More than Friends

Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Rated: PG

Chapter 4

"That was a great movie!" Tenten remarked as Itachi and she walked out of the cinema. It was the weekends at last and both of them finally went on their real first date. Of course Tenten was overjoyed, so happy that she couldn't sleep the night before. She was talking to Sakura on the phone and discussing what to wear for her date and gossiping till the wee hours of the morning. She finally settled on a knee length skirt, a sleeveless top with a cardigan over it. She still has her lovely locks up in a bun though. Tenten doesn't feel a bit tired at all. In fact, she felt rejuvenated the moment she saw Itachi. He was dressed simply, clad in jeans and a shirt but he looked gorgeous and his hair made him even sexier. This was like her dream come true!

"No it wasn't. I thought it was really Boring…" said Itachi with a smirk.

Tenten's good mood went tumbling down a hill and she looked up at Itachi in disappointment.

"But watching it with you made it much more enjoyable for me." Itachi teased. Tenten heaved a sigh of relief and tried to strangle him in mock anger.

"You tricked me! You're horrible!" Tenten pouted.

Itachi laughed and pretended to choke and Tenten immediately let go of his neck and started to apologize. Taking this chance, Itachi wrapped his muscular arms around Tenten and kissed her forehead. Tenten looked up at Itachi with surprise and was about to speak when she felt a warm pair of lips cover her own.

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she was screaming in her head again.

"Is he kissing me? My first kiss with Itachi! It so sweet! It's so nice and warm! I don't want it to end!"

After what seemed like only one second to Tenten, Itachi broke the kiss. He looked at Tenten so intently with an expressionless look that she felt extremely uncomfortable under his stare. She wondered what he was thinking of. Fortunately for her, a bunch a giggling girls broke that awkward situation. Tenten turned her head and saw a bunch of high school girls ogling at Itachi and one of them even glared at her and made some comments.

"Look at her…she doesn't deserve him! What a nerd! …."

Tenten glared back, held Itachi's hand and dragged him away from his "fan club". When they were far away enough from the fan girls, she let go of his hands but Itachi held her firmly. He chuckled and said, "Don't let those girls bother you. I think you look great today."

Tenten coloured and smiled lightly to herself.

"Hey listen, are you free tonight?" Itachi asked as they got into his car.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"My band is playing at Melton Bar tonight. And I would really like you to come."

"You got your own band? Wow! You've never told me about that. And sure, yeah, of course I'll come." Tenten replied as they neared her house.

"Great! I'll see you tonight then!" said Itachi as he kissed her goodbye.

"Gosh! He invited me to his very own live gig! I'm fainting! I'm fainting! Being is love is such a wonderful feeling!" Tenten thought as she danced and hummed all the way to her bedroom.

On the phone after her date...

"Sakura, GUESS WHAT? Itachi asked me out again! He wants me to go to Melton Bar to listen to his band play! Who knows he might sing me a song too!" exclaimed Tenten excitedly.

"Really! You guys are going on a second date! He must really like you a lot!" shrieked Sakura back.

"Ow…Ok, stop the shouting, my ears hurt! I can't believe we're progressing so fast! Only the first date and he kissed me already!"

"WHAT! He kissed you! Really! OH MY GOD!" cried Sakura.

"I know! I can't believe it too! I think I'm falling in love! I can't wait to see him tonight!" said Tenten dreamily.

"Oh, I feel so happy for you! Tell me the details when you get back ok? Enjoy yourself!"

"Thanks Sakura! Oh hey I got another line; I'll talk to you later!"

On the other line…

"Hey Tenten, you doing anything tonight? Wanna hang out with your lonely best friend?"

"NEJI! I got a date with Itachi tonight!"

"Oh…really? Well, that's ok then" replied Neji with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

However Tenten didn't notice it and continued babbling about her date tonight and Itachi much to the annoyance of Neji.

"Ok, ok, I get it. You don't have to repeat." said Neji in frustration.

"Are you ok Neji? You sound….angry with me?

"Yeah, yeah..I'm ok. No, I'm not angry. " replied Neji, followed by a long awkward silence.

"Are you sure? You don't sound like yourself today. Don't you have to go out with your girlfriend?"

"Well, yeah, I just remembered, I have a date with her tonight. You enjoy yourself tonight and I'll see you in school. "he lied.

Tenten thought Neji sounded really weird and made a mental note to question him when she sees him in school on Monday.

Later that night…

Tenten was at Melton bar looking for Itachi and she found him sitting at a corner with his band members. She walked up to him and greeted him.

"Tenten! Glad you could come. We're going to start soon. Why don't you take a seat first over there? And I'll see you later." Itachi pointed to a seat on her right.

