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: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Rated: PG

Chapter 10

Tenten stood on the Hyuga's front door, shivering with cold. She had been in such a rush that she had forgotten to grab her coat.

"Tenten!" The second Neji saw her, he enveloped her in a huge hug. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear.

Tenten wiped her tears on the sleeve of his sweater and looked up into his face. "How did you know?"

"From the expression on your face, I could tell that either someone in your family had died or you and Itachi had broken up. And since your mom sounded fine when I just talked to her on the phone, I made a guess."

Tenten covered her face with her hands and threw herself on the Hyuga's living room sofa. "I feel terrible!"

"I know how you feel." Said Neji as he sat down on the sofa and started to pat her back awkwardly.

Tenten sniffled. "How do you know how I feel?"

"Ino dumped me on Sunday, remember?" Neji said, his voice neutral.

"Oh yeah, sorry to remind you about that." Tenten replied. "I never liked her anyway," she added. Tenten sympathized with Neji but she wouldn't miss having to play nice with Queen Ino.

"And I never liked Itachi."

"Speaking of Itachi, I told him something really stupid." Confessed Tenten.

"What?" he asked.

"Promise you wont get mad."

"What? Tell me." Neji said impatiently.

Tenten didn't want him to get anymore irritated before she spilled her guts so she answered his quickly.

"Well, when Itachi told me that he and Mia were getting back together, I was kind of humiliated…"

"And?"

"And so to save my face, I told him that you and I were in love," Tenten said while staring at the coffee table, waiting for his burst of anger. However, to her surprise, Neji laughed.

"Who cares," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, people are always saying that we're in love. In a week or two, we'll just announce that we decided we were better off friends."

For the first time since Itachi broke up with Tenten, she smiled and said, "Yeah, that's right! What we do is no one's business anyway!"

Neji nodded. "I can't wait to see the look on Ino's face! It will be a real Kodak moment!"

Thursday morning at school…

Neji saw Ino flirting with Josh in the hall and he didn't feel anything, well maybe just pity for Josh. Actually, he felt a little hurt come to think about it again.

"Did I mean anything to her at all?" Neji asked Sasuke who walk beside him. However, he didn't seem to have heard his question.

"Hey, Uchiha, you looked like you're the one who got dumped."

Sasuke jerk his head when he heard Neji speaking. "Yeah, maybe I just lost a girlfriend…" he mumbled

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Uh….do you mind me asking what is going on now between you and Sakura?" Neji asked Sasuke quietly.

"She hates me."

"I thought she likes you?"

"We'll never ever be together."

"Why?"

"Because she's a big liar and an idiot."

"But you like her don't you? Why don't you try?"

"No, I won't." Sasuke said simply. "I always act like an idiot when she's around. She'll just laugh at me and humiliate me my whole life. And then I can never show my face in Konoha High anymore."

"Oh, come on, Please just Drop your pride and just tell her you like her!" exclaimed Neji.

"I can't…She doesn't like my anymore. Forget it, I won't die without her. There are plenty of other girls who are more beautiful and gentler."

"Yeah, but they are all nothing. The one you want is Sakura…Maybe I should help him…" thought Neji to himself.

"Why are we talking about me all of a sudden? You were talking about Ino." Said Sasuke.

Neji sighed and thought about Ino again. He didn't mean anything to her. Then again, did she mean anything to him? Maybe Tenten was right, he knew nothing about love. But who does?

Friday night, Tenten and Neji were drowning their sorrows in a banana split at Swenson's. Sasuke was with them but he wasn't saying much. He was just staring at his ice cream. The three of them were a pretty gloomy bunch.

"You know what your problem is Tenten?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, the fact that you always ask me what my problem is."

"Wrong again. You problem is that you fall in love too easily."

"Oh yeah? This is coming from the man who made a bet with me to dare me to fall in love? What a hypocrite."

"I'm older and wiser now. And I've decided that love is off limits for now." Neji replied.

Tenten tapped her spoon thoughtfully against the bowl of banana split and said,"I think I have a suggestion that will make even your jaded self say yes to love again."

"Try me."

