Disclaimer: Not mine. Pleeeease.

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DATING PRODIGIES

By MyFallenAngel

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Chapter One: Curiosity

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Neji forced himself to not blush when the sight of his female teammate met his eyes. She was smiling, looking very cheerful indeed, and he couldn't help wondering what made her that happy early in the morning. As she was happy, he noticed that her hair was tied into a ponytail, unlike her usual panda hairstyle, which made her even cuter.

Calling her cute –even if he says it only in his mind and to himself- was something Neji discovered not long ago. He even realized that she was the only and the first thing –or being- he called 'cute'. And really, she was cute. No one could deny that.

Hyuuga Neji had recently discovered some things that made his only female companion – Tenten, the weapon mistress – much more special than the other meddling and ogling girls who were just fools in Konoha. They who liked talking about boys more than training was considered as nothing for him.

But then again, girls were different. Some of them enhanced unique personalities, characteristics, and appearances.

Sometimes Neji couldn't stop himself wondering, why do girls talk about boys? It's not like talking about them will bring them to the girls. It's not like talking about them will make the girls stronger or whatever. It's not like talking about them generally will bring up advantages to the girls.

Hyuuga Neji was always considerate. He thinks both generally and specifically, thoroughly, widely, and his heart was not often used in missions. That was why their team hardly ever failed any missions – because the cool, the calm, the collected and the considerate Hyuuga Neji was there. To help them. To choose options for them. And most of all, to protect them from doing something stupid.

Lee and Tenten were the more reckless than Neji – it was already a characteristic planted in them, while Neji always favored to consider the advantages and disadvantages in missions first than to scout the area, thinking that it was harmless. And whenever he was around and he wasn't acting reckless, they ended up healthy and alive. Safe and sound.

Nothing comes without a risk, and nothing comes without a possibility. Meaning, everything is possible. And Neji had recently discovered that too. Well, maybe not recently.

Everything, meaning he could lose to some weird guy. And yes, it was possible and it happened years ago in the Chuunin Exam. He got beaten up like hell by the weird whiskery guy – named Uzumaki Naruto.

Everything, meaning he could be reckless too. And yes, it happened too. They were on a mission, and Hyuuga Neji was underestimating the mission. He considered the village they were in a safe place, and guess what? They nearly died. All for the cause that Hyuuga Neji was being reckless. Meaning that they really depend on him. In other words, he couldn't let them down.

And he never did.

Everything, meaning he could fall in love. And now, it's happening. Neji was in love. Or he had somewhat illness and feels things weird to 'a girl'. But then again, girls aren't always noisy. 'A girl' wasn't. 'A girl' preferred training over doing nails or that sort of useless and pointless things.

And for Hyuuga Neji, Tenten was considered as that girl.

For him too, they were almost perfect. Perfect in complementing each other. As in, they were almost made to be together. But then again...

As a girl, Tenten wasn't like any other. She wasn't feminine, and she preferred weapons over studying medic, even if her idol the great Tsunade-sama chose medic over weapons. Tenten was not one who changes her mind easily. She loves what she has, and she wasn't going to change it anytime soon.

For her, studying and mastering weaponry was a part of her world. Not like how Uchiha Sasuke was Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino's worlds. Not like how Uzumaki Naruto was Hyuuga Hinata's world. In romantic relationships, Tenten chose to wait. Not to find love. It was too boring, and she thought it wasn't time yet.

After all, they were only sixteen – going on seventeen. Marriage was still an option, not a must. When they got by twenty and she still hadn't find romance in her life, then it was the time to go on searching for love.

Oh, how stupid does that sounds.

"Morning, Neji!" Tenten called at him cheerfully as she ran to his side. Boy, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to embrace her shoulder which was covered with her usual Chinese pink clothes. She smiled happily, "Ready to train?" She asked as she looked around their training grounds. "Where's Lee?"

Neji smirked at the mention of the last member of their team - the over exuberant Rock Lee, who was also called The Green Beast of Konoha. Probably it was because of his green spandex - the one Gai-sensei also wore. But then again, even if his clothes aren't that good, his personality matches their team. And matches his taijutsu style too.

