A/N: I apologize for the delay and I hope you all are going to enjoy chapter 21, we're getting closer and closer to the end of the story.

Lots of flashback, the long waited Tenten is Neji's high school crush is here! Full version, all the pieces put together.

I apologize for any grammar/spellings errors there may/might be :)

Main pairing(s): Nejiten
Side pairing(s): Naruhina, Sasusaku, InoShikaTema and a hint of Gaamatsu
Warning(s): OOCness, swearwords, DRAMA!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

ENJOY!

-o-

Date me
Chapter 21: Smile

Neji looked at the photo one more time, was it really the same Tenten? He blinked and suddenly he could see it…

'Your hair like rich chocolate'

The chocolate brown locks of hers.

'Your eyes sparkle with joy'

The glinting hazel orbs of hers.

'Your smile is to die for'

That stunning smile of hers, that made him smile too.

'And just your present gives me hope that life can be beautiful'

Whenever he was around her, he felt like life was worth living.

'You are truly the meaning of perfection'

No one else, but her could give him the true meaning of perfection because she was everything, he wasn't.

"Tenten, why did I not notice this sooner?" Neji thought to himself. He's eyes did not leave the picture, it was her! It couldn't be anyone, but her!

*Flashback*

"Can I borrow a pencil" A soft, female voice asked.

"Hn, sure" He answered without even looking at her. He was too busy looking at the blank paper before him.

"Thanks" She replied. He slowly lifted his face to meet hers and found himself looking into a pair of beautiful brown eyes. Brown eyes had normally always seemed like a boring and plain eye color, but hers were different. They were alive. Sparkling and glinting different shades of brown from deep, dark brown to an almost amber colored brown. They were beautiful.

"Do I have something on my face?" Neji blinked, when the brown-eyed girl suddenly asked softly with a confused look on her smiling face. Neji looked away to avoid eye contact and he could feel the heat go to his cheeks. Her smile was just as beautiful as her eyes and that confused look on her face was just adorably cute .

"Ehm no, I just... nevermind" He replied while he mentally cursed himself for stuttering. The girl looked even more confusedly at him and was about to say something, when…

"Tenten, no cheating! Turn you head around and sit down!" The teacher said harshly. The brown-eyed girl, Tenten, apologized and returned to her desk while she mumbled a low:

"Thanks anyway" Neji couldn't help, but smile a little because he had just met an angel, a beautiful brow-haired angel with brown eyes.

-o-

It was lunchtime and Neji was, as always, sitting by himself. He wasn't really eating; mainly because he was too busy watching Tenten from afar. She was sitting at a table, not far from his, together with a dark-haired girl and a red-haired girl. He could from the distance hear what they were talking about, him.

"That's the boy from math I told you guys about" Tenten told her friends. The two girls turned their heads to get a better look at him. The dark-haired then lifted an eyebrow and asked:

"Him?"

"Ehm yeah, what wrong? You know him, Yukata?" Tenten asked confusedly.

"Well I don't exactly know him, but I have heard rumors about him and not the good kind of rumors" The dark-haired girl, Yukata, explained. Neji grinned to himself. Rumors? Like he cared about those anyway.

"Rumors?" Tenten asked unsurely. The redhead nodded her head.

"I heard the rumors too, many have been telling me that he back in freshman year was very popular, but he rejected everyone, who wanted to be friends with him! People say that he is a heartless jerk, who thinks he is above everyone else!" The redhead explained harshly. Tenten looked at her friend shockingly.

"But he was so nice in class, Tayuya, or rather he seemed nice" Tenten said with sad look on her face. Neji didn't like it. He wanted her to smile that beautiful smile of hers, not look sad and depressed.

"Only because he has to be nice in class, he was only pretending to be nice" The redhead explained. Tenten looked down at her lap with a defeated look on her face. Yukata looked sympatric at her friend and patted her back while saying:

"Hey Tenten, don't be sad, just forget what happened and everything will be fine" Tenten laid her head on her friend's shoulder and nodded her head slowly.

"Okay, I'll try" Neji heard Tenten mumbled. He sighed to himself and stood up before walking off.

"It's my own fault! I chose to be a jerk! I might as well continue being one" Neji thought to himself as he walked in hallway, all by himself.

-o-

Valentine, the day created by lovers, for lovers. How ridicules! Showing someone you love, how much you love them on one single day! It didn't make any sense! If you loved someone, shouldn't you love them all the time?

No, he did not understand Valentine and yet he wrote a poem for the girl, who he could never have. The only thing he hadn't done was to write his name on it, the fear of rejection was just too big for his pride to allow.

"Look Tenten got a Valentine's gift!" Neji heard one of Tenten's friend yell out loud. A big group of people ran over to the blushing girl. Neji couldn't help, but to find her cute with those bright, pink cheeks of hers.

