A/N: Yay another chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far! I really appreciate everyone who took the time to read this fanfic!

A little note: these flashbacks don't have a fixed timeline so unless I stated a specific time, these may have occurred anytime throughout their relationship. (if that made any sense ==)

Next up are items 3 and 4!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi


Chapter 3 - Item #3-4: Book of Haikus and Scented Sachet

"Morning sunshine." A husky baritone voice whispered in Tenten's ear. "Will you please wake up now?" Tenten's eyes snapped open and saw Neji's face right in front of hers. She smiled as she sat up straight in her futon.

"Morning Neji," Tenten replied as she stretched her arms. "Did you sleep well?" Neji nodded as he handed her a cup of tea. She thanked him and eagerly drank it.

"So, whose turn is it now?" Tenten asked as she noticed the oak chest beside her.

"Your turn." Neji answered as he opened the box. Tenten dropped her hand inside to randomly choose an item. She grabbed something stiff and pulled out a small grey book. The book is hand bound and adorned with simple morning glories on the cover. She opened it and flipped through the thick creamy pages. While she was flipping through, Tenten stopped to examine a page. After a while Tenten laughed.

"What?" Neji asked. When he noticed what she was holding, a hint of red began to colour his marble skin. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM?" He began to grab the book only to have Tenten quickly move it away.

"Woah woah Neji calm down!" Tenten laughed as she held the book away from him. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed about this!" Neji calmed himself down as he turned away, crossing his arms.

"Hn," Neji sighed, "I guess I shouldn't since I gave that to you." Tenten chuckled quietly while continuing to flip through the pages. Why did I get so worked up about it? Neji thought until a memory came back. Oh… it was those few pages…


Neji's Other Hobby

Meditating seems to be a common routine for the Hyuga clan. Whenever Neji isn't meditating, he would sometimes wake up early to compose simple haikus or paint sumi-e sketches. This lead him to routinely keep a small book filled with his rather artistic side.

"Whatcha doing?" A voice behind him asked. "Oh you're doing old people stuff?" Neji whipped his head around and saw Tenten smirking.

"Haha very funny," Neji remarked as he continued with his haiku composition, "why are you here anyways? It's our day off today…" Tenten swung her legs from his desk.

"Well I though it would be nice to hang out with you today," She replied nonchalantly while flashing a smile.

"You mean, barging in and bothering me," Neji pointed out. "Is there never a day you would stop doing that?"

"Hmm?" Tenten wondered as she leaned over to take a closer look. As she continued to silently observe Neji, she found that watching his elegant brushstrokes to be rather relaxing.

"There's something really captivating about the way you hold your brush and create those strokes, Tenten commented, transfixed by Neji's craftsmanship. "It's like you're creating your own world on the pages…" Neji scoffed and finished the last line with an elegant flourish.

"Who do you think I am? Merlin?" Neji joked as he set his brush down, allowing the page to dry. "Why don't you read this?" Tenten got off the table and stood next to Neji to get a better look.

"Testing still waters, ripples dancing quietly, gentle breeze blowing..." Tenten recited the haiku before bursting into laughter, "Oh my, this sounds exactly what an old person would do…" Neji rolled his eyes before taking the book away from her.

"Hn," He replied as he brought out another paint palette. This palette consists of mineral pigment with a variety of colours. He took a different brush, dipped it into the water and mixed it with his palette.

"What are you doing now?" Tenten wondered as Neji stopped mixing, lost in thought. "Are you going to paint now?" After a few moments of silence, he closed his eyes and nodded. He wiped the excess paint from his brush, smoothed the page in front of him and began to paint. With swift yet elegant movements, the strong brush strokes began to take form of a phoenix.

"Wow, you really are crazy good at this," Tenten awed as he would constantly switch brushes with different pigments and placing well-defined strokes on the piece. After a few more minutes, Neji placed his brushes down and let out a content sigh and looked up at Tenten.

"Did you say something?" Neji questioned, leading Tenten to chuckle. "Did you want to learn how to paint too?" Tenten burst out laughing.

"No way…" Tenten gasped for air while wiping a tear, "I can't even paint, let alone draw a stick figure!" Neji smirked at her comment.

"Right because a manly-lady like you who's able to throw weapons can't do something as simple as this," Neji scoffed as he placed his name seal on the corner of the page, leading Tenten to shoot him an annoyed look.

