Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine and you all know that.
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Day One, Night: Consequences
By MyFallenAngel
She was a weapon kunoichi. People knew that. And people have to be aware of her, since she was not as innocent as she shows them. At least, now she was happy.
Happily free at 6.30 PM.
Yeah, it took hell long to get free from that Tsuki woman.
She grinned as she gazed at the Hyuuga compound from a tree quite far, far away. She had managed to escape after pinning Tsuki-sensei to the wall with her sharpest set of kunais. Well, it was worth it anyway.
Nothing, and she means nothing, could compare to the sweet scent of freedom.
"Oi!" She heard a familiar voice under the tree. She looked down and smiled at the figure of Nara Shikamaru - one of her boy best friends. She leaped down and sat beside him. He frowned at her and arched his eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm having a nice, peaceful relaxation." Tenten said happily.
"I thought you were locked up in the Hyuuga's main house? Studying all that troublesome things to become..." He smirked and paused, to add a dramatic scent to his sentences, "Neji's bride?"
This time it was her who frowned. "How did you know that?"
"Of course I do." He said, yawning. "People talk about it nowadays, you know."
She whirled back and stared at him, curiosity, anxiety and confusion all in her brown eyes. "What do you mean - people?"
He stared at her. "You mean, you don't know?"
"I don't know what?" She shot back.
Shikamaru groaned. "No way!"
"What?" She demanded as she took the end of his collars and shook him desperately. "Shikamaru! Open up!"
"Jeez." He sighed as he struggled himself free. "I mean people."
"Who people?"
"All people."
"What do you mean by all?"
Shikamaru stared at her with a 'you're-annoying-me-you-troublesome-brat' look on his face. "All." He repeated solemnly.
"All?" Tenten asked, desperate to know who 'all' is.
"All." He said firmly. "All people in Konoha, okay?"
Tenten's eyes grew larger at once. "But how?" She whined.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Well," He stated skeptically, "The invitation of your wedding had gone all over the place, you know? It's open for free. The posters are everywhere. You could even see one here." He stood up and went to the back of the tree.
Tenten followed to where his finger was pointing.
And much to her horror, an invitation poster of the wedding was being pasted there.
It's a large poster.
No, it's not even large.
It's huge. Enormous. Gigantic.
"No!" She whispered loudly, and Shikamaru stared at her. "Pity you." He said gently. "It must be troublesome to get married with a man from such prestigious clan like Hyuuga, eh?"
Silence.
"Tenten?" He started curiously as he realized that the girl was stunned. He shook her shoulders. "Oi, Tenten!"
"Oh no." She whispered again.
"What?"
"Oh, no!" She shrieked.
"What?" Shikamaru demanded.
"Oh, NO!" She panicked this time.
Shikamaru glared at her but received no respond.
"OH NO!"
He was finally getting enough. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her harder, harder and harder until her eyes finally dawned on him. She stared at him innocently.
"Yes, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru groaned. "Whatever." He shrugged. "Why were you 'Oh-no'-ing some seconds ago?"
"Oh, right!" Tenten looked like that she was just zapped back to reality. "There's some Hyuuga ninjas chasing after me here." She pointed down the hill, where more than ten ninjas were running upwards. "There they are."
His eyes widened.
"Tenten-san! Tenten-san!" The guards shouted as they went closer and closer.
Tenten was stunned.
Shikamaru too.
And they were in a not-very-good position: Shikamaru's hands on Tenten's shoulder.
"Tenten-san!" A woman who Tenten quickly recognized as Tsuki appeared in front of all the ninjas. She glared at Shikamaru, which he returned with a dumb stare. "Wow, who did we find here?" She said sarcastically, "Neji-sama's fiancée with somebody who happens to be a boy!"
Shikamaru groaned, but he knew that it was way too troublesome to protest the woman's sarcasm. He quickly released Tenten's shoulder and stood there, staring at the clouds ignorantly.
"Tenten-san?" Tsuki arched her eyebrows cockily.
Tenten gasped. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry."
"Not I'm sorry!" Tsuki yelled at her. "Hyuuga girls say 'I apologize', not 'I'm sorry'! 'I'm sorry' for the weaklings!"
What? Shikamaru's ears felt numb as he listened to Tsuki's lecture on how Hyuuga girls differ from other girls.
