Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Author's Note: The third of my Neji/Tenten fics collection (though the other two aren't finished, yet, either…). I decided to go for a more serious feel for this one, which I tried to do for Why (Hinata/Naruto), and tried to do at first for Tricks Up One's Sleeve (though I failed miserably…that's why it's got such a change in feel.) Enjoy!
Author's Note: Also, Orochimaru does not exist. Sorry. And Tenten admires Neji less. Sorry.
Summary: R&R. In the end, in his eyes, she was just a lump of existence. And she wanted to be more than that. Neji/Tenten
In Your Eyes
Chapter One: On Either End Of a Shaky Friendship
Tenten's POV
The first time I saw him, I thought he was sort of cool, and definitely mature for his age. We were in the same class, but I didn't talk to him much, only a few times in the whole time we were at the Academy, because he was well known as a prodigy and people wanted to talk to him.
The first time I talked to him after we learned that we were going to be on the same team, I was stricken with annoyance. He was smug, and dreadfully sure of his abilities…yeah, he was a prodigy, but come on! I could never get along with someone that stuck up, though I got along well with Gai-sensei and Lee.
And so the first time we sparred, I was determined to win against this guy.
I lost miserably.
By the time we received our three-man teams, I had perfected my aim, and was working on my weapons ninjutsu. I was working on Sōshōryū (Twin Rising Dragons), and was planning to try it out against him. I tried, but…
…he had an impenetrable defense. I was amazed.
So, I sort of faded from existence in his eyes, except for my use to polish his defense. And I hated that, though I knew his skill and admired it a little. I hated being a tool. Something you throw away once you get bored with it or it breaks.
So I tried hard to keep up with the endless sparring, and trying to challenge him, although I knew he could not be challenged. I wanted to be a rival, or a partner. But he was more interested in Sasuke Uchiha, or Naruto Uzumaki, or Lee.
And in the end, I was still a plain little bump of existence in his eyes.
Neji's POV
The first time I saw her, I sort of passed over her with my eyes. She didn't stand out, at all. Her grades weren't very outstanding, although she didn't slack off and I noticed she tried hard. But it seemed as if she and I were in two different worlds, so we stayed apart, and I hardly talked to her.
The first time I talked to her after I learned we were going to be on the same team, I wasn't impressed. But although she wasn't a beauty, such as Sakura Haruno or Ino Yamanaka, she was pretty. But sort of a plain, common pretty, and I didn't notice this much.
Though the first time we sparred, I was moderately impressed.
She had unique techniques, involving weapons, and she had perfect aim. Though I only thought of this as a chance to perfect my Kaiten.
She was useful, and I felt protective of her only as a teammate. She wasn't much of a challenge, seeing as there were others such as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki and Lee.
And in the end, she was only that.
Tenten's POV
I always remembered his birthday. I would spend hours pouring over shop merchandise, sometimes going to Hinata for some ideas. Then I would buy something, in my price range, that just happened to be something he did not care for in the least. But what would he care for in the least, anyway?
He never remembered my birthday. I didn't care, anyway…I always got the annual spandex suit from Lee and Gai, and although they always got the same thing, it counted. And I also got presents from my other friends, and my mother. So it didn't really matter.
I didn't care that he was so emotionless, and only so-so as a companion with the Youthful Duo. I had friends. After the Chuunin Exams I made friends with Sakura, and Ino, and Hinata. They were all nice, and I didn't feel envious. Boys pined over Sakura and Ino, and even though Hinata wasn't nearly as popular, she still had this adorable feel to her, and boys liked her, too. I was plain and average-looking. Though I would take muscles over slenderness any day.
But I wonder if he likes slender girls?
Neji's POV
I never had friends, and I was never interested in socializing. She had an annoying habit of trying to make a conversation with me, though there wasn't much to make a conversation out of, and it was often one-sided. But I suppose that meant something. No one else tried to.
I never remembered her birthday. I didn't think it mattered—birthdays, and holidays, and celebrations. I didn't get anything for Lee or Gai either, or any of my family members, so why would she be so special? And she seemed content enough.
She always remembered my birthday. She always got me something I didn't want—a weapons set, a new band for my hitai-ate once when it became worn, a small trinket. But it wasn't as if I got presents from anyone else, besides Lee and Gai, who always gave me a spandex suit. So I suppose that it meant something.
I wonder if I should give her something in return?
Normal POV
"Damn, my bag broke."
Tenten sighed, kneeling down and picking up all the groceries. She kicked the ground when she saw the eggs were broken, their yolks dribbling all over. She picked up the carton, put it in the ripped plastic bag, and disposed of it in a nearby trash can, wiping her hands on her pants, and picking up the rest of her load, started again for home. The apples, especially, were bruised, but luckily for her everything else was intact.
In Konoha, it was normally pretty warm, but especially in the winter it could get a little chilly, though by the middle of spring it had usually warmed up quite a bit. Today was windier than usual, but it didn't bother Tenten much, because she had already bundled up in long sleeves and a dark green scarf.
"Mom, I'm home."
