Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from Naruto.

He thrust a paper at her, returning to his indifferent state after the outburst. Tenten blinked in surprise and then looked down at the paper. It was a tabloid and there was a front page picture of her next to one of Tenkage, describing her current situation.

'Great… Now he knows…' Tenten thought.

Tenten felt a lump in her throat. Neji knew she was the Tenkage's daughter and did not seem happy about it. That was why she'd been ambushed in the store, she was practically a celebrity now. 'But… does he know I'm engaged?..' She wondered.

"Neji, how was I supposed to tell you?" Tenten started and he finally turned to look at her. "It's not like I planned this."

"Is this why you were upset that day?" Neji asked calmly.

Tenten stared at him for a moment. She couldn't tell him exactly why she had been crying, that would be admitting she liked him. But it would probably be better to let him think that this was the actual reason, so she nodded.

"There's more to it?" It was more of a statement than a question. She never could figure out how he did that, and it just got more irritating every time.

"Why is it such a big deal to you anyway?" Tenten snapped.

"I would like to know why there's a cut in my leg, if it's because of stress I can deal with it. If it's because of your fiancé I think I have a right to know a few more things," He pointed out.

'Of course it was because of you, what else would it be!' She wanted to yell at him but the words wouldn't come to her mouth. Instead, she said, "I was stressed out alright? How would you feel if you'd come home to find the Tenkage sitting on your couch?"

That seemed to relax him a bit, but they both knew there was something she wasn't letting out in the open.

"So who's the lucky guy?" He asked emotionlessly. Neji didn't want to know, and he didn't want to ask, but he had nothing else to say. Besides, this is what friends talk about, right? And that's what he was to Tenten. A friend.

She shook her head disappointedly. "I've never even met him. Father hasn't even given me the guy's name yet." Neji sighed, he couldn't tell if it was relief because she didn't drag out the topic or because she didn't sound enthusiastic. Without a word, he gathered up the groceries and proceeded to walk her home. Tenten didn't argue, but merely lagged behind trying to think of a loophole that would get her out of this engagement.

Neji and Tenten walked in the front door as casually as if they did this everyday. It was actually rather common, more than once Neji had caught Tenten trying to carry home a load of groceries twice what she normally got. Rumiko thanked Neji as they came into the kitchen, and then Tenten slapped the magazine down in front of her Mother.

The room went silent as she scanned the headline, and then went for Tenten's Father calling 'Ama-kun' as she went. Tenten and Neji were left standing there in the kitchen, still brewing over the recent argument.

"Thanks for the hand with the groceries, I think Mom's a little preoccupied with the paper now," Tenten said, trying to leave an opening for him to excuse himself if he wanted to.

"I think I'd like to stay and meet your Father," He said. Neji watched Tenten's eyebrows in surprise but neither said anything more. Neji planned on seeing just what kind of person who hadn't even been in the same town thought he could chose a husband for Tenten. 'I could probably do better than whoever this Tenkage is,' Neji thought to himself. 'Well, maybe not. I probably wouldn't think anyone was good enough. She'd end up an old maid…' Neji winced at that thought and settled for just watching her. Tenten was clearly bored and had taken to spinning a nearby pencil with her chakra. He thought it was so funny when she did that, and she never knew what she was doing that was making him laugh.

"You're doing it again," Neji teased.

"Doing what?" Tenten asked and he just smirked. She rolled her eyes at him and the pencil stopped spinning. "One of these days you'll finally tell me."

"No, I won't."

"Why?"

"Then it would be no fun."

It was about then that Rumiko and Amaku came into the room, looking unsure of just what to do in their situation. Neji and Tenten fell silent and watched as they entered. Amaku's gaze fell upon Neji almost instantly, and the two seemed to have a brief staring contest.

"Amaku, this is Tenten's friend, Hyuuga Neji," Rumiko introduced them and they nodded once to each other.

"Tenten, we've talked it over, and we think you might need a body guard," Amaku said.

"What! You can't be serious!" Tenten looked horrified. Can you imagine trying to train with a bodyguard watching? Weird…

"So we will go to the academy and have a team assigned to you-" Amaku began but Neji interrupted.

"I could be her body guard," He stated clearly. All of the others turned to stare at him. Tenten's jaw dropped, 'Neji wants to be my bodyguard? Why?'

"You? Are you even qualified?" Amaku sounded doubtful.

"We've been on the same team for a long time, we can work together if needed. And there are very few people in Konoha who would not leave me alone if threatened," Neji made his point. Tenten still couldn't believe her ears. 'What if he's still my bodyguard during the wedding? Oh how horrible…' She thought.

"He is very capable, actually," Rumiko added. Amaku nodded at this but still appeared to be considering it.

"Tenten, how do you feel on this?" Amaku asked. They all turned to her and she swallowed. Neji looked so calm, she couldn't understand how he always seemed to manage that.

"I would feel better having Neji, since I already know him," Tenten said, somewhat timidly. She tuned out most of the details as they discussed them. Mainly, she caught that Neji would have to move in with them ('Oh my God, he's going to live with me!' She thought happily,) and it could last for a very long time.

"How long will you need me here?" Neji asked. Amaku looked at him for a long moment before he finally answered.

"Until I take her for her Wedding."
-------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: To Kodoku; Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great one and I'm glad you've enjoyed the story!