Notes: cowritten with CCS AnGeL00. And no, we don't hate Tenten.
Part Three: Dinner with the Hyuugas
When Tenten finally managed to drag her weary body home, her mother swept her soaked daughter up in her arms. Tenten peered over her mother's shoulder. Were those the family jewels on the kitchen table? And since WHEN did they have a jewelled dagger as a hair ornament?
"Sweetheart, I heard the news! You're having dinner with the Hyuugas tonight!" She held her daughter back at arms length, examining her critically. With quick motions, she pulled out the buns in Tenten's hair, ignoring her daughter's exclamations. "First you'll need a shower, and I'll have to brush out your hair. Your usual style will certainly not do tonight. Then we'll go shopping for a kimono. I think we need to go with a white theme with you, hon."
"Does EVERYONE know about Neji and I?" Tenten wailed, sounding plaintive.
Her mother twirled her around excitedly. "Of course dear; you've been the talk of the town for weeks!"
". . .we HAVE?"
"Of course. The dear boy has been so emotional these last few weeks. We all knew that this was going to happen sooner or later; only you have that effect on him."
Tenten groaned. Not this again. "Mom, his FAMILY!"
"Oh yes. Them too. Now, hurry to the shower. I'll have to go empty our family vault for your kimono. Too bad you can't use these lacy thigh holsters tonight; they're useful for storing weapons AND sexy. Neji-kun would faint."
"MOM!" Her mother did NOT just say that.
"Though they'd be useful anyway. If anything, you could flash Neji-kun with them."
". . ." this was so not her mother. This was SOMEONE masquerading as her mother.
"No need to be embarrassed, sweetheart. After all, you're practically engaged. Wait until your wedding night."
"I'M ONLY FIFTEEN!" she shrieked.
"That's the age most ninja start thinking about settling down, dear. You're just precocious that's all," her mother told her, holding a pair of earrings up to her daughter's face. "Yes, these will suit your complexion quite nicely."
"Mom, we're not even ENGAGED! He hasn't even ASKED ME!"
"He did offer to tell you his blind spot didn't he?" her mother queried, rummaging through the jewelled wealth on the table. "Too bad gold washes you out; these earrings would've been lovely."
". . .Mom, are those POISONED DARTS?"
"The antidote is in the brooch if you're worried. Now go shower while I go empty the family vault; we're going shopping, just us two girls."
". . .Mom, it's only a dinner. Dad would FLIP if he found it empty, anyway." This was so not happening to her. It couldn't be.
Her mother grinned. "Actually, your father suggested it sweetheart. He even borrowed some of this stuff here from your aunt. Now, go shower," her mother shooed her, shoving towels in her arms. "Hurry; we don't have much time. It's already ten."
Sometimes, thought Tenten as she stumbled into the bathroom, she really didn't understand her family.
-
She wasted five hours of her life shopping. Five hours she could never get back! Her mother had dragged her from store to store, trying to find the right kimono for the Hyuuga formal dinner. While Tenten loved clothing (she knew she looked inhumanely cute in most things), she never thought she'd be shopping for Hyuuga Neji's approval. The thought alone made her brain twitch with confusion.
The sales lady at the last store had proclaimed she had been waiting for Tenten to come for weeks now, though she thought it would be for a wedding kimono. After nearly having a coronary on the floor, Tenten weakly assured the woman she only wanted a formal kimono.
After passing up on several disasters (green and yellow with pink stripes were just not working for her), she finally settled on what her mother declared was the most perfect kimono in the universe. It started out with a thin, white, cotton under robe under a beautiful while silk kimono with swirls of lilac mixed in. The sleeves nearly touched her ankles, but they were perfect for hiding scrolls within. After a few minutes of begging, the seamstress relented and put a small slit in a spot where the sleeve and the body of the kimono met, for easy access to her lace holster (her mother had nagged her until she cracked like cheap linoleum), which held a few shuriken and kunai. A navy blue obi wrapped around her waist and held her jewelled dagger firmly against her stomach. She had to wear the usual tabi and geta, but she had put a lace anklet on each of her ankles for even more artillery.
"I thought this was a dinner not a battle," her mother commented as she pulled Tenten's thick brown hair back into an elegant knot. She pinned it back with two silver combs that had razor sharp edges. The combs, while beautiful, could also double for weapons if Tenten ran out of the others (though that seemed highly unlikely). Tenten reminded her that dinner with the Hyuuga's was more than a battle. It was a war. Truth be told, she always imagined life at their house one constant training exercise. Where else would Neji learn it?
Tenten stood up in front of the mirror and carefully put a pair of long silver chandelier earrings (they were detachable senbon) in her ears. She then proceeded to put a very special charm bracelet on her left hand. "Red is dead," she murmured out loud, mostly to remind herself that the charms with the red liquid in them were poisonous, "And white is all right. . . I think." She then threw on her red shawl and slipped on her geta and walked towards the Hyuuga estate. She stopped several times, looking longingly at the forest. She could just slip in there and conveniently forget about the dinner right?
No, her conscience said.
