Author's Note: I want to slowly reveal just how badly Naruto's absence is going to affect Tenten's emotions and how that affects those around her. From now on, I'm going to be editing and completely changing canon, now that Naruto is gone, as well as the impact Lee's death will have on the previous Team Gai.
Since they are siblings, and Tenten has made him a primary motivating force in many aspects of her life, Naruto's hurried decision to leave is going to profoundly impact her, and I want the change to be obvious and rather drastic, though slow.
Reviews and criticisms are appreciated! Thanks so far to everyone who has favorited and followed this, as well as reviewed!
Kakashi arrived at promptly nine, three hours after he'd asked them to come. Neji meditated while Tenten threw kunai over his head, lazily. Sakura sat with her upon the bridge and attempted to follow Neji's footsteps, but was too unnerved by Tenten's twirling of the weapons.
"You're late," Neji's derision was palpable, and Tenten stifled a laugh, tossing another kunai into the woodwork above his head.
"Ah, yes... sorry."
"We've been here for an hour, Kakashi-sensei, I didn't expect you to be this late. Three hours is a lot for you."
"Would you prefer chronic lateness or the power of youth?" Tenten mumbled, standing on one leg and pulling the kunai out of the wood. Neji scoffed.
"Unluckily for you, this isn't a restaurant menu, and you're stuck with me." Kakashi strode up easily, his long strides stopping just before Sakura. "Today, kids, we're going to train."
Tenten glared at him. "I don't know if you've already forgotten—"
"You'll be the long-range fighter. You won't even have to move." Kakashi promised. "Or, if your chakra is up to it, you can summon a clone. Do you know how to assimilate your clone's knowledge?"
"Yes, and how to percentage off my clones." She hesitated. Clones were Naruto's signature, and despite the new, jounin-level (or so Gai claimed) technique, she wasn't as comfortable at genjutsu as she should've been by this point in her career. Her ninjutsu was average, but genjutsu was not something she excelled at by any means.
"If you can keep your clones going for an entire session, you can sit right here. Make one for Neji and one for Sakura. Your skills are best suited for sparring with both of them. I want to measure out your skills as well as Neji's, and Sakura is getting her first private session with me after this."
In a burst of smoke, two slightly disheveled clones appeared.
"Really?" one touched her lopsided hair buns.
"Get over it," Tenten dismissed her. Neji stood easily and her more disheveled clone followed, to where they began their traditional training.
Quickly, metal clanged against metal and a kunai or two were thrown away to as far as where Sakura stood. "Wow," she breathed.
Kakashi gazed at his original student. She was a scholar – she was less likely to be impressed by Naruto and Sasuke's shows of wicked power as much as Tenten's unique fighting style and Neji's obvious mastery of his own techniques.
"So you summon those weapons?"
Tenten grinned. "I could seal a ship if I had to," she boasted.
"And that's his kekkei genkai?"
This time it was pride for her teammate that brought her bragging. "He's a genius even amongst his clan."
Sakura shook her head and looked up at Kakashi in awe. "They have special techniques. What can I do?"
"We were trained primarily in taijutsu, because Lee's inability to utilize his chakra, and because Neji's kekkei genkai primarily manifests itself through close-combat, making taijutsu necessary. I'm not really strong, but I'm fast and agile because of it. If your chakra control is that good, then see taijutsu as just another way to augment your muscles with chakra. It helps," she added wryly, rubbing her calf. The muscle was going to be in pristine condition, once it regained its ability to actually hold her up, but the flesh was a nasty red scar, that would probably end up atrophying into her skin, rather than raising up into a keloid. Regardless, it would be obvious, but Tenten was so grateful that the damage was only cosmetic that she didn't care.
They watched until Tenten's clone disappeared in a puff of smoke – and Neji returned, nearly perfectly groomed, from his coif to his shoes, until Sakura noted that there is a tiny mark on his cheek, hardly a scratch, and that one of his sandals was hanging by a string.
His stride is easy, confident, smooth, and Sakura envied it.
"Alright, Tenten. If you'd like to leave, you can."