"Oh, dear!" Tenten's mother went over to her daughter. "Thank you for getting the groceries…it was very helpful of you. I have a mission assignment tonight…can you manage on your own?"
"Mom, I'm fifteen. I'm fine."
"Just checking, dear." Her mother looked around. "Where are the eggs? And why don't you have a bag?"
"The darn thing broke," Tenten replied. After eyeing her for her language, her mother sighed after taking a look at the apples and relieved her daughter of her load and carried it to the kitchen. Tenten scuffed her sandals a little on the rug and looking at the yolky fronts of her pants.
Ring, ring.
"I've got it." Tenten hurried over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello? Tenten speaking."
"Hi, Tenten. I was wondering if you wanted to come over…Tsunade-sama went a little overboard on the sake yesterday…she is currently experiencing the worst hangover of her life, as she describes it. Wait—you have training today, don't you?"
"Oh—I didn't feel like it today."
"You missed training? But you must worry everyone, and doesn't Neji spar with you a lot?"
"…yeah. But I think he's okay. Anyway, when?"
"Oh. Today, anytime is fine. I'm not busy."
"Okay, thanks. See you later, then."
"Bye."
Tenten hung up the phone. It reminded her, and gave her a sickly feeling in her stomach. She knew she was going to pay later, but so far she had skipped training for three days straight and managed to avoid her teammates on the street and magically be out when they came to call on her. She wasn't sure how long this was going to hold out.
She went into her room and changed out of her yolky pants, and put on her jacket and her scarf before opening the door.
"Mom, I'm going to be out a little. I might not be home when you leave."
"Okay, dear."
"Bye." Tenten closed the door behind her.
Her steps were brisk, and the chill had pushed it way into her bones, making her teeth chatter. She wouldn't have liked training, anyway…today was one of the coldest days of the year, after all. She was sure her aim wouldn't be too rusty, or at least she hoped not.
She breathed at the air, and it clouded before her eyes. It was cold, though there was no doubt at all that her teammates were training.
"Tenten."
Tenten jumped. "N-Neji," she said nervously. I wasn't careful enough…this isn't good…
"Where have you been?"
"…sick?"
"If you're sick, you have no business being out here in the cold."
"Look who's talking." Tenten eyed Neji. He was wearing his usual garb, except he had on pants.
"So why have you been missing training?"
Tenten turned and huffed defiantly. "'Cause it's too cold to be out. Definitely too cold to train. I wouldn't get much done, anyway…Lee and Gai can help you with your Kaiten."
"…Tenten, why have you been missing training?"
"I told you, it's too friggin' cold to be outside!"
"That is not an acceptable answer. Ninja must act in all weather."
"Yes, and while that is true, they don't do it when there are warm houses and shelters around." Tenten turned. "Sorry. I'm meeting Sakura."
"No one else is skipping training, not even Uzumaki Naruto."
"…I know that."
"Then why are you?"
"…" Tenten looked hard at the ground. "Because…because…because it's not like this does anything for me! I train for you! I train to improve your Kaiten! And you make me sick!"
"…why are you acting so childishly, Tenten? What did I do to make you so angry?"
"Because…" Tenten turned and stared at him hard. "Admiration only goes so far. And you're damned conceited." She turned and strode off angrily. Neji stared after her.
Idiot boys. Tenten thought angrily. So, she had finally snapped. Sure, she was acting a little selfish, but she certainly thought she deserved to be selfish. She felt like throwing a kunai at an innocent passerby. Luckily she didn't.
She stopped at the weapons store and stared through the glass. There was two kunai there, with shining blades and at the ends, two hunks of gold shaped like two dragons, and two tassels.
She sighed. What an idiotic weapon. This was obviously for show—of course, she had nothing to show, so she wouldn't buy this. The dragon, plus the tassel would throw the kunai dreadfully off-balance, as well as slow it down if thrown, and would be a hassle to carry around besides. But the owner liked to put flashy things like this in the store window, so why should she care? She didn't even feel like going into the store today. She still felt odd.
She made her way to Sakura's place without stopping, and when she arrived knocked twice.
"Coming." Sakura opened the door. "Tenten, you're here." She stepped aside and allowed the older girl inside.
"Thanks for inviting me. Nice of you."
"Don't worry about it. Oh." Sakura looked at Tenten. "Lee told me that you've been acting strangely and haven't been showing up for training. Is something wrong?"
"O-Oh, nothing."
"Oh. Okay, then. I invited Hinata and Ino too—they're already here."
"…okay." Tenten walked over to them and sat down.
"Tenten, we were just talking—did you know that Shikamaru already got a girlfriend?" Ino asked mischievously.
"I-Ino-san!"
"Okay, so it hasn't been confirmed yet. But Shikamaru's been walking around with that girl from Suna."
"The one that beat me in the Chuunin Exams?" Tenten asked.
"Yeah. Temari. Although Shikamaru nearly beat her, if he wasn't so lazy."
"B-But he d-did be-become a C-Chuunin be-before the r-rest of us."
"Yeah, true, true. And luckily for Hinata, Naruto's finally gotten over his crush on Sakura! At last! Took him long enough to realize."
