Chapter 7

The team of six continued through the forest in silence but that was cut when Naruto' s stomach was growling for food since their lunch hadn' t consisted of much. He silently cursed himself for having to wake up late, the day they were to meet up in which made him miss out on breakfast. Not only that, he was soon sent on a mission to bring back the two Hyuugas-Hinata and Hanabi. He trusted the Hyuuga heir a lot and supported her but he still like the distant, pink headed girl.

He spoke up to the others, "Hey you guys, I don' t know about you by my tummy is begging for food. Why don' t we rest up for a while?"

The other five moved onwards without giving the slightest hint that they had heard him. Naruto' s tummy, once again, grumbled which almost sounded like the Kyuubi growling but even if it was quite soft, the others still heard it. Clutching his stomach, he continued, following even in his state.

Turning his head slightly, Kiba spoke up to the blond, "Already hungry!" laughing a bit before digging something out from his pocket and throwing it to the fox boy.

Looking down at what he caught, he found two biscuits. Lifting his head up, he nodded a thanks to Kiba then stuffing them into his mouth to suppress his hunger. For the rest of that day, their mission continued in silence.

Soon, they once again set up camp for the night. Their distance to the Sand Village was closing, so it was best to keep their guard. Their dinner was made up of fruit, bread and water; even now, everyone kept quiet including Naruto and Lee. It was surprising that night, the two usually shouted at each other about any reason but for the time being, they were both as quiet as a mouse. That left the four with silence but only for a while. Kiba and Akamaru had chosen to start a conversation with Sakura and Tenten. Neji, who was meditating at the base of a nearby tree with his eyes closed, easily heard what they were consulting about.

"Do you think I could switch guard positions with you?" Kiba asked the weapon mistress.

Giving the dog boy a curious look she replied, "Why?"

"Well, Neji is a nice person but at night it is freaky. Besides you' re his team-mate so you would be more comfortable around him." Even Akamaru barked in agreement. "See, even Akamaru agrees." Kiba bent down to pick up his dog, who hadn' t grown much over the years.

"Do you think Neji will agree?" Sakura spoke up after the silence was becoming irritating. "Why not ask?"

The threesome walked towards the silent Hyuuga, who once sensing their presence opened his eyes, revealing white, moonlike orbs.

"Neji, the…" Tenten started but was cut off by him.

"I don' t care about the positions as long as there are two."

Kiba's eyes were the size of tennis balls while his jaw hung open, "You heard what we were saying!"

"Hn," said Neji before closing his eyes and returning to his mediation.

The camp was once again silent or it was until.

"SAKURA-CHAN, WHY DON'T WE DO GUARD SHIFT TOGETHER!" yelled Naruto.

"SAKURA-SAN, WHY DON'T WE DO GUARD SHIFT TOGETHER!" yelled Lee.

"NOT WITH YOU!" they shouted in unison.

Tenten was getting annoyed at the two and within a second she had pinned them to the nearest tree. Giving both a glare she spoke in a threatening voice, "You two better stay quiet or else I' ll be happy to have two new targets for target practice." Holding up one of her prize kunais to her eyes, they could clearly see the sharpness, even in the darkness. "Will you two ever stop acting like this? You' re giving everyone a headache. You will do guard shift TOGETHER and for the coming nights."

Both Naruto and Lee started to complain but it ended up with having a kunai placed a millimetre away from their throats. The two gulped and remained silent; giving a satisfied grin she turned back to the others. Sakura and Kiba both gave her a thankful smile but not only them but Neji too, gave her a slight smile which was directed at her.

Her heart even felt like melting but she didn' t let it happen. She had fallen for the Hyuuga prodigy, a cold-hearted person but not to her, her team-mate, her sparring partner and possibly, her best friend. But she never told him her feelings and that was to stay the same. Her thoughts were interrupted by Neji.

"We should get some rest, Naruto and Lee first, Kiba and Sakura second. Tenten and I will take up last."

That left the two loudmouths in shock, sending deadly glares at Kiba. But since they were still pinned to the tree, they didn' t have to chance to launch themselves at boy. Akamaru just barked at the sight of them, then ran over to Tenten, tugging at the end of her pants. Looking down she saw the dog and Akamaru who knew he had gotten her attention, turned his head to Naruto and Lee.

