Hullo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend wanted to see this back up, so she very graciously agreed to type it up for me – and she even had to decipher my handwriting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's all give her a big round of applause!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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"N-Neji-san, are you feeling all right?" Tenten asked worriedly, searching his face for signs of something wrong. He smiled gently, shaking his head.

"Nope." Frowning, Tenten carefully studied his face one more time. Then she realized- Neji had a crush on "Nadeshiko." But of course it would be her. Who wouldn't fall for the elegant, graceful, perfect kinoichi? All the same, she had to make sure. It was time to say goodbye to Nadeshiko.

Standing on tiptoe, the dark-haired kinoichi reached up to Neji's face and gingerly pecked him on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Neji-san." With that, she leapt off to the cover of the trees. Temari and Ino blocked Neji's way, and Tenten silently thanked them. Once suitably hidden, she reached up and undid the braid, replacing it with her traditional buns. That done, she took out a black handkerchief and wiped off the thick layer of make-up. Good riddance to it, she thought distastefully.

Touching her clothes lightly, the weaponsmistress made sure that she had her hidden weapons and, in case of an emergency, her summoning scroll. When she was satisfied that it was all there, she took as deep breath, and went to find the other girls.

On her way, she passed Hinata, who looked up, startled. If Tenten had appeared as Tenten, something must be wrong. Hurrying over to her friend, the blue-haired shinobi asked, "T-Tenten-chan? Wh-why are y-you h-here?"

She only got a faint smile and a vague, "Oh, I was feeling better, so I decided to come. Nadeshiko left."

"G-Good," Neji's cousin replied under her breath. "I-I w-was b-beginning t-to g-get t-tired of the ch-charade." She took Naruto's hand and the trio went off to find the others.

"Hello, Tenten," Temari said, raising an eyebrow. "Where's Nadeshiko?" The brown-eyed girl shrugged.

"She got tired, so she went home. We won't be seeing her again for a long time," she remarked casually, her eyes observing Neji's reaction. He stood before her, his arms crossed over his chest. "Oh, hello, Neji-kun!" He ignored this, speaking flatly,

"Why didn't you stop her? There was no time to say goodbye." There was a pang in Tenten's heart. So he did like "Nadeshiko."

"Why are you complaining; aren't you the one she kissed goodbye?" she retorted sharply. He colored but said nothing. Tenten bit back a sob, turning and walking off stiffly.

Two hours later, she returned to check on Neji. She found him on the bridge where they'd first "met."

"Do you want to dance, Neji-kun?" she asked quietly.

"No" He continued to gaze wistfully at the stream.

"Something to eat?"

"No."

"What's wrong with you?" Tenten exclaimed in exasperation. "It's not like you to moon about, staring into the water."

Sakura, who was passing by with Sasuke, glared at Neji and looked sympathetically at Tenten. "He's in love," she said knowingly. Then they were gone.

"Are you in love with Nadeshiko?" the weaponsmistress asked quietly, though she already knew the answer. Neji said nothing, so she took it as an affirmative. She sighed. "Look, if you want to see her one last time, go to the waterfall in five minutes. She'll be there." Then she disappeared into the growing darkness.

Scowling, Tenten slipped past the curtain of water, into the secret cavern behind it. It was hers and hers alone. Nobody else knew about it – it was where she could be alone. Braiding her hair behind her back, she slipped off her shoes. Freed of sandals, her feet could more easily grip the slippery surface of the rock. She couldn't have perfect Nadeshiko slip and fall, now could she?

Once done, she applied white powder all over her face. Nobody was naturally that pale- except maybe Orochimaru…

Then she set out to meet Neji, carefully arranging her face into a stony mask. He was standing on a rock at the edge of the pool, his long, dark locks blowing in the breeze. Altogether, he made an impressive sight.

Stepping towards his with a tiny smile, Tenten couldn't have known that she glittered from the spray. But Neji certainly noticed. The normally bun-haired girl's smile tightened and seemed to be pasted on (which it was) as the Hyuuga walked towards her, entranced.

