A/n: Hello everyone! I'm back! To all of my old readers, great to hear from you! To anyone new, this may seem like my first story, but believe me it's not. I deleted all my previous ones. I'm starting out with a one-shot just to get myself back into the mood of writing. I hope you enjoy this! I know that the characters are totally OOC, but it was the only way I could think of to make the story good.
Oh, and this is dedicated to Ela because of her support when I was in a slump. Thank you, Ela!!
Disclaimer: This is my work but the characters are definitely based off the Naruto series by the great Kishimoto-sensei.
thump, thump, thump...
A rhythmic thumping could be heard from the practice field early morning in Konoha. The source of the sound was none other than the Leaf village's own Tenten. The bun-haired girl was dutifully practicing her targeting. As always, she hit her mark everytime.
"Heeeeey!! Tenten-chan! Good morning!" A familiar voice called out from behind her.
Tenten whirled around and came face to face with her teammates, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji. "Good morning, guys. What are you doing here?" She paused to wipe the sweat from her brow.
"We just came to see if you were here and we were right! So, do you want to come with us for breakfast? We can train afterwards, if you want." Lee looked very eager to get going, so Tenten decided to give in.
"Sure. Just let me pack my things up." Her hand reached to yank her kunai out of the tree stumps she used for practice but another hand blocked hers.
"Here. I'll help." Tenten looked up at Neji's ever-expressionless face. She looked puzzled for a minute, but just shrugged it off.
The three genin walked side by side towards town; Neji on the right, Tenten in the middle, and Lee on the left. Lee steered the other two off to a restaurant in the middle of town.
"Um, Lee, are you sure you want to eat here? It doesn't look like it's open..." Tenten looked skeptically at the building they were standing in front of. Sure enough, the lights were off and everything seemed quiet.
"Yes! Let's go! Don't worry, it's open." He pushed open the door and let the others through. "Okay, guys, now!" he yelled to what looked like to no one in particular.
It became even quieter (was that even possible?). Then...
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The lights suddenly flickered on and ninja appeared from their respective hiding places.
Shock came across Tenten's face as everyone began to crowd around her. "…oh yeah!!! It's my birthday today!"
Uzumaki Naruto and his team of Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke were there, Sasuke looking a bit ruffled, probably from Sakura dragging him there. Yamanaka Ino and her team were there too; Akamichi Choji munching on more junk food and Nara Shika just standing around, his trademark bored look written all over his face. Hyuuga Hinata stood at the back of the crowd along with Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba. With the three of them walking in, it completed the teams of genin from the Konoha.
"We thought we would take it in our hands to celebrate for you, since you needed a break. You can thank Neji for all of this, though," said Lee from Tenten's left.
She turned to the ninja on her right and stared. "Y-you did this?" she asked incredulous. The other nodded once and strode over to the back of the wall and stood there, unmoving, Tenten watching extremely puzzled.
The party finally kicked into full swing. Naruto, Kiba, and Choji amused themselves by engaging in a pointless contest to see who could eat the most ramen. Sakura and Ino stood to the side and continued their usual argument about who loved Sasuke more, not noticing the latter sneaking away from the two. Shika managed to fall asleep standing up against the wall with Shino standing awkwardly next to him. Lee happened to find a bottle of sake and swung around the already crazy room singing at the top of his lungs in between chugging the drink. He just barely avoided crashing into Hinata.
Tenten shook her head at the mess the party had already ensued. She slowly made her way to Neji and stood next to him. "Why aren't you joining in the fun?" He shrugged. "Right. You might get killed out there. I think I'm even more scared of this party then going out to battle!" she stated, laughingly. Neji stared blankly ahead, ignoring her feeble attempt at a joke.
The hours blurred by and Tenten found herself walking home alone. Jeez, what a day. Who knew Lee remembered my birthday instead of me… I must be out of it. She trudged right up to the front door and proceeded to unlock it, but struggled with the numerous presents under her arm. Another hand shot out from next to her and grabbed the key out of hers. She looked up alarmed, but calmed down at the sight of Neji. He opened the door silently and held it open for her.
"Thanks. I hope you had fun at my party," she said seriously. Tenten turned to go inside, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait. I forgot to give you my present. Do you mind if I give it to you now?" Neji's eyes had a different look in them now, one Tenten had never seen, even after being with him for so long. She nodded, but still confused because from what she could see, he held nothing. "Alright. Close your eyes." She obliged.
Neji took her gifts and set them aside. He leaned forward and caressed her lips with his. Their kiss slowly deepened and became more passionate until Neji broke it for air. His eyebrows flew up as he saw the tears leaking from Tenten's eyes. "Wait! Why are you crying?"
Tenten sniffed and dried her eyes. "It's not what you think. I'm just happy." She burst into another fit of tears and leaned heavily on Neji.
He held her weight easily and hugged her close. "Happy birthday," he softly whispered.
So, what did you think? It was my first time writing a one shot with Neji and Tenten. Believe me, it was harder than I thought it would be. Oh well. I got over my writer's block. Hooray! Now, can you please review now that you have read? Thanks! See you next story!