2nd chapter

Summary: Tenten, Neji. Neji, Tenten. They are enemies by nature and lovers by heart. Neither knows of their feelings, let alone the feelings of the other. This is their story.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Never was, never will be.

"Speaking"

"Thinking"

Flashback/ Emphasis


The Time That Has Passed

At 6am exactly, Neji woke up and started his morning meditation. At 6:30, he changed his clothes and went to the dining room for something to eat. At 6:45, he started his excessive training, until it was 12:45. He then ate lunch, usually an onigiri or some dango, before he resumed his training, until it was 9:45. After that, he ate dinner, meditated some more, and then went to sleep. This schedule was constant, unless the Hokage summoned him for a mission.

It was around 10:50pm. Neji was at the dojo, trying to perfect his Byakugan. He breathed heavily. His long, brown hair, in its low ponytail flowed behind him, as he swapped stances with perfect precision. His forehead, wrapped in bandages, was matted with sweat and his forehead protector was thrown askew. He knew that he had reached his limit. He knew that his chakra was coming to an end, but he still pushed himself. Although it was everyday that he grew tired, today was slightly different.

It had been two years since she said those 3 words. The words which he thought nothing of until now. He started extensive training to improve. Without her. She had always helped him perfect his moves. She received Jyuuken after Jyuuken and didn't even complain once. She was sent to the hospital many times, not uttering a single word of complaint. Still, he hated her.

She was whiny about extra long training hours. She was mean to him, even though he didn't know why. And don't forget the most irritating of all, her tardiness.

Not once, was she on time. She scolded him thoroughly for being late by 2 minutes, which was because of a meeting. She held an arrogant air around her, when she was with him, which changed to a bright, cheery aura every time he was at least a 10 metre radius away from her. He didn't mind her, when they were 4, but as they grew older, he learnt to hate her. A lot.

Most of the hatred wasn't explainable. It was mostly because she hated him, which made him hate her. She lost her happy air around him when they were 5 and it darkened. For no reason in particular, or to the extent of his knowledge.

He didn't want this hatred. That was for sure, but, gradually, the hatred turned to something else. Something that he couldn't put a name to.

"What is this feeling?" Neji thought, as he sunk down into unconsciousness.


"La la la," Tenten sung, as she threw in random ingredients to make her dinner. She was doing whatever she could to forget the bastard who dismissed her so prudently. she finally looked at her hands to see what she was chucking into her soup. A disgusting black, lumpy, bubbly concoction was what she saw, reminding her of the horrible "Curry of Life" she had to eat once. Grimacing, she had half a mind to wrap it up and give it to Lee as a present.

Sighing, she dumped the whole contents of the small saucepan into the drain, hoping none of the fish that come across it, would drink it. She resolved to go and get Chinese takeaway.

The walk to the restaurant was quiet. Not many people were around. She walked the long way to the restaurant, like she always did. Picking up a box of yummy Chinese food, she hurried back to her little cozy home, which, unfortunately, held the smell of burnt chili. For the first time in her life, she took the quick way back. She passed quite a few homes, less restaurants, occasionally bumping into pupil less, purple eyed people. She was dimly aware that she was nearing the Hyuuga estate.

She passed a small green dojo, which was next to a large mansion, which she new as the Hyuuga manor. It was the first dojo she had seen in a long time. Submitting to curiosity, she looked around and used her awesome ninja skills (A/N: I always wanted to type that) to sneak in.

The dojo was dimly lit. A forehead protector was on the ground. There was no smell of metal, so she assumed that hardly anyone entered the dojo for training purposes. She stepped around, seeing strange dents, holes and craters. Moving forward a few more steps, she came across something squishy. Fleshy.

Drawing back, alarmed, a kunai in her hand, she sneaked forward soundlessly towards the thing on the floor. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she saw a person, lying in a spread-eagled position. The person had pale skin and dark brown hair. Tenten's first impression was that the person on the floor was a female. She examined the face, still wary and saw masculine features.

The person was a man, a handsome one at that. He cracked one eye open, revealing an icy white, pupil less eye. The man shot up with alarming speed. Veins around his eyes were strained. She had seen this way too many times to forget. Byakugan.

Realising who the man was, she fled from the dojo, leaving the man angry, yet slightly dazed.

"Tenten," he thought.

"Neji," the woman thought, as she sprinted head-long back home.


Aaaaand that's it.

I was gonna make the guy NOT Neji, but that would make the plot line too complicated.

Peace peeps. :D

Sky~

Oh and, please review.