"You should ask Sakura out." Tenten sat back, looking pleased with herself.

"Haruno Sakura?" Neji asked, surprised. He took a glance at Sasuke.

Sasuke jerked his gaze from his bowl of ice cream when he heard Sakura's name. Now he was staring at Tenten with narrowed eyes.

"Of course Haruno Sakura. She's pretty, intelligent and a hundred times cooler than any other girl you've dated."

"But She and Sasu…" Neji looked at Sasuke.

"Why are you looking at me? She has nothing to do with me." Muttered Sasuke angrily.

"If she meant nothing, why are you angry?" asked Tenten.

"That's because you guys think that I like her." He scowled.

"Ermm.. Nah, I think I'll stay on my own, thank you very much." Neji said. He knew that Sakura always carried a small torch for him but he had never even considered asking her out. She is Tenten's best friend and going out with her was just too bizarre. Besides, Sasuke and her and in a sticky love web right now.

To Neji and Tenten's surprise, Sasuke suddenly said, "I agree with Tenten. What do you have to lose?"

Neji stared at him.

"What?"

"I don't want to die in your hands." said Neji.

"I'm dating someone else now, and for the hundredth time, I do not like Sakura."

"Yeah right, someone was just telling me that he likes her the other day but didn't dare to admit it to her."

Sasuke blushed a little but he was determined not to let them catch him.

"No I don't like her Neji. I was just talking nonsense the other day because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Think whatever you want Neji. Just take Tenten's advice and go out with Sakura." He stood up and left some money on the table. "Catch you guys later."

When he exited the place into the cold, dark, night, Sasuke stopped and closed his eyes. He exhaled deeply and couldn't get that sinking feeling off his heart. "Sakura…" he whispered.

After Sasuke was gone, Tenten put down her spoon and said, "Don't say I didn't try. If you die grey, old and lonely, just remember that Tenten tried to help."

"I'll think about it. But right now, I just want to forget Yamanaka Ino ever existed."

"Yeah, me too…Forget Itachi."

"How about we check out what's the late night show today?"

"Good idea." Replied Tenten.

Tenten got up and gathered her coat and hat from the seat. As Neji helped her slip into her parka, she caught a glimpse of them in the old fashioned mirror that hung on the wall next to their booth. They were both smiling and Tenten noticed that they looked like every other pair in Swenson's. People who didn't know them would have thought that they were the ultimate high school couple, young and in love.

Two hours later, Tenten turned off the television in her den. They had just watched Love Struck and Tenten had that dreamy expression on her face that Neji had seen many times before. Tenten has always been a sucker for romance.

"Do you think any guy could love me as much as Jimmy Rice loved Lisa Frasier in that movie?" she asked.

"That's a dumb question." Neji answered.

"Why? Because you think there's no way a guy could ever love me that much?" Tenten asked, her voice sad.

Tenten was stretched out on the sofa and her calves and feel were resting on Neji's lap. When Neji glanced over at her face, he saw that the dreamy expression had been replaced with one of gloom.

"No, Tenten. Because I am positive that there are a thousand guys who could and will love you as much as Jimmy loved Lisa."

Tenten smiled. "Really? Do you mean that?"

"Tenten, you're the most awesome chick at Konoha High. I mean in the whole world. Any guy would be crazy not to fall in love with you."

Tenten sat up, then reached out and put her arms around Neji. Neji returned the hug, relieved to see her smiling again.

"I'm so glad you're my best friend." She said, her voice muffled against Neji's shirt.

"Not half as glad as I am," Neji replied. He squeezed her shoulders and hugged her even tighter.

"I love you" Tenten said.

"I love you too, always."

Tenten and Neji used the L word fairly often. Both of them knew that there was a parenthetical "as a friend" attached to the end of the sentence, so they never bothered saying it. But that night the words seemed even truer than it had in the past. Neji assumed that it was because both of them had just been through rough times and they realized more than ever how much they replied on each other's enduring friendship.

