Sakura-Chan: OK! Here's the second chapter of the new and improved version of 'Country Meets City' AKA 'Meadow Maidens Meet Money Making Men'! I hope you like it!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR THE SONG 'TOMOE'! Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and Clamp owns the song 'Tomoe'.


Meadow Maidens Meet Money Making Men

By Sakura-Chan555

Chapter 2

Tomoe (To My Friend)


"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?!" Tenten exclaimed. They were walking to the cottage that they lived in, and believe me, it's HUGE!

'I can't believe I actually liked him too!' Tenten thought to herself.

"I know! Bullying poor Hinata-Chan like that…We should show 'em what we're really made of!" Ino exclaimed, while raising a fist. Sakura just gave Hinata a caring hug and Tenten sweat dropped.

"Uh, I don't think that's necessary, Ino-Chan." Tenten said with a nervous laugh. Ino pouted at Tenten.

"Don't worry about a thing, Hinata-Chan. They might come over to the cottage and try to apologize!" Sakura said, trying to cheer Hinata up.

"Thanks, you guys." Hinata said quietly. Her friends heard her and smiled. Hinata smiled back. They had already reached the cottage and Sakura unlocked the door and she and her friends entered.

"WOW! Can you believe how many apples that we picked today from Hinata's tree?!" Ino exclaimed, once they put down the numerous baskets of apples on a table.

"I know! We usually get this much during the fall!" Hinata exclaimed. Sakura, Ino, and Tenten could tell that Hinata was in a better mood.

"What are we gonna do with all of these apples?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know." Tenten said.

"I know! We can always give half of the apples to the kids that come every month and keep the rest to ourselves! You know how they love our fresh fruits!" Ino said with a big smile on her face. If you're wondering who these kids are, they are four very poor orphans the girls found while they were exploring the meadow on their own. They saw how hungry and thirsty they were and felt really bad for them. So, they took them to the cottage and offered them some of their fruits, homemade drinks and some clothing that wouldn't fit them, but would most likely fit the kids. Ever since that day, they've come every month for more of their hospitality.

"That's a great idea! But by the time they get here, the apples would have already spoiled." Tenten said. Sakura and Hinata sighed in unison.

"I guess we're gonna have to give these to the local market." Sakura said sadly. To these girls, one of the things they hate the most, other than outsiders, is going to the local market. They HATE having to sell whatever they have and get nothing in return.

"No we won't! We'll keep these apples fresh until the kids come next month! Besides, if we've done it before, then we'll do it again!" Ino said with determination.

"Okay, I guess we can do that. But before the sun sets, what are we gonna do?" Sakura asked.

"Umm…We could always tidy up!" Hinata suggested.

"But the place is already clean!" Tenten exclaimed.

"I guess we're gonna have to go outside and run around in the fields like we were doing earlier." Sakura said.

"OK! Let's go!" Tenten exclaimed. Her friends sweat dropped.


While the girls were making sure that everything was nice and neat around the cottage, the guys heard EVERYTHING the girls said (A/N: STALKERS!) and thought that they might be in a better mood than they were earlier.

"Maybe when they open the door, Neji can apologize right then and there!" Naruto said.

"It's better than stalking them, I guess." Shikamaru said. So when the girls opened the door, they saw that the guys were right, at their front door.

"Oh. It's just you guys." Tenten sneered.

"I just wanted to apologize to Hinata. About earlier by the apple tree. I had no idea that it would shake her up that much." Neji explained.

"I-It's O-OK N-Neji! I-I t-totally u-understand!" Hinata said with a smile.

"OK! Now that everyone's happy, let's go! The more time we waste talking, the less time we have to run around! So let's MOVE!" Tenten said, getting impatient.

"Wait. You guys can run around in those skirts?" Neji asked in astonishment. But by the time Neji finished his question, the girls had already started running around, laughing.

"I would take that as a yes." Naruto said.

"Why don't we run around with them? I mean, we don't have to go back to the city RIGHT now." Sasuke suggested. His friends nodded and started running after the girl they admired most.


"Hey girls, the guys are running after us!" Sakura exclaimed.

