Of Models & Rendezvous

Tenten walked down the streets of Konoha, her arms clasped behind her back, staring at her feet. She felt… weird. In a strange way that she didn't know how she felt. It was odd. Hiro was nice- he really was. He was also tall, sweet and dashing- everything she had ever wanted in a guy. But she didn't feel satisfied. Even through all the nice compliments that he had given her, even through all his talent and love, she wasn't satisfied.

That is why, on that particular hazy morning, walking towards the training site that she and Neji shared, Tenten knew that something was wrong with her. She knew that normal people weren't left unsatisfied after two weeks of dating their dream guy. She knew that she should be deliriously happy, or something close to that. But all she felt was confusion, and no fulfillment.

Even though it was foggy, she could see the dim outline of Neji, training, his fists glowing.

"Ohayo!" she called out, putting her bag down against a nearby tree and doing some warm-ups.

He gave a quick glance her way, nodded, and resumed training.

She watched his body move gracefully, and almost blushed when she realized what she was doing. She wasn't single… so that meant that she shouldn't be checking other guys out, right? But this was Neji, the same Neji that she had trained with since she was 12. It's not like she had any romantic interest in him, right? I mean, she didn't like him… in that way, did she? No, of course not! Why would she love Neji… he was mean and cold…

He was also strong, and would protect her with his life without even thinking twice.

Tenten sighed, loosing once again. She loved him, and she knew it. No matter how much she tried to hide it, even deny it, she knew she loved him, and she hated herself for loving him.

Why?

Because, obviously, he didn't love her. He cared for her- she knew that. But caring wasn't the same as loving. A big brother cares for his little sister, a father cares for his daughter, a friend cares for a friend. Tenten didn't want to be a little sister, a daughter, or a friend. She wanted to be… his…

His…

"Tenten?" Neji broke her train of thought, grabbing a towel, wiping his face, and sitting down next to her.

"Yeah?" She snapped her head up quickly, wincing at the pain that shot through her neck. "Sorry, I was spacing out."

He shrugged, looking out into the distance. They sat a few minutes in companionable silence as the fog settled around them.

"I-"

Neji gave her a questioning look.

"Never mind."

She could feel the frustration welling up inside of her. It was always like this. He was so damn nice to her, so she couldn't be mad at him for making her love him. It was so hard to stand by him, train with him, and touch him, without making it more.

She was a girl, no doubt about that. And since she was a girl, she had a right to indulge into simple fantasies. Sometimes she would imagine herself and Neji on opposite sides of a field of beautiful flowers, frolicking towards each other, arms outstretched. He would catch her in a crushing embrace and whisper sweet nothings into her ear, while she would blush happily and all the troubles in the world would disappear from her mind.

Neji watched his female companion blush dreamily next to him, forgetting that he was there, once again. He got ready to wince on the upcoming onslaught of giggles, but surprisingly, they didn't come. Instead, she gave a wistful sigh, shook her head, and buried her head in her arms, further confusing the poor Hyuuga.

What had possessed him to take on that challenge? His life had been fine before that stupid redhead had decided he was gay. He knew that Gaara knew that he knew that Gaara knew that he wasn't gay. Gaara was just being the stupid idiot that he was, meddling in others' affairs and not worrying about his own.

Deciding that he wasn't going to get anything out of his melancholy partner, he sunk into his own train of thought, ironically settling on the female in question.

Hyuuga Neji was not the type of person to back down from any challenge, but a challenge of the heart was different. So it wasn't technically a challenge of the heart, since they were only questioning his sexuality, but it still felt like it. Ok, they never said that he had to woo Tenten, but he wasn't the type to go out onto the streets and try to make any random girl love him. Plus, he knew he probably wasn't that lovable.

Neji shook his head, deciding once and for all to just ask her out to lunch. He was about to open his mouth to ask her when he realized another drawback. She wasn't single! She was dating that good for nothing designer… what was his name again, Hito? Himo? Hiho? Hiro? Oh yeah, that was it. Hiro. The guy that Tenten- his Tenten- was so head over heals for.

Just thinking about it made Neji aggravated. This guy who probably couldn't even throw a kunai correctly was dating Tenten, a high-class jounin who deserved so much more.

The silly voice in his brain told him that he didn't deserve her ether, but Neji opted to tell it to shoo.

He was going to ask her out on a friendly lunch rendezvous, and that was that.

"Tenten," Tenten snapped out of her daze as she heard her name called. She turned towards Neji expectantly, encouraging him to continue.

"Are you planning anything for lunch?" His voice was devoid of emotion, as always.

Tenten chewed her lip thoughtfully. Did she plan anything…? "Um… I'm not sure. Hold on, I need to check my planner."

She dug into her bag, and after searching for a while, triumphantly pulled out her planner, complete with a fluffy pink pen. She scanned her agenda for the day. "Hmm… let's see here… I've got a hair appointment at 11. That's weird, why would I have a hair appointment? I just had it cut! Ah! Oh yeah!" she looked back up at him. "Yeah," she said, "I'm busy. I've got lunch with Hiro, and after that, he's going to take me to his studio and show me around. He says I've got the figure of a model. Isn't that exciting? I might be able to model for his new clothing line. Which, I guess, isn't something I had planned for my future, but I think it would be pretty cool, don't you?"

Actually, Tenten wasn't all that excited about it. She wanted to be a normal kunoichi, but for some reason, whenever she was around Neji, she always seemed to change. Around him, she acted like she actually liked dating Hiro, that she actually wanted to be a model. But the truth was, she didn't want to be a model. She just wanted to be a girl that Neji would notice, maybe even love. Apparently, being a normal jounin wasn't enough. She knew she wasn't worthy of the Hyuuga branch member who surpassed even the main branch. But she could try, and she would try, even if trying were in vain, even if trying meant she had to become a brainless model, she would do it, she would.

"Alright then," she watched him stand up and realized that he was going to leave. "Never mind then."

"Wait!" she cried, frantically getting onto her feet also. She faltered when he gave her a questioning glance.

Common Tenten, you can do this.

She took a deep breath. "How about we train here again at the same time tomorrow and then go to Ichiraku and grabbed some ramen for lunch afterwards sound?"

Tenten saw Neji freeze for a fraction of a second. He turned around and gave her a small smile- or what she figured was a smile. It looked more like a grimace. "Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he walked away.

Did she just ask Neji out on a date, and did he just agree? What is this world coming to?

A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I just got back form a five-day camp and am exhausted. Thanks so much for all the reviews; I seriously fell over with astonishment when I saw the amount! Sorry I cant reply to any of them at the moment, my father dearest decided to cut off my internet for the month of August, so I'm actually posting this on my aunt's computer. Love and kisses to everyone!