Konoha were ever particularly noisy. The village had always ensured that the area be kept free of bandits and the like, but the lack of noise was disheartening. Gai and Lee weren't the only shinobi who had left the village, after all, and Tenten couldn't help but wonder - somewhat desperately - where everyone had gone if she couldn't detect so much as a trace of any presence except her own.

Still, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that someone was watching her; the fine hairs on the back of her neck continually rose as she stopped every few seconds to check for any signs of foreign chakra. Tenten frowned; that was the strange part, no matter how she searched, how carefully she looked, there was absolutely no sign of anyone else in the vicinity, though her instincts were definitely telling her that something was amiss. The most basic shinobi rule was to trust your instincts … which meant that, despite the seeming peace of the night, Tenten could not let her guard down for even a second.

Resolved to keep a careful watch but unwilling to search for another clearing for her meagre camp, Tenten quickly collected a few dried-out branches for a fire. She wasn't quite on dried rations yet but the last of the food stores she'd taken from her grandparents were nearly gone and she shuddered to think where meals for the foreseeable future would come from.

Better than yesterday.

The mantra served to strengthen her resolve; she would do what she had to – and she would do it well. Gai and Lee couldn't be that hard to find anyway and signs of other shinobi would surely start appearing once she penetrated deeper into the forest. If she had to live on berries and mushrooms for a few days, well, she wouldn't die. Her stomach growled loudly, as if in protest at the idea of such a meagre meal, and Tenten smiled wryly as she reached for the scroll where she'd stored the items she would need for the night.

Wincing slightly at the loud sound of the summoning, and cursing the cloud of smoke that momentarily shielded the left side of the clearing from her vision, Tenten quickly plucked a can of soup, a small pot and her bedroll from the smoke. With a sigh, she pulled a kunai from the pouch at her waist, too tired and hungry to even appreciate the way the heavy hilt in her hand made her feel slightly safer. She quickly punctured a hole into the top of the can, willing herself to be patient while the liquid trickled into the pot. It took a long time for the soup to heat up; she'd forgotten to place convenient stones into the small fire and was forced to hold the pot above the flames so the soup could heat. When she finally bedded down for the night, after booby-trapping as much of the clearing as she could, she fell almost immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep.



Sasuke carefully stepped over the wires holding various kunai and explosive tags at bay, red eyes glowing in the night. He leaned carefully against a tree at the outer edges of the clearing, watching the kunoichi tossing and turning fretfully through her dreams with narrowed eyes. He'd been watching her for weeks now, ever since he'd first come across her as she stumbled wearily along the border with Sound. The weeks since had wrought few changes in her situation, though the changes to the girl herself were remarkable. She was thinner, grubbier, and every day that passed only served to deepen the dark circles under her eyes and the lines of tension around her mouth.

At first he'd been wary of following her, as she penetrated deeper into the woods and therefore deeper into Konoha territory. But the days passed and no one joined her, no one contacted her and whatever she was searching for still seemed to elude her. Gradually her spirit was weakening; he could see it. She'd been forced to forage for food for at least two weeks now; Sasuke snorted as he remembered the squeamish look on her face the first time she'd captured a rabbit in a snare. She'd let the terrified creature go instead of breaking its neck, though she was quite obviously starving and in desperate need of food. The aborted attempt at hunting had been abandoned and for the next week she'd continued to forage for anything edible growing in the forest that she could find. Finally, she'd nearly collapsed from lack of nutrition, barely able to lift the kunai that never seemed to be too far from her hand. The next rabbit hadn't been as lucky as the first. She'd cried the entire time she skinned the animal; even as she ate Sasuke could see the way she had to force herself not to think about what she was doing, but after a few days, as her strength returned, so too had her resolve and from then on hunting hadn't posed a problem for her.

