Title; Appreciation.
"Hey Neji! What would you wish for?"
Lee's remark echoed in Neji's head as he left him there. He rounded the corner, saw a strange cart and, as he approached it, found that the very crystal Lee had had was there.
Once again, the planets were aligned strangely that day so Neji bought himself one.
He didn't know why he was so compelled to do it, but from the very moment he bought it, he felt like he was falling into some sort of horrible trap. Some horrible trap that was… well, it was probably constructed by the Main House.
After purchasing the item, he wandered around aimlessly for the longest time, unable to decide whether or not to return the crystal. He was pretty sure he knew what he was going to wish for, but every time he considered making the wish, he thought about how ridiculous that seemed.
That's when a shiny thing came flying through the air and landed at his feet, shattering into tiny pieces. Neji peered at it curiously, wondering what it could possibly be before he realized that it was shards of the crystal Lee had showed him a little earlier, something that was identical to the one that was in his pocket.
Lee dove through the trees and skidded across the ground, landing at Neji's feet.
"Neji?" said Lee, getting to his knees. Neji sighed and reprimanded Lee for being so careless with his things. Especially things that are so expensive, and Neji certainly knows how expensive it was. "Wait…" said Lee slowly. "Neji, how old am I?"
Neji frowned at Lee's random comment of stupidity that was, unfortunately, not THAT out of the norm. "…Thirteen?" he said.
"Everything changed back…" Lee hesitated. "Neji…it worked! My wish came true! I was on the same team as Sasuke and Sakura and you didn't know who I was and you could still beat me!"
It…worked?
"I'll always beat you, no matter how old you are." Neji said, trying to keep himself from saying anything he'd regret later. He turned his back to Lee and walked away at a quickened pace.
He reached into his pocket once he got far enough away from Lee. "So…" he thought. "It works…"
Though Lee isn't exactly the trustworthiest word to rely on, Neji couldn't help but be intrigued by the magic…
"I wish—" Neji began.
"Neji!" came an annoying female voice behind him.
He hid the crystal behind his back and spun around to see Tenten running up to him. Gwad, Tenten is bothersome.
"Neji!" she said once she finally reached him. "How come no one was at training? Did Gai tell me the wrong place?"
"Gai was called away on a mission." Neji replied.
"What?" said Tenten. "How come no one told me?"
"I showed up early and Gai told me to tell you two." Neji answered.
"So you told Lee but not me?" Tenten demanded.
"I just so happened to come across Lee so I figured I'd tell him." Neji replied.
"So you weren't going to tell EITHER of us?" Tenten said, sounding angry.
Neji rolled his eyes, not wanting to converse with Tenten anymore.
Tenten gave an exasperated sigh. She noticed Neji was certainly standing in a strange way. She had never seen him stand with his hands behind his back like that. He's probably hiding something.
"What's behind your back?" Tenten asked, trying to lean over and look.
Neji moved so that he was in her field of view. "Nothing." He answered.
Definitely hiding something.
"Come on, lemme see!" Tenten said eagerly because now she really had to know.
"No." Neji said.
"Why not?"
"You're not worth an answer to that question." Neji said as he started walking away. He always seems to do that… leave people with something to smash their self esteem into the ground, and then just arrogantly strut away.
Tenten wasn't going to let that fly. "Neji!" she yelled. "How come you don't respect me? I was one of the highest ranked female ninjas in the class! That's gotta count for SOMETHING!"
"What are you trying to say, Tenten?" Neji said, getting angry.
"I'm saying that I wish you would start appreciating what I do,and what ALL female ninjas do!" Tenten said. "I mean, I work so hard to keep up with you and Lee and you always shoot me down!"
Neji looked down in that 'I have lost' way and slipped the crystal into his pocket.
"You're right Tenten." He said with a sigh.
"What?" Tenten said, overly surprised. Did Neji just say that she was RIGHT?
"I really should learn to appreciate what you more!" Neji said, coming back over to her and grabbing her hand enthusiastically. Tenten was past the point of being surprised, and was now frightened.
"Well…that's good…" she started.
"Thank you!" said Neji.
"…For what?" Tenten said, backing away a little bit.