"TO THE TREES!" exclaimed Tenten. They all split and ran to four different trees, which had their favorite fruit and were surrounded by their birth flower and herb. Tenten was the first to get to her tree. It was a tangerine tree and when she looked up, she smiled and started to climb it. Tangerines were her favorite fruit, even though they weren't as sweet as oranges. When Tenten got to the top, she sat down on one of the branches and started to gaze down at the daffodil and rose hip garden beneath her. The daffodil is Tenten's birth flower and has been her favorite type of flower, since there were some species in China, one of her main interests, besides weapons and her friends. The rose hip is her birth herb and is said that it is the fruit of a rose, which makes Tenten feel a little bit special, since the rose symbolizes love. She started to sway her feet back and forth as she enjoyed the cool breeze that hit her face. According to her older sister, Tomiko, air was her Native American sign of the north. Her south sign was water, seeing that since she was born on March 9, she was born under the constellation, Pisces, which in Latin means 'Fishes' and fish live in the water. She stopped swaying her feet back and forth and decided to sing a song. She chose a song that she used to sing to herself or her friends to make them feel better after having a bad day. She called it 'Tomoe', which in Japanese means 'To My Friend'.

Kumo ma ni odoru Hikari

Zonge ni furi sosogu kisetsu ima hajimaru

Kake yoru tomo no koe ni

Furimukeba soko ni itsumo kawararu egao

Soshit hizashi wa kagayaku

Fugu no ite michi wo yuku toki

Saige nai hagemashi ni

Iku no tasukerareta darou

Kimi no you kimi no you ni fuuki kureru hito deitai yo

Neji had already climbed Tenten's tree and was standing on a branch, not far from Tenten, but close enough her sing. Then, Tenten began singing again.

Haruka ni tsutsuku Michi no

Yuki saki wa kumo no kanata e to nobotte yuku

Itsushika michi wa hanare

Sore zore no mirai aruiki hajimeru toki mo

Kitto hizashi wo kagayaku

Yume niyaburete kuzutsuita toki

Tasuke ai sasae au

Tomo dachi de ite hoshii yo

Kimi no tame ni kimi no tame ni chikara ni naru hito deyo

Warau toki noo naku toki nimo

Gogatsu no hizashi no you ni

When Tenten finished her song, she sighed and continued to look into the distance. That's when she heard someone clapping from behind her. She turned around and saw Neji.

"NEJI! W-What are you doing here?!" Tenten asked in astonishment. She had no idea that he was listening to her.

"Just heard someone singing and decided to see who it was." Neji said smoothly. Tenten blushed and looked into the distance again. Neji sat down next to her. There was a deep silence between the two of them.

"Where did you learn how to sing like that?" Neji asked, breaking the silence. Tenten kept looking into the distance and then closed her eyes.

"Well, it goes way back to when I was still a little girl." Tenten said, opening her eyes, only to reveal a sad expression instead of the happy, confident expression she usually has.

Flashback

Six year old Tenten was practicing her aim in the 'training' area, when she saw her older sister, Tomiko, running towards her with a very happy expression on her face.

"Guess what Tenten-Chan?!" said twelve year old Tomiko. She had brown eyes, that were darker than Tenten's eyes, and brown wavy hair that was shoulder length and had a Keroppi clip in her hair.

"What is it, Tomiko-Nesan (A/N: The –nesan after Tomiko's name means older sister in Japanese.)?!" said Tenten excitedly.

"Today is the day Oka-san (Mother) and Oto-san (Father) are going to let me teach you how to sing!" Tomiko exclaimed.

"Are my friends gonna learn too?" Tenten asked. She didn't like to learn things without her friends.

"Of course, Tenten-Chan! Ami-Chan and Yumi-Chan are gonna help too!" Tomiko exclaimed, while referring to two of Sakura's older sisters that were Tomiko's age. Tenten started jumping up and down with joy.

"YAY! This is gonna be fun!" Tenten exclaimed.

End of flashback

"It was a lot of fun too. The first language we had to learn was Japanese. It wasn't that hard, since we are Japanese. Later on, when we got better singing in Japanese, we moved on to different languages. Our second language was English." Tenten said.

'I wish Tomiko-Nesan could see how much I've grown.' Tenten thought to herself. Neji noticed her sad expression and gave her a hug. Tenten was a little shocked, but hugged back.

"Domo Arigatou (Translation: Thank you), Neji." Tenten said quietly.

"You're welcome." Neji responded. And they both looked into the distance together.


Sakura-Chan: Well? What did you think of it? Was there enough NejiTen fluffiness? Lt me know in the reviews! And no flames please! Ja ne!