Tenten nodded and went to get seated. Soon the band started playing and the audience started dancing and cheering. A bunch of girls were screaming Itachi's name and their eyes were glued to the handsome lead singer.

"Wow, he's really good." Tenten thought.

"Hello to our friends and everyone here, thanks for coming today. The next song is dedicated to a special friend of mine. Although I just met her, she supported me ardently through my ups and downs and I'm singing this song for her to thank her." said Itachi. He looked at Tenten and smiled at her.

"Mmm, did I support him that much?" Tenten thought as she smiled back.

"This song, Precious, is dedicated to the lovely Mia" Itachi said as he pointed to a tall brunette girl sitting right at the front of the stage. Everyone whistled and applauded. Tenten could see the girl blushing under the disco lights.

"What? It's for another girl? It wasn't for me!" Tenten thought in disappointment.

She looked up and tried to catch Itachi's eyes but he was singing and looking at the other girl. Just a few seconds after the song started, everyone started to get up their seats and dance. All the girls were screaming madly and there seemed to be even more "fan girls" on the dance floor. Tenten's view of the stage was obscured by the crowd of dancing fanatics. Feeling out of place, uncomfortable and suffocated by the crowd and lack of air, she slipped out of the bar. She felt so much better after breathing in fresh air. Boy, this wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. She decided to wait for Itachi somewhere quieter. After leaving him a message on his phone, she left for the local's favorite diner.

The diner was bustling with young teenagers with their friends and lovers when she entered the place. Tenten took a seat at one corner and ordered a fruit juice. She looked around and saw people enjoying themselves, couples acting all lovey dovey and she felt lonely. She heaved a big sigh.

"I wish Neji was here with me." She said to no one in particular. "We always had so much fun chatting and joking around in here." She thought. As though heaven could read her thoughts, she saw Neji entering the diner. However, he wasn't alone. Clinging on his arm was Yamanaka Ino. She was all over him. Tenten felt sick when she saw that. She saw Neji trying to get her to sit down but Ino was pouting and looking at him with puppy dog eyes. Apparently, she doesn't want to be in this place. Finally, both of them walked out to the relief of Tenten, she didn't want Neji to see her alone when she's supposed to be with Itachi.

"Where is Itachi by the way" she thought. She waited and waited till almost everyone left. She tried calling Itachi but was answered by his answering machine in his phone. Finally, it was closing time. He didn't come after all….

The following Monday…

"He didn't call me after that night…not even once.." Tenten thought as she sighed discontently.

"Tenten?"

"TENTEN?" said the voice, louder this time.

Tenten got out of her daze and came face to face with her best friend.

"What's with you? Asked Neji in concern.

"Nothing" Tenten muttered.

"Well, so how's your date on Saturday? You must have enjoyed yourself." asked Neji.

Tenten looked up and hesitated a bit. In the end she said, "Of course I did! It was so fun! Itachi even sang me a song he composed! Isn't that sweet of him? And we were dancing the whole night!" And she tried to put on the biggest smile she could muster.

"What about you and Ino? What happened after you left the diner?"

"How did you know? I thought you were at the bar the whole night?" asked Neji suspiciously.

"Oh..erm..hehe yeah I was. I mean, Sakura said she saw you guys. You know how she loves to gossip, she tells me everything. Especially news about you."

Neji chucked. He knew Sakura had a major crush on him. "That silly girlfriend of yours." And then his tone of voice turned serious again. "Me and Ino? Nothing much, there's nothing much to say." He added.

Tenten frowned and thought about what he meant by nothing. She was about to ask him when he hurriedly bid her goodbye and ran off to class.

"I wonder what's wrong with him? He's been acting so strange since last week." Pondered Tenten.

Later during the day…

Tenten was still thinking about why she hasn't seen Itachi all day and why he hasn't called her yet when Sakura appeared next to her.

"Tenten!" she exclaimed cheerily. "SO HOW WAS IT?"

"What?"

"DONT act dumb! OF COURSE I MEANT THE DATE!"

"Oh, it was great! I enjoyed it so much!"

"You're so lucky you know!"

"As if.." Tenten said quietly.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Tenten said hurriedly.

"Oh, ok." Sakura thought she looked out of sorts today. "Hey look! There's a school dance coming up! Everyone's invited!" Sakura said as shewalked pass a poster of the event.

Tenten didn't even take a glance and she immediately tore the poster out. "School dances are so stupid! I rather do something more meaningful then go to this useless dance. It's a waste of time!"

"I would go if someone asks me to. You mean you wouldn't go even if Itachi asks you to?"

