I thought I'd bust out a quick little NejiTen fic. It's my New Year's gift to you! Some NejiTen goodness! Because writing Tenten is just so much fun.

Enjoy!

Edit: I apologize if my lack of scene breaks caused you any heartache. They were there, but apparently vanished. Hopefully they stick around this time.

Balance

Parties and Press-Ganging

"Come on!"

"No."

"Please?" Tenten did her best imitation of a pout. Much to Neji's dismay it made her look very unattractive.

"Don't do that."

"Then come with me," she whined.

"No, I will not degrade myself by going to such a place."

"But it's my birthday, Neji. You have to come."

He sighed, "I'm busy."

"Having a stick up your ass," she muttered.

He glared in response, which made her grin widely.

"It's my twenty-first, Neji. For civilians, that's like a really special birthday. You get to drink and party… and drink. I want you to come." She laced her fingers together and offered him a begging gesture.

"I'll take you to buy a gift tomorrow, Tenten. Any weapon from the shop you want."

She ground her teeth together in frustration. Hyuuga Neji was impossible. He was an annoying, arrogant jerk with a stick up his ass.

And she wanted him to come to her party. Yes, this was the type of people she surrounded herself with. Crazies.

A hyperactive, overzealous, green-spandex-clad ninja.

And his mini-me.

And Neji. Who has the aforementioned stick in the aforementioned place.

Tenten resisted the urge to stomp her feet like a small child. She wanted to throw a fit. She wanted to throw weapons at the Hyuuga. She wanted to…

"Fine," she sighed, releasing her frustration. There was no sense arguing with a Hyuuga. Not this one at least. It was simply a waste of energy, and hadn't she spent enough of that running laps around Konoha with her team already? Besides, she did not want to get gentle fisted, and let's face it, Neji wasn't above using his family jutsu on his team members. Ask Lee. "But if you change your mind we'll be at The Flaming Shuriken."

Neji made one of his Neji noises in response, leaving Tenten to stomp off not-so-gracefully toward her house.

"Ten, you look gorgeous!" Ino exclaimed, eyeing her up and down, "You didn't need my help!" She was dressed in a pale pink dress. It was relatively short by her standards and was cut in at all the right places. It was a clubbing dress to be sure, but nothing too out of Tenten's comfort zone. Her hair was down (a sight as rare as Naruto eating a non-ramen meal) and hung in gentle waves that curled and bounced at the end.

The weapon's mistress smiled softly. She had asked Ino to come over and help her with getting dressed for her party, not trusting her own fashion sense. After all, how often did she get to dress up?

"Are Hyuuga-san and Lee coming?" Ino questioned, fussing with her long blonde hair.

"Lee is," the brown-eyed kunoichi responded, attempting to hide her sadness. "I could barely pry him off of me when I told him about it. He was ranting about his youthful Tenten growing up," she laughed gently. Lee's antics always cheered her up.

Even if he was annoying.

"And the mighty Hyuuga?"

She shook her head, "He wouldn't come."

Ino muttered some not-so-nice names under her breath. "Well, he's missing out, Ten. You look amazing, everyone's sure to notice you!" she winked cheekily.

Tenten brightened back up again and looked at herself in the mirror. Yes, she was going to have fun with or without the Hyuuga.

"This place is hot!" Ino squealed, dancing in place no sooner than they had entered.

Tenten had only been in a club once or twice. It wasn't as if she couldn't go, shinobi were not restricted the ways civilians were. But still, she simply hadn't had the time or occasion.

She immediately decided she had been missing out.

The club was jumping with music, the kind that made Tenten want to move. It was a bit dark, but not overly so. The dance floor was packed with a sea of bodies, all writing and moving in different directions, to different rhythms. Tenten was ecstatic, she couldn't wait to dance.

"Let's find the others," Ino said loudly, speaking over the roar of music.

