Second Chances

To say Tenten was exhausted was an understatement. She had sped right past exhausted and emerged on its other side. Walking out on Neji the way she had plus her hangover had robbed every bit of energy reserve she had. When she went to her office that morning, she had no patience for Koki's ramblings. She made out a few words that came out of his mouth. But they all sounded like she did not want to discuss what he was curious about. Instead of speeding past and closing the door in his face the way she often did, she paused. She looked him straight in the eye - a gesture that shut him up - and instructed him:

"I don't want to receive anybody. No visitors. No phone calls. Tell them I'm not in for all I care; just get rid of them."

He nodded stiffly. Then she marched on and closed the door in his face after all.

Inside, she looked at her familiar pile of chaos and took a deep breath. She contemplated just sitting at her desk staring at nothing for a while but her work ethic got the better of her. She sat and pulled the first pile of papers towards her. They were shipment orders for fire weapons. She signed them. Then automatically moved on to the next thing.

The day was busy, just not for her. She could indeed hear the phone ringing constantly but Koki seemed to excel at his job today. So Tenten enjoyed having no one impose their demands on her today. Up until lunch time. There was a tentative knock on her office door.

"When I said, I'm not receiving anyone, that included you as well," she informed him nonchalantly.

"Uhm... ", Koki began. "I know that. It's just. There's someone here and I'm not sure..."

"Send 'em away."

"They can hear you," Koki announced carefully.

"Good." Tenten was not in the mood to please anyone today.

"He says he won't leave. And... I believe him." Koki's voice was shaky and helpless. Tenten sighed when she guessed who it was:

"Is it Neji?"

She was not prepared for the intriguing answer she got.

"Not exactly," her assistant replied. Tenten frowned. Her question had been of the simple yes/no variety. How could someone be Neji not exactly? Either he was or he wasn't. Too curious to stick to her commitment, she got up and opened the door. What she saw made her understand Koki's words. Right there in their little waiting area next to the incredibly nervous assistant was Hiashi Hyūga.

"I get what you mean now," she heard herself say. It was directed at Koki but she never took her eyes off her visitor. He looked just as formal as she was used to, dressed in dark rich colors and a non-disclosing facial expression. It did remind her of Neji a little. But not exactly.

"Fine," she relented with a sigh and retreated while leaving the door open, a gesture of invitation. She returned to her seat and waited for her guest to enter. She could hear him politely thanking Koki and then he stood in her office for a moment, observing Tenten. Carefully he closed the door behind him. After that he finally looked around for a place to sit. Tenten suspected he was not used to this kind of office layout. She pulled the chair Neji had occupied not too long ago closer for him.

"Thank you," he said and took place. He folded his hands in his lap. She placed her elbows uncomely on her cluttered desk. They stared at each other.

ttt

When the clan meeting had ended, Hinata let Neji go. She did not attempt to talk to him, coax him into telling her what was going on, how he felt. He seemed preoccupied. Though she would have loved to ask him where he was headed. She had thought about trying to catch Naruto's eye but Neji had been quicker and whisked their Hokage away. She shook off her envy. They were probably just discussing politics.

Talking about politics, Hinata could see several clan elders coming her way. She contemplated just leaving. God knew she longed to fill her mind with something other than politics for once, but there was a time and a place for running away. This was not it. She turned towards them and smiled. Hanabi, right behind her, took her hand into hers and squeezed it. Hinata's smile could not help but widen.

