(Troy McClure voice) Spinoffs!
This tiny fic is canon (well, fanon) with The Sun Kunoichi, and as such contains SPOILERS up to chapter 16 of that fic. However, I've written it specifically so you don't really have to have read that one to get everything. I put it here because zooming away from Naruto and Squad Eight to go 'And here are kawaii NejiTen babbus' would be a bit weird.
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"Neji?"
Neji looked up from the kunai he was sharpening, ears pricking at the sound of that voice. It had a timbre of confidence and openness, and possibility. It was his weapon-flinging squadmate and long-time training partner Tenten, her bun-hair lit by the sun behind her.
She was standing right in front of him, bent down slightly to keep her eyes level with his. He was sitting on a bench as he took care of the kunai. Throwing them into tree trunks for target practice was useful enough, but they quickly lost their sharp edges from their impact on the hard bark, and Neji wasn't finished with training.
Neji was pretty much never finished with training. He had learned something important from fighting his sister (or cousin, or whatever Hinata was), shedding his obsessive belief in fate. More change had come, thanks to her removal of the Branch House's curse marks. He didn't know how it had happened, and Squad Eight and Hiashi had all simply said it was 'classified', but Neji knew it was them.
Quiet strength is my family's way, Neji thought.
Neji had tried to follow that on his own, back when he'd first graduated and met Tenten and Lee with Guy-sensei. He had endured the burdens that the Main House Hyuga heaped upon him, fighting every day to become a great ninja and cast off their choking control. He would be free, under his own steam.
But Tenten wouldn't let him get stronger by himself. Tenten always showed up when he was about to train, Tenten always gave him encouragement and compliments when he would have accepted a nod of appreciation, and Tenten demanded he talk her through every process as he did it.
Neji had assumed that she just wanted him to teach her. Huffing with irritation every time she asked him a question about his taijutsu or chakra movement, Neji used to give her the vaguest explanation possible, then went back to complete silence.
He had been very surprised when Tenten beat him in their first practice match. Shortly after, Guy had instructed Lee and Tenten to run around the village twice.
"Four times on one leg while singing!" shouted Lee quickly, immediately taking to his self-imposed task with aplomb.
Tenten jogged after him, leaving Neji alone with Guy.
"Neji," said Guy, his jovial tone disappearing. "Why did Tenten beat you?"
"She is stronger than me," said Neji, with some reluctance.
"Tenten is strong because she learned your ways," said Guy.
"So I should keep my methods secret," Neji concluded.
"No," said Guy. "Tenten is your squadmate. As a squadmate, she wants you to become stronger. Only by understanding your limits can you take those limits and burn them up with the power of your youth!"
He slapped Neji on the back, and pointed.
"Now, go find her and Lee before they return!" he declared.
Outwardly keeping a straight face but mentally scowling, Neji began to jog as well. He couldn't deny what he was supposed to be. And he was supposed to be better than everyone else in the withering, hopeless Hyuga clan. That was his destiny, and his right.
That had been the mindset he'd approached Tenten with as he jogged to catch up with her in their loop around Konoha. He complemented her on her victory, thanked her for being an important stepping-stone on his path, and told her he would not rest until he had corrected the flaws in his techniques.
Their second practice match, he lost even faster.
Neji quickly cast the embarrassment of defeat aside, his irritation unimportant compared with the burning questions in his mind. When Guy called an end to training for a day, Neji had followed Tenten until they were both alone in the village. Calling her name, he asked her his first question immediately as she turned around to face him.
"How did you defeat me this time?"
Tenten watched him doubtfully, stray wisps of hair from her buns floating back in the gentle breeze.
"Am I your rival now?" she asked.
"I don't want a rival," said Neji honestly.
Looking aside, he muttered:
"Although Lee may want the position."
"Lee thinks I'm his rival," said Tenten. "And so are you. So is Guy, so are the other squads, so is every single ninja in Konoha. Or the world."
She smiled, shrugging.
"You know him," she said.
"I don't," said Neji.
"Well you should," said Tenten. "He's said all of that. He always says everything and means it. That's why he always commits his attacks a hundred percent. Part of that's training, part of that's him. And the training is that way because that's who he is."
She paused to enjoy the complete bemusement on Neji's face, then continued:
"But if you can't listen to him, then nothing about me will ever so much as pass through your mind, let alone stay there. That's why I beat you. You only care about yourself."
Neji considered his options.
Ultimately, there was nothing more important than getting stronger. If Tenten helping him was the only way to get stronger, he had to show her he had a reason. It was true, he hadn't considered her or Lee, but that was because he assumed they would take care of themselves. He wasn't there to teach them, nor they him.
Besides, it wouldn't hurt to avoid making enemies. He'd spent most of his childhood stuck in a place where everyone hated or pitied him, and there was no sense recreating the Hyuga clan in his work life as well.