"He's training with Gai-sensei." He replied, "A marathon around Konoha for fifty times or something like that."

Tenten arched her eyebrows at him. She asked after a momentary gazing, "And you? Why are you still here?" She half-expected him to say that there's no way he would do something stupid like that, but instead he said, "I was waiting for you."

Now at usual times Tenten would blush sweetly and change the topic into something more general, but today she just flinched and quickly muttered an awkward "Thank you." to the prodigy.

Neji's pale eyes twitched at her unusual reaction but he chose to ignore it - barely. Even when they started sparring he couldn't stop himself wondering why she was acting strangely towards him. Sometimes he realized that she blushes every time he was around, and he knew by heart that she will give him a big bear hug if he says that he was waiting for her.

But then again, that was at usual times. Today was more like a phenomenon. At least, to him.

Tenten summoned her weapons one by one from her scroll, as he merely stood not far away from her, counting the distance by mind and calculating the seconds he needs to perform his absolute defense: the Hakkeshou Kaiten. As she began whipping her weapons with her chakra strings, he turned into a blurry vision, stirring himself ever so quickly.

All of her weapons crashed to the circular wall of chakra and clanged against the ground, hard. Neji had done it again. She leaped down, taking out her set of kunais and slipping them between her fingers as his Kaiten faded away.

When he sensed her running, he turned into the Hyuuga taijutsu stance and dodged each and every one of her kunais easily. She jumped backwards, breathing heavily as he smirked at her, still in his ready stance. "Tenten." He said quietly, "Is that all you have got?"

Tenten knew by heart that he was only saying this to taunt her and to make her go serious at him. The weapon mistress smirked back at the prodigy as she summoned her second weapon arsenal out and flung them at him.

This time, he didn't even bother to dodge any of it and just let the weapons stabbed him deeply. Tenten gasped, thinking that she had finally and really hurt THE Hyuuga Neji when the stabbed vision went 'Poof!' and disappeared in a cushion of smoke.

Tenten leaped backwards, readying herself once more.

"Is that all?" Neji asked again, now from somewhere, not really revealing himself.

She stood, using her senses to the maximum. She whipped her shurikens out, throwing each and every one of them to the trees around her consecutively, hoping to knock him out and reveal where he was hiding. And that was when she felt something cold on her neck. A blade.

"You're not concentrating." Neji whispered to her ear as he appeared behind her. Tenten lowered her head and 'Poof!' she went. Neji smirked. She was getting better, since usually their spar ended ten minutes after it started with him winning. And this was already fifteen minutes.

Neji readied himself when a familiar gush of wind met his ears. That kind of 'Whoosh!' and 'Swoosh!'s only appeared whenever she summoned her third arsenal - meaning that she was on the way to Sogu: Fujin Heki - the weapon mistress' ultimate and newest weapon mastery technique - Wall of the Wind God.

He pulled out a kunai and activated his bloodline limit. There was no need to fool around anymore. He noticed three Tentens around him, and one doing hand seals not far away from him. As the three ran around him, each throwing a fuuma shuriken, which he avoided easily as he hit the three Tentens' shoulders harshly, causing them to disappear in puffs of smokes.

Neji released a small amount of chakra to his fingers and gazed at the last Tenten. He teleported himself behind her, as she summoned the last and fourth weapons arsenal for her Fujin Heki and whipped them at him. One shuriken scratched his cheek lightly as he went 'Poof!' and disappeared as the remaining of her weapons stabbed air.

Neji appeared behind her ever so suddenly, placing two kunais to her neck.

"Game over." He whispered huskily, holding tight the kunais.

Tenten smirked. "For the first spar." She reminded him and summoned her weapons away. Neji moved the bench to get a drink as she followed him. The prodigy gazed at her, his mouth gaping as if he wants to say something. "You've improved." He said, practically complimenting her.

Tenten grinned at him as she motioned him to sit beside her. She rolled out a medical kit out of her bag and took out a band-aid from it.

"I'm sorry about that." He said suddenly, his eyes gazing at the scratch of her knee. The girl gave him a wide smile as she stacked the band aid carefully to the scratch. Of course, as cold as he was, he was also kind. "Don't worry about me." She said.

