Author's note: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers. Hope you enjoy this chapter! By the way, the senteces in Italics are thoughts. Thought I would mention it in case it gets confusing. On with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Then there was you

Summary: Neji and Tenten are the Romeo and Juliet of the Business world.
Childhood friends with rival fathers, they meet years later, to find themselves in the middle of a corporate face-off with one another.

Rated: PG

Chapter 3

Finally Christmas Eve came and Tenten, Ino and Sakura were all busy getting ready for the party.

"Tenten, are you ready yet? What's taking you so long?" shouted Ino.

"Coming, coming! Don't you guys dare laugh at me, I'm coming out!"

"Of course, we won't! I just know how beautiful you are, so come on out before we run late for the party!" replied Sakura. Tenten took a deep breath and opened the door. At this moment, Ino and Sakura gasped at the beautiful sight before their eyes.

"Girls, do I look terrible? I think I won't go after all." Tenten glanced at herself in dismay after hearing her friends gasp. With that, Tenten started retreating into her room. Ino hurried over and grabbed her hand.

"Oh, Tenten, You look amazing,We gasped because we had never seen any one as stunning as you before! Please go and my dear girl, you'll be the center of attention today!" Ino rattled on happily.

At that instant, Sakura looked straight into Tenten's eyes and said "You look great! You know, for a good-looking girl, you sure have low self-esteem. Believe in yourself, okay?" Tenten nodded and swatted Sakura's arm playfully just as she was being pulled out of the door.

At the party…

Just outside the ballroom, the girls quickly put on their masks. They promised each other to have fun and no matter what happens, they would meet each other at the end of the party and go back together. Tenten wanted to go to the restroom first so Ino and Sakura joined the party before her. After using the restroom, Tenten was on her way to the ballroom. She was excited and thrilled and filled with joy at the thought of having so much fun on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas Eve was spent with her parents, and it was a very quiet Christmas Eve, not like this party. Tenten's mind was filled with old memories and walked blindly towards the ballroom. Just then, she bumped into someone. She almost fell backwards but that someone caught her from falling. Very strong and firm arms held her and helped her up. She lifted her eyes to see who this kind person was. As she did so, the person also did the same. She looked into the person's eyes and brown met lilac. Tenten was drowned in the person's gorgeous lilac eyes, she had a feeling that she had seen them before; they looked so familiar to her. She broke the trance they were both in and the person helped her up. Tenten had a clearer look at the man. He was wearing a black tuxedo that fit him perfectly well and a specially shaped mask that covered his face, leaving his enchanting eyes vulnerable to Tenten's. He was staring intently at her and she was at him too. Later, a loud noise caused them to break the staring. Both of them turned around and saw a few girls running forward towards them.Tenten suspected that they were after him. True enough, they headed in his direction. Tenten could hear him chuckle deeply. She could not help but smile too. Suddenly, he took Tenten's hand and kissed it and said "May I escort you, my angelic lady?" He smiled and his lilac eyes twinkled too. Suddenly it struck her, that pair of lilac eyes again, which means Neji! "Oh my god, I'm dancing with Neji!" thought Tenten in her head.

The band started playing Tenten's favourite song "Then there was you". Tenten blushed and replied "Oh I love this song! And you may if you'll stop calling me angel." Tenten wrinkled her nose in distaste of that mushy name. He chuckled and deep laughter erupted.

"Really, its my favourite song too. Seems to me that you andI have much more in common than anyone else." he whispered. It seems like he was in luck, not only did he catch a lovely lady, this lady is different too. He was delighted and immediately led her in to the ballroom. After hearing his laughter, Tenten had to admit that he had a sexy laugh and she inhaled deeply just as he placed his handon her tiny waist and guided her into the ballroom.

The song started playing in the background...

I been waiting for a fairy tale
One that I could call my own
Life used to get so lonely
Until you came along
I was always living for the moment
Nobody knows what the future holds
And then there was you
Yeah, yeah

Someone to share all my worries
When it gets too much on my own
When I'm lost without courage
You're that someone who keeps me strong
You helped me get to my dreams
And you're still beside me when I wake up
Can't wait to wake up
Ooh

This house ain't a home
Without you
My body ain't go no soul
And I doubt you even know
And my heart won't be without you
Just when I thought
None of my dreams would come true
Then there was you...

Neji's point of view…

What beautiful eyes! I think I have seen them before but where? They are so familiar and beautiful. She looks so adorable when she feels guilty at taking me away from the chasing girls. Her smile is enchanting but truly apologetic.

