There were times when Hyuuga Neji truly hated his life.
Surprisingly, it wasn't even when he had to go off to war, or had to practice all his 'princely' etiquette, or even when he had to sit through the councils that his king – also his uncle – Hyuuga Hiashi, and his father – the king's chief advisor and twin brother – Hizashi held.
No, if you asked Neji, he would probably say that the worst day of his life was when he found out that some idiot – though he would never be able to actually call the person an idiot, as that would amount to some level of treason and gotten him hanged – had betrothed him to a nearby princess, probably some air headed blonde, with no regards to his own opinions. it ranked right up there with the time that his best friend and, recently discovered to be, fellow prince, Uzumaki turned Namikaze Naruto shoved him a bit too hard and he landed in a pile of manure and ended up with a broken arm.
His father had given him a sympathetic look and an encouraging smile, but when Neji had coldly pointed out his own perspective, the king had only answered with aplomb that it was for the good of the kingdom.
Now, Neji was by no means your quintessential, conventional story book prince. Sure, he was third in line for the succession to the lands of the Hyuuga, which controlled much of Hi no Kuni – right after his cousins, Hinata and Hanabi (his father had relinquished his right to the throne in order to serve his older twin brother and country in less extravagant manners) – but Neji was 'un-princely' in many ways.
While it was true that he had the traits of a ruler, calculating and full of traits like leadership and extreme intelligence as well as pride, Neji also had a rebellious nature and was cool and stoic. Neji was handsome in ways of his own, with an air of almost feminine elegance, and he held himself in a way that put the noble ladies to shame. But that was just it. He had such a degree of effeminacy in his being, one that even his entrance into manhood a year ago (at the age of sixteen) hadn't been able to rid.
And there was always the fact that Hyuuga Neji acted like a rightful, arrogant prick and didn't give a thought to the ideas and worries of others. Oh, Neji was benevolent, again his own way, but he had a way of showing it that usually made people label him as stuck up and pompous. It was miracle that he had any friends at all, but then again, Uzu–Namikaze Naruto was always an exception to anything and everything.
Either way, back to the issue at hand. He, Hyuuga Neji, was going to be married in a month to this lowly princess – see why some would see him as egotistical? – that he didn't even know! In fact, even the name of the girl escaped him, and all Neji could remember about her was that she had some silly name that repeated a number twice in one of the foreign languages he had studied briefly.
He stalked out of the chamber in which the meeting regarding his future, fate, and destiny was being ripped apart cruelly, and into the royal training grounds. With sharp twin swords, Neji's preferred hand-to-hand weapons, he slashed apart a mannequin designed to teach small children of the royal family to hit the right vital spots.
Oh well. They could always go and get another one.
Breathing heavily from his overly elaborate swings, Neji glared at the now unusable dummy. It lay in several pieces on the ground, straw sticking out of it. Heaving a sigh, Neji turned away from the forsaken training item, and was contemplating pulling out his bow and arrow and mutilating a few targets when a messenger, who Neji recognized as Rock Lee, rushed out.
"Prince Neji, there has come word that your betrothed, the Princess of Higukashi, has been abducted on her way to our palace!"
Seeing an annoyed expression from his childhood friend, Lee quickly continued, clearly reading the 'Why should I care?' in Neji's facial cues.
"Princess Hinata was also on the caravan that was traveling from the Land of Higukashi, and she has also been reported missing. The rest of the carriage that the princesses were traveling in has been ravaged and left in flames."
"...Hinata?"
"Yes, Prince Neji!"
The smudge of irritation and the formal manner of address from Lee was quickly snuffed out by the flaming anger of the kidnapping of his beloved cousin, whom he had reconciled with merely three years ago.
"Saddle and prepare Jyuuken. I will go prepare my weapons," Neji commanded, voice adapting to the one that he often used when acting 'princely'.