The appreciation for her speech turned into chatting and chatting turned into invitations for visiting soon. Hinata was politely thanking and accepting everyone when she noticed movement in her peripheral vision. It were her own clan's colors moving towards her and the figure did not even need to enter her full vision before Hinata knew who was trying to approach her next. Instead of giving him a chance to talk to his daughter, Hinata made her exit swiftly but refined, taking Hanabi with her. She certainly would not wait around for her father. Their exchange earlier had been enough. If he still wanted to take her up on her dare, he would have to wait until she felt replenished. He would have to come to her.

ttt

On the outskirts of town, a small weapons' mistress's office was filled with pregnant silence. Tenten was tiny but Hiashi seemed larger than life and it introduced a very uncanny dynamic into her office space. He was a figure of iron authority and great importance and looked out of place among all the stashes of paper signifying menial tasks. It was also unthinkable that the great Hiashi Hyuga would ever be behind on tasks. In conclusion, his aura seemed to clash with the surrounding paperwork.

Although, he did not quite look like his usual formidable self today. Tenten remembered the glare, the icy arrogance that had flickered in his gaze during the city-wide clan meeting. It was burned into the back of her skull, reminding her she was not good enough to exist in the same circles as his nephew. And by extension not good enough to exist in Hiashi's either. This raised the interesting question of what he was doing in her office. She was burning to ask him but she did not want to give in first. It felt like there was an implicit challenge here. Was his penetrating stare trying to intimidate her?

As Tenten sat opposite him many thoughts of such a nature ran through her head but for the life of her she could not come up with any answers to her questions. His posture seemed … different than usual. If she had not known - known that he didn't have any surviving siblings - she would have guessed a twin sat in front of her. His eyes were still in a way that appeared almost calm. A calm that came from accepting defeat instead of being certain of winning. But he had won. Hiashi had utterly and completely won yesterday. At least where Tenten was concerned.

Still, he did not say anything but just stared across Tenten's most recent pile of papers. Again, she could not shake the notion some kind of test was in action. Though that was more likely than Hiashi looking kind, it still made very little sense in the grand scheme of things. He had never stooped to testing her in any way when she had been challenging him. Instead he had not even deemed her a worthy opponent, had ignored her at every turn. She still remembered sitting in the Hyūga armor in front of him, ready to fight for her friend. And then not being addressed. Not once.

"Talk," she finally commanded when she realized the man sitting in front of her was not worth her time. A tiny smirk swept over the corner of his mouth before it disappeared again. So quickly was it gone, Tenten doubted she had actually seen it.

"I have come… to extend my apologies."

Tenten smiled falsely because she smelled a trap. Hiashi and apology were not two concepts that went together in her book. His face did not look apologetic either.

"That so?" Tenten lifted her head shortly to speak from where it had been resting on her clasped hands, forming a triangle to rest upon.

He nodded. Still, that alarmingly kind look did not disappear from his features. What type nd of trap was he setting? Then it struck Tenten. Perhaps he did not know about Neji and her. Perhaps he was still under the impression that she wanted … something, anything from his family. She didn't. She wanted that to be crystal clear. He had won. But she had forfeited.

"I'm not interested in your nephew," she informed him, lifting her head again only long enough to speak. Then she hid her mouth again by resting it behind her hands.

Hiashi leaned back in his chair. Tenten did not know what this meant. It was an unusual gesture because it was unaccompanied by his calculating gaze. What happened next was even more unexpected:

"You remind me of my late wife, you must know," he said.

Tenten was so surprised she lost control of her features and blinked uncontrollably. Unperturbed he continued:

"She was… feisty, I think you would say. I always thought of her as passionate." He smiled at the memory. "Of course, no one but immediate family knew this of her. Those were different days. Nobody was who they actually were. This is the nature of ritual and formalism ruling."

Hiashi looked thoughtful for a second; then Tenten could see his adam's apple moving.

"She always hated it. She was much happier when it was just the two of us and she could speak to me however she liked."

Now his gaze rested on Tenten again. It was not the stare of before. Something in his gaze had shifted. Did he honestly expect her to answer? Tenten's throat was shut so tight it physically hurt.

"I suspect you can be quite passionate as well," he began carefully.

Tenten could not help but have a flashback to how she threw her keys at Neji. Passionate was one way to describe it, she thought.