He'd finally remembered her – though he still couldn't recall her name, if he had ever known it – she was the teammate of the green-clad taijutsu specialist he had fought against before the chuunin exams. Rock Lee. Her other teammate was the Hyuuga prodigy. Sasuke didn't know much about Hyuuga Neji, only what Kakashi had told him as they trained for the final round of the exams. Naruto had matched up against the arrogant, long-haired boy – Sasuke clearly remembered the haughty expression of distaste as the Hyuuga demanded his name, as if he was used to giving orders and having them followed without question. None of it mattered, of course, the memories were no good to Sasuke except as an analytical tool involving his current prey. As it stood, the knowledge of her background provided him with valuable insight into the girl he was watching. She was stronger than Sakura had ever been, stronger even than Karin. Though she was clearly not used to having to forage for herself, she wasn't weak; she hadn't been shielded by her teammates or her sensei, of that much Sasuke was certain.

She wouldn't be easy to take; not really a challenge for him, of course, but still not something he could approach without careful planning and consideration. Her weeks alone in the woods had killed off the last of her childish sensibilities and Sasuke knew that, even if he did manage to capture her without a fight, she would slit his throat the first chance she got. No, he had had to find a way to bind her to him; something that would force her to be loyal to him despite her personal feelings on the matter. As proficient as Sasuke was at thinking on his feet, making up battle strategies in the heat of the moment, he hated not having a plan. And something as delicate as the current operation had required all the cunning he possessed; so he watched and he waited, searching for the means that would bind her to him irrevocably.

With narrowed eyes, he watched as she muttered in her sleep, hand tightening around the kunai she'd gone to sleep gripping. Almost despite himself he was impressed with her fortitude; any other girl he'd ever known would long since have succumbed, would have given up the fight. But she forged ahead, determination sometimes the only thing that kept her upright. She was stubborn, Sasuke noted, though she wasn't immune to bouts of self-pity about her situation. Even in those moments of frustration she tried to be productive, channelling the anger and the fear into targets she set up for herself in the clearings she camped out in at night. She was good, that much he had to concede; she never missed a target. Weapons were clearly her speciality; another thing that would prove to be useful to him in the long run.

Her restlessness was only increasing the longer he stood watching and a mirthless smirk pulled at his lips. Even in her sleep she sensed him. It had become a source of amusement, a way to pass the long days as he followed along in her aimless wandering. Despite her best and most cunning efforts, she never found him. Sometimes he'd let her get close enough to almost catch onto his chakra before he carefully suppressed it and fell back to a reasonable distance. Her paranoia was increasing by the day; he could see the way she was continually searching for him, only for him to disappear from her grasp, making her wonder if she'd imagined it all. There was no real reason to torture her like this, he knew, but the more unstable she became the easier his task would be.

It was nearly time; everything was in place. He was growing restless, tired of waiting, watching. Soon the trap would be sprung and she would be bound to him tighter than her oaths bound her to Konoha. Sasuke smirked, stepping backwards in slow, measured increments though his eyes never left the sleeping kunoichi. He effortlessly avoided the traps she had set as he melted back into the darkness and left her to her dreams.

She would never see him coming.



There was a slight tingle of chakra brushing across his senses mere moments before a cloud of smoke disgorged his replacement. Hyuuga Neji sighed almost imperceptibly; he was tired, his body ached from hours of restless pacing across the flat roof of the rebuilt Hokage tower. The new building was nothing like the old one in terms of grandeur, of course. Merely a wooden square a few stories high so that guards would be able to have a bird's eye view of the partially rebuilt village that sprawled below. The village had split almost too neatly down the middle, an invisible line running through the streets; everything surrounding the Hokage tower ten blocks in every direction belonged to the old order, the clans headed by the Hokage and her Jounin council. Everything to the east was under ROOT control.

"Anything going on?"

The smoke had dispersed, revealing Inuzuka Kiba who immediately stalked towards the railing, resting his elbows on the wood and staring carefully into the distance, senses attuned for anything that might be amiss.

Neji shook his head, "Nothing to report. It has been a quiet night."