The girls who were after Neji slowly went away but not after letting out a sigh of disappointment at the dismissal of the handsome man. Tenten had never felt this bad before in her life. She treasured friends more than boyfriends and contemplated giving Neji up to them. She could tell that their party was ruined because of this. Besides, she wasn't ready yet. She couldn't reveal her identity to him yet. Tenten looked down deep in thought and finally made a decision whether or not to dance with Neji. Although, she wanted him for herself but she decided it was pointless since she was not intending to reveal her identity to him tonight. Neji was puzzled on why the brunette beauty by his side was so deep in thought. As he led her to the dance floor, Tenten stopped him and grinned her cutish smile and excused herself. Neji was worried about Tenten because there must be something wrong if she was not well enough to dance. He followed her out to the quiet hall and held her gently asking her if she was all right. Almost touched by his concern, Tenten almost did not want to carry out the plan. But she controlled herself and told him that she needed some fresh air. He offered to accompany her but she refused and told him to enjoy himself in the party. He was reluctant and hardly even wanting to leave Tenten's side. He glanced backwards at Tenten very often as he made his way into the ballroom.

Finally, Neji was out of sight and Tenten started her plan. She started to go after all the girls who ran after Neji just then. It was easy to find them. They were at the balcony and Tenten could hear some sniffling from a distance. Gosh! They are crying! Tenten thought. This is serious. Thank god I made this decision and I hope this will make their day. She walked nearer and as they saw her approaching they cried even harder.

Tenten took a deep breath and begin, "I have to leave early and I wondered if all of you were free because that masked man in tuxedo there is feeling lonely without your company." As she finished her sentence, the girls were recovering rapidly from their crying session. They smiled sweetly at her and asked politely if the man was in the ballroom at the moment. Tenten answered yes and they immediately ran towards the ballroom pushing each other out of the way. Tenten was so amused by the scene and could hardly believe that Neji actually had girls who were absolutely crazy about him. She felt so much better than before.

She decided that she still had to wait for Ino and Sakura. Furthermore she could not return to the ballroom or she herself will spoil her own wonderfully crafted plans.

Tenten just started to wander around the place by herself, thinking her life and her future. It was certainly still a long road for Tenten to take. Although she is quite confident in business matters she is afraid that the moment she takes over, the firm will close down because of her. She is determined to do her best in everything she does. Other than her studies and family, everything else will have to wait till she is officially twenty one years old which is in about 3 years time. And there is something that even Ino and Sakura do not know about Tenten—her birthday. Her Birthday is on Christmas Day and that is exactly when the clock strikes twelve tonight. She will be exactly eighteen years old.Tenten is looking forward to the the last year in college and she would be truly able to put her knowledge to practical use as the CEO of her father's firm.

Meanwhile, in the ballroom…

"Neji! What a coincidence! Can I dance with you?"

"No, can I?" asked another girl.

"Can I?" The girls who have been encouraged by Tenten to keep Neji company were asking continuously. This attracted more attention from the other girls in the ballroom and they gathered around Neji once they discovered about his availability as a dance partner. Neji's only reaction during that moment was just a sheepish looking smile. At the smile, all of the girls swooned to the despair of the men left at the dance floor by the girls who could not resist Neji's charms. He did not know what to do, it was so long since that beautiful angel left him in the hall and he wanted to wait for her. But, looking at the situation, he had to make a choice of a dance partner soon before the girls all wanted a piece of him. He scanned at the wide variety to choose from and immediately chose a brunette who had been looking so ardently at him.

At the other end of the ballroom…

Ino and Sakura were sitting down playing with their glasses of Champaign with Ino complaining.

"Geez, no one has asked me to dance yet. Do I look awful Sakura? How come no one's dancing with me?"

"You look great Ino! No one's asked me too!" said Sakura with disappointment in her voice.

While they were complaining to each to other, a tall guy clad in metal sauntered towards the girls.

"May I have this dance, princess?" he asked Ino.

"S..su..sure.." Ino replied, shocked that someone asked her to dance. "I'll be right back." She whispered to Sakura. The knight in shining armor whisked Ino off her feet onto the dance floor.

"Oh wow…this guy is so cool…but why is my heart beating so fast!" thought Ino to herself.

"Oh great, everyone has a dance partner except me…" muttered Sakura to herself.

"Well now you do." a deep, sexy voice whispered out of no where into her ears.

"CRRASSH!"

Sakura dropped the glass she was holding and fell off her chair in shock. Everyone stopped dancing and turned to look at her. "Oh gosh! He actually heard me talking! What an embarrassment! Who the hell was that! What am I going to do!" a panicked Sakura thought to herself. She was on the verge of tears. How could this happen to her on her very first Christmas party in Harvard! Thank god she had a mask on, if not, she wouldnt want to be seen in Harvard anymore.

"Hey are you alright?" the same sexy voice asked her. Sakura looked up and green eyes met onyx eyes. "Wow, that's the nicest eyes I've ever seen! He smells so nice…" Sakura thought while staring at the masked stranger. The stranger was leaning really close to her and their mouths were millimeters apart. Sakura gulped and continued staring at the stranger in a trance. Suddenly he spoke and broke Sakura's trance.

