Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns all the characters in the Narutoverse. Because if I did, a certain someone would not be dead and his children with a certain weapons mistress would be frolicking with Boruto and the new generation - COUGH. Anything else mentioned that's connected to real life is absolutely not mine.
Love: A scoring term in tennis which indicates "zero." It signifies the beginning of a new game when both sides have no score. The true etymology remains a mystery; some say that the term originates with the french word for "egg," which resembles the shape of "zero," while others claim that "love" is taken literally because at the beginning of a match, the players have nothing except for their love for tennis.
In which they are young teenagers.
Fate. Dark horse. Inspiration. Humble beginnings.
Newly turned 14-year-old Neji Hyuuga did not feel like the 'man of the household' that he promised his father and uncle to be. In retrospect, it was obvious that the type of look exchanged between Hizashi and Hiashi was purely conspiratory after he accepted the responsibility.
The smartly dressed teen navigated through the sea of people and tried his best to ignore the female attention magnetized his way. The frequency of humans from the opposite gender in Neji's present environment was, frankly, putting him on edge. Since the tender age of six, Neji has been a student at the all boy's Konoha Preparatory Academy. He spent most of his years on Earth around XY chromosomes - all his peers were boys, most of his professors were male, the two most prominent figures in his life were men, and the majority of the Hyuuga elders Neji associated with were men, too.
In fact, the only dominant female figures in his conscious memory were his two younger cousins - Hinata and Hanabi. The latter was the reason why he was currently waist-deep in the middle of an explosion of pink, screams, tears, cosmetics, and spontaneous karaoke limited purely to songs by One Direction AKA Konoha's Junior Girl's Tennis Tournament.
Again, not his idea.
"I am departing for Kumo tomorrow morning for a business meeting." Hizashi announced, behind the cup of tea in his hand.
"And I will be traveling to Suna for a business settlement, as well." Hiashi added, setting his empty cup on the table.
Neji ceremoniously collected the ornate cast iron kettle from its teapot warmer to refill his uncle's drink.
"It is a first for the Estate and the Corporation to lose its most esteemed leaders simultaneously." Neji speculated, mid-pour. It was an accurate statement; Hiashi and Hizashi were endemically preoccupied with running the Hyuuga Corporation, pioneer of the trading business in Konoha, but both men were equally dedicated to maintaining a presence in the household.
Except, in their case, the Hyuugas did not reside in a simple household. The Hyuugas lived in a conglomeration of grand buildings on an estate just south of Konoha's congested center. Although only a 40 minute drive, the Hyuuga Estate and downtown Konoha were as different as night and day - the former situated in a quiet haven fortified by nature while the latter was the epitome of a bustling city.
Hiashi accepted his beverage and sipped it noiselessly. "Not all its esteemed leaders."
The boy wanted to stay quiet. He really did. He bade his time by returning the kettle on top of the gentle flames burning from the small teapot mantle. He even drained the contents from his own cup. In retrospect, the older men were stalling for Neji to catch the bait.
"Oh?"
And catch the bait he did.
"I hope you are not ignorant to the profound duties a Hyuuga leader is responsible for?" His father approached from a different angle.
Neji cleared his throat. "As in, supervising the ongoings at the office and serving as the executive decision maker for family affairs?"
"The nuances, son," Hizashi admonished, "Settling disputes between clients, securing business deals, mediating feuds among relatives, leading meetings, and representing the Hyuugas at important functions…,"
"To be a leader, the head of the household, is quite an honor." Hiashi finished, downing his drink.
To be fair, his uncle was the true leader of the Hyuuga Corporation and main "head of the household". Although Neji's father served as the Vice President and acted only as the de facto head, Hiashi had always treated his younger brother on equal terms and consulted him with all matters.
"Will you do us the favor of serving as the head of the household in our stead, Neji?" Hizashi asked, pushing away his emptied cup.
The young Hyuuga mirrored his father's actions. "With great honor comes great responsibility."
There was no honor to be had in Neji's current situation. There were three songs being repeated over, and over, and over again as he fought his way against the throng of teenage girls: "What Makes You Beautiful," "One Thing," and thank God that he can't remember the last one - Neji's going to cherish this time as long as he can.
Truly, his father and uncle double teamed him and played him for a fool. He was tricked. Duped. The only words to describe his surroundings were supplied by the new vocabulary his English professor introduced from the week prior: "bedlam, pandemonium, maelstrom." Neji would be damned if his teacher wasn't conspiring against him, too.
