Title:
Snow White Byakuugan

Rating:
T. Don't know why yet. Probably some language later on. No, it will not go higher and do not even consider asking me about making this a lemon. No. No. No.

Spoilers:
None. If you happen to see one, tell me immediately.

Pairings:
Main: Neji x Tenten.
Secondary: Naruto x Hinata. Lee x Sakura. Shikamaru x Temari.

Dedicated:
First chapter is for Snowqueen184. BETA reading her fic made me want to write one of my own, though it probably won't end up as good. Go look at it if you want a great NejiTen, the link is on my profile. She's an amazing friend and an all-around great girl!

Disclaimer:
Don't own much except ideas… Konoha doesn't belong to me, Tenten and Neji don't belong to me, the whole Naruto show doesn't belong to me, snow doesn't belong to me…

Chapter One: A Spar With Snowflakes

Millions and millions of little particles of white snow glittered slowly from the sky. There wasn't any wind; therefore, the snowflakes would fall straight and slow, descending upon the peaceful village of Konoha one after the other.

It was only late November, but everything was covered in the freezing substance. Some shinobi were pushing aside their seriousness to adopt a more childish approach to the temperature, jumping in the snow and challenging each other for a 'Who-can-make-the-biggest-snowman' competition. Some were inside, snuggled in blankets while drinking hot cocoa and looking out the window at the beautiful scenery.

Then there were the unlucky ones. Those with a killer cold, who were strapped into bed with a huge pile of Kleenexes besides them and whimpers all around. There were also those whose nagging mothers insisted they shoveled everything within a ten meter radius of the house.

Then there was the phenomena of Hyuuga Neji and Tenten.

A loud battle cry, coming from the female kunoichi, broke through the monotonous silence that loomed through the forest. Fierce ember eyes, trained upon her opponent, flickered dangerously as she sprang from a snow-covered branch, heading straight towards her sparring partner with a katana raised high above her head.

The blade, going rather rapidly downwards, sliced through the air with a near-silent buzz. It was perfect- she had managed to creep up on him, landing silently on a tree branch directly in his blind spot. Such a brilliant calculation and such stealth was enough to make her grin. But she had had no time to waste; therefore, she had just jumped forward, desiring nothing besides striking him.

She was about a foot from him, still falling towards the ground, when Neji suddenly twitched and vanished.

A half second later, he was about two feet away, facing her in his Jyuuken pose.

As soon as Tenten's feet hit the ground and had sunken in the foot of snow that covered the area, she turned around rapidly to impale Neji with her blade. Sadly, though, her efforts were in vain as a hand struck her side lightly, causing her immense pain.

Screaming with rage and pain, the Weapon Mistress of Konoha fell sideways as her chakra system punished her for training with a Hyuuga. The snow thankfully cushioned her fall, but she still managed to feel the icy substance sticking into her already wet clothing uncomfortably.

"Had enough?" Neji's smug voice ran through the area.

Growling, Tenten sat up, shaking her head rapidly to clear the snow from her face. Her dark chocolate-colored hair was still miraculously in her signature buns, yet were tainted darker with the melted snow.

She then trained her eyes to him, swallowing hard to avoid the nasty comment that was hanging on the edge of her lips. The seventeen year old Jounin looked rather winded himself, yet chose to show his superiority by smugly looking down at her. His white robes blended in well with his frosty surrounding, matching his pale eyes.

For an answer, she stood up and reached for another scroll.

Yes, they were definitely insane.

Hours later, when the cloud-covered sun was obvious beginning to dip over the horizon, Tenten sank against a tree. Her chest rose and fell with every breath and she noticed that even Neji had stumbled a few minutes ago.

She knew that he was getting tired. Maybe not as much as she was, but it was still exuberating to know that she was exhausting such a strong shinobi. Gathering all her strength, she jumped at him rapidly with kunai in hand, but he only ducked and… was he running away?

"Neji!" she barked as she Jounin vanished behind a cluster of trees. "What the hell are you doing?"

Silence answered her.