Akamaru whined quietly up at the Inuzuka but Neji barely had the energy to direct a curious gaze at the other man. He was so goddamn tired but despite the exhaustion that slowed his movements and blurred his vision he knew there would be no sleep for him once he returned to the Hyuuga compound –or what had been rebuilt of it.

With another sigh, this time of relief, he closed his eyes and allowed the chakra to recede; the veins standing in prominence around his eyes faded away to smooth skin. He could feel the way Kiba raked a critical gaze over him, was aware of the fact that the pale skin Hyuugas were known for was marred by dark circles under his eyes and lines of tension next to his mouth.

"Dude, you need to sleep," Kiba drawled, shaking his head slightly, "You're going to collapse at this rate."

"No, I am fine. I think I'll do another quick perimeter sweep before I head back." Neji frowned, carefully focusing on a point in the distance though he knew the Inuzuka could probably smell the waves of irritation that flowed off him. More than physically tired, he was fed-up with people telling him to get some rest. Would any of them have been able to rest if their teammates had been driven out of the village?

"The perimeter guard have already done a sweep. And, if there was any sign of her, don't you think someone would've come to inform you of that?"

Neji tensed slightly, readying himself for an argument he didn't really want to have. What right did any of them have to interfere in his business? They were his teammates – Tenten was his teammate. His to worry over, his to search for … it had nothing to do with any of them.

"Neji," Kiba's voice gentled, as much as the wild-looking Inuzuka was capable of, "she's gone and she's not coming back. She's probably joined up with Gai and Lee by now, and the others who were forced to flee. You're killing yourself worrying for nothing. When the time is right we'll send word and you'll see… they're all fine."

Deep breaths forced the irritation to recede, at least for the moment, and Neji spoke quietly, "It's been almost too quiet… be careful, Inuzuka."

Without waiting for a response, the seals were formed and he disappeared in a plume of white smoke that seemed to glow in the pre-dawn, leaving Kiba to shake his head and mutter quietly to Akamaru about thick-headed Hyuugas who refused to take advice.



The Hyuuga compound was just beginning to wake up when Neji slipped silently inside the main building. War had decimated the clan; all that was left was the new main house (a fraction of its previous size) and a few smaller dwellings that roughly circled it. They'd gone from being hundreds strong to merely a few dozen families, more than half of them Bunke members with little or no shinobi training. Suddenly, and for the first time in Hyuuga history, there were more servants than there were main family members to serve.

Neji strode quickly through the austere corridor that ran the length of the main house, cursing the fact that his uncle had grown even more paranoid with the ending of the war. Of course, Neji could understand his uncle's concern … the clan he was responsible for, the people he had been meant to protect, were dwindling. That couldn't have been an easy fact to accept. Still, Hiashi-sama had become hell-bent on keeping them all as closely together as he possibly could; everyone under his watchful eye. Instead of his own little, wooden house on the fringes of the new compound – as it would have been placed if Neji had had a say in the matter – he was confined to the main house. The years had wrought quite a change in his relationship with his uncle but that still didn't mean that Neji had any desire to be this close to the clan as a whole; didn't mean that he didn't still curse the seal on his forehead on a daily basis, didn't mean that he didn't chafe at the restraints blood ties placed on him.

If it hadn't been for the clan he would've been able to go with Tenten the night she'd fled.

Guilt burned like acid in his gut; Team Gai was more of a family to him than those he was related to by blood had ever, would ever, be and he'd simply let them disappear into the night. Lee would be fine, he knew, being with Gai-sensei would keep him out of trouble and safe … to a degree. But Tenten was the one he worried about. She could take care of herself – they'd made sure of that, on Team Gai everyone pulled his or her own weight - but even so, Neji knew that Tenten had never had to take care of herself wholly and without aid in a hostile environment. Who would keep her calm; keep her from rushing head-first into an ill-advised scheme? Who would keep her grounded, her temper in check, so she could make the decisions that required a level head?

That aside, her sense of direction was terrible and Neji couldn't help but wince at the thought that she'd more than likely gotten herself hopelessly lost.