Yesterday's events was a farce compared to the obligations he was charged with today. It was just 24 hours ago when Neji felt a surge of pride as he stepped into the 20th floor conference room at the office. He felt confident in the swivel chair at the head of the mahogany table and even deciphered the business notes left by his father perfectly. The fact that Neji had always appeared and acted older than his age helped reign in the respect of the marketing branch. With the trust from his elders, respect from the employees, and sense of belonging at the company, Neji felt on top of the world.
Whether or not yesterday's events were staged is truly up for debate because now Neji felt like he was at the end of a terrible joke. Emerging from the masses, he glanced down to discover a streak of purple glitter caked onto his forehand. He wondered in great consternation why anyone would bring craft supplies to a tennis tournament. The teenager may not know much about the sport, but he had a feeling that art was not involved.
Rubbing his maimed arm, Neji continued to the last set of courts in the park. His cousin, Hanabi, was actually competing despite the fact that she was eight years old. Eight, and apparently there's enough children to actually form a bracket for only the eight year olds. Neji ceded to the fact that Konoha was a populous city, which probably explained the hordes of people in addition to the multiple age brackets in the junior tournament.
His mind was forming doubts on how properly eight year olds can even hold a racket when a familiar voice hailed him out of his reverie.
"Master Neji! We're over here!"
It was Natsu, Hinata and Hanabi's personal maid. Behind her was the eldest Hyuuga heiress, herself. "Neji! Good afternoon, you made it."
If he wasn't Neji, he would have unleashed an epic eye roll. But he was Neji, so he didn't. "Good afternoon back," he replied and brandished his glittered arm, "I did not come unscathed."
The boy ducked under the shade provided by a large umbrella that Natsu pitched for Hinata. His cousin did not fare well in the heat of the summer and he was not much better. Hanabi was suffering the same fate on the court. The sun was not kind to the Hyuuga's definitive pale skins.
"Hanabi will be happy you came," 12-year-old Hinata said, gesturing to the lawn chair next to her. The teenager, preferring to stand, politely declined. "She was getting anxious, always looking at the stands."
"I'm sure she still wishes our fathers were here."
"But your presence will certainly suffice."
Neji thanked Natsu for the bottle of water she procured from the cooler. Of the two girls, Hanabi was more vocal by far. Whereas Hinata tries with painstaking efforts to uphold peace and harmony, Hanabi would blatantly lament the first thing she disagreed with. It was no wonder why Hiashi and Hizashi's orders for Neji to attend the tournament were so strict. Someone had to be the sacrificial lamb for their absence.
"How is she doing?" Neji inquired, washing the cold liquid over the glitter.
"It's a close game. Her opponent has a similar playing style." Hinata took a swig of her own water. "Hanabi is not very pleased with her coach right now. He is rather… unhelpful at giving advice."
The boy glanced up from his cleaning to view his younger cousin's match in earnest. Before he trained his eyes on the young girl, though, he caught sight of an older pair playing on the court adjacent from Hanabi's.
"They don't seem like they belong to this division."
Hinata nodded, confirming her cousin's hypothesis. "They're not. That's the age 14 bracket."
Neji surveyed the spectators around the fenced court. "They're getting considerable attention."
"I believe it's the finals of a big pool of competitors. They switched to this end since all the other courts were occupied." Hinata suddenly perked, "Oh look! Hanabi just scored a point! She's coming back!"
Neji momentarily acquiesced to Hinata's observation before returning his gaze to the court next to his youngest cousin. Similar to the growing crowd, his interest was piqued by two teenage girls competing against each other.
It felt similar to watching a disaster from afar - the way you knew something bad was going to happen but you lock your eyes on the scene regardless. The girl on the left, clad in a one-piece white athletic dress that ended mid thigh with matching shoes, resembled every bit of a tennis player. Her long black hair was tied in a high ponytail and a white visor provided shade for her face. She was right handed and wore an Addidas band around her wrist. The Girl With The Ponytail was tall, possibly around the same height as himself, and lean. As she returned behind the baseline, a sharp glimmer of light reflected off the necklace around her neck and rings around her fingers.
