Disclaimer: Psh! I wish I owned Naruto.

A/N: you can't see it, but I'm smiling like the hyper smiley face…

Chapter 10: Settin' The Stage

She couldn't say anything. All her thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing only: herself. And though it may sound conceited, it's not. She wasn't thinking of herself in that kind of matter, it was more along the lines of "What did I just do?" or "How did I get myself into this?" instead of ˮDamn I'm something!" or "I'm just too good." She would never allow herself to think in such a manner. It wasn't her style, but, then again, neither was swindling her own self and stooping to the lowest of low measures to handle a bad break up. Neither was sleeping with someone after just breaking up with another, totally different, guy. That was something, not trying to sound impudent here but, Ino would do, not her, and she felt slightly dirty to have done the deed in the first place. Still, what's done is done and now she lay there, staring at the patterns on the ceiling above her, butt naked and under the soiled sheets of Neji Hyuuga's for what felt like the 10th time.

"You look horrible." A deep voice cooed breaking her from her trance making her loose the motion picture she made on the wall. She cursed under her breath then stared at the guy that stared back at her. She didn't even fight with him on it though. She knew she looked horrible, especially compared to him, because, even with sex-head Neji still managed to look strikingly amazing. "I wish I could say the same for you." She hummed in response as he slid out of the bed, dragging the covers along with him to wrap around his bare waist. "Why is it that you always look amazing, Neji?"

He simply looked back at her, allowing a genuine smile to touch his beautiful features. "You say that like it's a bad thing, and don't get my last comment wrong. You look astounding yourself."

"Oh please." She scoffed. "What part of me looks the least bit-ˮ

But before she could finish her sentence the sheets, her only shield, were pulled from right under her nose. She barely had enough time to react before Neji crushed her under his strong build. A few scuffled laughs left her mouth as she adjusted to the new weight that was now on her, and, even though he looked slightly erotic with the lowered eyes and bitten bottom lip thing, she still faced away from him. That didn't stop him though.

"How many times am I going to here that coming from you?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked after finally fixing her gaze on his gorgeous face, his thin lips and those to-die-for eyes.

He shifted suddenly rubbing his manhood against her and loved her reaction but ignored it. "You know what I'm talking about. For the last time Tenten, there is nothing wrong with you. What do I have to do to get that through that thick scull of yours?"

She laughed and he kissed her mainly out of exhaustion. He couldn't be above her and not do anything. It was impossible. So he kissed her again then slowly began to grind on her. She did nothing to stop him. She just laid there with her hands pressed against his chest, ready to push whenever needed, and though she hated to admit it, she did like the feeling he gave her. True she felt like a slut, and yes anyone did have every right to call her one, but that didn't stop her. He was too good to let go of now and she defiantly wasn't going to lose him over someone that came nowhere near in looks, style eloquence or any other intimidating thing she could think of. She was most certainly never going to lose her b…

Neji grunted an indifferent sound once he felt the strong push on his chest by the smallest of hands. He growled when the push came again, then barked another sound of disagreement as he sat up, refusing to leave the warmth of her body completely. "What?" he asked with the slightest hint of annoyance in his baritone voice.

"It's just…" she winced as she sat up. Her head began to pulse uncontrollably to her sudden movement, not that she expected less. She was wasted, not enough to forget the contents of last night but enough to feel it in the morning, and it was all Neji's fault, partially hers for agreeing to let alcohol settle her problems, but mostly his.

She looked back at him. He didn't budge. His hands still kept their comfortable position on either side of her and his eyes never once changed from that cold lingering look of irritation that hardly ever shot her way. And even though she could pin point his obvious rising anger, she still pressed on, shifting her legs from under him, only to have him lock his waist in all attempts of keeping her there.

"It's just that I don't see the…point in all of this. Not anymore."

"Point to what." He moved, allowing her to curl her knees up to her bare chest, covering her plump breast thoroughly from the beast that would attack them if left out too long.

"The point to this!" she motioned at the both of them before encircling the whole messy space they slept in last night. "Us!" she finally yelled after getting a confused glare from the designer. "I don't see the point in us! I mean, we're not even in a relationship and look at us. It's like every time I see you I end up struggling under your weight trying to tear either your clothes or my clothes off, which of those I'm actually doing, I don't know? I can't tell anymore."

Neji stared at her. Half of him wanted to hold her small figure, but the other half wanted to ignore her little speech and just attack her right then and there. He didn't know which would win, so he did neither action and just stared as she rushed past him trying to find her missing articles of clothing before he let a long sigh out. Tenten simply ignored it and continued fumbling with her pants as she drove her leg in one side, missing a couple of tries but making it in after calming down.

