Disclaimer: I do (NOT) own Naruto.
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Chapter 7
A Talk, A Kiss, An Ending
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"... Neji?" Tenten was astonished when she saw a familiar figure sitting on the bench inside their training grounds. The Hyuuga boy looked up and flashed her a quick mini smile. "Insomniac?" He asked slowly. "I don't know you have the same problem as Sabaku no Gaara."
Tenten smirked. "That's my line!"
"I figured you'd remember that out." He smirked again. "Well?"
Tenten grinned as she sat next to him. "Yeah." She answered him, wearing a truthful expression on her face, "I couldn't seem to sleep. My head is too occupied."
"By Uchiha?" He questioned her, almost emotionless although she caught a hint of dislike between his voice.
She blushed sweetly, and when Neji caught her blushing, he felt his blood rushing to his cheeks as a vein popped on the side of his forehead. Unfortunately, Tenten didn't notice it, so she kept on talking, "He wasn't that bad, Neji, you know? He treated me dinner and even offered to walk me home."
Neji gritted his teeth and made no effort in saying anything.
"Neji?" Tenten called him, a little too energetically. "Are you listening or not?"
The Hyuuga prodigy gave a "Humph." that meant yes.
Tenten grinned, thinking that Neji was interested in this subject of Uchiha Sasuke. After all, he was his rival. "At first I thought him boastful, proud-of-himself and dumb, but he proves me wrong." She continued, smiling as she remembered her afternoon with Sasuke, "He's kind of smart in weaponry too. I guess I have judged him too harshly. He's not as bad as I think. Further more, he's cute!" She giggled a little, "I promised him some more sessions to talk about weapons. He is interesting! I was beginning to like him, you know, as a frie..."
That's when Neji couldn't take it anymore.
Before Tenten had even blinked, he had leaned in, and kissed her on the lips to stop her from talking about Sasuke for hours. After a moment, he broke the kiss and his eyes snapped open as he leaned back. He glanced sideways at Tenten, which was now blushing billions shades of red.
"Sorry." He smirked, even though he didn't sound apologetic at all, instead he sounded a little triumphant. Even pleased!
Tenten glared at him, still blushing furiously, "What was that for?" She questioned as she covered her hot cheeks with her hands. "What are you?"
He clenched his fist. "I don't like you talking about him." He said coldly. "Stop that." He gazed at the moon in the sky, clearly avoiding any eye contact with the girl sitting next to him. Unfortunately for him, Tenten wasn't the kind of a girl who likes to be kissed without reasons. She practically shrieked at him, "I thought you had had enough with our fight!"
"Are we fighting?" He shot back sarcastically, "I should think not."
Tenten inhaled a deep breath, trying with all her might to stay calm. This boy was clearly getting her on her nerves! She shook her head violently to get rid of all thoughts. When she succeeded, she jabbed her index finger at Neji's chest. "You can't play with me, Hyuuga Neji!"
"I'm not."
"Why do you..." She paused, and took another deep breath, "Why do you kiss me then?"
Neji stared at her casually. "Why not?" He asked back, clearly enraging her. Tenten glared spears at him, and Neji calmly shook his head and flashed a very quick smile at her. "Do you need a reason, then?"
"Of course I do!" She yelled as she stomped her foot impatiently. "Who do you think I am? You can't just kiss me like that and fade away!"
"I'm still here." He cut her out, "Not fading away at all."
"That's not what I meant!" She shrugged in frustration.
"Then what?"
"I demand an explanation! NOW!" Tenten practically shouted angrily at him.
Neji smiled. "You know," He began, "You looked pretty sweet when you're angry."
She blushed, but thanks to the emotional training she received when she was still a Genin - okay, that was waaaaaay back, but whatever -, she managed to hide it, even though she's not a genius in hiding her emotions. "Where did you learn to flirt?" She asked him through gritted teeth, "I should congratulate the teacher that he managed to get The Hyuuga Neji to flirt." Her voice rang with full sarcasm.
