Up Until Now
Chapter 7
Phew, weird right?
Tenten wasn't sure what she was doing sneaking around the gym, checking on the basketball team. Another thing that puzzled her was the fact that Hinata dragged along, trying to keep her at bay and purposely demanding to pull her away from the room full of sweaty and panting boys. Tenten ignored her for the most part, but made sure to silence her now and again.
Balancing herself on an unsteady dustbin at the back of the school, Tenten skillfully kept herself standing while Hinata kept pulling at her pant's sleeve, nervously glancing around in panic.
"Tenten, w-what if we get caught?!" Hinata squeaked out to her friend who was peering curiously over the window sill. She frowned when she look down at the Hyuuga.
"Calm down, Hinata," she insisted, turning back to the window. "We won't get caught."
"B-But didn't you get detention?" Hinata asked, almost as a last resort. Arguing with Tenten proved difficult, although arguing in general for Hinata was next to near impossible anyway. Why was she still trying?
"Sneaked out," Tenten confirmed, eyes still locked on the training team now gathered around the captain. Tenten didn't know what it was, but Sasuke seemed mildly distracted when he gave his team instructions. Soon after he barked something at them, they all left the room, leaving the Uchiha alone in the gym to his own thoughts. Tenten jumped off the dustbin and landed on the ground next to Hinata without effort.
"Come on," Tenten hissed impatiently, pulling Hinata by the sleeve. "I know a good spy spot."
Hinata was about to disagree, but decided to shut her mouth at the last moment. Tenten ran around the corner and entered a secluded spot only the caretakers of the school occasionally visited to have lunch. Searching with her eyes, Tenten finally released Hinata, who started to sweat at the pressure of being on forbidden grounds of the school.
"Tenten, we can't be here," she near enough whispered, fidgeting with her fingers while scanning the area frantically.
Tenten, who was already climbing on a ledge leading to an air vent, ignored the other. She then expertly removed the iron restriction, weakened due to years of rust and neglect. When she moved to slope into the shaft, she felt a tug at her foot. Tenten saw Hinata give her a purposely frightened look before taking a breath.
"I-I'm coming too," she forced out through many blinks and cringes, then saw Tenten give her a proud smile.
"Let's go then," Tenten announced, and helped Hinata unto the ledge to follow her into the shaft.
It was chilly, but no air blew at the very least. Tenten kept checking over her shoulder to see if Hinata was still crawling after her. They crawled for what felt like a few minutes, before Tenten took a left at a fork. The volume of multiple voices began to rise and Hinata heard plenty she recognized. They were still faint however, but became distinctly clear when Tenten took a final left and scooted over to the side for Hinata to crawl to her side.
They were squished together for the most part, but Tenten could count herself lucky Hinata had such a scrawny built to her body. Had it been Sakura or Ino, space would have been rarer than it already was – not that she would ever tell them that.
Hinata noticed they had stopped at another opening for the air. The voices were below them and Hinata could make them out as easily as she did on a daily basis. Along with her friend, she peeped down the space to witness a group of half naked boys talk loudly.
Red seeped into her face by default and she fought for her life to not faint at the sight of Naruto's shirtless state.
"Whoa, Hinata," Tenten remarked in a very soft whisper. "Naruto's got some body, hey?"
Fervently embarrassed and ignoring Tenten's snigger, Hinata only managed a stiff nod but found she could breathe again when Naruto finally put on a shirt.
"Hey Shino, you did pretty great for a first day, dude," came Kiba's voice. Tenten inclined her neck a lot farther than it was designed for to simply make out his hair. She saw him give Shino a slap on the back and then proceed to take off his own shirt before closing his locker's door. "What do you think about the girls here at Konoha?"
Needless to say, the question took both Tenten Hinata off guard. They exchanged expressions that might have been nervous or skeptical – they weren't really sure themselves.
They saw Shino sit down and make a grab for a towel. "Nice," was all he said, somewhat sarcastically before exiting the room to no doubt take a shower.
Kiba moved to his own locker, giving Tenten a full view of his upper naked body. She reddened considerably, sporting a goofy-like grin Hinata had never seen her wear before.
