Chapter 2: I Challenge you, Hyyuga Neji
The sun was setting as the darkness started to cover the orange clothed sky.
"Alright, let's call it a day!" Gai smiled at his two adorable students with his "nice-guy" pose.
Then of course, Lee responded his pose by doing a "nice guy" pose also while Neji just nodded to his sensei and packed his valuables.
"Children, I will go and submit the mission report. You three can pack up and return to the tree house first."
"Sensei!" Lee yelled out in determination and looked at his sensei with his sparkling and watery eyes, "May I go with you, sensei?"
"Lee!"
"Sensei!"
Then, the two bobbed hair ninjas hugged each other with tears running down their eyes while Neji and Tenten looked at the situation with a sweatdrop on their forehead.
"What are you two staring at?" Lee turned his head to face the two confused genins and yelled. "Go back to your station!"
"Lee!" Gai-sensei gripped Lee's shoulders tighter to get his attention back, "Let's go!"
"Sensei!"
"Lee!" And once again, the two hugged.
"Come on, Tenten," Neji carried his training bag onto his back and walked away, "I don't want to see anymore of these romance scenes."
"Oh...okay..." Tenten stood up from her spot and slowly tagged behind her teammate.
Still hearing the sobbing and yelling, Tenten groaned and increased her pace in order to walk beside Neji. She turned her head on the side so that she could see his face, well at least, half of his face. His pale purple eyes were looking at what's ahead and his lips were shut tight. His hands were in his pocket while his low ponytail was swinging side to side on his back. Suddenly, he closed his eyes and stopped.
"What are you looking at, Tenten?" He asked coldly, no even bother to turn to her direction.
"Ah?" Tenten, who was quite shocked that he realized she was staring at him while his eyes did not even moved, blushed, "hmm...I...I am not looking at anything..."
"If you don't wan anything from me, please don't stare at me," He reopened his eyes and began to walk again, "It's annoying."
Annoying...
Annoying...
Was I really annoying him for the whole time?
"Oh...I am sorry..." Not wanting to be called an annoying brat, she turned her gaze onto the dirt on the ground. The dirt was forming on the side of her feet nail, but she didn't care. She would be willing to even dig a hole in the ground and hide in there for eternality. Her heart had already sunk below the ground after hearing the "It's annoying" part.
Maybe...Only I'm falling in love...
or should I call it...one sided love?
Tears were starting to swell in the corner of her eyes; she lowered her head even more.
She did not want anybody to see her cry, especially Hyyuga Neji. He never liked weak and nosy girl.
"Neji! Neji!" A group of girls, known as Hyyuga fan club, screamed for his name. All the screaming was already visible before Neji stepped out of the training stadium. "Neji! You were so good in there!"
The great Hyuuga remained his calm and silence.
Gai-sensei, Lee and Tenten were always the one who cleared the path for him while he just continued walking and getting his photos taken.
"Make way! Make way!" Tenten smiled nervously at his fan girls as she gently pushed the stranger girls away. While Tenten was making sure their path was not blocked, she accidentally pushed a girl onto the ground.
The girl stared at her in anger while trying to look hurt to win Neji's attention, "Aw! You hurt me!"
"I am so sorry!" Tenten hurried to where the girl was sitting and offered her a hand, "I didn't do it intentionally..."
"I don't need your help!" The girl yelled at Tenten loudly. That yell caused everyone to look to her way and even Neji stopped from walking. "Who do you think you are! How dare you pushed me like that!"
"I...I am-" Tenten's apology was interrupt by Neji's hand.
"There's no point of apologizing to a rude girl, Tenten." He held her arm and dragged her away from the fallen girl, "Let's go!"
"Neji! She was being rude; she hurt me!"
He stopped again and Yes...the girl succeeded in getting his attention, but not a good impression though.
"Lady...if you are just trying to get attention," Neji turned around and looked at her. He released Tenten's arm and walked towards the girl, "don't do anything to my teammate!"
"Neji, I..."
"There's only one way to get me admire and love you," he squatted in front of the girl and held her chin up with his thumb and forefinger, "Be stronger than me and defeat me..."
Being stared by his cloudy eyes, his fan girl thought she would faint instantly at the moment...
but instead...
she shook violently and stared back at the genin in fear.
Tenten also looked at the scene in a frightened manner. Never in her life, she would imagine Neji standing so close to a girl without being hugged or touched.
"The only way to grab his attention..." she talked to herself in almost a whisper only she could hear...
"...is to be strong than him and defeat him." She finished her sentence as she snapped away from her memory.
Noticed that he was walking ahead of her, she lift her head up to look at his back.
Is it worth fighting against him just to gain a little attention?
Is it worth it to risk the chance of losing to him?
Is it worth it to fight a losing battle and get myself hurt even more?