Tenten tilted her head up and gave Neji a friendly kiss on the cheek. Neji responded by giving her a kiss on her cheek too. Then Tenten gave him a kiss on the other side of his cheek and Neji did the same. They kept doing that until they have exchanged about twenty kisses. Finally when it was Neji's turn to kiss her cheek, his lips accidentally-on-purpose landed on her mouth. Rather then turn away quickly; he gave her a light peck on the lips, which she returned. Suddenly, Neji found himself kissing her again, wanting more and more.

Tenten responded, parting her warm lips beneath Neji's. Neji's fingers were tangled in her hair and her hands clutched the material of his shirt. Neji lost track of time, suspended in the burning, electric sensations that spread throughout his body. He felt like they were one person, two halves of a whole.

With a start, Tenten pulled away. She sat upright and then collapse onto the floor next to the fireplace. Without warning, she burst into tears and covered her face with her hands and wept quietly.

A feeling of helplessness engulfed Neji and he patted her awkwardly on the back, trying to comfort her.

After a minute or so, Tenten started talking. "With…Itachi…Kiss….Never…I don't…"

Neji could only decipher about one out of every ten words but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was upset about Itachi. It was clear than kissing him reminded her of the guy she really loved had left her.

"Tenten, don't worry, everything's going to be fine." Neji said. But he didn't know if that was going to be true.

"It is?" Tenten asked through her tears, looking up at him.

Neji nodded firmly. "We're just upset about our breakups, and that's why we're turning to each other. I promise nothing is going to change between us."

"You're right. I'm just upset about Itachi that's all." Tenten said as she wiped away her tears.

Tenten seemed to have recovered and Neji was glad, although he realized that he was taken aback that all she could think was that loser and Neji, for once had thought that their kisses had been explosive. Still, he played his best friend role like an Oscar winning actor.

"We're friends, just like always." Neji said.

Tenten smiled brightly at Neji. Then she looked down and said, "I'm just upset about Itachi…yeah…"

All of a sudden, Neji had a strong desire to get away from Tenten and her whining about Itachi, where he could think properly.

"Well, I guess we both lost the bet." Neji said, trying to close the conversation.

"Yeah.."

On the way home that night, Neji couldn't get his mind off Tenten's wails about Itachi. He wondered what she saw in that guy aside from his male model face. By the time Neji was lying in bed, one fact had became crystallized in his mind: he was extremely irritated by Tenten's pining over that loser. Staring up at his ceiling, he thought of all the girls he had kissed. He thought of Ino and she was the only who made the move to end the relationship. But he was sure that Ino just dumped him out of pride and she would take him back if he asked her to. She was giving him flirtatious looks all week during classes. But he didn't want to get back with Ino. He wanted to show Tenten how many girls would die to be in her shoes that night. And none of them would have burst into tears after he had kissed them.

Neji sat up and punched his pillow. He needed to quit mooning around and take action. He had too much time on his hands that he was now obsessing over Tenten's obsession with Utachi. As soon as he asked another girl out, everything would go back to normal. Neji suddenly remembered that Tenten had suggested he ask Sakura for a date. He didn't want to ask her but since Tenten seemed so keen on the whole idea, maybe he could try it if nothing else could prove to Tenten that he was moving on with his life when she was still pining over that loser. And she did not have to worry about getting more kisses from him. In addition, maybe Sasuke would get his ass up and ask Sakura out when he sees them together. Neji smirked. He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep. First thing in the morning, he would call Sakura.

Tenten spent most of Saturday morning wandering aimlessly around the house. Her parents were out and the house was deathly quiet. At noon, she finally got tired of doing nothing and she sat down at her computer to work on her writing assignment. But her fingers just hovered above the keyboard as she couldn't get her mind off the events that happened yesterday night.

When the doorbell rang, Tenten raced downstairs. At that point, she was happy to chat with anyone who came, even if it's a salesman. Anything to keep her occupied. Her mood immediately brightened when she saw Sakura's car parked out at the front. She decided she would tell her what happened yesterday night.

"I've got some new that's going to blow you away," Sakura said as soon as Tenten opened the door.

"We're invaded by aliens from outer space?" Tenten responded.

"Aliens are nothing compared to what happened to me this morning."

