Tenten POV

Neji had been avoiding me. All through our shift yesterday, he'd tried not to look at me, or even come near me. He'd always turned away, hiding his face. It made me wonder if he was mad at me, or if he was embarrassed about something. Luckily, it stopped after the first day. He had run out of the dining room with a nose bleed, so maybe he had been feeling sick.

The next day, we walked to school together. We didn't talk much, though. The weekend had been stressful, and neither of us wanted to get up and go to school--especially when I knew I'd be getting ambushed by the girls about my hair. I was only slightly worried about that. I shouldn't be worried about it at all, considering what else happened over the weekend.

What with nearly being kidnapped by a brutal girlfriend beater almost twice my size, a couple high school girls weren't anything to be worried about.

Although, I really didn't want to get hauled off to listen to them all squeal and run my fingers through my hair, which was inevitably what was going to happen.

We were halfway to school before Neji said anything.

"They're going to jump you, y'know..."

"Yeah...I know." I sighed. It was going to be a long day.

"I know exactly how the events will pan out," I said. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Mm-hmm!" I smiled. "You see, I will be stared at in homeroom, and as soon as class is over , they'll drag me to the bathroom and squeal over it, and then when I escape, I'll have to go through that again and again, only in smaller doses in every class. Then I'll try to find an escape. But first, Ino and Sakura will definitely say the new look had something to do with me love life."

"It kinda did, didn't it?" Neji said, and I realized he was right. It was only because I was hiding from Akira that I let them do this to my hair. I don't think I would have otherwise.

"Neji-kun," I said, without looking at him, lest I blush, "What do you think of it? The new hair I mean." I stared at my feet as I walked, fiddling with my hair, twirling it around one finger as I waited for his response.

"I..." he said, before stopping and rethinking his answer. I waited expectantly. "I liked it fine the way it was."

Somehow, that was what I wanted to hear. I smiled, and started skipping down the sidewalk, something I normally would never have done.

I was just in such a good mood!

Next thing I knew, I was in the bathroom having my hair finger-brushed by every girl in my grade, while they squealed.

"It's soo cute!"

"Why'd you get it done?"

"Who did it?"

"Where'd you go?"

Until, finally, someone asked the question I was hoping no one would ask. Ino.

"Why were you walking to school with Neji Hyuuga today, hmm, Tenten?" She wasn't jealous or anything, but she made it a point to stick her nose into everyone's love life. And the second she said it, everyone else wanted to know too.

"Yeah!" They all choruses, and I blushed unknowingly.

"I-I wasn't!" I protested, maybe a bit too loudly.

"You were!"

"I just met him halfway here! That's all! There's no hidden meaning, Ino!"

"I never said there was," she said, trying to back me into a corner, but I didn't fall for it.

"I know your tricks. I know exactly what you were after when you asked that and I'm telling you now that--"

"You love him?"

"Yes. NO!!!!" She'd gotten me! "Argh! Ino! Stop playing with my mind! I don't like him that way!"

"I never said you did. YOU said you did, though..."

"No, you tricked me into saying it. I'm not stupid."

"Only dumb enough to fall for it."

"So you admit it was a trick?"

"No." Exasperated, I left. I walked back to class, and was once again bombarded with questions about my hair.

When lunch rolled around, I sat with Neji. I needed some of his calm after all the sexual harassment I'd endured, with all those fingers running through my locks. My roots were aching from the pulling. I just wanted an advil and some sleep, but I still had two hours of school to go.

"So how's it going?" Neji asked me. I looked up at him, wondering what he meant. "Your day plan. You know, "exactly what's going to happen". That."

"Oh, that. So far, I'm spot on. Not one thing wrong. They even dragged me to the exact bathroom I knew they would, that's how good I am at this." We laughed, though it was mostly me. Neji didn't laugh much. Or talk much either. I decided to ask him about yesterday.

"Neji-kun..." I started, but I wasn't sure how to ask him.

"Hmm?" he said. He was still reading the book he'd had open since the beginning of lunch. He picked up his soda.

"How come...how come you wouldn't look at me yesterday?" In surprise, he spit out his soda all over the table. Blushing, he used his napkin to mop up the mess, and I offered him mine for his face. He accepted it.

"Um..." he said. I didn't press the issue. Instead, I dismissed it. It wouldn't be right for me to ask him to answer it when I knew--by his reaction--that it was embarrassing for him.

"You know what," I said, waving one hand, "never mind. You don't have to answer that." He looked grateful, looking up at the ceiling as if to say "thank you god." I suppressed a giggle.

It was decidedly early, but I wanted to get out of the lunchroom. It was loud, and though Neji's somewhat calm aura had brought some ease, it was still too loud. I wanted fresh air. I said goodbye to Neji and threw away my trash, putting the tray in the stack next to the trash can.

"See ya..." I said, waving, and--to my dismay--ran into Ino on my way out.

She took one look at me, then one look at Neji, then to the two of us waving at each other, and a wicked grin spread across her face. She grabbed me and dragged me into the hallway.

"I knew it," she stated simply. I sighed.

"Ino, it's not what it looks like..."

"Sure. You say you don't like him like that, and yet the two of you are alone together at a lunch table..."

"I just needed to be around his mellow-ness. After having my head raped by dozens of fingers, my head is killing me. I knew Neji scared everyone away," it was a mean thing to say, but somewhat true, " so I sat with him, and I didn't get bothered."

"Sure, Tenten, whatever you say." I was getting tired of this. I brushed past her and stalked out the door that led from the back of the building to the back parking lot, where there was a small strip of pavement between the chain link fence and the dumpster that people often avoided for obvious reasons (the smell). It was just the kind of secluded spot I needed.

I was close to tears. I was confused, and my head hurt, and I was tired of being interrogated by girls who thought I was madly in love with someone I barely knew.

And it all got to me because part of it was true. I DID have feelings for Neji, but I wasn't in love with him...I didn't think. The fact that my hair had been tugged on all day didn't help my mood either. I crouched and leaned against the fence, pulling my knees to my chest and hiding my face in them. I wanted the tears to stay away, but they threatened to come anyway.

No, you're being pathetic. This shouldn't get to you. If you have feelings for him, you have feelings for him. If you don't, you don't. You shouldn't listen to Ino and her teasing. I scolded myself. And don't cry. Your mascara will run.

I'd forgotten to buy water-proof makeup, so I'd had to wear the normal stuff, but with my emotional state, that was a bad idea. I heard the warning bell from inside ring, and I got up, but my shirt had caught on the fence, and tore a bit, the smooth black cloth tearing a big chunk out of the top.

"Dammit!" I said. I didn't usually swear, but I was in no mood for this crap to happen. A voice from behind me made me jump.

"Tenten?" it asked. I didn't recognize it, and I unthinkingly turned to answer it.

"Yes?"

A hand hit me in the back of my neck, and everything went black. I could feel myself being heaved over someone's shoulder before everything went numb and I dissolved into unconsciousness.