Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (yet).

The rosy blush of dawn hung in the sky as the six shinobi set off for the Land of Tea (half an hour later than planned, Neji mused in exasperation). The carved faces of the Hokages and the quaint tiled roofs of Konoha faded into the distance as they leapt through the trees, their feet barely disturbing the leaves on the branches.

Tenten was bringing up the rear, annoyed with herself for not having the speed or the stamina to keep up with the rest of the group. Well, she did have a fifteen-pound scroll strapped to her back. As she stared at the back of Neji's head, watching the wind stream through his long hair, a flash of black appeared at her left.

"I'm flabbergasted. The mighty Uchiha Sasuke actually deigns to fall back with a slowpoke like me?" Tenten quipped as Sasuke fell into step with her.

Sasuke's expression didn't change an iota. But up ahead, Tenten noticed Neji's shoulders stiffening, just a little, as his 360-degree vision swept over her and Sasuke.

The two traveled in silence for a while before Sasuke turned toward her, the weak morning light reflecting off his dark eyes. "How is your plan going?"

"Well…" Tenten said slowly, drawing out the word. "So far, he's criticized my choice of clothing, expressed his extreme disappointment in my behavior, lost his temper more times than I've ever seen in my life, and smashed a tomato into my face…although that last one was wholly unintentional." She skated her gaze to Sasuke and raised her eyebrows. "How do you think it's going?"

Sasuke shrugged, ignoring the sarcasm injected into her words. "It seems like it's working pretty well to me."

Tenten stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "Did you not hear what I just said? He smashed a tomato into my face."

"Look at it this way." Sasuke sighed at having to exceed his daily word quota. "There are two phases in your plan. The first is to make Neji jealous. The second is to make him fall in love with you." He ran a hand absently through his hair. "By the look of things, you're still in the first phase."

Tenten mulled over this new piece of information. "I guess you have a point," she admitted. "But we used to be such easy and comfortable friends. Why is he acting like he hates me all of a sudden?"

"If you were to put emotions on a scale," Sasuke said slowly, choosing his words very carefully, "hate would fall somewhere between love and indifference."

Tenten looked at him curiously. "Is that why you're so worked up over Sakura? Because she's basically indifferent to you nowadays?"

Sasuke glanced at her sharply. "I am not worked up over Sakura," he ground out.

A smile flitted over Tenten's lips at his obvious discomfort. "Denial is the first stage of acceptance," she teased in a singsong voice.

"Yeah?" He shot back. "Well, it's also the first stage of grief."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "You're so pessimistic."

"No," Sasuke returned, "I'm realistic."

She threw her hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, Mr. Realistic. So tell me…how do I get from Phase One to Phase Two?"

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do I look like I know?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You're drowning in a sea of your own romantic woes."

A fierce scowl crossed his face. "I need more silent friends," he muttered.

Tenten swept her hand in the Hyuga's general direction. "Then Neji's your man."

"Too bad he probably wants to rip my guts out thanks to your little scheme," Sasuke retorted.

Tenten grinned with a little too much glee. "You really think so?" she asked hopefully.

Sasuke groaned. Tenten's plan better proceed to Phase Two soon. He would rather his guts stay intact.

-x-

Neji had an inexplicable urge to rip Sasuke's guts out.

Every time Tenten nodded or smiled or laughed at something the Uchiha said, the blood rushed through Neji's ears, followed by the steady beat of a single word: kill, kill, kill.

"Geez Neji, what's with you?" Naruto said as they flew through the trees. "You're so tense, like your face is about to crack open or something."

Slowly, like a mechanical puppet, Neji's head swiveled toward Naruto. His white eyes raged with murderous intent and his mouth tightened into a dangerously thin line.

Naruto began to fear for his life.

He was fairly certain that Neji would not outright murder the person who had freed the proverbial bird from his cage. He also had faith in the famous Hyuga composure and collectivity. But Naruto had excellent self-preservation instincts, so he wisely kept his mouth shut. He was damn well not going to die on a D-rank mission.

"Lee's already miles ahead of us," Naruto blabbered quickly. "Can't let his ego get to him, you know. Ibettercatchup…youstayrightwhereyouare…seeya!"

Neji took a deep and calming breath as he watched Naruto disappear in an orange blur.

"Don't mind Naruto. You know how he is," a voice piped up to his left.

Neji turned to see Sakura fall into step beside him. She wasn't even looking at him as the words left her mouth. Instead, her head was turned to the back, where Sasuke and Tenten were still in deep conversation.

"I know," Neji replied, despite her inattention. "I have Lee on my team, after all."

