Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter 3

A Midnight Walk

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Neji laid his back on the futon, as he closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened it again, cursing himself that he couldn't sleep at this time of the night.

The clock showed 11.52 PM, and if he didn't doze off in the next eight minutes, he wouldn't sleep the entire night. It had been a part of his habit, to sleep before midnight or to not sleep at all.

"Damn it!" He muttered under his breath as he rose from his position. If this keeps going on, he wouldn't sleep a wink till morning. Neji looked at the window and decided to take a five-minute walk around the Hyuuga residence.

As he went out, he was determined that he wouldn't sleep at all tonight.

He walked out of the Hyuuga residence, deciding that taking an 'early' morning walk may do him good when he's training later. As he reached the park, which was not far from the residence, a certain girl happened to cross his mind.

Tenten.

She was kind, reliable, and trustable. Neji hadn't put a doubt on her, not even when she vowed to take a revenge on him. She wouldn't hurt him too much, and Neji wasn't that scared of being hurt. Not anymore, now that he was sure that he can rely on people if he lets himself. If she did hurt him, he will endure as long as she came back to her old calm self.

He didn't understand Tenten at all. One moment, she avoids him, but she said that it was not a problem. The other moment, when he thought the problem was at last settled, she seemed to be unforgiving. What the hell has he done wrong, anyway? Neji didn't think that he has done anything wrong - he remembered her birthday, brought her out for a walk on that day, and even bought a present for her.

Or maybe it wasn't the problem.

What has Tenten said that makes her avoid him? That he's a boy? Neji couldn't help but smirked when this thought dawned on him again. Duh, of course he's a boy! Even though he has long and silky hair, it doesn't mean that he was a girl, right? It's not like he spent hours each morning brushing his hair, his hair had grew that way ever since he was born!

What exactly has made her acted ever so strangely? And worse, why only to him?

Shikamaru was a boy. Lee too. Even Gai-sensei was a boy – or a man, exceptionally. But she never acts that strange to them. She treated them normal, and now she treated Neji like he was abnormal!

But it was too soon to give up, for the standards of our Hyuuga prodigy. Even though he didn't really understand why, he knew he had to get Tenten in good graces with him again. It was just... weird, plainly weird, when she started acting like he was a boy, as she said.

Maybe I'll go ask Shikamaru, but he will say that this is too troublesome, he thought as he clenched and unclenched his fist, or maybe even Lee! But if I did ask Lee, he would start lecturing about youths and such. How boring.

He sighed loudly, and suddenly he felt someone's presence not far away from him. Was it an enemy?

He activated his Byakugan and observed the park around him. It was only the woman that haunted his thoughts for several weeks already, counting today.

"Hi, Hyuuga." She greeted cheerfully, like nothing has happened before. Taken aback by her normal –too normal- greeting, Neji could not say anything but a simple "Hn." as a reply.

He was clearly observing her clothes. She was wearing a light yellow sleeping kimono, which made her looked bright at nights.

"... So why are you here?" Tenten asked, "Insomniac? I don't know that you have the same problem as Sabaku no Gaara."

"I do not." Neji cleared his throat, processing every word clearly to his mouth.

Tenten shrugged, but she was practically beaming wickedly as she said, "How about a walk around together? I can't sleep tonight, and the moon is bright. It won't hurt, right?"

"..." was all she could get as an answer, but judging from how long they both knew each other, it was an easy matter for Tenten to recognize which "..." means 'Yes', which "..." means 'No'.

She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him across the park, making their way to the gate of the park. Neji gulped as he noticed the wicked gleam in Tenten's soft brown eyes.

This is not good, he thought as he pulled his hand back. Unfortunately for him, just as he thought he was free, Tenten grabbed him again, this time her grip hard.

"Tenten." He growled dangerously, but the weapon mistress seemed to have not heard it. Or she was pretending not to. "Tenten." He tried again, and his effort failed miserably. Again.

She was one of a kind, and he should've used other ways to tame this girl.

Okay, so dealing with opposite genders is NOT his forte at all.

It was like giving a very wild and violent lion to someone who hates lions for his life. The lion should've beaten him even before he knew it.

When that idea crossed our genius' mind, he shivered slightly, half-hoping that the girl wouldn't notice. Tenten did notice, but she hid her obvious grin as she dragged Neji with her.

"So..." The girl stated suddenly, making Neji a little surprised, even though he hid it ever so cleverly. Well, hiding his emotions was one of his ability, after all. "You know, Hyuuga, I have something very important to tell you."