"Of course. Shouldn't you take an–"
"No time," Neji interrupted. "I don't want Princess Hinata in the hands of the enemy any longer than required."
"Yes, your highness!" Lee answered immediately. "Please, do remember to bring back your betrothed as well."
Lee knew him well.
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And so Neji embarked on his quest, galloping towards the last known place that Hinata and her caravan had been seen, with several weapons on him, food, a change of clothes, and riding on his trusted mare – stallions all seemed to fear Neji, for some odd reason... – Jyuuken.
Once he found the site of the kidnapping, finding the route that the evildoers had taken was difficult, until Neji noticed small scraps of ribbon (part of the dress that he had personally designed for his cousin on Hinata's sixteenth birthday just awhile ago) that Hinata had left.
Smirking, Neji mentally praised the younger girl before motioning for Jyuuken to ride after the trail quietly. And Neji's mare did, intelligent brown eyes shining as she wove between trees.
When Neji noticed that the small signs of wearing on the path, as minuscule as they were, were getting more recent, he dismounted his horse and led her by the reins, gently stepping through the woods, as silent as a ghost.
Or at least, to him. As soon as Neji entered the clearing that he came across, stepping cautiously, he came close to dying.
Cursing colorfully, it was only sheer instincts that kept him from being skewered through the heart with an arrow, the pointy edge whizzing past his ear instead. Neji immediately whisked out one of his swords, crouched and on guard.
What startled him was the fact that the bearer of the arrow, the archer, was a female with her hair up in two neat buns, dressed in the clothes of a noble. Before Neji could say anything, another arrow narrowly missed him as he rolled to the side.
the female cursed herself, notching another arrow, and Neji was sure that he heard her mutter angrily to herself, "I need to practice more." Before the girl could shoot her notched arrow, a voice cried out, "Tenten, don't shoot!"
Neji was surprised to see that the voice belonged to his cousin. Hinata stood in all her petite, calm glory, and the prince glared at the archer. She was probably the one who had abducted his precious cousin, and she was going to pay.
With a yell, he charged at the girl, unsheathing one of his swords, and was about to slash through the girl when he met a surprisingly firm resistance from her. She was wielding an equally well forged dagger, and had blocked his sword with just that. Parrying, she ducked and rolled, improvising for her smaller body mass and weaker arm strength with sheer agility.
Neji slashed again, meeting another parry, and the two exchanged another few blows of their deadly waltz before Hinata's uncharacteristically loud voice sounded again. "Stop! Tenten, Neji!"
The girl, apparently named Tenten, only ceased when Hinata clasped the arm that Tenten was fighting with. When Neji moved to apprehend the tense girl, he received a surprisingly stern glare. "Don't fight anymore, not when you don't know what you're fighting about."
"I know what I'm fighting about," Tenten retorted quickly. "This is the jerk that tried to kill us. After all, why else would someone be following us, when we've clearly tried to avoid all populated areas? And what kind of nitwit goes around slashing at people with weapons?"
"Apparently the same kind of nitwit that you are," Neji replied smoothly. "After all, I was merely stepping through the clearing when I was almost impaled by arrows. And you are the criminal here. Hinata, step away from her, quickly."
Tenten quickly reached out to grasp a part of Hinata's sleeve, gently pulling the girl behind her. "If you want to get to my friend you're going to have to get through me first. Hinata, be careful. I'll protect you. And who are you calling a criminal? You're the one that's trying to kill us."
"Hinata, step away from her. You're going to get hurt. And you're the one that abducted Hinata and destroyed the caravan that she belonged to," Neji said.
"What in the world are you talking about? You're the assassin that went after our caravan in the first place! Or, at least, the people that you sent!" Tenten yelled at him.
"I'm no assassin!"
"Well I'm no kidnapper!"
"Tenten? Neji?"
"What?" the two snapped in an eerie unison at Hinata.
She raised herself, standing up even straighter, if that was possible, that is.