"Tenten, w-what are we doing here?" Hinata whispered so quietly, she was surprised Tenten even heard her. But, taking into consideration that both girls were so closely pressed next to each other, she guessed it shouldn't be such a big surprise, especially when she was starting to have difficulties breathing.
"Nothing," Tenten insisted, somewhat innocently, still grinning like a fool. Hinata only sighed to herself and looked down to see the boys continue the conversation. To her immense mortification, she could tell who it was about.
"-let that blonde hair or the nice chest fool you, she's fierce," Kiba commented, taking a seat on the bench. Lee then burst into the room, fully clad but hair dripping wet.
"Are we talking about the spring youthfulness of one, Ino Yamanaka?" he asked loudly, jogging to his locker in an unfashionable manner. Chouji, digging into a bag of chips, merely nodded and gave a muffled 'yep'.
Tenten saw little hearts begin to form in Lee's eyes as he took his own seat. "But we all know who the real rose among the daisies are. Ah, Sakura! Your youth calls out to my heart!" he announced and struck a pose Tenten responded to with a muffled laugh. Hinata only tenderly smiled.
Sikamaru huffed. "Didn't Sakura reject you, Lee?" he asked in bored tone and Naruto let out a barking laugh while Lee took on a depressed look. Out of nowhere, he stood up and gave a determined look, his massive eyebrows furrowing.
"I will do five hundred laps around the court to prove my love to Sakura!" And with that proclamation he ran out of the room at a whirling speed.
"Hey, Eyebrows!" Naruto called after him. "Captain said practice was done!"
"Let him go, Naruto, you know he's not coming back," stated a tone both girls hiding in the vent knew all too well. By the sound of it, he'd been in the corner of the room, excluded from their view. He stepped out of the corner, making his presence known to his cousin and her friend.
Naruto only grinned. "Yeah, you're right Neji. He's just weird like that."
Tenten grew unimaginably embarrassed when she saw Neji had not put on his own shirt yet and his hair was clammy and sticking to his face. She'd admit, he may be an asshole, but he had a body to die for, it was almost stupid.
"Say, Naruto, who would you pick between a date with Sakura, Ino, Hinata or Tenten?" Kiba asked, getting a mischievous look in his eyes. Naruto took a second to consider the question, scratching his chin while narrowing his eyes at the ground. Tenten heard Hinata take a breath.
"The girls in our class?" he finally said. "Let's face it, I don't get them." And with a concluding shrug, he leaned back against the locker while Hinata started to breathe again. "How 'bout you guys?"
"Ino," Chouji piped up, finishing his bag and tossing it into his locker.
"It's pretty lame, but if I had to choose, I guess I'd pick Ino," Shikamaru concluded with a sigh and a wave of his hand.
"If I was forced to pick, I'd let Tenten and Sakura fight it out," voiced Kiba with an amused look on his face while he ran his hand through his wet hair. It just occurred to Tenten that all these boys had just finished taking a shower.
"Wouldn't Tenten win?" Naruto asked, and Tenten smirked to herself but felt flattered all the same. Hinata, however, noticed out of the corner of her keen eyes the annoyed look Neji was sporting.
"Yep," Kiba said before grinning. Tenten gave Hinata an excited squeeze on the elbow.
"How about you, Neji?" Naruto asked while Neji only raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ino is a drama queen," he stated shrewdly, and then reached for his shirt. "Hinata is my cousin and Sakura has weird hair."
Tenten let out an accidental giggle. There was a pause among the group after Hinata took initiative to clap her palm over Tenten's mouth.
"What was that?" Naruto asked, turning his head around.
"Sounded like it was coming from the air vent," Shikamaru pointed out, inclining with his head.
Hinata began to wordlessly panic. If Naruto and Neji caught her spying on them in their dressing room, she'd never let herself live it down. From next to her, she felt Tenten unbendingly tense up when the vent gave a tired and tarnished creak.
"Probably just rats," Kiba suggested after a few seconds of silence. Neji, on the other hand, seemed unconvinced – Tenten knew him well enough to tell that he didn't believe it. She became frightened when she saw his soulless eyes glance to the spot he and Hinata hid in and she almost let out a yell when she saw him step closer.