It was the girl on the opposite side of her court, though, that was the true disaster. Neji thought he was witnessing a staged experiment where a scientist purposely manipulated his variable to fail. Unlike the Girl With The Ponytail, this tennis player didn't wear anything matching at all. She donned on a loose green shirt that was ruined with dirt, white gym shorts that dwarfed for her lanky frame, and cerulean blue sneakers. At least her racket matched her shoes. Even more peculiar - she fashioned her hair into two buns on top of her head. The brunette didn't reach her opponent in height, but she was tall for her age. She wasn't wearing any jewelry, either, and the only thing she was sporting was an ugly scrape on her right knee. The injury, coupled with her wrinkled attire, hinted that she suffered a fall earlier in the match.
The only thing that didn't spell 'disaster' for The Girl With The Buns was the look in her eyes. From afar, the player's hair matched the color of her irises, but when they caught the sun's rays at just the right angle, Neji saw that her eyes were actually amber. Liquidated amber. They resonated with such intensity that it reminded the boy of smoldering coals which, although not ablaze, contained the same intensity as blue fire.
Neji finally understood why the onlookers was so intrigued by this match. The underdog was putting up a fight.
The Girl With The Buns walked calmly to the baseline. She withdrew a ball from her pocket and lined up her feet with the opposite service box beyond the net.
"Love all!" she announced. Her voice took Neji by surprise. It did not share the same weariness that her physique implied. Her tone was firm and steady.
Bouncing the ball three times and drawing her racket back, she threw the small object high above her head before crashing the racket down over it. A small grunt escaped her lips as the ball shot fast across the court, over the net, down the line, and untouched by her opponent.
"Ace!" The umpire confirmed, hiking up an arm to the server's side.
The Girl With The Buns raised her racket to her opponent. "Ball, please?"
"Don't you have two more?" The Girl With The Ponytail snapped, retreating backwards to fetch the forgotten ball and smashed it to the other side.
Neji didn't recognize this at first, but there was a group of three girls near the fence with their hair also fashioned into buns. They were loitering on The Girl With The Ponytail's side and giggling. "Ball, please?" They echoed, their voices pitched high with derisive satire. The boy frowned. That type of behavior was simply childish.
"Don't listen to them, Tenten!"
Neji refocused his vision on the audience near The Girl With The Buns. A boy clad from head to toe in green pumped both fists into the air and jumped in fervor. "You got this!"
'Tenten' didn't respond to any of the commotion. She was already lining her feet again to serve. "15-love!" she announced and started the ball once more. Her serve was faster this time, but it skimmed the top of the net before landing into the service box.
"Let!" The umpire ruled.
'Tenten' jogged in place for a few seconds before withdrawing another ball from her pocket. She ignored the jeers from her opponent's posse. "Second!" She shouted, tossing the item up and sending it cross-court. Her second serve was conservatively slower.
The point continued when The Girl With The Ponytail returned the service ball. It developed into an impressive rally with the two players staying at their respective baselines. Although 'Tenten' was maintaining the rally, Neji observed a decline in agility and a pained expression across her face every time her right knee was flexed obtusely. The Girl With The Ponytail wound up two hands for a vicious backhand to end the point in her favor.
"GO KIN!" The group of bunned girls cried, "Kick her ass!"
'Kin' grinned at her supporters and prepared herself to return another service ball.
"15 all!" the brunette yelled and swung her racket forward. Her ball stretched across the court and over the service box.
"Out!" Kin declared.
"NEJI!" A loud voice sliced through his concentration. "I won!"
The boy whipped around to see his panting but victorious eight year old cousin with a gold medal around her neck. "Congratulations."
"What?" Hanabi glared, gratefully accepting a bottle of water from Natsu. "That's it? I busted my butt out there!"
Neji didn't falter. "I saw. You performed well, considering the lack of good advice."
Hinata peered slyly at Neji. Clearly, he copied her remarks to placate her sister. Hanabi didn't notice, however.
"I know, right? I'm thinking about switching coaches. I don't like how this guy can't handle me. He just freezes up! I mean, what? I'm the one that's playing out there…," Hanabi was assembling her bags while Natsu and Hinata were preparing to uproot their spot on the lawn. Neji didn't make a move to leave.
"Let's go, Neji!" the youngest Hyuuga whined, "I want to get ice cream! I'm so hot!"
The boy glanced back at the court next to his cousin's abandoned one. "Wait a moment. This game is about to end."
Hanabi strode over next to him and even Hinata followed his gaze.
"Ouuu, Neji! Do you have a crush?" Hanabi jibed, poking her cousin with the head of her racket. Neji brushed the metal off his arm.
"No, just watch."