"And I think my own daughter has inherited more of her mother than I ever realized. I suppose it possible that… within the confines of the Hyūga household people are still not who they really are. And I would like that to change."

He was unable to meet Tenten's gaze until he had finished. Then, because he was and would always be himself, he hastily added: "Within reason."

He concluded this speech with a little appeasing smile that Tenten had never seen on him before. It made him look a lot younger.

The lump in Tenten's throat remained while her mind was still spinning with ways in which this could present a trap. Any other conclusion was just far too fantastical. As if Hiashi was the deus who had walked ex machina and into her office. She did realize though that she would have to speak eventually.

What came out were not her most well-chosen words:

"I don't want to be a Hyūga." The words had tumbled out, somehow forcing their way around the lump. But nothing else was strong enough to make the journey, so the words stood by themselves for all they were worth.

Astonishingly, Hiashi nodded. "I can imagine."

Tenten finally stopped hiding her mouth behind her hands and, instead, placed them flat on her desk.

"Where do we go from there?" she asked.

ttt

Tenten could still not believe it. She looked down at the piece of paper Hiashi Gyuga at given her at the end of their impromptu meeting. Yup, she thought, it still said the same thing. She looked up again. The hotel room she was staying at after she had stormed out of Neji's was cluttered with clothes but otherwise free of distraction. This left her with nothing but to think. Think. And think some more. And, of course, read the perplexing message Hiashi had written and signed for her. She had to confess, she could not in her right mind believe anything he had said during their little soiree. She wasn't lying. Everytime she tried to believe his words he spoke in her office, all she could see were Hiashi's features at the clan meeting and hear the echo of "See what you have done?" in her mind.

When she looked down at the paper, she read it out this time, hoping that would give it more substance.

"You were the catalyst, not the cause. I, by clinging to anachronisms, have alienated my loved ones. Hiashi Hyūga."

He had not signed with any of his titles, only his name. She was not sure what that meant. Tenten would have sworn that he even signed memos to himself with his name and title. The man was a living embodiment of titles. But…

"No one is who they really are."

Was it possible that Hiashi Hyūga himself had hidden behind titles? Would the embodiment of such titles really like a passionate woman? Tenten tried to envision Hiashi's dead wife having thrown things at her husband's head and failed. The image would not compute.

Tenten let herself fall onto her bed. The straw-mattress was hard and the sheets were overly starched and felt rough against her skin. But she would have still preferred to spend the night on them instead of doing what she was about to.

ttt

Tenten had climbed these steps many times, usually with a travel bag slung across her shoulders and exhaustion in her bones. He had called this her home. Not right now, of course. Right now, he had sounded impartial when Tenten had spoken through the piping device. For a second she had not wanted to answer his brash "Who's there?" but she had to concede. She needed him to let her up. There had been some hesitation before he let her up. She could not blame him. They had not exactly left on good terms.

The door to Neji's apartment was left a crack open, so she entered. She could not stifle a smile when she saw him. He was standing at his kitchen counter making tea. The way Tsunade poured sake, Neji made tea, she realized. Her chest ached at the epiphany.

"Hey," she said. He looked at her, nodded. Of course, Tenten thought. As though he would make it easy for her.

"We need to talk," she informed him. Again, he nodded silently. This was pretty ironic, almost as though he had conveniently chosen to ignore the deliberate use of 'we' in her sentence. Tenten went to drop herself onto the sofa. From this vantage point she could see her former room very well. There was a crack in the door but it was too dark to make out anything inside. Neji's door was closed, so she did not even bother trying to catch a glimpse. She had to admit to herself, she was curious. She wondered how he had been doing.

He looked absolutely… fine. His hair was washed, hanging shiny over his impressive shoulders. His face was pale but that was normal and his demeanor was subdued, which was also normal. Unchanged. Tenten hoped she looked half as good as he did. Then she reminded herself that this was not a contest; Neji was not her opponent and thinking this way was counterproductive for her goal.