The weapon's mistress nodded in reply and they set off toward's the back of the club. Ino had reserved a special area for their group. When they arrived they found Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji settled at a table with drinks.

And Chouji with chips.

Sadly, that was probably what their turnout would consist of. Team Kakashi were on a mission at the time. Neji wouldn't let Hinata come to a club (Stick. In. Ass.), and Shino declined.

Kiba whistled appreciatively, "Tenten, you look fine!" She muttered a thanks and blushed slightly, although it was obstructed by the low lighting.

Shikamaru made a noise in the back of his throat that could only mean he agreed, while Chouji said something that was muddled by the mouthful of chips he possessed at the time.

"Isn't her hair gorgeous?" Ino cooed, "I told her she should wear it down more often."

"Where's Lee?" Tenten inquired, looking around, "He should be here already."

"Dancing," Shikamaru drawled, jerking his head in the direction of the dance floor.

The weapon's mistress craned her neck to see. Sure enough, there was a very energetic, very green, Lee dancing wildly. It was hard to miss him. It was really a shame he couldn't ditch the green jumpsuit, just this once.

"You didn't let him have alcohol, did you?" Tenten asked frantically.

"Tch, genius," the Nara boy gestured to himself, as if to make his point.

"Shut up, Shika," Ino punched him playfully, "Go get us some drinks."

"Too troublesome," he muttered, reclining even further into his chair.

"I got it," the dog savvy-nin declared, and he was off.

Tenten decided to go fetch Lee before he accidentally ingested some alcohol, or hurt someone. He really did need babysitting.

Much to her dismay, he spotted her when she was still several meters away. "TENTEN! MY YOUTHFUL FLOWER! HOW YOU'VE GROWN!"

Now, it should be noted that it was quite loud in the club.

It should also be noted that Gai and Lee's screams could be heard clear across Konoha.

For the briefest of moments, all but the most distracted people in the club turned to look. Tenten was torn between being mortified, or angry. (Because, damn it, Neji should've been there to keep Lee from doing something stupid!)

In the end, she chose a little of both.

"Lee!" she whisper-screamed as he approached her, "Keep it down, and what the hell are you talking about? You just saw me a few hours ago." She was blushing a deep crimson. Tenten didn't often get embarrassed, she did have the all-time most humiliating sensei ever. But she was around civilians tonight, and, well, they just didn't get it.

Lee would've liked to explain that yes, he did just see her, but she was older now, (Albeit still burning with the flames of youth), but he was too busy being awestruck. "T-tenten, you look…"

She put her hands on her hips, "Youthful?" she deadpanned.

The bushy browed ninja gasped, "How did you know?" and flung his arms around his favorite (well, maybe second favorite) kunoichi.

She couldn't help but laugh, and as she pried the overzealous ninja off of her for the second time that day, she noticed the tears welling up in his eyes. "Lee…" she warned.

But it was too late.

"My Tenten… is all…" he choked out between sniffles and sobs, "… grown up!" he wailed on the last bit, capturing the weapon's mistress in his arms again.

She took several minutes assuring her teammate that she was the same Tenten she was earlier that day and that it was all okay. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, when he recovered, it was completely and in an instant. "Let us go and celebrate!" he declared.

And celebrate they did. Tenten ultimately ended up having a good time. She attracted an awful lot of attention with her agile and carefree dancing. Ino was almost jealous. But the weapon's mistress couldn't help but secretly enjoy it. She was a woman, after all.

In fact, everyone had fun. She was almost glad the wet blanket Neji wasn't around to be a killjoy. Everyone danced with her, even Shikamaru, who decided her pestering was more troublesome than just dancing. To everyone's surprise he was quite good, a secret they were warned to take to their grave.

Tenten wondered if the Nara genius had forgotten Ino was among them.

Ultimately, they had decided to leave after a couple of hours. The drinks weren't very good, so none of them were very drunk.