"... I do not flirt..."
"Then how come suddenly you know how to kiss a girl and compliment her face when she's angry?" Tenten snarled, "That's what I called flirting!"
Neji shrugged. "Common sense?"
"Argh!" Tenten snapped, looking very frustrated at him, "You... you..." She couldn't seem to find a word that describes him the best at this situation. Her range of vocabularies seemed to minimize itself, "You... you crazy thing!"
Neji smirked.
"Give me an explanation!"
"'Kay." He answered solemnly. "I kissed you because I want to."
Tenten frowned. What kind of reason was that, anyway? Because he wants to? "What am I, a doll?" She shrieked again, this time loud enough so that Neji could hear it clearly.
"You don't really need to shout." He told her calmly. "I'm not deaf."
"You act like it!"
"Look here, Hyuuga Neji! You can't kiss a girl just because you want to!" She snapped loudly, practically growling at him. Neji was beginning to think that she had grown fangs and claws, but he silenced anyway. It was too dangerous to snap back to a mad Tenten, he figured that out a few years ago. "And screw you if you said I'm sweet! I am NOT a candy!"
"Who says you are?" He responded coolly. "I did not. Just saying the truth."
Tenten glared at him, and he returned the glare with a soft smile and a look that means, 'peace!' in his range of vocabularies. They engaged into a momentarily glaring contest again, and this time it was Tenten who won, since the Hyuuga prodigy chose to look away.
"Now I demand an explanation." Suddenly Neji said, his smirk had turned into one evil grin. "Just two days ago, you avoided me. And until now, you haven't given me the clear reason why. I answered your questions, so why don't you answer mine now?"
Tenten blushed sweetly. "Well, I..."
Neji raised his eyebrows patiently. Between the two of them, he was always more the patient one, while Tenten was almost impatient. Well, they both suit themselves in that way, even if sometimes he could be impatient too.
"I..." She looked nervous. Neji smirked, "Then let me say what I want to say first." He interrupted, and the weapon mistress slowly looked up. He locked his gaze with hers, noticing the shades of pink on her cheek.
He leaned down...
SMACK!
Tenten had smacked his forehead even before he act on her. She glared at him.
"What was that for?" He asked, massaging his sore forehead.
"You better not kiss me again!" She warned dangerously.
He smirked. "I have no intention to do that." He said seriously.
"Then why on earth do you lean down?"
He held out his index finger and pointed to something on Tenten's shoulder. "In case you didn't notice," He breathed closely to her ear, "There's a bug there."
Tenten turned away from him and slowly turned to look at her shoulder. Oh yeah, it was a BIG bug alright. You could say that it was ENERMOUS, even. It's black, shiny, large, and buggy. Tenten's eyes widened in horror as the bug crept closer to her neck.
"NOOO!" She shouted, horror-stricken as her head felt heavier than ever. "EWW!"
And before she knew it, she collapsed to Neji's arms.
o-x-o
Blink. Blink.
Tenten opened her eyes warily. Her head felt so heavy, and she couldn't remember a thing. She looked around the room. Where was this? The furniture was all expensive-looking, and the futon she was lying at felt so soft. She blinked her eyes twice more to get a better vision of the room. Still, she could not recognize where she was.
The door slid opened, Neji appeared before it. He was bringing a bowl of porridge and a cup of hot water. He put the two things down as he looked at Tenten, who hastily shut her eyes and pretended that she was still dozing. Too bad Neji had caught a glimpse of her opened eyes, but nonetheless he chose another method to force her to wake up.
"Tenten, wake up." He ordered.
Tenten shut her eyes damn still.
"Tenten, wake up." He repeated, this time with warning.
The weapon mistress gave a loud snore.
"Wake up." Hyuuga Neji said, "Or we could train for forty eight hours tomorrow."