"Prince Neji of Hyuuga, accomplished swordsmen and third in line to the succession of the throne of the Hyuuga, meet Princess Tenten of Higukashi, acclaimed weapons mistress and the sole heiress of the throne of the Higukashi. And of course, your soon-to-be wife, Neji." Hinata announced formally.
Silence rain throughout the meadow.
"WHAT?" Identical exclamations of disbelief ruined the silence.
The shock only imposed itself on Tenten for a few moments however, because the next thing that Neji knew, he narrowly missed by a pair of daggers, sharp needles, and some other weapons, which, by their radioactive neon green color, Neji assumed were poison tipped.
"You!" Tenten glared. "You're the jerk that ruined my life!"
"Me?" Neji said, hardly believing what he was hearing. "You're the one that got my whole destiny screwed over!"
"Destiny?" Tenten scoffed. "What era do you live in, pretty boy?"
"Why you..."
The two dove at each other again, fully intent on maiming something or someone.
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"Now, can we discuss this like the adults that we should be?" Hinata asked sweetly from her spot in front of her friend and cousin.
Two mute nods answered her.
"Perfect. Neji, this is my friend Tenten, whom I met at the diplomatic meetings that I attend with Father as heiress to the throne. Tenten, this is my cousin Neji. Our fathers are twin brothers."
Tenten scoffed rudely. "As if I care who this pompous–"
Neji had started at the same time, saying, "As if I care about this–"
A cool gaze from Hinata stopped the two of them from saying anything.
"But–" Neji tried to say, undeniably ruffled by the arrival of Tenten, and the situation that had unfolded.
"Neji, please listen," Hinata said sweetly.
"But–"
"Neji."
"I don't know about him, but I don't want to stand here like a sitting duck while kidnappers and assassins are going to be coming after us," Tenten said, eyes skimming the convergence line of the forest and the clearing.
"Oh, don't wo–I mean, you're right, Tenten. We should get going," Hinata amended weakly.
Tenten nodded, and whistled sharply. An ink black mare trotted casually into the clearing, hooves silent as they padded softly on the grass.
"Tenten, didn't your father make you leave Yuuki at home?" Hinata asked, voice soft.
Tenten smirked in a manner that was normally reserved for those that lived in the kingdom of the Uchiha. "As if I would leave my precious Yuuki trapped in a life of misery." She cooed softly at the mare, and Neji couldn't help but hold a tinge of respect fo the interaction between the girl and her horse. "Besides, Father would know better than to make me leave Yuuki at home. Mother was mad enough about my engagement."
Reminded of the whole reason for this misfortune, Tenten scowled. "We should get going. Hinata, would you like to mount first? You only ride a little, and rarely bareback, right?"
Now that she mentioned it, Neji noticed that the horse, Yuuki, was not saddled or equipped in any way, really...
Hinata, as if recognizing the curious tint in Neji's lavender eyes, told him, "Tenten never rides with a saddle. She claims that it makes things uncomfortable for Yuuki, and therefore makes her uncomfortable."
While Neji held an air of apathy, Hinata could tell that there was slight respect in his features, probably at the fact that Tenten was so caring of her mount. She also knew that Neji wasn't fond of the saddle that he used either, or the other pieces of equipment. However, as a prince, he usually only rode Jyuuken in public for show, and therefore the saddle, bridle, and other gear was necessary. When it was just the white speckled mare, Neji, and the meadows, the Hyuuga never saddled her.
"You don't need to explain it to him," Tenten said harshly. "You can ride with me, but I'm not sure how comfortable you'll be with that. You might just want to ride with ... your cousin."
Hinata nodded, and Neji could almost swear he saw a smirk when she turned away to face Jyuuken. Despite being inept at these sorts of things, which was left to Neji – as the male prince and person who would probably have become Hinata's chief advisor when she became queen – Hinata was kind, and many of the animals loved her. Jyuuken was no exception, having used to play with the two Hyuuga cousins when she was just a foal in the meadows.