"Neji."

The tone was quiet but Neji winced anyway, "Hiashi-sama." He bowed formally as he turned to the left, waited just inside the open door of the room Hiashi had appropriated as his study. It was strategically placed so that no one could enter the living quarters of the main house without Hiashi knowing about it.

"I take it the night passed peaceably?"

"Yes, sir. Nothing to report."

For what seemed like a long moment Hiashi stared thoughtfully at his nephew; Neji had always hated the way his uncle seemed able to see right through everyone even when his Byakugan wasn't activated. The scrutiny lasted only a few seconds but it was enough to push the levels of guilt even higher – as if his uncle could read the disloyal thoughts Neji had been entertaining only moments before.

Finally, the elder Hyuuga nodded, "Go get some sleep. You look exhausted. But make sure to stop by your mother's rooms first, she's been asking for you."

Stiffly, Neji nodded, hoping that he'd kept the resentment at being told what to do, as if he was a genin child, hidden from his expression. He backed slowly out of the study and quickly strode off in the direction of his mother's rooms. Truthfully, he'd never been close to her. She was a traditional Hyuuga bride; subservient and proper to a fault. His father had married her as was expected of him – arranged for him – and she'd borne him the son that duty required of her and, after that, she seemed to have considered her part done. She'd faded back into the company of the other Bunke women, barely even pretending an interest in her only son even after her husband passed away.

Neji smirked mirthlessly; it was almost amusing how she suddenly cared so very much for her only child now that the world was fraught with dangers that even the exalted Hyuuga clan couldn't protect her from. Suddenly she needed him; he had his uncle's favor and that meant that she had the clan head's favor, if only by extension. If the compound was to be attacked her son was her only line of defence. She'd been trying for months to worm her way into his life.

Another pang of unidentifiable emotion ran through him as memory threw up the image of Tenten berating him for his lack of caring for his only surviving parent; she'd spent the better part of an hour preaching to him about family bonds and the fact that his mother might have come to her senses after the reality of international war followed by civil war. Sincerity had shone from her gaze, underscoring the vehement words, as she told him to give the woman a chance to make things right, lest he spent the rest of his life regretting the fact that he hadn't.

For some reason, unknown even to himself, he had simply withstood her reprimands in stoic silence.

Ruthlessly he suppressed the memories, the emotions they brought with them. An emotional ninja soon turned into a dead one. He would be of no use to his lost teammates dead. The more rational part of him –the part untouched by sheer exhaustion – whispered that perhaps they were better off outside the village. After all, he was probably in more danger on a daily basis than they were.

The plain wooden door that led to his mother's room loomed out of darkness far too soon. Flickering torchlight playing over the expanse, turning patches of light wood into darker ones, and Neji abruptly made up his mind. It was no use rehashing could've beens; he had a job to do here, vows to be fulfilled. In that, at least, Kiba was right; the time would come when he would be reunited with his teammates and until then he had to do what he could to make sure they had a home to come back to. Resolutely he reached for the neckline of his traditional Hyuuga robes, fumbling only slightly as he drew the thin, silver chain out from beneath the fabric. He stood quietly for a moment longer, hand fisted around the delicate ring that hung from the chain. His mouth firmed, lips pressed together tightly, as he yanked once and the chain snapped under the pressure almost instantaneously. The ring had been his mother's, given to her by his father at their engagement, and Neji had been carrying it around with him since he'd asked her for it months ago. It was time to give it back.

Whatever half-baked ideas he'd been entertaining - the fleeting thoughts of offering Tenten the protection of his last name, for what it was worth, were irrelevant now.

As always, Tenten had gone her own way.