There was a quiet order beneath his words. Leaving behind her second clone, she had Neji scoop an arm around her, helping her slowly leave.
"That was nothing like a session with Gai-sensei," Neji commented.
"I think he feels bad for Sakura," Tenten craned her neck to see if there were any signs of a loud fight. "Apparently he never gave her much attention before. You and I don't need training with him as much as she does. All we really need is to figure out our battle formation with her in it instead…"
She trailed off and he continued striding, his walk sleek compared to her limping gait.
"Inuzuka was correct," he noted. "You do have the smell of iron."
"Wow, Neji, if you really wanted to woo me, you should've told me I smell like the springtime of youth," her expression was pained – another rude comment from him and she'd skewer him.
He stopped for a second and smiled. It was a genuine smile, small, but warm. The upward movement of his lips was intended only for her, and she treasured it.
She could hear Lee raving with joy in her head: Neji, my eternal rival! You have begun to blossom!
"How have you been sleeping?" he asked abruptly, and she looked at him. Neither nin had broached the subject since Lee's surgery – the joyous summoning of Katsuyu-sama had quickly been eclipsed by tragedy.
"Besides the two weeks I got in the hospital?" she tried to joke. The seriousness of his expression had her adding, "Eight hours a night. It's weird how much I sleep, now. I can hardly tell when I'm tired."
He tsked. "I did not quite thank you… during my battle, it is because of you I didn't suffer. I saw your weapon strike his."
"It didn't do that much," she began, ready to spare him the humiliation of having to express gratitude.
His quiet words cut her off. "You may have saved my life. Sakura informed me of how you ordered her back, carrying me."
"And to think you were so adverse to carrying me, after all that."
Dark eyes met light, and he began walking again, more slowly. "I suppose we are all more than lucky you arrived."
"If Lee had been there—"
"But he was not, Tenten, and we cannot keep dwelling on this!" his voice was sharp, rebuking not only her but himself. "Team Gai is finished, but just because the team falls apart does not mean we can. Konoha needs us, and I—"
He didn't finish the sentence, but Tenten felt it. Naruto was absent, with hardly a good-bye, Lee was gone, snatched, and Gai would never be what he once was. At least for a while, they were on their own, because Sakura needed Kakashi as much as Tenten and Neji needed one another, as thoughtlessly and voicelessly, the unspoken bond of teammates who lost, and lost together.
"You know, I didn't really like you at first," Tenten told him, and his brows knitted together.
"Whyever not?" he asked, sounding for a moment, genuinely confused. "That was the same me from just before the exams, and you have been my closest comrade since before then."
"It's not you that changed my mind, it's the first time you meditated. I threw a shuriken at you, and you didn't even flinch or blink. That's when I knew you trusted me," she explained with superiority, as if speaking to a child. "And since you trusted me, I decided to like you."
Neji's dumbfounded expression reminded her of their team photo. Lee, already emulating Gai by that point, sans jumpsuit, was making the 'Nice Guy' pose at the camera, front and center, Gai looming over him, smile glinting, with Neji and Tenten pushed into the corner, looking at them in disbelief, not realizing the camera was going off at such an inopportune moment.
She still wasn't sure how they'd get through it. They were in limbo now, staid, waiting for Lee to pop up, green jumpsuit at the ready, for a request to spar with them, or a cheerful monologue on youth.
"Hn."
"You know, Sakura interrogated me about you yesterday." She made sure to keep her tone dismissive, to spark his interest.
"Hn?"
"She was curious."
"Obviously."
Rather than grunt, he'd spoken, which meant she caught him. "Actually, she was wondering if you were always so grumpy."
"And what did you tell her?" his tone was testy, as if he expected a rude awakening in the next ten seconds, but she hobbled along cheerfully.
"That you're the best teammate a girl could ask for, of course!"
