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A Peachy Surprise

Chapter 2: Tension


Neji sipped his coffee mechanically, his mind once again returning to who the girl was.

He wondered when he should ask her.

The only thing he could have done last night was provide her with a warm place to sleep. But what was he suppose to do now?

He had to figure out who she was and take her back home.

That kind of worried him, what if she didn't have a home?

Neji sighed dramatically, only allowing such a sound to come out because he was in the privacy of his home.

His attention immediately turned to the irregular sound of footsteps.

The little girl seemed to bounce into the room, landing in the chair across from him.

Neji slowly lowered the mug from his mouth and set it on the table.

"Good morning." Neji would have dropped anime style if he didn't have so much self control in front of people.

Her comment was so casual, it was odd to hear that when she had just stayed at a stranger's house.

How could she be so calm when she didn't even know who he was?

Neji nodded for his greeting.

The smaller lavender eyes scanned the room before spotting a loaf of bread. Her eyes looked carefully at him and then turned back to the loaf.

"Go ahead." He grumbled, unable to contain the frustration he was feeling.

Who was she and why did she come here?

She got up to get the bread and Neji noticed she was only wearing her wet clothing from last night. She also wasn't wearing the appropriate clothing for fall, the current season.

She spread some peanut butter on the bread before taking her seat again.

Neji watched her over the rim of his mug, pressuring her with his eyes to talk.

She hungrily chewed the sandwich, not bothering to look at him.

Neji wondered when the last time she ate was. How long had she been outside? How long has she been alone?

She finally looked up; his expression seemed to affect her because her last swallow was quite slow.

"Thank you for letting me stay last night." She looked down when she said this, like she had the night before.

He once again put down his cup, waiting for her to continue.

"You want to know who I am." She said quietly.

It sounded to Neji that she was hurt by saying that.

He nodded, not wanting to upset her by anything he said.

"My name is Momoko." Neji couldn't stop watching her, not understanding what her name was suppose to mean to him.

"Peach child?"

She only nodded at the meaning of her name.

Neji waited for her to continue, but she never did.

"Why are you here?" Momoko flinched at his words.

Did he know who she was and didn't want her here?

Her mom had never told her much about her father, how was she suppose to know if he hated her?

For the first time Momoko was beginning to regret coming to see her father.

She looked up as she felt that powerful gaze on her.

"Do you know Tenten?" She thought it was pain that appeared in his expression, but it was gone so quickly it was hard to tell.

"Yes." He said quietly, watching her expression more now.

She didn't want to ask how he knew Tenten, but she didn't want to be blunt about it all.

Looking at him again, she knew he would want it put bluntly instead of her dragging on.

"She's my mother." Her gaze drifted downward, unable to see if he made the connection.

"Congratulations." His sarcastic tone was evident.

Her eyes widened and she stared at him incredulously, not understanding how he could be sarcastic about this.

"Continue." He said sternly.

"You're my father." She whispered, part of her wishing he would never hear and she could return home as if nothing ever happened.

His hearing surprised her because he had heard her, but his reaction was not what she expected.

His lavender eyes were squinted slightly as he glared at his coffee mug.

"Neji…" It felt strange saying his name, a name she was never allowed to speak at home.

The only thing which seemed to crumble her mom's good moods was the mention of Neji Hyuga.

He held up his head to stop her from saying anymore.

"Do you have any proof?" Momoko glared at Neji, angry that he wouldn't accept any of this until he had to.

Neji returned the glare tenfold, making hers look pathetic.

"That's not what I meant." She looked down at the floor after he said that, unable to meet his gaze.

"I believe you, but that doesn't mean the facts should be forgotten."

She had no idea what to say, thankfully the doorbell rang and she didn't have to answer.

Neji lightly placed his mug in the sink before walking toward the door. Momoko followed, not too closely though.

She looked at his hair, noticing that her hair color may be closer to his than her mother's. She just thought her hair was a darker shade of her mother's, not bothering to think it may be the same as her father's.

"Cecilia." Neji greeted the woman at the door.

Her wavy dirty blonde hair was falling out of it professional bun and her glasses were slipping down her nose.

The lady couldn't answer, too busy catching her breath and trying to organize the pile of papers she held.

Momoko glared at the woman, hating her only because she had come to her father's home.

Was she dating Neji?

That thought provoked more angry expressions.

"Who's this?" The lady bent down to look her in the face after she had given the papers to Neji.

Momoko had to admit that if the lady put out her finger, she was going to bite it.

"His daughter." She replied haughtily, before her father could answer.

The woman stepped back quickly, almost losing her balance on the top step.

