Hello NejiTen lovers! I'm in such a good mood right now. I've been reading some NejiTen fics myself, and they gave me the motivation to update! I know I said I was gonna do a time skip to the Chuunin Exams, but I got an idea for something to add this chapter. This will take place a few weeks before the Chuunin Exams. So to clawx2, I will be using your suggestion. Thanks again for the review :) Anyhoo, I won't hold you up any longer. Here's Chapter 7. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters are the property of Kishimoto Masashi-sama. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is made from this fic.
A few months have passed since Neji and TenTen started their extra training. Unbeknownst to them, they became very close; in fact, you could say that they were best friends. The extra training really paid off for TenTen, and she was grateful to have the Hyuuga prodigy help her out. Missions and training with Gai went a lot smoother for her, and their team became known for their incredible speed. It was something that made the kunoichi beam with pride.
Neji also improved as a result of his training with TenTen. Though he was pretty much a master in the art of Jyuuken, which was rare for a Hyuuga his age, the extra training helped improve his reflexes. Any improvement, even in the slightest, made him thankful for helping TenTen out.
Team Gai had just returned to Konoha from a B-ranked mission when Gai yelled rather loudly at another Jounin. Lee got just as excited as his teacher, and Neji and TenTen's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. Why did they have to have such a weird sensei?
"KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" yelled Gai.
The Jounin now known as Kakashi turned toward Gai and gave him a bored look. Kakashi has silver-colored hair that stood at a weird angle, his hitai-ate covered his left eye, and he wore a mask, so only his right eye showed. In his left hand, he had a bright orange book that looked like it's been read numerous times.
"Oh… hello Gai-san," greeted Kakashi in a bored tone.
"IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER CONTEST KAKASHI!" yelled Gai with enthusiasm.
Kakashi sighed, and to TenTen, it sounded as if he didn't want to be bothered with Gai. The kunoichi couldn't blame the silver-haired man. Gai jumped to the top of one of the many buildings in Konoha, and Kakashi followed suit. The three Genin followed as well, wondering what their sensei was up to now. They stood on top of a water tower located on the roof of the building that Kakashi and Gai were now standing on.
"SO KAKASHI, WHAT CONTEST WILL IT BE THIS TIME? PUSH-UPS, RUNNING, TAIJUTSU?" asked Gai eagerly.
"Janken," replied Kakashi while holding a fist to represent the game he just proposed.
"He can't be serious," said TenTen incredulously.
"He just doesn't want to deal with Gai-sensei," replied Neji monotonously.
"GO GAI-SENSEI!" yelled Lee energetically.
"ALL RIGHT! I'M A LUCKY PERSON SO I WILL WIN!" declared Gai. "IF NOT, I'LL DO 200 LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE ON MY HANDS!"
Kakashi looked at Gai weirdly, but just ignored the stipulation he placed.
"Ready?" asked Kakashi.
Gai nodded.
"Jan," said Kakashi readying himself.
"Ken," said Gai readying himself as well.
"PO!" they said simultaneously.
Kakashi had rock while Gai chose scissors, making Kakashi the winner. Gai hung his head in defeat for a moment before perking back to his original mood.
"ALL RIGHT! AS PROMISED, I SHALL DO 200 LAPS ON MY HANDS AROUND THE VILLAGE!" said Gai as he did the "nice guy" pose.
TenTen and Neji looked at their teacher like he'd grown a second head, while Lee was crying because Gai lost. Kakashi just shrugged and left in a swirl of leaves. Gai left from the rooftop to begin his laps around the village. Lee followed after Gai, leaving Neji and TenTen alone.
"So…" began TenTen awkwardly.
"Hn," replied Neji.
"Wow, way to contribute Neji," said TenTen as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, do you wanna do some more training?"
"Sure," said Neji with a noncommittal grunt.
"You and your one word responses," muttered TenTen and began making her way to the usual spot she and Neji trained.
After a vigorous training session, the pair sat down underneath the shade of the trees. TenTen sighed contently as a breeze ruffled her hair. Neji had his eyes closed and was sitting up stiffly. TenTen figured he was meditating… again.
"So…" began TenTen awkwardly once again. "The Chuunin Exams are in a few weeks."
"Hn," replied Neji.
"You're so hopeless Neji," said TenTen exasperatedly. "Anyway, I heard that the rookie Genin will be participating, and that the heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, Hinata is on one of the teams."
Neji's eyes snapped open at hearing that. Was he hearing things, or was Hinata really going to be part of this year's exam?
"Where'd you hear this?" asked Neji nonchalantly, but inside his evil grin was growing.
"The village has been talking about it for a while," replied TenTen. "You need to get out more."
"Hn," replied Neji.
