Aftermath (A Sequel to A Flash to the Future)

Chapter 33 - The Road to Recovery

Ten-Ten wiped the sweat off her brow as she helped her fellow comrade move at plank of wood toward the construction. Neji had taken the rear while Lee was up front, being his exuberant self. The kunoichi herself was in the middle as they briefly stopped for a small group of men who was carrying a long ladder. She sighed in relief when they finally arrived at the newly built scaffold.

With a heave, Team 9 lifted the thick heavy plank, allowing the team of tobishoku roping the center of the plank before using a pulley and move it higher to the team on top. Lee cheered encouragingly while Neji just groaned with Ten-Ten. It had been three days since the invasion and ninja and civilian alike were fast at work. After they made sure everyone was safe and okay, shinobi were ordered to assist in village reconstruction while higher ranking officers were tasks with protection and other assignments.

The brunette slowly looked up at the place that was once the Academy. When her team arrived there two days ago, the roof and second floor had totally collapsed in. The wooden materials were charred and the place was barely recognizable. It took them a day and a half to clear the rubbish before the construction workers began check the foundation. With the help of Neji's byakugan, they were able to get a better analysis of the damage and what needed to be repaired.

Currently, said workers were putting their finishing touches on the foundation before working on the exterior and interior design of the place. Luckily, the Hokage still had the buildings old blueprints that served as a huge help to the current construction men. She watched as the men continued to work on a wall of the building while other groups worked on frames that would be placed inside the building.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Neji said as he walked up beside her. "Seeing it like this. Last year we wouldn't have thought to see it in such a state."

Pulled out her musings, Ten-Ten slowly turned her head to look at her teammate. His translucent eyes watched as the works continued to take measurements and go over blueprints. He was wearing his usual ninja attire with his long, brown hair tied into a low ponytail. His expression was unreadable and his arms were crossed. She allowed eyes to linger on him before turning back to site of construction.

"Yes." she replied quietly.

It was Neji's turn to look at her, taking in her appearance. Her fair skin glistened with perspiration as her chestnut orbs zoned in on the sight in front of her. He could see the thoughtful expression on her face as she tried to cope with and understand everything. He could see the gears of her mind churning at the blankness of her eyes. He turned to his attention to his other teammate who was spreading his youthfulness, giving the workers a helping hand and exclaiming words of courage and inspiration. He inwardly sighed as he watched some of the workers slowly inch from him. Poor guy was scaring them half to death.

Seeing that noon was nearing, Neji placed a hand on Ten-Ten's shoulder, causing the girl's head to snap toward him.

"We should get going." he said as he sent a pointed glance toward Lee. "He's going to annoy these people and do more harm than good. We could use a lunch break anyway."

Ten-Ten glanced at her green-wearing teammate who was currently flashing one of the those bright smiles at a civilian workers with a thumbs up. The man seemed creeped out by this and began to move to another work station in attempt to get away from the genin. Ten-Ten sweat-dropped at this. 'Really, Lee?' she thought with a shake of her head. Her gaze resettled upon the owner of the hand on her shoulder and their eyes met. Pink began to dust her cheeks at his stare and she quickly looked away, clearing her throat in the process.

"Yeah, we should go." Ten-Ten replied, avoiding eye contact with him. "I don't understand were he gets all that energy from. You would think the heat would mellow him." she said with a nervous chuckle.