*Le gasp!* Chapter 2!? Ehh this took me a lot longer than I wanted. I already had half done but uh I got distracted...
So this chapter you get to find out what happened to Neji and Tenten during their break.
Anyway enough blabbering! Onto the chapter!
"You could have handled that better you know" Tenten disapprovingly shook her head at Neji.
The duo left to take a break after the awkward incident that just occurred.
Neji merely grumbled, continuing to walk towards a small restaurant to have a snack. Something was clearly bothering Neji but as always, Neji kept it too himself.
There was silence between the two as they made their way to grab a few dumplings. Tenten felt the need to ask him what was wrong, but decided to wait until he calmed down a bit.
'I wonder what's on his mind. I know that Neji won't be winning a Mr. Wonderful Personality award anytime soon but this is a little much, even for him' Tenten pondered to herself.
"Tenten, we're here. Don't tell me you're 'tired' too" Neji quoted what Lee said.
"N-no! No… let's just grab something. We have to get back to them soon." 'Sometimes Neji is a little scary.'
The two made their way inside and were kindly greeted by an elderly woman. "Irrashaimase" she bowed.
Tenten smiled while Neji merely walked to an empty table, ignoring everything in sight.
The old woman came over to take their order. "What can I get you two? We have dumplings; my daughter makes the most wonderful dumplings, yes she does. Why, did you know that she started making her own at the age of six? She's a natural. How about some rice balls? You should taste the ones my son makes. He makes the best rice balls in all of Konoha." The woman continued on about how her talented family full of cooks. "Do you want some curry? My grandaught-"
"Enough!" Neji snapped. "Can we just order our food? I didn't come here to hear about your life story! All I want is an order of dumplings and a cup of green tea." By then the whole place was quiet and all eyes were on shinobis.
'Not this awkward silence again.'
"N-Neji! Calm down!" She stood up and gave an apologetic bow to her senior "I am terribly sorry for my rude friend's sudden outburst. Please accept our apologies ma'am."
The senior woman merely gave a small smile accepting the apology. She looked at Neji, who was staring at the floor with a look like something was on his mind. She didn't understand what was going on but it looked like the young teen had other problems.
"It's alright dear, I'll go get your food prepared. Now what would you like young lady?" The woman's voice was gentle and unfazed by the teen boy's sudden outburst.
Tenten sighed with relief that the woman was so forgiving. "I'll have some rice balls and green tea as well."
"I'll be right back with your food." The owner bowed once more and left.
Everyone else went back to eating their food, exchanging occasional glares and whispering about what just happened.
Tenten gave an awkward laugh and sat back down. Her head whipped towards Neji with a scowl on her face.
"You didn't need to apologize for me" Neji said coldly with his fingers laced together.
"Well it sure seemed like I had to since you weren't going to do it. Neji, you can't talk to someone that way. What's wrong with you lately?" She tried not to raise her voice so they wouldn't cause another scene. "And what about Lee, huh? You just attacked him out of nowhere."
"His mind wasn't in the right place. We don't need him slowing us down and I can't believe you're taking his side" He was getting a little defensive.
"I-I'm not taking anyone's side, but come on Neji, you were way too harsh on him. You're never this-"
"This what?" Neji cut her off.
"This much of an asshole!"
"Um, excuse me…I have your food." The old woman entered the scene and set their food on the table, pretending she didn't just hear that. "Please enjoy your meal."
"Uh th-thank you" Tenten stuttered at the fact that she just cursed in front of the old woman. 'Ugh, I just can't get a break today can I?"
Neji began consuming his food, ignoring Tenten's comment. He was in a bad mood, he can admit that. And it was all because of a certain enthusiastic shinobi.
"Look Neji, I'm sorry but-"
"Don't apologize" Neji interrupted. "There are a few things on my mind. It's fine." He said the words bluntly, not wanting to say too much.
Neji was as aloof as ever.
There was no point in even trying to get Neji to open up. Whatever was bothering him so much, it was obvious he wasn't budging. Tenten hated that she couldn't help. She hated even more that they were teammates and it still seemed like they couldn't talk about anything. It should've come to no surprise though, that's the way that Neji has always been.
"Fine. I give up" Tenten sighed in defeat.
The rest of their time was spent in awkward silence; Seems like all everything ever was now was awkward.
Though it seemed like Tenten finally gave in, she was actually thinking about anything that could have made Neji so upset.
'Maybe he had a fight with Hinata? No, they seem to be getting along lately, and Hinata isn't one to get angry. 'Hmm, now that I think about it, he was being really mean to Lee today. Now the question is: Why is he mad at Lee?' There's something deeper going on here than just him getting mad at Lee for spacing out.' Alright, I'm finally getting somewhere.'
Tenten smiled to herself not noticing how odd this looked to Neji.
'When did Neji start getting so upset? I guess about a month ago, but it seems to be getting worse every day. What's happened in the past that could upset him so much? The most recent thing that's happened was the rescue mission when the Akatsuki kidnapped the Kazekage. But that has nothing to do with why Neji would be angry at Lee. Why is this so hard?! She rubbed her temples with her fists trying to think. Again, not realizing everyone's stares.