"Anyway," she said while ignoring his reply, "I've met Hinata before. She's such a shy girl, but she's really sweet."
"Hinata-sama is weak," said Neji fiercely.
"Whoa, where's this anger coming from?" asked TenTen, genuinely surprised in Neji's mood change.
"She shouldn't have become a shinobi in the first place. She will only be a disappointment to the clan," said Neji bitterly as his fists clenched on his lap.
"Why are you talking about her like that? What'd she ever do to you?" said TenTen, feeling the need to protect the shy girl that had become her friend.
"It's none of your business," said Neji coldly.
"You're such an asshole!" exclaimed TenTen as she threw her hands in the air.
"Your opinions are of no importance to me," said Neji as he glared at the kunoichi.
"Ugh, why do I even bother with you?" yelled TenTen angrily.
"I'm beginning to wonder myself," retorted Neji just as angrily.
TenTen glared at her teammate and rose from her spot. She needed to get away from Neji before she hit him again.
"I thought we were friends Neji," said TenTen as she walked away. "I trusted you, so why can't you trust me?"
"Your mistake, not mine," said Neji brusquely.
Her patience finally gone, TenTen grabbed a few kunai and threw them in Neji's direction. Neji thought he dodged them all, but was once again pinned to a tree like he was nearly a year ago. Her accuracy and strength definitely improved. TenTen approached him with anger burning in her chocolate-colored eyes.
"I'll remember that Hyuuga," whispered TenTen venomously as she delivered a punch to his face, much like before.
She grabbed the kunai pinning Neji and walked away. Neji spat some blood from his mouth and rubbed his jaw a bit. She was definitely a volatile one. He was also sort of surprised that TenTen called him by his last name. She hadn't done that in months. Shrugging, Neji got up from his spot on the ground and went home.
"How dare that arrogant jackass treat me like that?" exclaimed TenTen as she angrily walked home.
Sure, she knew Neji could be a cold prick, but she never saw him act that way. Thinking back on it, she remembered the change came after she mentioned Hinata participating in the Chuunin Exams. What did the Hyuuga heiress do to deserve such hostility from Neji? Even though most of the anger was directed at the thought of Hinata, TenTen didn't like the fact that he'd treated her the way he did. Besides, she doubted Hinata did anything bad to Neji. She was just too nice of a person.
Neji was in his apartment contemplating what he learned earlier today. Fate was definitely on his side. The Chuunin Exams was the perfect arena for him to take his revenge on the Main family for what they did to him. It was common for someone to die during those exams, so it was perfect. He was smirking evilly; he couldn't wait for the exams to begin.
The next day, Team Gai met up for training, but TenTen pointedly ignored Neji. Gai was surprised to see Neji sporting a bruise on his face. When he asked what happened, Neji said it happened when he was sparring. He didn't need to be chained to TenTen again or lose his status as a shinobi. When Gai had Neji and TenTen train together so he could help Lee improve his taijutsu more, Neji felt a small sense of dread for some reason. He decided to shake it off though.
He soon realized that he should've paid attention to that sense because TenTen began to throw barrage after barrage of weapons at him. Every time he thought he was finished dodging weapons, more would come his way. Fatigue was beginning to creep up on him, and he was sliced on the arm by one of the many sharp weapons thrown by the weapons handler. He surmised he must've really made her mad.
"You win," said Neji while breathing heavily.
"What are you talking about Hyuuga?" said TenTen coldly. "I'm not even halfway finished."
She took out more weapon scrolls and twirled them in her hand. Neji eyed them warily; he didn't know if he could keep dodging. She might actually mortally wound him if they kept this up.
"I was wrong to treat you like I did yesterday," said Neji as TenTen summoned more weapons.
TenTen's hand paused midair as she looked at the Hyuuga prodigy. "Is this some kind of trick Hyuuga? Because I'm not gonna fall for it, bastard."
"I'm serious TenTen," said Neji. "If we keep this up, you might kill me."
"That's part of the plan," said TenTen angrily. "Except it'll be an 'accident' if anyone asks."
Neji sighed; how was he going to get revenge on the Main family if he got killed by a crazy kunoichi with deadly accuracy? He had to think of something to appease her, and he had to do it fast.
"I…" began Neji. Apologizing really wasn't his forte.
"You what Hyuuga?" asked TenTen impatiently.
Neji sighed heavily. "Look, I'm sorry alright? I didn't mean to take my anger out on you."
TenTen's angry face began to relax. Neji took it as a good sign and prayed to Kami that he didn't mess this up. He had things to do in his future after all. Like kill Hinata for instance.
"You're my friend… actually you're my only friend," admitted Neji. "I shouldn't have pushed you away."