"For acknowledging me!" Neji said.
"For…what?" Tenten repeated.
"Well, to have YOUR approval certainly means something to me." Said Neji, putting his free hand on his heart.
"Okay, look, you can stop making fun of me now." Tenten said, almost ready to run away as fast as she could. "I just wanted a little appreciation."
"And I DO appreciate you!" Neji said. "I ALWAYS have! I've just been too proud to admit it! But now that I know you love me too—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tenten interrupted. "LOVE? Who ever said anything about LOVE?"
"Didn't you?" Neji questioned.
"No…" Tenten said uneasily. "I just wanted you to stop looking down on me for being weaker than you are."
"NEVER, Tenten!" Neji said, looking offended in a very animated fashion.
"So what are you saying?" Tenten said. "You're saying that you love me?"
"With all my heart!" Neji said, getting down on one knee.
"Wow, that's really weird." Tenten said.
"Since we have no training today, let's go on a date!" Neji said as he stood up and scooped Tenten right up off her feet.
Tenten barely kept herself from screaming as she jumped out of Neji's arms. That was just about the creepiest thing that had ever happened to her, and she tried to cope with the problem as Neji just looked at her curiously.
"Don't…do that again." Tenten said finally.
"Why not?" Neji said. "I thought we mutually shared our feelings."
"Neji…sorry…no…" Tenten said haltingly, not knowing how to break it to him, especially since he seemed so… excited.
"What?" Neji said, looking as though someone had just canceled Christmas. "But I thought…didn't we…but…!"
"I think this is one big misunderstanding." Tenten said. "I'm sorry."
Tenten quickly walked by Neji, not knowing what to think. She pinched herself, but, upon not waking up from any dream, she realized that this was all real. Why? Why did Neji suddenly profess his love to her?
She looked behind her to see that Neji wasn't following her. She turned around and crashed into someone and let out a yelp, worried it might be Neji, but luckily it was only Lee.
"Lee, you'll never believe what just happened." Said Tenten.
"WHAT?" Lee said.
"Well, I was talking to Neji, and I told him to appreciate me more, and then he suddenly came out and professed his love to me!" Tenten explained. "Does that seem weird?"
"Yes." Lee said.
"This is just… out of NOWHERE." Tenten said, shaking her head. "He wanted to go on a date with me too."
"You should go!" said Lee.
"WHAT?" Tenten demanded.
"The passion of youth is burning between you and Neji!" said Lee, pointing off into the sunset and, yes, it WAS the real sunset. "I say, jump upon it and kindle your flame until it is the brightest of them all—"
"Okay, okay…" Tenten said, trying to quiet Lee down because he was screaming awfully loudly. "Well, you don't think it would be awkward?"
"It would be COMPLETELY awkward!" Lee said. "But you have to follow your heart sometimes!"
"Never mind…" Tenten said as she left Lee and decided to make her way home since it was getting kind of dark. When she reached her mailbox and opened it up, she found a bouquet of red roses with a note attached to it.
Curiously, she flipped the note over.
"Always appreciating you, love Neji."
She dropped the flowers and tried to pretend as though she didn't see them in the first place. This was getting too strange. She doubted that Neji would go THIS far to just prove some sort of imaginable point to her.
She went inside and, just to be safe, locked the door.
"Good, now we can be alone." Came a voice behind her.
She spun around to see Neji sitting there.
"Neji!" she yelled. "What are you doing in my house!"
"You left so suddenly and you seemed a little upset!" said Neji as he jumped to his feet and practically sprinted over to Tenten. She backed away from him, but felt very cornered. "What can I do to make it up to you?"
"You can leave me alone." Tenten said, reaching for her doorknob. "Please."
"But Tenten!" Neji started as Tenten flung the door open and ran out. "If you're upset, you should talk about it!" he called after her.
Tenten knew she couldn't outrun Neji, so she had to find someplace to high.
She dodged behind a tree, and cursed her stupidity once she remembered that she couldn't hide from him either.
"Tenten, I don't understand." Said Neji as he suddenly appeared in front of her. "You asked me to appreciate you, and now that I am, you don't seem to want it anymore! What exactly DO you want?"
