A/N: If you're wondering about the fast updates…I work opening shift. This means I sit at a computer in a big empty building for two hours and hope the phone doesn't ring, and that's it. I can write an eight page essay in two hours, easy, so usually four pages of story isn't a problem for me.
Besides, I need to get this one done so I can work on my OTHER NejiTen ideas. Has a non-AU version of Pride and Prejudice been done before?
…Anybody else think Neji is trying to hard to keep TenTen and girl separate in his head?
View the Puppet Master
By: Reggie
Chapter 3
Phase one of 'Getting a date with TenTen WITHOUT getting myself killed' was complete. And had involved far less blood-shed then he'd anticipated, which was making him optimistic for phase two, which was 'get Hinata to help me make TenTen a lady without offending either of them'.
It was a task no guy should have to face, but as the Hyuuga Genius, Neji thought he probably had the best shot. It didn't stop him from wishing he had Lee or Naruto as back-up, though.
After their conversation in the clearing, Neji had explained everything to TenTen, about his interview with Hiashi—though he skipped the invasive questions—and the rehearsal dinner coming up in a week. TenTen had looked horrified at the idea that she needed to be approved, and seemed to still be pondering that idea as Neji grabbed her wrist and started leading her to the compound.
A compliant TenTen was unnerving as hell, so he really hoped she formed an opinion soon so they could argue again. Arguing he knew how to deal with.
It was Hinata's habit to be in the gardens at this time on Sundays, regardless of the seasons. She maintained that they were still beautiful, even in December, and nobody cared to argue with her.
TenTen was still following him unresistingly, and Neji was tempted to kick her just to get a reaction. "Hinata-sama."
"Neji-niisan," the younger girl looked up, surprised. "TenTen-san…what are you doing here?"
"Not sure, ask Neji," TenTen responded in a voice that might have been a whisper. Neji glanced over his shoulder at her, surprised. TenTen didn't whisper! That was like saying Rock Lee could be sneaky, it just didn't happen. His female teammate only half-shrugged in response.
Feeling Hinata's eyes on him, Neji turned to meet her curious gaze, "she's going to be my date for your party."
"Your…" Hinata's eyes widened to nearly comical proportions, and her struggle to find the right words was obvious. "Neji-niisan I don't…Father will not…oh…"
"I know." And he did. She was trying to say that her father and the council would not approve. But that's why he was here. "I need your help."
"You do?" His cousin asked sheepishly. The panic vanished from her face, to be replaced by something like hope. It was just a little frightening.
"You do?" TenTen echoed, her voice flat. It seems she hadn't caught on with what was going on yet. This was odd, as she was usually able to closely follow his leaps of logic.
With a nod, he spoke almost more to TenTen then Hinata, though he was still technically addressing his cousin. "We need to have TenTen presentable by the rehearsal dinner Hiashi-sama is having for her in a week."
"A week?" Hinata squeaked. Good, she understood the dilemma fully.
The bonk on the back of his head took Neji off guard, and he stumbled slightly. One of these days he was going to figure out how to have his eyes active around TenTen at all times. You never could be sure what she was going to do.
"What, you mean I'm not presentable now? If you don't think I'm good enough, why the hell did you ask me?" TenTen was obviously fuming, and Neji was confused. It was unlike TenTen to get so upset over such little things. She'd admitted herself not knowing protocol, and it wasn't as if Neji was asking her to change who she was. Just modify her behavior for two nights.
Hinata's hand was lifted up to her mouth, and Neji just knew she was smiling under there. "Ah…TenTen-san, I don't think that's exactly how Neji-niisan meant that to sound."
Neji scowled a little to himself. What did she mean by that? He'd said exactly what he meant, as always.
TenTen pulled her wrist away from his now limp hand, "well then what did he mean?"
"The-the clan has certain expectations for young ladies," Hinata wasn't bothering to hide her grin anymore. "I don't think Neji-niisan likes those expectations but…you don't seem to really fit them."
How this was any better than what he'd said was a mystery to Neji, but TenTen relaxed. The young man sighed quietly to himself. No one could possibly understand girls his age, it just wasn't possible. They probably didn't even understand themselves half the time.