After staring at his impassive face over where he was still leaning against his kitchen counter, Tenten realized he was never going to begin. So, she gave it a try:

"I've been thinking a lot."

He nodded. Infuriatingly.

"Would you like to know what about?" Tenten went on in her most patient voice. Neji frowned but at least this got his attention. He nodded again, this time slower.

"I don't think we can be friends anymore."

Tenten kept a close eye on him but all that moved was a muscle in his left cheek.

"Do you know what I'm saying?"

He was silent for a moment; then he ventured over to where she was sitting.

"No," he confessed as he lowered himself to her eye level.

"I don't think we've been friends for a while."

"Perhaps you haven't, but I certainly have," he replied icily.

The statement did something unpleasant to Tenten's insides. It twisted them somehow. She had to swallow down a bout of anger.

"Pardon me?" she pressed forward.

"I have been your friend. You, on the other hand, have been… " Tenten gaped at him for the heartbeat she experienced him at a loss for words. "... less than friendly," he ended unimaginatively.

"I've been trying to be honest-" she began to defend herself but he cut her off. Apparently, he did not mind talking as long as it was admonishing her.

"But you weren't. I asked you several times whether you wanted out. I asked this because I was aware of the pressure it would-"

"But I didn't want out!", Tenten held against that. He did not appreciate being interrupted despite him just doing it to her. His eyes shot her a warning glance. Hot anger flashed in his eyes the way she had not seen it before.

"Yes, you did. You walked out at the clan meeting. And you… you walked out the last time you were here." Something had happened to Neji's voice mid-sentence. It gave his words a gravelly sound but Tenten was unable to identify it. Disappointedly, she realized she could not read him today. Years of friendship and now the person in front of her seemed like a stranger. It was a sobering thought. She opened her mouth and he added:

"Don't you dare deny it."

The words were so harsh, Tenten wondered whether she should just give up, walk out and leave Neji alone. Alone with his family, his apartment, and his tea. Instead, she opted to show her frustration.

"Don't you understand?! Don't you understand anything?"

"I understand perfectly," he began with the same coldness to his voice. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"No, you don't-"

"I am not perfect, I admit. But I am not an idiot," he interrupted. The word ' perfect' haunted her. She remembered throwing it into his face. She knew what she had to do. But she could not quite get herself to do it. When she finally managed, it came out soundless, just a breath.

"Sorry."

Neji's eyes narrowed. His entire body reminded her of a crouched tiger, ready to attack. How would she ever get him to lower his defenses?

"I wish we had never slept together," she burst out.

Neji swallowed hard. He did not meet her eyes when he said the next thing:

"I do apologize for that." It seemed as though he wanted to say more but decided against it. She could see his pulse in his neck. It was quicker than usual. But he was still an idiot. Or maybe she was the idiot. She meant to say she wished they had not slept with one another the way they had. She wished it had been… more. Deeply embarrassed, she admitted to herself she wished he had enjoyed it.

"You're right. I haven't been a very good friend." It was difficult for her to admit. His stare seemed familiar. Ironically, she realized, he must feel the same way she had when Hiashi had showed up at her office. Neji was looking for the trap. There was no way getting through to him.

She showed him the crumpled piece of paper. Elegantly he picked it from her fingers and read it.

"What does this mean?" he asked business-like.

"Personal growth?" She shrugged. She was not sure what it was he was asking. He waved her comment aside, returning more to the brash but level-headed Neji she was familiar with. A breath escaped her lips.

"I meant in relation to you. Does this mean you'll stay?"

Tenten was so surprised by the question, she had no answer ready.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No, I want to know whether you wish to stay." His tone was transcending impatient and rising toward exasperated. Tenten got the tingling feeling they were misunderstanding each other.

"I…," she began. "I want…"

Neji looked at her expectantly.

"I want something," she finally finished. Neji's jaw clenched. He was confused.

"What do you want?"

