I made this fic as a gift for laukun on Livejournal, as part of the gift exchange on the Neji x Tenten Livejournal community. Not my best work, but not as bad as…say, my English homework.
Anyway, I apologize if this makes you want to cut your eyes out. This pairing is harder to write than I thought. And I had to rush it a little, because it had to be done by Saturday.
She watches him, sometimes.
He is a prodigy, and she watches him from afar as he pushes his way to the top of their class, winning everyone's respect. All the guys want to be like him; all the girls love him. Her included.
But even as she admires him, thinks of him, wraps herself in uncharacteristic daydreams of them together, she knows that her feelings will never reach him.
He doesn't feel for her. Not for anyone; certainly not for her. He only sees her as another member of his team.
They are teammates, and nothing more.
She's saddened by this thought, even though it's not like her to dwell. She wishes that it was different, even though it's not like her to wish.
It's useless to try and forget him, though. She knows this, too. Because she knows that he has an iron grip on her heart, whether he knows it or not.
Her heart is his.
One day she sees him, and she makes a decision. She walks up to him, stands in front of him, and meets his eye.
"Neji, I want to tell you something."
"Yes?"
She takes a deep breath. "I…I just want you to know that…"
He stares at her impassively, waiting for her to continue.
She clenches her fist slightly.
"I won't give up," she finishes.
He frowns very slightly, and his eyes narrow—almost unnoticeably, but she catches it. "On what?" he asks.
She bites her lip slightly. "On you."
Now he looks confused, which is rather rare for him. "Tenten, what—"
Without another word, she turns and walks away.
Maybe he'll never notice her. Maybe he'll never love her. Maybe he'll always see her as just a teammate. Just another ninja.
But even so, she won't give up. Not now, not ever.
She'll never let go of him.
Well, it's not unbearably bad, is it? Unless you hate the pairing. But if you do, you shouldn't even be here, unless you forgot to read the summary. In which case you should either get glasses or work on your attention span.
RRE.