Damned conscience.
She stopped short in her tracks a few minutes later and blinked. The Hyuugas had quite an estate. Humungous wasn't even the word. She swallowed and glanced at the forest again.
Tenten was about to high tail it out of there when a familiar face popped out from the entrance.
"Good evening, Tenten-san," Hyuuga Hinata bowed, looking very pretty in an elaborate pink kimono which had the family emblem, a small flame surrounded by a circle at the bottom edge. "I'm glad you could make it," she smiled at the older girl, seeming a bit more confident than usual. Probably because Neji wasn't around to glare at her.
". . .hi Hinata-san," she greeted weakly. She had been caught and now there was no escape. Damn.
Hinata gave her an encouraging smile before taking the older girl on a quick tour of the estate. There had to be at least fifty rooms and it looked more like a small village than a house. The biggest shock though, was when she finally spotted Neji through the crowd of people.
He approached, making Hinata step back a bit. "You're three minutes late."
Tenten was about to shoot back with a snappy remark until she took a good look at Neji. She had never seen him in a formal kimono before and wow—she was blown away. He wore a plain black full length kimono, with grey hakama pants on top. Over that he donned a black haori with the Hyuuga flame on both sides. His hair was back in it's usual pony tail and on his forehead was his ninja headband. Snapping her jaw back into place, she mumbled, "Sorry."
"This is her, Neji-niisan?" a small, high, and rather obnoxious voice said from behind Neji. Hyuuga Hanabi looked at Tenten as if she wasn't fit to lick the dirt from her shoes. "Heh. She doesn't look strong at all. She's not that pretty either." Hanabi flounced away before Tenten had a chance to collect herself and nail the Demon Child with a few shuriken.
Hinata looked very distressed at the slight crease that appeared in the corner of Neji's mouth. Tenten herself was very familiar with the expression; that usually meant people got hurt. "Tenten-san, she didn't mean that. Hanabi can be very sweet, she's just. . ." Hinata trailed off, words failing her.
"Has your guest arrived, Neji?" a strong deep, voice asked, nearly scaring her out of her already scattered wits.
Tenten quickly bowed to Hiashi, feeling flushed. His presence demanded respect and. . .well, he looked like a grown up Neji. That alone scared the hell out of her.
"Pleased to meet you, sir. I am Tenten. Thank you very much for the invitation to dinner," she tried to look as demure as possible. Her heart was beating so loudly she was sure that Hiashi didn't need his byakugan to see how nervous she was.
"The pleasure is all mine," Hiashi assured her, looking over to Neji almost incredulously. The look seemed to say 'How the HELL did you get such a cute girl with your personality?' "Dinner will be starting shortly. Please join us in the dining room."
She followed the Hyuuga's to the huge dining room and had to stifle a gasp when the door slid open. Her eyes bulged; damn, the room was bigger than Neji and Sasuke's egos combined! She belatedly noticed the number of dinner trays and cushions, and counted. Wasn't this only a family affair? There were so many individual trays that it looked like they'd all be squished, even in a room of this size. Was this some sort of celebration? Neji's birthday wasn't for months.
Everyone waited for Hiashi to kneel at his place at the head of the table before following suit. Tenten kneeled on a tatami mat on Hinata's right and directly across from Neji. A middle- aged Hyuuga relative sat next to her and he alternated between leering and winking at her. Yep, getting molested in the mountains by Jiraiya-sama would have been the smarter choice.
The servants promptly served them onigiri and miso soup. She blinked when they served her first, as usually a guest of honour was served before anyone else. She bowed to the attendant anyway, not wanting to insult the Hyuuga's if she could help it. Everyone received their bowls and bowed to Hiashi and announced in unison they would now be partaking in the feast.
"Tenten, you're a member of Neji's ninja squad, are you not?" Hiashi asked as the bottle of sake was passed around.
Tenten nearly jumped when she felt something, or someone caress her knee. Of course, it was the Pervy Hyuuga Fancier. He smirked. "Y-yes, sir," she choked out, moving a bit closer to Hinata. "For the last three years."
"And you specialize in weaponry," he put his bowl down, giving her his undivided attention.
She gulped. Neji was glaring at his uncle. "Yes, sir." She clenched her chopsticks when the Pervy Hyuuga fancier's hand started to fondle her knee. Did he realize that she was fully armed?
"And what are you hoping to accomplish as a ninja?"
Tenten cleared her throat as she put her hands in her lap. "Well sir, it's always been my dream to—eek!" she exclaimed. He so did not just squeeze her knee.
"Is something wrong?" Hiashi raised an eyebrow.
"No, sir. Everything is fine," she lied. Pervy Hyuuga Fancier's hands were travelling north now that he had a little sake in the system. She took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. Neji glared daggers at her assailant, and he desisted immediately, to her relief.
Five courses and seven bottles of sake later (Neji hadn't drunk any, unfortunately; it would've been amusing to see an intoxicated Neji), Hiashi cleared his throat. "I have an announcement to make. As you all know, we were brought here today—"
"I like the holsters you're wearing," the Pervy Hyuuga Fancier announced next to her. His voice carried to the far reaches of the room. "Are they made of lace?"