"Move!" she hissed so urgently, it was no doubt unheard by the boys.
"Who's in there?" Neji demanded and Tenten and Hinata wasted no time in trying to wiggle their selves out of the tunnel. The problem concluded itself after a few seconds of useless struggle.
They were stuck.
"Shit!" Tenten cursed, heart picking up to a dangerous speed when Neji's hand reached up to remove the restriction.
The following ten minutes would remain in Tenten's memory for a long period of time.
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Itachi was astonishingly talkative on the way to lunch. He asked her about her day at school, her friends and what they did together every day, what homework she received and even if she needed any help doing it. It went on until the car stopped in front of the mall.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked curiously, eyes traveling over the familial building.
"To the café from the other day," Itachi said, unbuckling himself and climbing out of the car.
"'Cherry's'?" Sakura asked, climbing out and closing her door.
Itachi smirked. "Yes." And after locking the car with an impressive beep sound to follow, he fell into step next to Sakura, who was smiling dotingly to herself.
"Something on your thoughts?" Itachi asked as they entered the building to together.
"No, I was just thinking," Sakura explained, giving him a soft smile. "Hinata and I met at that café."
The conversation turned into comfortable silence until they entered the café, a different waiter – a guy this time – showed them to a table in a corner. Only after they had been seated, did Sakura remember how nervous she actually was. True, over the few days she'd known him, she'd noticed how less nervous she was getting in front of him. But right now, all the feelings from the first time she'd met him came gushing back at a violent pace. Inner Sakura was drowning in a raging sea of nervous tension.
'Damn it, get yourself together!' she shouted over the rumbling of the waves of anxiety.
'What should I do?' Sakura asked her, going into a full-mode of panic when she saw the boy across her incline for the waiter to return for their orders.
"Order a smoothie!' Inner Sakura frantically suggested.
'I meant, with Itachi!'
'Oh . . . yeah, sorry, I got nothing.'
Disappointed at the lack of support by her inner conscious, Sakura settled for just acting on her instinct and hoping she would not humiliate herself too badly. Sub-consciously, she began to rub a certain spot on her arm, holding it below her neck – Itachi noticed but said nothing of it.
After ordering Inner's request for a smoothie – strawberry and banana – Sakura saw Itachi linger on her for some time. To her absolute astonishment, he was staring right at her chest.
"Uhm," Sakura said in a small voice, trying very hard not to turn red. "Itachi?"
He snapped out of his stare and then reached out for her arm. He grabbed her hand and pulled her arm closer to him and Sakura noticed he had, in fact, been staring at the faded name written on her arm and not her chest like she had thought. After reading the name, he looked infuriated for the most part, but Sakura could tell he was trying to hide it.
"Why did my brother write his name on your arm?' he asked, or politely demanded, hand carefully clenched around her wrist.
"Uhm, because I kept forgetting it," she muttered, discomfited at the memory. "I don't know why, but I just can't remember his name anymore."
Itachi took a second to take this al in and then released her arm, sporting a blank look Sakura couldn't read. He then let out an amused chuckle.
"That sounded like it annoyed him a lot," he remarked knowingly, folding his arms smugly. Sakura blinked.
"Yeah, it did, actually," she said, eyes falling to the floor. It made her feel bad, because she knew there was a time when she thought of his name plenty times a day – she remembered that much, at the very least.
"Let's not talk about him anymore," Itachi insisted respectfully, giving her hand soft pat that sent her head spinning in ten different directions.
The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly. As far she counted, Sakura didn't say one thing to embarrass herself too greatly. There was one incident where she accidently bumped into Itachi's shoulder when they walked through the mall after getting a snack. He didn't say anything about it, but only took her hand in his and continued through the mall's collection of shops and boutiques.
"Ino once forced me into that one boutique over there," Sakura told him, pointing with her free hand to the expensive store she remembered from last time. "She made me try on dresses and then she took pictures of me in them. For my birthday, she got me the one she thought fit the best."
It was a fond memory; one Sakura would always keep close to her. She saw Itachi admire her from aside and then smiled at him when he pulled her along.
"It must've been costly," Itachi remarked from next to her. "My mother doesn't even shop there that regularly, as far as I'm concerned."
