Just a Little too Late
—What happens when you're too late? Too late to change the past, too late to reverse your actions, too late to find love. What is there to give, when there's nothing left to give? (Neji x Tenten)—
The sun was out, and the village was at a hubbub while she sat in a vacant training field by her lonesome. She hummed a melodic tune as she sharpened and polished her array of weapons. She sat there, content and enthused about her rare, but still feasible victory against the stoic, Hyuuga Neji.
Tenten then ran a calloused finger against a dull scratch on her oldest kunai. She smiled gently at the memory of her last combo move which captured her win against the Hyuuga. Not long after, Neji had walked away, quietly. He did not deny his defeat nor did he accept it. Instead, he stared long and hard at his female teammate and gave her a fraction of a nod which in itself was a congratulation or a sort of acknowledgement.
"I'm going to celebrate." Tenten noted to herself. "I deserve it after all."
Once she finished putting all of her artillery back into her scrolls, she decided to walk to the nearby Ichiraku's. Or maybe she would go for Korean Barbecue? She was still indecisive as to where she wanted to eat when she made her way to the main street leading to the heart of the village. She didn't bother looking for someone to go with her since she didn't really have any close girlfriends to go with. And she didn't feel like listening to babbling while she ate.
Training with Neji took too much of her time and missions were always the alternate option. It was mainly because she was living alone and needed the money. Tenten knew that everyone knew her as either "the girl without a last name" or "Neji Hyuuga's teammate". But, she didn't let that bother her. She was too much of an optimist to let it. Some would think that if she wasn't so busy, it might have been a lonely life for her, but since it was—busy, that is—she simply didn't have the time to think about being alone at all.
"Hey, Tenten, where are you going?" Lee appeared from behind the brush and slowed down his jog to match Tenten's gait.
"Oh, hi Lee," Tenten replied. "Well, I'm thinking of going out for lunch today. Do you want to come with?"
"That is very gracious of you, Tenten, to even think of inviting me, but alas I have a lunch date with the beautiful, Sakura!" Lee announced as he pumped a lanky arm into the air.
"So, she finally said yes, huh?"
"I would like to think so, but she is bringing her friend along." Lee admitted with a sigh.
"That's okay Lee, its progress at least." Tenten placed a comforting hand on her teammate's back. "She won't be able to resist your charms."
"Thanks, Tenten." Lee smiled his million-watt smile and scurried away. "I must be off, then!"
Tenten watched her jumpsuit-clad teammate sprint with a lift in his steps. She gave another guileless grin. These little moments between her teammates gave her the energy to continue. It gave her the reason to wake up in the morning. She sighed happily and continued on her way. Once she was in town, she decided to go to Ichiraku's since it would make it look less conspicuous that she was by herself. She took her seat and ordered the cheapest meal on the menu. Her lack of missions this month made it hard to buy anything more extravagant.
"Thanks Ayame-san." Tenten voiced when the owner's daughter placed a large bowl in front of her.
"Do you want anything else, Tenten-chan?" Ayame asked, "Maybe some tea?"
"Just water, please." Tenten broke apart her wooden chopsticks.
"Coming right up!" that said, Ayame left to the backroom to get a cup.
The weapons' master took a mouth of the ramen and got lost in thought. She had to start planning what she was going to do next, career-wise, anyways. Should she take that mission to Water Country? Or maybe she could go solo training in the mountains. But, nevertheless, she needed the money from the missions. She clearly didn't have time to dawdle around in the mountains.
She was so into her thoughts that she didn't even notice when Ayame got back, placed the cup of water on the counter in front of her, and left.
'I need money.' Tenten thought glumly. 'I need a real mission; I need to pay this month's rent somehow.'
Tenten ate with the speed and accuracy of a ninja. She was too lost in her thoughts to taste the ramen. Before long, her bowl was empty, bereft of any leftovers. She was awfully hungry after all.
