Disclaimer: I stil do not own Naruto
Neji put his hand on Tenten's shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. While he had been standing still, waiting for the council to announce its decision, Tenten had been on the verge of a breakdown. Her heart was racing, and her stomach was trying to do acrobatics. She just wanted to be with Neji. She had never wanted to be with anyone else, but what if they wouldn't let her? What if she wasn't good enough?
When his hand rested on her shoulder she gave him a weak smile. The doors creaked open. "There will be a one-month probationary period before the council will render any permanent decision."
"What will the decision be based upon?" Neji asked calmly, Tenten still fighting her nerves and thoughts of I can't handle this. I couldn't even handle half an hour of waiting for them to reach a decision. How am I going to handle a month?
"Her worthiness." One of the councilmembers answered in a tone of voice that made it obvious that they weren't going to tell what they were testing the couple for. With that, the council streamed past them.
"What do we do now?" she asked Neji, her voice tinged with panic.
"We act as the perfect couple." Neji replied calmly. "Will you accompany me to dinner tomorrow?"
"Of course. How fancy?" I hate dresses, but I'll wear one if I have to in order to be with Neji.
"The Jade Garden. I will pick you up at 7?"
"Sure." Tenten's mind was still going a million miles a minute. The Jade Garden, so a dress definitely. Do I even own a dress? And I don't think I have makeup either. I'm going to need Ino's help. If I try to put makeup on myself I'm going to look like a clown, and I don't think the council wants Neji to be with a clown. I'm really glad that the date is tomorrow and not tonight.
Seeing that his girlfriend was lost in thought, Neji guided her to the entrance of the Hyuuga complex. Is girlfriend even the right word? Probationary girlfriend maybe? Or probationary girlfriend candidate? Stuck-up, overbearing council members.
"Tomorrow at 7." He reminded her. She nodded, her gaze still unfocused, and he briefly wondered whether she would have agreed to anything he had said.
Tenten headed for the Yamanaka flower shop on autopilot.
Three hours later, Tenten was wondering if Ino was really the person she should have gone to. The two kunoichi had different taste in clothes, to put it mildly. Tenten nearly wailed when she saw the next dress that Ino had pulled out for her friend to try on. It was lime green, and there was only about enough material for a scarf, despite the fact that it was supposedly a dress. No way am I wearing that! The council would think I'm a whore! And I'd probably give Neji a heart attack!
It took them another five hours to reach a decision but they finally had the winning outfit: black leather boots that almost came to Tenten's knees, a mid-thigh length skirt that was black and shot through with silver threads, accompanied by a silver shirt that caught the light when she moved and was more form-fitting than she was used to wearing. I can't believe that took eight hours!
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Ino asked cheerfully. Tenten just gave her a disbelieving stare. Don't you mean that that was hell on earth?
"And tomorrow, we can do your hair, and your makeup, and find cute accessories!" Ino squealed.
Oh joy! Someone just put me out of my misery now! I'm not sure how much more of the council and Ino I can take! Is Neji really worth this? Yes, but why does everything have to be so hard? And why am I holding an entire conversation with myself? It's official. I've gone crazy.