Tenten was serving again. "Deuce!"
The ball darted across net, but with diminished speed and force. It was obvious that the server was exhausted.
Kin returned the ball and shuffled to the center. The point continued effortlessly for the Girl With The Ponytail, who was prolonging the game to tire out her opponent. Tenten was forced to fetch balls left and right, exacerbating the wound on her knee. Seeing an opening, Kin wound up her forehand to hit another winner.
To Tenten's credit, she made an honest attempt to track down the ball. She stretched her arm forward, hit her left feet on the back of her right shin, staggered, and plunged to the ground. The concrete court did nothing to cushion her fall. When she elbowed herself up, Neji saw two matching vibrant red wounds on the meat of her palms from bracing herself on impact.
That sealed the deal. He wasn't aware how many games they played or how many sets transpired, but the underdog just injured her hands. Although Neji was no expert, he was certain that those appendages were pretty essential in racket sports.
Fate was not favoring Tenten today. This was unfortunate, since there was even a point when she started to convince Neji otherwise. She was fighting so hard and that aura she had...
"Get up!" a deep voice bellowed from the stands. Neji searched for the owner of the command and found a man garbed in monochrome green, standing next to his mini-me.
Tenten, also, searched the audience. She stared at the man in green with an unreadable expression on her face. She turned to glimpse at her wounds and then back to the spectators surrounding her. With the conclusion of Hanabi's match, the crowds merged to encompass the brunette's court and swelled in size.
In a blink, Tenten's eyes unexpectedly flashed to the lawn and instantly connected with Neji's. Although he was caught staring, he didn't look away and neither did she.
White on amber. Amber on white.
Neji never met anyone with eyes so deceptively mundane that it masked the depth it actually possessed. They held each other's gaze longer than strangers should. He didn't understand why, but he nodded at her. Tenten seemed to decipher what Neji meant in that pithy gesture (because he sure as heck didn't) and nodded right back, squaring her jaw, and pushing herself up. The fire reignited in her eyes. It was back on - in more ways than one.
Tenten trained her vision intently at the ground and started mouthing words under her breath. Her fingers gripped the end of her baggy shorts and ripped two strips of fabric from the bottom hem. Methodically, she wrapped each makeshift bandage around her palm and tied a knot using her teeth. Meanwhile, her opponent delivered a tennis ball to her side of the court in the form of a smash. Tenten stalked over to collect it in her scrappily doctored hands before retreating to the left side of the center mark.
"Ad out!" She announced, flinging the ball behind her head. This time, Tenten bent her knees and jumped up to meet the ball prematurely, catching it on its left side and sent it hurling towards Kin. As soon as her ball touched the ground, it twisted up to meet her opponent in the face. The taller teen yelped, shutting her eyes and bringing up her racket in time to block the flying projectile.
Tenten was already on the right side of the center mark, bouncing another ball on the ground with her racket. Kin's supporters howled in contempt while their friend assumed a stance across from the other player.
"Deuce!" the brunette hollered, propelling a ball to the opposing side. It was a fast, flat serve which she followed by charging to the net.
The sudden change in tactics threw Kin off guard and she returned the incoming tennis ball straight to her opponent. Tenten, with cat-like reflexes, jutted the face of her racket in front of her body and put the ball away.
From the fury on Kin's face, Neji could tell she did not expect Tenten to rush forward. While the Girl With The Ponytail remained silent, glaring daggers at her opponent, her fans were screeched bloody murder.
The brunette tucked a strand of hair behind her ears from the baseline. She uncovered the last tennis ball in her pocket and bounced it on the ground three times. "Ad in!" Releasing the green projectile into the air, Tenten served what she hoped to be her last point.
The spectators seemed to collectively hold a deep breath as they watched the ball alternate between the two sides of the court. Even the once disruptive Kin supporters fell silent. Neji watched as the two teenage girls sprinted, pivoted, and returned hit after hit. The rally was the longest one since he started viewing their match.
Bereft from all distractions, the only noise in the immediate area came from the lone ball when it made contact with tennis strings. With the satisfying popping noise reverberating in his ears, Neji reflected how tennis was actually quite a beautiful sport. It was full of grace, reflecting the ebb and flow of two players as they responded to each other. The rally fell into a hypnotizing rhythm which lulled Neji into a trance so deep that Tenten's unexpected forehand winner took him by surprise.