There were set, factual things she knew about Neji. She knew that his favorite color was green, until the Beasts ruined it and he had mentioned he liked gray, that his blood type was O, and that he meditated more as a hobby than to expand his chakra reserves. Hyuuga Neji was a creature of fact and elegance, of complexities that made the easy things stand out. He didn't like spicy food, and hated pumpkins, but once he'd eaten herring soba and told her that it was his favorite. His birthday was July third and once he'd very nearly blushed when he walked into the female section of a hot spring.
She also knew he also had a stunning, infectious smile. Nothing like Lee's pinging grin, every tooth ready to be shown off, but a small, genuine curve of lips, revealing his neat rows of perfect Hyuuga teeth. Lee's smile had been the shining summer sun in the Land of Fire. Neji's was sunrise in winter. A little bit of that morning sunshine peeked through the soft clouds
"So, where am I carrying you off to?" he asked neutrally.
"Not home. I was so bored yesterday I just started throwing kunai at the ceiling and now there are holes everywhere.
"You need to learn the teleportation jutsu," he commented, seemingly idly, before continuing. "I can take care of those holes if you like."
She stared at him, sure this was another joke. "Handyman Hyuuga?" she asked, cocking her head.
"Hardly as ridiculous as the babysitter role you seemed to have forced Kakashi-taichou into," he pointed out.
"It's just not something you'd think a Hyuuga would know how to do, fixing plaster."
He looked down at her with a withering gaze. "Branch Hyuugas must fend for themselves, Tenten."
Her mouth formed a little oval and she nodded, staying tactfully quiet. They moved in companionable silence, their steps mingling easily from long practice, until they reached her apartment.
"I'd offer to clean up, but…" she gestured at her leg, sitting on the comfort of her bed, watching Neji distastefully pick his way through the clutter. "Watch out! Those senbons are poisoned."
His stare was deathly. "Why would you leave poisoned… no, actually, why would you leave any senbons around?" he muttered, scooping them up deftly and placing them out of harm's way. With a pop, he disappeared and reappeared, supplies in hand.
She sat up in outrage, ignoring the useless muscles of her leg. "When did you learn the teleportation jutsu?" she demanded in outrage.
He scoffed at her and cleared an area, pulling out a stool to step on, so he could reach the low-hanging ceiling. "Just because you don't know how to do it, doesn't mean I can't learn."
"You're teaching me the instant I'm mobile!"
Taking the thick substance out of the can with a trowel of some sort, Neji activated his jutsu and with inhuman speed, spread the gray substance across the wall. "It'll fade to white as it dries," he informed her, stepping down neatly.
"You used your jutsu… and I was so looking forward to watching you suffer in manual labor." She pouted, and he ignored her studiously.
"Don't wait for that day," he advised.
"You should be more chivalrous and entertain me," she teased. "Like… how about you help me teleport to the kitchen!"
Hand signs were not her strength, and Neji's rapid maneuvering did not help, but despite the jutsu being high-level, it was simple, and after an hour, she was in the kitchen, cheering loudly.
"I'd say this is quite enough for one day." Neji hovered over her. "I'm going to leave."
"No, don't go!" she didn't care if her tone sounded begging. "Please, please, please stay, I'll make you herring soba."
"Tenten, you cannot stand."
"I can balance on one leg. If I can wear high heels, I can stand on one leg."
He briefly looked as if he were considering amusement. "Why do you own heels?"
Tenten fluttered her lashes. "Why, a kunoichi must be prepared for all possible routes a mission takes! Seduction was taught at the Academy."
Neji looked incredulous, his shoulders and neck completely erect in his surprise.
"What kind of electives did you guys get?" she demanded. "It was a choice between flower arranging and seduction, for us."
"We learned evasion techniques."
Scowling, she glared at him, struggling to pull herself up, watching his expression. "Damn it," she scowled. "If that's not a gender bias, I'm not sure what is."
He'd been on the tail end of her feminist rants before, and wasn't planning on initiating another one where he was the target of her ire. Tenten was prone to throw things, ninja tools or not. Half of the items in her home had once been fodder for a fight with – or at, considering Tenten's ferocity – Naruto.
"Why don't I make the soba," was all he said, his tone giving no indication of his dread at her monologues. It wasn't particularly bad as youth, but being on the tail-end of Tenten's temper had long ago cured him of any lingering sexism that was so prevalent in the finer clans.