"Tenten." He stated suddenly, his eyes gazing intensely into hers. "What happened?"

Tenten looked at him in confusion. "What happened what?" She asked.

Neji frowned at her. "You're happy."

Ah, straight to the point, as always.

She smiled and answered him cleverly. "There's no reason not to."

The prodigy caught her looking at him wickedly. He chose to ignore her gaze and eyed her observantly. "Any reason to be?" He asked after the momentary observation had passed. And much to his curiosity, she blushed hotly as she smiled.

"Well..." She studied his pale eyes carefully, feeling feeble. His eyes seemed to drill into her, seeking for the most honest truth he could find. Then again, why should she felt bad when she had to tell him about this? It's not like he was something more than a friend to her! "Neji, I..."

He gazed at her questionably.

"I..." She was determined to tell him, but Lee had first jumped into their conversation. The over energetic boy had leaped in between them with a wide grin on his face. He turned to Tenten. "Oh, Tenten! I just listened to the news of you all around the village! Finally you have got yourself a boyfriend!"

By this time, Neji felt a one thousand tons stone had fell on top of his head harshly.

Tenten blushed sweetly but made no effort to deny his words. "Lee..." She gave him an exasperated sigh. "Please, don't say it so loud."

"But Tenten!" Lee's eyes shone happily, "The springtime of love has come to you! How can I be not happy about it?"

She smirked. "Okaaay..." She said and turned to Neji, "Neji...? Are you okay?" Apparently she noticed the somehow shocked expression on his face. He turned to her and nodded, although he still looked blank.

"I'm fine." He said when he noticed that Tenten was still examining him carefully.

Hyuuga Neji was not sure.

At all.

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Neji huffed quietly as he settled down under a tree and drank the rest of his water. Gai-sensei had made him used most of his chakra by practicing Hakke Hyaku Nijuhachi Sho - or Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms - to a tree.

Okay, now that was useless. A tree didn't have any chakra pores.

But then again, if he uses it against Lee, Gai-sensei or Tenten, they could die. And he wouldn't want it to happen. So... using it against a tree was the best way to practice his newest jutsu.

Although still, using it against a tree wasn't exactly the most effective way to improve.

"Neji, are you okay?" Tenten asked him again. It wasn't the first time she asked him that today - he didn't know why, but he didn't feel fine at all. Something weird was happening, and he just didn't know what.

"I'm fine." was the exact answer he gave her moments ago. He really wasn't feeling fine - but that was not like he will tell her that. Hyuuga Neji was supposed to stay cool - like a prodigy - and he will. So instead of telling the truth, he chose to say, "Hn."

Tenten looked at him in concern, but said nothing. After all, persuading Neji wasn't the best thing to do. Not when he looked so pissed. And not when he was looking pissed at her. She moved away and flung her bag to her back as she went to Gai-sensei. She definitely need to remind him about the so-pissed-off Hyuuga Neji. He may have to be aware of his... sudden outbursts.

"Neji rival!" Lee ran to the scene, sitting down beside Neji with a happy-go-lucky expression on his face. Neji smirked at him as he eyed Lee questionably. Lee smiled and patted his shoulder, "Aren't you just as happy as me that Tenten got a boyfriend? Are you? Ah, Neji! I praised you that your own springtime in love will come soon! Listen, I can ask Sakura-san to find a girlfriend for you in exchange to Tenten! When she is busy with her boyfriend, you can train with your girlfriend instead!"

Neji's eyes scattered around Lee's face uneasily. He really didn't appreciate Lee's offer - not one bit. "Lee." He started, "Don't."

Lee's eyes shone with glee. "Why don't, Neji?" He asked as he continued, "But you will have no partner to train with! Or to spar with! You will be so lonely and your springtime of love will pass without you getting the best out of it! You will grow old, lonely without a wife, twenty children, one from each of your wives! The Hyuuga Clan will not be fruitful if you didn't have a girlfriend and marry someone later! And if your springtime of youth didn't blossom, then mine will not too, since we are best comrades ever! And..."

"Lee." Neji cut him out. "There's no need to do that."

"But I'm doing it for you!" Lee smiled. "I'll do everything to help you, Neji!"

