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 11

Tenten was walking around the house again aimlessly on the night of Neji's and Sakura's date. She finally went to the den and grabbed a bag of chips and turned on thee television. As she bit into a chip, she told herself that she hoped Neji and Sakura were having a good time. She really, really hoped they were having the ultimate time of their lives. After an hour of watching the television, Tenten felt bored, irritated and overwhelmed with curiosity. She couldn't wait another second to find out how the date went. Checking the clock hanging on the wall, she realized that Sakura must be home. How long could a dinner take anyway?

Tenten picked up the phone and started to dial Sakura's number. Sakura's phone rang five times before her mom answered. Tenten knew that Mrs Haruno always go to bed early and her groggy and annoyed voice confirmed that. If Sakura had been home, Mrs Haruno wouldn't be answering the phone. Obviously, Sakura wasn't home yet and she and Neji were still out together. Tenten numbly set the receiver back into place. The date was probably a success and now there will be more dates. Soon, they would be holding hands and kissing and Tenten would be a fifth wheel, alone and unwanted.

There was no way that Tenten could stand having Neji confide in her about how much he liked Sakura. Their friendship simply couldn't take that much pressure. But Tenten wasn't going to stand in the way of his happiness or Sakura's. Tenten made a decision.

"I'll make a clean break. It would be the best for all of us." She said to the television set.

On the other hand with Neji and Sakura…

"Is that Tenten's dress?" Neji asked Sakura suddenly.

Sakura looked at her dress and smiled. "Yeah, she gave it to me."

"Why?" Neji knew that he wasn't being polite but he couldn't imagine why Tenten would give away her green dress. It was one of his favorites and he couldn't help noticing that the dress looked a lot better on Tenten.

"I guess she was sick of wearing it," Sakura shrugged.

"She just frustrates me so much," Neji said, as if Sakura wasn't there.

They were sitting at a table in Finnally's Pasta House, and Neji's head felt as if it were about to explode. He had made it all the way through appetizers and entrees without uttering Tenten's name, making a huge effort to be attentive and listen to Sakura talk. But by the time the waiter brought their coffee, he knew that Sakura just wasn't the girl for him. In his eyes, she was Tenten's best friend. He thought that she was a great person but whenever he looked at her, he saw Tenten. Now he was letting himself talk about what had been on his mind all day – Tenten.

"I assume we're talking about Tenten now?" Sakura asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Replied Neji.

"I think you frustrate her too." Sakura said, her voice serious. She took a sip of coffee, waiting for Neji to say something.

"I just love her so much." Neji answered while stirring his coffee absently.

"She loves you too." Sakura said, sighing.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Sakura paused. "And to think I actually thought I have been asked out on a date tonight. Looks like what you need now is a therapist." Sakura laughed.

All of a sudden, Neji realized what a jerk he was. He didn't want to hurt Sakura's feelings.

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go on and on about Tenten. Let's talk about something else. Like, where do you want to go to college and what would you like to do in future?"

Sakura laughed again. "Neji, please. Don't even try to pretend that you're interested in where I want to go to college. To be honest, you're not that good an actor."

"I'm that bad?"

"From the second you picked me up, your mind has been like a thousand miles away." Sakura replied and she leaned back in her chair.

"I thought if we went on a date, I would forget how…" Neji wasn't sure what he was trying to say.

"You would forget that you're in love with Tenten?" Sakura asked wryly.

"No!" Neji protested quickly. "I mean, I just broke up with Ino and everything…"

"Spare me," Sakura interrupted. "You and Tenten are in love, and everyone else at Konoha High has known it for years. If you would just face up to reality and let yourselves be together, the rest of us could go on with our lives."

Neji's heart was beating furiously, and he could barely catch his breath. "Do you really think Tenten is in love with me?"

Sakura sat down her coffee with a bang. "Neji, I know she is. You should have seen her today. She was pretending she didn't care that you'd asked me out. But I could see actual tears glistening in her eyes."

"Are you telling me the truth?" Neji's mouth felt dry and he reached for his glass of ice water.

Sakura rubbed her temples. "Think about it, Neji. You know I have had a really stupid crush on you for like the last three years. Now that I'm finally on what at least started as a date with you, I realized that I can't lie to myself that you're the one for me because I'm in love with Sa…, oh never mind about that. I mean you thought that I would spend tonight saying that you and Tenten were meant to be together if I wasn't being one hundred percent honest?" Sakura finished her speech and signaled to the waiter for their check.

"I got your point…" Neji said.

"Good, now let's get out of here. I am sure you want to go home and think about Tenten."

"Sakura, please promise me that you wont tell Tenten one word of what I've said tonight." Neji requested, hoping that Sakura would agree.

"I promise." She said.

