Behind Those Icy Eyes
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He was everything she had ever wanted. He was strong, attractive, and above all, he was a genius. His performance in missions was amazing, and his battle skills were incredible. But he was so cold towards everyone, even to his own cousin. After the Chuunin exams three years ago, he had changed since being beaten by Uzumaki Naruto. He had even gone to help try to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. But he was still so distant. When she looked into those white eyes, she could see no emotion. It frightened her. How could any one person be so emotionless? And yet, at the same time, she was attracted to him. When she was near him, she felt things that no other boy had ever made her feel. It was strange, how just being close to him affected her so much. She had known Hyuuga Neji for years, and over the past year and a half, she had really started to fall for him, though she refused to admit it to anyone else. But he wouldn't know love if he fell over it. She knew that, even with his Byakugan, he never noticed her blush when he spoke to her, or how she could often be found stealing glances at him. She didn't know how someone so bright could be so dense. But maybe that was a good thing. After all, if she didn't give him her heart, there was no chance that he would break it, right? But there was also no chance that he would love her back. She didn't know which one of those was worse. She desperately wanted to tell Neji that she loved him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. But what was she so afraid of? Neji laughing at her? Rejection? Finding out that Neji was gay, even though she knew quite well that he wasn't?
Tenten sighed, pushing herself off of the log she had been sitting on. She didn't know exactly what it was that she feared he would say or do, but one thing was for sure. She would tell him nothing.
"Tenten." From behind her, she heard his commanding voice calling her, and she turned around to face him, her cheeks taking on a very light pink tinge. "Hai, Neji-kun?"
"Mission time. Let's go." That was all he said before turning away from her and walking back the way he had come, not commenting on her use of the affectionate "kun" honorific, saying nothing about the blush that had spread across her cheeks. Nothing.
So clueless, she thought, silently following him back out of the forest ands towards the village to meet up with Gai and Lee.
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"Thank you for bringing Tenten here so swiftly, Neji," Gai said to his student, not waiting for Neji to answer as he started right into the details of the mission. "As I'm sure you all know, we have a very important mission today. We have been assigned to..." He paused here for dramatic effect, while Neji and Tenten listened intently. "Supervise a group of Academy students while they train!"
Tenten nearly fell over. That had to be the lamest mission they had ever had! She looked over at Neji to see his reaction. The Hyuuga prodigy just shook his head in annoyance, but said nothing.
"Gai-sensei, you have to be kidding! We're Chuunin, we don't have time for this! Couldn't the Godaime get some Genin to do it instead?"
Neji spoke up, saying, "I agree with Tenten. As a Jounin, I could be doing, quite literally, a thousand things that are more than this."
"I was just kidding. That isn't our real mission," Gai told them, earning himself a glare from an already exasperated Tenten. "We have actually been assigned to intercept a spy from the Hidden Sound."
"That's more like it," Tenten said, growing excited with the prospect of such a mission.
"Yes! And if I cannot do my part, I shall run one hundred laps around Konoha!" Lee chimed in, getting him a strange look from Neji.
"You...have issues," he muttered, while shaking his head once again.
"Gather up your supplies and meet back here in an hour! Go!" And with that, the three younger shinobi left to get the necessary provisions from their respective dwellings.
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When the hour was up, the three met up with their sensei and headed out, wasting no time in reaching the place where the Sound's spy was last seen. It still took nearly half a day to get there, though, and most of that time was spent in silence.
"Neji, look ahead about fifty yards and tell us what you see," Gai instructed when they were a little more than halfway to their destination. Without hesitation, the shinobi prodigy did as he was told, straining his eyes to activate his Byakugan. He was silent for a moment, keeping his eyes focused directly ahead as he leapt through the trees.
"There's nothing there. Only a small clearing, nothing else," he said after a few minutes, deactivating his Byakugan and looking over at Gai. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yes, I'm positive. Tsunade-hime said it was this exact spot," Gai responded, a hint of confusion in his tone.
"Either she was wrong, then, or they already know that we are here," Neji told him, impassive as ever.
"Neji-kun! Watch it!" Obviously, Tenten had seen something that none of the others had.
Neji barely had time to react to the kunai that had been thrown at him, seemingly from nowhere. The split second he did have was enough, though. In one lightning-fast movement, he whipped out his own kunai knife and caught the point of the offending weapon in the circle on the handle. He didn't have time to thank Tenten for the warning, however, as a shower of kunai came down on all of them at that moment.
It figures, Neji thought as his teammates scattered, that they're all close enough to shelter that they won't be hit if they move, and I'm completely out in the open. But that's no problem for me!