The lavender eyed girl held a hand up to Jyuuken's muzzle, and smiled as the horse nuzzled her hand softly. She grasped part of the saddle, and hoisted herself up, sitting side-saddle, her numerous layers of petticoats falling neatly to her side.
"Hinata, I will not be able to mount behind you if you sit like that," Neji told his cousin.
"You can ride with Tenten then. Father will be very upset if he sees me riding astride."
Tenten blinked. Hinata was being surprisingly difficult about this, very different from her usually complacent attitude. "Uh, remember the assassins and kidnappers, or whatever it was? We need to get going."
Neji frowned. "I will not ride with her. You can sit behind her. Or ride astride, it's not like His Majesty will see you anyways."
"I thought we were riding back to the castle," Hinata asked innocently.
"Hello, kidnappers and assassins behind us? Ring a bell?" Tenten reminded.
"It is improper. She–"
"My name is Tenten, you idiot!"
"–is also wearing skirts, and it would be equally improper for me to ride with her, even more so that for you to ride astride."
Tenten gazed at him, eyes incredulous. "You actually believe that I would ride like this? Bareback? I would fall off of Yuuki and break my neck!"
Neji raised an eyebrow. "And how else are you to ride your horse, Tenten?"
Tenten scowled at him, and patted the nose of Yuuki softly, the mare neighing in reply. "Stay, girl." She pulled out one of the many daggers that seemed to be hidden on her body, and drove it into her shoulder.
Hinata gasped, and even Neji was unable to muffle a sound of protest. "Tenten? What did you do?" The paler princess's hands were already aflutter, searching for an injury on the knife wielding girl.
Tenten shrugged off their concerns, and replied, "These petticoats are too thick and stifling anyways. Hang on." With that, she ripped the knife downwards, cutting clear through her dress.
Neji averted his eyes.
After doing the same with the other side, Tenten noticed Neji's awkward position.
"What, you think that I actually go around cutting off my only clothing? Or, even worse, that I would go outside in these things, with nothing else on?" Based on Tenten's tone, she clearly thought that the latter was a more grave offense.
She casually slipped out of the layered dress, which was probably forever ruined, by the look of dismay on Hinata's face.
"What?" Tenten asked in an accusing tone, when Neji still kept his gaze on anything but her.
Upon her voice, Neji turned back, and noticed that she was wearing the outfit of a huntress underneath, with a comfortable looking dark green tunic and matching trousers. Well then. Fine, don't tell him that before she goes and rips her dress off.
Neji saw Hinata hide a smile, as if understanding his thought process completely. Then again, she was Hyuuga Hinata, and it was just like the pale-eyed heiress to understand everything around her.
"Hello? Evil people on our trail sound familiar?" Tenten asked, scowling, as she hefted herself onto a still Yuuki. "Galloping away would be a good idea right about now."
"Hinata. You will just have to deal with it," Neji said, finding Hinata's once in a blue moon disagreeing attitude odd, especially given the situation. "Shift forward so I can mount."
Hinata did as she was told, still managing to keep her air of grace and propriety even as she was now sitting neatly astride on Jyuuken, patting one of the mare's ears softly. Tenten waited, impatient, as Neji pulled himself onto his horse. Or rather, tried to. His horse, his beloved mare, moved away from him.
Neji almost fell over with the shock of it all. He was the one that had fed her from a bottle when she was orphaned as a little foal. He was the one that brought her apples and salt lumps, and patted her down on cold days. Why in the world was she shying away from him? Sure that his eyes were hallucinating, Neji moved to mount her again. Once again Jyuuken moved away from her beloved rider, and Neji could have sworn she had a mischievous glint in her eyes, not unlike the one Hanabi, Neji's younger cousin and Hinata's little sister, had right before she stole pastries from right under the chef's nose.
"Oh dear," Hinata murmured, being oh so helpful.
