Whoop whoop! Next chapter! BTW. I'd be happy if you reviewed my story please! Thank you:
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At the dinner table, Neji's uncle sat beside Tenten's mother, who sat across from her own husband. Beside her father and Neji's cousin Hanabi, Tenten sat across the table from Neji, who was next to Hinata-which neither of them wanted, but Hiashi was very insistent. Food from all over the world was brought into the dining room by well-dressed butlers, and everything tasted as good as it looked. Although the Normandy vegetable soup (1) was delicious, Tenten still preferred the cuisine of her native country, China. And right now, as their parents were busy chatting, Hinata was quietly texting her friend, and Hanabi was trying to start a conversation with Tenten, but she and Neji were glaring at each other, vying for the last piece of tonkatsu. (2)
It was as if everything else had disappeared, and all that mattered was the food between the two teenagers. Quickly, Neji swept his chopsticks at the tonkatsu, but Tenten knocked it out of his hold, making it fall back to the plate. Responding swiftly, Tenten picked up the food, but before she could eat it, Neji snatched it away with his own chopsticks and ate it in satisfaction, smirking smugly at the irritated girl.
"Oh, Tenten, would you like some more tonkatsu?" Hiashi kindly asked, and he went ahead and waved her hand in the air. Soon after, a chef came out with a platter full of freshly cooked tonkatsu. Once it was set down in front of her, Tenten smiled politely to Hiashi and said,
"Thank you very much, Hyuga-san," she replied with a feminist smile.
Hiashi smiled and nodded his head as he waved his hand dismissively. "I wouldn't want you to miss out on it."
Hiashi returned to her conversation with Tenten's parents, and Hanabi was trying to talk to Tenten about the new Harry Potter movie that had come out. Tenten smiled at Neji and immediately started to eat the heavenly tonkatsu. Neji glared at her and mumbled softly enough so that only Tenten could hear,
"Fatty."
With an expressionless face, Tenten stomped on the other's foot under the table without mercy, and Neji bent over in pain, his head hitting the table loudly. Surprised, the parents and the other two cousins looked over at the cringing teenager, and Hiashi asked, "Neji, is something wrong..?"
"No, Uncle." Neji sat up straight, taking a deep breath, and continued with a tight-lipped smile, "I'm perfectly fine."
"Neji-nii-san, shall I get an ice pack?" Hinata asked timidly.
Neji jerked his in a "no" motion, not taking his eyes off of Tenten
"All right then... Oh, Tenten, are you finished eating?"
"Yes, sir," Tenten courteously replied. Neji stared at the now-empty platter without a trace of sauce or even a grain of rice. Hiashi went on,
"Oh, in that case, Neji, Hinata, Hanabi, why don't you show Tenten around the house?"
His nephew blinked once before flatly answering, "She probably doesn't want to. It's not like she'll be here on a regular basis."
"It's common courtesy," Hiashi urged, retaining her calm smile, but Neji just replied,
"Our house isn't that interesting."
"Aw, Neji-nii-san! Don't be like that!" Hanabi whined. "I'm pretty sure she'll love to see our movie room!"
"Movie room?" Tenten piped up curiously.
"Neji," his uncle said firmly.
"Yes, Uncle..." Neji mumbled. He stood up and motioned for Tenten to follow. Tenten bowed to Hiashi, thanking him for dinner and followed the set of Hyugas out of the kitchen.
All four of them were aimlessly wandering about the corridors, and Neji didn't say a word to Tenten- not that she was complaining. It was Hanabi that did most of the chattering. She talked about every room, telling her about all her memories in each room. Frankly, Tenten became close friends with Hinata, who was also in their school, but in a lower grade. Eventually, the loquacious little one had exclaimed out loud, "I need to pee!" and Hinata went back to her room to do her homework. The tour continued on Walking down a hallway, Tenten noticed a couple of pictures hung up on the wall. Slowing her speed, she moved closer to the wall to better observe a specific portrait.
Neji was about to turn a corner when a sudden burst of laughter startled him. Spinning around, he saw Tenten looking at a picture on the wall, holding her sides in laughter. Confused, he approached the girl and looked at the photo in horror.
It was a picture of him when he was four years old, hugging a teddy bear twice his size.
Neji felt his face turn red when Tenten asked, still laughing, "Is that you? You were so cute!"
"S-Shut up..!" Neji lamely shot back, putting a hand over Tenten's eyes so that she couldn't see his four-year old self. Tenten continued to laugh and took the other's hand off with her own, but when the two made eye contact, they fell into complete silence. The made no movements and just stared at each other, their gazes locked in place.
After what felt like an hour, Neji coughed softly and looked to the side. Tenten also looked away, releasing the other's hand. Clearing his throat twice, Neji quietly suggested, "Should...should we go back to the dining table?"
"Sure..." Tenten distractedly replied, nodding slowly. Hanabi had come back from her bathroom break, and they followed Neji led the way back to the kitchen, all the while trying to avoid the thought of how soft the other's hands felt. In the back of his mind, he wondered what she was thinking behind those light brown eyes that were staring back at his own.