"Not this!" Tenten said. "Some kind of median in between!"
"Well, now that I've uncovered my feelings, I can't very well hide them anymore." Said Neji.
"Neji, don't take this the wrong way but—" Tenten began.
"Tenten, please say you'll go out with me!" Neji said, getting on his knees once again and begging. "If not, I don't know what I'll do!"
"Stop!" Tenten yelled. "You're freaking me out!"
"PLEASE!" pleaded Neji.
"Neji, it's—"
"Anything, I'll do anything!" Neji said as he started turning out his pockets. "I'll give you anything! Just please say you'll be mine!"
Tenten slapped her forehead and tried not to look him. She shook her head and, when she opened her eyes up again, she saw a beautiful crystal lying on the ground. It was odd for Neji to have such a thing, but then again, Neji has been rather odd lately.
"What's this?" Tenten asked as she reached for it.
"You want it?" said Neji. "You can have it!"
"Just tell me what it is." Tenten said.
"It's a Butterfly Crystal." Neji shrugged. "There's an old man in town selling them to anyone who wants one. He says that it can supposedly grant any wish you ask for. They're pricey, but if you want it then it's worth it!"
"Wait…is this what you were hiding from me earlier?" Tenten asked.
"Tenten, I was hiding my FEELINGS for you earlier, but no more!" Neji said as he reached out of envelope Tenten in an embrace but she stood up and started pondering, so he just fell over like a fool.
Any wish?
What exactly had she said to Neji right before he started acting weird…
"I'm saying that I wish you would start appreciating what I do, and what ALL female ninjas do! I mean, I work so hard to keep up with you and Lee and you always shoot me down!"
"I wish…" Tenten said, and then she chuckled to herself, finding this remarkable turn of events to be rather… remarkable.
"Yes, Neji, I do believe I want to keep this crystal, if that's okay with you." Tenten said with a grin.
"It's okay." Said Neji as he looked like he went into some sort of trance at the sight of Tenten's smile.
"Where is this old man selling the crystals? Can you show me?" Tenten said.
"Of course!" Neji said, jumping to his feet and holding out his arm for Tenten to link with.
Tenten laughed nervously. "Um…not right now." Tenten said.
Tenten followed the slightly dejected Neji to Chokai's Spiritual Stand.
"Welcome, welcome!" Chokai greeted them, but then he focused his attention on Neji. "Back for more?"
"I just have some questions." Tenten interrupted.
Chokai turned to her. "Yes?" he said.
"Tell me about this." Tenten said as she held out the Butterfly Crystal.
"Ahh…my pride and joy." Chokai said happily. "The Butterfly Crystal. Have you ever heard about the Butterfly Effect?" Tenten nodded. "Well, if you make a wish on the Butterfly Crystal to change your past, it will come true! And, naturally, will cause a butterfly effect to alter your present."
"Yeah but we have a few problems with that." Tenten said. "You see, HE bought the crystal, and it granted MY wish."
"Did you use the words 'I wish' in a sentence?" Chokai said.
"Yeah…"
"While you were in range of the crystal?"
"Yeah…"
"The crystal doesn't distinguish between who bought it and who is wishing." Chokai said as if such a thing should be common knowledge.
"Okay…another thing." Tenten said, willing to accept that fact. "My wish didn't change my past at all. All it did was change the present."
"What did you wish for?" Chokai asked.
"Um…" Tenten said slowly, looking at Neji who was looked like he could stand there all day as long as she was standing next to him. "Well, I didn't mean to really, but I wished that he'd appreciate me and now he's in love with me. So all it did was change the way he is now and it in no way changed my past."
"Well…" Chokai began, rubbing his chin. "It could have changed because you may have done something to make him incredible infatuated with you at an earlier time in your lives, and for some reason forced him to hide these feelings until now."
"What?" demanded Tenten. "That is the most ridiculous loop hole I've ever heard in my life!"
Chokai shrugged.
"Well fine." Tenten sighed. "How do I make it all go away?"
Chokai gave a heavy sigh.
"What?" Tenten said, sounding nervous.