"How do you know?'
"She has all her clothes custom-made."
Sakura felt Inner gape like a fish and then fall face first down. Sakura only laughed nervously as they continued down the mall.
"Say, Sakura," Itachi began, sounding thoughtful. "Would you like to come over and meet the rest of my friends? I've told them all about you and they don't seem to think you exist. They're very doubtful."
Sakura nearly choked on her own breath at the thought of meeting his other friends. Counting the three she had already met, the others couldn't turn out any weirder.
Could they?
"Sure," Sakura answered, trying to sound excited and confident at the prospect. Itachi gave her hand a squeeze.
"Let's go then," he said and then glanced at his golden watch. "They're coming over in about half an hour.
Sakura then felt him pull her back into the parking lot and soon they were driving a familiar road. It wasn't twenty minutes later when they drove through the luxurious gates of the Uchiha manor and the same servants greeted them at the front door, opening the door for both of them.
"Master Itachi, your guests are waiting for you in the entertainment room," said a servant, bowing. Nodding him off, Itachi grabbed Sakura's hand again – she avoided tripping over her own feet with difficulty – and made his way into the mansion.
Ms Remma wasted no time making herself known.
"Master Itachi! You've brought her back! I am delighted!"
Before she could fawn over the pair again, Itachi gave her a hasty greeting and nearly ran up the stairs with her, cutting her efforts off. Sakura only managed a shy wave at the busy woman before rushing up with the boy. She didn't understand why he was in such a hurry.
They took a few turns through the house, before he stopped in front of a closed door and turned to her with a serious look.
"Okay, listen carefully Sakura. Memorize these instructions," he said in a grave tone that made Sakura fear for her life. "Don't ask Tobi about the mask, don't look Zetsu in the eyes for too long, don't take Kakuzu's investment offer and ignore Hidan's religious brawling. Understood?"
Stunned, all she could manage was a stiff nod, listening to herself repeat the orders in her head for herself over and over again. He gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder and then released her hand to place it around her waist (which intensified her heart-beat by an enormous deal). With the other hand, he slowly opened the door.
She was tackled into a hug in less than three seconds.
"HI! I'm Tobi!"
A guy, a little shorter than Itachi, had her in a killing grip. Breathing became hard.
"Let go, you idiot. She's starting to look like Kisame," growled a voice she recognized as Hidan. She saw him pull 'Tobi' off of her and Sakura inhaled deeply, trying to regain breath. She saw the guy was wearing the mask. A thought echoes in her mind.
'Don't ask Tobi about the mask.'
'Checked and done," Inner said, looking the guy up and down with a weirded-out face.
"Tobi," Itachi said in a dangerously low tone and the guy cowered behind Sakura.
"Don't hurt Tobi! Tobi is a good boy!" he assured in a weak voice and Itachi sighed, rubbing his head with his hand. He ushered Sakura into the room and closed the door behind him. Sakura turned to see the same room from last time, only a bigger crowd than before.
She recognized Deidara, Kisame and Hidan instantly. In fact, the blonde was already on his feet and greeted Sakura with a fond hug. She only blushed awkwardly when he released her.
"Sakura! You came, yeah!" he pronounced, ecstatic. He moved away when Itachi glowered at him in the same way he did at Tobi, who had now taken a seat on the floor at a pale guy's feet.
"Guys, this is Sakura," Deidara said, turning around to incline at the girl. She felt self-conscious when he introduced her but put on a friendly smile all the same. Observing the room full of boys, she over-looked them one for one.
Next to Hidan – who shot her a welcoming grin and wink – sat a guy with scars notably staining his facial features. Kisame stood against the wall next to a stereo, looking through some CDs. Deidara took a seat next to a red-headed and particularly good-looking boy with red hair –Sakura figured on some level he came across as a normal-looking Gaara. The pale guy who had Tobi sitting at his feet had a peculiar shade to his face, but his eyes creeped her out the most. His face was blank, but he kept switching expressions over, like he was in disagreement with himself.
Something Sakura missed was a pair in the corner occupying the loveseat. Relieved, she saw one of them was a girl, who was truly beautiful in her opinion. Next to her was a guy with many piercings, sporting hair that mildly reminded her of someone – it felt like she knew him from somewhere.