TenTen began approaching him, an appreciative look on her face. Inwardly, Neji sighed with relief. He didn't expect the punch to his bruised cheek though. Whipping his face back to glare at her, the kunoichi had a glare on her face as well.
"Do it again and you won't have little Hyuugas of your own running around," she whispered ominously to the Hyuuga prodigy.
Neji had to admit, the expression she wore and the threat to his manhood was pretty scary. He wouldn't put it past her to do something like that either, so he just nodded showing that he understood.
"Good," said TenTen then smiled at him.
'Is she bipolar or something?' thought Neji to himself. That girl was definitely damn scary when she wanted to be. He was just glad he didn't have to continue dodging weapons for his life.
"We'll start our extra training again tomorrow," said TenTen. "Later Neji."
TenTen then disappeared from sight, leaving Neji standing in a clearing surrounded by weapons. It was quite extraordinary that a 13 year old girl was able to throw so many weapons in such a short span of time. Then again, it was amazing that a 13 year old Hyuuga like him was able to master the art of Jyuuken, so he wasn't overly surprised. He just needed to figure out a way to defend himself against her barrages of weapons. He walked home contemplating what he could do, but it was ruined when the stampede of fangirls began chasing him. A little extra exercise never hurt anyone right?
TenTen arrived at her apartment and made a beeline for the shower. It was still early in the day, so she decided to walk around the village for the rest of the day. After her shower, she decided to put her hair in a single ponytail instead of the twin buns she usually sported, and put on a gray tank top with black shorts as opposed to her usual pink and green ensemble. After putting on her black ninja sandals and grabbing some weapon scrolls, TenTen was out of her apartment. It was a warm day and she welcomed the sunlight beaming on her happily. While walking, her stomach growled loudly. People who walked past her looked at her funny, and the kunoichi smiled sheepishly. Deciding she wanted some ramen, she headed for Ichiraku Ramen.
"Another bowl ojii-chan," came a loud voice sitting on one of the stools.
"Coming right up!" came the voice of an older male.
"Konnichiwa!" greeted TenTen as she entered the small restaurant.
"Oh, hello TenTen-san," greeted Teuchi, the owner. "What'll it be?"
"One miso pork ramen, please Teuchi-san," replied TenTen politely.
"Coming right up!" he said happily.
"Anything to drink TenTen-chan?" asked Ayame as she approached the counter.
"Green tea," said TenTen. "Thanks Ayame-chan!"
She looked to her right and saw a boy in a bright orange jumpsuit inhaling his ramen as if it were the last supply on earth. His hair was a bright blonde color that reminded her of the sun, and his skin was a nice bronze color. While examining the boy next to her, some of the broth from his ramen hit her arm.
"Eww…" said TenTen as she grabbed a napkin and wiped it off. "Can you eat a little more calmly please?"
"Oh, I'm sorry Nee-chan!" said the boy as he looked at her with a sheepish smile on his face.
As she looked at his face, she saw he had the brightest, clearest blue eyes she ever saw. It reminded her of a perfect summer day. She also noticed the markings on his cheeks; they reminded her of whiskers.
"Don't worry, it's alright," said TenTen with a reassuring smile. "The ramen is good here after all."
"It's the best in the world, dattebayo!" he said happily.
TenTen laughed at the boy. She liked his enthusiasm; it wasn't as bad as Lee's.
"I'm TenTen," said TenTen with a light laugh.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" said the boy proudly as he pointed to himself. "I'm going to become the Hokage one day, dattebayo!"
"Nice to meet you Naruto," said TenTen.
"Nice to meet you too TenTen-nee-chan!" said Naruto happily.
TenTen's ramen was served to her, and after saying a quick "Itadakimasu", she began to eat her bowl. Naruto was already on his 8th bowl, which surprised TenTen. How did he manage to keep all of that down?
"Are you a Genin too?" asked Naruto after finishing his ramen.
"Yeah," replied TenTen. "I've been one for about a year now."
"Awesome! I'm a rookie," replied Naruto.
"Who's your sensei?" asked TenTen curiously.
"This perverted guy named Kakashi," said Naruto. "He's always reading that porn book of his!"
"Kakashi?" wondered TenTen. "Oh! I remember him. My sensei says that Kakashi is his 'eternal rival' or something weird like that."
The two continued to talk for a while. TenTen enjoyed Naruto's company and wondered if this is what having a little brother felt like. After TenTen paid for her meal, she began her journey through the village again. Talking with Naruto had her in a good mood. Even though he was clumsy and a knucklehead, she liked the younger Genin. After walking through nearly the entire village, TenTen decided to go to the training grounds. She was glad she brought the scrolls with her.