"Ha ha ha, that is so funny coming from a womanly-male like you…." Tenten muttered but Neji caught the comment, "What? It's not like you see a lot of guys doing these kind of traditional works and growing their hair really long." A vein popped on Neji's forehead.

"What does this have to do with my hair?" he snapped as he carefully got up from his desk before he sighed. "Man, when will you get over it?" Tenten smirked as she got a kunai from her pouch and twirled it.

"Never," Tenten chuckled as she threw the kunai at his bookshelf.

"Oi! That's my bookshelf!" Neji seethed while trying to stop his urge to activate his byakugan, "Let's take it outside alright?"

"Fine by me…" Tenten victoriously smiled as they both left his room to spar, leaving his book on his desk.

oOoOoOo

A few months later…

"Hey, I got something for you," Tenten looked up from her novel and saw Neji holding a package in his hand. "Here, have it." He handed the package to Tenten.

"You don't seem like the gift-giving type," Tenten joked as she received the package, "What's the occasion?"

"Oh it's just something that I wanted to give to you," Neji quietly answered while turning his face away, "nothing special." Tenten, curious to what the little package is, carefully unwrapped it. The wrappings fell away revealing a book. Tenten opened it and gasped; it was the book filled with Neji's haikus and paintings.

"But but…. How…. And why?!" Tenten stammered as she continued flipping through the book, "You didn't have to give this to me…"Neji smiled, leaned whispered in her ears.

"Happy Birthday."


"But these are so sweet though," Tenten said as she stopped at a page. "I just didn't think you would be the poetic kind."

"Hn," Neji replied as he straightened his shirt. " It's just another past time I used to do."

"You could make so much money with your artistic talent though!" Tenten pointed at a page decorated with a bamboo painting. "I mean, I can't even draw a stick figure!"

"I'll paint you something in the future." Neji offered as he reached into the chest. "My turn." He fingers graced across something soft and he pulled it out. In his hand was a small sachet with china-blue flowers decorated on the cloth.

"Have I seen this before?" Neji curiously wondered while he turned the sachet round and round. He was about to open it before Tenten quickly grabbed it, causing the Hyuga prodigy to shoot an annoyed look. "What was that for?"

"You're not supposed to open it!" Tenten scolded, holding the sachet tightly. "and you were supposed to keep this with you when you sleep!" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"When I sleep?" Neji questioned as he gently pried the sachet from her fingers, "Is this some sort of sleeping pack or something?" Tenten sighed as she poked at Neji.

"You don't remember?" Tenten huffed while continuing her poking spree. "The times you didn't sleep well?" Oh god…. Neji recalled a certain incident.


Amorous Aroma

Neji hasn't been sleeping well for the past few days, especially not after what Tenten had asked him in the previous week.

Flashback

"Hey Neji, don't forget next week!" Tenten called as she finished packing her weapons. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Next week?" he questioned as Tenten smiled.

"You know, just spending some time together!" Tenten replied as she gave a wave before heading home.

End of flashback

Great, how am I going to be able to calm down? Neji silently thought as he attempted to continue with his meditation, It feels as if she's asking me out…it should be me asking her out…

"Neji? Have you not been sleeping well?" Tenten inquired, awakening Neji from his meditation suddenly. "Oi, are you okay? Do you have a fever?" She placed her hand on his forehead and another on hers. This made Neji a lot more nervous as he brushed her hand away.

"I'm fine." He remarked as he got up and brushed his pants, "Shall we head back now?" Tenten gave him a worried look and nodded.

"If it's about tomorrow, don't sweat it!" Tenten said as she patted Neji's back, making him jerk a little. "It's just us hanging out together! Just relax alright?" Neji couldn't do anything but numbly nodded his head. Tenten waved and left the training grounds, leaving Neji alone. What am I going to do?

The next morning…

"Hinata-sama, may I ask for your assistance?" Hinata, surprised that her cousin would even inquire for her help, nodded at his sudden request. "What do girls like on their date?" She looked shocked and wondered why he would even ask something like that. Unless…

"Neji… don't tell me…" Hinata began before Neji shot her an annoyed look.

"She asked me to hang out with her but I feel that I should have been the one to ask her out." Neji snapped before running a hand in his hair. "Maybe I'm overreacting and just reading things too much…"

"That's nonsense, you should have asked her out first," Hanabi came into the room and tsked Neji. "Now its up to you to man up!"