Neji's calm demeanor seemed to be permanently ruined by this excursion, for his usual air of apathy had completely forsaken him upon the discovery that his dear horse wouldn't let him ride her.
Of course, he didn't give a thought to the fact that Hinata was sitting atop Jyuuken too, and the mare had a soft spot for the good meaning, if slightly sadistic because of so, girl.
Tenten groaned mentally. "Hey, hurry up."
Neji glared at her. "You try this then! It's not my fault that Jyuuken won't let me mount."
"The evil guys–" Tenten began.
As if on cue, several men on horseback, all of them carrying some sort of weapon, burst through the clearing. Cursing, Tenten's mind murmured, 'I told you so,' while she leapt into action.
"Go!" she yelled at Hinata, and the heiress cast one last glance at Neji before nudging Jyuuken and galloping off. Tenten fired a few daggers and dropped three men, but the group seemed to contain more and more people as they emerged from behind the trees.
With one hand on Yuuki's reins, Tenten reached out for Neji, and he grasped her wrist. Before he could seat himself behind her, Tenten scooted back gingerly, and shoved Neji into the spot in front of her. "Yuuki! Go!"
The mare galloped off to a start obediently at the sound of her mistress's voice, and Tenten grabbed Neji's waist, ignoring his shocked look. "Grab the reins and keep riding," she instructed.
Neji ignored the small sound of protest from the leader and prince in him, and quickly grasped Yuuki's reins. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Tenten turning around, and throwing more handheld weapons with pinprick precision, downing men with every flick of her wrist. She cursed as an arrow nearly missed her.
Before she could fall off of Yuuki, Neji grabbed her arm, tugging her back on. With a quick nod of thanks, she continued to aim and fire with deadly accuracy.
Five minutes later, most of their pursuers had been downed by Tenten's uncanny aim, and the rest had run. Apparently the girl was not in their plans when they were trying to kidnap a pair of meek princesses.
Tenten was still perched neatly on Yuuki, somehow managing to keep her balance without touching Neji at all. That is, until Yuuki fell into a particularly hard canter and jolted her forward.
With a curse, Tenten ended up leaning against Neji, and the prince barely managed to suppress a surprised gasp.
Despite the uncomfortableness of the entire situation, Neji merely kept riding until he came across Hinata, who was patting a grazing Jyuuken casually. Before Neji could berate the girl for just standing there when they were being pursued by men with weapons, someone beat him to it.
"Hinata! There could still be weirdos chasing us, don't dismount and stand there casually!" Tenten's voice bit out.
"Jyuuken was getting tired," Hinata replied, smiling innocently.
Neji immediately felt a sharp pang of offense. "Are you saying that my prized horse is unable to run a few lengths without feeling tired?" Despite the fact that it was his cousin, it seemed that Neji was extremely overprotective of his horse.
Before Hinata could attempt to answer, a slight, muffled giggle erupted from the girl behind him. Neji was curious as to why Tenten was still sitting there, but her full blown laughter stopped him from thinking any further into the issue.
'Pretty. Her laugh sounds like dark bells,' Neji mused. 'Wait...what in the world am I thinking?'
"What are you laughing at?" Neji asked harshly.
"It's...just that the tone of voice you use when talking about...Jyuuken reminds me of the tone that my mother complains that I use on Yuuki more than to her," Tenten said.
Neji didn't see what was so funny about that.
Tenten suddenly hissed, and lifted a hand to her forearm. Now that she brought attention to it, Neji noticed that dark drops of crimson appeared to be staining into her shirt.
"Huh. Interesting that I didn't notice that until now," Tenten said, before swaying slightly.
Neji squashed the slightest tinge of worry that he felt, and grabbed Tenten's arm (the one that wasn't injured, of course), lowering her off Yuuki with Hinata's help. After setting Tenten gently on the ground, Hinata reached into her pack, the one that she almost always kept with her. Neji knew that Hinata often kept a set of medical supplies, just in case of emergencies.