"Tenten." Neji finally spoke. He didn't move from the bed. He just rolled over allowing the sheets to cover his lower half as he stared up at the girl that openly overlooked him. "Tenten, please." He whined still receiving no answer from her. He sighed again, but this time stood up with it and proceeded to chase idly after her, walking awkwardly with the sheets that managed to wrap tightly around his waist and legs.

She reached the door but was stopped from leaving the moment his strong hand push against it, shocking her, but getting nothing more than a wide stare from her chocolate brown eyes. She refused to speak to him. There was no longer a purpose, and if there was she couldn't see it, so she deemed it useless if it was left unseen.

"Let me out." She scolded after the Hyuuga's quiet act of just staring. "I have to go home and prepare. I'm going out with the girls." She reached for the door only to be stopped again by his swift hands. Before she could protest against it, she found herself pined against the nearest wall. But she wasn't startled. She wasn't even bothered by this action. She was actually slightly amused with irritating Neji. "There are no boys allowed in this little get together, Neji." She smirked before sliding out of his grip, only to be stopped again. So indecisive.

"Tenten, what do you want form me?" he questioned with dreary eyes. "What can I do to make…this better, because I don't want you to leave, and quite honestly, I didn't ask to be more than this because of your break up."

Her smile dropped as she stared into his eyes. She felt somewhat elated upon hearing his 'more than this' comment, but that feeling was hopelessly dropped the moment the break up was mentioned.

She didn't cry. That, once again, wasn't her style, but she did mope a little hanging her head low so as not to be seen by the bearer of the "all seeing" eyes. It didn't slide though. He saw clearly how sad she became and instantly regretted mentioning it to her. Then it happened, a tear fell, catching her off guard as she watched it hit the floor. Not long after, another fell, then another, and another and they kept falling till she found the urge to sniff, hopping that that would stop those dastardly things from falling. They didn't, it just made it evident that she was now crying.

"Tenten…" Neji's deep voce could be heard over the sniffling sounds that were made. She didn't answer.

"Tenten, look at me."

She did, slowly but surely, she did, and put no effort in attempting to hide the fact that she was crying, and full force at that. Neji didn't even get the chance to say anything before she lunged into his chest, crying her heart out, crying tears that Neji felt shouldn't be coming from her, but from the person she was crying for.

He held her there, letting her cry as loud as she wanted and as long as she wanted while he sat there cradling her like a baby and silently regretting, having bringing up the break up.

"Tenten…listen. I want to tell you something…important."

Later that day:

Dark eyes watched effortlessly as people rushed past, but to these eyes that were clouded with thought, the people were dragging, none looking enthusiastic about the place they were going to and none seeming to notice the distant eyes staring at them. The carrier of said eyes just continued to stare, even when uncanny stares were, occasionally, given back. She seemed to not care all too well about anything, not anymore. The only thing that interested her were the thoughts swimming in her head, the thoughts that took over every inch if her brain, leaving her mind vacant and open for it too dance here and there freely without being tossed aside for a more important one. It made her look stupid and yes she was aware of that, but what more could she do about it. It just seemed right, that face, and if she didn't have it, she would have felt out of place and lost even, making her seem even weirder to the bystanders, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never get the thought –his words- to leave her head.

What could he have meant by that? She questioned as she subconsciously watched the swirl of thought sway in and out of her vision, each time bringing another confusing question to add to the mix that it had already thrown at her. Was he serious? What could he want with me? I'm just a normal girl. There's nothing special about me. Is there?

She blinked after a while when she saw a familiar figure stride through the streets, literally stopping traffic, followed by two other familiar figures that proceeded to receive annoying honks of satisfaction from drivers, all of whom were male, with their heads dangling out the car windows and tongues lolling down their necks.

The first to approach her was, the self dubbed leader of the pack, Ino. Her smile spread wide across her face as she took in the gestures of her "audience" with glee. Next was Sakura who wasn't as fervent with it as her childhood friend. A small blush danced on her cheeks and her hand instinctively shot up several times to push unexisting stray strands of hair out of the way. Hinata was last; her pale eyes were fixed on Tenten, wanting to ignore the whole scenario, but failing to hide the wild blush that made her even more irresistible to the wolves of the streets.

Tenten smiled at them. She didn't forget about that thought that aimlessly floated around her now preoccupied head. She just simply moved it to the side, forcing herself to at least think of something to say to her closest friends minus one.

"Hey guys, nice show by the way. Where's Temari?"

Her friends simply looked at her before sighing simultaneously, perking Tenten's interest when even Hinata had joined in on it.

She inwardly flinched when a pale hand was placed on her shoulder. She found herself following it back to its owner, stopping only when two pearl like eyes stared instinctively at her unfazed by her intense brown ones doing the same thing. Another flinch managed when another hand was placed on her other shoulder. The same process was repeated till she stared at two sea foam green eyes now. She almost felt herself prepare for the other hand to appear wherever there was room left, but was surprised when the last girl simply stared at her with a wry smile filled with so much concern and grief that it made her gasp, knowing all too well where this conversation was going, but she was stopped by the other two, surprisingly strong, girls that now gripped her shoulders forcing her to stay put. A melancholy sigh left the blondes mouth before she headed to the nearest store with the other two, and one reluctant one, following close behind.