"Then there's no need to help me." Neji pointed out. "I don't need help."

And apparently, he really didn't.

One on hand, the Hyuuga Clan will probably do something if for the next two years he still didn't show any interest in romantic relationships. They will find a girl from a prestigious clan like the Hyuuga Clan for him to marry. Seeing that many clans had bonded affiliations and relationships with the clan, it will be an easy job for the elders. They would just pick a random girl from a random prestigious clan and tell her to marry him. That girl will agree, he knows that.

On the other hand, he had girls ogling him for heaven's sake. If the Hyuuga elders ran out of stock or something, he could snatch one of his fans and tell her to marry him. The lucky girl - well, people would considerately consider the girl as a lucky one for marrying the Hyuuga Neji, of course - will and must say yes. There's no rejection for a Hyuuga Neji, and she should know it.

Seeing the reasons, he really didn't need any help.

Lee gave him a wild and wide grin. "Let's host a party for Tenten!" He launched his last idea - which could be the best idea of all, but Neji didn't like it one bit. Lee continued anyway, "It's her seventeenth birthday this coming week, and we could plan a party for her! You know, seventeen is the age for a girl to turn into an adult! It is the climax of her springtime of youth! We should do it, Neji!" He eyed the cool prodigy excitedly, who in return gave no response.

"Neji!" Lee grinned again. "Let's just do it!"

Oh. So it was a birthday party for Tenten. Not a party to celebrate that she finally got a boyfriend.

"You know, we can do it for another reason too if you don't like to celebrate her birthday..." Lee responded when Neji still didn't look so convinced with his reasoning. "Tenten has a boyfriend now!"

Okay. He doesn't really know why, but the word 'boyfriend' was really grating his nerves and drilling his patience. This uneasy feeling was really bugging him. After all, Tenten was only his friend, his comrade, his teammate - she was not one he loves. At least, not as a girlfriend. She was just his sparring partner - his best one, in this case. Not even Hiashi-sama had him improved as much as he had when he trained with Tenten.

Neji glared at Lee. He was the cause of his dumb thoughts!

Damn.

"Tenten would like birthday parties! Girls like to party, right?" Lee had taken his glare as something else. And it was not good.

Being a genius, Hyuuga Neji knew by heart that girls like birthday parties, but did Tenten like birthday parties? She was no ordinary girl - she wasn't even a girly one! But if she likes birthday parties, they could plan one! If she hates them, why should they host one? It just would be too troublesome. He could use more time training than hosting stupid birthday parties she doesn't like.

"She likes birthday parties?" Neji asked carefully after a long moment of thinking.

"Of course." Lee grinned. "Girls like 'em! Especially girls who are in their springtime of youth, like Tenten!"

For the first time in his life, Neji decided to trust Lee outside a mission.

"Okay." He shrugged.

--

Tenten wiped her sweat off her face as she sat down on the bench, looking at the sunset as she crossed her legs. Lee was doing four-thousand push-ups on the corner of the training grounds, and Neji was just sitting down beside her, arms crossed, also watching the sunset pointlessly with a thoughtful expression pasted on his face.

Sure, they were not Nara Shikamaru. But watching the sky sometimes brought you some peacefulness you couldn't find in normal days. And also, looking at the sky was free. You needn't any ryou to watch the sky. Really.

(Ryou: Currency used in Naruto)

She glanced sideways at her companion – the Hyuuga Neji. To her, it was almost weird that Neji chose this day to accompany her watching the sky pointlessly. It seemed like it was only two hours ago that he had rejected her invitation to accompany her rather than exploding the trees – and yet he was sitting right here beside her, looking at the sky.

To Tenten, the sky was a mystery. How could it change color? How the sun does affect its color-changing? And why do clouds chose to roam there and not on the land? At how many meters the sky starts? What is exactly the sky? There were so many questions to ask, yet she didn't know how to ask them or how to answer them.

But then again, the sky wasn't the only thing she considered a mystery.

Hyuuga Neji was, too. To her, he was even more mysterious than the sky. Take it from his eyes – his pale ones, in this case. How could it be so cold? How could it be so expressionless? How could it be so white? And how could his eyes only made her heartthrob thousands times faster? It was not something she knows, and it was not something she wants to ask too.