"You must make him fall in love with someone else." Chokai said, pretending to sound solemn. He was mostly just offended that Tenten said his products were ridiculous, so he figured he'd make her suffer.
"WHAT?" Tenten practically screamed. "That's an even MORE ridiculous loop hole!"
"Hey, don't blame the messenger." Said Chokai.
"Fine." Tenten grumbled as she grabbed Neji's arm and dragged him off.
"Do you want to go on a date now, Tenten?" Neji asked.
"No—" Tenten started, but then she spotted something that was awfully convenient! Hinata, Sakura and Ino were all at a pleasant little dinner inside a restaurant.
She'd make Neji fall in love with one of THEM!
Well, not Hinata because that would just be wrong on so many levels.
"Actually…let's go in there!" Tenten said, trying to sound excited.
"Okay!" said Neji, sounding legitimately excited.
They went in and Tenten led Neji straight over to where the three girls were sitting, chatting and looking at their menus. They looked up to see Tenten standing there, greeted her and yadda yadda.
"Do you mind if we join you?" Tenten asked.
"Sure!" they all cheered. Tenten didn't even stop to wonder why they seemed so comfortable with the fact that Neji was standing there, but she wasn't going to argue about it.
Tenten grabbed a chair from another table and wedged it in between Sakura and Ino. Then she grabbed another chair and slipped it in between Hinata and Sakura. "Okay, Neji, you can sit there." She said, practically throwing him into the seat in between Sakura and Ino, and then seating herself in the other empty space.
Neji cleared his throat suddenly. "You know—" he started.
Tenten gasped. Don't say anything stupid! She felt like screaming.
"—Tenten and I are here on our first date…"
Hinata, Sakura and Ino gasped and looked at Tenten with sparkles in their eyes.
"It's not a date!" Tenten stuttered.
"But you said it was." Neji said, looking hurt.
"We're just hanging out!" Tenten assured the other girls as she avoided eye contact with Neji. "We figured we'd get something to eat after a hard training session and then we saw you guys!"
"We didn't have training today." Neji said.
"Oh yeah!" Tenten said, sinking into her chair.
"Congratulations, Tenten." Said Hinata with a genuine smile on her face, which definitely confused Tenten. "You too, Neji!"
"I thought you two would NEVER get together." Sakura sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Tenten said.
"I always thought you two would make a good pair!" said Ino.
"Me too." Said Neji.
"Huh?" Tenten said, looking ultimately confused. "Since when? What?"
"When we were younger and in the academy," Neji began, going into story telling mode. "Remember how Iruka would always ask people to demonstrate for him? Usually, he'd pick the higher ranked students to do it. Well, one time he wanted to show off sparring, and he picked the two of us."
"The two of us?" Tenten said. She couldn't remember ever sparring with Neji in front of the class.
"You almost beat me…I had to get serious." Neji said. "And ever since then, I've known."
"What?" Tenten said. "Iruka NEVER chose me for a demonstration! I never sparred you in front of the class… and DEFINITELY never came close to beating you!" She laughed. "That'll be the day! You'd actually start respecting me if I—"
She stopped.
"Oh." She said with a sigh. "I get it."
"Get what?" asked Ino.
"Nothing." Tenten said, standing up. "Excuse me, but I have to go now. I'm not feeling well."
"I'll walk you home." Neji said, getting up as well.
"That's all right, I just need some time to be alone." Tenten assured him.
"Well, you shouldn't be walking alone if you're not feeling well." Neji reasoned.
Geez, Tenten thought. If not for the fact that he was blindly in love with her, Tenten would have sworn that Neji was totally gay.
The two of them started walking back to Tenten's house. Tenten didn't even know that Neji knew were she lived, but apparently he did since he had, after all, just appeared in her house earlier that day.
Tenten tried to avoid looking at Neji because she could feel him watching her intently out of the corner of her eye. His usual glare that burned through her certainly didn't have the same terrifying intimidation that it used to. And, although it was a little nice, it was awfully creepy.
In addition to all this, she couldn't help but constantly think of the fact that Neji had bought that crystal for a reason—why, she did not know. But he must have had a wish. And she had taken that potential for a wish away from him by accidentally making him a little gay. Unfortunately for her AND Neji, it didn't look like he was going to be falling in love with any other girl any time soon so the effects could possibly be permanent.
