A/N: Thanks so so much to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/favorited!! I'm really on a roll here ^_^ 3 chapters in 2 days, yay me!! I've just got one little thing to say before I leave you to read the chapter in peace: a few reviewers seem to be in favor of SasuTen. I'm sorry to say that we won't be seeing any SasuTen from here on out - or at least not in a romantic sense (I might do a different fic with this pairing though) as stated from the beginning the eventual pairings for this fic are NejiTen and SasuSaku. I hope I don't lose anyone because of this!
Happy reading and PLEASE REVIEW! =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 10

Dear Neji

I know that you deserve to hear what I have to say face to face, but if I see you then I'm afraid my resolve will crumble, and so I'm taking the coward's way out.

My entire life I devoted so much of my time and energy to you that I'm only now realizing I don't even know who I am without you anymore. All else aside, we've always been friends, and this last year showed me what it would be like without you in my life – and I hated it, so I just want to tell you how sorry I am for my part in the entire situation.

I really need you to know that I do love you – more than you'll ever know, and I want nothing more than to be with you, but I can't allow that to happen. It wouldn't be fair to you – not at this point. Everything is just so messed-up and I really need to take some time and just step back so I can sort through it all. I need to find out who I am and where I want to go before I can lose myself in you – how can you find me again if you don't know what to look for – I don't know, does that even make sense?

Anyway, I just wanted you to know how things stood – in the end we only had a couple of days together but I wanted to tell you that they were the most amazing of my life.

I'll understand if you'd rather avoid me after this but I really hope that you can understand where I'm coming from. I have no right to ask you to wait for me, so I won't.

I hope with all my heart that we'll find some way to weather this latest storm and, at least, stay friends.

Love always,
Tenten.

Neji crumpled the piece of paper in one hand, staring at it with blank eyes. He was no stranger to pain – having lost his parents at a young age he knew what true sadness felt like - knew how it felt to lose someone. But this … this was beyond pain, beyond any feeling whatsoever. He was just … numb. He hadn't been in the best mood when he'd arrived at school to begin with, and he'd watched the white envelope fluttering to the ground with a premonition of disaster when he'd opened his locker a few minutes ago.

Slowly he unclenched his fist still staring at the piece of paper expressionlessly. Then he carefully placed it on top of the books resting on the bottom shelf of his locker and smoothed the wrinkles out, before folding it into a small square and putting it in his pocket. He slammed the door shut with only a slight bit more force than was strictly necessary and walked off – to everyone watching nothing out of the ordinary had taken place, but Neji knew that everything was different now.

The decision he'd put off making – because of Tenten – could now be faced, and, while he might be love's bitch at the moment, never let it be said that he didn't have the courage to face unpleasant facts. Neji smiled in grim determination – oblivious to the startled stares of the students who caught sight of the expression - if there was one thing he'd learned in his life then it was that time didn't stand still just because someone's feelings where hurt. Life went on, and now it was up to him to either get on the bandwagon and really start to live, or to curl up into a ball of defeat. When viewed in that light, it was the easiest decision in the world - Hiashi would be ecstatic.

Tenten sighed and listlessly took another bite of her apple before giving lunch up as a bad job when it stuck in her throat again. She'd delivered the letter via the vents of Neji's locker this morning, and, though she'd know that it was a long shot that he would understand – Neji wasn't particularly compassionate - she'd hoped nonetheless.

That hope had been crushed when she'd entered her second period class – the first time she would see Neji since Saturday night – only to have him stare right through her as if she didn't even exist. There had been no expression on his face whatsoever – no anger, no pain … just nothing … and that hurt worst of all. But she'd taken a deep breath and kept her eyes down, focused on the lesson and tried to ignore Neji, and, to her surprise, it had worked somewhat – enough for her to focus on what the teacher was saying anyway.

She'd decided to be diplomatic, and so she'd stayed away from the cafeteria, taking her lunch outside instead. This was her decision, and she didn't regret it, but she didn't want to create even more bad feelings between everyone. In the end, it had seemed best to just sit outside by herself and pretend to read.

A shadow fell across her book, and Tenten looked up in surprise. Her hand lifted automatically to shield her eyes so she could see who was standing over her – the glare of the sun turned the person into nothing more than a dark blob – and if she hadn't already been sitting down, she would've fallen over when she realized that it was Neji.

"I'm glad I caught you alone," he said stiffly. Tenten merely nodded, and Neji sat down next to her. "Look, I got the letter and I respect you decision - I want you to know that - but I also meant what I said, Tenten. I'm done playing games." His gaze was serious, and Tenten swallowed nervously. Neji looked away, "I think it would be best if we just left each other alone – for the time being anyway. I will always be your friend but I just can't be around you right now. I've got a lot on my plate, and I can't make the right choices if my thinking is clouded, so I would appreciate it if you could respect my decision."

Tenten took a deep breath but only nodded – she had no idea what to say, could only focus on the stabbing pain in her heart. Neji nodded slowly, "Thank you." He stood to go, and Tenten finally found her voice, "Neji…" but the words trailed off before they had begun when she realized that she still had no idea of how to articulate everything she was feeling.

Neji stopped, "It's okay, Tenny. I get it. I love you, too." He smiled sadly before quickly walking away, but Tenten couldn't move. No matter that she knew she'd made the right decision, at the moment she wanted nothing more than to run after Neji and beg him to never leave her again.