One comment toward Lee about 'fighting like a girl' and Tenten had nearly demolished him. It wasn't often her wrath was aimed towards him – or anyone besides Naruto – but he fervently admitted that it was one of the few times she had nearly killed him.
The first time she nearly killed them was when she used her bukijutsu for the first time in training – nearly slicing both of them in half. A long scar ran down his neck, and she had several on her arm, long and white and smooth, more like burns than his raised line of a memento.
Funnily enough, it was when he learned to trust her. Originally, he'd seen her as a half-rate kunoichi stuck on his team because he had no other graduating kunoichi to choose from. He knew the pattern well. As there were twice as many shinobi than kunoichi, the team makeup was bad shinobi – average kunoichi – good shinobi, with slight variations thereof. In his case, he'd been convinced of Lee's hopelessness and Tenten's dismally average skills.
Sitting on the hospital bed with her, as she apologized profusely for screwing up what she called the Twin Rising Dragons jutsu – because it wasn't her aim, Tenten's aim was never anything less than sheer perfection – and surprisingly, he accepted her apology. He accepted hers the way Lee accepted his for cracking five of his ribs, and the way she accepted Lee's for once sending her flying so far that it took the Byakugan to find her.
Rapidly and easily he prepared the meal, watching her scooting around the kitchen in trousers that were once fine and a shirt that had been ripped to shred months ago.
It struck him that Tenten was poor. The very word seemed crass. She did not have particular wealth or connections. The milk stored in the back of the fridge was weeks old. She worked, as he did, but she did not have the protection of the Hyuuga name or facilities. She was not watched, but she was also not cared for. Whenever Neji's clothing was ripped, the next day he found fresh clothes, either new or repaired, in front of his bedroom door. Most of Tenten's clothing was easily from years ago. He wondered what it had been like to grow up so alone. Had they been watched, or brought supper, or had friendly neighbors?
He'd always looked down on the blond boy - or at least, had before his crushing defeat at the boy's hands - but now he wondered at his boundless joy and affection. Tenten had not experienced the same isolation - for some reason, Naruto had been targeted at a young age. Though Neji had not played with children his age outside of the clan, only an idiot could not see the way Uzumaki Naruto was treated at the hands of civilians.
They were silent and in easy harmony as they ate, the dish slightly bland because of Tenten's lack of proper ingredients. He had planned on sitting at the table, but one glimpse at the battered wood, dyed black from ink and covered in rough nicks and sealing paper, had him sliding down next to her on the floor in as dignified manner as he could muster.
"You said I had Kakashi in the babysitter role," she giggled up at him over her bowl with the gigantic chip in the rim. "But you're the one who always seems to end up taking care of me."
Neji looked at her, schooling his expression into blandness. He found, strangely enough, that he enjoyed taking care of her.
Part of him understood why. With Lee and Gai gone, they were half a team, despite Sakura and Kakashi joining them. Two teams sliced in half did not a proper squad make. Perhaps he felt that he needed to keep Tenten close, as the images of Lee and Gai slid away. Another part of it was because he was in no way obligated to do so. This was their friendship, their camaraderie. It was not like his debt to Hinata, for nearly killing her, especially as it was on his head to protect her, or like a mission as a bodyguard. He did not want to help her because he was required to, or because she needed it.
Ever since the fateful day at the chuunin exams, he'd wanted to develop a close bond with her, and slowly but surely, they were. Likely it had been there already and he'd been far too blinded by his kekkei genkai to notice.
"All teams must break apart eventually," he told her. Just not so soon, not before they were all chuunin and now Rock Lee would never be there with them, celebrating a promotion or new accomplishment or mission.
She didn't answer – she was suddenly occupied with chewing, carefully, and he swore at himself. Since when had he shared the intimacies of his thoughts with anyone? He'd vowed to himself that he would become a better teammate, to anyone he was paired with, and especially to Tenten, but this was not a situation where his skills were required.