With nothing but Neji's footsteps to guide her, she grumbled and began to follow him, watch out carefully around herself for any sign of her teammate's dark hair. The rest of him usually blended in well with their hibernal surroundings. For the first time in her life, she cursed the Hyuuga's choice of color –or rather their lack of- for their traditional outfits. They might stand out during the summer, but it was definitely easy to camouflage themselves in winter.

Soon, she noticed his footsteps ending abruptly only a few feet away from where she stood. Halting rapidly, she looked around herself for any sign of the teen. Finding none, she turned around just in time to see three shuriken hurriedly making their way towards her.

Being the Weapon's Mistress of Konoha, Tenten had absolutely no problem to catch said weapons, even though they were thrown by none other than the prodigy of one of the most powerful clans in the Leaf Village.

Sadly for Neji, though, the move had drawn Tenten's attention towards the thick tree branch where he was standing. Smirking as she hauled the weapons back at him, he jumped backwards and landed on his feet under the tree.

They both began to throw their iron projectiles at each other, steel hitting steel through a flurry of snowflakes. It was almost like a dance, two bodies rapidly moving through trees, dark forms leaving their hands at lightning speed with both the intention to harm and to defend. All through a shower of icy precipitation.

Eventually, though, she noticed that Neji had stopped throwing weapons. He was a few meters away, where an important lack of trees surrounded him. Simply standing there, the prodigy eyed Tenten as she approached him.

Pulling out a scroll, the kunoichi unsealed a long sword as a smile graced her features. Then, after putting the roll back in her pocket, she hurriedly rushed towards him.

'Why isn't he moving?' her subconscious screamed at her. Usually, he would at least have gotten a weapon out or would've gotten in his defensive stance. But this time, he was just nonchalantly waiting for her to arrive. 'He's probably going to use Kawarimi no Jutsu; brace yourself, Tenten!'

She was now only about six feet from him, still running at top speed. She then shut down her brain, who was warning her that he might not move and that she could kill him, and bent her knees slightly to jump. Then she realized what he was planning.

Why did they pick such an intelligent jerk as a training partner again?

As soon as she was a single meter from him, her foot hit a patch of invisible ice that she definitely hadn't expected. Gravity won over balance and the next thing she knew, she was sprawled face first at the feet of a smirking Hyuuga.

As she stayed sprawled on the ground –she was covered in snow and soaked to the bones, comfort didn't matter anymore- and flushed with embarassement, Tenten glared at Neji murderously.

"Ever heard of dirty tricks?" she snapped. "Because that was definitely one, Hyuuga Neji! I could've broken something!"

Neji's expression remained unfazed by her anger, though it retained its almost-smiling look. "Any Jounin would've been curious as to why I wasn't worried about your attack. Even a Chuunin like you should know this by now, Tenten. Enemy ninjas don't care if a trick is dirty or not, so don't expect me to play nice."

Stung, the girl sat up slowly and looked away. She had failed her Jounin exams the first time she had tried them, which was why she had bugged the hell out of him to help her pass the second time. He had agreed, so now their focus during training was her skills rather than both of theirs.

Sighing, she got up as Neji announced they were done for the day. She brushed the snow off and allowed her rage and humiliation to diminish. From now on, she'd be more careful. It was a lesson well learnt and there was no need for her to resent her sparring partner.

After going through the long process of gathering all of their weapons, Tenten suddenly asked, "Think I'll make it to Jounin this year?"

"Hn," Neji muttered, leaning against a tree. He had, of course, already stored all of his tools away and was waiting for her.

She rolled her eyes swiftly as she began to seal her weapons back into her scroll. "I didn't hear you!"

Neji frowned in slight annoyance. "I believe you will," he said swiftly, watching her work without an expression on his face.

Tenten smiled to herself as she quickly finished the job, then rapidly shoved the scrolls inside her bag. They were already getting wet because of the temperature.

He obviously had no idea how his input affected her. In fact, he had no clue how it affected everyone around him. When it came to the strongest Branch member of the Hyuuga clan, compliments were hardly given and were extremely difficult to earn.

