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 12

Despite the freezing cold day, Tenten rolled down her car window and let the air wash over her. She felt as if she was suffocating and the feel of the wind was a welcome relief. Tenten was driving aimlessly, praying that as the miles between Neji and her grew, she would feel like a human being again.

Tenten switched on the car radio and the low, melodious tones of the deejay filled the car. She sank back in her seat, grateful to hear another voice. With any luck, she could push the sound of Neji calling her to the back of her mind.

"And this beautiful oldie, "Let's fall in love," goes out to Natalie from Andy. He says he had a great time last night, and he's glad he finally got up the nerve to ask you to be his girl," the deejay said.

Upon hearing that, Tenten switched off the radio immediately and laughed bitterly to herself. The irony was overpowering and she had to pull her car into a parking lot and collect her thoughts. What were the chances that she would turn on the radio and hear a dedication like that? It seemed that everyone at Konoha High was finally getting lucky in love. Even the soft spoken Natalie from her Chemistry class had a guy now. Everyone but her.

Tenten rested her head on the steering wheel, taking deep, gasping breaths. She would never go to her senior prom. She would never have a date to the all night graduation party. She and Sakura wouldn't double date to the prom. Neji and her wouldn't exchange Christmas presents or go sledding. From then on, Tenten would walk through the halls of Konoha High, a mere ghost of her former self. She started fantasizing about taking the high school equivalent exam and leave Konoha High early. She would move to another town, get a job and start a whole new life. She pictured herself in New York, setting up a small café and suffering a loss. She shook her head and envisioned a new life somewhere out in the Midwest. Or she could move to Nebraska and become a farmhand. Or she could drive to California and become a hippie. Or maybe she could even assume a new identity. She could call herself Rainbow or Moonbeam.

Finally, she set up and wiped the tears off her face. She was plain old Tenten and she was miserable. Her parents would never agree to let her move out of state or do any of that. They were going to force her to suffer through her pitiful existence, enduring one lonely day after another. Tenten turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. After driving for who knows how long, she found herself in front of her favorite old theatre. The theatre was an old movie house that showed classics on weekends. When she saw that Casablanca was starting at one o'clock, she parked her mom's car in the deserted lot.

Casablanca was the movie she and Neji often watch over the phone. Back then, their feelings for each other had been pure and uncomplicated. If only she could have turned back the clock and undo all the time that had passed since that innocent night.

When Tenten bought the ticket, the woman at the ticket booth looked at her strangely. "The show doesn't start for another hour. You might want to come back later." She said.

Tenten shook her head when she realized that she had no where to go. An empty movie theater was a good place to be alone.

"I'll wait," Tenten said, knowing that there were tears in her voice.

"Okay honey, go on in." the woman answered kindly.

Without any people, the theater felt eerie and surreal. But Tenten sat down anyway. Tired, she closed her eyes. Whether she had to wait for another hour or a lifetime didn't matter to her anymore. Life had just lost its meaning.

Neji stood at his doorway until Tenten's car disappeared around the corner. His mom was standing behind him, looking even more shocked than Neji felt.

"What was that all about?' she asked concerened.

"It's a long story," Neji replied, sighing.

Without another word, he climbed the stairs to his room and put the cardboard box Tenten had brought onto his bed. With a sinking heart, he began to examine the box's contents, item by item. When he found chuckles at the bottom, he held it to his chest and burrowed beneath the covers. Neji didn't know what had come over Tenten. Was it possible that Sakura had told her what he said the night before? Neji shook his head. He believed that Sakura would keep the secret.

Neji went over everything that had happened since they made the bet. Although they had been fighting more than usual, he had never thought Tenten would want to quit being his best friend. To him, the idea of them not being friends was as foreign as the idea of not breathing. They were meant to be together and now she was tearing them apart. Why?

With all his heart, he wanted to believe that she was jealous of Sakura. But it had been her idea that he ask her friend out in the first place. She had wanted him to get over Ino and move on with his life. And it had been Tenten who was pining over Itachi,acting as if her whole world had come to an end when he went back to Mia. Plus, when he had kissed her on Friday, she had been the one to pull away. As Neji remembered Tenten sobbing over Itachi, he felt sick to his stomach.

Throughout the morning, Neji had picked up and examined the various objects in the box Tenten dropped off. Every time he looked down at the stuffed teddy bear's fuzzy brown face, he felt a fresh wave of pain engulfing him. Tenten had begged him to leave her alone and there was nothing he can do about that.

Finally, Neji got angry. Who did Tenten think she was? Since when did she make all the decisions in their friendship? Neji picked up the phone. He was going to force her to talk to him, even if he had to go to her house and knock down the door of her room.

Neji hung up the phone when her answering machine picked up. Someone the idea of leaving a desperate message was too much to bear. Tenten would just get mad and she he was being a bully. Neji exhaled deeply. All he could do was…exactly nothing.

All of a sudden, the phone rang and startled Neji. But he grabbed the phone on the first ring, hoping that maybe it was Tenten and she had finally come to her senses.

"Hey Hyuga!" said Sasuke in a bright voice.