Sasuke smiled peacefully at Sakura on his right – for the first time in years it felt as if his world had righted itself. Everyone had just sort of naturally gravitated towards the same table once lunch time had rolled around, and the sound of Naruto's antics from his left only added to the generally festive atmosphere.

The only dark spot was the absence of Tenten, but Sasuke accepted that she probably didn't feel very comfortable with the entire situation as yet, and he wasn't about to pressure her, but he hoped that she could resolve whatever problems were keeping her away from her friends. True, he wasn't really crying about Hyuuga's absence (was he with Tenten?) but both Tenten and Neji were part of the group, they'd all grown up together and it seemed fitting that they would end their school careers together.

Speak of the devil, Sasuke mused to himself as he caught sight of Neji entering the cafeteria as if he'd heard Sasuke thinking about him. Grudgingly Sasuke admitted admiration for the stoic façade – Neji never even blinked when he saw the newly merged table, simply headed right over to Lee's seat and ignored the rest of them.

Neji knelt down next to Lee, "Hey, I need you to do me a favor and run Hinata home this afternoon. I'm going to see about those forms after school." Lee stared at Neji open-mouthed, "Really? You're going to apply…?" words seem to fail Lee and at Neji's warning glare he snapped his mouth shut and nodded vigorously, "Yes, sure. Of course I'll take her home."

Neji nodded, "Thanks." He clapped Lee on the shoulder and unfolded from his crouched position. "I'll see you later." Without a word to anyone else Neji strode off.

Lee turned back to the rest of the table and looked very uncomfortable when everyone stared at him in avid curiosity. He quickly gulped down the rest of his sandwich while everyone continued to stare at him in expectant silence, and then jumped to his feet. "See you. Hinata – I'll meet you outside after last period." Hinata nodded but Lee had already walked off.

"Now what on earth is Neji applying for and why is it such a big secret?" Naruto spoke up finally, but the question was met with shrugs, and soon the conversation turned to a different subject.

Sakura shifted slightly from one foot to the other as she waited after ringing the doorbell – she'd waited all day for a chance to talk to Tenten, but the opportunity never arose and so she'd decided to stop by her house after school. "Hi," she said brightly when Tenten opened the door.

"Hi," Tenten replied warily, but she stood back to allow Sakura entrance. "I wanted to talk to you, if that's okay?" Sakura said, hesitating in the hallway. Tenten waved her toward the living room. "Go ahead, it's just me at home, so you can talk wherever."

Sakura nodded, but waited until they had both settled before she started to talk. "Look – I'm not going to insult your intelligence. You know why I'm here. I just wanted you to know that I was going to tell you about Friday night but you sort of beat me to it, and I just wanted to apologize … I didn't mean to hurt you."

For a moment Tenten stared impassively into Sakura's anxious green gaze, then she sighed, "I know, Sakura. And, really, it's fine. Things worked out the way they were supposed to, and I'm happy if you and Sasuke are happy. So please just forget about it, okay?"

Slowly, uncertainly, Sakura nodded, if everything was fine then why could Tenten barely look at her, and why was she being so … unTenten? Sort of listless …. Sakura shook her head to clear the thoughts, "Thank you, but are you sure we're okay? I don't know … you seem sort of angry – which you have every right to be! I want you to know that I consider you one of my best friends and I don't want to lose that."

Tenten buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Fine, I'll admit I wasn't exactly deliriously happy to see you with Sasuke, and I'm not going to lie – the whole situation sucks. But, please, I understand, I really do, and I'm not angry at you, so can we just let it go?"

"I just wanted to make sure that we're okay," Sakura replied quietly, and Tenten immediately flushed with guilt. "No, I'm sorry," she sighed, "I've just had a really bad day and now I'm taking it out on you, and I know that's not fair, and I really would like it if we could all just be friends," Tenten took a deep breath, throwing apologetic glances at Sakura every so often.

The other girl laughed, "No, it's fine – you don't need to apologize. I also just want us to all be friends again, so, it would be really great if you actually came to lunch," Sakura smiled slightly when Tenten blanched.

The mood lightened after that and they simply enjoyed the banter that flowed as it hadn't done in far too long. Eventually, when she took her leave, Sakura felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She had Sasuke, or, rather, things between her and Sasuke were progressing nicely. Tenten wasn't angry at her, and Sakura couldn't help skipping a little out of sheer happiness as she made her way home.

Neji exited the school laden down with papers – he'd spent the majority of his afternoon being inundated with information, and his head felt like it was spinning.

He reached his car, the only one still left in the lot, and juggled the papers as he tried to unlock and open the door one-handed. When he finally sank down into his seat, his breath huffed out and he dropped his head onto the steering- wheel. Am I really going to do this? His head was telling him that it was the right decision, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that didn't stop his stomach twisting with indecision or his heart from skipping a couple of beats in apprehension. If it's so right, then why does this feel so wrong?

Neji finally lifted his head, and sighed before he started the car and slowly drove back home – he really wasn't looking forward to facing his uncle – the man would be ecstatic at finally getting his way, but Neji couldn't help but feel that if he took this final step, if he told his uncle about his decision, then there would be no going back.

A/N: The chapter is a bit short but everything that was supposed to happen is in there. Next chapter should be longer again! It's getting intriguing now, isn't it =) *winks* Don't forget to let me know what you thought!