Neji let out his breath in a relieved sigh. "How can I thank you for being so cool? The sky's the limit!"

"Tell you what, you can pay for my dinner."

"Of course!" Neji answered. He would pay for her dinner anyway.

"And one more thing Neji."

"Anything."

"Never, ever ask me out on a date again." Sakura grinned.

"You know Sakura, you're all right." Neji took her hand in his and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow lurking outside the restaurant. Neji smirked.

"Sakura, sorry about this but it's for your own good." Neji said and before Sakura could ask what he was talking about; Neji bent down and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.

All of sudden, the shadow disappeared and a very pissed off Sasuke burst into the restaurant. Neji saw him storming towards them and Sakura widening her eyes the moment she saw Sasuke.

"The plan is going well," Neji thought to himself. He had purposely told Sasuke where he was meeting Sakura that night. He knew that Sasuke would spy on their date. Neji pulled Sakura towards him and whispered into her ear.

"Sakura, he loves you a lot. Give that guy a chance. Treat it as a big favor from me please?"

Sakura blinked her eyes rapidly and she looked confused.

"Get your hands off her Hyuga! What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Sasuke, jealousy written all over his face. Sasuke finally couldn't take it any more.

Neji just chuckled and said, "Sasuke, there you are. My job's done here, so I'll just go and leave you two alone to…uh…settle your problem."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Neji and was about to say something when Neji gave him a pat on his shoulder and ran off sniggering. After Neji left, Sasuke looked at Sakura. Her back was facing him and he couldn't see her face.

"Ok, this is it," Sasuke thought to himself. "I got to tell her how I feel. Now or never." He added silently.

"Sakura…" he started.

"What do you want Uchiha?" she asked coldly.

"I…just…"

"Save it."

'Maybe I shouldn't have come.' Thought Sasuke.

"I…I…want to…." Oh God, Sasuke punched himself in his head mentally. He couldn't get the words out and he was stuttering! He, Uchiha Sasuke feeling nervous in front of a girl! But she wasn't just any girl, the thought. She was Haruno Sakura.

"If you don't want to say it, then forget it. We'll just leave it and get on with our lives." Said Sakura and she turned around and faced Sasuke. Her tears were rolling down her beautiful face and Sasuke thought she couldn't look anymore lovelier. She looked like an angel and his heart started aching when he saw her in tears.

"You don't know how I feel when I see you flirting with all those girlfriends of yours. You don't know how much I hurt when you rejected me that night. You don't know how much I hoped that you'll approach me and tell me what a girl wants to hear. You don't know me Sasuke. You don't know how much I love you. You always make me feel as though you hate me so much…" Choked Sakura.

"I'm tired of all this. There is no us. We'll have nothing to do with each other from today onwards." She added and started to walk off but Sasuke grabbed her hand and held her back and made her face him.

"You've got it wrong," he told her, regarding her with warmth in his eyes. "I don't hate you at all. About the other night, you shouldn't be the one saying sorry to me. It seems I'm the one who needs to ask YOU for forgiveness."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as he continued, "I never really thought about your feelings before. What I said, I mean all those horrible things I said to you, I never MEANT any of it. I'm sorry I made you think I hated you."

Sakura just stared at him, looking as if she half-suspected some kind of a trick.

"I'm speaking the truth, and you want to know something else? I liked you when we first met. But you had to play a prank of me and embarrass me in front of everyone in school. From then on, to keep my pride, I decided to put my feelings aside and…well, you know the rest. I know I was a jerk. I love you Sakura. I love you so much. And I didn't think that I would be hurting you so much." he assured her sincerely. "What can I do to make it up to you? Anything you want. Just name it! I swear I'll do anything!"

He expected the immediate suggestion of asking him to go away and just leave her alone or say nothing and just walk off. But Sakura was just being Sakura, a really unpredictable girl. Therefore, he was again floored by what next came out of her mouth.

"You can…k-kiss me," she muttered shyly.

He blinked. "I can…what now?"

She blushed fiercely, looking embarrassed.

"N-never mind, it was just a joke." She laughed nervously and wiped off her tears. "B-buy me a large ice cream cone and we'll call it even."

Sakura took three steps backward, and that was as far as she got, because her hand was still in his grasp. She tugged insistently. He refused to let go. And suddenly he was looming over her, looking down on her with a hopeful little smile on his lips, which were drawing ever closer to hers.

"I like your first suggestion better," he murmured, before tracing his mouth over hers in the softest kiss imaginable.

Sakura drew in an unsteady breath as she looked at him through wide, incredulous eyes, hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

And then Sasuke's mouth returned, settling over hers more insistently in a coaxing caress, warm and firm and gentle. Her legs would have melted out from under her, but hard, strong arms were locking around her back, pulling her close, and she was content to fist her hands into his black turtleneck and let his strength support her, until slowly, reluctantly, his lips parted from hers, and she could suddenly breathe again.