Her eyes zapped open. Even if it sounds impossible, she knew Hyuuga Neji was serious. He was not one who needed sleep more than four hours per week, and if he threatened her like that, there's no way she could escape.
She blinked innocently at the Hyuuga, who gazed back stoically.
"You seemed to be hysterical last night." He told her as he examined her now lively face, "You fainted just after you saw the bug on your shoulder." Tenten immediately turned to look at her shoulder. Neji, catching her action, coughed loudly. "It's not there anymore." he continued, and he smirked, "I didn't know that you were scared of bugs, Tenten."
"I am?" She asked quizzically.
"You are." was his reply.
"Where am I?" She asked again, since this huge room was certainly not a part of her small and 'clean' (according to Neji) apartment.
"You're in the Hyuuga branch compound." He told her, "I brought you here."
Tenten silenced and she blushed. "Thanks." She whispered softly, and luckily Neji caught the word. He smirked as he held up the bowl of porridge. "Here's your breakfast. The medic here said you caught a light cold, so you are not allowed to eat anything but this and drink anything but that."
The weapon mistress frowned. She had remained healthy for five years without catching even a slight fever or whatever, and now she was considered having a light cold? Nonetheless, she accepted the bowl and started to eat. When she finished, Neji offered her a cup of warm water and she gladly received it too. Boy, she was kinda hungry!
She put down the cup and looked at Neji, who stared back at her in return. "What?" He asked, a little confused, "Is there something on my face?"
"Nah." Tenten shook her head as she stood up and stretched herself.
Neji shook his head, holding back a smile. "You really love training, huh? Why do warm-ups in my room?"
"This is your room?" The kunoichi questioned back, looking shocked. When the Hyuuga prodigy nodded calmly, her eyes widened. "And you're stepping on my futon." He added subconsciously, making Tenten's eyes widened more. She stared at Neji as she moved over to the floor, "Then where do you sleep last night?"
"Another room." He said calmly. "Well, now don't push yourself too much."
Just when Tenten was about to protest, there was a knock on the door. "Neji-niisan? It's me, Hinata." A soft and shy voice came behind it.
"Come in, Hinata-sama." Neji replied.
Hyuuga Hinata appeared behind the door. "Oh!" She gasped, surprised, "Hello, Tenten-san."
"Did you bring the clothes I asked, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked politely, as a custom of how people from the branch family should treat people from the head family. Sickening, but that's the fact.
"Yes, Neji-niisan." She leaned down and sat beside Neji, handing him over a bundle of clothes. "S-shouldn't Neji-niisan be getting sleep no-?"
Neji cut her out with a glare, which was the Hyuuga's trademark. Hinata, of course, being a Hyuuga descendant, understood that glare very much. She turned at Tenten, which smiled softly in return. Treating Hinata was a completely different problem than treating Neji. When she's gentle, he's harsh. When she's soft, he's hard. When she's shy, he's cool. When she's sane, he's insane. Maybe.
"Good morning, Hinata-chan." Tenten greeted cheerfully, and that's when Neji threw her the bundle of clothes. "That's Hinata-sama's." He told her calmly, "Take your bath and I'll walk you home."
She stood up, and Hinata rose. "L-Let me show the way to the bathroom for you, Tenten-san." she said gently. Neji nodded, smirking in gratitude at Hinata when the two girls left.
"Are you surprised to see me here?" Tenten asked, opening up a new conversation. Hinata nodded her head, "Neji-niisan never brings people home, Tenten-san." She explained, smiling shyly, "When he yesterday brought you home, unconscious, my father was very surprised. He said that Neji-niisan had found himself..." She took a deep breath and continued, "A bride."
"A bride?" Tenten's eyes widened. "Why?"
Hinata smiled gleefully, "Well," She stated, as they turned right in a corridor, "Because Neji-niisan is always considered a loner, you see, and when he brought you home, my father was very happy that Neji-niisan had found himself a girl… I mean, he cares for you."