Now she was extremely curious as to what that wish was going to be.
"Neji…" she said. "If you could have any wish in the entire world, what would it be?"
"That I could be with you forever!" Neji said.
Tenten rolled her eyes. Why hadn't she expected that?
"Besides that." She said.
"I don't need anything else." Neji answered.
"Sure you do." Said Tenten. She pulled the crystal out and handed it to him. "If that crystal could grant any wish for you then why would you wish for?"
"I already told you." Neji said, giving it back to her. "I would want to be with you forever."
"And I already told you to wish for something ELSE." Tenten said, her curiosity growing to an immeasurable extent.
"What else is there to wish for?" Neji sighed. "What else do I need? I have YOU, don't I?"
"Not necessarily…" Tenten said, putting as much distance in between the two of them as she could without making it look like she was trying to put as much distance between the two of them as she could.
"Well… we've already completed the first step." Neji said. "The date."
"That wasn't a date." Tenten corrected. "We were in that restaurant for, at most, five minutes."
"And now I'm walking you home." Neji went on.
"Only because I'm not feeling well." Tenten reminded him.
"Well…" Neji said. "Gai's not going to be back from his mission by tomorrow so I doubt we'll have training."
"Yeah, probably not." Tenten agreed.
"So how about I come by your house tomorrow morning and we could…"
He looked like he was going to reach out and grab her hand, so Tenten quickly jumped to the side. "Oh look!" she said. "Here's my house! Well, see you tomorrow!"
With that, she ran inside and slammed the door.
She peeked out the window to see Neji still standing there so she pulled the curtains down and leaned up against the wall. She dropped the crystal on the ground and it rolled across the floor before coming to a stop against the wall on the other side of the room.
Tomorrow, she'd just have to explain to Neji that it wasn't going to work out between the two of them. That would just be WAY to weird. Besides, she didn't have any feelings for him at all so no matter how much he "appreciated" her, she wasn't going to "appreciate" him in the same way.
Time for a glass of water. As she filled up her cup, she heard something strange coming from the other room. She couldn't describe what it was, but it was in the direction that the front door was.
She went over to the door and peeked out the curtain that was next to it. Neji wasn't standing there anymore, and there was nothing around that could make such a noise.
She let the curtains fall back into place and looked around the room. What was making that sound? It seemed like… wings beating. Enormous wings.
As soon as her eyes laid eyes on the Butterfly Crystal, the noise stopped. She slowly approached it and picked it up, but there were no more wings beating, at least none that she could see or hear, which probably meant there was no more of it.
Cautiously, she set it down on the table. She turned her head to the side and broke eye contact with it, and almost immediately the horribly creepy and scary sound started again.
She looked back, and it stopped.
Now that she was sure it was the crystal, she grabbed it, flung open the window and went to throw it as far as she could, wanting to get rid of the demon crystal. But midway in her throw, she thought about Neji, and how it was HIS crystal… and his wish that may have happened.
Overwhelmed with guilt, she came back in the window and closed it.
Maybe she'd put it somewhere…
Taking a step forward, she tripped over a fold in the rug and fell on her face. The crystal flew across the room and shattered upon hitting the ground. She gasped and crawled over to it, trying to pick up the bigger shards, and maybe figure out a way to put it all back together.
Tenten spent nearly all night trying to make the crystal look a little bit like a crystal. She'd have to apologize copiously to Neji, but she got the feeling that she was fixing it mostly for herself so her own conscious could rest. After all, she doubted Neji would really care one way or the other, as long as he was acting the way he was.
Gai was still on his mission, so that meant no training today, or so Neji had said. And Neji was going to be stopping by her house, because he had said he would.
Tenten waited by the window with the mangled crystal in her hands, feeling so terrible that she had broken it.
But no one came to the door.
After about an hour of waiting, Tenten started to wonder where Neji was.
"Oh no!" Tenten gasped. "I broke his heart!"
Tenten got dressed and ran outside, going as fast as she could to the Hyuuga complex.
She knocked on the door frantically.
