Perfect Circle
By Takako
A/N: My festive fic to celebrate the holidays! Attempting on a humor-ish style since all my recent releases are rather gloomy and depressing. They're all around 20, Chunin or Jounin. No more wars, all the bad guys are dead and Sasuke is back from the dark side. And lets pretend that it snows in Konoha for the sake of Nejiten love!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that I don't own. I'm just here to spread the Nejiten love!
Now she had thought about it, she had never been good at creating things.
Of course, she cannot be blamed. She is the weapon mistress after all, and her techniques were created to destroy. Funny now in her hands are two enlarged version of her beloved senbons.
Today, Tenten is going to learn how to knit.
With determination in her eyes to conquer the task in her hands, she stared hard at the twists and knots of the complicated ball of yarn. If looks could kill, it was in a matter of milliseconds before the ball of yarn will meet its doom.
She carefully poked the baton in her right hand into the loop, just as Sakura had instructed. Said friend and friends stared intently at Tenten's hands. Was she going to get it right this time?
Apparently not.
Ino flipped, Hinata winced, Sakura sighed.
"My God Tenten what's wrong with you?" Ino tried hard to repress her frustration against the now single bun haired weapon mistress.
At times like these, Hinata was always the voice of reason. In other words, she was always the one who managed to remain sane. "Everyone has weaknesses, Tenten-chan's just happens to be knitting."
"She also can't bake to save her life." Sakura added.
Tenten decided it was time to defend herself. "So what if I'm domestically challenged? There weren't any home economic classes in the academy! How the hell am I suppose to know how to knit?"
Teaching Tenten to knit was like convincing Kakashi to stop reading Icha Icha Paradise.
Hinata once again saved the day. "Tenten-san has been living alone for a long time. We all have our mothers to teach us."
Tenten sighed. Is she really that hopeless?
You bet she is. She is hopelessly in love with her longtime teammate, who happens to be an emotionless (more like expressionless, she had eventually discovered that the Hyuuga Neji did have emotions), insensitive, arrogant bastard. That was a rather fine definition of hopelessness.
"I don't want to burst the bubble," Sakura sat down beside the weapon mistress, eyeing the ball of yarn. "It's Hyuuga Neji we're talking about. I just hope it's worth you trying so hard."
"Don't worry Sakura-san. Neji-ni-san might appear to be… not so affectionate, but he does hold a lot of respect for Tenten-chan." Hinata said reassuringly. The girl was shy but was equally wise. God knows why she fell so hard for the Kyuubi boy, Tenten thought dryly. Inner Tenten smirked and muttered under her breath; something that sounded vaguely like 'hypocrite'.
One and a half hour later, slight progress was made.
"Tenten! You've finally got one loop correct!" Sakura beamed.
Tenten wasn't exactly ecstatic with her achievement. "Is it going to take me another one and a half hour to get the next one?"
"I hope not. By the time you finish the whole thing, Neji might already be a withering old man." Ino said rather too cheerfully for Tenten's taste. "But! That's why we're here to guarantee that it will be made and delivered on time!"
By nightfall, the four spent and tired Kunoichi decided to treat themselves a nice dinner and then party. It was Saturday night, one month from Christmas. As they strolled down the snow-covered streets of downtown Konoha, all dressed ready to kill (although Hinata and Tenten thought it was more like dress to freeze to death), they could already feel the festive ambiance surrounding them. Christmas tress, rainbow coloured lights, mistletoes, Santa Claus statues were everywhere. This was just like how Konoha should be – calm and peaceful.
A few years ago, Ichiraku upgraded from its street side stall to a proper restaurant and proudly serving a large variety of ramen, rice and other side dishes. Being Naruto's friends, they would always be given a room by themselves.
"Hey!" Ayame, Ichiraku's successor, waved at the group, who all waved back enthusiastically as they approached the restaurant. "You guys partying tonight?"
"Hell ya!" Sakura punched her fist into the air. "We just spent the whole afternoon teaching Tenten how to knit. We deserve some fun!"
Ayame looked at Tenten, who was grinning sheepishly, and said, "Naruto and some of his friends are here, you guys want to join them? Neji-san is here as well!"
Ino, Sakura and Hinata tried to suppress their chuckles whilst Tenten tried to suppress a blush.
"We'll take the offer, Ayame!" Ino smirked. Tenten groaned. Since when did people think about Neji when they see her?
In a matter of seconds, while the weapon mistress was deep in thought, 8 pair of eyes were looking up at her – Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai, Rock Lee and last but not least, Hyuuga Neji.
"Tenten, my beautiful flower! Come sit down!" Her green cladded ex-teacher grinned and did his usual pose.