"You're familiar with the idea of the ideal kunoichi," Hinata smiled encouragingly, and though it hadn't sounded like a question to Neji, maybe it was.
"The perfect kunoichi is polite and refined, humble and quiet, but always ready and able to fight," TenTen recited the obviously memorized definition in a deadpan, and Neji couldn't help smiling. That was more like the TenTen he was used to.
Hinata nodded encouragingly, sitting on the grass. TenTen dropped beside her, leaving Neji to awkwardly stand there. He didn't want to sit without invitation, but looking down at them like this didn't make him comfortable either.
His cousin motioned vaguely towards the house, "we have a saying that a woman must be a flower of steel. Beautiful and delicate on the outside, but firm and unyielding in-inside."
It struck the young Hyuuga just how apt a description that was for TenTen, and he mentally kicked himself. This was TenTen, HIS TenTen. She wasn't beautiful and delicate. She was…well, nice enough to look at, but a hardworking girl that was ready and able to kill at a moments notice, that could keep pace with him and Lee, and was the best sparring partner for either of them in the whole village.
Beautiful he might, maybe, allow, be certainly not delicate.
"Neji-niisan is expected to be the perfect example of the Hyuuga clan," Hinata smiled up at him apologetically for that, though Neji couldn't understand why. "And I…I think Father and the others would want his g-girlfriend to be the same."
TenTen opened her mouth, but Neji couldn't stand to hear her deny having feelings for him, and he didn't have time to say why. Instead, he beat her to it. "She's not my girlfriend, she's my date."
Girlfriends implied long-standing relationships with flowers, and chocolate, and other girly stuff that just didn't belong in a thought with TenTen. And romantic feelings, which neither of them had.
For some reason he got the distinct impression that Hinata was laughing at him in her head. "I-I'm sorry. But the principal is still the same."
TenTen had turned her face away from him, making it impossible for him to gauge her expression as she spoke. "So, what, I'm supposed to act like you?"
Hinata shook her head, dark hair flying loose. "N-no, I'm too s-soft. You should be stronger than me."
No offence meant to Hinata-sama, but if there was one thing Neji could guarantee TenTen was it would be strong. The steel part was not his concern.
TenTen turned too look at him, eyes displaying just how little that steel would be a problem. "You brought me here so I could take lessons from Hinata, didn't you?"
"I just don't want you to embarrass yourself." Neji winced, visibly this time. That hadn't been what he'd meant to say. He'd meant to come off all cool and collected, informing her that he wouldn't have asked if he thought she couldn't do it. Maybe even pull an Uchiha brat and not say anything. He certainly hadn't intended for THAT to come flying out of his mouth.
"Neji-niisan!" Hinata groaned, sounding exasperated, and TenTen jumped to her feet.
"You think I can't do it?" To his unending surprise, TenTen's face was red with fury. She wasn't just annoyed with him, she was irate.
An Academy lesson on how there was no shame in retreating sprang to mind. "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't think you could handle it."
TenTen stared at him, the hand she had clenched in fury falling to her side. "Oh…"
"I'm just concerned that you'll get angry and do something irrational," Neji finished, and mentally patted himself on the back.
The kunoichi scowled at him, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm always rational!"
He had to raise an eyebrow at this, and TenTen relented a little with a sigh. Maybe he was just a glutton for punishment, but the Hyuuga felt he had to drive the point home so she would understand. "You're not a refined young lady, TenTen, and it's easy to make a mistake."
He barely dodged the shuriken that TenTen launched at him, and winced when he heard them sticking to the building. And did Hinata-sama just snort?
"I can be a refined young lady if I want to, Neji Hyuuga! Don't underestimate me or it'll be the last thing you ever do!" Irate had just jumped up to all our furious now, and the boy inside of him that still remembered how badly her punches hurt shivered in terror. Outwardly, he just smirked. Not exactly how he'd intended to get TenTen to agree to lessons on culture, but it worked.
Smirking, it seemed, had been the wrong thing to do. TenTen's eyes flashed, and suddenly it was all he could do to keep from becoming a shishkabob. Hinata was definitely laughing now, but whether or not it was at him, Neji couldn't decide. He hoped not, because if HINATA was laughing at them it did not bode well.
