Hehe. Basically, it's a one-shot of Neji and TenTen playing chess. TenTen shows her competitive side. Slight Neji/TenTen pairing, if you can consider it that. Anyway, it was fun writing TenTen get mad.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Kishimoto owns all. Dig it.
Competition.
TenTen glared at Guy-sensei. This was stupid. They could have been doing a mission, or at least training instead of this. It made her somewhat angry. Sure, Lee was like a son to Guy-sensei, but to train him while forcing Neji and TenTen to play chess was insulting.
"Dear TenTen! Think of it this way: Today you are making your mental health stronger!" exclaimed Guy-sensei.
"Are you saying I need it?" she shot at him.
Guy-sensei wasn't even fazed.
"Of course not! But a lively game of chess will help you and Neji's strategic abilities!"
Neji looked at his sensei critically.
"We're blunt with our attacks. What strategy could we need?"
Guy-sensei adopted a horrific look.
"Neji, TenTen, I'm surprised at you! You two need all the strategy you can get! You must be prepared for any battle, any wrong-doing—!"
Neji sighed.
"Fine. We'll do it. Where's the board?" Neji succumbed.
TenTen half-turned to him. She hadn't agreed to anything, what the heck was Neji saying?!
Guy-sensei pointed Neji to a boxed up chess set, sitting on Guy-sensei's kitchen table. TenTen glared at Neji.
"Alright, you two! We'll be back later!" said Guy-sensei, heading out the door with an excited Lee.
TenTen crossed her arms in defiance; she so wasn't doing this.
As if reading her thoughts, Guy-sensei stuck his head back in and added spookily, "And I'll know if you two didn't play."
And then he and Lee were gone.
TenTen immediately turned to Neji, glaring at him.
"What?" he asked her, disliking her obvious distaste of him.
"Why didn't you say no?! We could have gotten out of this whole thing and gone home or something."
Neji smirked.
"Sounds to me like you're afraid to lose, TenTen." His tone was casual, but TenTen knew Neji better than that. He was challenging her.
And TenTen does not deny challenges from Neji Hyuga.
"Fine. But when you lose, Neji, don't give me any of that rematch crap."
Neji smirked and sat down at the table, beginning to set up the board. TenTen sat across from him with narrowed eyes.
"Let's do this," she said.
Once Neji and TenTen had assembled the pieces on the board (TenTen under Neji's direction), Neji looked at her from across the table.
"Have you played before?"
"No. Have you?"
"A few times. I'll explain it to you."
TenTen nodded thinking that with so many pieces, there must be some complex rules.
"First of all, these are pawns," said Neji, pointing to the small pieces on the front. "Pawns can move one or two spaces from their place, but after you move them, you can only move the pawn one space. If there is a piece diagonally to the pawn, a space in front of it, the pawn can take that piece.
"On the ends are the two rooks, or castles. A rook can move anywhere and as far as it wants, it just can't move diagonally. Next to the rooks, are the knights. Knights move in an 'L' shape. Two spaces in front of the knight, not counting its own space, and one over. They can only move in an 'L' shape. Next are the bishops. The bishop is like the rook, except that it can only move diagonally. So, they can move anywhere, it just has to be diagonally.
"The queen is the most useful piece on the board. The queen can do anything as long as there isn't a piece in her way. And finally, the king is the climax. It can only move one space at a time, but in any direction. The object of the game is to keep your king safe. But it's useful to get pieces on the way."
Neji looked up at her.
"Ready to play?"
For some reason unbeknownst to TenTen, she felt she was getting herself into something.
"Sure," replied TenTen, looking down at the board.
"White goes first."
TenTen shot Neji a look.
"There is no white. They're both glass."
Neji replied, "I know that. With a glass set, the non-clear pieces go first. They're white."
"Oh. So I go first."
Neji nodded, awaiting her move in anticipation. Would she act like an amateur, or pick up the game quickly? Neji wasn't altogether sure; TenTen was hard to depict sometimes.
TenTen considered her options. To her, the knight seemed valuable at this moment, so she moved the one closest to the king, on the right side of the board. Since it moved in and 'L' shape, TenTen moved her knight to the place two spaces in front of her right bishop.
Ten minutes later, after much prodding from TenTen, Neji finally moved. It was a pawn, which he only moved one space. TenTen looked at Neji. Was he crazy? This is what the proclaimed genius had to dish out? A pawn?! TenTen chuckled. This game would be a piece of cake.
"Checkmate," Neji said around thirty minutes later, smiling in triumph.
His bishop was in a diagonal position to get TenTen's king. And TenTen couldn't move anywhere, but diagonally.
"Either you lose, or forfeit with your dignity," offered Neji, smirking in that annoying way he had.
TenTen felt the urge to throw something at him, but decided that wouldn't be good 'sportsmanship.'
"I forfeit, but we're playing again," conceded TenTen.
Neji smiled.
"Fine," he replied, moving the pieces back to their familiar places.
"You've only played a few times, huh, Neji?" growled TenTen an hour later.
Neji clearly was a master at this game. Which TenTen should have expected, he was a genius at everything else after all. Stupid Neji and his stupid tricks. He was especially good at tricking TenTen into thinking one of her pieces was in danger when in truth, Neji was plotting an attack on another piece, preferably her king.
"TenTen," Neji fake scolded, "there's no need for hostile words."
"Shut up, Neji! I know you're loving every minute of it!" snapped TenTen.
Neji smiled and heeded her. He wouldn't want her to bite his head off so early in their second game. It was quite enjoyable. TenTen wasn't usually so competitive. Of course, if Lee had been there he would have incited an all out TenTen riot. Or war. Neji wrinkled his nose. He didn't think a TenTen war would be all that entertaining.
"There!" cried TenTen. "I've got you now!"
Neji almost laughed.
She certainly did not have him.
Of course, TenTen assumed that it was a great triumph to retrieve some of Neji's pieces that he sacrificed. She would do well to remember that he had a clever mind. There was always an ulterior motive in chess. Or at least, there should be.
After much debate over what moves you could and couldn't make, TenTen was able to win by a casualty of Neji's last rook. Neji ceded defeat gracefully.
He nodded at her.
"Good."
"Neji Hyuga, are you actually admitting that someone is better than you?!" TenTen asked, faux shocked.
He threw a piece of paper at her.
"Shut up," he told her, smirking a little.
"Aw, did I hurt your pride, Hyuga?" TenTen babied.
Neji's eyes narrowed. TenTen stood up and spread her arms wide.
"World, Neji Hyuga just lost to a girl, me, TenTen!" shouted TenTen.
Neji rolled his eyes, scoffing. It wasn't that big of a deal.
"Alright, alright. You won, fine. Should we wait for Guy-sensei and Lee?"
"I don't know," said TenTen, coming down from her high.
They didn't wait long, almost a minute later, Lee burst through the door saying, "I did it! I mastered a new technique!"
"Good job, Lee," encouraged TenTen.
Neji nodded.
"How did your game go?" asked Lee, looking interestingly at the board.
"I won!" TenTen exclaimed, once again, very loudly.
"You're forgetting," started Neji quietly, "that I won the first game."
TenTen rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, but that's not as important."
Neji scoffed but said nothing else on the matter.
He wouldn't win anyway, with TenTen's competitive streak. She would fight anything. Neji assumed that that was what gave TenTen her fighting spirit.
"I want to play!" Lee announced loudly, entranced.
"Fine, you can play me!" agreed TenTen.
Neji moved so the two could play at will. He began the tread to the Hyuga Clan's property. He didn't think he could deal with anymore blows to his pride for today.