Neji was leaving out of his apartment to take a walk through the village. As he passed by the Hyuuga Compound, he saw Hinata. He glared hard at the younger Hyuuga. He really couldn't wait for the Chuunin Exams. Hinata looked up from what she was doing and saw Neji glaring at her. Her face immediately turned a scarlet color and she looked down while poking her fingers together. Neji scoffed at the action and continued his walk.
After walking through the village for a while, the Hyuuga prodigy became bored. He was glad he didn't run into any more fangirls, but he needed something to do. Deciding to meditate, he began walking toward the training grounds. He activated his Byakugan to make sure no fangirls were stalking him or waiting to ambush him. As he neared the training grounds, he saw that there was one girl there. From what he could tell, the chakra flow looked like TenTen's. The Hyuuga prodigy smirked; they did have some things in common. Neji deactivated his Byakugan and continued on his way to the training grounds.
"I guess we had the same idea, huh?" said Neji as he landed.
When he looked up, he was confused. The girl in front of him didn't look like TenTen at all, at least the back of her didn't. TenTen always wore pink and green, and had two buns atop her head.
"I guess we did Neji," replied the girl.
'She sounds just like TenTen. Can this really be her?' thought Neji. The girl turned around to face him, and his eyes widened a fraction. It was definitely TenTen, but she looked much different than usual. Instead of the extreme tomboyish look she always had, she actually looked kind of girly. This caught Neji off guard because TenTen wasn't exactly the epitome of girly.
"Neji? NEJI!" yelled TenTen, snapping the Hyuuga out of his musings.
"You look… different," said Neji after some hesitation.
"You don't say?" said TenTen sarcastically. "I know I look different, but I don't need you berating me."
"I think you look good," said Neji before he could stop himself.
Two pairs of eyes widened after that. A blush was creeping up TenTen's cheeks, and she fought it down furiously. Neji was mentally kicking himself for saying that. He didn't mean for it to slip out, but it was true. He stopped himself from continuing that thought, and cursed puberty for deciding to rear its ugly head now.
"Um… thanks Neji," said TenTen shyly.
After the awkward moment was over, the two brunets decided to train together. Both of their minds were plagued by what Neji said, which distracted them from their current spar. Since they were both in their own separate little world, Neji tripped rather ungracefully and crashed into TenTen. Both of them fell to the ground with an audible thud.
"What the hell Neji?" said TenTen angrily with her eyes closed, trying to will away the dull pain that came with the collision.
"I apologize," said Neji with his eyes closed as well, preparing for the kunoichi's wrath. Even though he knew Jyuuken, he wouldn't use it on a teammate.
Two pairs of eyes opened slowly. Ivory eyes met brown eyes, and they realized that their noses were barely touching. A flush began to color TenTen's cheeks and Neji could feel one of his own creeping up his neck. Both were panting slightly, and their breaths mingled. Looking at her this close, Neji thought that she was stunning despite her tomboyish ways. He pushed a stray lock of her hair behind her head without thinking, and TenTen closed her eyes. As they opened again, the kunoichi closely examined the Hyuuga as well, and even though she was reluctant to admit it to herself, he was rather handsome. They stayed in that position for a few minutes, as if they were under a spell. Suddenly, the loud sounds of Gai and Lee approaching snapped them out of their trance and Neji quickly got up. TenTen got up as well and dusted herself off.
"Um…" began TenTen feeling extremely awkward. "I gotta go. See you tomorrow Neji."
"Ja…" said Neji feeling awkward as well.
Once TenTen reached her apartment, a full blush engulfed her face. What the hell happened back there and why didn't she try to stop it? The events that just happened flashed through her mind, and her heart began racing. After being friends for so long, did she unknowingly fall for the ice prince known as Hyuuga Neji? 'No, I can't fall for him,' she thought as she shook her head furiously. They were friends, but most of all, they were rivals! Something like this wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to hate each other! Deciding that she was just going to act like that scene never happened because there was no way in hell she could like Neji of all people in that way, TenTen prepared for bed.
Neji stormed into his apartment and sat on his bed with his head in his hands. He still didn't know what possessed him to behave in such a manner. Images of TenTen flashed through his mind and his heart began to speed up. He knew what it meant, but decided denying it was a much better option than accepting it. There was no way in the world he could like TenTen. That was like telling him the sky was green. Deciding to block out today's events from his mind forever, Neji decided go to sleep. However, as soon as he closed his eyes, Neji's mind replayed what happened earlier with TenTen.
Neji came to a conclusion after his eyes snapped open: puberty sucked.
Well that's the end of Chapter 7! What'd you think? I hope I did alright LOL… Please leave a review. I'd appreciate it so much. By the way "Janken" is the Japanese version of Rock, Paper, Scissors if you didn't figure it out. Next chapter will have the Chuunin Exams for sure. Well, I don't have much to say except see you next update!
KuroiOokami89