"I want something from you."

"All your things have been put in storage."

"Not that!" She exploded. "My gosh, Neji! I don't think you are an immature man but… I need you to… I just need you to be a grown-up. The kind of grown-up who talks. About their feelings and things."

"I've talked-"

"No. I need you to really talk. I need you to tell me what you want." She was desperate now. She was a woman of weapons, not of words.

"I want you to come back and for things to go back the way they were," he admitted.

Tenten shook her head.

"I don't want that," she admitted in return.

"Then why are you here?"

"I was hoping you wanted something else."

He looked flummoxed. Agitated, he stood up from his crouching position and strode around the sofa.

"Do you realize you don't make any sense?" he snapped. "I used to like you so much. So easy was it, being with you. Now, I don't know what the hell you want."

"Yeah, I know,..." Tenten sighed. "You liked me because I was easy. Tolerable. I got proposed to for convenience."

"Of course. If I had thought you couldn't handle it, I wouldn't have-"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Tenten could not stand that she was being talked about as if she had shown weakness. "I'm sorry I yelled at you and I'm just… sorry."

Then she had run out of energy. All that was left were fumes. So, she looked at Neji's pale tense face prompting a myriad of complex emotion inside of her and realized him, his attitude, everything as the insurmountable obstacle that it was.

"Neji, I'm leaving." She said the words and she was halfway out the door before she had finished the sentence. She hoped, for once, he would not be so stupid and know that she had not meant just his apartment.

ttt

Lee was having a good day. The Clan meeting had been tremendously fascinating and he had spent a fabulous late lunch with his former mentor, during which they had discussed Konoha-Gakure's progress into the age of modernity. They certainly lived in exciting times. He was carefully reading a book on nutrition when he unexpectedly heard a knock on his door.

Lee perked up because he usually did not receive visitors. He was a very social person but generally, it seemed he tended to be the visitor. In fact, he visited his friends and acquaintances so often they rarely felt the need to call upon him.

When Lee made his way to the door, he was expecting an emergency for this reason precisely. When he opened the door, he realized it must be. Before him stood Tenten. She still wore her work clothes but her expression did not invite a friendly chat. Written all over her features was resignation. Lee stuck his head out to look all around her. Nope. Just Tenten. Tenten sans luggage.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked.

"You never stay here," Lee remarked.

"I know but I just can't go back to my hotel room."

Lee found this unsettling.

"You've been staying in a hotel room?"

Tenten sighed. "Yeah. Not long. Just since-... Look, will you let me in?" She sounded exasperated at the prospect of having to explain herself and Lee did not want to hurt his friend. Regardless of how unsettling her presence was, he did have a very comfy sofa. He stepped aside to let her enter.

"I feel like I'm missing something," Lee said cautiously as Tenten stepped around him and into the light, warm interior of his home. The walls were terracotta-colored and his furniture was an old-fashioned, cozy cream. Tenten with her soft brown hair and tanned complexion fit right into his home. Her attitude did not however:

"Yeah, me too," she huffed and she all but fell face first onto his couch.

"Really? What are you missing?" Lee wondered. "Because I've recently been left out of a secret marriage that has been going on for the last decade or so that had the potential to forever impact our society, but you, on the other hand, were right in the middle of that plot. So,... what could you have possibly been missing?"

Still with her face buried in his cushions, her muffled voice said something that sounded like "A lot, apparently." Then she added: "Or maybe nothing at all."

Lee considered himself personable, good with people, and easy to approach. Decoding subtle messages, however, were not part of his repertoire. He inched closer to his clearly upset friend, lowered himself onto the edge of the sofa and stroked her hair gently.

"Maybe you should try and fill me in now."

It took her a while but then she finally sat up and told him about a few things. She told him about pressure and expectation, about familiarity and comfort, and lastly, about emotion. After he had listened, Lee scooted closer and gave Tenten the longest hug she had ever permitted.