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Lavender and Lilies
(Chapter 2)
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"He's late." Tenten grumbled under her breath as she paced back and forth, arms crossed tightly under her chest. "He better not have stood me up." A glance up at the sinking sun set off a whirl of emotions in her head, the loudest being worry.
What if he had been joking? What if he was watching her right now, smirking in that infuriatingly handsome way and enjoying her suffering? Should she leave? Should she wait five more minutes? Should she find some hole to fall into and never ever come out?
Her worries proved moot when suddenly there was a muffled 'poof' as Neji appeared from a cloud of smoke with a pleasant if not slightly apologetic expression on his face. Immediately her ire melted into nothing, and she mentally admonished herself for allowing him to do that to her.
'I am woman—hear me roar. If man tries to grab my hair with his meaty paws, I club him,' Tenten thought amusedly to herself. She watched as his expression shift back into its typical expressionless mask as he approached her.
"Sorry about the wait," Neji said as he came to a halt close to her…well, make that extremely close beside her. So close, in fact, that she felt heat radiating off of his chest.
"It's no problem," Tenten lied between her teeth. "So, where are we going?"
Neji paused. "Go?"
Tenten just stared up at him. "You mean you didn't have anything in mind?"
He lifted and dropped his shoulders, looking at her expressionlessly. "Of course. I was just planning on taking a walk." He gestured towards the sky. "There should be a full moon tonight."
Tenten sighed, shaking her head.
'What a guy.'
Hooking her arms with Neji's, Tenten proceeded to tug Neji down the road and into town before finally pushing open the heavy, wooden door to the local ninja bar. They were immediately assaulted with loud music and a thick cloud of cigarette smoke.
After flashing her ID to the bouncer, she brought them under the pulsating lights and paused, glancing around. There were two levels, the ground floor for those who were not of drinking age, and the upper level, for those who could. Tenten was hyperaware of Neji's scrutinizing gaze, shifting when his eyes came to a rest on her.
"Do you come here often?" he asked her monotonously. Tenten winced as she noticed his voice was back to its normal frigid level.
'Bad idea. Abort! Abort!'
Half-turning, she explained awkwardly, "I don't, really, but Sakura told me that it's a good place for…um…dates." She waited for some sort of denial to her statement, but Neji just nodded, his pale eyes narrowing slightly as he took in the surroundings. She watched apprehensively as he looked around again.
The middle of the floor was reserved for dancing, and the non-alcoholic bar was situated on the far side of the room. The only way one could reach the upper floor was by the stairwell monitored by a sober ninja, who happened to be Aburame Shino.
Hinata's teammate glanced over their ID's before silently ushering them up.
They quickly found a table in a dark corner and ordered. Awkward silence quickly overtook them.
'What the hell am I doing here?' Tenten thought, alternating her gaze from the tabletop to her companion's blank face. 'This is so weird. I wonder if Neji got hit in the head recently or something.' A quick, cursory study of the aforementioned head proved the Hyuuga to be unscathed. 'Dang. Back to the drawing board.'
"So, Neji," Tenten stared at him with her best 'don't-mess-with-me' look over the rim her glass. "Why did you really invite me out on a date?"
He returned her stare with his equally-stoic one. "My answer remains the same. Why do you doubt it?"
Tenten narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the edge of the small table. "It seems a bit out of character for you, is all. I mean, let's face it. You're usually a jerk. Why the change of heart? And don't lie," Tenten added quickly. "I've known you for a long time and I can tell."
"You seem so sure of that fact," Neji murmured, dragging a slender finger down the side of his beverage glass. A drop of condensation quivered at the tip of his finger as he held it up for inspection. "Are you really?"
"I am." The affirmation wasn't as confident as she wanted it.
His expression shifted minutely, and though he merely watched her Tenten got the feeling that he wasn't particularly pleased for reasons beyond her.
Tenten settled back in her chair. "It may not seem like I've known you for a while, but I have." She wagged a finger at him.
His voice was deep and smooth and surrounded her like the clouds of smoke. "And how do I normally act like, Tenten?"
She paused. "Like an egotistical bastard. And come off it, that's hardly the worst thing you've ever heard in your life, Neji," Tenten retorted to his displeased grunt.
"I'm surprised, actually."
Tenten snorted. "Why? Because this is the first time I've actually ever said anything less than nice to you?" She sat up a bit straighter, suddenly interested in his response. "Can't take what you deal out?"
Neji stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair in his haste. Breathing harshly, he slammed down a crumpled amount of bills before snarling, "And here I thought you knew me better than that." He cast her a disgusted look. "You don't really know me at all."
"You just can't admit it, can you?" Tenten fired back. "You can't deal with the fact that you're really a—"
"Tenten," Neji hissed between his teeth. His shoulders were trembling with the strain of withholding his temper. "I know what I am and I know I'm not nice. I don't care. I am not going out of my way to make anyone happy. People think I'm an 'egotistical jerk'? Fine. That's fine. I just wish you'd understand that I only care what you think."
…I only care what you think…
The Weapons Mistress sat there in shocked silence with her head rested in her hands, her heart thumping wildly long after his abrupt departure. Never had she seen Neji so angry before.
What he said before he left. Did that mean that he liked her? Perhaps she actually had that snowball's chance in hell with him? She groaned. It was too much to process.
'One thing I know for sure is that this went from bad to worse in less than ten minutes. Must be a new record.'
Perched at the very top of a tree, Hyuuga Neji was wrapped up in his own thoughts, ignorant of the chilling wind that whipped his dark hair around wildly. Silently berating himself for losing his cool, he also worried of her reaction. He had always known that she had a crush on him—even back when they were genins. However, he had hesitated too long and the feelings had apparently faded.
Hinata had told him that if he messed up there was only one thing he could do. With that in mind, he turned in the direction of the old training grounds where he knew she had gone—even in her anger she was predictable. He smiled at this thought, which quickly disappeared as he remembered his task.
With a sigh, he hit the ground and started running.
God, he hated apologizing.
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