Coincidentally, Hinata opened the door.
"Oh, hello Tenten." Hinata said.
"Is Neji here?" Tenten asked.
"Yes." Hinata said, lowering her head at the mere mention of Neji's name. "He's out back training."
Hinata's eyes wandered to the pieces of crystal Tenten had in her hands.
"…What's that…?" Hinata asked.
"Oh—it was Neji's…" Tenten answered.
"It's…broken." Hinata said.
"Yeah…I broke it…by accident…" Tenten admitted. "It was a special crystal."
Hinata swallowed hard. "The Butterfly Crystal?" she tried.
"That's right." Tenten nodded. "Do you know about it?"
Hinata blinked a few times. "It was Neji's?" she clarified.
"Yes!" said Tenten, getting a little irritated. "Is it all right if I go talk to him?"
"Uh…sure…"
Tenten walked past Hinata and made her way through the house to the backyard where she found Neji, sure enough, doing some training. She only watched him for a few minutes, waiting for him to notice her.
He had, of course, noticed her before she had even come into view. Neji's that awesome.
"Do you have a reason for stopping by, Tenten?" Neji said finally.
"Yes…" Tenten said quietly as she held out her hands to reveal the broken Butterfly Crystal.
Neji walked over to get a good look at it. He frowned when he saw what had happened to it. "I was wondering where that had gone." He said. "Did you steal it from me after you stormed away irrationally?"
"What?" Tenten said. "I didn't steal it! You gave it to me! And I didn't storm away irrationally!"
"I should have known it was you who took it." Neji said, taking the pieces from her. "Only someone like you would care about such frivolous things."
"Neji, you're the one who bought it and presented it to me as a token of your undying love!" Tenten said. "Remember? We went on a 'date' yesterday?"
Tenten immediately saw that Neji was beyond offended.
"What did you just say?" he said.
"You professed your love to me." Tenten said.
"I did no such thing." Neji insisted.
"Yes you did!" Tenten said. "You did it a lot! You wouldn't stop! It was making me really uncomfortable!"
"You were dreaming." Neji assured her.
"More like a nightmare!" Tenten said angrily as she stomped her foot and walked away.
"There you go, storming off irrationally again." Neji sighed, but it was mostly to himself.
Tenten heard pieces of what he had just said, but she was far too angry to turn around and yell at him some more. He was so cruel to play such a horrible joke on her like that! Then again, Neji didn't really seem like the type who would jeopardize his reputation just to confuse and infuriate someone.
"Tenten…" Hinata said quietly just as Tenten was about to leave. Tenten stopped and looked at Hinata, waiting for her to continue. "That was the Butterfly Crystal?"
"Yes." Tenten answered.
"Did Neji make a wish on it?" Hinata whispered.
"No, I did… sort of by accident." Tenten replied.
"Did it come true?" Hinata said.
"It did, but just for a little while." Tenten said.
"And then it broke?" Hinata tried.
"Well…yeah." Tenten said. Ahh… she understood now. The magic stopped once the crystal had been destroyed. That stupid old man had lied to her.
"Was your wish not what you had expected?" Hinata said.
"No…no it really wasn't." Tenten said. "Hey, how do you know so much about this thing?"
Hinata blushed. "I bought one too." She replied. "And my wish didn't exactly come out the way I had imagined either."
"Hey, so…what'd you wish for?" Tenten asked, approaching Hinata. "And what happened?"
Meanwhile, Neji had taken a moment to sit down. Not only for a break, but so he could get a good look at that crystal. He had certainly been a little weirded out when he had returned home after his encounter with Tenten after she had almost found out what he had behind his back. Where had it gone?
And now he had it back. How's about that wish? He could make it now and no one would know.
"I wish…" he said quietly. "…my father were still alive…"
He waited for something—anything. Any sort of reaction at all.
But nothing happened. Nothing changed.
He looked at the Butterfly Crystal and exhaled, feeling disappointed. He should have known better than to take Lee's word as the truth. Tenten had done a good job banging it up. What had she done? Thrown it out the window?
He got to his feet and then threw the crystal as far as it would go, and Neji promised to never spend his money on something he didn't need again.