Immediately feeling uncomfortable with their sudden jump into familiarity, he stood. "I really should go," he said, quickly thinking of a lie, any lie. "I told Hinata-sama I would help her train."
He didn't understand why he felt so defensive, all of a sudden. When she did not reply, he panicked, though he smoothly hid it beneath his well-polished veneer of bland neutrality.
Tenten looked startled, but immediately nodded, smiling up at him. Her smiles were all genuine – eyes crinkling and closing, a slight blush visible beneath the fairness of her skin, every line of her body falling into the gesture. Neji's own smiles were rare and rather cold.
"Tell her I said hello," she instructed him, struggling to stand. A moment ago he would've offered her his hand, but now, he fled, returning to the Hyuuga complex, to the silence of his room, to think, and to fall back on his defensive solitude.
x
"Tenten!" singsonged a feminine voice at the door. "Oh… Tenten!" the singing quickly turned into a shrieking as Ino banged on the door. "Come out… come out… wherever you may be!"
"I'm coming!" Tenten bellowed, hopping to the door. "Calm down!"
Opening the door, Tenten saw Ino's playful smile dominating the door frame, with tiny Hinata behind her, and Sakura, looking exhausted, sitting with her. "Come on in guys, what's up?"
"We're having a girls night!" Ino announced. "And the Hyuuga complex is a no, one Neji-san is enough for me, we can't do it at my place or Sakura's, so we figured we'd come here! Welcome to girl's night!"
Amused, Tenten hobbled over to the couch. "Usually you'd invite people before throwing a party at their house."
Hinata smiled softly at that. "We brought this movie… and snacks." Arraying the food on her dented table, she called back: "What would you like?"
"What movie is it?" Tenten wondered, not really hungry.
"Icha-Icha Paradise adaptation," Sakura cracked, and Tenten smothered a laugh.
"How was training?"
Sakura's smile was radiant. "He showed me some ninjutsu… I think I learned more today than I ever did before. He says after a few sessions with you and Neji, we should be ready to resume usual missions. Thank goodness, too, because after the invasion, we're short on nin."
"What about you Hinata?"
"What?" the girl asked, startled.
"Neji was here earlier but he said he promised to train with you today." Tenten clarified.
"No… I didn't train today. I helped Ino-chan out at the flower shop."
Tenten's eyes narrowed. "I wonder why he lied then?"
"Who cares!" Ino proclaimed, hand-on-hip. "You guys never have any fun do you?" she groaned at them and Tenten held in a giggle. "You!" she pointed at Sakura. "Nothing will ever get better if you keep moping about it! Cheer up! Geez. And you, Hinata! Stop being such a wimp! Get some confidence! You're a Hyuuga, one of the prettiest kunoichi in the village, and all you ever do is mumble!"
Then she rounded on Tenten. "And all you ever talk about is training! Your only friend besides us is Hyuuga Neji!" she shrieked, pointing a finger at her dramatically, the other hand resting on her hip as she fell into a physical groan, all the while yelling at Tenten. "Do you even have any hobbies?"
"I can read your fortunes after the movie," Tenten offered.
"Sleep-over party it is!" Ino giggled, her fierce expression immediate dissolving in favor of a girlish smile.
The other three soon made themselves at home, mostly due to Tenten's inability to bustle around. The Uzumaki apartment, despite its shabby appearance, was homey and welcoming, quite the opposite of the dismal elegance of the gorgeous Hyuuga compound.
At one point, Sakura stared at her leg. Not at all self-conscious, Tenten watched her. "What are you thinking about?" she teased, as Ino and Hinata were avidly watching the movie.
"Do you mind?" Sakura asked, and when Tenten shook her head, Sakura touched the muscle and scar, watching as it didn't flex. "When can you use it again?"
"As soon as it supports me," Tenten replied dryly. "There's no pain, but if I tried to stand on it right now, I'd fall right over. I'm getting better balance from this, but it also means I can't train—"
"Shut up!" Ino threw a pillow at them. "Shiro-kun is about to confess his love!"
