REVISED

DISCLAIMER: The usual – I don't own anything related to the Naruto universe .

Situation: Awkward

Teapotpot

A/N: I love this pairing, and because I suffer from insomnia in the summer, I was, frankly put, a zombie while writing this. Just so you know, this story takes place about a month after the preliminary match for the Chuunin exam between TenTen and Temari. Please don't be too bored if I start blabbering… XD Enjoy!

It was infuriating, really.

He was Hyuuga Neji – boy genius, prodigy, I-can-kick-your-ass-from-here-to-Shang Hai Jounin.

But apparently, not everyone thought so.

A girl, and TenTen no less, had called him "a downright sissy who blames everything on fate".

What the heck was that!

He was so not a sissy.

And he didn't blame everything on fate.

Just most things.

He didn't even really know what he did wrong. All he'd said was, "Temari is stronger than you. Fate determined that you should lose. There is no need to feel regret or anger."

Man, had she ever blown up at him.

He had been angry, sure, but she was in the hospital and he couldn't really hurt a teammate. So instead, he left with even more cold dislike radiating off him than usual.

But still, in all honesty, it was true right?

Fate did determine most things.

But TenTen, no, she couldn't see it that way. No, she decided to ignore him. She decided to train with Lee instead.

So where did that leave him?

Kicking the crap out of a poor, defenseless, practice dummy for two and a half weeks.

But what did he care?

Neji was a reclusive person. He liked solitude.

So why was he so friggen annoyed!

No clue.

Now, we as the audience of Neji's personal moment, can take into consideration the fact that Neji, skilled at ultimate techniques, Byakugan, blah blah blah was absolutely in the dark about everything related to relationships. But who can blame him really?

Poor soul was robbed of his childhood.

Grew up with serious issues.

Took Sasuke's ignoring skills to a whole new level.

But we have left the topic.

To continue, Neji was still pondering this particular issue when it just so happened that Lee came by.

To truly understand the horror of this, you would have to know Lee.

Yes, Lee. Miniature Gai.

Lee – green spandexed, youthful monologueing, thick eye-browed, bowl-cut hair, green machine Rock Lee.

So anyway, Lee in all his green-ness bounded up to the emotionally challenged Neji and declared his usual battle.

But seeing as Neji was not in a very good mood (nicely put) he perhaps took things a bit too far.

Precisely 3.34 minutes later, a rather battered Rock Lee nursing several wounds grasped Neji by the shoulders and said dramatically, "Ah Neji, my eternal rival, I must admit that you are as strong as ever! I sorely miss your strong presence in our youthful training session. It is no wonder that TenTen admires, no, adores you so, and most regrettable that you injured her pride and ruined our team bond. Ah such sorrow!"

Throughout this 'heartfelt' speech, Neji had been growing ever more irritated. As he was about to slap off Lee's hands and hurt him (again), he heard the words "TenTen" and "admires" and "adores" in the same sentence.

Hmm.

This was unexpected.

Admires… that he could understand.

Adores?

Unbeknownst to himself, Neji was smiling. And yes, I, the author, did indeed say "smile" and not "smirk" or "sneer" or any other adorable Neji trademark expression.

Lee practically died.

So, after thoughtfully leaving Lee as a puddle of shocked goo, Neji decided to go seek TenTen. Although still probably annoyed, she should have calmed down enough not to through extremely sharp items at him with terrifying accuracy.

As Neji was leaving, he was fortunately no longer paying any attention whatsoever to Lee. If he had, he would've seen a slightly mischievous grin on his face. A grin that indicated the grinner had more of a plan than he let on. Unknown to anyone, Lee had decided it was time for his two teammates to experience the joys of love in their limited time of youth. Lee noticed things a lot more than most people thought. He noticed that Neji listened to what TenTen said, and that he actually took the time to reply instead of just hn-ing. And he noticed that TenTen's eyes lit up when he spoke to her. He noticed the signs of a well-hidden crush. The plan is motion! How proud you would be of me Gai-sensei! Should I assist them? Neji, though a prodigy, may not be so skilled at expressing the feelings I'm sure he is hiding. No… I shall let them work out the rest, Lee thought dreamily.

It turned out that TenTen was in a bookstore. After a half-hour of solid searching, Neji had been slightly put out. It was pure luck (though if anyone ever asked, not that they would, he would've denied it) that he spotted her in a window behind him, thoroughly immersed in reading a book.

Neji wisely decided that it was probably smartest not to sneak up on her, so he made a rather loud entrance, which involved the banging of a door, the slamming of a door, and several other activities.

As predicted TenTen turned to the source of noise and promptly dropped her book in surprise. As far as she knew, Hyuuga Neji preferred to avoid public places. What was he doing here? She opened her mouth to ask, but he did something that completely stopped her ability to do anything, nevermind talk.

He grabbed her hand.

He, Hyuuga Neji, the teammate who was perfect in every way except that he was emotionless as a rock. Wait, did constant inner-sulking count as emotion? Nevermind.

More importantly, Neji had just taken a her hand and muttering, "Let's go to the training grounds."