"No, I have to enjoy this day. I said I was going to celebrate and that's what I'm doing." She told herself firmly. "Suck it up Tenten: don't start feeling sorry for yourself. You just beat Hyuuga Neji."
"What did you beat Neji-san at?" Ayame asked from her spot on the front counter.
"Just our usual sparing," Tenten answered.
"Oh, how is Neji-san by the way?" The older woman questioned, a dreamy look glazing her eyes.
"He's okay, I guess."
"I haven't seen him in awhile," Ayame stated and smiled pointedly at her only customer. "You should take him here sometime so I can see him again."
"Uh-huh, sure," Tenten interjected. "Um, Ayame-san, I gotta go. I'll see you next time, then."
"Okay, I'll see you then, Tenten-chan. Don't forget to bring your teammates next time!" Ayame started babbling when Tenten walked away.
One thing she couldn't tolerate were fan girls, especially fan girls of her teammates. It made her feel awkward when anonymous females would ask her questions about Neji and Lee. She didn't know how to answer some of their more personal questions; such as: "Do you think that Neji/Lee is sexy?"
Sometimes the questions would get so creepy that she usually tried to get away from a fan girl as soon as she felt a whiff of weird. It might be contagious, after all.
XXXX
It was time to get home to her apartment. Tenten hated the cramped, solitary space, but she didn't really mind it all too much since she was usually out on missions; she usually spent more time out of her suite than in it anyway. She decided to walk home and take the long way instead of cruising along the rooftops like most ninjas. What Tenten needed was a change in routine so she decided to look around the shopping district of the town. Maybe something will catch her eye. Maybe it'd be cheap. Maybe she just didn't want to go home and talk to herself for the rest of the day.
Tenten wasn't a big fan of dressing up, but sometimes she did have a desire to look good. Not necessarily for someone, but for herself. Sometimes, being a ninja and growing up in a mostly-male profession made her feel like one. There have been times when she wanted to let her hair down and wear a dress, just to get in touch with her inner woman. That was the main reason why she refused to cut her hair, no matter how much easier it would be for her had it been short.
Tenten had a particular dress she wanted for herself. It wasn't puffy or girly at all. It had a sharp-cut, edgy look to it which suited her. She wanted to try it on. She wanted to take it home afterwards. But, instead of walking into the store which held it, she chose to walk pass it without looking at the front window where it had been displayed for the last two months, taunting her to buy it.
'You get points for that,' she told herself. 'Strong willpower is a sign of maturity as a ninja.'
"Crap, I'm starting to sound like Lee." She chided herself.
Suddenly, she didn't feel like shopping anymore. The lack of fortune and practicality wore down her whimsy. So, Tenten turned around and beat a hasty retreat home, lest she change her mind again.
She jogged to the apartment gates where she found Neji waiting for her.
"Oh, Neji, were you waiting long?" Tenten said, surprised that he was there. "Is there something wrong?"
Neji straightened at the sound of her voice and stayed where he stood. Tenten had to make her way to him. It had always been that way. She was the giver, and he, the receiver.
"Tenten," He bobbed his head once in greeting. "We're going to train."
"But, we just did that. I whooped your butt." She replied in disbelief.
"I didn't mean right now. I meant that we're going on a training trip. Gai-sensei and Lee are on their way out tonight, but we're going to be pulling out tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. That's fine then."
"Early tomorrow," he added as an afterthought.
He shuffled his feet in discomfort. He stared at the woman in front of him. He tried to act cool.
"Uh-huh," was Tenten's intelligible response.
"That's it." Neji uttered. "I'll see you then. I'll pick you up."
"Okay, bye, Neji."
"Bye, Tenten."
The two departed ways.
XXXX
Neji walked home feeling like a fool—even worst, a short-sighted fool.
The day had started out as it usually did. The sun was out, he called Tenten to come train, and she did. It wasn't until about the middle of their sparing match that he realize that Tenten looked different.