"THAT'S IT!" exclaimed Tenten.
Lightning fast, she nailed him to the wall, eight shuriken outlining his body with perfect precision. "Keep your hands to yourself!" She turned back around in time to see most of the males in the room dispelling their Byakugan hastily. She knelt back onto her cushion, smoothing the skirt of her kimono with nervous hands. Neji, she had noticed, didn't peek. Neither did Hiashi. In fact, he looked rather pleased. It was as if she had passed some sort of test.
"You have a lot of spirit, girl."
Tenten blushed, poking her index fingers together. "Thank you, sir." From the corner of her eye, she saw Neji smirking.
"As I was saying, we're all gathered here to congratulate Neji on his engagement," Hiashi revealed, nodding at Neji. Neji returned the nod.
Tenten blinked. "Neji's getting married? To who?" Whoa. This was like—the twilight zone. She thought for sure she would be married before Neji!
The guests stared at her. "Uh, Tenten-san," Hinata whispered. "I think Neji-niisan and you are getting married."
". . . WHAT?" she scrambled to her feet again. "When did this happen!"
". . ." Neji apparently picked up his speech habits from his family.
"He hasn't even KISSED ME YET!" she wailed. Neji's eye twitched. Oh shit. "Listen," she pleaded, looking straight at Hiashi, "I just came here for dinner. I wasn't expecting. . ." her hands started waving around in frantic little motions, "this!"
She plopped back into her seat, very aware of the silence. Then Hiashi's face cracked into a grin.
"I like you," he laughed. "Why don't you stay the night?"
Jaw, meet floor. Floor, meet jaw. "WHAT!" she nearly yelled. She was surprised to realize that she wasn't the only one that had said that.
"Father, you cannot be serious! You're letting that weakling stay with us? Here?" She was so not letting the Demon Child call her a weakling, Hyuuga or no. With a quick gesture, she whipped a kunai in the girl's direction, snapping the wires that held her hair in its elaborate arrangement. Everyone's eyes widened; they hadn't even seen that coming.
"No one," Tenten said, sounding cross, "calls me a weakling." She had been hanging around Neji too much; she was even beginning to speak like him.
"How DARE you!" the brat screamed. "Father, did you see what she did?"
Inexplicably, the Hyuuga patriarch started laughing. Everyone stared at him. "You deserved that, Hanabi." His expression turned thoughtful. "But I'll give you a chance to avenge yourself. You can fight her tomorrow," he offered.
Tenten nearly freaked. What had she gotten herself into? Catching Hanabi by surprise was one thing, but in fair combat, she'd get creamed! Hanabi was a Hyuuga! She was probably almost as good as Neji by now.
"Dismissed." Everyone stood up, bowed and began to file out of the room.
"It's okay, Tenten-san," whispered Hinata as they watched people leave. The younger girl put a reassuring hand over hers. "Hanabi won't hurt you." She glanced at her younger sister. "Well, not much."
Tenten groaned. She could kill herself now, she thought, her hands clenching around another kunai. Her mother would be upset at her for ruining her new kimono. Then again, she'd be dead, so why did she care?
Just as she was steeling herself, she felt a familiar grip on her wrist. "I wouldn't think of it," Neji whispered in her ear. "After all, you still have to beat Hanabi-sama." He released her, and she had to refrain from rubbing her arm. "Get Hinata-sama to show you the inner court later; we'll train there."
She closed her eyes and counted to ten. "We already trained this morning."
"We weren't done."
"I'm not training with you Neji. Besides," and she turned towards Hinata, who was watching them with frightened eyes, "it'd be improper for you to be alone with me. Right, Hinata-san?"
"Um. . ." the girl's pale eyes looked like moons, they were so large. "I suppose."
If looks could kill, Hinata would have been dead yesterday. The Hyuuga heir squeaked and left them alone. "Fine." His voice made her shiver. "I'll show you to your rooms."
The silence between them was almost oppressive as he led her through the maze of halls. She felt awful. Then again, how was she supposed to know that this was their engagement dinner? Right, she thought sarcastically; only I affect him this way.
"Hinata-sama's rooms are in the same hall. Her door is just there." He nodded towards the left. "Hanabi-sama's are on the right."
Shit, he was really mad. It was probably her fault too. "Don't be mad about tonight, Neji; I'm just tired."
". . .I'm not mad."
"You are! You're sulkin—" she took a deep breath. It was too late for this. "Look, we'll talk about it in the morning, okay?" She gave him her best smile; it was her very last resort.
Shit. He was still mad. "Good night, Neji." She opened the door, taking great care not to look at him.
She felt something brush her cheek, feather light. She froze; did he just kiss her? "You looked nice tonight," he breathed in her ear.
"Thank you," she finally managed to choke out. "You looked nice as well."
". . .Good night," he said, and left.
She slid the door shut behind her, and leaned against it, staring at nothing. Maybe she was the only one that had that effect on him.