The girls walked into the kitchen and Tenten got two cokes from the refrigerator. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me everything!"

"I was reading the newspaper this morning, just minding my own business. I mean, I was expecting nothing to happen today."

"Oh, get to the point! I cant wait!" interrupted Tenten.

"Neji called me and asked me out. Tonight."

Tenten coughed, choking on her coke. "You're kidding?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope, we're going for dinner."

"Wow…" Tenten felt like she had been punched.

Sakura looked up at her. "You don't mind do you? I mean, I figured you put a good word for me after our talk the other day and…"

Tenten forced a smile onto her face. "I don't care, I'm just surprised he didn't mention it, that's all."

"You look sort of green…" said Sakura.

"Hey, I always thought you two would make a great couple if you aren't with Sasu…" Tenten stopped when she saw the look on Sakura's face. "Erm..I mean, yeah You and Neji would make an awesome pair. I'm so overcome with joy that I'm speechless."

Sakura forced herself to grin. "Ok, I'll take your word for it. So, can I borrow something to wear?"

"Of course. We'll make you up and when Neji sees you, Ino will be just a dim memory.

Despite her words, Tenten felt hollow. It was true that it had been her idea for Neji to ask Sakura out. But she somehow thought he wouldn't agree to go through it. And Sakura….She thought that she was just joking when she said she was going to forget Sasuke and go for Neji…One thing was definite thought. Tenten couldn't tell Sakura about her kiss with Neji. There was no way she was going to let them know she was getting upset to see them going out.

"Let's start now. We don't have a minute to waste." Said Tenten.

"Thanks Tenten, I always knew that I could count on you to give me moral support." Sakura said as she hugged her.

Once they were in Tenten's room, Tenten started to rummage her closet and found a green baby doll dress she kept for special occasions. "Here, try this."

Tenten stretched out on her bed she she watched Sakura undress.

"How does this look?" Sakura asked a minute later.

"Wonderful." Sakura looked nicer with that dress then it did on Tenten. "In fact, you can have it. The cut looks better on you."

Sakura twirled in front of the mirror. "Do you think Neji would like it?"

"Definitely."

"You know, I'm sort of nervous." Said Sakura.

"Don't be, you're a million times better than any girl Neji had dated before."

Suddenly, Sakura sat up straight. "Hey, you know Neji better than anyone else. Why don't you tell me how can I get him to like me?"

Tenten closed a eyes and started thinking. How could she put everything she knew about Neji into a few meaningful phrases? She took a deep breathe and then opened her mouth.

"He hates onions on his hamburgers. Don't tell him you think you're fat. He doesn't care. He likes impersonations. If you cant tell who he's trying to imitate, assume it's Elvis Presley. When a little muscle next to his eye twitches, he's trying not to show that he's angry…"

Now that she had started, she couldn't stop. Sakura was sitting in silence. She seemed to be listening, so Tenten continued.

"Green is his favourite color. He's a fan of disco music. He hates girls who are superficial. He'd rather die then work in a law office. He's funniest when…"

"Tenten, are you alright?" Sakura asked suddenly, signaling her to stop.

Tenten realized that she had almost forgotten that Sakura was there. "What? Oh sorry, I guess that was too much information."

Sakura was staring at her fingernails and biting her lip. "You're in love with Neji, aren't you?"

"What?" Tenten gasped.

"You heard me. I think you're in love with Hyuga Neji."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Don't be ridiculous." Said Tenten loudly.

"Tenten, it's the way you're talking about him. It's like…"

"I am not in love with Neji and That is FINAL." She asserted.

"If you're sure…"

"Sure, of course I'm sure. Now take that dress and go get ready. I have to go somewhere."

Minutes later, Tenten closed the front door softly behind Sakura. She stood motionless in the hall, listening to the silence of the empty house. She was not in love with Neji, she told herself. As the words echoed in her mine, she almost believed they were true.

Hey everyone, I think there will be 2 more chapters left. Glad you guys like my story so far. Thanks for taking time to read and review! Next chapter: The date and Sasuke and Sakura finally get together. Read on to find out what happens! And Happy Valentine's day everyone!