Summary: She always thought that she was just his teammate, nothing more than that. In the end, she finds out she is so much more, the one person who kept him sane all those years.

Pairings: Neji/Tenten

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, at all. All the characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei.

As Time Passes

Value of a Teammate

Dark brown eyes watched the figure in front as he began performing the Jyuken kata. In a few moments, the Hyuuga Neji would face her and speak the words 'Let's start now, Tenten.' To him, this was just another sparring session and she was just his sparring partner. To Tenten, this was a chance to try and piece together Neji's enigmatic personality.

"Let's start now, Tenten," spoke Neji, his crisp, cold baritone piercing the otherwise calm forest air. Jumping down from her slightly elevated perch, she landed softly on the ground. Focusing his opalescent eyes on the female, Neji got into the Jyuken stance, his body in place to either attack or defend. Concentrating chakra on his eyes, he activated his family's innate gift, the Byakugan.

Tenten's and Neji's faces contorted themselves into a serious expression, as they lashed out at each other with their attacks. Neji, as always, was able to block every single force coming his way. Time seemed to stand still as they continued to spar.

A couple of hours later, Tenten lay defeated on the forest floor, panting heavily as she tried to regain her breath. Her weapons lay discarded around her. Methodically, Neji picked up the still usable weapons and began piling them according to its kind.

"Neji?" asked Tenten, an apprehensive tone in her voice.

"Yeah?" His gaze never wavered from the ground as he continued picking up the discarded weapons.

"Why me? Not that I'm complaining but why isn't Lee your sparring partner? Give me a heartfelt answer, Neji."

Neji remained silent, neither answering nor rejecting. Tenten cursed at his tactic of avoiding her question. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Neji spoke.

"Because I want to be with you," said Neji, his voice avoiding the redness that should have appeared on his face at this situation, "Besides, do you want me to lose my sanity?"

Reddening, Tenten sat up slowly, brushing the dirt off of her clothes. "Neji, don't. They're my weapons and you don't need to do that for me." Neji did not stop, still methodical in his ways. "Thank you, Neji." That was all she could say.

"You're welcome." A smile tugged on Tenten's lips as she fixed her prized weapons, smiling at the fact that she had finally broken through Neji's enigmatic exterior.

- Owari -

I've always wondered why Tenten received special attention, sort of, from Neji. He usually berates everyone, even the Jounin of Konoha. He's such a pessimistic fool, but a cool pessimistic fool nonetheless.

Tenten has this admiration for Neji, or so the anime and manga portray, and I guess there was more to it. I thought it was a crush, on her part, but it wasn't as stressed as Sakura's or Ino's crush on Sasuke. And besides, of all the people he could have asked to be his sparring partner, I mean other Jounin would readily agree training the Hyuuga prodigy, he asked his teammate. Not only was his sparring partner his teammate, his sparring happens to be his female teammate.

You could say, this story is my thought as to why Neji chose Tenten to be his sparring partner, as well as a suggestion as to why she receives special attention from him.

In any case, these stories aren't going to be long, since they're the type devoid of any major storyline. If these one-shots inspire you to write any more, by all means go ahead.