"Hakke Shou Kaiten!" At the exact moment that a single kunai struck the Hyuuga, a huge amount of chakra was expelled from all of the sixty-four tenketsu in his body as he started to spin, deflecting every kunai that came his way. He had always been glad that he had mastered this technique, even more so now than he had been before. If he hadn't been able to use it with such efficiency, he would surely be dead.
"Hey, the kid's good," a woman's voice said, followed by that of a male, likely the same age, as both of them stepped out of the concealment of the shadows. "I'm surprised he managed to track us here."
"Hey, careful, brother. He's not alone," the woman stated, looking past Neji into the brush where the rest of his team had taken cover.
"So I see. Thanks, sister," her brother said with a glance over Neji's shoulder at where his sister was looking.
"Who are you?" Neji demanded of the two Sound-nin in front of him, readying himself to fight.
"Kunomi Karin," the female of the two said with a smirk.
"Kunomi Kyoushi," the male replied, now back-to-back with his sister as both of them together said, "The Deadly Twin Duo of the Hidden Sound!"
Tenten chose this moment to emerge from her place in the bushes, removing her bo staff from her back and taking a battle stance. Lee followed her, with Gai beside him.
The one called Karin broke into laughter upon seeing the rest of Neji's team. "So this is it? This is the best Konohagakure had to offer us? A creepy-looking, middle-aged weirdo, a kid with a hero complex, a little girl with a stick, and one semi-strong boy? That's it?"
"Well, you know what they say, Karin," Kyoushi snickered. "Beggars can't be choosers."
Unseen to everyone else, Neji's eye twitched and his hands clenched into fists. They could insult him all they wanted. They could say anything they chose about Lee and Gai. But when they started being offensive towards Tenten, they were in trouble. He wouldn't stand for that.
"I suggest you don't underestimate us," he told them icily, sliding one foot behind him and crouching slightly.
"We aren't," Kyoushi told him, taking twin katanas from his back.
"You're just weak," Karin agreed, pulling a naginata from its scabbard and twirling it in her outstretched hand, mostly just for show.
"And you're all talk," Tenten smirked, twirling her own weapon above her head, then in front of her, before settling back into her former battle position.
A vein popped in Karin's forehead. She wasn't about to let some brat show her up. "We'll see about that."
"Yeah, we will."
The female Sound ninja snapped at that. How could this kid be so confident? There was no way this child could come close to measuring up to her! "I'll make you eat those words," she spat, rushing at Tenten with her blade, her brother right beside her. About a foot away from the team, they turned in different directions, with Karin going after Tenten, while Kyoushi attempted to take down Neji.
Neji could tell that this fight was going to be anything but easy.
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"Let's go, Karin. Orochimaru-sama will want to know about this," Kyoushi said, spitting some blood into the grass which was already soaked in the crimson fluid.
"Yeah." Karin glared at Tenten, who had been making her look bad throughout the entire fight. She had barely been able to touch the stupid kid, and here she was, covered in her own blood and unable to use her chakra, thanks to that god-damned white-eyed boy! Her brother was in much the same boat as she was, so retreating was likely the best idea. "We won't forget this!" And with that, both of them vanished in a wisp of smoke.
"We can consider this mission a failure, I'd say," Neji deadpanned, wiping a trickle of blood away from his mouth with the back of his sleeve, not that it would make much difference, as his shirt was already drenched in it. Most of the blood wasn't his, thankfully, but that didn't mean he wasn't wounded. Actually, he had a throbbing pain in his side, but he was ignoring it. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, after all.
"Afraid so," Gai agreed, but before he could say another word, Tenten collapsed, clutching at her ankle.
"Itai..."
Neji strode over to Tenten, kneeling beside her and pushing the torn fabric away from the wounded area. "Let's see..." he mumbled, his expression unchanging as he examined the large cut on Tenten's leg. He lightly placed his hand over it, checking to see if she had broken her ankle, and she was surprised at how gentle his touch was.
"It isn't broken, at least. That's good. Do you think you can walk?" He asked, taking his eyes off of the gash and turning them to look into Tenten's own. "I don't think so," she said quietly as she lowered her eyes, rather embarrassed to have been hurt this badly in front of Neji.
"Hm. No choice, then," he said, and before she could ask him what he meant, he had picked her up and placed her on his back. "Looks like I'll have to carry you."
Tenten's face turned bright red at this, and she was so absorbed in her own embarrassment that she didn't notice Gai and Lee staring at the two of them. Nor did she notice the grin forcing itself onto Lee's face.
"The Springtime Of Youth has brought love to Neji and Tenten, Gai-sensei!" He said, rather loudly, and that was something Tenten couldn't help but notice.