"It's not that bad," Tenten said, upon seeing Hinata's worried glances. "I was careless and a dagger grazed me."
Hinata sighed, and Neji couldn't help himself. He dismounted and knelt next to the girl on the floor. Looking at her wound, Neji disagreed with Tenten's observations. It was clearly more than 'just a scratch' and dark crimson liquid was flowing out profusely.
Neji heard Hinata make a small 'tsk'-ing noise in the back of her throat before a roll of bandages appeared in her hands.
"Stay here," Hinata instructed, growing in confidence upon the discovery that someone needed her. "I have to go find water. Neji, find some firewood around the clearing that we can use to set a fire. I'll need to boil some water and cleanse the wound." The girl quickly unraveled the bandages, and tied some of it neatly around Tenten's arm.
The wounded girl gave a small wince, but provided no verbal protest.
"Stay close, I don't think Tenten will be able to fight with just one hand, or ride away, however skilled she is," Hinata said. "I'll be right back. Tenten, don't move. Don't. Move. You'll just aggravate your injuries. Don't. Move."
Neji wondered why Hinata felt the need to repeat that statement thrice, with such emphasizing. Hinata wasn't usually the type of person to waste words on something that could be expressed in less, especially with her reticence. Then again, Hinata seemed really different, calmer, around Tenten, in a way that Neji couldn't help but be slightly envious of.
Hinata rose from her spot, and Tenten suddenly stopped her. Using her good hand, she reached into a pocket like fold in her clothing. Neji watched, befuddled (though not openly, of course) as Tenten dabbed at the blood staining her clothing, and drew a rune on the daggers she brought out, before handing them to a timid looking Hinata.
Neji's eyebrows rose. "How many of those do you keep on yourself? They have to be expensive, with the high quality that the appear."
"They return to me after they're thrown," Tenten explained, teeth gritted. She was being surprisingly complacent, but Neji supposed that a bleeding wound did that to someone. "The rune ensures that they will return to Hinata. Hinata, just throw it, if by any chance you come across something dangerous. It's also adjusted so that they'll fly true, as long as you are the one using them."
"Thank you, Tenten," Hinata said softly, before she glided out of the clearing, daggers tucked into the small pack at her side.
Neji and Tenten sat in a relatively awkward silence, with neither of them willing to say anything. A minute later, Neji stood up, and quietly said, "I will go collect the wood. I'll stay close enough that I can hear if you yell."
"As if I would ever ask you for help," Tenten retorted sharply. She hefted herself up, and tottered to her feet.
"You should sit," Neji observed stoically, now coming to realize why Hinata had repeated her orders so many times, particularly the one to stay still and not move.
"Hinata's just paranoid," Tenten said. "Come on, I'll help you. Hurry up, or Hinata will kill me with her innocent smile on her face the entire time if she sees me on my feet."
That was something Neji could relate to. "It would be easier to solve this problem by following her instructions and sitting still. I doubt that Hinata is just paranoid, as you so say."
Tenten ignored Neji's suggestions, merely moving to the edge of the forest herself, and picking up some dry sticks off of the floor with a minute, nearly unnoticeable wince. "Hurry up, I tell you."
"Princess–" Neji began.
"Stop calling me that! I hate it when all everyone does is remind me of my oh-so-honored status." Tenten hissed. "I just want people to see me as Tenten, and not the revered princess of Higukashi. Especially since I'm not a little puppet princess for people to yank around!"
Neji could relate to this as well. He relaxed slightly, and said, "It's nice to have people see you as yourself. I wish to be able to be seen as Hyuuga Neji, and not as Prince Neji, third in line of the succession of the Hyuuga kingdom."
Tenten sighed as she picked up another twig. "Tell me about it. Wait, why am I telling you this?"
"I don't know," Neji answered truthfully. "But I do know that I'm talking with you because I know you understand, by your tone of voice. You know what it's like to be both lionized and scorned as royalty. And how humdrum life in such a position really is."