Tenten groaned inwardly at the empty seat next to Neji. She swore she saw Gai and Lee exchanging amused looks as she sat down.
"Do you have any idea how cold it is out there?" Neji said disapprovingly, which very effectively covered his reaction regarding Tenten's outfit. The last thing he wanted to do was let people know that he was practically ogling and drooling over his teammate. It wasn't the first time he had seen her wear anything out of her usual clothes, tonight however, she looked different. She looked…hot.
Tenten frowned slightly at the Hyuuga prodigy's statement. If she were anyone but Tenten she would have took this as a personal insult and retort immediately. But Tenten being Tenten, knowing Hyuuga Neji for almost a decade, took this as a friendly concern. Nevertheless, somewhere deep inside her, she hoped that one day she would be greeted with a "you look beautiful". Tenten shook her head to get rid of those sidetracked thoughts. What could she expect from a guy who has fairer skin and prettier hair than her?
Unfortunately for both Neji and Tenten, their bowl haired ex-sensei happened to have overheard Neji's remark and therefore decided to teach the male Hyuuga a lesson.
"Neji how can you say that to our beautiful flower? Tenten is at the springtime of her youth and she is blooming into a beautiful rose! I'd say our flower is looking exceptionally beautiful tonight!" Gai finished his speech with a gulp of his Sake followed by a spoonful of curry rice.
"Thanks Gai-sensei. It was Sakura and Ino's idea. Just going out partying tonight." She took a sip of her green tea and helped herself with another dumpling.
Neji choked on his water. She's wearing this to go partying? What will be left of her if she happens to run into some of her fanboys? Or a guy searching for someone to warm his bed? …But who was he to care? Tenten's social life was none of his business right? Neji frowned. "I don't want my sparring partner to catch a cold. I need someone to spar with next week when I come back from my mission." That must be the lamest argument from Hyuuga Neji.
"Don't worry Neji, I don't get sick that easily." She smiled at him but he had already shifted his attention back to his food and was glaring at his noodles. Tenten knew this pose. It appears that Hyuuga Neji is sulking.
Apparently, the sulking lasted during the Hyuuga prodigy's entire mission. Tenten had concluded this when she arrived at their usual sparring ground. It had been almost 2 weeks since she had last seen him but he still had that face from dinner – the sulking face. She had chosen the wrong time to be late.
"You're late." He stated rather bitterly. Oh yes, Tenten noted mentally, He's in PMS mode. She knew that he wasn't angry. He was simply annoyed.
"I'm sorry." She didn't even bother to give him a valid reason. She had been too caught up with her knitting again.
"Let's get started."
Tenten cracked her knuckles and responded. "Alright."
Hyuuga Neji was extremely annoyed. Not at anyone in particular, but funny enough, it was all coming from his inner self. If he didn't know better, he would have thought he was going insane.
Actually, he is insane. He is insanely in love with his teammate.
And he is still annoyed by what had happened 2 weeks ago after dinner.
Nothing overly dramatic had occurred to the rest of Konoha's population, but it was like a storm to poor Neji's emotions. Tenten is an attractive woman. She's brave, strong, and smart but also caring, therefore it is entirely logical that she would attract a certain percentage of the male population in the club.
The thought of men just looking at her made Neji's Byakugan flare automatically.
Unknown to Tenten (in Neji's perspective), Neji had always Kaiten'd any man who had the balls to approach his female teammate, but that night, his Kaiten was not functioning properly. Men swarmed to her like bees to honey, risking their lives to withstand the infamous Hyuuga death glare for a closer look at Tenten in a killer outfit. Tenten, who was not used to all the attention, was flattered and as far as he could tell, was enjoying herself. Song after song, she danced. Sometimes with her fellow teammates, others with random strangers. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat; strands of her hair escaped her single bun framing her lovely glowing face, her chocolate brown eyes shining with delight. It seems like she had forgotten about his existence.
She was staring into the eyes of another stranger, her arms around his neck, a small smile across her lips. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
Without warning he pulled the kunoichi out of the club, demanding her to go home. She stood there, shocked by his rash actions, surprised that he actually cared. She smiled inwardly and gave in to his request as he threw his coat over her shoulders.
Neji walked Tenten home without even asking her, still sulking. At her doorstep he briefly told her to meet up with him for training after his mission and told her to keep his coat for the moment.
No goodbye kisses, no unnecessary physical contact, no declaration of undying love. Because he is Hyuuga Neji and he was not in an entirely good mood. And now, after 2 weeks, he is still somewhat bitter about the whole clubbing incident. Or rather, we all know that he is still in denial, like he has always been.