Yes...everything is worth it.
"Stand right there, Neji!" Tenten stood still at her spot as she grabbed a kunai from her pocket.
"What, Tenten?" Neji turned his head and stared at her direction. However, he saw nothing else but a kunai flying towards him. Thanks to his great reflex, he dodged the coming attack with no difficulty. "What's wrong with you, Tenten?"
"Hyuuga Neji, I challenge you!" She pointed another kunai at him and announced.
"I don't have time to fool around with you, Tenten." He turned around and attempted to walk away from the battlefield.
Before he took another step forward, a kunai struck the tree trunk before him.
"TENTEN!"
"I will say it once again, Hyuuga Neji," Tenten got into a position of a battle mode and stared at him, "I challenge you!"
"Daddy, I don't get it..." A young Tenten asked her father as she pulled the side of his shirt softly. "Why? Why do I have to join the academy?"
"You silly girl..." The man knelt down to her level and patted her head, "Then you can defend yourself from danger."
"But...daddy will save me when I'm in trouble, right?"
"Daddy can't always be here for you, Tenten..." the man stroke her cheeks and smiled, "You have to learn to protect yourself..."
The young girl smiled and willingly dressed into a comfortable suit, "Does that mean that I can fight like the guys do now?"
"I want you to enter into the ninja training is not about fighting, Tenten," the man spoke to the young girl who was confused at the moment, "Tenten, once you get into the school, you will meet a lot of friends..."
"I don't get-" Her mouth was shut when her father ran a finger to her lips.
"Let me finish Tenten," he carried his daughter into his arms and placed her onto his shoulders, "You will face a lot of challenge; but, fighting techniques can assist you to reach your goals..."
"I can do it! I can do it!" Tenten screamed in her mind as she threw a kunai towards her opponent.
With one shift movement, Neji dodged the coming attack with no problem, "Tenten, fighting an injured person is against my policy and you know that!" He stepped forward to grab Tenten's arm, "Let's go back before the sky turns completely dark!" However, his plan was a failure.
He did not succeeded in grabbing Tenten, instead, she leaped into the air as she dig her hand into the pocket for a chain whip. She swung the whip towards him and succeeded in wrapping him with the whip.
"Do you really want to fight, Tenten?" Neji asked in a calm manner as he stared into her brown eyes coldly.
"Yes, I do." With one direct answer, she tightened its grip around his body.
"Then, so be it." He broke the chain easily with his arms as he ran towards Tenten. He got his palm in a hand to hand combat position, ready to hit the girl with all his power.
Before he could make any contact, Tenten jumped into the air once again and landed behind the genin, "Senbon!" She aimed the large sharp needles at Neji while performing a hand seal.
He dodged all the needles and ran towards her. But this time, with greater speed and with greater power concentrated in his hands.
Suddenly, clowns of Tenten appeared before Neji's eyes and landed around him.
"This girl is not joking," He mumbled under his breath as he tried to avoid every single hit. He did not want to fight back since she was his teammate after all. Besides, with all the injuries, she was still weak to fight against anyone. Feeling a kunai sliced through his skin, he decided to yell out, "Byakugan!"
This bloodline limit allowed him to predict all the coming attacks.
"Tenten, you should know better..." Neji crossed his arms and stared at one particular Tenten, "I know where you are..."
"I know that," All the Tentens replied Neji and smiled, "and please don't go easy on me."
"I won't!" Neji smirked as he dashed towards her real self, "Juuken!"
Uh oh...Tenten bit her lower lip and looked at the coming attack.
Juuken...if I get hit, who knows what will happen...he can even break my inner organ with his move...
"Soushouryuu!" She yelled out the jutsu and leaped into the air. In her hands held two red and yellow scrolls. The attached weapons were launched, hoping to damage her opponent.
Before the ninja tools hit Neji, he disappeared into a cloud of dust. The weapons strike the ground instead of the person she wished to hit.
ah? Where did he go?
"Behind you." a voice spoke behind Tenten and it was, obviously, Neji.
She gasped when she saw a palm coming at her; she was hit right in the stomach.
She screamed and fell onto the ground.
"Stop this childish act before you regret, Tenten."
She managed to get up as she wiped the blood away with the back of her hand. She threw the shurikens, the star-shaped weapon, at him.
"This is no use." Neji said when he performed a hand seal. A blue barrier then appeared around him and the shurikens bounced back to Tenten's direction.
URG! This is stupid! My own shurikens attacked me back!
Her bandaged arms and legs were now, once again, soaked in the colour red and cuts were made onto every part of her body.
I can't do it anymore...
She stared into Neji's direction but only realized that he was now right in front of her; he was ready to attack.
Tenten squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the attack to strike, gave up on her opportunity to escape or to guard the attack...
End of Chapter 2