Sighing, she removed them from the tree but once freed, they charged rapidly for Kiba. Luckily Neji came to the rescue, shouting the names of the two idiots. From the tone of his voice, it was something you shouldn' t mess with, so the two withdrew taking up their guard posts. That let the others, a time to rest up for the coming day.

"Naruto, I will definitely win Sakura-san' s heart," Lee spoke up then giving off a 'good guy' pose.

"I will, not you," replied Naruto.

Surprisingly, the two continued to have an argument, even at night but luckily they weren' t loud or else they would' ve woken up, the others.

"Sakura-san is the most beautiful flower of Konoha."

"She will never fall for you, furry eyebrows."

Changing the subject Lee spoke up, "Sakura-san has become quite distant probably because of Uchiha Sasuke."

At the mention of the Uchiha' s name, Naruto' s insides were burning with anger. He had failed to track down Sasuke, everytime they had a mission. The S-missing-nin was certainly getting on his nerves. Naruto's fists were clenched tightly, almost turning white.

Sasuke-teme, I will definitely bring him back and I will personally punish him for what he has made Sakura-chan be like, Naruto thought.

Sensing the wave of anger from his comrade, Lee decided to keep quiet and let Naruto sort out his own problems.

Soon, they swapped positions with Sakura and Kiba, getting some rest-themselves. The two didn' t have any problems; both seemed joyful even at the lateness. Talking about their missions, time passed rapidly. Sakura, indeed had started to open up more, like a bud ready to bloom. It wasn' t long before the last two came out, to switch. Tenten flashed a warm smile to the pink headed girl who in return nodded her head.

The two situated themselves at the base of a tree. Everyone couple of minutes, either one would sneak a glance at the other, causing them to both blush in a faint shade of red. There had been no exchange of words for sometime and the tension was getting to Tenten. Grabbing a kunai from her holster, she started playing with it-twirling it up, down and around. Neji was probably the only person who knew this but when ever the weapon mistress was nervous, she would always grab a weapon and fiddle with it.

Though Tenten had spent a lot of time around the Hyuuga, whether it was for training or just meeting up, she never felt anything like how she was feeling now. It felt as if something was wrong, or something unexpected was going to happen, a feeling she, herself couldn't explain. No wonder Kiba said it was freaky, doing guard shift with Neji. A small grin, cracked onto her face and being a genius, Neji quickly spotted the change of meed and gave her a curious look. Only in return, he got a warm smile, one he liked to see from her.

Over the years, he realised his team-mate had grown a lot. At the beginning of their genin years, he considered her as a girl not suitable for becoming a ninja. But that was where he was wrong, Tenten was different from the others girls, she never cared about her looks and never seemed to have an interest to jewellery but spent her time training. Everyday, she would join him and they would spar together and not once had she complained. She was the only person, he trusted and it took him a while, but he soon realised how important, she was to him. Now sitting next to him, was her-a Jounin. They complete many missions together as a pair never failing. He started to have feelings for her, he felt hatred when other males ask her for a date or those who flirted with her and to his relief, she always refused. He thought, do...do I love her? Is she really this important to me? Why?

Tenten decided to break the silence, "Neji...have you ever fallen in love?"

Neji was taken clearly shocked, his eyes widened for a moment but returned to normal, along with his facial expressions. He never expected to be asked this question, let along to be the one answering it. He hadn' t thought of it much, training was always first on his priority. His grudge for the main family was more important than this or was it? Years had passed and slowly, he let Hinata go, she no longer was a problem to him and nor was her sister. His uncle was an exception, sometimes he felt as if he should let him go but other times were different. Instead of taking his revenge out on Hinata, he protected her just like he did to his female team-mate. He would take his anger out, on other main family members.

After a few minutes of silence, Neji finally answered, "Y…yes."

Tenten' s heart started to feel weak, she held back tears that were ready to explode and lat out all her sorrow but she didn' t. Keeping her voice as stable, as possible, she managed to say, "May I ask who?"

Once again, the prodigy didn' t know how to answer this; he wasn' t the one who deserved her. He was a branch member and wouldn' t be able to provide her with many things. She was someone who deserved someone better than him. He didn't want her to suffer the same fate as his father or as a branch member. She was perfect and he was not, it wouldn't work. He remembered Lee once told him that Tenten was quite fond of him, someone she wanted to be as strong as.