The weather was changing. Relatively mild autumn temperatures were beginning to fall, even in the Land of Fire. The nights were colder and wet mist wreathed through the trees in the still light of the pre-dawn. Tenten shivered a little and drew her sleeping bag tightly around her shoulders, shifting restlessly as she tried to shy away from the cold. Even in sleep she was aware of it. Despite the war – where she'd learned to sleep almost on command, anywhere and at any time – she was finding it increasingly more difficult to get enough rest. She couldn't risk letting a fire burn throughout the night, and her sleeping bag was too thin to offer much protection from the elements. In the weeks since she'd first entered the forest and started her search, she'd come to realize how lucky she had been. Always warm, clothed, with enough food and a roof over her head … loneliness wound up being the least of her problems.

As the weather worsened so did her sleeping patterns; the mist obscured much from her vision, filling her dreams with paranoid images of someone creeping up on her despite the traps she'd set and she'd never even see them coming. She was learning to sleep the way people said cats did, with one eye and one ear open.

They filled her dreams; Neji, Gai-sensei, Lee, her mother and father … Ami. And, as the nights passed - mist-covered and cold - and no one visited her clearing except for the people in her dreams, Tenten grew complacent. It had been a long time since she'd seen any signs of people. Hope was dwindling; she was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't just give up the search and take her chances by returning to Konoha …

A darker shadow loomed at the far edge of the clearing, even through sleep Tenten sensed the irritating almost-presence that had been dogging her footsteps since the moment she'd entered the forest. Through time she'd learned it was her imagination … nothing more. So, she forced herself to ignore the instinctive pangs of panic and carefully cracked open one hazel eye.

No one. Nothing. Not even a hint of a shadow where there shouldn't be one.

She huffed in irritation at her over-active imagination and resolutely turned onto her other side, curling into a ball and forcing herself to gather what warmth she could.



Sasuke silently stepped out of the deeper shadows amidst the trees, making sure that he remained hidden though his presence could be clearly discernible if she looked carefully. She really couldn't have chosen a better clearing, he mused, as he waited for Tenten to become aware of his existence; allowing small amounts of chakra to filter through the shielding wall he almost always kept in place. The clearing was smaller than average, barely a ten meters across, densely shielded by undergrowth and trees, easily accessible through only one small opening in the trees where he was currently standing. The weeks had passed, he shadowing her and Tenten growing steadily more paranoid and therefore choosing clearings like this one – easily defensible – more often than not. It was almost amusing. An impatient puff of air escaped his mouth noiselessly; she wasn't usually so slow in noticing that he was near…

A soft groan broke through the stillness of the night and Sasuke tensed slightly in preparation; it had to be timed exactly right or he would fail. He would never be as proficient at genjutsu as Itachi had been, but, provided the kunoichi wasn't a genjutsu type who had been trained in that direction – a fact of which Sasuke was more than relatively certain – he would be able to carry out this part of the plan with ease.

Red glowed out of the darkness, tomoe swirling and melding into the intersecting ellipsis of his Mangekyou just as one hazel-brown eye opened to peer blearily in his direction. His fingers flew through the seals so fast that there was barely even a blur of movement.

She groaned again, huffed impatiently, and turned onto her other side, as Sasuke released the breath he hadn't even been aware of holding.

Almost too easy.

He kept the Sharingan active, just in case, as he quickly strode across the clearing and pulled the unresisting kunoichi out of her sleeping bag. She didn't even stir as he positioned her over his shoulder; caught in the genjutsu he'd cast to mirror her surroundings exactly. As far as she knew, she was still trying to sleep, alone and safe, in her little clearing. Of course, he didn't hold out much hope that it would last very long. Till dawn, was his best guess. Her internal clock would start alerting her to the fact that she should awaken – long hours spent watching had assured Sasuke that she was naturally an early riser – and it was then that she would begin to question the images and perceptions her brain imparted to her body.

She'd been veering closer to the Sound border again, where it curved along the western-most point of Sound territory. Steadily, Sasuke had come to the conclusion that, not only did the kunoichi have no particular destination in mind, she also had a terrible sense of direction. It had happened at least twice in the last few weeks that she'd begun to retrace old steps, and it had taken her days to figure that out. Still, her lack of direction also worked in his favor; she would have no idea where she was or how to get out.