"Wow, that's probably the longest tirade I've ever heard you say," Tenten smiled softly, despite the persistent ache in her arm.
Neji suppressed a roll of his eyes. "Just sit down. Hinata will murder me too if she finds I'm letting you stand."
"You're not letting me do anything," Tenten shot back. She paused, before she burst out giggling. "It seems like we'll never agree on anything."
"We agree on the fact that being royalty is boring, and that we'll probably never agree on anything else," Neji replied wryly. "Just sit down, I'll gather the wood."
Tenten stood for one more moment, as if ready to protest, before she sighed, tossed the few branches in her possession in front of her, and sat down with another minute wince. "I'm not doing this for you."
"Would dream of it," Neji said. "Now hurry up and sit, and try to avoid losing any more blood, or Hinata will have my head."
Tenten scoffed, but leaned back on a large boulder. "Hurry up and collect firewood."
"Yes, mistress," Neji drawled sarcastically. "Whatever you say."
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"And a toast, to our new princess, and her handsome groom, our own Prince Neji!" Hiashi's voice boomed across the large ballroom. Loud laughter and applause reverberated across the milieu, and all of the room raised their glasses to the couple standing on the balcony alongside Hyuuga Hiashi. "Long live Prince Neji, and his bride, now Princess Tenten of the Hyuuga!"
The bride and groom had their arms linked, and after smiling and waving gracefully to the crowd, Tenten hissed at her now husband, "This is so stupid and overrated. Long live Prince Neji? What kind of line is that?"
"Well," Neji said, bemused, "I liked the Tenten of the Hyuuga part." He looked so completely serious and stoic that Tenten couldn't help but smile.
"Pervert."
It was amazing how the two could communicate, while none of the happy kingdom managed to see them talking. "Come on," Neji said, as he led her away from the festivities and towards the halls. "Only friends and family are allowed in the real ballroom."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Hinata wanted us to meet up in her room for some reason. Let's go there before she comes and gets us, you fate-obsessed freak."
"Of course. After all, we were destined to be together," Neji said, smirking at the offended look that Tenten now bore. "And I really like you as Hyuuga Tenten."
"Possessive ba–"
She was silenced by a short kiss.
"No cursing on your wedding night. It's bad luck."
Tenten rolled her eyes, wondering where that particular superstition came from – the only reason she didn't know was because there was none that stated so – but followed Neji as they walked towards Hinata's room.
"I wonder what important thing Hinata has to tell us," Tenten commented absentmindedly.
"It doesn't matter," Neji answered. "Nothing can ruin my day right now."
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"I was the one that orchestrated both the kidnapping and the attempted assassination that brought the two of you together in the first place."
Tenten leapt up from her spot on the lounge, Neji a half second behind her, and both would have started yelling questions and accusations if it wasn't for the scarily innocent look that Hinata gave them both.
They sat.
"Good. When Father approached me with the news that you were to be betrothed to my friend, Tenten, I was ecstatic. The two of you are perfect for each other."
"But I knew that you, Neji, would be prejudiced by your idea that all the girls of our kingdoms and the ones surrounding it are complete air heads, correct? And you, Tenten, would also automatically believe that Neji would be like all the other boys that you've met, stupid and perverted jerks. Right?"
The duo being put through the Spanish Inquisition looked everywhere but at Hinata.
"So, I decided that I would be part of the party that would escort Tenten to our castle from the Land of the Higukashi, and I would make sure that this happened, with the aid of Father, so that you two would see each other for people, and not be blinded by the stereotypes of your own images of the opposite gender, especially if they are royal," Hinata finished.
"And, as you can see, Tenten is not your average narcissistic princess, and Neji is not your atypical Prince Charming."