"Hey Sasuke…" Neji's heart had already sunk to his feel and he was rapidly trying to think of an excuse to get off the phone as fast as possible.

"I finally took the plunge man!" Sasuke sounded positively estatic. "I did it!"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked absently.

"Sakura! Remember? Last night? I finally told her how I felt! And she did too! It was incredible and all thanks to you! I woke up this morning feeling sooooo good!"

"I take it you guys had a good time." Neji said trying hard not to slam the phone. He wasn't in the mood right now.

"It was like we were made for each other. And you know what the best part is?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" Neji squeezed the stuffed teddy bear, trying as hard as possible to feel happy for Sasuke and Sakura but all he could think of in his head now was Tenten.

"We're going to the prom together! Isn't that great?"

"It's awesome." Neji said. He couldn't believe that Uchiha Sasuke, of all people was in love. He had always been the guy to scoff at him and his notion of searching for Miss Right. Now here he was, babbling like an idiot, sounding happier than Neji had ever heard him.

"Do you want to know what I did this morning?" Sasuke continued.

"Do tell me…"

Sasuke didn't seem to notice that Neji wasn't enjoying their conversation as much as he was. "I called up one of the radio stations and got the deejay to do a dedication. Then I called Sakura and told her to turn on the radio. We both stayed on the phone, not even talking, just to wait for my song to come on." Sasuke sighed contentedly.

"Sounds like you've fallen pretty hard," Neji commented, unsure of how to tell him that listening to him talk about declarations of love was like having knife twisted in his heart.

"Yeah, I liked her since I first saw her. And I'm glad I finally did this! Hey maybe we can double date with you and whoever for the prom!"

"Somehow, I don't think I'll be going…"

"Neji, of course you're going. If you can't find anyone, you and Tenten could go together. Both of you are single and people think that both of you are going out anyway."

Neji sighed. "I don't think that would ever happen, Sasuke."

Neji could hear Sasuke hesitating on the other side of the phone. Before he could speak, Neji said, "Listen, man, my mom's calling me. I got to go. But I am really happy for you and Sakura. Keep up the good work."

Neji hung up the phone before Sasuke could say anything. Talking to Sasuke for one more second might drive him to jump out of the window. He was only seventeen and his life had come to nothing but pain and loneliness. Lying on his bed, Neji wondered how much more he could take.

Neji had no idea how much time had passed. Still feeling as if he was a moving vacuum, he went down to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of black coffee. Then he flipped through the newspapers, hoping to get his mind off Tenten. Maybe a movie would offer some escape from his grim reality, Neji thought. His gaze fell on a huge ad for Casablanca. The film was playing at the old theater down the street at one o'clock. His thoughts flashed to the last time he had seen the film. It was with Tenten.

Neji glanced at the clock. The movie was going to start in fifteen minutes. Neji raced to the front door, put on his jacket and grabbed his keys. Then he automatically went to the phone to call Tenten to see if she wanted to come with him. The second his hand touched the phone, he jerked it back. For a brief moment, he had forgotten that the whole point of going to see a movie was to keep Tenten off his mind. Neji walked slowly away from the phone. According to Tenten, he was never to call her again. Neji had to get used to going to old movies alone. None of his friends understood the appeal of a classic black and white film.

Driving to the theater, Neji realized that watching Humphrey and Ingrid was not going to take his mind of Tenten. He might even cry when the movie got to the part where Sam played "As time goes by" for Ilsa. But he bought a ticket anyway. Nothing was going to keep him from thinking about Tenten, so he might as well be depressed in a dark theater where no one could see him.

"Are you meeting someone here?" the woman at the booth asked Neji.

"Nope…" Neji answered.

"There must be something in the air today," the woman said to herself.

Since Neji was already late, he went to the stand for popcorn. He had not eaten a thing all day and his stomach was rumbling. Inside, the theater wasn't even half full. Humpfrey was on the screen and there was music playing in the background. At that moment, Neji could relate to Humphrey, who was playing the character Rick. Rick had lost his one true love and now he was forced to live out a meaningless existence. He was always cool and untouchable because nothing else mattered to him. Neji decided that he was going to be like that from now on.

As Neji moved slowly forward, scanning for the least densely populated area, his heart started pumping in his chest. The back of a very familiar dark head was just a few rows in front of him. Neji stopped in his tracks, almost dropping his popcorn. With one hand, he rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. He was sure that he was hallucinating. What were the chances that Tenten was sitting right in front of his very eyes, almost as if she knew that he would come here and find her?

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, Tenten was still there. As he started walking again, he couldn't suppress the feeling that unlike Rick's, his own romance was about to have a very happy ending.

Ingrid Bergman had not even appeared onscreen yet and Tenten was already swallowing back the tears. Usually her eyes would have stayed dried at least until the part where Rick found Sam playing "As Time Goes By" on the piano for Ilsa. Thiking about her strength, Tenten became determined not to act like an idiot. Ilsa would never cry her way through an entire movie – She hadn't even cried her way through an entire war.