He glanced quickly up at the sky, judging the passage of time by the position of the moon. If all went well, by the time she woke up, they would be safely back in Sound; in one of Orochimaru's abandoned bunkers.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins, after such a long time spent doing nothing but planning, it felt good to be on the move again. Finally, the pieces of his plan were beginning to fall into place.



Burning pain seared along her skin, along the pathways of nerves, only to explode blindingly in her mind. Hazel-brown eyes flew wide open and Tenten instinctively struggled against the force that held her in place, fighting to get away from the pain in her abdomen.

The shackles that held her in place refused to budge, and dimly she noted that they appeared made of reinforced steel, but a fresh wave of agony burned from her right hip-bone up into her shoulder, distracting her from further speculation of her surroundings. It seemed to last forever but, finally, the pain abated slightly and Tenten panted hoarsely as she tried to orient her mind.

Carefully, she took stock of her surroundings, summoning every ounce of composure her training could afford her. Her hip still burned, feeling as if someone had carved into her flesh with a white-hot blade and none too gently at that, but, that aside, she seemed to be unharmed. Her wrists and ankles were chained to the stone block beneath her and the room was only dimly lit. The rough-hewn walls of rock melded seamlessly into the ceiling of equally black stone and Tenten vaguely registered that this probably meant she was underground somewhere. The room was surprisingly bare, the air smelt musty and felt damp against her skin.

The pain had receded to barely a dull throb and, as her head began to clear, Tenten carefully combed through her memories. How had she wound up in this stone cellar somewhere deep underground? The last thing she could recall was sleeping fretfully in her clearing the night before …

There was a slight metallic click and the shackles fell away from her wrists. For a disorienting moment Tenten twisted her head wildly from side to side, trying to see who had freed her, but her eyes couldn't penetrated the darkest shadows that lined the room. Slowly she pushed herself up onto her elbows, staring fearfully down at her bared midriff. Her white shirt, grubby and torn as it was, had gone. To her relief the bindings around her breasts were still in place but, as her eyes traversed the exposed skin of her torso, Tenten forgot about modesty.

On her right hip a design was carved; almost a tattoo, except that it wasn't merely inked into her skin; it had been seared into her flesh. She reached trembling fingertips to the inflamed surface that surrounded the mark, shock momentarily derailing her thoughts and keeping her from trying to draw logical conclusions from her current predicament. The design wasn't something she'd ever seen before: intersecting ellipsis with serrated edges, liked coiled barbed-wire …

A slight sound from behind her had Tenten flying into a crouch – she'd never even noticed the shackles falling from her ankles – and she tried not to cry out as the movement sent a fresh wave of pain washing through her.

Wary hazel eyes scoured her surroundings, straining to see past the slight glow of a couple of candles that had been placed onto the slab of rock she'd been lying on. Gradually her eyes adjusted slightly, just enough to make out a shadow against the far wall, leaning casually against the rock. Her heart pounded in the cage of her ribs and Tenten forced herself to think clearly. Deliberately, she reached out and snuffed each of the candles in turn, until only one remained on her other side and slightly behind her. Her captor shifted, the easy grace of his movements alerting her to the fact that he was more than likely a ninja – his height having already informed her that her captor was definitely male.

Instinctively her fingers scrabbled at her waist, reaching for kunai that were no longer there, and her eyes widened in momentary panic as the shadowy figure slowly started moving in her direction. Frantic eyes cast around for anything she might be able to use as a weapon but before Tenten could begin to form a proper battle plan, cold steel slid along the curve of her neck. She swallowed carefully; whoever he was – he was fast.

The blade forced her slightly to the left and Tenten slowly complied with the unspoken urging from her captor. They moved in a cautious circle, sizing each other up, until she was facing the light of the only candle left burning while he was illuminated in its muted glow.