The newlyweds scoffed at the understatement of the millennium. Sure, it annoyed them to no end that Hinata had done such a thing behind their backs, but...they glanced at each other, and decided not to say anything. After all, it wasn't like Hinata's logic didn't make sense...actually, it made quite a lot of sense.
"No wonder those supposed kidnappers and assassins never bothered us again," Neji murmured. "But Hinata, why did Tenten get injured if those assassins were under your orders?"
"Ah, those weren't under my orders," Hinata said with a sheepish look on her face. "Those were really assassins. Apparently someone leaked the news that both Tenten and I would be on that carriage."
"So, we are in danger from assassins and kidnappers randomly bursting into our chambers?" Tenten asked, eyebrows raised.
"Oh no," Hinata said, smiling innocently. "Those horrid people are in the dungeon."
"You have a dungeon?" Tenten asked, staring at Hinata and Neji curiously. "Why do you have a dungeon?"
"We don't," Neji muttered, staring at Hinata with awe.
"I convinced Father that we needed to do some remodeling. Things were getting...dreary," Hinata said, still smiling. "The only thing you have to worry about is your wedding night."
Tenten blushed bright red, and stammered, "I'll be leaving now," before rushing out the door.
Neji smirked fondly – how he managed to do that, the authoress does not know – and said to Hinata, "She sure is special."
Hinata smiled, and answered, equally fondly, "Yes, she is..."
Fin.
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Tenten scoffed. "That's completely unbelievable."
Neji, who was sitting next to her, rolled his eyes. "Yuuki was the one that wanted a princess story with a castle and bad guys."
A little girl, with dark, chocolate brown hair in a hairstyle similar to Neji's, and the legendary Hyuuga eyes, nodded. "Yes, Yuuki wanted princess story!"
"And you're the one that insisted on me telling it," Neji continued with a minute glare.
"Come on! You turned Yuuki into a horse!" Tenten said, even if she was smiling at him.
"But I like being a horse, Mama!" the little girl said, grinning happily.
"Does Konoha even have horses?" Tenten asked Neji skeptically.
"No. We don't have enough grazing land, too much forest," Neji answered.
"Then how does Yuuki have any idea what a horse even is?" Tenten said.
"She doesn't," Neji answered dryly.
Tenten sighed, but smiled as the little girl hugged her, before she let go and turned to Neji, hugging him too. "But I like Papa's story!"
"So there," Neji said, smirking arrogantly.
Tenten shook her head, her hair buns from missions and her childhood let down In the comfort of her home. "Whatever." Getting up off her spot on the ground next to Neji, she sighed, tucking a strand of dark colored hair out of her eyes.
"You can sleep now, right, Yuuki?"
"Hai! Goodnight, Mama, Papa!" The little girl beamed up at her parents, as they each placed a kiss on her forehead. Tenten knelt down again to tuck Yuuki into her futon and bid her daughter goodnight, before she followed Neji.
Neji pulled open the sliding door, and stepped outside, closing it when Tenten stepped out after him.
"You idiot! What was that ending about?" Tenten scowled after they walked away from their daughter's room.
"You're saying you didn't do that on our wedding night, and when Yuuki was conc–"
"Shut up! You don't have to tell that to our three year old!" Tenten glared.
"She's four next week," Neji retorted calmly.
"Oh, yes, that makes it so much better," Tenten scowled.
"Besides, are you saying you wouldn't run away again if I mentioned–"
Tenten ran.
Neji waited for a few seconds, before smirking. "Oh, Tenten?" he murmured under his breath as he stalked down his hallway...
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First new story of the year, Happy New Year's, everyone!
This little – at least in my definition – one-shot was supposed to be part of my Scrapbook of Memories collection, but it ended up so long that I decided to just publish it as a separate thing. Do check out SoM, it has this pairing as well, among other 'snapshot scenes'.
Well, I hoped you enjoyed this! Do leave me a comment, let me know what's bad, what's good, and what you like. I'd really appreciate it, my demanding muses live off of comments.
Thanks for reading.