A/N: First fic. Sorry it'll really suck. I just know it. Anyways. R&R, please.
--xoxo--
Training was really the only thing she could say she loved and hated anymore.
Tenten loved many things. She loved her friends, weapons, Chinese food, her idols, things every teenage girl loved. She hated many things too. She hated squealing fangirls, being helpless, failing, being forgotten. But... only the things that you loved and hated at the same time really gave her a thrill. After all. Tenten was only a seventeen-year old kunoichi who excelled at weaponry.
There was nothing exceptionally feminine about her features, she thought. She had dark hair, the shade of melted chocolate, and it was maybe to her mid-back... well, it would be, if she ever let it down. It usually sat in perfect panda buns on the top of her head. She had bangs that split evenly and hung on either side of her face. She had a nice lightly tanned complexion, well earned from her many hours outside. Her face lost it's childish roundness when she was a young teen, shaping finely at an early age. Her eyes were large and matched the shade of her hair; a deep brown. The color was earthy, she thought pridefully. There wasn't much to say about her face, she thought. She had a nose and lips and ears. All unpierced and perfectly intact.
She had dropped her old oriental outfit, and opted for a new outfit. It was themed around the color scheme of red and white, since she thought they went together in a lovely combination. Well, she couldn't say she'd completely dropped her old oriental outfit. She still had a strong love of Chinese garb, and now wore a different version of an oriental shirt. It had sleeves this time and they dangled slightly above her wrists. Fingerless gloves adorned her hands, made of a leather-like substance. They permitted a great grip on weapons. Her pants were baggy, and tightened slightly above her ankles. Her pants had areas cut out by her hips, revealing bandages underneath. Her shirt was white, with raspberry/maroon trim and golden clasps while her pants were fully raspberry/maroon with white bandages. There wasn't much to say for her shoes. They were black, openfooted sandals, slightly different than the normal style. Black was the new blue, apparently.
She still had a similar attack to what she used years ago, from what you would've seen in the Chuunin exams. She carried one large canary yellow and light pink scroll, and it contained all of her weapons. She could list them all by heart, in alphabet order, or in order to how much damage one weapon could cause to a normal man. Then again, she wasn't up against a normal man in her training sessions. She was against the Hyuuga Neji.
She never thought of him as something terribly special. Well. She did, just not as special as everyone else saw him. Since she'd been training with him since Team Gai started. She still saw him as a genius and a prodigy, the thought just seemed to dim when she saw him crash and burn and look more human. Flaws are what make you perfect. Neji failing in the Chuunin Exam seemed to awaken that to him, along with the thought that fate wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Tenten was quite glad Naruto had beaten him in the Chuunin Exams, because, along with the realisations Neji made, it also made him start caring more about his own life and connections. He'd started talking more, opening up slightly... it was a brilliant change. He still didn't smile if he could help it, but, he cared more and that's all the mattered.
He had taken a change in apparel also. He had dawned a completely white robe like thing. She wasn't sure how to explain it. It was white and had full sleeves and legs, forming a slight 'v' at the collar. It had a button wrap like thing at the top, and it was very fluid like when the body wearing it was in motion. He also had a black er... skirt thing over it. Tenten wasn't sure how to explain that, either. Other than that, he had black leggings and black sandals, and he had untied his hair and replaced his headband. It amused Tenten that their hair was almost the same shade, hers being a shade darker.
The one thing that always had Tenten entranced was his eyes. In certain lights they were snow white and in other lights, they were a light shade of lilac. They were pupil-less and always seemed a tad... distant? Yeah. That was the word she was looking for. The only time they had anything that slightly resembled pupils was when the Byakugan, his bloodline limit, was activated. The Byakugan truly amazed her. Neji had mastered every technique one with the Byakugan could master, yet, it had to hurt that he could never lead his clan. He was far superior to all of them, she knew, yet it was to be Hinata who would lead the clan. Nothing against Hinata, Tenten was actually a friend of the girl, but, Neji was such a more fitting leader in her own opinion.
What tore Tenten away from this thought was a kunai being pressed against her throat and a warm breath against her ear. "Pay attention. If this were a real battle, you'd be killed."
Widening her eyes, Tenten spun around when Neji pulled the kunai away from her neck. Had she really spaced that much? She flushed a light shade of red when she realised she had to have been standing at the some spot fiddling with her scroll for at least ten minutes. "Hai, Neji. Sorry."
"Hn."
Tenten had to wonder. What was it with prodigies and 'hn'? What did 'hn' even mean!? She sighed and gathered her weapons, setting them back into her scroll and setting it besides her. She sighed again and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Are we done for today?" She asked. Could they really be done? The sun wasn't even setting yet... Even though it was someone's birthday...
"Hn." Neji nodded, crossing his arms.
Tenten frowned, but, before either of them could speak another word, a blur of green launched at Neji, tackling him to the ground and... wrapping him in a hug?