Strength, the last remaining bit of it that had been granted to her by the adrenaline rush, flowed from her limbs, leaving her limp as overcooked noodles and it was all Tenten could do to keep from falling over in sheer shock. Just in time, her hands reached out to brace her form, still crouched upon the cold uncaring stone, as Tenten stared up at Uchiha Sasuke in blatant disbelief. Just as quickly the shock retreated, survival instincts kicking in; she had to get away … she had no chance at defeating the Uchiha; of that much she was sure.

Her eyes darted from side to side as she searched for a way out but, to her surprise, the Uchiha dropped the blade he'd been holding against her neck in front of her almost insolently. As if he was daring her to try attacking him. Anger flared as she caught sight of the intricately wrought hilt … it was one of the last kunai her father had forged for her …

The thought of her family was sobering. Warily, she reached for the blade, careful to keep her gaze fixed on Sasuke's chest instead of his eyes.

"What is your name?"

His voice was low and smooth; somehow she'd expected an evil cackle or a croak at the very least … Tenten shook her head in bemusement, maybe she had concussion on top of the wound on her hip. He was waiting patiently for her answer, she realized, and playing along, for now, seemed to be her only option.

"Tenten," she muttered resentfully, still avoiding his eyes.

When he remained silent, and when she could detect no chakra being gathered, she chanced a quick glance just left of his face. One flash of red and she was prepared to slam her eyes shut …

Obsidian black met hazel-brown and for a moment Tenten was paralyzed – a deer caught in the glare of a hunter's lamps …

"Hn," he muttered, then, louder, "I've given you your weapon, aren't you going to attack me?" One eyebrow rose sardonically in challenge.

There was some kind of catch here, of that Tenten was sure, and she refused to rise to the bait, refused to play whatever twisted game the Uchiha had in mind. Instead she merely stayed where she was, crouched like a cat on the defensive, kunai glinting in her hand but not moving at all.

An impatient sigh huffed from his lips and, before she had time to react, Sasuke had stalked closer. His longer fingers curled around hers, still clutching the kunai. His grip was merciless, cold and full of ruthless intent. Tenten opened her mouth to protest but he drew her hand towards him, lowered the blade against his forearm and brought his greater physical strength to bear; forcing her to push the kunai against his unprotected skin.

The blade was razor sharp, almost immediately a line of red blood appeared on the otherwise unmarred skin but that wasn't what held Tenten's attention. The moment he'd felt the blade bite into his skin, Sasuke had released her hand and now the kunai clattered to the stone floor, falling from nerveless fingers, as Tenten gasped.

A thin line of welling blood traced across her forearm – corresponding exactly to the cut Sasuke had forced her to inflict upon him.

Confused, somewhat desperate eyes, jumped to the Uchiha's. He'd remained exactly in place, not bothering to wipe away the blood as he watched her mind frantically trying to connect the dots. He was ready for her and when her hazel eyes lifted to meet his again, the Mangekyou swirled red in the blackness of the room. The last thing Tenten was aware of was the twirling ellipses – that looked frighteningly like the design traced on her hip – and his coldly unemotional words.

"I die, you die, Tenten."

Then the world went black.
Heaven: Ch 2

Unholy alliances led Sasuke down the path of destruction but he'd always known one day he would have to pay his dues. Through a twist of fate Tenten becomes his ticket out of a hatred ravaged existence as she struggles to make her way home. Ninja-verse AU.

Couples: SasuTen & some NejiTen.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews/favs/alerts! I was amazed by the positive feedback as I honestly hadn't held out much hope that there would be a lot of interest in this story – SasuTen isn't a very popular crack-pairing, after all xD But I'm really happy to hear that you guys are interested and I hope you'll enjoy the next instalment ^^ I'm as amazed as you are that the update came so quickly but I chalk that up to the encouraging reviews! That being said, please bear in mind that reviews keep my enthusiasm for a story going; it's really very disheartening when the hits/alerts to review ratio is so wildly out of sync. Please consider taking just a couple of minutes of your time to leave me a message: tell me what I'm doing right, what you liked and what you didn't. I'd really appreciate it!

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