As he pulled a still dazed TenTen towards the door (by the way, this reaction clearly confirmed his beliefs – she saw him as more than a teammate), Neji glanced at the book she had dropped. The Perfect Cook? What the heck was that? TenTen was not the type to be worried about cooking skills in his eyes. A weapons master does not worry about cooking. Shaking his head slightly, Neji continued to lead her through the streets of Konoha.

Meanwhile, TenTen was trying to understand the situation. What had just happened…?

reading book on cooking (hey, it's tough living alone, okay!)

Neji makes an entrance

he takes her hand

That was the part that scared her. No wait, the Neji she knew would never look for her in the first place. But even if he did, he would've just told her to meet at the training grounds and leave. But this – this new Neji had decided to take her to the training grounds. There was nothing special about the place. Just the fact that he was taking her there. And she swore that when he was talking there were the tiniest traces of pink on his face. Something was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off…

As they continued their speed-walk, people nearby were looking slightly surprised. Neji was well known as a genius, but not as very social person. Nearby fangirls were steaming. Could it be that the Hyuuga was finally interested in a girl? Would wonders never cease…

It was undeniable to both that the situation was indeed awkward. And the awkwardest thing of all was that Neji initiated the awkwardness. They walked in the kind of silence that's so thick it's deafening. As they neared their destination, TenTen began to squirm slightly. Neji just shook his head and plowed forward, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Too many people…"

After another few minutes, they reached the training grounds. TenTen sighed inwardly with relief as Neji let go of her hand and resumed his normal "arms-crossed" position. Oh no, it wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed it. It was just so un-Neji like. She glanced at him, and noticed that he was slightly red. Taking a deep breath, TenTen decided he wouldn't have the skills to start the conversation. "So… what exactly are we doing here…?"

This appeared to make Neji only more uncomfortable.

What had he been thinking!

What the heck was he supposed to do now!

Oh, this was bad.

Neji decided that the only thing left to do was get down on one knee and profess his undying love to the ever beautiful TenTen, flower of his heart.

No, that was just to make sure you're still paying attention ;; I wish…

But to continue, the two confused (one more than the other) people stared at each other until Neji couldn't take it anymore. He firmly planted his feet and took a silent but deep breath, "TenTen, I was talking to Lee this morning after training, and he mentioned something that surprised me. Is it true that you ad-admire me?" He had almost said adored, but that would have been too… weird.

Instead, TenTen was again looking at him in utter disbelief. "You dragged me down here to ask if I admired you? Uh… okay, I guess I do."

"What part of me?"

"What? Your skills as a shinobi of course." Did you think I admired your people skills? Jeez… she thought.

Neji cursed inwardly. This was getting nowhere. He'd have to take the plunge, or else there would be team disunity over this particular matter forever.

"Do you see me as a teammate?"

"Yes, seeing as we're on the same team." Why the heck is he interrogating me?

"Are we more than just teammates? More than friends?"

Admittedly, as much as TenTen wanted Neji to ask this, she wasn't exactly prepared for the moment when he did. And come to think of it, why would he ask now? Nothing special had happened. Racking her brain for an answer, TenTen started to stutter.

"I… I'm… what I mean to say is you – you're really something, no wait… You're really a good, no… Ugh, this is pointless."

Calming down, TenTen regained her composure and readied herself, "Yes. Yes, I do think we have a special bond."

Neji smiled that special not-smirk again. TenTen was normally quite calm, and seeing her flustered was almost amusing. But more importantly, she had just confirmed his assumption, and he was pleased.

"Let's go. I need to train for my battle in the finals," said Neji as he began to walk away.

This was not really what TenTen expected after admitting her feelings.

In fact, it made her kind of angry.

"Now wait a minute," she said, striding forward and grabbing his arm, "What do you mean 'train'? I just told you that – well you heard what I said. Aren't you going to say anything back!"

Neji smirked at her and said, "I thought I just did. We're going to go train."

Something clicked TenTen's mind. She and Neji trained alone all the time. Yes, and since it was something they did regularly, it meant that he had just accepted her feelings. TenTen grinned and let go of his arm, but Neji surprised her by taking her hand. Yes, this time he took her hand and didn't grab it. He almost seemed shy.

And so, the two walked towards the far training ground to train like usual. While the situation was still most definitely awkward, it seemed to be improving. Perhaps I should have helped Neji in that proclamation of love. It was not very romantic. Could you even call that a proclamation of love? Did TenTen even understand the silent pouring of love from Neji's new youthful self? I hope she did. Wait till I tell Gai-sensei, thought a well-hiddenLee. He had decided to follow Neji at a level discrete enough for his dismal spying skills to work, and to be out of the Byakugan's range. That's what binoculars were for.

Lee had a feeling that this story might have a happy ending after all.

FIN

A/N: AHHH! I'M SO SORRY! Neji's "I love you" didn't come out the way I thought it would. All my attempts were waaaaaaaaaay to OOC. I mean, Neji does not just start spouting Gai-type nonsense. So, sorry if that scene was unromantic and un-Neji. Your author is challenged at writing lovey-dovey fwuff that we all love XD At least I finished it… Thanks for reading! Review if you wish nudge nudge.