Having finished the job, she got up slowly and slung the pack over her shoulder. Now it was sinking in how cold it was around them and the snow was starting to pile annoyingly on her shoulders and head. A shiver racked through her body and she bit her tongue as Neji snickered lightly.

Before he could do any comment, she turned around towards the path and called out, "Well then I'm going back home! Same place tomorrow?"

"Wait."

His voice was low in octave, which made her halt before she went any further. She didn't answer, didn't move; only waited for him to continue.

She was such a hypocrite. She knew damn well what was coming.

His footsteps, only small crunches as his weight passed through the hard snow, approached her patiently. He then stood directly behind her, his body inches from hers.

This time, when Tenten shivered, it had nothing to do with the cold.

She turned around slowly before her eyes met his, immediately captivating her. She loved these eyes. They always seemed to shine, no matter how dull Neji appeared, and even though he was stoic like a shell, she had found the secret emotions that sometimes played through his orbs.

"Neji," she whispered, suddenly growing uncomfortable. "What if someone finds us here? We're in broad daylight and—"

"Byakuugan," he whispered, activating his Bloodline Limit, which made the veins around his temples and upper cheeks swell slightly. Turning a full circle so his blind spot couldn't miss anything, he deactivated it and the corners of his lips tweaked upwards. "We're alone."

"Are you sure Byakuugan really works through the snow?" she asked even though she had no doubt it did, looking around at the dizzying amount of whiteness.

Neji silenced her by grabbing her jaw in one hand and lowering his lips to hers. Tenten's eyes closed slowly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to draw her close.

He was cold, his clothing was wet, and she was exhausted; but there was no other place she had rather be as she returned his kiss.

Their small display of affection was brief and they both stepped away from each other much too quickly than desired. But they cherished their secrecy more than anything. To the outside world, they were nothing more than teammates. People even had difficulty to consider them as friends, since "Neji is so cold-hearted towards her most of the times".

But Tenten knew better. Every time they'd pity her for relentlessly training with the "stoic bastard", she'd be mentally thinking about all the times he'd kissed her. About all the minutes of "training" passed in each other's arms through the concealing darkness when they both became too exhausted to even throw a kunai straight. All the times he apologized for his rash behavior during their spar, but she'd tell him to be quiet because it was essential to her shinobi training.

Neji only ran his hand on her cheek one last time, then fully pulled away. His eyes held a certain glint that was only reserved for her, a loving look that she hadn't even considered the Hyuuga to possess. Almost the same look Hinata gave Naruto when she peered at him from a distance, only more intense.

After one last loving look, Tenten turned around again and started to walk. Both refused to say goodbye to each other, since they would see each other again. Goodbyes were meant for people who were to be gone in the near future, not for two lovers who would meet again the next morning.

Sighing deeply, Tenten continued her trip through the snow, which now nearly reached her knees. A part of herself was annoyed at Neji for picking out that particular training ground for the day.

They had arrived there early in the morning, when there was only about three inches of snow. It was an area crowded with bare trees, which meant that the snow could still hinder them. But Neji had declared that it was the perfect area to train. End of discussion.

But she was fine with it. As long as it was to spend time with Neji, she would do anything. Even completely make a fool of herself by missing a single patch of ice.

A/N: Hello to those who have read up to here and thank you for doing so! I found the this chapter horrendous, I have no idea why I'm posting it.

I know that I'm usually a rapid updater, but don't expect this to be regularly updated. I have way too many things to do right now!

Well, this is my first story after NaNoWriMo. I know that I wrote in my profile that I wasn't going to write any chapter stories for a while, but I broke down. This idea has been trotting in my head ever since it started to snow around here. I've wanted to do a NejiTen, so I'm doing it. Only not at all like I had expected it to turn out…

I know, it will be OOC at some point. Duh, it's fanfiction. I'll try to keep them as IC as possible, but writing a romance (without them being out of character) with a guy like Neji is impossible.

I love reviews. They help me live. So you know what to do!

Take care!