"I-Ino-san!" Hinata blushed bright red.
"Oh, sorry. But really, it's obvious to every single person in the village that you've got a crush on him! Though you could choose better, in my opinion…but anyway, except for Naruto. How naïve…he should definitely shoot for you."
"E-Eh?!"
"Ino, you should stop that, or she's going to pass out," Tenten said.
"…er, yeah."
"A-Ano, T-Tenten-san, I've heard f-from N-Neji-nii-san that y-you've been m-missing pr-practice lately."
"Does everyone know that?" Tenten groaned.
"Only people who have connections," Sakura said. "Basically everyone in the village. Lee and Gai were sprinting everywhere looking for their 'youthful flower'."
"I-I see…" Tenten sweatdropped.
"Why don't you go?" Ino asked bluntly.
"B-Because it's too cold to train!" Tenten said immediately.
"You couldn't come up with something better than that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Excuses, excuses, Tenten! You have something you're not telling us."
"You're so blunt, Ino," Sakura said.
"Okay. But I'm serious—it's way cold."
"It's not that cold—be serious, Tenten. Something is up."
"Ino, that's her business, don't poke your nose in it."
"I'm not pokin' my nose in it, I'm pokin' my ear in it."
"Same thing! Be serious, Ino!"
"I. Don't. Like. Training. With. That. Idiot."
"Eh?" Sakura looked at Tenten. "What idiot?"
"Lee? So you finally discovered he's a total weirdo?" Ino asked.
"…" Hinata continued to blush.
"Not Lee, the other idiot."
"Gai?" Ino asked. Tenten punched her.
"Don't be dense, Ino. Neji!"
"You hate Neji?" Sakura asked.
"N-Neji-nii-san?" Hinata asked.
"Well, he's just so conceited, and stuck up, and like, 'Oh, I'm King Neji, bow down to me you lowly fools! Do everything I say! Because I'm so awesome!' It's like that. He's unsociable, he hates people, he loves training and working his sparring partners to death, and quite frankly, he has this air about him that practically screams annoying."
"B-But I thought y-you a-admired N-Neji-nii-san, T-Tenten-san."
"Admiration only goes so far, Hinata! And plus, it was a practically forced admiration. Being beat every day kind of wears you down, you know?"
"I suppose." Sakura sighed. "I can't compete with either Naruto or Sasuke. They compete with each other…it gets really—really annoying sometimes."
"Shikamaru and Chouji are just too lazy to train seriously," Ino said. "And Shikamaru's too busy with his girlfriend and Chouji's too busy with his chips."
"Yes, you were talking about that earlier…who's this girl?"
"Oh, it's that Suna girl, you know…"
Tenten zoned out from the conversation, now that it was boring her. A couple of hours later she got up and left, and started home. She heard the shouts of Lee and Gai down the street, and decided to take a detour. By the time she got home, it was dark.
Mom's gone. Tenten walked into the kitchen. There was a note there.
Tenten,
I'll be home in a few days, hopefully. There's frozen food in the freezer. Eat your vegetables!
Hugs and Kisses,
Mom
Vegetables, huh? Tenten put the note down and grabbed a cookie and started to munch on it. Cookies had some vegetables in it, right? Maybe. She looked at the clock. Wow. 9…that late already. She walked into her room, and went into her closet, then pulled out one of her spring and summer shirts, one that was sleeveless and she wore a lot to train in. She changed out of her heavy jacket and long sleeve shirt, and put on her sleeveless one. She immediately felt cold. Walking back to the door, she pulled on her sandals and ran outside, locking the door. Then she continued to run through the deserted streets of Konoha, urging herself to run faster.
Run faster, and you'll warm up, Tenten urged herself. She was still shaking, but she still went faster. She arrived at her favorite weapons throwing spot in a matter of minutes. She stopped, then counted to see if all her weapons were there, and lined up the targets.
Tenten, you're not fast enough—faster, faster! You need to get faster! Tenten threw kunai and senbon and shuriken at the targets with lightning speed, sometimes using her weapons scroll on multiple targets. Faster! Quicker!
She stopped, feeling a tiredness coming to her, and looked at her watch. It was 12:30. She wasn't done yet. She walked over to the vending machine and slipped a coin into the slot. A can popped out. She picked it up, snapped open the lid, and drank. It was coffee, the black unsweetened kind that she didn't like, but it had the caffeine to make her go a little longer. After all, she had a drive. Maybe not as much as Lee's, but a drive nonetheless.
A drive to challenge Neji Hyuuga while they sparred. And because of that, she was even willing to drink black unsweetened and bitter coffee with caffeine in it.
After finishing the can, she tossed it into the garbage can and lined up her targets and her weapons again. Her muscles were trembling—she didn't know if it was cold, or excitement, or the caffeine. She ran forward again.
Tenten, go faster, faster! That's Neji—he's putting up his Kaiten—Tenten, faster—you missed it, you idiot, you missed it! He's coming to get you! Faster, Tenten, you've got another chance, don't miss it, don't miss it!