"I see I've scared this lovely fairy here. It's alright now, I'll fix that." he said to the people staring at them and everyone went back to their activity. Sakura just stared. Before she could protest, he carried her bridal style and walked out of the ballroom into the enchanted garden. "Oh man… how embarrassing could this get! This is going to be a very long night!" thought Sakura.

While this scene was playing in the ballroom, Tenten was in the balcony all alone by herself. She admired the beautiful night sky with their stars sparkling brightly and the majestic moon illuminated against the dark sky. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakura being carried into the garden below her by a guy. She continued spying on them and giggled to herself when she saw the guy asking Sakura for a dance under the moonlight. She could see Sakura hesitating and probably blushing. "I gotta ask her for the juicy details later on!" thought Tenten. Tenten thought of how romantic it would be if she could dance with her loved one right at the moment at the same place.

Then, as if her thoughts came true, a mysterious man came towards her and said "May I have this dance?" Tenten was shocked beyond words and pleased at the same time. She did not exactly have a boyfriend then and did not know if Neji was considered one. Whenever, she saw Neji, her heart would skip a beat and she felt light-hearted. She often dismissed such thoughts as no matter how handsome Neji was, he was her dearest childhood friend and she could hardly think of Neji in such a way. Tenten blushed lightly and without hesitating she accepted the hand of her new found dance partner. She looked into his eyes and boy were they gorgeous, they were almost on par with Neji, only that Tenten preferred Neji's as they were very loving and caring eyes. She gazed into his eyes and danced to the sound of nature --- the rustling of leaves and the soothing sound of the light and cool breeze.

It felt so right there in his arms and Tenten never wanted to stop dancing with the mystery man. Then, they finally came to a stop, where the man slowly and gently took Tenten's mask off and Tenten did the same. When both finished, two beautiful faces faced each other and smiled sweetly. The mystery man was certainly not Neji but a senior of Tenten's. He too was in the same faculty as Tenten and his name was Uchiha Itachi. Tenten never thought that Itachi's eyes were so captivating. She thought His eyes are so perfect, funnyshe did not notice them before Tenten only knew him by name but not personally. He was quite a popular senior too. They were acquainted after the dance and kept each other company throughout the night.

Soon, the party ended with everyone in the ballroom unmasking their partners and almost everyone happily singing to the Christmas jingles. It was a truly wonderful and a spirited Christmas. Both Ino and Sakura enjoyed themselves thoroughly and went off to look for Tenten. Later, they found Tenten in the balcony with Itachi happily chatting away with Itachi smiling shyly whenever he looked at Tenten. Ino looked and immediately knew that Itachi was in love with Tenten and Tenten did not know it. Sometimes Tenten can be so slow in observation

Ino and Sakura went forward and greeted Itachi, then left with Tenten with them.

Tenten was happy to see her best friends but reluctant to leave Itachi. While talking to the girls about Itachi, she used Ita-kun to address him.

Ino said "Wow, you must really have it bad for him, fancy calling him by his "only-close-friends-call-me- by that-name" name."

Tenten was defensive and replied "Itachi is a nice guy and we are going to be good friends with him!"

"But, he is a boy! And girls do not have close friendships with boys; girls have LOVE relationships with boys!" giggled Sakura.

"Aww… Sakura, don't be silly! Ita-kun is not going to be my lover, he is a good friend! I swear it!" replied Tenten.

Ino looked unbelievingly at her good friend and silently made her swear a fake one as she knew that one day Tenten would be taking back her words.

"And Sakura! Speaking of guys, who's that guy dancing with you under the moonlight. How romantic!"

"What guy!" piped Ino, her curiosity rousing.

Sakura blushed a deep red and said: " Y..y..you s..saw t..that? Oh, he's a really nice guy. His name is Sasuke and he's doing law. By the way, he's your Itachi's younger brother. And he asked me out for a date after we danced." She added the last part quietly. However Ino's sharp ears caught it and she squealed.

"Oh my! Really! That's great! Shika-kun asked me out too! Maybe we can double date or something! And wow, you gals are dating two brothers!"

"Uh huh! Ino! You didn't mention anything about a Shika-kun! Who's that! And I AM NOT dating Itachi, Ino... But I wont say the same for Sakura!"said Tenten smiling.

"Hey..." retorted Sakura.

Ino blushed and replied: "He's in our faculty too Tenten, doing business. He's so sweet and cute and…."

The girls left the party with Ino praising her Shikamaru non-stop and the girls teasing each other about their dancing partners.

Thanks for reading! Please review! This is the longest chapter I've written so far…I hope you guys like it! And the song I've used is Then there was you by Liberty X. Great song! Love it!