Notes: Cowritten with CCS AnGeL00. I was away. Now I've returned. And now I'm going to drown in work, so don't expect updates anytime soon. Really now, begging is so undignified, doncha think? XD
Part Six: Neji's Rival
She woke up surrounded by unfamiliar scents of pinewood and scented cotton. Where was she? And why did this room seem so familiar?
"You're awake." Tenten groaned and suppressed the urge to bury herself under the covers. She did not want to wake up to Neji's voice.
"Where am I?" queried she, sitting up, holding her head. Goddamn, it hurt.
"The main compound," he replied. He was leaning against the door with his arms crossed at his chest, watching her. "I brought you here when you fainted."
Right. She remembered now. "Where are my things?"
"Gone."
". . ." Tenten brought her head up to stare at her fiancée. Not even Neji would be that insane. . .right? "My sweaters?"
"Gone."
Then again, this was Neji. "My shoes?"
"Gone."
Okay, Tenten, calm down, she told herself. "My t-shirts?"
"Gone."
"My cute hair things?"
"Gone."
Oh shit. Her voice started to spiral upwards, in spite of her efforts to control it. "My teddy bear?"
"Gone."
She put her head down between her knees trying very hard to breathe. "Okay, calm down Tenten, this is a nightmare and in three seconds you will wake up screaming. Or it's all a really sick joke. Breathe Tenten, breathe."
"Your things weren't suitable for a Hyuuga bride," he informed.
". . ." she brought her head up to stare at him.
"A joke?" she offered weakly. "Please say it's a joke."
He shook his head.
Her eyes rolled up in her head as she succumbed to the inevitable, lovely darkness of a faint for the second time.
-
It's so nice and dark here, thought Tenten. I could stay here forever.
"Tenten, wake up."
Who's that calling me?
"Tenten. . ."
It sounds like Neji. . .
"Tenten, if you don't wake up, we're going to train twice a day."
Her eyes fluttered open. She was back in the futon with Neji staring down at her. She would have called his expression "concerned" except she didn't think Neji had expressions. "What happened?"
"You fainted."
Memory came rushing back and she sat up abruptly, making him move before her head could smash into his. "YOU THREW OUT KUN-CHAN?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Kun. . .chan?"
"My teddy bear," she snapped. "It's short for Kunai."
"A Hyuuga does not need such juvenile things," Neji told her. He held his arms up just in time to fend off her attack. "Calm down Tenten."
"GET OUT!" she screeched, baring her nails. Dammit, where were her weapons? "AND DON'T COME BACK UNLESS YOU HAVE KUN-CHAN!"
He caught her wrists just as she was going to slash his face. "It's just a stuffed toy. Besides, I'm sure Hanabi-sama has ripped it to shreds by now."
". . .You gave my teddy bear to HANABI?"
His expression never wavered. "She said it'd help her train."
Her legs scissored into a neat kick, which he avoided without even looking. "AND YOU BELIEVED HER?"
". . .You look nice with your hair down," he told her.
She narrowed her eyes at the obvious ploy; if anything, the compliment made her even angrier. "That's not going to save you, Neji. Now GET OUT!"
He disappeared in a puff of smoke. She plopped back onto her bed and burst into silent, angry tears. Several minutes later, she wiped her eyes, vowing revenge for Kun-chan.
She finished just as Neji knocked on the door. "Tenten?"
"What?"
"May I come in?"
"No." She made sure that she looked like she was still sulking. She was lying down, her hair in a disorganized mess around the pillow while the blankets lay in a half-tangled mess.
He started to sound impatient. "Tenten, there's no need to be childish."
"You should be one to talk," she retorted.
He sighed. "Tenten, I'm coming in," he warned, sliding the door open. Tenten watched, her face dropping as he evaded the ten shuriken, managed to successfully avoid tripping the wire that would've plunged her daggers in his heart, and came thisclose but not quite to getting a new hole in his throat by a dozen successive kunai, the last of which he caught with two fingers. "Tenten, these traps are pathetic," he told her, whipping the weapon at her. She was so stunned she barely managed to catch it. "It's clear you haven't been training enough."
Tenten closed her eyes and counted to ten. Twice. "Neji, what are you doing here?"
He knelt on the floor, eyeing the air suspiciously. Then, before she could protest, he tripped the invisible wire with a finger, rolling out of the way before the senbon could pierce his lungs. "Here," he said, tossing something that he had been hiding behind his back.
She caught it without thinking. She stared at it, blinking for three seconds. "KUN-CHAN!" she shrieked, hugging her beloved toy to her chest. Then, "I thought you gave him to Hanabi."
"Hinata-sama took it from her," he answered, methodically activating the last trap. He arched his back just enough so that the miniature canon ball zoomed out of the open window. "She asked me to give it back to you."
Thank GOD for Hinata. She was probably the only Hyuuga with a modicum of sense. "Well. . .thank you."
"You're welcome." He paused, and she blinked at him, wondering what was next. "I'll meet you in the dojo after dinner," he finally said.
Tenten sighed, brushing a couple of wayward strands of her face. "I'll be there."
"By the way," he said, deliberately not looking at her, "you do look nice with your hair down."
". . .Thank you," she said, but he had already shut the door.