Despite Lee's words, Tenten could not stop thinking about what had happened. She laid awake for several hours, tossing and turning in her bed before getting up, accepting that she wouldn't be sleeping that night. She would do what she normally did when she had a lot on her mind: train.
It was still dark outside when Tenten slipped out in her training gear. She only crossed paths with two people as she ran across the village to Team Gai's favorite training grounds.
She was only a few feet away from the training grounds when she realized someone was already there. And not just anyone. Neji.
Normally, Tenten would be thrilled to run into Neji and be able to train with him, maybe even talk to him about what was on her mind. But today she just wanted to forget about him. Hurt still flashed in her chest when she thought about how he hadn't trusted her.
She debated turning around and leaving but knew that if she could sense Neji's chakra that he could sense hers. With a sigh she jumped the fence separating the village from the training grounds.
As Tenten got closer to where Neji's chakra burned brightest the sounds of grunts and flesh striking the surface of a thick, old tree began to fill her ears. When she reached the tree Neji was attacking she saw the tight lines of stress in his body, the pinched brow, and the sweat dripping off of him. He made no move to acknowledge her so Tenten followed his example and didn't talk. She immediately set to work on her own tree.
With Neji so close Tenten could not get the questions off her mind. Even attacking the tree with fervor could not distract her from her own thoughts. She couldn't hold back her thoughts.
"Okay, Neji, what gives? Why didn't you tell me? How could you tell Lee and not me?" The questions exploded from Tenten even as she continued to kick the tree.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Neji responded through gritted teeth.
"You know what I am talking about! You're going to be getting married? You're going on dates with fancy ladies in order to find the one who will produce the best Hyuga babies with you? Any of that ring a bell?" Tenten retorted.
"And what about it?"
"So, you don't deny it?"
"Well I am definitely not getting married or having kids anytime soon, but the clan does believe I should start looking for a suitable mate now. So, yes, I am starting to date. What is wrong with that? You are always saying I should have more of a social life, dragging me out to drink with you and to get dinner with the rest of our old class." Neji retorted, his voice defensive.
Tenten's face was turning red, not from the exertion of hitting the tree but from the anger blossoming within her.
"What is wrong with that?! Nothing, I am so happy you're finally getting laid! What's wrong is you didn't tell me! I consider you my best friend, Neji, you know everything about me. For fucks sake, you knew I had gotten my period for the first time before I even did! How could you not tell me something like this?"
Instead of responding, Neji broke the tree he had been hitting in half. It fell with a loud crash that echoed around the pair. Birds squawked, and all of the small animals in their vicinity went scurrying off in fear. No one said a word for several moments after the tree fell.
When Neji finally did respond, it was with a calm, cold voice. "I did not tell you because I did not feel it was any of your business."
Tenten sputtered, having no coherent response. Neji began to stalk off of the training grounds away from her, his body betraying the emotions his voice hid. If Neji had been in a cartoon, smoke would be coming from his ears. He didn't get very far away from Tenten when she threw a kunai at him close enough that a few of his hairs drifted towards the forest floor.
What most people did not know about Neji Hyuga was that he was very protective of his hair, and for good reason. Not only was it long and beautiful, it had once been used to save his life when he had nearly died on his mission to retrieve Sasuke. Tenten did not know the details of how it had been used but she did remember how self-conscious Neji had been of his short locks following the procedure. Tenten was also pretty sure there was some thing about power and hair length in the Hyuga clan, but that had never been confirmed to her.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, Hyuga. We are going to talk about this. This is not us. We are best friends, teammates, siblings, and- "
Tenten's words were cut off by a strong gust of energy that knocked her off of her feet and into the tree behind her. Using muscle memory, she was easily able to kick off of the tree without any injury. Neji was crouched in a battle position, hands out.
Well, if he wanted to fight, Tenten would give him a fight. With a grin that could be described as feral, Tenten whipped a scroll out and summoned a large array of weapons all connected to a long string of her chakra. Tenten jumped straight up into the tree above her. Long-range fighting was her specialty and finding high ground as quickly as possible was her best chance at defeating him.
Neji's ability to see exactly where she was at all times with his byakugon would make most sneak attacks pointless. She knew she would soon have to engage him in close range combat, his specialty.
The sun was beginning to rise and Tenten squinted down to where Neji stood, ready for her attacks. He was staring straight at her with the cold, intimidating look he usually saved for enemies and the people who annoyed him the most.
Her weapons went flying and he easily dodged several of them and batted the others away with his own kunai. The fight began. This was no practice spar, this was the two of them working their feelings out in probably the worst way possible. But they were ninjas, and honestly this was the only way they really knew how to communicate. Gai had always preached the cleansing benefits of a good workout.
Neji, typically a very patient person, was not having it that day. The next time Tenten's barrage of weapons came towards him he reached out and grabbed the string of chakra, molding his own with it in order to yank Tenten out of her tree and towards the ground. Tenten let out a yelp as her body rushed to the ground and landed as gracefully as she could, carefully avoiding landing on her various weapons littering the ground. Getting cut by your own weapons was not a good look.