"This asshole next to me is Kakuzu," Hidan said, indicating to the one next to him, who ignored Sakura and instead glowered at Hidan and proceeded to call him something inappropriate.
"That is Sasori," Itachi voiced, now standing next to her. She saw him point to the red-head who gave her a non-existent smile. Sakura didn't know why, but she felt awkward about him. On the other hand, he had this air around him that somewhat bothered her but intrigued her too.
"The idiot who was glomping you is Tobi," Deidara chipped in, giving the boy with the mask a soft punch to the head.
"Tobi is a good boy!" he claimed, rubbing his head and cowering into the pale boy's feet.
"That is Zetsu," Itachi pointed out helpfully, indicating with a lazy had to the pale boy pushing Tobi away. He looked p at Sakura and instantly seemed to be arguing with himself about something. Sakura awkwardly grinned.
'Don't look Zetsu in the eyes for too long.'
"The couple in the corner is Konan and Nagato. We just call him Pein," Itachi explained and the blue-haired woman stood up to greet Sakura with a hug.
"Nice to meet you," she remarked with a stunning smile that left Sakura mystified. Pein remained in his seat and only gave her a stiff wave.
"You might have heard about me," he explained, expressionless. "I'm Naruto's uncle."
Sakura's face lit up in realization at the mention. She had always heard Naruto refer to his 'uncle' in the past, and had then afterwards found out that he had lost his parents years before. Ino, of course, had told them the entire tale. He'd been living with his uncle ever since.
"Oh, nice to finally meet you," Sakura said, lightly surprised. Konan retook her seat next to him and she saw Pein put a possessive arm around her with a superior expression.
"So, this is Sakura," Kakuzu remarked a little skeptically when Itachi steered her to an open couch they took together. Itachi sat unnecessarily close to her, but it became apparent to her that she wasn't really in a position to argue.
"Yes, this is Sakura. Do you need any further proof?" Itachi asked with a small frown and Kakuzu only turned away to only huff in response.
"So, is she your girlfriend yet or not?" Kisame asked impatiently, flipping lazily through CDs.
At that moment Sakura wanted nothing more than to let the earth open up and swallow her whole. Itachi, on the other hand, seemed pretty smug about this question and even copied Pein by putting an arm around her in a declaring way.
"Almost," he answered smoothly, giving her a fond look. Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously, grinning.
"I don't know, Itachi. I'd say you'd have a little work ahead of you before that happens," said Sakura, knowing full well she had Inner to thank for that one. Konan, Deidara, Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame broke out into laughter and Sakura took the chance to give Itachi an unsure grin. He only smirked at her challenge and then flicked a strand of her hair with his finger.
Up until now, Sakura had never felt more at home.
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"Move, Hinata!" Tenten breathed urgently. In her mind, this was a case of life and death. If she was caught spying on them in their dressing room, Neji and Kiba would never let her live it down. Desperately she tried to wriggle herself from out of the vent but she and Hinata were grouped together too firmly. There wasn't even any space for an ant.
"I can't!" Hinata concluded hopelessly and both struggled against each other. Tenten was about to brace herself for when Neji would remove the iron surface separating the girls from the boys, but was cut short by the door opening.
Her heart picked up when he turned away to see Sasuke standing in the door. Grateful, Hinata and Tenten sent a prayer his way. His eyes scanned the dressing room for a second.
"No training tomorrow," he declared and then turned to Naruto. "I'm leaving if you still want a lift."
"All right!" Naruto said with a grin, and grabbed his bag to push past Sasuke and out of the room. Sasuke looked at Neji curiously from where he was standing, perched on the bench, holding onto the edges of the vent.
"Hyuuga, the air-con is out of order so if you want to dry your hair, I suggest you use a towel," the Uchiha deadpanned and Tenten actually saw Hinata struggle not to let out a tiny giggle. She herself fought hard not to laugh.
Only scowling but giving no response, Neji climbed down and turned to his captain who was still standing in the doorframe.
"I'm putting in another morning session for Thursday," Sasuke said and turned to leave. Shikamaru groaned before standing up.