At his words, Sakura's head whipped back toward him and a smile crinkled across her face. "Then you must understand completely. Naruto and Lee…they're lovable…but sometimes they're…" she trailed off.

"…Not particularly lovable?" Neji offered.

Sakura's soft laugh tinkled through the air. "Exactly!"

Neji could feel two curious gazes pinned to their backs. He could also feel Sakura's concentration slipping away again. Her pupils slid ever so slightly to the right as she twisted to look over her shoulder. But before she could twist back all the way, a blaze of quiet strength flashed in her eyes, and she abruptly snapped her head forward again.

Neji scanned her resolutely focused gaze for a moment before speaking. "You're different from what you used to be," he told her.

The blaze of strength in her eyes guttered out as Sakura's eyes flickered back over her shoulder. "Not as different as I would have liked," she murmured, a resigned sigh escaping her lips. "It seems that nothing has changed. Nothing at all."

Despite himself, Neji's gaze followed Sakura's. He watched the pair behind him, who appeared to be oblivious to their stares. "On the contrary," he said more to himself than to Sakura, "it seems that everything has changed."

There had been a time not too long ago when he'd felt that he and Tenten inhabited a world of their own. When Lee and Gai-sensei's shouts had faded away into the distance, when he could hear the lilting notes of birdsong filtering through the leaves, when the clearing in the forest was empty save for Tenten and him…that was when a feeling of happiness – pure and true – would permeate through Neji's entire body. When he sparred with Tenten, as they danced around each other's attacks that they knew like the backs of their own hands, Neji had thought, This is the way it's supposed to be. The way it will always be. Nothing will change, ever.

But then he had gone off on that solo mission, and when he returned…everything had changed. Everything. The world had simply flipped on its axis, turning all that he had known and trusted in upside-down.

Or perhaps…everything had been changing all along, right under his nose.

And he had been blind until now.

-x-

Meanwhile, Tenten and Sasuke were attempting to appear oblivious to the stares of their two teammates.

"Why are they staring at us?" Tenten asked under her breath.

Sasuke shrugged a single shoulder. "More importantly, what could they have been talking about?"

Tenten chewed her lower lip in contemplation. "I wonder…" she murmured. As far as she knew, the only female friend Neji had was her. He had never shown girls like Ino or Sakura anything other than respect for their abilities or solidarity for their shared shinobi path. Nothing more, nothing less. So why was he acting buddy-buddy with Sakura all of a sudden?

"What I really want to know," Sasuke continued, supplying an uncharacteristic number of words, "is what Hyuga said to make Sakura laugh so hard. I mean, he's Hyuga. He can't be any good at making jokes."

This time it was Tenten's turn to shrug. "Neji occasionally does possess a sense of humor. The thing is, he says a lot of funny things without ever intending to be funny." A smile curved her lips as she looked over at Sasuke. "Kind of like you, actually."

"But I've never made Sakura laugh like that," Sasuke grunted. His next words were spoken so quietly, Tenten could barely catch them. "I've only made her cry."

Uncomfortable with the atypical amount of emotion the Uchiha was showing, Tenten tried to diffuse the situation with a joke. "Ooooh, Sasuke," she teased lightly, "You're not jealous now, are you?"

He scoffed. "Hardly." His features returned to their usual impassive state, and his eyes went blank and dull. But Tenten could see that his gaze was still fixed on Sakura and Neji.

"Besides," Sasuke said abruptly. "You shouldn't be the one talking."

Tenten's smile wavered as she watched Neji and Sakura turn back to each other and resume their conversation. Sharp and needling prickles of envy shot through her chest. Was she really that transparent to Sasuke?

She had just opened her mouth to reply when a pair of shuriken sliced through the air, an inch away from the tip of her nose. "What the…?"

Eight rogue ninja exploded from the foliage, each armed to their eyeballs with every sharp and dangerous weapon imaginable.

A small, barely perceptible smile found its way to Tenten's lips. She was the indisputable weapons mistress. The enemy didn't stand a chance.

Author's Note: Yay for cliffhangers! This chapter is for all of you who asked for more Sasuke and Tenten interaction with a heavy dose of Neji jealousy. So I decided to go all out and make everyone in our charming love-quadrangle go green with envy. :D

Oh, and apologies to the readers who requested more NejiTen. The original cause for the NejiTen shortage was actually a request for more SasuSaku. Lol, I guess it's impossible to satisfy everyone. But no worries! I just drafted a fluffy NejiTen scene that will be showing up about two chapters down the line. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing!