Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the characters, themes, etc.

Behind Those Sheets of White

A NejiTen Fanfiction

Chapter One

"Well, that should do it." It was early the next morning, and Tenten was watching her kettle boil over, creating a huge mess and burn marks on some parts of the floor and counter. Just in case anyone decided to visit and confirm her story from last night. With a weary sigh, she picked up a cloth, and, turning off the stove, began to mop up what she could of the mess, wondering if it had really been necessary.

----

"Sorry that I'm late, Neji, I…" Tenten ran into the training ground, expecting to see the Hyuuga genius waiting expectantly for her, like he did whenever she showed up late for their ritual morning training and sparring, but, to her surprise, the clearing was completely empty. She peered around, wondering if this was his twisted idea of a joke. "Neji-kun?" She frowned. It was unlike him to be late. Perhaps he stayed up too late last night, she reasoned, but a part of her knew that it wasn't the reason, but she jumped up onto her usual tree branch, and decided to wait anyways. He'll turn up. He always does.

----

"Tenten-chan!"

Tenten looked down from her tree branch, hoping to see Neji, with some valid excuse for being late, and she would accept it, and it would all be back to normal…

Lee ran into the clearing, clearly out of breath, and Tenten sagged slightly. It had been three hours, and still no Neji. She sighed, hopping down beside Lee, who was looking around, clearly confused.

"Where's Neji-kun?" he asked. Suddenly, it dawned on him. "He didn't show up?" The look on Tenten's face was enough of an answer, and Lee frowned. "How could he have just done this to our lovely blossom of youth? Just because he's fallen in love with Sakura-chan, doesn't mean that he can come and go as he pleases-"

"Lee," Tenten interrupted softly, "it's alright. I'm sure that he has his reasons. Don't worry, it'll all be fine." Seeing that Lee was about to protest, she gave him an encouraging smile, and walked in the direction of Team Gai's usual training spot. Of course he's sad, Tenten thought with a sad smile. I forgot that he had a crush on Sakura. I guess that I was too wrapped up with my own problems.

"Tenten! Let us see if we can get to the training ground in 25 seconds!" Lee had come up beside Tenten, and looked like his usual energetic self. "And, if we cannot, then we shall do 500 pushups when we get there! Are you ready? We shall do the youthf-"

"Lee," said Tenten, annoyed. "You can run all you like, but I'm saving my strength for when I actually get there."

Lee pouted for a moment, before nodding at his female teammate, and running off into the distance. "Springtime Dash of Youth!"

----

Tenten sat on the couch in her apartment, polishing her weapons. She had left training early that day, when Gai and Lee began to get 'overly youthful,' and had decided to come back to her apartment, for no reason in particular. She looked up, hearing a knock on her door. She placed down the kunai that she had been working on, and walked over to the door. "Oh, Hinata-chan!"

The Hyuuga heiress pushed her index fingers together nervously, and gave Tenten a small smile. "H-hello, Tenten-chan. I-i decided to come visit you, because I saw you through the window, and we finished training early today…"

Tenten smiled. "That's fine. Come in and have a seat, why don't you?" she asked, gesturing to the two chairs opposite her couch.

Hinata gave her a grateful smile, and sat down, eyes widening at the burn marks and stains. "Oh, my! We were wondering why you didn't come back last night. And that reminds me…" She dug in her pocket for a few moments, before pulling out a wallet. "You dropped this when you left last night," she said softly, offering it to the other kunoichi.

Tenten blinked, and took the wallet. "Arigato, Hinata-chan. I thought that I'd lost it, too."

Hinata nodded. "Also, I never got a chance to thank you for the bracelet that you got for me."

"Oh, that's fine…and, Hinata-chan?" Tenten hesitated for a moment, before deciding to ask the question that had been bothering her since this morning. "Have you seen Neji-kun anywhere today?"

The other girl gave Tenten a confused look, before shaking her head. "N-no. He left as usual this morning…didn't he go training with you?"

Tenten shook her head. "He didn't show up."

A look of surprise appeared on Hinata's face, but she quickly masked it with a nervous smile, and unconsciously began to push her index fingers together again. "Ahh…well, Neji-nii-san probably has a good reason for it, I mean, it's not something that he usually does, is it? And…" She stopped, realizing that she was babbling. "Oh…"

Tenten gave a reassuring smile, though she could tell that Hinata was as confused about Neji's disappearance as she was. "Neji is Neji, I suppose. He should be fine," she said, but deep down, she wasn't so sure. Before, she would have been completely confident in her support of her teammate, but now…she sighed. Better not to worry about it, I suppose.

----

Author's Note: This one was short again…but I'll try to update more often to make up for it. I love reviews, hearing what you think of this…you know you want to. Also, thanks to all that reviewed for the first chapter, I appreciate it!