"Hanabi! Mind your manners!" Hinata scolded as she looked at Neji, "Why don't we just brainstorm what Tenten like's and what you want to do?" Neji nodded, and hoped that whatever Hinata suggests will be all right.

oOoOoOo

Tenten was dressed in her civilian clothing consist of a dark turquoise mandarin collar shirt and maroon pants. She saw Neji dressed in a casual dress shirt, blazer and western pants. Seeing Neji in clothing other than his usual attire made her chuckle.

"What's with your outfit?" Tenten chuckled as Neji stiffly handed her a bouquet of flowers, "aww that's sweet of you but you know that this is just a simple hangout right?" Neji stiffened nervously as Tenten grabbed his hand. He looked at her as she warmly smiled at him.

Both of them walked through Konoha and chatted casually. Along the way, Naruto and Sakura greeted them inside Ichiraku Ramen. Much to Neji's displeasure, Lee and Kiba were also there, creating a ruckus inside. Sensing his discomfort, Tenten grabbed Neji's hand and left the ramen stall. After a few more minutes, they walked towards a bench under the willow tree. Tenten motioned Neji to sit down as the stared at the spectacular night view of Konoha. Neji was about to break the silence but Tenten beat him to it.

"I noticed that you didn't sleep well these few days," Tenten said as she handed him a small box, "So I thought I would get this for you." Neji nodded as he opened the box. Inside was a small sachet.

"What is this?" Neji asked as he turned the sachet around. He noticed there was a pleasant scent coming from the sachet and he brought it closer to his nose. "A scented sachet?" Tenten smiled.

"You seemed so stressed out these past few days so Ino suggested that I should get you a sachet." Tenten explained as Neji nodded. "Ino helped me with picking the flowers and herbs to put inside." She lifted the sachet and smelled it.

"The base scent is lavender which resembles the colour of your eyes. Rosemary is to always remember our friendship. Cinnamon represents spirituality and those homemade cookies you love." Neji was surprised at the deep meaning behind the contents and chuckled when Tenten mentioned the cinnamon cookies.

"Oak chips represents strength while clove represent protection along with your love of cooking." Tenten continued while feeling the sachet, "Juniper also signifies protection and finally some rosebuds from the first flower bouquet you gave to me before we became chunin." Neji blushed as Tenten returned the sachet into his hands. "Well, what do you think?"

"This is…. Really breathtaking for such a simple gift…" Neji finally replied as he gave her a hug. "You put a lot of thought and effort into this. Thank you." Tenten, surprised at first but she returned the hug.

"Feeling better now?" Tenten whispered in his ears, sending shivers down his spine. "Or do you need more than that?" Neji quickly let go, sending Tenten into a fit of laughter. Shaking his head, they left the bench to walk Tenten home. When they arrived at the front door, Tenten turned around and smiled.

"Good night!" Tenten leaned over and kissed his cheek before going into her house. Stunned, Neji stood there stupidly before heading back to the Hyuga compound. Thank you Hinata-sama, Hanabi and Ino.


"You didn't use it," Tenten pouted as she gave the sachet another whiff. "It still smells as fresh as ever."

"I did use it and it worked." Neji insisted as she handed the sachet back to him, "But I didn't want the scent to wear off so I put it in the chest." An unfamiliar light flitted in Tenten's eyes as a sheepish smile tugged at her lips.

"You're being sentimental now," Tenten grinned as Neji closed the chest, "I think the years with Gai-sensei and Lee mellowed you out." Neji shot her an incredulous look and rolled his eyes.

"Hn," Neji simply muttered as he got up and stared at the window, "It's still bright outside, why don't we go train and leave the rest for another time?" Tenten nodded as she and Neji left his room and headed towards their familiar training ground, leaving their chest of memories on the floor.


A/N: How was this chapter? It was easy picking the items, but a bit more challenging when you have to write a story about them. (I actually wanted to switch this with chapter 4 but I'll have to write it eventually… ==) I promise that the next chapter will be a bit better! University hasn't been too kindly to me now that finals season is rolling in! I will continue with my weekly updates since this is less stressful for me in comparison to a bi-weekly update. I wish those who are in the same position good luck and keep your studies up!

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think about this fanfic by reviewing or messaging me!