"What is it, Tenten?" A girl with long, brown hair asked curiously.

"Ehm just a poem, nothing fancy" Tenten replied shyly.

"A poem? Awww how romantic, I wish someone would write me a poem" Tenten's friend, Yukata, sighed out dreamily.

"Who's it from?" The redhead, Tayuya, asked. Tenten looked confusedly at the poem and blinked before she answered:

"Ehm there's no name on it" The three girls, who had surrounded Tenten took the poem and looked at it closely.

"No name? What was he thinking?" Tayuya commented.

"Who would give a Valentine's gift with no name on it?" The brunette asked.

"Awww isn't it just sweet" Yukata commented with a dreamily tone. The two other girls gave her a weird look.

"Sweet?" Tayuya asked.

"How is it sweet to give a poem without writing you name on it?" The brunette asked.

"Oh girls, it is sooo romantic! The guy, who gave Tenten the poem, was obvious too shy to write his name on it. He most likely feared being rejected, it is just sooo sweet!" Yukata explained with a dreamy look on her face.

"Ohhh"

"Ehm girls, can I have my poem back?" Tenten asked softly.

"Oh yeah, sure" The brunette gave Tenten the poem again.

"Thanks, Sari" Tenten smiled sweetly at her friend. Her smile almost made Neji smile as well, it was so addictive, so stunning, so… perfect.

"Although I was too much of a coward to write my name on what I gave her, I'm still happy that she liked it" Neji thought to himself as he watched Tenten leave the classroom with her friends. Tenten deserved someone better than him, someone who was not afraid to show her how he felt. Someone… who wasn't him.

-o-

Here he was again, watching her from afar. Hiding in the darkest corner of the room while everyone was dancing and enjoying their last night together as classmates and schoolmates.

She looked beautiful as always, wearing a stunning red gown. It suited her, the color, the shape, just everything looked perfect on her. She was the only one, who had her hair down. Her long, curly, brown locks flow like a wave of water in the air as she danced the night away with her date, a lucky guy, who could give Tenten everything she wishes for.

A smile was planted on her face, brighter than any star on the night sky. She was just amazing. How he wishes he could walk over to her, take her hand and dance with her. To feel her body against his, to hold her delicate hands in his, to look into her brown eyes and to have her smile at him would make his life complete.

"What a childish fantasy" He sighed to himself. He took one last glance at her before he left the room. The night was over for him.

"Goodbye, Tenten, I hope that you always will smile like you are now and that we may meet again in the future" He thought to himself, well knowing that she could not hear him no matter how loud his thoughts were.

*End of Flashback*

-o-

"Tenten" Neji stared at her picture.

"How could I be so blind, it was so obvious! The evidence stood right in front of me! Her smile! No one has a smile like hers! How could I forget that one thing that kept me from turning into some heartless robot?" Neji asked himself loudly.

"Neji, go to bed! Some of us are trying to sleep!" A loud voice yelled from outside his room. Neji sighed to himself.

"Sorry, Hinata!" He replied. He took the yearbook up and placed it on his desk, right next to the picture of his father. Making sure he could see Tenten's picture before he went into bed. Talking one last glance at her photo before closing his eyes while thinking:

"I will make it up to you, Tenten. I will NOT allow that smile of yours to disappear!"

-o-

Back at the Uchiha estate the guests were starting to leave. Sakura smiled kindly at them all as they left. Sasuke, on the other hand, was walking around with searching look on his face. He walked up to Sakura and asked:

"Have you seen Hyuuga? I haven't seen much of him tonight"

"Ehm I think he left early" Sakura replied.

"Left early? Why would he do that? He normally stays here till the last minute" Sasuke commented.

"Well this time he had a date and I'm sure that his date didn't find chatting with rich people much fun" Sakura explained.

"Are you telling me that rich people are boring?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"Some of them are" Sakura replied.

"I'm not" Sasuke mumbled.

"Say what?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"I say, I'm not" Sasuke repeated.

"Not what?" Sakura asked. Sasuke lifted an eyebrow at her.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Sasuke asked with a suspicious look on his face. Sakura looked up and rubbed her neck.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about" Sakura replied while she tried to play innocent.

"Are you calling me boring?" Sasuke asked demandingly.

"No, I'm just-"

"Because I'm not"

"Yeah, I kinda know, but I was only-"

"I will NOT allow anyone, not even you, to call me boring!"

"But I wasn't-"

"And still you are implying that I am! Have you no shame, Saku-" Sasuke sentence was cut off by Sakura, who suddenly took Sasuke by his collar, pulled him towards her and kissed him. She pulled away and Sasuke blinked at her with a confused look on his face.