"Neji, my eternal rival! Gai-Sensei and I just got back from a mission! I wish you a happy birthday!" Rock Lee was all but crushing Neji's ribs, causing said prodigy to grind his teeth.
"Lee. Get. Off."
Tenten gave a small smile, falling into her own thoughts. She knew it was his birthday. It was something she had been waiting for for three weeks or so now...
She was so lost in her own world, she didn't realise Neji and Lee both looking at her.
Lee suddenly hopped off Neji and stood in front of her. "Is there something wrong with our youthful flower? I hope you don't feel sick on this day of our prodigies birth!"
"No, I'm not sick." She laughed at her team mates concern. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Spectacular!" Lee shouted, sticking a thumbs up in her face. "So, we'll all meet Neji at his house at seven tonight? Sounds good! See you then!" Lee took off.
Neji and Tenten stared after him, left in an awkward silence.
"I'll... er... go get ready then, I guess." Tenten smiled and took off.
Neji looked after her for a moment before sighing and turning towards the Hyuuga compound. He spent the way there trying to decide how to tell his uncle that a man in a spandex suit and a girl that looked like a tomboy-ish panda were coming over for his 'birthday party'.
An hour later, Neji grimaced when he saw said team mates appearing. They appeared to be chatting amongst themselves, and Neji couldn't help but frown. He wanted to know what they were talking about, so close to the Hyuuga compound... Eventually, they came to a rest in front of him.
"Happy birthday, my eternal rival! Gai-sensei couldn't make it, but he wanted me to bring you his gift." Lee bounded past him and into the compound before Neji could blink.
Tenten stepped up after he had left, smiling a little sheepishly. "He's a little over excited..."
Neji shrugged it off, motioning for her to follow him inside.
Several moments later, they were all sitting at a table, Tenten and Lee offering Neji his presents. With a slightly scared look fleeting across his face, he opened Gai's present. Go figure. A spandex suit. He red the card. 'Neji. Now that you are of age, I hope you will reconsider the ways of the Green Beast. -Gai'. His face flushed when he realised Tenten was stifling her giggles and Lee looked like he might cry from joy. He moved onto Lee's, which, thankfully, wasn't a spandex suit. It was a gift certificate like thing to a new cafe that had opened down the road.
"Now you can be angsty for free, technically!"
Tenten couldn't help it. She full out laughed at what Lee had just said. Lee didn't see why it was so funny, but, he shrugged. Neji flushed again, putting the card back in the box and pulling Tenten's gift towards him. He prayed to Kami it wasn't something stupid. He wasn't sure why he was so worried. Out of everyone, she knew him best. Still, he hesitated before pulling the lid off. He found tissue paper in the shades of white, black and red resting thickly over what was to be the present. He took this to mean it was fragile and dug through the paper with care until he found what he was looking for.
He pulled out a silver chain that had a little pendent on the end. It was a white oval with the konoha mark on it in black. He realised there was a clasp on one side of the oval and opened it in confusion. On one side of the apparent locket, there was a picture of him and Tenten together. The sides of his lips curled up as he remembered the day. He and Tenten had just recovered from a brutal snowball fight with Gai and Lee, who insisted it was training. They were invited into Gai's house to warm up. Gai and Lee had dashed into the kitchen to make hot chocolate while Neji and Tenten waited in the front of his house. Lee had come out to offer them hot chocolate but he suddenly gasped, nearly dropping his hot chocolate. "GAI-SENSEI! GET A CAMERA!"
Gai had dashed out of the kitchen with a mentioned tool. "What is it my youthful student!?"
"Neji and Tenten have stepped beneath the mistletoe!"
Neji and Tenten both turned rigid, looking up to realise they were in fact standing below the mistletoe. They hurriedly backed away in different respective directions, but Gai rushed forward and shoved them back under it, screaming something about youth and tradition and something more about youth. So, with Tenten staring at the ground with her face a bright red, Neji wishing he could do the same... said prodigy lifted her face to his and quickly brushed lips with her so Lee and Gai would shut up.
That was the moment the camera went off.
It had actually turned out better than they thought. Before long, the prodigy and weapons mistress were seen together all the time. Soon it was just in a more friendly light, then it came down to them being found kissing and hugging. Who knew a simple kiss beneath the mistletoe would awaken a romance?
On the otherside of the locket, Neji realised, jerking back to reality, was an engravement. It said 'Youth brought us together. - Tenten'. He smiled, a genuine smile, and closet it, setting it back upon the tissue paper. "I love it."
Tenten grinned. She now loved and hated more than training; she loved and hated youth, as well.
--xoxo--
A/N: ...I'm sorry if that sucked. And I know I veered off the trail for a while with the 'loved and hated' stuff. I'm sorry. Ari had seventy ideas flowing through her brain and this is what I managed. This was kinda rushed, I really wanted it finished today. -sigh- I'll try to do better next time. I promised my friend a Sasuke/Sakura fic, and it WILL be perfection. Or as close as I can get... I'm taking requests in reviews, but you have to have a review of this story along with your request. Ha. Yay for double-ended swords.