Possible spoilers for Chapter 614.
Enjoy.
.:Lovely Tragedy:.
"EEEHH! Neji, what are you trying to say?" the female voice lilted with a brightness that the Hyuuga could never dream of possessing.
"Shut up," the prodigy whipped his head to the side to avoid looking at her as a pale color contrast flashed across his cheeks.
"Oh come on now, I was just teasing. I just wanted to see if you you'd say it again." She snickered punching him playfully in the arm.
"Tenten…you're an idiot." He looked at her with a bland expression much to her amusement.
An infectious smile broke across her strong tanned features. "But you love me all the same."
"Aa," Tenten looped her arm through Neji's teasingly and laughed loudly in his ear.
"Ne, Neji?" He spared her a sideways glance and she dropped his arm and leaned forward smiling serenely. "I love you too."
He smiled.
"I hate you sometimes, you know?" Tenten frowned as she regarded him with an irritated glare.
"On occasion, I find you to be quite a nuisance as well." Neji stated calmly staring back at her.
"You're kind of stupid…being a genius and all." She looked out over the roof to the straggling villagers and dimly lit roads.
Neji did not dignify her comment with a response, but she continued on.
"I deserve better than this you know," she whispered looking down at her folded hands.
"I know."
He frowned.
"Ne, Neji?" Tenten leaned in front of him her brow furrowed in curiosity.
He looked back at her.
"Why you keep your hair so long?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Tradition."
"Doesn't it get in the way? It's pretty long…" she absently reached forward absently and let a few of the loose strands glide threw her calloused fingers.
"Sometimes," he responded softly watching her fingers twist through his hair.
It was silent for a moment.
"Does…it displease you?" he asked slowly, his eyes still glued to her fingers twirling in his hair.
Neji's breath hitched as Tenten's face twisted into a predatory gaze and she shifted her weight forward pressing her chest flush against his. Her warm breath washed over the shell of his ear.
"I think it's damn sexy."
He blushed.
"Neji, I can take care of myself. I don't need some knight in shining armor. I not some helpless little girl who needs protecting," Tenten seethed turning her back to Neji.
He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around backing her into the wall. His arm came up harshly next to her head resting against the wall. "I never said that."
"But you act like it. I'm a kuniochi and a damn good one. Not some porcelain doll." She glowered.
His fist banged against the wall. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't tell myself that every day?" he hissed his forehead brushing against hers.
"You certainly don't act like it." She bit back.
Neji closed the space between them his forehead pressing into the wall beside her head. He could feel the heat from her body pressing into him.
"Damn it, woman. Why do you find it necessary to be so reckless?" he whispered.
"Why do you think it's your job to keep me from danger?"She inquired softly drawing her hands up around his back. The previous venom washed away.
He buried his nose into her hair. "Because you are important to me. I can't afford to lose you."
"Neji," Tenten pushed him back and cup his cheeks in her palms. "I will never leave your side."
He kissed her.
"Neji…." Tenten's mind was swimming. Muffled noises filtered mutely through her ears. Her eyes were focused solely on the spectacle not thirty feet away.
"Neji," her eyes blurred as the kunai slid from her hand.
She ran.
Her mind was racing. Rational and irrational thoughts were skidding through her mind making it hard to think. She choked back a sob.
"Tenten…you're an idiot."
She laughed through the tears as his steady voice penetrated through her memory.
She dropped to her knees beside Naruto, pushing his hands away from Neji. With shaking hands she went to touch him, but stopped mere centimeters away.
"N-Neji," she cried.
"You're kind of stupid…being a genius and all."
"Neji, you….you idiot," Tenten wiped her eyes harshly with the back of her grimy hand. She looked down at his peaceful face. A light smile resting on his blood stained lips.
She reached forward again brushing the disheveled pieces of hair from his face.
"Does…it displease you?"
Tenten choked out a watery laugh that quickly turned into an anguished sob.
"You can't do this to me Neji. You can't leave me here." she fisted her hands in his vest ignoring the sickening warmth squeezing its way through the creases of her fingers. She pressed her forehead to his.
"Because you are important to me. I can't afford to lose you."
"I can't lose you." She cried. "Neji, damn it!"
He laid still.
I can't even begin to process all the complex emotions running through me after chpt. 614.
This is my tribute to him and to one of my first anime pairings ever NejiTen.
This is a bit of a different writing style for me, but I think that it got across what I wanted to for this story/drabble/oneshot thing.
Long live Neji's memory in the hearts of Naruto fans. I know he will live on in mine.
Please let me know what you thought.