"You wanted to see me, Neji-san?" Her voice came out as a whisper, just barely heard over the soothing sounds of the waterfall in the background. He nodded, unable to do anything besides stare.

Tenten began to feel nervous about the way her teammate was staring at her. She found herself playing with her fingers behind her back like Hinata.

"Neji-san…? Are you feeling all right?" That snapped him out of his trance. He blinked his pearl-colored eyes and shook his head, stepping forward.

"After you left…I found that… I had to say goodbye," he murmured softly; he was now directly in front of her. His strong hands gripped her arms, bringing her closer and closer to him.

Tenten stared into his eerie eyes, feeling herself sinking deeper and deeper into tem, until he uttered one word, meant to comfort her, but which only managed to break her heart.

"Nadeshiko…" In that instant, the black-clad kunoichi remembered that, for the moment, she was Nadeshiko. Neji liked Nadeshiko. Well, he couldn't have her. Tearing her eyes away from his face, she looked away, turning.

"Nadeshiko is gone." With that, she disappeared in a puff of mist, taken directly from the rushing waters behind her, leaving a confused Neji alone. He sat, hoping she would come back.

Back in the safety of the cave behind the falls, Tenten did up her hair again and cleaned her face, scowling. She could faintly make out Neji's shape through the water, waiting. Waiting for Nadeshiko. He was waiting for a woman who would never again be seen. Tenten would make sure of it. She placed the white makeup on a shelf of rock.

Carefully taking off her vambraces (she didn't want to ruin them), she laid them gently on the floor, closed her eyes, and walked out. Once under the heavy sheet of water, Tenten opened her eyes. She saw Neji start, but paid no attention. She allowed her feelings to overcome her, and cried. The water already streaming down her face would hide her tears. The roaring of the water drowned out her sounds. Here, in the waterfall, she was safe.

Neji respectfully waited until she finished and stepped out. Then he spoke. "Where did Nadeshiko go?" Tenten gritted her teeth. He had dropped the honorific, even though she certainly had not asked him to. Well, she would take that away from him.

"Who?" she asked innocently. "There's been no one here but me and you all night." This was the truth; she smiled.

Neji growled. "Tenten, there's no time for jokes. Where's your cousin?" he demanded. Tenten's face darkened, and all traces of a smile were gone. When she spoke, it was in a curt and stony voice.

"What cousin? I have no relatives," she spat, then returned to her refuge, sorrow renewed. Pulling a kunai out of the pouch on her thigh, the kunoichi ran a finger down the length of it. Emotionlessly, she watched as blood welled up and flicked a shining drop into the crystal water. The single drop dissolved and mingled in the clear liquid. That drop of blood is me, Tenten thought sadly. All alone, surrounded by strangers. Even if I join them, there's only one of me, and so many of them. I disappear. She stayed there for an hour, ignoring Neji.

Gathering her things, a soaking wet Tenten finally shivered and stepped through the waterfall. Neji had waited for her, she noticed with surprise. Without a word to him, she headed back to the party. He followed silently. When she glanced back out of the corner of her eye, he was gone.

Hinata was the first to find her. "Where's Nadeshiko?" The glimmer in her eyes died when Tenten shot a cold glance at her. Being a close friend, Hinata immediately saw the pain hidden deep within layers of indifference.

"Who is Nadeshiko?" The words were spoken quietly, but rang out with a clear order. Forget "Nadeshiko." Hinata blinked once and nodded. The weaponmistress hugged her friend gratefully.

"I'll go f-find the others," the blue-haired shinobi whispered. "Y-you sh-should ch-change." After returning the embrace, she was off. Tenten trudged back into her hidden cave behind the waterfall and pulled off her clothes, replacing them with her normal pink Chinese shirt and loose, baggy black pants. She kept the vambraces oh, too fond of them to take them off. Besides, they were dry.

