Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!

A/N: Sorry for the slow updates…don't really know how to pass the time between events without being completely and utterly boring…so this is a little filler while the days pass and tension builds for Sakura and Kakashi…please enjoy this short little interlude featuring my second favourite couple – Neji & Tenten!

INTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDEINTERLUDE

Tenten took a deep breath, checked again that the weapons she held were in perfect attack position and within a blink of an eye, had leapt from the branch and launched his weapons into the air with her eyes firmly locked on her target.

The air was filled with flying projectiles and the sounds of metallic clinks and solid thuds as the weapons were deflected and embedded into the ground. Hah! Tenten's sharp eyes spotted a tiny opening. Not much of one, but it was enough. Simultaneously throwing a smoke bomb and two scrolls, the Hyuuga's eyes were blinded for less than a split second and that was all Tenten needed to tackle him to the ground.

"Hi." Tenten greeted Neji with a brilliant smile as she leaned down to kiss him hello. Neji's lips curved as her lips touched his in a tender kiss, a welcome in total contrast to its prelude. "You know…" Neji began as she lifted her head from his, "we could always just start our dates with this, rather than with a welcoming shower of sharp pointy things aimed at my head." Tenten smirked. "But this is so much more fun, don't you think, Neji-kun?" The slightly drawn out and infinitely seductive way Tenten purred his name made Neji's heart skip another beat. He remembered the first time he asked Tenten out on a date.

Flashback

Tenten had been seconds away from throwing kunai at him when he had suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke and appeared right next to her on the tree branch. She had jerked violently in surprise at his re-appearing next to her and instinctively launched all the weapons in her hand at him. Neji had been so distracted thinking about whether or not and how to actually ask her out that he hadn't anticipated such an attack. In his surprise, he had ended up falling off the branch to avoid the kunai. However, still set on asking her out and being more than vaguely dazed, he had screamed out his request on his way down. He had been seconds away from slamming his head into the ground when Tenten caught him. "What were you just screaming Neji?" "Screaming? I don't scream. You're beautiful. Go out with me?" Tenten's shining eyes was all the answer he needed.

BACK TO PRESENT

"I think you're beautiful." Neji brought Tenten's face closer to his.

"And I think you're smart." Neji tucked a lock of hair falling on her cheek behind her ear.

"And I think you're strong." Neji's hand trailed from her ear to her back, pressing her firmly against him.

"And I think I want you with me for the rest of my life." Neji kissed her tenderly.

Tenten's mind was whirling. What was he saying? Neji was naturally stoic and while he did soften up around her, it was extremely unusual for him to proclaim such romantic things so unguardedly. Oooh…her mind was going hazy as he rolled them both over and his kisses became fiery and possessive.

"Neji." Tenten moaned into his mouth dreamily as her arms circled his neck. Neji smiled and before she knew it, he had sprung onto his feet with her cradled in his arms, their lips never parting. Even in his preoccupied state, Neji knew exactly where to go. She didn't care where he was taking her as long as he wasn't going to stop kissing her once they got there.

Damn. He had stopped. The sudden halt caused Tenten to become instantly wary and she immediately looked around to find its cause. Nope, no attacker in those bushes, probability of one hanging off that cliff extremely low, doesn't look like anything suspicious on those trees, highly unlikely that that huge area of flowers were poisonous. Wow, this place is beautiful.

"Neji?" Tenten questioned as he set her down. He smirked as he saw the defensive pose she struck, with her eyes still sharp and clearly on alert for something hostile. "Relax, I just wanted to bring you here."

"Oh". Tenten relaxed immediately and wrapped her arms around Neji's waist. "You stopped so suddenly I thought it was something else."

"Nope, I just wanted my most precious person to share my favourite spot with."

"Neji?"

"Yes?"

"Did you do something you think I'm not going to like?"

"WHAT?"

"I mean, it's ok if you did, you just need to tell me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Because you're not normally this expressive and you're kind of scaring me. So if there is something you need to tell me, then I'm listening. And I throw sharp pointy things at your head all the time and you never get hurt, so you don't really have anything to worry about."

Neji looked at Tenten incredulously before bursting into laughter.

"OK! Now you're really scaring me! What happened? I can take anything! Just tell me!"

"I love you Tenten! I really do!"