"It was a good show wasn't it?" Ino finally perked with her back turned to the others. "And as far as Temari's considered, she's searching for a certain someone. She said she'll join us later and to go ahead of her." she turned. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is how you're feeling right now, Tennie."

Tenten gawked at the bluntness of her friend before shaking it off to gawk at the use if her nickname. "I don't know what you're talking about?" she lied. "I'm perfectly fine, and I would be better if I wasn't being held against my will right now. I mean come on, what do you guys take me for, a burglar? What am I being held for?"

No one laughed at her dry joke. They just stared at her, reluctant of letting the situation go, or her go for that matter. "You know what she meant, Tenten." Hinata said, making it sound more like a warning than anything else. "Don't jock around. Not at a time like this."

Nothing was said. No one moved, and for a while, it seemed like no one even breathed as Tenten's lips pressed tightly into a thin line. She could feel her anger rise, and the tears build as she hung her head. She refused to cry. It still wasn't in her character, even though she had already broken that earlier on in the day, and had vowed to never break it again over something so trivial as a boy that wasn't worth it. No, not even friends were allowed to see that side she wasn't proud of, and now that she was so close to showing them, she had to do something, anything…

"It's…nothing. I mean, I'm fine." She looked up. Her eyes were slightly glistened, but not enough to give herself away, not even to Hinata. "Really I am." She added on when she noticed the "not buying it" look on her friends faces. "Kankuro and I were obviously not meant to be if it ended so soon, and I have to admit that I was sad to have found that out, but I was in no way devastated from that loss. I can deal. And quit honestly, 'dealing' won't work too well if you guys keep smothering me with unorthodox solutions to solve my, no longer existing, heartbreak."

"But, Tennie-ˮ

"Enough with the pampering already." She scolded, shaking her friends hands off her shoulders before looking at them with ignorance and doubt. "Where's all my joking friends. The ones that taunted me back and forth and day and night about nothing really, the one's that I loved for their insecurities and tolerance, the ones I miss and KNOW: Those friends. Wherever they are, I want them back. Now."

Nothing else was said. The girls couldn't say anything. They only stared, unsure that their words would have been a wasted effort now that she had finished her rant on them. Hinata was the first to react, stepping forward and linking her arm through Tenten's the way Temari always did, and smiling broadly while a light blush outlined her perfect cheek bones. "Insecure friend #1 is right her." She whispered.

"Insecurity inflicted ally #2 is also intact and ready commander." Sakura saluted before linking arms with Hinata.

Ino fought back a giggle, stepping up with both arms stretched before them, before bowing, tucking one under her to support her stomach and outstretching the other in a rather off gesture. "I beseech thee." She joined in, connecting her arm with Sakura's. "My good fellow's, Insecure madam figure 3 is also present."

Tenten laughed, breaking the others into a rather obnoxious fit of mirth as bystanders continued to stare with worry dying their eyes for the 4 girls.

"Let's go, guys." She giggled. The others did so, swinging their arms high in the air before them like teenage girls as they wafted through the crowd feeling light and relevant, singing "We're looking for insecure, insecure # 4." Over and over. Completely oblivious to the annoyed frowns they were receiving from, other, less animated people.

It was a fun experience for her, and she loved every bit of it. But that thought, that one thought that floated aimlessly in the back of her head, slowly inching its way to the front with every passing second, never once strayed too far from its propose: to take over her whole head.

Tenten swallowed. They had calmed down, Temari told them exactly where she was in the mall, and the whole Kankuro subject was completely blown over by the time they found the girl who refused to talk about such "scum" as she called it. All focus was back on shopping and the constant begging for makeovers from the two most eager shoppers of the group, which meant that her focus was on anything other than, which brought her back to the mimicking, yet serious words that never once died down.

'If you don't mind.' Neji cooed into her ear at that time, while cradling her in his strong arms. 'I would like to take you somewhere, anywhere, just as long as you like it. You can think of it as a date…I know I will.' (1)

Phew! I'm finally done with this chapter. So um yeah, you know how it is. I tell you about some things blah, blah, blah, I (beg) for you to review blah, blah, blah, I end with my signature:

…Oh wait…wrong Fanfic…oh well

Keynote ᴀ.ᴋ.ᴀ. Kicho is out. Peace!

And I end it with some info I either knew you didn't know or assume you don't know:

(1)- this time, it's a flash back so the whole: ' blah, blah, blah' thing is what he said in the flashback a.k.a. back in that time…period…phase…thing.