Neji rushed towards her, and she knew she had to be careful not to get into the range of his attack. She reached for her scroll to summon a sword but didn't have a chance. A gentle fist to her bicep left her whole arm tingling and her feet stumbling back.
Tenten would have to hold him back or distract him long enough to be able to summon her weapons. She got in a taijutsu stance and started to fight back, dancing away from Neji's hands when she needed to.
She couldn't find a chance to summon her sword so she created a distraction by throwing a smoke bomb and jumping as high as she could into the air. As she went up, she yanked the scroll she needed out and summoned from the air. She gripped the sword with both hands and brought it straight down towards her opponent, using the velocity from plummeting to the ground to add to her strength.
Neji brought a kunai up to block the sword but it was no match for Tenten, and he was forced to drop it. The impact reverberated through her arms. Ignoring this feeling, she went right back on the attack, swinging her sword so fast and with such accuracy that someone who didn't know her well would be unable to keep up. That being said, Neji knew her better than anyone and was keeping up with ease. The byakugon also gave him an upper hand.
The rising sun started to burn the back of Tenten's neck, and she wiped some sweat from her brow. Neji saw his opening and sent his palm straight into her core. The breath whooshed from Tenten's body as she flew back and onto the ground.
Every breath clawed at her throat as she fought to breathe again. Neji's face loomed over her and she forced herself to sit up. She did not want to appear weak in front of him.
"I am sorry." Neji said, his voice stiff and formal. She hadn't heard him speak so tightly to her in a long, long time. Tenten's brain was catapulted back to when she and Neji first met. It was almost more distressing than her inability to breathe. She definitely had some bruised ribs, possibly even fractured.
"Yeah, well, you should be." Tenten gasped out. Neji spun on his heel and walked away from her. This time, she let him.
Tenten sat there for a long time, thinking over what had just happened. She and Neji had never had a fight quite like this before. Sure, sometimes he got annoyed with her for being silly and sometimes she got mad at him for having a stick up his butt, but he hadn't been this cold with her in years.
Tenten felt like she did not even know her best friend anymore.
She was still sitting on the ground contemplating the past twenty-four hours with Neji when Lee and Gai Sensei came rushing through the training grounds. Lee was pushing Gai Sensei's wheelchair at high speeds and they were both laughing, their shiny bowl cuts flowing as majestically behind them as they could. They stopped short as soon as they saw her.
"Tenten! My dear flower!" Gai Sensei's voice was calmer than usual, and he sounded concerned. "What has made you cry?"
Tenten blinked rapidly and scrubbed at her face. She had not even realized she had started crying. How embarrassing was that! To be found sitting by herself crying. How pathetic. She could feel her cheeks warming and scowled.
"Sorry, Sensei, it's nothing." Tenten said as brightly as she could muster, jumping onto her feet. "So, what's the plan for today? Laps on our hands, sparring, ooh can we go swimming? We haven't gone swimming in a while."
"Swimming! Swimming! Swimming!" Lee cheered, oblivious to her mood and already stripping out of the horrid green jumpsuit. Underneath he wore equally green, equally tight, and equally horrid briefs.
Lee began to sprint towards the water, his body a blur of pale skin and green as he ran as fast as he could. "Last one in has to do 1,000 laps around the lake!" His voice floated back to Tenten and Gai Sensei.
Tenten rolled her eyes and was about to take off after him when Gai Sensei's voice brought her to a stop. It was soft, and caring, and usually only used when Gai had truly bad news or Tenten was very upset. Maybe he used it on the other members of their team, but Tenten had never heard him use it with them and liked to pretend it was special just for her.
"Where is Neji?"
Tenten just shrugged, she did not want to talk about that right now. She just wanted to go swimming. Gai Sensei didn't push the matter, which Tenten was grateful for.
Gai Sensei was truly one of the best things to ever happen to Tenten. As an orphan who couldn't remember her parents, he was the closest thing she'd ever had to a parental figure. He had helped her with so much and while she was almost constantly annoyed by his flamboyant behavior, she was also eternally grateful to him.
Neji arrived about an hour later, to which Lee cheerfully informed him that as the last member of the team to reach the lake he had to do the laps. Neji halfheartedly argued with Lee for a minute, stating that he could not be held to those terms as he was not present when they were set. He sounded like a lawyer. Tenten tried to tune them out by swimming away. It didn't help.
"Could you two just shut up?" Tenten snapped at them. She instantly regretted it when Lee turned to her with wide eyes and a wobbling mouth. "I'm sorry Lee, I- "
Gai Sensei interrupted her before she could finish.
"Now Tenten, that's not the way we should speak to our teammates. We should always speak to our teammates with love and respect. That is especially important for us, because we are more than teammates. We are a family."
"You're right Gai Sensei, I'm sorry." She responded with her head bowed. They were a family, but something wasn't right, and it was driving her crazy. They had to fix this. Their team was known for being efficient, and for working together as if they could hear each other's thoughts. If they didn't fix this thing before their next mission, Tenten worried they would no longer be the team they had always been.