"And who is this?" Tsuki turned her attention to Shikamaru, who immediately noticed the glare on the woman's eyes. He glared right back, and Tenten nudged his waist. Hard. "Are you, by any chance, Tenten-san, cheating on Neji-sama?"
"No!" Tenten said, feeling dejected. "I'm not cheating with him!"
"I demand a full explanation at the compound." Tsuki said, ignoring Tenten's full pleading and Shikamaru's smirks. She guarded them to the Hyuuga main house and harshly pushed the two inside Hiashi's meeting room.
Tsuki knelt in front of Hiashi. "I apologize for taking your time, Hiashi-sama." She said politely, "But we have a situation here. Tenten-san was just found with this boy, having physical interaction outside the Hyuuga compound. She had managed to escape from private studies and pinned me against the wall."
Physical interaction, physical interaction! Why did she make it sound so serious?
Hiashi turned to Tenten and Shikamaru, both standing awkwardly in the room. Tenten was biting her lips, playing her kunai, which she hid behind her robe, while Shikamaru was examining the room with an annoyed look on his face.
"Tsuki, you may leave." Hiashi said firmly, and the woman left without saying anything in denial. He turned to look closely at Tenten and Shikamaru. "Now, Tenten? I want to hear an explanation. Is this a boy from the Nara clan?"
"Yes, he is, Hiashi-sama." Tenten said, nodding quietly before Shikamaru can say anything.
"What are you doing with him?" He interrogated, still firmly.
"We were... just talking, Hiashi-sama."
"Hmm. I see. What's your relationship with this Nara boy, Tenten?"
Tenten looked down. "We're best friends."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Well..." Hiashi breathed heavily. "We should just wait Neji's complications of this."
"Ne-Neji's?" Tenten looked bothered, but she hid it cleverly when Hiashi turned his attention to her.
"Yes." The Hyuuga Clan leader said. He knocked on the door and it slid open, revealing a servant. "Send Neji here." He told the servant clearly, firmly, and he disappeared.
Seconds of silence passed, and Tenten was very thankful that Shikamaru stayed quiet. Not long after that, a knock was heard and the door slid open again, this time revealing a Neji behind it.
He looked surprised to see Tenten and Shikamaru inside, but nevertheless he stood and knelt before his uncle.
"What is it, Hiashi-sama?" He asked calmly.
"Raise, dear Neji." Hiashi said and Neji rose up, staring at Tenten, which she returned with a 'please-help-me' look on her face. The clan leader placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder and started, "Tsuki had seen your fiancée having physical interactions with this boy from the Nara clan. Do you, or do you not, have anything to say on that?"
"Physical interaction?" Neji repeated as he gazed at Shikamaru, who was really, really silent by now. "Shikamaru is Tenten's friend."
"She said they're best friends." Hiashi interrupted, and Neji quickly said, "Yes, yes. I mean best friends, Hiashi-sama."
"Nara... What's your name? Shikamaru, isn't it?" Hiashi turned to the Nara boy. "I need to ask you some questions."
Oh, please, no. Tenten thought, but she knew there's no way to go against Hiashi-sama's will.
"Are you, or are you not, against the wedding of Tenten and my nephew?"
Tenten blushed when hearing this, Neji smirked silently, while Shikamaru silenced.
Silence. A real awkward silence.
"Well?" Hiashi arched his eyebrows, not satisfied with the silent attitude of the Nara boy.
Tenten eyed Shikamaru with an urgent look in her eyes. She then realized something, more to her horror than to her happiness - he was sleeping. Soundly. Peacefully. Whatever. But he was dozing off!
Her jaw dropped. She was about to hold out a hand and shake Shikamaru furiously, but she stopped when she remembered that physical interactions were her problem. The reason why she was here with a dozing Shikamaru, a very firm Hiashi, and a quite pissed off Hyuuga Neji.
She eyed Neji, pleading for help. He received her signal and walked to his uncle. "Hiashi-sama?" He asked, "I think I need to go back right now."
Wha?
"Oh, all right." Hiashi waved his hand to dismiss his nephew.
Neji walked out of the room, leaving Tenten stricken by horror.
He's abandoning me! She thought madly, leaving a mental note to kill him afterwards. Well, if she lives pass this interrogation, that is.
She stood up, exhausted after kneeling for more than fifteen minutes. "Hiashi-sama." She said as she moved closer to Shikamaru and kicked him awkwardly to wake him up - which he did, thankfully. "I'm sor- I apologize. This will never happen again."
