Fairless Love

People say 'All is fair in love and war.' When the truth is, love is the most unfair thing I have ever heard of.

CHAPTER ONE: THE UNWANTED TRUTH

I jumped and threw a kick to the middle of his chest, the impact pushing him backwards, and then he disappeared in a puff of white smoke. 'A substitution jutsu!' I thought inwardly. I whirled around, searching for him when I felt a sharp pain centered around my lower back and suddenly the ground rushed up to my face, and I ate dirt.

I lay on the ground, my face in the rough dirt; I didn't want to turn over and face him because I knew I would be met by a smirk and a chuckle. He had beaten me…Again. "Are you just going to lay there for the rest of the day, Tenten?" came a teasing, familiar voice. I knew he would keep pestering me until I rolled over and when I did he would tease me about how he had beaten me once more.

Just wanting to get it over with I rolled over, surrendering myself too easily, and was met by his pale, white eyes. An unwelcome shiver ran up my spine when I looked back at him… Well more like glared back at him. "What a shame, you were so close to finally defeating me….but I guess your just not good enough, maybe it's just your destiny to always be one step below me." He mocked, flashing a well-known smirk, daring me to argue with him. And as if to put even more emphasis on his bothersome comment he knelt down and put his face close to mine.

I opened my mouth to make my smart-ass comment but the sudden closeness of his face made me stop. It also made blood rush to my face….and I never blush, not ever. I managed to roll my eyes at him and I quickly got to my feet before I could embarrass myself further. "I'll see you tomorrow." I mumbled to him before I started to walk back to my welcoming home where a soothing shower and warm sesame dumplings awaited me.

I unlocked the front door using the spare house key that was kept under the pot of yellow tulips we had by the door mat and after putting the old key back under the flowers walked in. The familiar scent of vanilla air freshener welcomed me home as I made for the stairs. "Mom, I'm home!" I shouted before climbing up the set of stairs that obviously led the second story of my house.

When I entered the bathroom I closed the door and striped off my sweaty clothes which where now covered in dirt and dust. I released my chocolate coloured hair down from the buns which kept it out of my face before turning on the shower and stepping in.

'What is wrong with me? Why do I always feel so weird around Neji…? I never used to…' I asked myself. It had started a few months ago when we were on a mission… I closed my eyes and let the memory take me over.

***

Searing pain ran up my leg and through out my body and I crumpled to the ground against a thick tree trunk. A kunai had punctured deep into the side of my left thigh and the pain was almost unbearable. I knew I would live through the injury but I was in total agony at the moment.

And then I saw it. The huge Fūma Shuriken heading toward me, its four sharp, deadly blades spinning swiftly as though to tell me I was going to die in a matter minutes. I knew I couldn't get up and run, I would just fall back down. Instinctively, I reached in to my shuriken holster and threw several regular-sized shuriken at the much larger one, hoping to re-direct its aim.

The weapons struck each other with a loud, audible clang. The Demon Wind Shuriken veered to my right but I was still in its line of aim. I reached into holster once again, preparing for another throw- only to find that it was empty. 'What!? Impossible! I can't be out of weapons! This can't be happening!' I panicked and attempted to drag myself out of its way, but I wasn't fast enough. The over-sized shuriken was speeding towards me and I couldn't do anything about it.

I was going to die. Right here. I didn't want to die. There was so much I wanted to do. I wanted to get married, I wanted to join the ANBU Black Ops. But none of that was going to happen. I shut my eyes tight, I thought about my family, my mother and father and brother. I thought about my team mates, my friends. I braced myself for the hit but it never came, as I felt my body leave the ground.

I opened my eyes to see who my saviour was. I stared at his familiar face, not knowing what to think. I stayed silent until he stopped running and landed effortlessly on the ground.

As soon as Neji set me down on my feet, I gasped in pain and felt myself crumple to the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked with just the slightest amount of caring in his voice.

"Oh yeah, I'm perfectly fine, I just like to fall helplessly to the floor sometimes," I said very sarcastically, "no I'm not okay. I can't walk; the kunai went in too deep." I rolled my eyes in annoyance, and stared menacingly at the kunai, which was still logged in my leg.

"This might sting a little bit." He said. Before I could ask what might sting he had grabbed the kunai that dug in to my leg and yanked it out, probably a little harder than needed.

"Oww!" I complained, "that hurt."

"I told you I might sting. Didn't I?

"Stay here." He said, "we'll come back for you when we know they're gone." He gave me several shuriken in case any of the rouge ninja found me here. 'It's not like I can go anywhere else.' I thought.

Just as he was about to leave I shouted, "Neji, wait!" He turned back to me in annoyance. "Thanks, for saving me I mean."

"Hmph," Was all I got as a reply.

***

I opened my eyes and let out a heavy, hopeless sigh. 'What is wrong with me?!' I finished my shower and towelled myself dry. I threw on a red t-shirt with an intricate black dragon coming from the bottom, and some of my favourite black training pants. Then I lay back on my bed and stared at the texture on the ceiling, think about how I should spend the rest of the day.

Out on the streets of Konaha, people were busy doing whatever they were doing. I walked to the small hotel, I knew Temari always stayed at when she was here.

After the first time I took the chunin exams, and failed, Temari and I had become...I wouldn't say friends but she and I were close enough, and I knew she would help me, she cared- even though she would never admit it.

I walked in to the crowded lobby and went to the front desk, asking which room she was staying in. After acquiring what I needed to know I headed towards the room Temari was in.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked after I had knocked on the door, "come on in, I'll make some tea."

She brought two cups and a steaming pot to the living room and we sipped our green tea in a calming silence for a little while before she asked, "so Tenten, not that I don't appreciate your visit but, why are u here? Is something wrong?"

"Well um, I, uh..........." 'How do I put this?' "I... I have a question I need to ask you."

"Okay, well what is it?"

"Okay, well when I'm around," 'Did I trust Temari enough to tell her? Yes. I did.' "Neji," I watched as her eye brows shot up and she leaned forward in renewed interest, "I always feel......weird."

"Explain weird."

"Um... I sort of get self-conscious, and I start stuttering... and today when we were training I...blushed."

"Like you are now? Or worse?" She said laughing. I threw a pillow at her face and she stopped and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Seriously Tem, what's wrong with me?"

She laughed again. "Nothing's wrong with you Tenten. That's the way I feel around Shikamaru!" Temari and Shikamaru had been going out for a little while now, but not many people knew it and I was just one of the handful, but they didn't care about the publicity- they were in love.

"So I..." Temari nodded, a happy smile upon her face. "I LOVE HIM?!!!" I screamed- partially in shock and partially in.....anger?

"What? You don't want to love him?" Temari asked, also shocked, but because I had just screamed in her face.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO! I'M FIFTEEN FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!"

"You can't choose who you love Tenten, that's just the way it is."

'I thought all was fair in love and war.'

FIN.

How will Tenten take her new discovery? Will she face the fact that she loves him? Or will she continue to hide herself from the truth? Will Neji ever find out?

Chapter 2 coming up soon (if I don't get writer's block again)

Sorry I took so long. I got a major case of writer's block again around Tenten's Flashback. Still R&R PLZ!!!