"WHAT!" She screeched, causing Neji to flinch at the shrill noise in his ear. "It's alright, I didn't need that ear anyway," he muttered, eliciting profuse apologies from a very flustered Tenten. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Neji-kun! Lee's just being an idiot, and I-"
Neji sighed and raised his hand in the "I've heard enough" gesture, and the babbling girl on his back instantly shut up.
"Can we go now? I don't want to hang around here too long, in case they come back with reinforcements," he said in a somewhat strained voice. He seemed a bit upset at what Lee had said, and really, Tenten couldn't blame him. She wasn't too pleased with "Konoha's Green Beast" either.
"Neji is right. We may have to find a place to camp for the night, however, seeing as it's already dark," Gai mused.
Neji sighed. "One thing after another," he muttered, turning to follow Gai and Lee, who had already started to walk away. On his back, Tenten was troubled. Did he really think she was just another problem? She bit her lip, trying not to worry about it as Neji silently followed after the other two males in the team.
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Ridiculous.
That was the one word that went through Neji's head when he was told to take Tenten home and stay with her, seeing as her parents were out of town that night. He had thought he was lucky when they hadn't had to camp out in the woods with the Sound-nin possibly watching their every move. But now, he thought he might have preferred that situation to this one.
"But Gai-sensei, Hiashi-sama is expecting me home to help with-"
"I already spoke with your uncle, Neji, and he doesn't have a problem with this," Gai said, cutting the boy off. Well, there went his feeble excuse out the window. And unfortunately for Konoha's resident ninja prodigy, it was the only one he could come up with.
"Really, Gai-sensei, I don't mind staying home alone! Neji-kun doesn't have to stay. He doesn't even have to drop me off, I can make it there myself," Tenten said, attempting to sound perfectly cheerful.
She wasn't fooling anyone.
"Well, I suppose Lee could take you then, if Neji won't," Gai said, a mischievous edge to his voice.
Neji's eye twitched. How was it that the older man in green spandex knew just what buttons to press to get him angry?
Lee caught on to his sensei's game immediately. He grinned and said, "Well, if it's okay with Tenten, I suppose I-" But that was as far as he got.
"No. I'll go," Neji said through clenched teeth, giving Lee a deathglare and then giving his sensei a look that quite clearly said "You won't get away with this."
And with that, he turned away from the two green beasts and walked in the direction Tenten told him.
Ridiculous.
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"Right here, Neji-kun. It's this one," Tenten told him when they reached her house. Neji just nodded while Tenten handed him her keys, then entered the house after unlocking the door. Mindful to close the door and lock it behind him when he got in, Neji looked around while giving Tenten back her keys.
It was a nice house, he had to admit. Gorgeous wooden floors, intricately designed sliding doors, and beautifully woven tatami mats decorated the hallway, with a Chinese lantern lighting the otherwise darkened hall and casting a beautiful yellow-orange glow over the floors and walls. And from outside, Neji could hear the sounds of a miniature waterfall stirring up the otherwise calm waters of a backyard pond. Filled with koi, no doubt. Tenten had always shown a great fondness for the pretty fish, and occasionally spoke of her trained koi that would eat from her hand.
But, being who he was, Neji quickly got back to business.
"Which way is your room, Tenten?" He asked, sounding rather bored.
"Oh...Um...Well, I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie together on the couch or something," she shyly responded, "But if you don't want to, that's okay..."
There she went, using that voice that always managed to make it impossible for him to deny her something without feeling like a total jerk afterwards.
"No, it's fine. I don't mind," He told her, only half-lying. He really didn't have a problem with it, but he had never been in her house before, and that was enough to make even Neji nervous.
Upon reaching the den, Neji very gently set the injured girl down on the couch and got the movie Tenten had said she wanted to watch: The Demon's Curse. He groaned inwardly. He absolutely hated horror movies. They were never real enough for him; seriously, everything was noticeably faked. The deaths didn't even look real, and the blood was obviously just red food colouring or that stupid costume blood stuff. And this one was new, supposed to be great, but he knew that the effects were terrible, and it was obvious from the beginning whose body the demon had taken. Of course, this was a low-budget movie, but even for one of those, it was awful. But this was Tenten's house and Tenten's rules, so he figured he should be a gracious guest and just grin and bear it. Figuratively, of course, because everyone knows that Hyuuga Neji doesn't smile often, let alone grin.
