Tenten and Neji's Prompt Challenge by I.Heart.Hatake.Kakashi
My goal is to finish this prompt challenge A.S.A.P! So expect my story to be updated frequently! (Also, story is not beta--ed…)
-X-
Practice Makes Perfect
By: Makonochi
-X-
Crash!
Boom!
A grunt of frustration echoed in the abandon gym.
-X-
"Hey Neji, how's your practice coming along?" A small petite figure girl with 2 brown colored buns and a red ribbon tied tightly to secure her hair in place; came running towards the said boy.
The said boy looked at his "to be" dancing partner and grunted a reply, closely resembling a 'yes'. He had a long dark brown hair with a low pony tail, and he looked extremely aggravated.
The girl named Tenten sensed the mood, cringed, and finally patted the boy's back. "Don't worry about it! If you need help, just ask me!" She smiled enthusiastically.
"Tenten, I don't need any help, I can practice the dance routine myself. It's just a couple of steps here and there."
"Neji, stop being so persistent! I mean, it's okay to ask for help when you--" She was abruptly cut off with a 'good bye' from the boy.
"Neji! It's a duet! Not a solo…" She knew that she was wasting her breath on him. "When are you going to just admit you can't do a duet by yourself?" This time with a quieter voice, said mostly for her.
-X-
Neji sighed in frustration as he slipped and crashed towards the stacked empty boxes. He was trying to do a sharp turn when he lost his footing and lost the beat of the song. "Why am I doing this again…?" He already knew the answer, but this is a bit difficult then he perceived it would be. "Oh right, Hiashi's grand idea of giving me something productive to do. Also, something about improving my stealth and balance for martial art…" He rolled his eyes knowing that Hiashi would not have given in. "At least I only have to do one show, and quit for good…" He stood up, restart the song, and start from the ready position once more.
-X-
It was the day of the show, and many dancers were chatting amongst themselves with anticipation, excitement, and nervousness. Neji however was indifferent. Tenten approached him, gave him her usual smile and asked "Are you ready for the dance recital, Neji?"
"Hn"
"Neji, as long as you present well in front of the audience with me, I don't care if you have a speech disorder or not!" Neji gave her a definite glare. "You know I'm just joshing Neji!" with that she giggled lightly and went to a small corner to warm up.
He closed his eyes, and hope the training would pay off. It would be a horrid sight if he made Tenten, his partner to do poorly because of him.
He heard the applause and his dance teacher announcing their next act; "The Ballerina and The Swan". He gulped, stood in front of the crowd, saw his friends pointing and laughing because of his small get up…as a swan.
-X-
All was quiet in the audience area; the soft classical melody playing as everyone in his group was dancing with their said partner.
"Psst…Neji? Are you ready?" Tenten asked.
He snapped out of his train of thoughts and tentatively held Tenten's hand. He twirled, stepped forward, sideway, backwards, unfortunately he stumbled as well. Luckily, it was rarely noticed by the audience. Tenten grew worry for the ending was drawing near, where she would have to jump for Neji to catch her.
Neji on the other hand was sweating furiously for he was looking at his feet, trying not to fall. He heard Tenten's quiet voice counting "1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…"
Surprisingly, his foot work was more accurately on beat. Slowly he gained confidence; this time instead of Tenten leading him, Neji was the leader. When he looked at Tenten's face, his face started to heat up. Tenten was smiling, she was enjoying herself. He, too, have this small feeling of enjoyment. At the back of his head, he didn't want this moment to end.
Suddenly, Tenten let go of Neji and backed up in a graceful manner. He knew what was coming up next.
"Oh shi—" he was cut off as the music was almost at the end and Tenten leaped. Neji not wanting Tenten to injure herself caught her but lost his footing. After that, a huge crash echoed in the theater room.
Everyone gasped; Tenten looked horribly embarrassed and mad. The music abruptly stopped and everyone was looking at them. Her eyes started to water, as she gave him the most hated glare. She dashed out of the theater room before he was able to compose any coherent words.
His teacher Gai announced that they would give everyone a refund on their ticket and will move the recital to next Tuesday. Neji could feel everyone's glare at him. It was his time to try to walk away with some dignity…in a swan suit.
-X-
"That bastard…" Tenten murmured. She hoped Neji would've asked to practice the duet routine together. When she heard that Neji Hyuga was joining her dance group, she was very excited by the news. She finally thought they have one thing in common, but she was dead wrong.
It was quite chilly outside but the moon shined brightly and little star twinkled dazzlingly in the dark night. It was certainly a beautiful night, except Tenten was feeling horrible and cold with her skimpy outfit. It was a pink leotard, pink tutu, with a pink tight tank top. She was the ballerina, dancing with Neji the swan.
She slowed down her pace, until a cry of 'Tenten' was heard. She turned around; saw Neji panting between breaths, trying to form a sentence without any pauses for breath. She waited patiently.
Neji was wearing the swan's beak on his head, and for his bottom, it was the duck's ass. It was a funny get-up, but she was not in the mood to poke fun of it.
"Tenten…I…" He started.
"I'm listening, Neji." Tenten knew what Neji was going to say, however she wants Neji to drop his ego bar a bit down. Maybe, if he apologizes, he will be able to ask more freely for help.
"I'll try to do better for the next recital. Also, I am terribly sorry if I humiliated you in any way."
"…and?" Tenten asked.
"And? There is no and." Neji curtly replied.
"Oh my god, Neji! You're smart but you can be quite dumb sometimes!" She was exasperated, she gives up.
"…will you teach me the duet piece?"
"Not only that, you always just have to—what?" Tenten was taken back.
"I just need some help with some dance move, but if you are too busy then its fine."
Tenten could only smile brightly "Yes! Neji, you should've asked me a long time ago! It would've spared us the embarrassment."
Neji's eyes just glance side way. Tenten noticing his action quickly added "You can ask my help for anything! That's what dance buddies are for!"
Neji nodded in approval. "It's getting cold, I'll take you home. We can start practice around 10 am?"
"Yup, sounds good to me." She added a chuckle. "And…Neji?"
"Hn?"
"You might want to change your outfit as soon as possible."
Neji realizing what he was wearing, couldn't help but to blush a deep shade of red. Tenten laughed out loud and grabbed his hand. "Let's go before, someone we know sees us in this ridiculous costume!"
Neji eyes soften as he felt his cold hand warmed up by Tenten's. Tenten was grinning widely currently feeling happy and chirpy, and Neji couldn't help but to have a ghost of a smile etched on his face.
-X-
There comes a time where every little lonely boy must learn to dance.
END