Reaching up to his forehead, Neji untied the clasps on his headband, and pulled it off. Tenten gasped, eyes widening as she saw the gnarled curse mark of the Branch House.
"This is what I think about," he said. "All the time. That I'm trapped in the Branch House forever. I'll always be at the mercy of a Main House Hyuga, no matter how strong I am. But as a ninja, there's no such limit. I can throw that away."
He looked down at the symbol on the headband.
"My life is Konoha's, and not my clan's," he said.
"...I'm sorry," said Tenten, bowing.
"You didn't know," said Neji.
Thinking about it, he added:
"I didn't explain."
"Well, I'd...call that a mitigating circumstance," said Tenten. "Enough to start over, anyway."
Neji bowed slightly, and put his headband back on.
"What did you learn about me before?" asked Neji. "What made me lose the match?"
"I'd say...you don't think about anything but you winning," said Tenten. "You move fast, and you punch hard, but you always move fast and you always punch hard in the exact same way. Perfect, textbook, solid...unless somebody works you out."
"I...would like to understand you as well," said Neji. "That seems fair, since you did that for me."
Tenten shrugged.
"I actually just did it to beat you," she said.
"Enmity is a respectable motivator," said Neji. "I have probably been difficult."
"You were an asshat," said Tenten.
"...if you say so," said Neji, unfamiliar with that word.
"Well, I found out more today," said Tenten. "So...more training?"
She was true to her word - and extremely easy to talk to. She lived alone, for both of her parents had died some years before, and they had no next-of-kin to raise her. Neji quickly changed the subject, not yet comfortable with talking about his own parents' passing. Vaguely remembering that Tenten had won prizes in the Academy for sealing jutsu, he asked her about how she sealed weapons inside scrolls. Instantly, her face lit up, and she proudly explained the method in great detail.
He stayed with her after normal training the next day, and the day after that, until it became a daily constant. They would meet after normal training and go over everything that they struggled with. More often than not, neither understood, but Neji was certain the sessions were helping him anyway, and they seemed to help Tenten too.
In the first few weeks, once he'd learned a little more about her and concentrated hard on a tighter defence, Neji consistently beat her in taijutsu. But as the months passed and the real missions honed their skills, Tenten was catching up on that front too. Neji would have watched his back, but she was always beside him. For a boy who'd grown up reviled in the Hyuga clan, that kind of loyalty was a rare gem.
"Neji," Lee said to him one day, while Guy and Tenten were throwing shuriken at a distant tree. "Your jutsu have grown much more powerful lately. How have you come to be so strong?"
"I've been training with Tenten," said Neji.
"Using special techniques?" asked Lee.
"Yes," said Neji. "We fight, like you and her and I with Guy-sensei, but there is more talking. We expound on different subjects with a wider scope, sometimes not immediately relevant but usually useful somehow. There are also more tangible rewards, like food or items. And sometimes, we observe things."
"...Neji," said Lee, his thick brows furrowing across his beady eyes, round face set in deep serious thought, "I think that is friendship."
He beamed.
"Congratulations!" he cried, encircling Neji with his limber, noodly arms.
Neji had quickly extricated himself from the spontaneous hug, but accepted the sop to his loner status immediately. He didn't mind if he had friends.
Tenten was honest, so she would call him on mistakes immediately. Tenten was kind, so she managed to soften the blow. Neji tried to emulate her in this regard, even though he couldn't quite pull off the same effortless tact.
Tenten was also pretty. Neji had noticed this fact one hot day when she brushed her wet hand past the side of her ear, sighing at the feeling of cool relief. It was such a personal act, but she didn't mind that he was there, or that he stared at her for so long before realising that he was acting strangely. The event played over and over and his mind, and Neji could only conclude that he was attracted to her.
That wasn't so unusual. He was fourteen. These things happened.
He liked her confident smirk so much he was accidentally starting to copy it himself. The way she casually stretched her arms upward was increasingly hard to ignore, and Neji often found himself idly wondering what her hair would look like down.
Hearing her voice was nice as well, especially when she spoke softly. She had whispered to him the day he'd lost his Chunin Exams match, while he was in the hospital wing.
"You did good," she murmured, leaning close towards him.
Neji was pretty sure that she only did it so he could hear. And for the four or so seconds they had alone before Guy and Lee burst in, Neji entertained the hope that she would kiss him.
Snapping out of his reverie, Neji brushed his hand past his now-smooth forehead and put the kunai down on the bench, still with his hand on its handle to prevent accidental stabbing.
"Yes?" he said to Tenten, looking up into her eyes.
"I have to tell you something," she said. "But it absolutely has to stay a secret."
"You have my word," said Neji.
He glanced down at the seat beside him on the bench. Noticing that Tenten was shaking her head, Neji quickly switched his kunai to his other hand, but Tenten still refused.
"Not here," she said.
Neji raised an eyebrow, but Tenten simply stared back.