"There's a "but" isn't there! Stop laughing! What's the but?" Tenten was growing defensive again and on verge of reaching for her weapons, fully convinced that Neji had either done something absolutely terrible or that he was going insane. Neither were comforting options. Tenten started stealthily backing out of Neji's arms, completely terrified. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by the Hyuuga prodigy who then locked his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him, laughing into her shoulder.

His laughter subsiding, he pulled back just enough to stare into Tenten's eyes. And just like that, the growing hysteria in Tenten vanished into thin air. She was mesmerized as always by his eyes, by the calm, tender loving expression he had in his eyes that she knew was just for her. As they stared at one another, the love in their eyes was like a visible chakra, one that Tenten didn't need byakugan to see.

Neji saw the hysteria in her eyes be replaced by a content and peaceful gaze. Kami-sama, how much I love her. With her in his arms, he felt complete and secure. He knew she would never leave him, not out of obligation and duty, the words that he had always hated, but because he knew she would love him more with every passing day and that she would never stop. She was completely and utterly his, just as he was completely and utterly hers.

"Tenten, I mean it. I love you. I adore you with every fibre of my being and the only type of fate or destiny that I believe in is that we were meant to be together. If I were a bird, I would go back into the cage you own every day just so that I could be with you. You complete me, and I don't ever want to be away from you. Will you marry me?"

Tenten stared at him wordlessly. Horror started running through Neji's mind. He was sure she loved him just as much as he loved her. But did she not want to marry him? Why wouldn't she marry him? It was the bleak prospect of marrying into the branch house of the Hyuuga clan wasn't it? Dammit! Would his rotten family background ever stop tormenting him?

Tenten started to cry. Oh shit. Looks like something else was deciding to torment him.

"Please don't cry." Neji's voice was flat, but an underlying note of tension bordering on panic could be spotted. Why on earth would Tenten start crying? Tenten never cried. Ever. Neji started flipping through his ten years of memories with Tenten to confirm that fact. Yup, confirmed. Tenten NEVER cried.

"Yes." The word was a whisper.

"Don't just say yes, just stop crying." Neji's irritated tone hid the panic he felt.

"Neji, yes!" Tenten was now a bit perturbed. First Neji was being so romantic she was convinced he had done something unforgivable to her or was losing his mind, then he proposed, and now he sounded cold and angry when she agreed. Did he not want to marry her? Then why did he ask? Was it just out of some warped Hyuuga obligation? That the time was right for a marriage and she was conveniently in the right place at the right time?

"Look, I know it's shameful to be part of the branch family, but really, being a Hyuuga isn't that bad, and Hinata's changing that split anyway, and really Tenten! I never thought you would care about that!" Neji's panic had surfaced. He really wanted to marry her!

Ah. It all became clear. He thought she was rejecting him. Now it was Tenten's turn to smirk through her tears as she slowly spoke. "You're crazy! You know I don't care about that. Listen to me carefully. Neji. Yes. I would be honoured to marry you. Yes, yes, yes! I'm saying yes to your proposal Hyuuga Neji! We're going to get married!"

Tenten flung her arms around his neck and kissed the dazed Neji so passionately and forcefully that he fell on his back with her on top of him. Some time later, Neji pulled back and started snickering. "Lee's going to be my best man. Think I can convince him that a tight green bodysuit is inappropriate for a Hyuuga wedding?" Tenten burst out laughing. "Maybe we should have that shade of green as the central colour of our wedding. You know, you could probably pull off a green tuxedo!" "Yea, the second someone actually manages to get it on me in the first place." Tenten giggled at the thought of an extremely irate Neji tugging at a bright green tuxedo yelling "get it off! Get it off!" as Gai-sensei and Lee stood around hugging each other and crying.

Tenten and Neji's smiling lips met gracefully in a gentle kiss. They were getting married.

author's end notes

Since I'm up to an interlude, just thought I'd extend my thanks and appreciation to hatakesakura, KKSlover4ever, Blackie, cuito, allyluv, esther, saskia2, xLindsayx, asnwater, Only Secret, heil, cruisegirl86 and Dinkles & Shakos who have reviewed…I'm really grateful and hope that you continue to let me know your thoughts and feelings on this fic! Yoroshiku ne!