He had just realized that she wasn't a flat-chested girl who ran around with pointy things anymore. She was a curvy, well-proportioned woman with deadly weapons and a penchant for accuracy. It took him by surprise. He was sure that she still dressed the same. She still called him a jerk for ignoring her. She still beat him on the head if he acted too aloof and his superiority complex acted up. But today, it was like he was seeing her for the first time. Where was his Tenten, the girl that looked like a boy except for the hair in twin buns? Where was the rowdy weapons mistress that he had trained with for all these years? And why the hell did this attractive, distracting woman take her place?
It had taken all of his willpower not to stare at her. It had taken all of his focus not to think about her as anything but platonically. Neji, being the usual ego-centric male he was, hadn't noticed that his teammate and sparring partner was, in fact, a girl and a girl that he would think was cute.
He could still remember her last combo move. The same move which had him mesmerized as Tenten kicked his sorry ass to kingdom come. It was her face, the expression on it: the determination, the passion, the outright ferocity of it that captivated him. It was gorgeous. It was beautiful.
Hyuuga Neji had a crush, a really big one—a mountainous one, with Tenten no less. Tenten, the same girl who had seen him bare-chested without swooning; the same Tenten who had been in front of him for years, a little over a decade. This was twisted, bizarre. Hyuuga Neji did not fall for cute weapons specialists. He did not have infatuations with bun-haired women. And most specifically, he does not, and will not, admit his growing love for brown-eyes beauties with legs the length of Bo staffs. That is, unless Tenten admits that she loves him first.
'Yes,' Neji thought. 'I'll just get her to fall in love with me first. If she says it first, then it won't matter if I say it.'
Neji, feeling smug at his genius plot, strode confidently home. Tomorrow is still a long ways away, he thought gleefully. He still had time to fine-tune his plan for making Tenten fall in love with him.
XXXX
Tenten sat on the solitary chair in her makeshift kitchen/living area. It was sorry piece of a wooden thing. She had the rest of the afternoon off. It was a rare and unwanted occasion.
"What should I do now?" Tenten asked no one in particular.
There was only silence. Tenten rocked her chair as far back as she could without falling backwards. Once finished with the delicate task, she stared angrily at the clock above her second-hand table. What? Two minutes? It's only been two freaking minutes?
Time moved at a snail's pace as she decided to run back and forth the narrow space between her bedroom and the kitchen, all the while hoping that it would be morning so that she could start her training session with Neji. It certainly had nothing to do with her tiny, miniscule fear of being alone. Tenten was determined to surpass her boredom. It was then that an idea formed. She, Tenten, would make lunch for tomorrow's excursion. She knew that Neji and Lee weren't fans of her cooking after she made them Valentines chocolate last year. How was she supposed to know that wasabi wasn't a good flavour? Ino had told her that any flavour would have been better than coconut. Well, she would do better this time, she would follow a recipe to a tee, and she will not mess this up.
"Now, where's that recipe that Sakura gave me?" Tenten went into her sad excuse of a kitchen and started going through her pantry and cupboards for ingredients.
That afternoon, she worked hard and followed Sakura's recipe perfectly. The pink-haired health buff gave her a recipe for vegetable soup. Step by step Tenten followed it; although, she did have to run out a few times to get some of the more unusual ingredients.
"What the heck are wolfberries and salvia?" Tenten wondered as she deposited the said ingredients into the mix. "There's so much stuff in here, it must taste very good."
Tenten stirred and stirred and stirred. A strange scent wafted up and filled the house. Since Tenten wasn't that familiar with excellent culinary dishes, she decided that the strange scent was only different because she never cooked anything this good.
A/N:
This story idea came to me a while ago. I thought that I should give it a shot, since it is NejixTenten after all. But, just to warn you, don't be fooled by the comedic beginning, it really is a drama. But, I will assure you that all will end well. I don't like sad endings... Please review if you like it. If you don't--like it that is--please review also to tell me what you didn't like about it.