Neji looked at her again 'What. Is. She. Doing?'
She exhaled, trying to collect her thoughts. 'Okay, what happened after that? The mission was a success and we came back home. We've gone back to Suna several times after that. Neji wasn't in a bad mood or anything. There's something I'm missing. Oh yeah, I think it was after we came back from our last mission in the Sand Village. That still doesn't explain what happened though. He's never been this mean to Lee before, not even as kids. Even though it's not that obvious, Neji really does care about Lee a lot…'
Her eyes widened as it finally clicked.
"YOU LIKE LEE!"
Neji nearly choked on his tea. He clasped his hands around Tenten mouth. "What do you think you are saying so loudly in public!?"
He was lucky that the place was mostly empty, but that just meant that it her voice was able to break the quiet atmosphere.
"S-so it's true?!" This time she made sure to whisper but it was hard to keep her voice down from this.
Neji didn't say anything. What could he say? This isn't a normal thing to be feeling for another teammate. Well it was; if he fell for a girl. But he didn't fall for another girl, he fell for Lee. Why? Well he wasn't all too sure.
He was caught. Neji adjusted himself on his seat, looking down to his empty plate. He felt a burning feeling growing in his cheeks.
Tenten couldn't help but giggle "Neji, are you actually blushing?!"
It really was a sight! Neji never blushed or really showed much emotion. It was wrong, but Tenten felt like milking this moment as long as she could.
"You must really have it bad" she chuckled once again.
"You seem calm about this…"
She looked at him and smiled "Well don't get me wrong, I didn't see it coming at all. But-" She giggled "It's kind of cute."
Neji pinched the bridge of his nose, not understanding how any of this was even remotely cute.
"But there's one thing that I don't get" Tenten wondered "If you like Lee, then how come you seemed so upset over every little thing he did? Is that just your way of hiding your feelings?"
His expression changed from annoyed to hurt after she asked him that. He never intended to make Lee feel bad. Neji has a hard time expressing how he feels, so he acts like he doesn't. You could say it was a way to hide his feelings, but it was a lot more than that.
It didn't seem like Neji was going to answer her.
"Is it because Lee might not feel the same towards you?"
Neji closed his eyes and sighed "I know he doesn't feel the same. I get angry because when he spaces out, I know he's thinking about the person he really likes." He spoke calmly and quietly but traces of hurt could be heard from his voice.
Tenten could tell how strongly he felt about all this, so she didn't want to tease him anymore.
"Neji, his little crush on Sakura is nothing. He'll get over it when he finds out she isn't the one for hi-"
"It's not Sakura."
"Huh? W-well then who is-"
"It's Gaara"
"…"
She was having a hard time processing this.
"G-Gaara!? As in the Kazekage formerly known as the crazed maniac who almost killed Lee twice!" Tenten knew it was wrong to bring this up again. They all knew Gaara has changed for the better, but it was a hard thing to forget.
Neji merely nodded.
"H-How long has he, y-you know, liked Gaara?"
"I only realized about a month ago, but I assume it was around the time we tried to get Sasuke back. So a couple years now." Neji clenched his fists.
"Woah. Well they have been unusually close these past few months, now that I think about it. If that's true, then I think it's safe to assume he's only liked him for a couple months now, which is about the same time when he started acting a little different."
He nodded once more. Anger rising inside him.
"Well, I suggest you do what Ino and Sakura do."
"And what is that?" he questioned.
Tenten smirked and threw her arms in the air "Fight for your man!"
Neji was surprised at the sudden outburst, making him blush from her suggestion.
"I told you to keep your voice down Tenten!"
"Hehe I'm sorry Neji, but it won't help if you don't do anything. If you really like him then do something about it. Who cares what anyone else thinks right? But there is one thing you need to do."
"I'm almost afraid to ask what that is" he folded his arms.
"You have to quit insulting him and be a little nicer. You need to apologize to him for this morning."
He knew she was right. He really did feel bad about all the things he said to Lee.
Neji gave a sharp sigh "I'll try."
That was good enough for her, after all this was Neji, that's as good as it was going to get. They drank their last sips of tea, paid for their food, and left to go back.
"Excuse me you two"
The two shinobis turned to face the person. It was the elderly woman who ran the shop. She walked up to Neji and smiled warmly.
"I hope you feel better soon."
His eyes widened in surprise at her words. "Thank you. And I apologize about-"
She put a wrinkly hand on his shoulder before he could finish his sentence "It's alright, don't you worry about it."
Neji smiled softly, still ashamed that he yelled at her earlier.
As he and Tenten both walked off, the woman yelled one more thing to Neji.
"When you come back, you better have a boyfriend!"
Neji turned around mortified that that old lady said that.
"Haha you heard her Neji" Tenten teased him again while nudging him with her elbow.
"Sh-Shut up Tenten" he tried to act aloof again, but failed.
They both made their way back from their break. Of course they walked in on Guy and Lee talking about youth again.
Some things never change.
And we end it here. Neji's kind of tsundere don't you think? I'm still wondering how I want chapter 3, but we will see Gaara in that chapter. Again, all feedback is welcome ^^