"Ah geez, what drag," he remarked before leaving too, Choji waddling after him, both only shooting a wave over their shoulders before closing the door.
There was a moment of silence between Kiba and Neji. Kiba looked at him meaningfully before inclining his head back to the air vent. Seriously, Neji nodded and turned back to a panicking Hinata and Tenten.
Struggling lightly, he removed the surface to stare into a wide-eyed pair of eyes he saw and thought about daily. Another pair of eyes resembled Neji's own ones.
Throwing down the iron-clad brace, he stepped back to see Tenten and Hinata squeezed together tightly, both sporting sufficiently humiliated looks. Hinata looked at the ground, purposely avoiding his gaze. Tenten gave him a small pleading look.
"Help?" she squeaked out, sounding suspiciously like the girl next to her. Shaking himself out of his obvious astonishment, he turned to Kiba, who was staring at the vent with the two stuck girls, astounded.
"Give me a hand," he ordered his team-mate who only nodded. Kiba took Tenten's left hand and Neji took her right. Together they heaved until she finally started to slide out of the space. Both she and Hinata cringed in pain. Giving a last pull, Tenten fell out of the vent and Neji skillfully caught her.
It only took her a split second to realize her face was buried in his bare chest. Then it took her only a full second to step away and try and hide her reddened face to help Hinata climb out the vent.
When both girls had composed themselves and Tenten checked to see if Hinata was unscathed and all right, she turned to the pair of boys in front of her. It took her two seconds to realize how uncanny the situation was she had gotten herself into.
"Uhm," was all her brain could process under Neji's piercing gaze. Kiba, on the other hand, grinned.
"What were you girls doing in there?" he asked with a playful grin. Hinata yelped like a puppy and sprang in behind Tenten, seeking protection. Tenten felt her grab unto the clothing on her back and felt herself cower in front of the pair.
"Tenten, I understand. But you, Hinata?" Neji said, sounding disappointed and possibly revolted. Mortified, Hinata buried her face in Tenten's back. Tenten thought she heard Hinata hold back a sob and felt her back straighten.
"I forced her to come," Tenten proclaimed, giving Neji a challenging look and acting a lot more confident than she felt. Hinata shuffled from behind her.
"B-But-"
"Shhhh," Tenten threw over shoulder, trying to soothe her friend. She turned back to see a rigid Neji.
"You forced my cousin to climb into a dangerous air vent with you?" he near enough forced through his teeth.
There was a moment where Tenten felt herself shrink considerably under Neji accusing leer. She leaned into Hinata and turned her head.
"Hinata, why don't you wait outside?" she whispered, clenching her fist. Hinata, noticing her behavior, was about to argue but then saw the look on Tenten's face before hastily shuffling out of the room, closing the door behind her. Kiba only stared after her.
"Are you okay?' Kiba asked. "You're not hurt are you?" he asked, stepping forward to Tenten. She shook her head.
"I'm fine and so is Hinata," she said, eyes never leaving Neji's. "The air-conditioning is broken, after all," she voiced snootily before crossing her arms. His glare's intensity did not falter in the slightest – if anything, Tenten swore it intensified.
'Must . . . not . . . look at . . . fine . . . chest,' she voiced in her head, trying to regain her composure. Kiba grinned at her and she left Neji eyes to look into his relieved ones.
"I'm glad," he said and she heated up at the smile he gave her. Neji pushed past him.
"What were you doing in there?" he demanded, frowning an extensive deal. She shrugged.
"Sneaking out of detention," she answered automatically, but she knew he saw through her lie when he folded his arms.
'Must . . . not gawk . . . at . . . nice . . . arms.'
"Then why was Hinata with you? As far as I know, she didn't get detention for calling her friend a bitch," he stated and Tenten's eyes fell to the ground, feeling like a little girl being scolded by a teacher.
"I was, uh, trying to spy on Kiba?" she tried, or more like asked, shooting both boys a hopeful grin. Kiba seemed to enjoy this immensely and smirked to himself – Tenten blushed, knowing he was never going to let that one go.
Neji was infuriated and turned to a very self-satisfied Kiba. "Get out."
Kiba blinked. "What?"