Tenten patted her eyes with a tissue paper and sat up straighter on her seat. Her thoughts turned to Neji. Instead of thinking how their friendship had ended, she thought about all the happy times they spent together. She smiled when the image of her and Neji were tipping a canoe at Laker's pond. Then she remembered when he had shown up at her door, dressed as an Easter bunny. Tenten laughed out loud at the memory of Neji somersaulting down a mountain on a school ski trip. He had stood up after his tumble and bowed to a bunch of surprised skiers. And then, there was the image of them kissing. Tenten could almost feel his warm lips on hers, his fingers running through her hair. And when they danced at the homecoming dance, she felt as if they were in their own private world. His arms had held her close and for long minutes, she had forgotten that she was supposed to be in love with Itachi.

What a joke, Tenten thought. She had never been in love with Itachi. Now the idea of her crying over him and Mia seemed laughable. Tenten was so lost in memories of Neji that she didn't even notice someone coming up beside her. No one else was sitting in her row but she suddenly felt a person take a seat next to her. Out of no where, the hairs on her back started to stand and it seemed like a jolt of electricity was coursing through her whole body. Even before she turned her head, she knew that the person beside her was Neji.

"Did someone order popcorn?" Neji whispered into her ear.

Tenten stared at him dumbly and her head was spinning. It seemed like she had conjured him up by thinking about him with such intense concentration. Now that he was less than inches away and in the darkness of the theater, Tenten could see the warmth in his eyes. Tenten looked at his uncombed hair and his mismatched sneakers on his feet and thought that he looked even worse than she did.

Tenten couldn't speak but she reached into his tub of popcorn and took a handful. Then she turned back to the screen, afraid that she was going to burst into tears. She didn't know what she was feeling but was glad that Neji was near. With him there, the pain of losing this friendship had dulled and at least they would be together until the movie ended.

For what seemed like forever, Neji and Tenten were both rigid in their seats, not daring to look at each other. At one point when they both put their hands into the tub of popcorn, they sprang apart as soon as their skin made contact. Days and nights passed throughout the movie but to Tenten, it was a blur. She couldn't breathe. This was Neji – her best friend and her one true love.

As she listened to Humphrey Bogart say, "We'll always have Paris," tears glistened in her eyes for the first time since Neji sat next to her. Suddenly she felt his breath on her cheek and she tilted her head towards him. Every single nerve ending of her body tingled, waiting for something to happen.

"We'll always have…" Neji whispered into her ear.

Tentenn thought that he was going to finish the sentence with "Paris" but he didn't.

"Forever." Neji finished.

Tenten reached out and took his hand, clasping his fingers as tightly as she could. When she turned her face towards his, Neji used his other hand to gently trace the line of her lips. Tenten was sure that everyone in the theater could hear the beating of her heart but she didn't care.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

Their lips met when the credits rolled. Tenten kissed him with all the pent up longing of the last few weeks, months and years. Neji's kisses were equally passionate and Tenten felt that for the first time ever, they truly understood each other.

As they remained locked together, their kiss deepening, she completely forgot where they were. Nothing else mattered to her except Neji. All of a sudden, the lights came on. Still they kissed. Not until everyone in the theater broke into spontaneous applause and cheering did they break apart. Neji and Tenten looked at each other and burst out laughing. A loud whistle from someone walking by made them laugh even harder. But they didn't stop looking at each other. At that moment, they were lost in the absolute perfect ness of the moment.

After everyone else had filed out of the theater, Neji took Tenten's hand and pulled her from her seat and they walked up the narrow aisle with their arms wrapped around each other.

In the bright lobby, the woman from the ticket booth stood with her hands on her hips. "Aha! I had a feeling! Like I said, there is something in the air!" she said smugly when she saw Neji and Tenten emerging together.

They walked out of the theater giggling like fools. Suddenly, Neji stopped and thew his arms around Tenten. Tenten hugged him back, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

"Hey Tenten," he said.

"What?" Tenten brushed his hair away from his face.

"Do you have a date for the prom? There's a certain bet I need to win."

Tenten pulled him even close and lightly kissed every part of his face that she could reach. Then she laughed and gave him a gentle punch in the arm. "I think you mean there's a certain bet I need to win." Tenten said, looking into Neji's eyes.

Neji grew serious and he placed his hands on either side of Tenten's head. "I think we have both won." He murmured softly.

Tenten broke into a large smile. "Yeah…wait till Sakura hears this…"

"Wait till Sasuke hears this…We could double date for the prom after all..."

Then Neji kissed her, and Tenten wasn't clear on what happened next. All she remembered was the night ended with hot chocolate and a fireplace, and you can probably guess the rest…

THE END!

OMG! Over 100 reviews! I can't believe it! You guys are the best! How can I ever thank you! Endings are rather difficult to write and I hope this ending is OK! Maybe I'll do an epilogue featuring the prom and some fluff! So, stay tuned for that! Once again, thanks for reviewing, thanks for reading, thanks for everything! I love ya guys! I won't stop writing here, I have another Neji/Ten story to complete and I'll probably write one on Sasu/Saku as the main characters. I found out that I like writing about them. So, goodbye for now!