Oh, and Lee was all danced out. In what could only be described as a grand display of youthfulness, he had danced with unbridled passion almost the entire time they were there. To be more precise, he was falling over himself with exhaustion. Tenten doubted he could get out of his own way if an enemy were to attack.

Ino had suggested they go down to a local bar for an after party. Chouji kindly offered to deliver Lee to his home. He needed to get something to eat anyway.

And so, they exited the club, game plan in tact, relishing in the cool March air that greeted them. Tenten closed her eyes and spun around in the refreshing night atmosphere. She loved this time of year.

"Tenten," came Ino's voice, "Isn't that your Hyuuga?"

The weapon's mistress squinted her eyes and looked across the street in the direction Ino was pointing, "Uhh… yeah. I'll be right back," she called, running across the street.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I came to speak with you," Neji answered stiffly, pushing off of the post he was leaning on.

"How long have you been out here?"

He simply shrugged.

"And you couldn't come in and talked to me?"

The Hyuuga scoffed, "I told you I would not set foot in such a place."

Tenten rolled her eyes, "What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

It was only then that the prodigy noticed her attire. "What are you wearing?"

"Clothes," she deadpanned, "Shocking, I know. Because I usually run around in the nude."

He immediately started unbuttoning his jacket, "You should put something on," he demanded, throwing his jacket around her shoulders.

"I'm not cold." She was clearly irritated now as she fought with him to remove the jacket.

"You shouldn't prance around dressed that way, Tenten. It's… indecent."

She scoffed, successfully removing the jacket this time, "I'll dress however I please, Neji."

"Yeah, you should've seen her tonight, Hyuuga-san. Guys were falling over themselves to dance with her!" came Ino's voice from across the street.

The prodigy's jaw clenched visibly, while Tenten blushed, mentally begging Ino to shut up.

"I'll take you home," Neji said roughly.

The weapon's mistress smirked, "I'm not going home. We're going to a bar," she gestured in the direction of the establishment. "Wanna come?"

Neji grunted, why did his female teammate have to be so damn insolent? Were all women this troublesome?

Kami, now he sounded like Shikamaru.

"Fine," he conceded, "But only if you cover up."

The bar was a favorite of shinobi. A place to relax and unwind. A place to relieve stress. A place to forget.

And for the younger generation, a place to hang out and celebrate.

Celebrate a mission accomplished, a jutsu developed, a birthday.

And so it was with Tenten and her crew. In the end, she couldn't resist Neji's offer. So there she was, clad in his jacket, which was horribly obstructing her cute dress, and seated in a booth, Neji pinning her in. Kiba, Ino, and Shikamaru, crammed into the seat opposite.

Ino was chattering on about Shikamaru's dancing while Kiba left to get drinks. Tenten had mouthed "strong" to him, and hoped he got the message.

Neji had yet to say a word.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" the brown eyed kunoichi questioned, shifting her body slightly to face the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Hn."

Tenten resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was thankful when Kiba brought back the drinks. Sake for the three on the other side of the table, and a shot each of a harmless looking clear liquid for Neji and Tenten. Kiba shot the weapon's mistress a thumbs up, indicating he got her message.

Tenten smirked as Neji made a face and pushed his shot glass away.

"Aw, come on, Neji. What's your excuse this time?" Tenten prodded.

"I do not need an excuse, Tenten."

She sighed, "Come on, it's just this once and I'll never ever bug you about anything ever again."

A noise of disbelief escaped the back of Neji's throat. Suddenly the rest of the table (save Shikamaru) joined in and began press-ganging him to drink the shot.

Some half lit patrons nearby heard the ruckus and joined in, just for the hell of it. Soon, nearly the entire bar was egging Neji on.

He scowled, snatched the shot glass up, and tossed the liquid down his throat, drinking it all in one go. He slammed it down on the table, "There, happy?"

The entire bar erupted in cheers as Tenten grinned widely, "Yes."