"I wonder if he would even ask me after that night…"

"What? What do you mean?"

"N..Nothing, I just meant No. I told you, school dances are a total waste of time. Don't tell me you're going!"

"Ok, ok I get it, I won't go too. It's not like I have a date. Never had, never will." Sighed Sakura.

"I gotta get going; I still have one more class. See you later." Waved Tenten.

Sakura was deep in thought as she walked along the corridors to her lockers.

"I wish someone would ask me to that dance. How nice if I have a date and we can dance all night…" thought Sakura.

All of sudden, she felt her feet leave the ground and she was about to fall face flat onto the floor. Before she could react or grab onto something to prevent from falling, she went smack onto the floor. Shehowled in pain and looked up. A guy and a girl from her Math class were standing there laughing cruelly at her fall.

"What a clumsy nerd!" taunted the guy.

"She's not only ugly, she's a big, clumsy oaf as well! Look at her! She's so pathetic!" said the girl in her shrilly voice.

The other students around here were also laughing at her. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes and she tried to blink them away. She mustn't cry in front of these stupid bullies! She felt so helpless and humiliated.

"OOhh, are you going to cry, crybaby Sakura!" said the girl cruelly.

"Shut you, you bitch!" screamed Sakura with all the courage she could muster.

Before she knew it, she was being struck by the guy. He has slapped her in her face and she fell backwards once again, crying in pain as she hit the cold hard floor.

"Don't ever call my girl that again, you bitch!" yelled the guy in anger. He started towards her and was about to strike again when he felt a hand holding his own hand.

"Touch her again and you're dead, sucker." Came the voice of the great Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke's point of view…

Sasuke was walking down the corridors when he saw a crowd and some commotion in front of him. He walked briskly towards the crowd and happen to see some guy hitting Sakura. His blood boiled when he saw what happened.

"No one can bully MY Sakura except me, that stupid bastard! HOW DARE HE HIT HER!" he screamed in his mind. He furiously pushed the onlookers away and stormed towards the guy.

Sasuke could feel his anger rising. How dare he hurt Sakura! He started to twist the guy's hand and threw him the hardest punch he could. The guy screamed in pain and flew down the corridors and fainted. His face was in a mess with blood all over it. His girlfriend shrieked in horror and started shouting at Sasuke. Sasuke ignored her, went over and picked Sakura up bridal style, and walked off in a cool manner away from the classrooms.

Sakura was more in shock than in pain.

"Did Uchiha Sasuke just saved her from that guy? That Uchiha!" she thought confused. She looked up at him and saw that his face was as expressionless as the Sasuke she knew. After 5 minutes when they were far away from the scene, Sasuke put her down.

"You didn't have to do that. I could stand up for myself you know" she said quietly.

Sasuke glared at her and said furiously, "What the hell is wrong with you? I just saved you, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"What? I didn't ask you to save me, asshole! Who needs your stupid help!" exclaimed Sakura, her blood boiling. "Why did he always had to annoy her!" she thought.

"Oh yeah, AS IF you could! Look at yourself, You're all bruised and battered and he was about to hit you again. You're an idiot you know that?

"Shut up bastard! My business is none of yours! JUST leave me alone! I don't need any help especially from a bastard like YOU!

"You know what? Yeah, I shouldn't have hit that guy for you. I should just let him beat you to death, since what he said was true, You're stupid, clumsy, ugly, good for nothing NERD! You shouldn't even be living, you're so useless!" yelled Sasuke, his face red.

That was the last straw. Sakura walked towards him and gave him the biggest slap. Sasuke staggered backwards on the impact of her slap.

"I HATE YOU! Why are you always SO MEAN TO ME? I didn't do anything toyou at all! I know I'm stupid, I'm a nerd! I'm clumsy! I'm useless! Are you happy now? You're just like all of them, bastards! Losers! I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

Her tears were falling like rain. She felt so hurt by what he just said. She didn't care how horrible she looked like now, she couldn't care about the other people who were witnessing this heated exchange, she couldn't care about anything else. She just ran as fast as she could to the only place where she could have peace and quiet and no one insulting her.

Sasuke touched the spot where she just slapped him and stared at her retreating figure and immediately felt guilty. For the first time in his life, Uchiha Sasuke felt lost. He didn't know what to do…

Hey guys, Thanks for reading! Remember to leave me a review! Sorry for not updating so regularly now adays. I was a kind of busy with some school stuff. I know this chapter is boring and it sucks…But I hope you guys like it anyways…No Neji/Ten action in this chapter but I promise there'll be in the next chapter. That's it for now!