Shaking these irrelevant thoughts out of his head, he went into his defensive stance. Tenten responded by taking her scrolls out, ready to launch a series of attack towards his almost perfect Kaiten. Recently, they have been trying to turn his ultimate defense into an attack. Neji reckoned they were almost there.
Tenten gracefully launched her series of assault, spinning in the air with ease and elegance. She was just like those Chinese goddesses in those children picture books.
"Soushouryu!"
Weapons of various shapes and sizes came flying towards the Hyuuga prodigy at every possible direction.
Without further ado, he started his ultimate defense – the heavenly spin, deflecting metal objects of all shapes and sizes back to the weapon mistress.
Said weapon mistress was having a difficult time dodging her weapons. Over the years the Kaiten had gotten stronger and Neji was now spinning at twice the speed, therefore the deflection speed of her weapons were now equivalent to someone actually throwing them.
Tenten choked back a scream when a kunai embedded itself into her thigh. It was rare that she would get hurt, but she hadn't been sleeping much recently. Going on missions, daily chores and she had been spending most of her nights staying up late to finish the damned scarf. She was pretty sure Neji would not be happy with her injury.
"What is wrong with you today?" Neji looked at his teammate. He was both angry and concerned, but right now his rage was overriding his apprehension. "Your movements are unusually slow, your attacks lack their usual speed."
Tenten pulled the kunai out of her thigh, blood was spurting out of the wound. The kunoichi winced and ripped the bottom of her shirt before her legs gave in and she slide down to the ground. As expected, Neji just stood there, watching her tending her wound.
"I'm sorry. I have been staying up late at night." Afterall, she did kind of owe him an apology.
"Out of all people, you should know better than that. I don't want to train with a partner who attacks me like a kids throwing rocks at each other."
The very next day, Tenten was conveniently ordered to go on a 2 week long mission with Shikamaru and Kiba before they all come back and celebrate for Christmas.
Neji had no choice but to spar with Lee instead.
Lee was a terrible liar. He once claimed that it was against the springtime of youth to lie.
"Lee." He said one day after their training. "You know what is wrong with Tenten?"
"Ah Neji-san. You two had a fight, right?" Lee was observant. He just never shows it. "You should not blame her for trying so hard."
Neji raised his eyebrow. "For what?"
Lee realized that he had been too big mouthed. "…for training with you everyday!"
"Lee… tell me." Neji knew he was lying. And it was easy to make him tell the truth. "She is my teammate and I want to know what has caused her careless actions during our last spar."
"I… I promised Tenten-san not to tell you!" Lee's mind was shred into two. Should I betray Tenten-san? But Neji-san is just asking out of concern. There's nothing wrong with that… right? Right? Oh Gai-sensei, what would you do?
"Lee, I am merely asking out of concern." Neji knew exactly which buttons to hit. He really is a genius, Lee concluded.
"Tenten-san is working on a Christmas present for you. She's learning how to knit."
Now this was something he didn't hear everyday. Konoha's Weapon Mistress is learning how to knit. That image alone brought a smirk to his lips. "Hn. I see."
"Neji-san, I need to remind you that Tenten-san is a woman. Sakura-san said that she has absolutely no talent and they all thought she would never master it, but she kept on practicing and practicing."
"Hn." The standard Hyuuga answer was given to a guilty looking Lee.
"So you really shouldn't blame her." Lee said after a while of silence. He hoped by telling Neji about her secret project will resolve the silent war between the two.
"She's not going to forgive me."
"Don't say that Neji-san! I'm sure she will accept your apology!"
So when the love of his life returned from her fortnight long mission on Christmas Eve, dressed in a white cocktail dress attending the Godaime's Christmas countdown party, the Hyuuga prodigy was fidgeting aside, near the shady corners of the club. His eyes fixed on his long time teammate and giving her bunch of admirers his patented Hyuuga death glare, whilst running his apology over and over again in his head. He was nervous, although he would die before admitting it.
"Nervous?" Neji's ears registering the very sly voice of the dark haired Uchiha prodigy, leaning on the wall sipping his champagne quietly with that irritating smirk on his face. Who was he to butt into his business?
"Hn. Hardly."
This seems rehearsed, Neji thought as he sensed another presence on his other side. "I know it's troublesome, so just get it over and done with already." Shikamaru was giving him love advice like he was commenting on the shape of the clouds. Over the years, Shikamaru and Tenten have become close friends, as Tenten had once claimed that Shikamaru is exceptionally knowledgeable in the area of woman behaviour. Neji deduced that he must have heard it from Tenten herself.
"I trust that you don't need those Hyuuga eyes of yours to see that she is attracting…a lot of attention." Such sarcastic remarks can only be made by the honorable Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand, with his gourd absent and his hair turning multi shades of red from the lightings above the dancing floor, where Tenten was dancing back to back with Temari.