To her, Neji was almost nothing more than a friend, a comrade, a teammate. But he was something more than just a usual teammate. She adores him, cares for him deeply, and she wasn't sure if she could sit there doing nothing when she saw him getting beaten up in the Chuunin Exam.

Why she did not cheer for him in the exam was not beyond her knowledge. It was because Hyuuga Neji dislikes being cheered for. It makes him feels weak, and it makes him believe that she didn't trust his strength.

Oh, she did alright. Hyuuga Neji was on the second place in her list of idols. The first is Tsunade-sama, and nothing can change that. For her, Neji was someone she admired. That hasn't change, even after Naruto had beaten him up. She didn't admire Neji's talents –oh, she admired them alright, but it was not the point why Neji was on her top list- it was his strength.

Yes. His strength. It was why he was able to endure everything alone – his father's death, his hatred to the main family, everything. It was almost like Hyuuga Neji was born to be alone, to survive alone, and to die alone. She didn't know about his life until he opened it up at the Chuunin Exams.

Before that, her admiration was glued to his talents. How the Hyuuga could do this and she couldn't. How the Hyuuga could do that and she couldn't.

And when he started opening up about the dark past of how he came to a conclusion that he was born to be alone, to put revenge, and to do his things alone, she started admiring him even more.

Neji had come up to what he was in the exams alone. For him, she was just his partner. His training partner. Not a friend. But after the exams, Tenten was already determined to make herself worthy. She did everything to make him recognize her more – and when he did, she knew that she had succeeded.

Not that she regretted it, though. Hyuuga Neji wasn't that bad when it comes to friendship. He was always serious, true, but in some times he could laugh. It was a pity that it was only her he showed his laughter to.

And Tenten couldn't deny the fact: Hyuuga Neji looked even more handsome when he was laughing. He could get more ogling girls when he did that in public, seriously. But there was another fact she couldn't deny too: she didn't want him to laugh in public, without reasons. It sort of just… popped in her mind that she shouldn't let him laugh in public, because simply it will take him away from her.

And their friendship was still going on.

"Neji." Tenten called, a little awkwardly. The Hyuuga prodigy's pale eyes turned to her quietly as he arched his eyebrows, as the weapon mistress continued her question, "Why are you still here?"

He looked at her with a cocky look. "Why shouldn't I be here?" He bit back, not necessarily answering her question. After all, answering straightly to make her happy wasn't his job. It was her boyfriend's job. Oh, how much he really hates the words 'her boyfriend'. Especially when the one being addressed was not him.

But really, it's not like he would admit it or something like that. Hyuuga Neji was far too cocky and cold to admit that thing - he would call it stupid.

"I mean, you could go home." She said timidly. Neji was acting a bit strange this afternoon, especially after Lee had announced freely and loudly that she had got a boyfriend. Not that it was a lie. It was true, but she just wasn't that sure of her feelings. But sure, it was not a sin to say 'yes' to the guy after reminding him first that she wasn't sure.

He smirked and said nothing. Obviously, there's no need of telling her what he was doing. She would just flinch once more if he said that he was waiting for her to go home safely. Even for such a strong kunoichi, walking in Konoha at night could be dangerous. He could offer to walk her home, but rather than that he chose to just see her off -from faraway and hideously- until she was safe in her apartment flat.

But then again, opening up a little conversation about this and that shouldn't be too dangerous...

"Tenten." He gazed at her deeply as she returned the gaze with a quizzical look. He was just about to ask her about something that had bugged his mind for quite few hours until now, when a certain prodigy appeared between the gates of their team's training grounds.

A prodigy Neji appeared to hate.

It was Uchiha Sasuke.

TBC.

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Authoress Notes

So, as promised in my profile, this is my newest fanfic – Dating Prodigies. Seeing the pattern up there –if I write it obviously enough-, you might have guessed the pairings. I'm just trying to break free from the usual NejiTen and do something more… complicated.

Reviews are very much welcomed.

Thanks.

Oh, and I am having trouble with uploading my documents (good thing I spared one useless on the doc manager) so wait for loooooooong updates!

Thanks again.