As clichés would have it, the crowds went wild. The underdog turned dark horse turned champion roared in victory and punched the air with her racket. She was immediately enveloped in a bear hug by the two figures in green who vocally rooted for her during the match. As soon as they relinquished their hold, she skipped over to Kin, who was waiting by the umpire. Tenten smiled in good manner and extended a bandaged hand out, which her opponent accepted. It was terse, but the sportsmanship was evident. Next, brunette clasped hands with the umpire and returned to the center of the court where she bowed deeply at the audience. She jumped in a full circle, energetically waving at the clapping attendees and squinting her eyes to search for one person.
"Winner of the Konoha's Junior Girl's Tennis Tournament for the age 14 bracket, Tenten Long! 3-6, 6-4, 6-4!"
The victorious girl graciously accepted the gold medal with a smile, but couldn't help feeling unsatisfied when she couldn't locate the handsome boy from earlier. She was playing with the small trophy when, on the opposite side of the park, just exiting the gates, Hanabi was doing the same.
"What an incredible point and huge upset," the youngest Hyuuga gushed, wielding the gold medal like a crown. "That was Kin Tsuchi, the number one seed and overwhelming favorite in her group who lost!"
"Who was her opponent?" Hinata asked, voicing the question on Neji's mind.
"I don't know. She's unseeded. Came out of nowhere," Hanabi shrugged and narrowed her eyes at the boy to her left, "We should've stayed to find out."
Neji, who was actually the first person to turn his heels when the hordes of people rushed forward after the finale of the match, smirked at his relative. "We have things to do," he noticed the glare, "and ice cream to eat."
Immediately forgetting her ire, Hanabi raced to the black Mercedes Benz parked at the curb. Natsu was already holding out the door for the three cousins. "Got that right! And you're paying!"
Neji glanced sideways at Hinata and the two cousins shared a smile.
"That was quite the youthful display of histrionics the other day," Gai Maito began, "But you still need practice in certain areas."
Tenten stared at her coach incredulously and held up two bandaged hands, "You think this was on purpose?" It was a couple of days after her injury and subsequent victory, so the wound had since convalesced and scabbed. Although Tenten was displeased about abstaining from practice, reopening injuries was never fun.
"It definitely spiced things up," the older man equivocally answered, shutting the door to his green truck.
"You can do it!" Lee, her all-but-in-blood brother, cheered loudly and slid down from the passenger seat. "I'm gonna be the fastest runner and you're gonna be the best tennis player and we're BOTH going to compete in the Olympics!"
The girl grinned at the positivity practically radiating off of Lee. Shrugging her racket bag over one shoulder and the tennis caddy over the other, she trailed behind Gai who was heading towards Mount Konoha's tennis courts.
Lee saluted a quick farewell after promising to run ten times to the crest of the mountain and back before the end of their practice. Tenten cautioned him to be careful while Gai egged him on with shuddering theatrics. Clearly, the boy only had ears for the man he drew fashion inspiration from.
"Yeah, yeah... I know I need to work on my second serves," the teen admitted before sighing, "And my game at the net."
"Good, then you know what we'll be focusing on today," Gai threw a thumbs up over his shoulder while spinning a Head racket with his other hand. "KAKASHI!" he lurched to a halt. "You're here!"
A tall, lean man around the same age as her coach stopped mid-motion from feeding a tennis ball to spare Gai a bored expression. "Yo," Kakashi continued his swing to hit the ball at his partner. "I'm always here."
That was a lie. The gray haired man only appeared when Tenten and Gai were in the midst of training to ensnare her coach's attention in a fiery competition. Every time.
"You have a pupil!" Gai exclaimed, stopping at the sidelines next to the first court.
"That I do," the other coach confirmed mildly.
Tenten had just stepped onto the hard surface when she discovered Kakashi's new trainee. The last time Kakashi had a student, he played for a couple of months before dropping the sport in favor for soccer and she never saw him again. But this boy, who was standing on the opposite side of the court, she definitely saw before.
Amber on white. White on amber.
"Neji Hyuuga. Nice to meet you."
Author's Note
I tried so hard and I hope this was enjoyable! I mean, this is my favorite couple and favorite sport we're talking about, so I'm extra hard on myself. Kudos to anyone who noticed the random easter eggs in the chapter.
I must mention that Tenten's last name "Long," is taken from the Cantonese pronunciation for the word "dragon," but also coincides with NessieGG's surname for her - so I must credit that! Anyways, thanks for reading, please review, and happy Wimbledon 2016!