"Have I properly made amends?" he whispered with a little smile and twinkling eyes.

She smiled shyly back at him. "I don't know," she replied breathlessly.

"M-maybe you should kiss me again, to make sure." Sakura added.

And he did.

On Neji's side…

The second Neji walked into his house, he ran up the stairs to his room. In his head he was already dialing Tenten's telephone number. They certainly had a lot to talk about. But when Neji sat down on his bed, the phone just right next to him, he suddenly felt deflated. It seemed so simple when he was taking to Sakura. Now that he was alone, his feelings were much more complicated. Tenten and he had been best friends since the start of high school. Three long years. Their relationship was set up a certain way, and Neji had never given serious thought to changing the dynamic.

He put the phone back on his nightstand and walked over to the bug bulletin board on his wall. The whole board was covered with pictures from their first three years of high school. Almost half of the photographs featured Tenten. A big one in the center caught his eye.

Neji's mom had taken the picture during the spring of their freshman year. Tenten and Neji had been working, along with some other people, at a car wash. Neji thought back, remembering that they had been trying to raise money for a local children's hospital.

Neji's flashback…

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, business had slow down and they were exhausted and everyone had gotten a little cranky. Suddenly, Neji had grabbed a hose and sprayed Tenten. She had responded by dumping a bucket of soapy water on his head. After that, everyone had gotten involved. For the next few minutes or so, water and soap flew everywhere and they were all laughing hysterically.

When Neji finally put the hose down, he saw that his mom had brought their old car to be washed. She had a camera in her hand and she was standing several yards away. Just the moment before, Tenten had come over and given Neji a high five. Neji still remembered the way their hands had slipped off each other because they were covered in soap. Neji's mom had caught that moment on film.

Even standing alone in his room, the image made him laugh out loud. Laughing and slapping him on the hand, Tenten was the epitome of herself. It was as though her whole essence leaped straight out of the picture and tugged at her heart.

Neji's gaze moved to the other photographs on the bulletin board. Some of them were of Sasuke and himself, playing basketball or doing some other guy things. But his favorites were all of Tenten and him - with his grandparents, on a horseback, building a snow man, doing silly poses.

What if he told Tenten his real feelings and she didn't feel the same way like what Sakura had said? He would be humiliated, and not to mention losing one best friend. Their easy banter and shared confidences would be gone forever.

Or what if Tenten and I did start dating and the relationship ended up just like the others? There was no guarantee that their love would last. She could meet someone she liked better, or decide that he was a terrible kisser, or realize that his jokes weren't funny after all. His heart would break, and he would lose everything that mattered most to him in the whole world.

Sighing heavily, Neji lay down on his bed. The silent phone seemed to be mocking at him and he felt like throwing it against the wall. Instead, Neji picked up the phone and dialed the first six digits Tenten's home phone number. But just as he was about to press the last number, he stopped.

For several minutes, Neji sat motionless, staring at the Michael Jordan poster on his wall. He realized that he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk his friendship with Tenten. He didn't want to lose her. The stakes were just too high.

Without bothering to undress, Neji switched off the light and sank into bed.

"Tenten will never know how I feel…" Neji vowed to himself. "Never…" and he closed his eyes trying to push all thoughts about Tenten out of his mind.

Tenten woke up on Sunday morning with a splitting headache. Downstairs, she could her cheerful voices as her parents argued over whether or not to get a new water heater. Tenten groaned and shoved her face into her pillow as the last twenty-four torturous hours came rushing back to her. Sakura and Neji. Neji and Sakura. Tenten and nobody. It must have been around five thirty in the morning that she had realized why she was feeling so horrible. She was awake most of the night and she was staring at the cracks in her ceiling. Now she said the words out for the first time, just to see if they were true.

"I am in love with Neji." She whispered softly. "And he's not in love with him."

Saying that was even harder than thinking about it. Tenten wiped the tears which rolled down her cheeks. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet and she was crying.

"Wow, what a great life I have," Tenten muttered sarcastically.

She rolled over in bed, forcing herself to repeat the truth over and over again. When she couldn't stand her own thoughts any longer, she dragged herself out of bed. It was early, but there was no point in putting off the inevitable. She had to break of all her ties with Neji, and she had to do it that day.

Tenten put on her oldest pair of jeans and dug out a faded blue sweatshirt. As she struggled to get all of her hair into a scrunchie, she decided that she would have her hair cut short. Why bother with her appearance? From then on, she was going to be hanging out with her parents every weekend anyway.