When she went back to the dance, all of the kunoichi had assembled to wait for her. Temari patted Tenten's back gently, showing that she understood. Taking a deep breath, the bun-haired girl forced a small smile onto her face.

"Let's go back to the dance. I want to see Temari dance with Shikamaru-san," she said, her eyes shining in anticipation.

Temari smirked, shaking her head. "It's no good. He'll just say that it's too troublesome."

Tenten only smiled. "Will he?" Marching up to where the lazy genius sat, she stared at him. "You. Go dance with Temari. Or else I'll cut your hair tie. And it's too troublesome to go get another one, but if you leave it down, nobody will leave you alone 'cause you'll look like a girl."

Frowning, the spiky-haired young man stood up slowly. "Troublesome woman," he muttered. Tenten's lips curved into a smug smile. She grabbed Shikamaru's shoulders and pushed him over to where Temari was.

"Now then; dance!" she giggled as the rest of the girls gaped at her. "It's payback for what you did to me earlier."

"But how did you get him to move his lazy butt?" Temari demanded. "If you put any more weights on him, he'll just say that it's too troublesome to move." Ino nodded in agreement.

"Trust me; I've tried," the blond said, rolling her eyes. "So how did you do it?" Tenten snorted, her eyes dancing.

"I just threatened to cut his hair tie. He's too lazy to go get another one, but if he leaves it down, he'll be bugged all night long because everyone will want to know why his hair's down," she replied in a teasing tone.

Shikamaru only grunted as all five girls burst out laughing. "I'm not going to wait forever," he called to Temari. "Are you coming?" The fan-wielding kunoichi blushed, shot a mock glare at Tenten, and followed him.

"Slow dance," Sakura sighed audible relief. "The only kind of dance Shikamaru will be coaxed into doing. Poor Temari." Almost none of the people they knew were dancing, and the couple got more than a few strange looks, but Temari didn't seem to care. Shikamaru looked not bored, but…relaxed. Yes, that was the word. He was even more laid back than he usually was, and his face slowly released his lips from the scowl, working them into a gentle, peaceful smile.

"Aww…" the four girls sighed blissfully. They tiptoed away quietly, giving the dancing shinobi some time alone. Once out of sight and hearing, they slapped a high five.

"Good work, girls!" Ino crowed.

"We did it!" Sakura added. She nearly fell over in shock as a male voice asked, "You did what, Sakura?" Sasuke stepped out of the bushes nearby and stood before the pink-haired girl, who had righted herself and now began scolding him.

"Don't scare me like that, Sasuke-kun! You're going to give me a heart attack!" Sensing a romantic comeback, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata winked and silently slipped away leaving the two to bicker. When, all of a sudden, Sakura's voice stopped abruptly, Hinata grinned knowingly. Tenten nodded happily.

"He sure is taking things quickly," she observed softly. "Bet you that tomorrow, they're together." Nobody took the bet – they all knew better.

Kiba and Akamaru decided to make and enterance. "Hello, everybody!" the boy shouted. The girls sweat dropped, petting Akamaru. Kiba turned to Tenten, smiling.

"You have a very pretty cousin!" he exclaimed. His smile dropped as Tenten raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"What cousin?" she asked. "I've been here all night looking for these guys-" she gestured to Ino and Hinata "- and I haven't seen anybody who looks remotely like me. Even if there was, I don't have a family, so she couldn't have been related." With that, the girls were off.

"I'm s-sorry about K-Kiba-kun, T-Tenten-chan," Hinata apologized as they leapt through the trees. "H-he d-didn't m-mean t-to-"

Tenten cut her off with a careless wave of her hand. "I don't care. At least he'll spread the word that Nadeshiko never existed," she said tonelessly. "And she never did." They all fell silent.

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Y'know, if I didn't know that this was a fanfic, and if I hadn't written it and didn't know what happens next, I would not like Neji at all. Review, please?!?!?!?! puppy eyes