He attempted to hide a small cough, "Great, now can everyone leave me alone."

"Not likely," Shikamaru chimed, sipping his sake as he leaned against the wall hemming in the inside of the booth.

"So, what did you think, oh great Hyuuga?" Ino questioned.

The prodigy coughed a bit more, "Revolting." He reached across the table to snatch Ino's cup of sake. She voiced her protest as he downed it in one go, in an attempt to wash the awful taste from his mouth. "What the hell was that?"

"Secret recipe," Kiba grinned, showing his fangs, "Guaranteed to get you sloshed in one go."

Neji's eyes widened a fraction as Tenten pushed her shot glass away. She was not drinking that, then.

"You'll be fine," the weapon's mistress assured him, patting him on the shoulder condescendingly.

"Fine. Whatever. Just do your… thing… and leave me out of it." He angled his body slightly away from the group in an effort to distance himself from their little celebration.

Ino snorted before turning her attention to the other kunoichi, "So, Ten, how does it feel to be twenty-one?"

It was easy to forget, among friends, that Tenten and her team were older than the Rookie Nine. She shrugged, "I'm a little surprised I made it this far."

The others (except, of course, Neji), expressed their agreement. They had all thought, at one point or another, that they were about to meet their end. It was almost an accomplishment of sorts to make it to twenty-one as a ninja.

"I feel kind of old tho-" she stopped and turned her head toward Neji. "What are you doing?"

Neji had abandoned his aloof demeanor and was studiously running his fingers through Tenten's hair, a look of intense concentration on his face. "Your hair is amazing," he said quietly, his tone reflecting something like awe.

"Thank… you?" she said, trying desperately to ignore the warning bells going off in her head. Neji had just noticed she had her hair down, that's all. She extracted his hands from her hair and turned back to her friends, "So yeah, I feel kind of old, " she chuckled.

They didn't appear to be listening however, and were, instead, all gazing at the Hyuuga prodigy, who was, in turn, watching her.

Well, staring might be more accurate. He had his chin resting in his palm, elbow on the table, staring at the brown eyed kunoichi. The other hand had found her hair again and was running through it, down to her shoulder, gently tugging his jacket off on one side.

"N-neji?"

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful… No! Gorgeous," he sighed. "Kami, look at you in that dress. You're so… sexy! I just wanna ri-"

Tenten made a very girly squealing noise before planting a palm over her teammate's mouth. She glanced at her friends across the table, panic flashing in her eyes. "What should we do?"

Ino was quick to voice her opinion, "I wanna hear what he has to say."

"I don't," Shikamaru muttered.

Kiba could only laugh.

She squealed again, yanking her hand away from Neji's mouth. She glanced at her palm before wiping it on his jacket. She never thought the great Hyuuga would stoop so low as to lick someone's hand to get them to remove it.

"He'll be fine," Kiba managed between laughs.

"And he's more fun this way," Ino pointed out, "Scratch that, he's fun this way."

Shikamaru muttered a troublesome while Tenten tried to ignore the circles Neji was tracing on her thigh. And the feeling it was giving her. "I guess," she said, not sounding entirely convinced.

Just then, Neji leaned over, pressing his hard body against her to whisper in her other ear. Which she couldn't help but think was a little unnecessary considering she had a perfectly good ear on the side he was sitting on.

Still, she wasn't complaining.

Until he started whispering, and she turned a deep scarlet red. "M-maybe I should take him home."

Neji smirked, looking quite smug despite his intoxication.

"Heh heh, you do that," Kiba grinned wolfishly.

"Bout time," Ino chimed.

As Tenten dragged Neji out of the bar, he winked in his friend's direction. In that moment, Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder if it was all an act.

I've considered writing a Part Two. If this interests you, let me know. I'd love to hear from you!

*/Shameless Plug/*

If you haven't checked out my Sai x Sakura fic, Qualities, I invite you to give it a go and let me know what you think.