"Maybe I should just say yes and be done with all this nonsense…" she whispered

"Maybe I should just say yes and be done with all this nonsense…" she whispered.

Neji pulled back and looked straight at her. With his Byakugen, he could see everything. Just that thought had her pulling his jounin jacket closer around her body, as if to shield herself away from his prying eyes.

"Tenten…"

"If I had a clan, I wouldn't have to go through this thing. I really should just say yes…"

"Does it mean that much to you to find a clan?"

"I…I…" Tenten pulled away and turned her back on Neji. "I don't really care sometimes…but other times…I start thinking about it. I'm just Tenten. I don't have a family name to carry-to burden me by…but that also means I don't have a family name to depend on. And in the end, I'm just Tenten. Alone. And that's why all these male shinobis of the other villages think of me as a perfect 'breeder'. A wife that don't carry a blood limit to taint their own blood limit. A wife that is unattached and therefore no clan can avenge her if she is treated unfairly-no one to uphold her honor and back her up if they ever do find someone else better to replace her."

Tenten felt the briefest of caresses on her face and she quickly looked up to meet the pearl orbs of Neji. Her dark eyes clashing against his moonlit ones. He was frowning at her, as if unpleased with her. Did she fail him? Is he thinking of her as weak? Will he leave her finally to pursue his own path?

"Tenten." Again her name on his lips. How many times is he going to just say her name? If he has something to say, just say it damn it. Her eyes started furrowing as her thoughts clashed against each other. Then suddenly, the storm was quieted as again he said her name. "Tenten."

"What Neji?"

"Your name. Tenten. It's perfect." He smiled and lightly leaned in to touch their lips oh so briefly. "Tenten. You are Tenten." He pulled her in and embraced her. "You are Tenten and I am Neji."

"I know that!" she yelled. Tenten started pushing back against him when she felt his chest started to rumble. She looked up astonished as a brief chuckle escaped the normally stoic jounin.

"I am not a Hyuga when I am with you," confessed Neji. "I am just me and you are just you. You unlock the door to my cage and I am free to fly anywhere but I choose to fly with you. And every single time, I choose to go back into my cage just so you can unlock it for me."

He sighed and pressed his warm lips to her forehead, his hands stroking her hair and smoothing away the tangles and the skewed hair ornaments. "You protect my blind spot. You train with me every day even when you are feeling sick. You believe in me."

"And if," he fiercely added, drawing her away just to look deeply into her eyes, "ever you should feel that you have nothing to depend on-no family name-then think of me. I have depended on you so much…that I cease being a Hyuga and started just being your Neji."

"Tenten," Neji whispered and again drew her close and kissed her lightly on her lips. "You don't carry a family name to burden you but you help shoulder my burden of being a Hyuga. You don't have a family name to depend on but you can depend on your friends, and Lee, and most especially me. I will uphold your honor if anyone dares to tarnish it again. I will be there for you just like you have been there for me all these years."

"Neji, what are you saying…?"

"Tenten…I didn't want to do this because…because I didn't want to bring you into the Branch House of the Hyuga clan. You deserve so much better than that. But if you are going to say yes for the sake of…finding a name…then might as well say yes to me then." Neji dropped his hands to her back and pulled her tighter to him. He leaned in and inhaled her unique scent.

"I'll go back to my cage just so you can unlock it again for me. I am working with Hinata to change the Hyuga clan so that my wife will be proud of the name that she'll bear with me. I was going to ask you this much later…but if you are to say yes…"

"Neji…" Tenten pulled herself away and started at him in shock. The Hyuga genius in turn kneeled before her and pressed his forehead on the ground in supplication.

"Please bear the shame of being a Hyuga with me for a while. I am only a lowly Branch House member but I'll work harder so that the shame will turn to pride. I'll…"

"Neji, please," Tenten kneeled and brought his head up with her hands. She gazed lovingly into his white orbs before pulling him up closer so that they knelt facing each other. She smiled before closing the gap between their lips and giving him back the kisses he stole from her, plus some more. All the passion she felt for him that she had locked away in order to be a better kunoichi came rushing up ten fold and she poured it all into that one kiss, trying to tell him without words, without sight, how she felt about him. After a few minutes, she slowly broke away from him and grinned to see the hazy expression on his face. "I change my mind. I don't need to find a name. I am Your Tenten. If I need one, then I'll use yours-but it won't be a source of shame for me because it will be our name-our burden together."

Neji slowly smiled as Tenten once again leaned in and fused their lips together in a slow sensuous dance. Thank you Tenten…my name is no longer a burden…for it has lead you to me…