From her closet, Tenten retrieved a large cardboard box and sat it in the middle of her unmade bed. Slowly, she made her way around her room, running her hands ever the different memories of her high school years. Most of them reminded her of Neji in one way or another, and she felt fresh tears roll down her cheeks. She had to get rid of everything. Even the smallest souvenir that reminded her of their friendship would be torturous to have around. Tenten carefully placed the teddy bear Neji had won for her at a carnival in their sophomore year into the box. She had named the bear Chuckles because Neji always made her laugh. The stuffed animal was followed by a pair of silver dangly earrings which Neji gave her on her sixteenth birthday.

Tenten went to the wall by her desk and took down the framed photograph of Neji and her at a car wash. As she studied their smiling, soap covered faces one more time, her heart constricted painfully. After dropping the picture into the box, she rummaged through her dresser drawers. She had accumulated about a million of Neji's T-shirts over the last three years and she had never bothered to return them.

"He would be happy to get all these back…" Tenten whispered to herself, choking back her tears and holding up a black concert T-shirt up to her face.

After what seemed like just a few minutes, the box was full. Tenten glanced around her room, which now looked bare and impersonal. Most of her life had been placed into a cardboard box. There was nothing left.

Tenten picked up the box and walked towards the door of her room. "So long chuckles," she said. "It's been nice knowing you."

Mrs Hyuga didn't try to stop Tenten when she pushed past her and headed for the stairs. She was on a mission and no one could stop her. The stairs seemed to go on forever and the heavy weight of the box were making Tenten's arm and back muscles ache.

At the door of Neji's room, she dropped the box. The loud thump echoed through the house, announcing her presence. Then she knocked loudly on Neji's door, not caring that his parent had probably decided that she was a lunatic.

"What?" Neji yelled from inside. His voice was so familiar…so him...that Tenten almost backed down and made a go of reconciling her mixed up emotions. However, she shook her head firmly, remembering that she had warned herself against this temptation. She had known that confronting Neji would be difficult but she had no other option.

"It's me," Tenten called out sharply. She opened the door and shoved the box inside and crossing her hands in front of her chest.

"What's up?" Neji asked, looking both sleepy and surprised. His hair was messy but even in that state, Tenten thought he looked gorgeous. He could have been the poster boy for a mattress ad campaign.

"I brought all of your stuff," replied Tenten without any emotion in her voice. She had totally no idea how to begin explaining that they couldn't be friends anymore. "I…erm…I realized that I had a lot of your T-shirts." She started.

Neji glanced at his clock on his nightstand. "You felt compelled to bring me my T-shirts at ten o'clock on a Sunday morning?"

"I had to." Tenten said, as if she had explained everything. "I'm sure you're tired after your big date with Sakura, so I'll let you get back to sleep." With that, Tenten turned around on her heel, ready to flee.

"Wait!" Neji shouted, wide awake now. "Will you please tell me what's going on? You're not making any sense!"

Tenten stared at the floor, desperately trying to think of what to say. There seemed to be some loopholes in her plan to make a clean break with Neji.

"We just can't be friends anymore." She said finally.

Once the words left her lips, Tenten couldn't stop her tears from pouring down her eyes. Neji was frowning and he looked so lovable and trusting that Tenten wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and beg him to fall in love with her. But then her gaze rested on his lips and she imagined him kissing Sakura. They probably spent the whole night making out in the restaurant. The image sent a stabbing pain through her heart.

"Why now?" asked Neji, his voice high and skaky.

"Things between us are just not the same anymore," Tenten said between sobs. "I don't know how else I could explain it."

Neji remained silent and stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Tenten wished that the floor would open and swallow her up, but nothing happened.

"You and Sakura will make a great couple. I wish both of you all the happiness in the world." Tenten said.

"Sakura and I? But we're not…"

"Don't say another word!" Tenten shouted. "I don't want to hear about it."

"But Tenten! This is totally insane! Worse than insane!" Neji exclaimed as he got out of bed and started walking towards her.

"I'm sorry Neji, I've failed as a friend, now I know it. But please don't say anything. Just leave me alone…forever…"

Tenten backed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. As she stumbled down the stairs, tears and heartache blurred her vision. At the bottom of the stairs, she tuned towards the front door, ignoring a very alarmed looking Mrs Hyuga. She heard Neji shouting her name, but she covered her ears and blocked out the sound of his voice.

Once outside, Tenten raced towards her mom's silver Toyota which she had parked in the driveway. She turned around and saw Neji standing at the front door. He was waving his arms and jumping up and down. Bravely, Tenten looked away and sped down the quiet street, leaving her heart behind…

Well, there you go, Sasuke and Sakura finally hooked up. I hope it didn't seemed too rush or dramatic and hoped you guys like that part. Now the only thing left is Neji and Tenten! With only one more chapter to go, they will end up together soon! Thanks so much for all your support and reviews! I love you guys!