Neji blinked, and then smirked due to his own will. A smile was about to approach his lips, but with a little effort he banished the smile. For now. "... What is it?"

"Later." Tenten grinned as he turned to face Neji. Obviously she was having a good time of making this Hyuuga boy nervous. "Hey, let's go to my apartment for a while. It's cold and I wanna drink."

"Whatever."

"Cool." Tenten replied as she continued dragging him along the streets, until they reached her apartment. It was quite a small one, but for a girl who lives alone, Neji would have to say that it was equally sized with Tenten. And more shockingly, it was neat.

Seeing the harsh expression on Neji's eyes, Tenten smiled. "What?" She asked, "Is my apartment that nice?"

"I did not expect you to be so..." The genius took his time, slowly choosing words. Neat? Nah, Tenten was not neat for a girl. She was, in fact, a little clumsy. Girly? Screw that! Tidy? It's almost the same as neat. Screw that too. "... Clean." He finished.

Tenten arched her eyebrows at tilted her head. "Clean?" She repeated, obviously confused. "Well, that was... unexpected."

"Sure." Neji agreed. He also didn't expect that word to appear in his mind, or his mouth to shove that word on. His gaze flew around the room, as Tenten made two cups of hot chocolate in her kitchen. After a few moments, she was sitting next to Neji, both of them having hot chocolates.

"So, back to topic." Tenten grinned mischievously, even though Neji didn't notice her evil grin. "You know that I have something to say to you, right?"

"Yeah..."

Tenten coughed a few times, and Neji eyed her suspiciously.

"It was..." She started, and she tried with all her might to get her face red. Revenge, she pondered in her mind as she furrowed her eyebrows, think of revenge.

Neji silenced, watching her, half-amused, half-nervous. For him, it seemed like there was a battle being held in her mind, which was partly true.

Tenten put her mug of hot chocolate down. She eyed Neji, her heart thumping loudly and her face now really red. I have to succeed, she thought nervously, or I'll be embarrassed. I mean, it's NEJI!

The Hyuuga boy calmly raised his eyebrows, observing her actions with his almost stoic eyes. "Well?"

It's now or never, Tenten decided, on her face she wore a determined mask. She scooted closer to Neji, and suddenly flung her unclothed arms around him.

"You know what?" She whispered, almost seductively. The Hyuuga boy seemed a little uneasy, but he did not show it too much. Instead, he stared at Tenten, perfectly calm, as the girl realized that their lips were inches apart from touching.

"What?" Neji asked casually, although his cheeks were getting hot. He didn't seem to mind that their faces were so close. Or if he did mind, he pretended not to. Neji was a clever emotion-hider.

Tenten drew her breath in carefully. She had failed her first step, but there's no way she failed her second step! She smiled as she licked her lips, obviously wanting to make the Hyuuga in front of her nervous, but she succeeded to fail.

"I..."

Neji's eyes were almost blank.

"Love..."

An awkward silence.

The Hyuuga prodigy looked uneasy with the word. He shivered slightly, and Tenten grinned as she breath to Neji's ears. She had learnt these steps and memorized them heartily, and there was NO WAY she'll fail in this.

At least, not this, please, she silently prayed as she studied the still calm, cool and collected expression on her teammate's face.

He inhaled a deep breath as his eyes were fixed on Tenten's lips, which was taking over his attention for a few moments already. He eyed Tenten's eyes warily, almost trying to make no eye contact. But for this time, he failed to notice that there was a teeny little bit of evilness in her eyes.

"I thought you have something to say." Neji broke the silence.

"I do, and I'm saying it." Tenten replied as she stared at Neji's eyes seductively. "So I was saying, I love..."

This was getting the Hyuuga boy on his nerves.

He drew in his breath and exhaled it slowly, maintaining his composure cleverly.

After all, he was a genius.

But in love, he was the lowest among the geniuses.

"I love..." Tenten began again, taking her time to make the prodigy uneasy. He looked so calm, that Tenten was almost sure that she failed miserably. Again.

If only she knew that inside Neji's mind, a raging battle was being held.

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Err, yeah! Chapter 3 finished! It was a short chapter, but nonetheless I satisfied myself by putting this idea down into a piece of writing!

I'm going to take my time and rest before I delivered Chapter 4! (Grinned).

Does this satisfy you? Why and why not? Please review!

Thanks!