Is it possible that she would like me in a way besides being a friend? No. That will never happen; fate will never let it pass.

He mentally cursed himself for saying yes to the question before, he couldn' t say anyone, he had to say someone or something.

"A girl," he spoke up after the silence.

The weapon mistress' s heart ached and felt as if a knife had pierced into it. She knew it was impossible for him to see her as something different, other than a team-mate and sparring partner.

"She' s always determined and strong. She is no longer weak, like she was in the genin years."

She knew it; the girl he likes was Sakura. She was the best medic after the Hokage and she was always determined. Sakura was no longer the weakling five years ago, she was a new person. But she knew it would be coming, she herself wasn't someone that attracted much attention. Only her status was widely known throughout Konoha. But Sakura had fame, everywhere, other villages would sometimes come all the way just to see her and get treatment. The medical-nin was also famous for her looks, which caught a lot of attention, including the cold-hearted Hyuuga prodigy. That was where Tenten was wrong.

"A person who takes care of me when I' m seriously injured," Neji continued.

The more Neji spoke of the girl he like, the more her heart seemed to wear away, the descriptions all pointed to the pink headed girl.

"Someone who comforts me," he spoke again. "Someone that is mostly by my side and a person I want by my side for the rest of my life, if only fate could allow it."

Tears started appearing in her eyes and down her face; the moonlight glistened off it. Neji was just confused by this sight, he knew Tenten was strong, he had never seen her cry for a long time, and she could conceal those emotions everytime. But now she could seem to control them, something big enough to cause her to act like this. He had an urge to hug her and comfort her and that was what he did. Slowly, he placed his arms around the weeping girl and pulled her into an embrace.

Feeling the strong arms around her, made her cry even more, she buried her head into his silky hair and let out some of her sorrow. She thought, he' s just being a good friend and comforting me. This doesn' t mean anything.

Her tears eventually dried up taking some of her sorrow away, but her heart stayed the same-hurt and torn. Backing away from Neji, she mumbled thanks. Very slowly and softly she said, "You should tell Sakura your feelings about her or else you will never get her."

That left Neji once again, confused. He replayed their conversation and finally understood his team-mate' s words. No wonder she cried, he knew she like him a lot but he never spoke of it. It hurt him, just to know it was himself that had caused the sudden emotions from his female companion.

"No, I' ll tell her now," Neji said quietly. He turned to Tenten and stared intensely into her dark, coloured eyes. He would define fate again, like he did once at the Chuunin exam and what he did to Hinata.

"Tenten, I love you."

The weapon mistress scanned his eyes, and then she was silent.

"I never told you before because...because I thought that I didn' t deserve you. But I can' t keep my feelings inside; I have to let them happen, even if I have to defy fate. I love everything of you. I love you," he spoke to her in a soft way before bending forwards and giving her a kiss on her lips. Drawing back he looked at the weapon mistress who was still shock at what happened.

"N…Ne…Neji!" she stammered. Inside, she felt like the happiest person alive but her body seemed frozen in place.

"Lee told me once that you admired me," her team-mate answered.

Tenten' s facial expressions changed and were replaced by one of her warm smiles. The words gradually left her mouth but Neji caught everyone of them, "I love you, too."

Neji pulled her head slowly to his shoulder and allowed her to rest there, the two stayed like this until sunrise. The pair was too into each other and didn' t realise that the other four had been listening to their whole conversation. Inside the tent, all four were giving off smiles.

Breakfast was soon served and within a few minutes they were off again, everyone returned to normal, especially Neji who had his emotionless face on. That day started off with happiness, everyone enjoyed the others company. More surprises were going to come along their way.

A/N: Another chapter done! I hope you like the Neji x Tenten part. Please continue reading and review. Thank you!

The Gandhara- I think i am pretty much going downhill with the story and i'll try my best to make it better. Actuallyeven Sasuke doesn't know why he acts that way. His body is moving to its own accord. The captor was indeed playing a hunting game but he underestimated Hanabi so in the end, he died and never ended up catching Hanabi. More will be explained about that in the next two or three chapters. But thanks for reviewing, you really help me a lot. Thank you!

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz- Thanks for reviewing. I'll put more of that stuff you want. Ja ne

kawaii- I'm grateful that you like my story and i will of course continue it to the end. Thanks for the review.

Other reviewers/readers- Please contnue reading and reviewing. Thanks!