"Oh my God, it actually works!" Sakura commented happily.

"What works?" Sasuke asked confusedly.

"Kissing someone to make them shut up! It really works"" Sakura yelled in delight.

"That's nice, now kiss me again" Sasuke said blankly. Sakura looked at him weirdly.

"What?" Sasuke asked with a boring look on his face.

"Did you just ask me to kiss you again?" Sakura asked unsurely.

"Yeah, I think I just did. So are you going to kiss me or what?" Sasuke asked with a lifted eyebrow. Sakura looked at him closely before she took him by the collar and said:

"Gladly, just making sure" She then pressed her lips against his in a longer much more passionate kiss.

-o-

Tenten lifted her sleepy body up from the bed, her hair was messy and her eyes red from the tears she had cried the night before. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before she looked at her clock.

08:22 AM

"Thank God, I don't have work today, Sai would kill me if I was late" She thought as she stepped out of the bed and took on her robe before she walked out of her room. On her way to the kitchen she took a look inside Ino's room. Ino was still asleep. Her cheeks were still wet and the redness around her eyes proofed to Tenten, that what happened last night was not a just a bad dream. No, it really happened.

Tenten placed a hand on her chest and the memories of night before returned to her. She blinked her eyes as she suddenly felt the need to cry.

"No more crying, I got to stay strong for Ino" She thought to herself determined.

Tenten took one last look at Ino before she walked into the kitchen. Tenten saw a little lap of paper lying on the table next to her cell phone. In her curiosity, Tenten took the paper and looked at it. It was a number, but whose number was it?

Tenten rubbed her chin thoughtfully. It was addressed to her so she must know who gave it to her…

"Well then if you ever need someone to talk to… Call me"

"Kankuro!" Tenten suddenly remembered that he comforted her that night. He was so nice to her, that night.

Tenten looked at the phone in front of her, then back at the paper in her hand, then she took another look at the phone before she once again looked at the paper.

"Should I call him? Maybe he could cheer me up?" Tenten wondered to herself, although it made her feel desperate, which she didn't like feeling. But still, it would not hurt hanging out with Kankuro as friends, right?

"No, it wouldn't hurt" Tenten took the phone and dialed Kankuro's number. She then took a deep breath before she lifted the phone up to her ear.

"Hello, Kankuro here" Kankuro's smooth voice said in the phone.

"Kankuro, is me, Tenten" Tenten said softly.

"Well hey Tenten, how are you today? Still sad about that bastard of a Hyuuga" Kankuro asked with a kinda cocky voice.

"I'm okay, although I really miss Neji" Tenten replied softly.

"That Hyuuga sure got you wrapped around his finger, forget him, he is not worth it" Kankuro told Tenten. Tenten's cheeks turned a red color.

"Ehm I'm not wrapped around his finger, he was just… so nice to me" Tenten said softly.

"Don't let him get to you, just get him out of your system" Kankuro replied.

"I'm trying, but it's… hard… You told me last night that if I wanted to talk, I could call you. So… well I was wondering, if you would like to go hang out with me in the park?" Tenten asked with soft voice. She got a little scared when Kankuro didn't answer her right away.

"It's okay, if you don't want to I under-"

"Sure, why not? How about we meet in the park in an hour? Sounds good?" Kankuro suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds great" Tenten replied.

"Okay, it's a date, bye" Kankuro said quickly.

"Wait! It's-" Sadly Tenten wasn't able to finish before Kankuro hung up, "-not a date" Tenten sighed to herself.

To be continued…

-o-

A/N: Done for now!

Hope you all liked the flashbacks, as you all can see Neji wanted Tenten, but because he back then didn't believe in love he chose not to confess his feelings for her. Tenten seems to have been interesting in Neji, but was too scared that he would push her aside to actually talk to him.

Neji fell I love with Tenten's smile the day they first saw each other, isn't it sweet?

Sasuke and Sakura kissed after having a discussion about rich people being boring – Sasuke thought Sakura was referring to him and it pissed him off, so Sakura kissed him to shut him up. A kiss with Sasuke apparently enjoyed quiet a lot.

Tenten is going to "hang out" with Kankuro! Neji better hurry up or before he loses the love of his life!

Tenten's three high school friends are all based upon real Naruto anime/manga characters.

Yukata: Long, dark brown hair, kunoichi from Suna, she appears alongside Matsuri in the war act, one of Gaara's fangirls
Tayuya: Long, red hair, the girl with the flute who fought against Shikamaru in the Sasuke rescue mission
Sari: Long, brown hair, kunoichi from Suna, friend of Matsuri in the anime, fangirl of Gaara as well

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading! Leave a review and tell me what you think :)