"Get out, you idiot," Neji growled and Kiba raised an eyebrow before shooting Tenten a wink (which made her mentally 'eep') and left the room. The second after the door closed Tenten found herself painfully pinned against a locker.
Frightened by the sudden advance, she saw his face was a mere inch away from hers, eyes severe and perhaps earnest.
"Tell me it was anyone, anyone but him," he forced through his teeth making her breathe quiver. By now, Tenten would have kicked him, maybe use her talent for self-defense, but her mind was from the idea.
"Neji," she breathed out, eyes wide and legs shaking under the hold he had on her shoulders. "You're hurting me."
Eyes widening in response to this, Neji loosened his grip but did not step away from her.
"Are you . . . okay?" Tenten asked in a small voice, unexpectedly worried. She found herself thinking of million other things she could have asked at that moment; 'What the hell are you doing?', 'Are you insane?' and 'Let go, asshole!'.
She didn't want to ask (or shout) any of those things.
Neji lowered his head, his hair curtaining her face from his. Startling her like nothing, he forcibly grabbed her around the waist and crushed her into his chest. Her heart picked up, ready to explode at the sheer thought of being held in a crushing grip by Neji Hyuuga. It was almost desperate and possessive, but Tenten found herself thinking she didn't want him to let go.
His bare skin was so warm. Tenten had always considered herself impossible to get hurt, but in Neji's arms she felt more safe than she had in years. Nearly crying – and hating herself for it – Tenten buried her face in his neck, confused and nervous beyond reason.
"Please don't hate me," she choked out into a shaking voice. She didn't recognize the voice speaking – it made her feel momentarily weak. She hated feeling weak.
Neji pulled away to stare at her with soft eyes she didn't think was possible.
"I don't hate you," Neji. "But when Ino told me that you chose Kiba-"
"What?" Tenten cut him across. "What did Ino say?!"
Neji's eyebrows furrowed at the memory. "She told me you would pick Kiba over me anyway, so I should 'give up'." The thought seemed to genuinely hurt him and Tenten was touched that the thought would bother him so much.
A part of her also wondered why Ino lied to her, but she knew it was only to try and get a known reaction out of Neji. She didn't know why, but Tenten felt grateful as she looked up at Neji with big eyes.
"'Give up'?" she asked, thinking about what Sakura said.
"Give up on you," he stated firmly, not embarrassed in the slightest. Tenten thought that was very brave of him. "I don't want Kiba to have you. I want you."
'I can't believe he just admitted that. What a man,' she thought to herself before smiling.
"Uh," she said, smiling at the ground. It took her another moment to remember that she was in Neji Hyuuga's arms. A giddy feeling shot up her spine.
"Well, I, uh, um, okay," she deadpanned, feeling her face heat up while still smiling.
Neji shot her a rare grin she had only ever seen once in her life, pulling her closer and fondly stroking her back.
"Neji?" she asked in a whisper.
"Hm?"
"Please put on a shirt before I pass out."
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A/N: MWAHAHAHAHA!
I wrote this chapter going 'squuueeee' the whole time. Damn it, I'm funny!
Okay, I apologize for the lack of SasuSaku, but when reread chapter three to six, I realized I was going a bit too fast with it. I have sixteen chapters. More than enough time for me, don't worry. It's supposed to go painfully slow in the beginning. This chapter is more ItaSaku focused.
I didn't think I'd be updating again so soon but I've been itching to write this ever since I finished the previous chapter. I love Tenten and Neji. He really does care for her.
Cookies for Ino! Gosh, I love what I can make her do. So, how was the Akatsuki? I kept feeling like I was forgetting someone but I think I got them all.
NEXT CHAPTER SPECIAL PREVIEW:
Sasori gets what's been coming to him and Tenten makes peace. An urgent team-talk ordered by the captain himself and Neji makes an announcement.
FUN!
No flames.
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Review responses
Tenshi no Sakura: Then I will be more than happy to bring him in a few chapters! :D
FlowerFairy9751: I know, right? Tenten rocks. I love her to bits.
winoa fuuko huel 13: Did I deliver or did I deliver?! They have arrived! And they will again in the future! (",)
Love you guys
(^^,)