Reaching the kitchen, Neji forced his thoughts away and cleared his throat, letting the adults know they were present. Hiashi looked at his nephew curiously and asked, "Oh, you're done already?"
"Yes," Neji replied. "Besides, Hiashi-sama, it's a school night."
"Oh, that's right," Hiashi realized. "It is pretty late..."
"Thank you very much for inviting us over," Tenten's mother said to Hiashi, smiling.
A few minutes later, Tenten was in her own room, studying for her music composition test the next day. In the middle of reading about Picardy thirds, Tenten suddenly dropped her head on her desk.
"What is wrong with me?" she yelled out loud.
Her heart was beating a million kilometers a second, and she had no idea why.
The next morning, Tenten trudged into class, mumbling a "Good morning" to Akiko and sat at her desk, staring at nothing in particular. Akiko looked at her friend with deep concern, and was surprised when the classroom door swung open, revealing a haggard-looking Neji. He dragged his body to his desk, looking just as sleep-deprived as his desk partner.
A couple minutes later, the homeroom teacher, Iruka-sensei, stepped into the class, calling attendance. Tenten almost didn't hear her name being called, but she forced herself awake just in time. The entire day passed in a daze, but that didn't stop Neji and Tenten from being the first ones to complete the Japanese History mid-term. (Their papers had touched the teacher's desk at the same exact time.) Ever-so-slowly, lunch hour came around, and Neji and Tenten glared at each other with tired eyes before the former stormed off to the library. Sighing, Tenten set her head down on her desk just as Akiko took Neji's seat, asking,
"Did something happen..?"
"What do you mean?" Tenten sleepily asked back.
"You, of course," Akiko said in a condescending tone. "You keep falling asleep, and you're starting to get panda eyes."
"Oh, that..." Tenten waved a nonchalant hand and yawned. "He… I was up 'til three studying for the history test. And the music composition test." (3)
"You didn't have to study that long. You would've done fine had you gotten a decent amount of sleep."
Tenten laughed softly and replied, "I can't lose to Neji, though."
"But why?" Akiko wondered. "All you're doing is picking fights with him and losing sleep at the same time. Not only that, but lack of sleep can have major repercussions later on in life."
Tenten began to laugh wholeheartedly, never knowing Akiko had such a side to her personality. At first glance, she was a girl too shy for her own good who only spoke when spoken to. But now, here that same girl was, giving Tenten a lecture on not getting enough sleep. Regaining her composure, Tenten took out her lunch from her school bag and exclaimed, "Let's eat! Itadakimasu!"
Akiko suddenly snatched away Tenten's lunch and reprimanded, "No lunch until you promise not to stay up after midnight!"
"That's way too early! Change it to 4:00 a.m.!" Tenten whined, earning herself a flick in the forehead.
"One o'clock."
"Three o'clock!"
"Two o'clock!"
"Two thirty..! Please, Aki…chan!" Tenten stuttered. She was practically begging now, her hands in a prayer position and her head bowing slightly. Akiko sighed, falling victim to the other's use of a cute sounding nickname and mumbled,
"Fine, fine..."
The two girls giggled and proceeded to eat their lunches, talking about a student named Uzumaki Naruto who had pulled his latest prank in putting Shizune's (the assistant principal) on top of the school roof.
Eventually, lunch was over and English class had begun. The teacher, Kurenai-sensei, explained a new set of words to learn, and Tenten was diligently taking notes, re-energized from a delicious lunch. Her desk partner, however, was falling asleep every three minutes, and it seemed that any moment now he would fall out of his chair.
Before anyone knew it, the bell had rung, and everyone scattered to their next class. Tenten was about to leave when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neji still in his seat, his chin resting on his chest and his body unmoving. For a brief moment, Tenten actually thought he had died, but a faint snoring proved that wrong. As much as she wanted to leave him, she remembered the previous night when he had bothered to wake her after school. So with a heavy sigh, Tenten shook Neji's shoulder and said,
"Hey, wake up!"
Immediately, Neji woke up with a start and looked at his Rolex watch, rushing to gather his things. He practically sped out of the classroom, not even bothering to say 'thank you' or even glance at Tenten. Sighing once more, Tenten began to leave but stopped again to pick up the Literature notes the frantic boy had dropped.
Finally, Tenten made her way to her next class.
(1) Normandy is French…. Just FYI.
(2) Tonkatsu are Tender fillets are lightly battered then coated in ponko breadcrumb and friend crisp.
(3) He… is a Chinese spoken exclamative word for yawning.
I'm sorry Akiko is changing a bit abruptly… and I'm sorry if the POVs keep switching…. Sometime, I wonder if people accept Akiko as an OC. I know I often don't like reading OC x Some character stories. Right now, I'm in no plan in what's going to happen. I'm just letting the ideas flow.
Did you love that NejiTen moment there? Review please! And read and review my other stories: Encounters (one-shot)and The Double Date (still in progress).
Chaki~