"I'll get these things done as soon as possible." Neji said calmly, but his tone suggested that she would get a talking to afterwards.

For some reason that made Momoko quite happy. Perhaps it was because her father would be giving her attention.

"That's it? After I walked all the way up here you aren't even going to invite me in for some tea." Cecilia looked up with exhausted eyes.

"If I let you in I wouldn't have any tea left." Momoko looked from the exhausted lady to her calm father.

"I don't drink that much." Cecilia said with a frown.

Neji replied to her comment with a snort like sound.

"Fine. I prefer the office tea anyway." She turned around suddenly, not bothering to look back as she made the long walk down the driveway and front steps.

Neji just shut the door, not affected at all by the girl who was muttering rude comments under her breath.

Once the door was closed, he walked past her and into the living room. Momoko was still trying to memorize where every room was.

"She's my secretary." Neji said before she could ask.

"What kind of secrets does she keep?" She asked, keeping a watchful eye on his expression in case he lied.

The right corner of Neji's mouth twitched, as if he was going to smile.

"No, no. She keeps everything organized for me at the office." Momoko nodded her understanding.

There was a long pause, the only one moving was Neji placing his pile of documents on the small table.

"What are you doing here?" Neji let his expression only show a little confusion.

"My mom had to go away and there was no where else for me to stay. She couldn't bring me to the door though…" Neji knew she meant because things were not quite right between Tenten and him.

He also knew that she was lying.

She was better at lying then Tenten, but he could still see she wasn't telling all the truth.

He would have to contact Tenten later, somehow.

He hadn't talked to her in six years, not since she had left him.

Neji thought about it again, wondering if he should contact Tenten. She would contact him if she was looking for her daughter, he would definitely be one of the options where her daughter would run to.

He would tell Hinata, she could go and see if Tenten was looking for Momoko.

He couldn't help but be angry at Tenten. She never told him she had a baby, his or not he would have wanted to know.

He had a right to know.

Neji turned his lavender eyes to the little girl, noticing now that she was definitely around the age six.

"Well then, how long do you need a place to stay?" The girl smiled suddenly, almost an exact replica of Tenten's.

The reaction also proved that she had been nervous about whether or not he would accept her explanation of coming here.


Neji thought he was going to die.

Well he was being a little dramatic, but he thought the situation deserved a little drama.

How did all the other fathers do it?

How could they actually find an outfit for their daughter in all of this?

Neji looked up and down the long store, unable to decide where to start.

Momoko stood right beside him, equally confused.

He couldn't even imagine Tenten coming to one of these stores to find a few outfits for her daughter.

"See any you like?" He had decided to bring her shopping because she needed new clothing, especially for the cold weather coming up.

Momoko walked very slowly to the first display table of children clothing.

Neji followed a few seconds afterwards, wondering why she wasn't picking up any shirts to inspect.

"This one is nice." Seriously he had no idea what was the difference between each outfit.

Momoko looked up nervously, not at the outfit but at him.

"Pick whatever you want." He encouraged, though he was hoping she wouldn't go over board with the outfits she wanted.

It wasn't that he didn't have the money; he just didn't like to show off that money or change his lifestyle because he was richer than others.

"It's ugly." She smiled while wrinkling her nose.

"Than pick your own." That seemed to be the last push because she purposely walked over to the next table.

Neji sat down on one of the seats in the store, letting his gaze fall away from the many outfits.

He eventually gave up and decided just to scan the room.

It was odd the variety of people in here, surprisingly most of them were men. There were some that just picked the first outfits on the display, while others made their children try on many outfits before taking a pick.

He spotted Momoko fast walking over to him, only carrying five outfits. He smiled inwardly; she obviously didn't want to have many outfits to pick from. She just wanted enough for each day of the week.

"Nice pick."

Neji could still sense the tension between them and he didn't understand why it was there.

He understood why Momoko would want to come and meet him, since he was supposedly her father, but he couldn't make sense of why she would keep so much distance.

He had bought her new clothing and was allowing her to stay at his place.

Why would there be tension between them?

Neji looked at the little girl who was walking many steps behind him, as they walked out of the mall.

He slowed his pace and so did she, still maintaining a distance and trying to be inconspicuous about it.

Neji smirked as he continued his walking, returning to his usual strides.

He knew that tension would fade; no one could ignore the charm of Neji Hyuga.

Especially his family.


I really didn't know how to end this chapter. Next chapter I'm going to focus on getting a relationship built between Neji and Momoko, even if it is small.

Please review. Matashda,

Byakugan Hyuga