After the movie finished, Ino yawned, loudly. "So, girl-talk time! Boys are absolutely out of the question, considering Forehead-chan and Hinata-chan are present, so why don't we talk about our hopes and dreams!"
Tenten's mind inserted the Nice Guy pose and she stifled a laugh.
Ino targeted her. "What do you want, Tenten-chan?"
"I wanted to be Tsunade-sama for a long time," Tenten admitted. "Now, who knows? I don't want to be anyone else."
"Hinata-chan!"
The girl shrugged shyly, hiding her flushing face. "Support my clan," she murmured modestly.
"Sakura-chan?"
"Marry Sasuke, of course." The girl's joke had Tenten stifling a smirk, and Ino wrung her hands dramatically.
"Come on, Forehead-chan, no boys allowed! Except fictional boys. Oh, Shiro-kun!" she catcalled dramatically.
"We all know your dream is to play mom to that team of yours, anyway, Ino-chan," Tenten teased. "You can't hide it."
With a harrumph, Ino shook her quickly growing hair dramatically. "If I don't take care of that band of idiots, who will? Asuma-sensei still hasn't asked out Kurenai yet, Shikamaru refuses to admit he's into the Sand girl, and Chouji won't diet! They need me!"
Hinata blushed. "Has your sensei… really… about Kurenai-sensei?" she asked, twiddling two forefingers together, not meeting Ino's eye.
Leering, Ino grinned. "Kurenai's pretty hot, don't you think? When I make jounin, I'll make sure I stay as pretty as she is. I saw the same shade of lipstick she wears at the beauty shop the other day and I almost bought it, but red really isn't my color, unfortunately."
"Isn't she newly promoted to jounin too? Just before Team Kurenai was assembled. She's a genjutsu master."
"Exactly!" Ino said in exasperation. "Which is why you need to focus on your looks as much as your jutsu! Didn't the Academy teach you anything? It's a kunoichi's job to be a ninja, and also to be gentle and put-together. You don't have to sacrifice femininity to be strong!"
Tenten snorted. "It's not my job to be pretty for anyone. I'm not just a kunoichi, I'm a shinobi, and if Shikamaru and Neji don't wear lipstick, neither will I."
"But Kurenai-sensei is set on S-ranked seduction missions, which, in the future, we might be assigned to." Sakura interjected, looking a little annoyed at the idea.
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Kurenai-sensei is beautiful, yes, and she's a great kunoichi. However, I don't plan on going on any seduction missions."
"You don't know that!" Ino protested. "You have to be prepared!"
"Ino-chan, I promise, you are far more likely than I am to be sent on a seduction mission. Not every kunoichi is suited. Imagine the fit Hinata's father would have if she were assigned a 'distraction' mission."
Hinata's blush could've heated the Land of Snow, but Ino ignored it.
"You're no Forehead-chan, you troll. We'd dress you up and get you out there! I know! We can give you a practice run!"
Rummaging through a bag, Ino pulled out a small case of makeup. Sakura got into the spirit of it too and took a brush from Tenten's bathroom. Only Hinata smiled conspiratorially at her, as if to say, 'Let them have their fun.'
Abruptly her hair was being ripped back by Sakura, her buns untied deftly and without any particular gentleness. The brushing, despite its roughness, felt good. Tenten could've curled up like a cat in that moment, so enthralled by the simple motion of the bristles on her scalp. The last time anyone had brushed her hair was when the Sandaime had agreed to play ninja dress up, and she'd asked him to make her appear like the Nidaime, spiky hair and all. Teasingly, he'd run the brush upward through her hair and given her the appearance of an electric current running through her hair. Naruto had thought it was hilariously foolish-looking, but she'd gotten revenge when he wasn't able to wipe off the red lipstick she'd colored all over his mouth.
Hovering in front of her, Ino studied her critically. "Well, you're cute enough, with those stupid hair buns, but you have a pretty average face. Straight nose, small lips, but your best feature is these eyes." Ino poked at her. "They swallow you up the way Sakura's Billboard Brow does."
Sakura shot her a playful glare. "Or like your overwhelming personality, Ino-pig-chan?"