The Hyuga put the kunai and the cleaning equipment back in their bag, and followed Tenten away from the bench, all the way through the village to one of the gates.
They pushed the massive gate open the requisite fraction and passed through it, straying out into the forests that surrounded Konoha. They skipped the usual training zones, and picked their way across a narrow path that Neji could only properly see with the Byakugan. The boy wondered how Tenten could manage, but then noticed a series of seals on the path's trees.
"Sealing jutsu aren't the solution to everything," Neji reminded her.
"That just means we haven't sealed enough things yet," said Tenten brightly.
At last they came to a clearing, full of fallen logs and the occasional lizard, but with no people around.
"Here is fine?" asked Neji.
Tenten nodded silently, her lips curving up into a growing smile.
She stood directly in front of Neji, facing him, then leaned in close to whisper into his ear. Very close. Count-the-freckles-on-the-back-of-her-neck close, in fact. His heartbeat's normal slow march had quickened to a frantic, frenzied drumming, and the smile on his face was getting harder to hide. It was the kind of adrenaline you usually only got on a B- or A-ranked mission.
But Tenten lingered in silence, until eventually she drew away.
"I'm...still scared somebody's gonna overhear," she said, touching the side of her face with a nervous smile. "So..."
Neji could only stare in anticipation of what he really hoped this was, and hoped that his hair didn't look stupid.
"...I'm gonna have to whisper it into your mouth," she concluded.
His suspicions confirmed, Neji could only reply:
"Alright."
That was not hyperbole, for most of his brain had shut down in favour of stunned silence as Tenten stepped closer. He was loosely aware of his hand snaking around to grab the back of her shoulders as she leaned in towards him, but only because it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Well supported, she gently pulled him in towards her by the waist, and her lips met his. For the next few seconds, all Neji could feel was perfect, unending warmth in the pit of his chest, pressed tightly against hers.
They broke off from one another, both red, not meeting the other's eyes.
"I really hope you have more secrets to tell me," Neji said.
His voice dropped a little as he considered the other option.
"Unless..."
"What?" said Tenten, sounding confused.
"Am I an experiment?" asked Neji.
He could understand if he was. Tenten had other friends, after all, and she knew he was a practical person, so things could go on like before if she just wanted to try this out. That was fine. That was completely fine.
He would wander the forests, punching trees at random for an hour and a half if she said he was an experiment, but it was fine.
No. He'd been 'fine' long enough. He wanted to be happy.
But Tenten had to be happy as well. There would be no point in her lying. Life would go on, after the tree-punching, no matter how much it hurt.
There was no point in flying off into wild tangents. For now, he could only watch, and wait.
"Neji," she said. "You're... the closest I've ever been to another person. And don't act all haughty, because I know you like hanging out with me. And I know you get even more formal than usual when you're nervous, and you definitely touched my shoulder, and maybe I have to convince you, but-"
"Tenten," Neji cut her off.
"...yes?" said Tenten meekly.
Neji allowed himself to smile at this unforeseen barrage of cuteness, and put his right hand up to Tenten's face, holding it gently.
"I acted that way to protect myself," he said. "It was a lie to keep on going. But since the Chunin Exam finals, I don't need to lie anymore."
Summoning his courage, Neji spoke the words he had long believed.
"You are enchantingly beautiful."
Tenten turned red, and gave a nervous laugh.
"...thanks?" she said.
"I mean it," said Neji.
"No you don't," said Tenten.
Neji rolled his eyes and huffed.
"I think I know when someone is enchantingly beautiful, Tenten."
Tenten made an unintelligible mumbling noise and pushed back a stray hair, still not meeting his eyes.
"You are the prettiest girl ever, now admit it," Neji ordered.
"I don't go around calling you gorgeous," snapped Tenten, staring into his eyes, louder than before but blushing no less. "Which you are, stupid!"
Neji was suddenly distracted by the sound of the word 'gorgeous' as spoken by the sweetest voice imaginable, and was therefore completely helpless as Tenten reached out with her left hand to run her fingers through the strands of his silky dark hair.
"Do you truly not want people to know?" he asked her.
Tenten looked at him with a 'really?' look. Neji shrugged, well accustomed to being considered shameful. He watched her expression shift, and felt a pang of regret, seeing the pain in her eyes.
"I'd never use you like that," she said softly. "You're my guy, and I don't want you to be scared, 'cos you helped me get braver."
"You do understand," he said quietly.
Moving his right hand down from her face to her neck, Neji kissed Tenten again, this time more gently.
Ending the kiss, Neji took her hand from his hair, and intertwined her fingers with his.
"We made a fist," he said. "Together."
"Mhm," said Tenten, smiling with self-satisfaction.
And despite their training and hard work in reconnaissance, as the two of them walked through Konoha hand-in-hand, they completely failed to notice that they passed Lee.
Once they were well out of earshot, Lee clenched a fist, looked to the sky and declared in a dreamy sigh:
"So youthful!"
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