A/N: Okay, this is going to be my first multi-chapter fic. I hope everyone enjoys it. It's mostly going to be NejiTen and Sasusaku. Well, hope you enjoy and please leave a review.

Chapter 1: Best Friends

Tenten walked down the busy streets of Konoha on a hot autumn's day. Usually, she enjoyed days liked this; loved to observe all the people of her beautiful village and bask in all the warmth the sun had to offer. But today was different. Today, her feet were on auto-pilot (she had walked this path so many times that she could have done it blindfolded), and her mind was wandering.

Yesterday, Uchiha Sasuke had returned; bruised and bleeding and with a sad, sad look in his eyes. She wondered what would happen to him now; what he would do now that he had achieved his life goal. She wondered if everything was the way he thought it would be after he killed his brother; if fulfilling his single most important ambition in life was really worth all of the sacrifices he had made to get it.

Sacrifice. The word was familiar to her. It was what she lived. It was her ninja way. She had made so very many sacrifices in her life. She had sacrificed the easy girly childhood she could have had, and traded it in for the life of a ninja. A life full of danger and blood and kunai. She had sacrificed her whole life for a single life goal. Strength.

Still, she did not regret it a single bit. She would never be like her mother; weak and helpless and unable to protect the things that were most precious to her.

She shook her head, trying in vain to clear the images that sprang up into her mind. Blood and pale, cold bodies and endless tears. No, she did not want to live the life her mother. She would be strong. She would be unbreakable. She would be the greatest kunoichi there ever was.

And she would protect the people that she loved so dearly. For some unexplainable reason, Neji appeared in her mind's eye. She scoffed at the idea of Neji of all people being protected.

Neji, who's heart could be as cold as ice. Neji, who was her teammate, her training partner, and the captain of her ANBU squad all rolled into one. Neji, who she would dare to call her very best friend.

He had always been there for her, and in his own silent way had always comforted her in those times when she simply felt too tired to go on. He had always been there; pushing her to become her best and helping her become strong. Always watching with those deep, endless eyes of his that seemed to see right through her. He scared her. He scared her and fascinated her at the same time, and—she shook her head in disbelief. This was Neji she was talking about, the Hyuuga Neji.

She could not love anyone, especially not Neji. Long ago, she had put up a smiling mask; a mask she had worn even if she was broken and bleeding inside. A mask that separated her from everyone else minute she had donned it. Even when it was not, she acted as if everything was alright. Because she couldn't be weak.

And long ago, she had decided that it just might be okay to have friends, maybe even best friends. But never, never, would she allow herself to love anyone. It would only lead to hurt in the end. She had learned from personal experience after all.

She had entered the forest now, and was standing on the very edge of the clearing; their clearing. She thought of all the long, hard hours of training she and Neji had went through in this clearing. The memories suddenly came back to her like a rush of wind. Memories of her and Neji, training, talking, anything. Simple memories, but precious nonetheless. She wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

And even as she watched Neji throwing targets at a straw dummy, she told herself that he would never be more than a friend. Even as she noticed just how perfect his black, black hair looked in the sun and admired the way his powerful eyes were narrowed in what appeared to be a mixture of concentration and deep thought, she told herself that Neji was her best friend, and that he would stay that way and that she did not love him.

Because it was as simple as this. You just didn't fall in love with your best friend.

Neji looked up at the sky. She was late again. Or perhaps he was just early. He didn't know anymore. He had been waiting here the whole afternoon. After all, being in a forest with so many good memories was much better than staying in the House of the Hyuugas, where gray eyes seemed to lurk at every shadow; watching him, judging him.

He wanted to be strong. He wanted to be the strongest ninja there was, so that could prove that Branch family members deserved to be treated with respect. He wanted to tear down the division between the Branch and Main houses of the Hyuuga clan. That was his ninja way.

He got up, and went to stand in the middle of the clearing, choosing small targets from among the branches to aim at. He figured he might as well practice until his partner came. He looked at the kunai and shuriken in his hand, his mind instantly thinking of the famous weapons' mistress of Konoha.

Tenten, he thought, throwing kunai at the target, hitting all the right places. He thought of her smiling face.

She was pretty. He had cursed his hormones the day he had realized it, but he knew it was true. Tenten had the kind of beauty that no one else had. The kind of wild, untamed beauty that somehow reminded him of the cold, biting wind of winter and the blazing heat of summer and flowers in the desert all at the same time.

He often found himself wondering about her. He had known her since they had been twelve years old, and he understood her better than anyone else ever would. But there were parts of her that she hadn't let him see yet. Dark, secret parts that she constantly hid behind her bright smile. And sometimes he even found himself wondering if he even knew her at all.

Tenten was . . . he didn't know what exactly Tenten was . . . She was the tomboy girl with buns in her hair he had met at twelve years old. And she was the woman he had come to recognize as a rather mature and well-respected twenty-year old kunoichi. She was his teammate and his training partner, and maybe even . . . maybe even his best friend. Tenten was the one person in the whole world who could take one look at him and know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and understand everything in a split second.

But he would not- could not- allow Tenten of all people to mess up all the plans that he had worked so hard for. He could not allow her to get in the way of his gaining strength. And damn it, he wouldn't allow his feelings to get in the way of the perfect balance they had created.

He liked the balance. He would help her, and she would help him. It was an agreement, an unspoken pact between them that had never been broken once over the last eight years of their partnership. It was constant and it was simple, and if it didn't change, he would be all the happier. He was content (or so he told himself) with what they had now. A companionship that couldn't be put into words, a give-take relationship, and the silent agreement that they were best friends and nothing more.

They never could be anything more, because they were ninja. And being a ninja meant getting rid of all feelings of love and attachment. Because being a ninja meant danger and single-minded devotion to one thing and one thing only: the well being and protection of Konoha. They both understood this. He had chosen this path and hell if he would wander off from it.

He did not want- did not need- anything more out of Tenten than what she already gave him. He couldn't possibly love her, because, well, because he was Hyuuga Neji and he was so completely focused on his goal that he did not have time for anything else. Especially not for Tenten and love.

He knew also that she too was completely focused on her goal of becoming the strongest kunoichi. She wouldn't have the time for silly things like love either, he told himself. Why? Because Tenten was not like other girls. She had never bothered with her looks, never cared what anyone else thought of her, and was the most independent and stubborn person he had ever met.

And she was ambitious. She knew what she wanted, and had never taken her eyes off the prize that they had all labeled as strength. She was too instinctive and emotional for her own good (though she didn't seem to be aware of it, he most definitely was), and yet she always insisted on acting as if everything was okay when it wasn't. She foolishly thought that she could hide behind that smile and make pretend that she didn't suffer at all; that there wasn't a constant, stabbing pain somewhere in her heart. And she was like that because she was Tenten. And she would always stay Tenten.

But I will not allow her to get in the way of my goal, no matter who she is. She will not make me soft. She never will. Because she is my best friend, and nothing more. And I do not love her. I could never love her.

He knew this because of one simple fact. You just didn't fall in love with your best friend.

To be continued

A/N: How was it? Please leave some comments, suggestions, or criticism in your reviews! And, I just wanted to ask everyone a question. You don't have to answer, but I'm just curious.

What is your favorite Naruto pairing?

Thanks for reading and I'll update next week. Bye!