Hinata smiled demurely at their banter, and watched in fascination as the two other girls styled her.
"Hm… red would be better for your lips than pink, I think." Ino decided. Sakura parted her hair and looked at her.
"Keep it subtler on her, the full effect looks better on your face than on hers," she opined, and Ino nodded vigorously.
"We can't make her too outrageous, she doesn't hold the expression for it," she sighed, with the manner of someone with great disappointment. "Look how oblivious!"
Tenten scowled, only to be smacked by Ino. "You'll muss your lipstick!"
After being pinched and pulled for several minutes, the two girls released her and stared.
"It's the best I can do on such short notice," Ino declared, pulling out a mirror and swerving to maul Hinata next.
Taking the small glass, Tenten looked at herself, reminded of the day she wanted to be pretty. She'd ended up fighting those earth-style chakra traps instead.
This time, though, Ino had done it. She was no great beauty, and never would be, but she was pretty, and the knowledge filled her with light.
She told herself a kunoichi had no place for vanity, but the excitement of being pretty overwhelmed her and she smiled, so happily, as Hinata protested bashfully while Ino seemed to scribble all over her face.
"Now we're all beautiful! Except for Sakura, of course," Ino teased, winking.
"I have to return to the Hyuuga compound!" Hinata touched her face, her fingers splaying gently against her cheek. "I did not inform Hiashi-sama that I would be out this late."
Tenten felt her face fall. She genuinely liked Hinata, and despite her quiet demeanor, it was nice having her around for a 'girl's night'.
"Here, we'll walk you back." Tenten offered, forgetting about her leg and nearly toppling over. But as she regained her balance, a knock echoed on the door.
Three kunoichi stared at her.
"Who is that?" Sakura asked, surprised. "It's so late!"
Tenten shrugged and hopped to the door, testing her weight on her leg as she opened it.
She nearly fell over again, but for quite a different reason.
Neji stared at her face, his expression disbelieving. "What on earth have you done to yourself?"
Forcing down a mad flush that threatened it's way to her cheeks, Tenten gaped at him. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I've come to collect Hinata-sama. Team Kurenai has a mission in the morning."
Aburame Shino loomed behind Neji, silently. Still in slight shock, Tenten blinked and shook her head. "Whatever. We were just about to take her home."
In a single, fluid movement, Hinata stood, reddening at Neji's incredulity.
"What the hell have you done to her?" he demanded, sending her a glare.
That quickly cleared up her surprise, and she sucked a breath in. "Me? I got attacked by the beauty squad too! Calm down, Neji, it's just a little makeup. It's not like she's going out on the town!"
"Try explaining that to Hiashi-sama," he hissed under his breath, stepping away as Hinata shuffled out the door.
"Nii-san, I am sorry—"
"Don't apologize to this guy, Hinata-chan," Tenten told her slyly.
He frowned.
"Neji's just grumpy because we didn't offer to make him over."
"I'll volunteer for that job!" Ino heckled, and his icy glare shot out at her, only to be dismissed by the flirty blonde.
"Sorry, Neji-san, you may be colder than Sasuke-kun, but I've long developed immunity to all expressions like that."
"See you later, Neji-san!" Sakura called in an effort to be friendly, but after shooting her a measuring look, he slammed the door, keeping eye-contact with Tenten until the door was tightly wedged shut.
"What a killjoy. And both of you have him on your team! Poor Hinata-chan is related to him." Ino flipped through a magazine that had seemingly materialized out of her never-ending bag. "I guess I'm the lucky one here!"
"He's not so bad," Sakura argued. "After all, if Tenten-chan likes him…" she shot an encouraging smile at Tenten.
Rolling onto her stomach, Ino twirled her bangs. "Tenten's his punching bag," she corrected.
"Like how Shikamaru and Chouji-san are yours?" Tenten challenged playfully.
"Touche, girls. Ooh, look, here's a quiz." Then she gasped, and in a surprisingly pleasant gesture, dropped the honorific. "Tenten, read our fortunes!"
Grinning, Tenten did just that.