His eyes never leaving his teammate's form, he replied, scowling. "I am perfectly aware of that." At the same time, he could not help thinking, since when did Gaara liked to meddle with Jounin love affairs? (And since when did Neji use the term "love affair" to describe his relationship with Tenten?)
Fate cannot explain all these peculiar comments coming from his more than unusual comrades. Neji felt like he was some hero in those random Konoha soap operas; his love life being broadcasted throughout all Konoha and Sabaku villager's televisions.
He had to give credit to his comrades for appreciating the fact that he is indeed, a prodigy, no matter how love struck he was, as none of the three made any more comments and trusted that he is smart enough to interpret them himself. As the party was approaching to an end with at least half the party completely wasted, Neji had resumed his post in the shady corner watching over the club. Lee was nowhere to be seen. Asuma and Kurenai were heading towards the exit, walking in zig zags. Even Gaara, who was sitting at the bar talking to Shikamaru, looked a lot redder than usual. And… where's Tenten?
"Neji."
It was the first time that Neji had gotten a closer look at her. She looked like a fairy from those children story books that he used to find in Hinata-sama's room; strands of her hair have escaped the intricate knot that had replaced her usual hastily tied up single bun, her makeup made her eyes looked even bigger and brighter, her cheeks with a noticeable tint of pink probably due to the heat and alcohol, and her white dress, plain and simple in design, accentuated those damned curves of hers.
"Neji is something wrong?" Ah, the fairy speaks.
In desperation to cover his open gawking, Neji gave his teammate his standard monosyllable reply. He should really thank his lucky stars that Tenten was almost able to read him like an open book, as she knew that he didn't really mean to ignore her.
However, the smile she was about to give him unintentionally turned into a frown as she recalled his harsh words concerning their sparring two weeks ago. They had not spoken since then. Maybe he was still a bit angry at her?
Tenten blushed slightly as she whipped out the object that she had been hiding behind her back. Give and go. No more embarrassing moments, Tenten told herself mentally as she shoved the delicately wrapped package right into Neji's arms. "Merry Christmas Neji, I hope you like it!"
And the fairy flew away, leaving nothing but the taste of alcohol lingering in the air and the piece of winter clothing that had caused him so much trouble for the past month in his arms.
It didn't take the prodigy long to realize what exactly he had to do. He still owes her an apology, and probably something more. He realized as he looked at the hand knitted scarf in his hands, that no, not just an apology. Tenten deserved more than an apology. She had been there for him when he was waddling in misery; she had always been by his side, answering to his commands with no hesitation, trusting her own life in his hands. Where was he to find a domestically challenged woman who will willingly learn how to knit and take the blame of under performing without saying anything because she had been practicing and practicing night after night to make him a Christmas present?
He caught her arm just when she was about to make a right turn at the end of the street. Snowflakes were magically appearing from midair.
"I'm sorry." He blurted out, sounding much more desperate than he would like it. "I was too harsh. I apologize for my behaviour."
A genuine smile graced her features as she noted how tightly he was holding onto the scarf, the wrapping paper long gone. Unclenching his fingers around the fluffy garment she swung the scarf around the prodigy's neck twice before making sure the dangling ends were of the same length.
"It matches the colour of your eyes." Tenten noted amusingly as she felt something warm and heavy draped on her shoulders. It was Neji's white coat and he was giving her one of those small rare smiles.
"I'll walk you home." It was more like a statement, leaving Tenten no room to argue with him as he began to walk towards the direction of her flat.
Tenten was about to start walking when he suddenly stopped and turned around, unbinding the scarf around his neck. "Come closer."
She did what she was told, curiousity written all over her face. Hyuuga Neji is not particularly fond of physical proximity. So what is he trying to do now?
Tenten got the answer to her question when Neji wrapped the other end of the scarf around her neck and threw the loose end across his shoulder; tucked her gently beside him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The scarf was now snuggled around Neji and Tenten's necks as the couple made their way towards Tenten's apartment.
Everyone knew that Hyuuga Neji is not a man of words. Some say he is emotionally challenged, but to Tenten, this act from the Hyuuga can almost be taken as his version of asking her out. Tenten smiled and leaned in towards Neji for more body warmth. His arm around her tightened and pulled her closer to him. She chuckled at Neji's display of possessiveness and looked up at the dark sky, feeling the snowflakes falling onto her face.
All those all nighters, it was damn worth it.
A/N: Yay for fluff, snow and scarves! I know I keep on switching from present tense to past tense, any pointers/constructive criticism? Would really appreciate!
Have a lovely X'mas!