So, after putting the movie into the player, Neji sat down on the couch as far away from Tenten as he could get. He knew that she loved these movies, but when they got especially gory, -even though it was obviously fake- she always had to cling to someone. And who would that be this time? It would be him, seeing as he was the only other person in the house. And that was the one thing that Neji would not stand for. And why not? Because he didn't want to get too close to her. If that happened, if she crumbled his defenses, it would weaken him. Love made people weak, and he could not afford to become weak. He needed this strength. It was the only thing he could rely on. Could love protect you from a rogue shinobi? Could it strike down a dangerous opponent? Could it protect you, or the people you had to protect? No. Only power did that. And Neji faced these things nearly every day. He was a Jounin, and he had to protect Hinata-sama, after all. He had no time for love.
As many times as he told himself that, it did him no good. He knew he was falling for his female teammate, and he was quite aware of the warmth he felt whenever he was near her. And he liked it. He enjoyed her company.
And then, her soft voice derailed his train of thought.
"Neji-kun? Is there a reason you're sitting so far away from me?"
"Hn." He said nothing else. There was nothing else he could say, nothing he could think of to say.
Tenten looked away from Neji and back to the screen, but her thoughts weren't on the film. Why was he so damned cold? Didn't he realize how he sounded when he said-or didn't say-those things to her? If he did, he must not have cared. And that hurt. A lot. She loved him, and he was completely clueless. Or maybe he did know, and he was doing this on purpose. No, that couldn't be right. Neji was cold, but he wasn't cruel.
A scream from the movie startled her back to reality. She looked over at Neji, and there was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite read.
Regret?
No, it was deeper than that.
Sadness?
No, deeper still.
Pain?
Yes. That was it.
Tenten was shocked. She knew that a person's eyes were the key to their soul; you could learn a lot about someone just by looking into their eyes. But Neji's eyes never showed anything at all. They were nearly always completely devoid of emotion, and when they showed anything, it was never something like this. Anger? Yes. Hatred? Maybe. Irritation? Sure. But pain? Never. Seeing Neji like this was so unfamiliar, and it made her heart ache to think that he was in pain.
Very lightly, she grazed his arm with her hand, causing him to flinch. But he didn't look at her, didn't speak a word.
"Neji-kun...Please, talk to me," she begged, starting to become afraid of what she was seeing in his eyes. But again, the boy said nothing, only continued to stare blankly at the wall in front of him.
"Neji! Please, you're starting to scare me!" Tears began to find their way down Tenten's cheeks, finally getting a response from Neji.
"Ah...Tenten...Don't cry, please..."
As far as she could remember, Neji had never looked at her like this before. He actually looked concerned, and at the same time, regretful, as though he believed he was at fault, that he was to blame for her tears.
"Why shouldn't I? I'm worried about you!" She raised her voice a little, not realizing that she was becoming hysterical.
"You don't need to worry about me, I'm-"
"Damnit, Neji, I'm sick of this! You act like you don't want or need anyone near you, like you don't care for human companionship! But now, just looking at you, I can see that you're just as lonely as I am!"
Neji was stunned. Tenten had never raised her voice to him, and she had certainly never read so deeply into him before.
"For someone with three-hundred-sixty degree vision, you're so blind! You can't even see love when it's staring you in the face, not even a foot away!"
Neji blinked, still unable to find his voice.
"I'm tired of waiting for you! It's so obvious to everybody else but you! Why can't you see that I love you?" The tears flowed freely down Tenten's face now, and she did nothing to stop them. She wanted Neji to feel guilty. She wanted him to understand what he was doing to her by pushing her away.
"Tenten...I'm sorry." He looked away from her, but Tenten kept her heated, tearful glare on him.
"You're sorry? That's all you can say? Damnit, how could I possibly fall in love with someone so heartless as-" She never got any further than that. He had silenced her again, but this time, it wasn't with words or a wave of his hand. This time, it was with a kiss.
After the initial shock wore off, Tenten wound her arms around Neji's neck, finally understanding what the look in his eyes had been about. That distress was over the same internal conflict she had been having. He loved her, and he couldn't tell her. But now that secret was out in the open, and now he didn't have to hide it.
Unfortunately for the two, breathing is necessary for humans to live, so they had to stop for air.
"Neji-kun..."
He said nothing when she whispered his name, only held her close and graced her with a very rare smile that she knew would be, from now on, reserved only for her.
"I never meant to hurt you," he told her when he finally decided to speak.
"Aa. I know, Neji-kun." And with that, she settled into his arms, knowing that he would never let her go again.
-Fin-
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Author's Note: Wow. That came out a lot better than I thought it would.
Anyway, I felt the need to write a NejiTen fic, so here's the result of nearly a week of on-and-off writing. I'm dedicating this to Kai-chan (Kaikura) and Takane-chan (Lackofname) because those two are great Authoresses in themselves, and they're great friends who inspire me, whether it be with funny conversations or amazing stories. So here it is, girls. This is for you.
Sharingan