Disclaimer: The usual. Anyone wish Kishimoto would update faster here?

To those injured or affected by the LondonBombing, may God bless you and be with you in your hour of need.

A/N: I seriously need to work on my HP fics before those readers start hunting for me. Thanks to all who reviewed, you're the best! And to those who were asking about the NejiTen chapter, here it is, just as I've promised! Extended piece from chapter 7!

Summery: Before love, there was selfishness. A small, nearly unconscious move is often bigger than any action. NejiTen.

Birthday

Neji stood there, breathing deeply.

Deeper. Slower.

Weapons of various shape scattered around him. A testimony of his kaiten; it advanced every year. Tenten, standing beyond the circle of sharp and oddly shaped blades that she was so adequate with, panted heavily.

Dawn had just broken. The sun was barely out. The coolness of the previous night still lingered softly in the air. They had, however, trained for several hours already.

Breathe. Deeply. Slowly.

It was His birthday.

He had arrived at his teammate's place unannounced -maybe even unwelcome- right after midnight. He wasn't sure why he went to her of all people –but he needed someone for today.

Tenten wouldn't understand, his mind had told him. But his body had thought otherwise.

So he had gone to her when the moon was still high and morning was hours away. Her room had been dark. And she'd been –he knew without a doubt–sleeping then. Resting, unlike him who had shifted in his futon and stared at the dark ceiling. He had slid open her window and had woken her up.

He was well aware of how very selfish he could be. From a very young age, he hadn't liked things being taken away from him or denied of him and he cared very little about what other people felt. Over the years that he had met his team, he'd learned to become more considerate.

However, that moment, Neji had cared little about consideration. He had wanted someone with him and she was the one he chose.

He was suffocating in emotions.

Neji had told her that he needed to see his father and Tenten had gone with him without another question. He'd taken her to the Hyuuga Branch burial ground. To where his father's epitaph stood. His father who had taught him the basic of Gentle Fist. His father who had made a choice. His father whose body had not been buried in his home. Neji stood there, Tenten beside him, and stared. No words were exchanged. No questions asked. His teammate and he just stood there in the moonlight.

It was His birthday; he had told her when they finally left the grave.

She'd nodded understandingly. She'd always understood, he had realized. Then she'd ask him to train. In the middle of the night. She could've been resting. She could've refused to stay for longer than he requested. She could've left him.

But she didn't.

She'd dragged him to the closest training ground and started throwing her weapons at him. Her way…their way to let out emotions. Their way to show that they cared…that they watched each other's back…

…That he could rely on her.

His emotionless face softened slightly at the thought.

He watched as she pulled her weapons -now controlled by chakra strings- back to her and efficiently placing them back into the scroll which she kept them in. The weapons flew across the air. Her normally fluid flow of chakra jerky due to tiredness from the training, and the lack of sleep.

A pang of guilt hit him. He was so selfish with her.

Neji moved, slightly hesitant, towards Tenten as she waved to him and gestured to the tree. He followed her lead –just as she'd followed his. Tenten waited for him by the tree before sitting down slowly at the roots. He sat opposite her. Their knees nearly touched. She smiled at him and closed her eyes, waiting for him to lead her.

He closed his eyes too.

Breathe. Deeply. Slowly.

Their breathings guided them. Together in the morning where a calm settled around them. A piece of harmony in their day.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." He whispered. Barely moving his lips.

But Tenten heard him. She reached out her hands and touched his face; tracing over the area that had marked him as the Branch House Member for the very first time. Her caress soft and tender. "I don't mind."

He leaned against her touch. And for the first time, there was no hesitation because he knew he could be selfish with her.

A/N: Please, please, please review? I've got...let's see...A SasuSaku story at bay...as well as one a Jiraiya one (you know, you love Sanin fics...and secretly adore this old man)...and a Yashamaru one that's still hatching! If you review, I'll post them! Yes, I'm resorting to blackmail! Hope you'd do as I ask because I really want them posted too!