"I heard you, Tenten." Hiashi said sternly. "I don't want to hear anything of this again next time." Shikamaru yawned as he strectched his back, but Hiashi took no attention on this. Tenten, who by now was actually very pissed off too, had taken his full attention.
"Alright." Tenten nodded.
"Can you promise me that?"
"Yes."
"And can you promise me to not abandon your study periods with Tsuki, ever again?"
"Yes." She replied, although hesitantly.
"And to never meet with Nara Shikamaru until you are fully wed to Neji?"
Her eyes widened in horror.
"Can you?"
"... Fine." She whispered.
"Then you're dismissed." Hiashi waved his hand, and Tenten gladly flew away from the room, Shikamaru following behind her.
"That was way troublesome." The shadow boy said as soon as they arrived outside. He yawned again. "I can't believe he forbade you to do that sort of things, Tenten."
"I know!" Tenten whined. "I'm going to kill Neji!"
Shikamaru frowned. "I'll be going then." He said, waving his hand.
"Wait!" Tenten grabbed his arm and stopped him. She immediately let go of him when he turned back, arching his eyebrows as in asking, "What?"
"I just want to ask you something." She confessed.
"Yeah?"
"When will the wedding be?"
Shikamaru arched his eyebrows again. "You don't know?" In his voice was disbelief and amusement.
Tenten nodded. "Neji won't tell me." She said angrily. "He keeps everything to himself, that boy! If you're invited, then you must know the right date, right?"
"... It's around a week from now." Shikamaru frowned. "How come you don't know?"
"A week?" Tenten shouted.
Shikamaru took a step backwards. "Yeah."
"NO WAY!"
"Well, I'll let you deal with your shock. Bye!" The shadow boy ran off, leaving Tenten in her confusion.
But oh no, Tenten was not going to lose that easily. She caught up with him. "I need your help." She said quickly, stopping him once more.
"... Well?"
"Rip ALL posters of the wedding." She hissed. "Please."
"All?"
"All." Tenten said surely. "Please, Shikamaru? Pretty please?" She gave him puppy eyes, which she knew he could never reject. Much to her happiness, he nodded aimlessly after muttering a "How troublesome." Under his breath.
"Goodbye, then." He waved his hand and walked away.
"Thanks!" Tenten called after his back, and stormed off to the private training grounds the Hyuugas had. She was definitely going to kill Neji - that is, if she can. He's much stronger than she was; she knew that for a fact already.
"Neji!" She screamed at him when she finally arrived at his side.
He looked at her questioningly.
"You are so, so, so dead!"
Neji raised his eyebrows. "I'm alive." He said sarcastically.
Tenten snickered at his reply. She stomped at him again, and held up her hand to slap him. He easily took her hand and held it hard, not letting her go.
"You lose." He smirked.
Tenten tried her best to ignore that somehow charming smile. Charming, but deadly annoying! "Why did you leave me like that?" She demanded crossly.
"I know you could deal with Hiashi-sama." was his reply.
"But I need your help!"
"You didn't. That's why you're here." He said calmly. "I trust you."
Trust.
Trust.
Trust.
Tenten's eyes twitched.
Did Neji just say trust?
Since when did he start trusting people?
"Is that you, Neji?" She asked hesitantly.
He smirked. "Who else it might be?" He shot back.
"Did you just say that you trust me?"
"Yeah. So what?"
"Did you really mean that?" Tenten asked urgently. It was not often for Neji to trust, and when he did come to trusting people, she never thought it was her who will get his trust.
He blushed a very little glow of red. "Yeah." he said and quickly made an effort in changing the subject, "But why were you having 'physical interactions' with Shikamaru?"
"Damn you, Neji. Don't bring that up!"
"Ah. Be prepared."
"Huh?" Tenten stared at him, taken aback by his sudden weird words. Be prepared? For what?
"Everything had their own consequences, Tenten." He said quietly, making his way to her, "And dealing with me also had its own consequences."
He leaned in and kissed her forehead lightly. "Goodnight." He smirked and left Tenten.
Tenten blushed.
"Goodnight." She replied, but apparently he was gone.
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I can't help OOCness! (sigh) I think Neji was somehow OOC in some parts up there. What do you think?
Review please!
Thanks!