"Teammates are supposed to care for each other." Tenten said, quoting something from someone she heard ages ago, which she thought was quite right. And when Hinata giggled a little, she asked her, "What is it?"
"I-I supposed that's right." Hinata replied.
"But Neji looked tired, doesn't he?" Tenten questioned quizzically, looking thoughtful.
Hinata glanced sideways at her, and when they finally met gazes, she said, "T-that's because he didn't sleep last night, Tenten-san."
"Why?"
"... Well..." Hinata looked a bit thoughtful; her eyebrows joined together, nothing that she's fighting to remember something. She glanced at Tenten and then back to herself, twiddling her fingers nervously. And that's when Tenten suddenly got the whole idea in. "You mean..." She started, "... You mean he didn't sleep because he was nursing me last night?"
Hinata nodded.
Tenten smirked. "Well... I don't know he cares that much about me." She said softly.
"Th-that's why my father, Hiashi-san, was so happy..." Hinata replied to her statement, "... He announced that a wedding was to be held sooner or later... because Neji-niisan lets you sleep in his room. That room is..." She paused, took a deep breath, "... Neji-niisan's very private place, Tenten-san. He hardly lets anyone inside. This was the first time I entered the room too."
"Really?" Tenten's eyes widened again.
Hinata nodded. "I-I think... he loves you, Tenten-san."
"WHAT?" Tenten practically screamed. Hinata quickly covered her mouth with her hand, "P-please, Tenten-san, be quiet." She said, looking around, "Since this is Saturday, the branch families are having their usual meeting, you see."
"Sorry." Tenten gasped. "But Neji? Love me? Ha! Impossible!"
"W-why, if I may ask, Tenten-san?"
"He likes to tease me! He even gets angry at me just because I had a date with Uchiha Sasuke!" At this statement, Hinata's pale eyes widened, but she stay silent as usual, as Tenten continued, "He even kissed me, and he said that's only because he wants-" She stopped and blushed furiously. She eyed Hinata, "Did you hear that?" she asked, almost like a whisper.
Hinata's expression was unpredictable. Tenten couldn't figure out what was inside her head. Nonetheless, she could tell that Hinata was very, very surprised - almost shocked to death.
"Ne-Neji-niisan kissed you?" She asked, and blushed shyly after saying that.
Tenten waved her hand, "No, no, he didn't!" She said foolishly. But Hinata wasn't going to be fool that easy. Even though she was still shy, she had gained more confidence to express her feelings. "Did he?" She asked once again, curiosity beaming from her eyes.
Tenten breathed as she felt her cheek reddened hotly.
"He did." Hinata said to herself, "Neji-niisan kissed you..."
"Alright! He did! So what?" Tenten said, angry at herself for letting out her biggest shame in life -or maybe not. Kissed by THE Hyuuga Neji wasn't that bad- to Hinata.
"Neji-niisan loves you, Tenten-san." Hinata said softly. "He... Did he tell you that?"
"No." Tenten replied faintly, "He can't. Because that would be lying. He doesn't love me, Hinata-chan." She sighed, "If he does, he would have... Oh screw me."
Hinata smiled, suddenly an image came clearly into her mind. "And forgive me for asking this, Tenten-san..." She sniffed unhurriedly, "Do you love Neji-niisan?"
Tenten blushed.
Hinata smiled again. That's when Hanabi moved out from a certain door. "Oh, you love him alright!" She exclaimed mockingly, "Don't you?"
"Hanabi!" Hinata reminded, "Tenten-san is Neji-niisan's guest. Be polite."
"Yeah, of course." Hanabi smirked and rolled her eyes. "Sorry, but I can't help it. If you love him so much that you even don't realize it, why don't you just tell him? It makes ALL of our problems easier! Therefore my father shouldn't go through all the trouble finding him a fiancée! He'll have more time to train me!"
"Neji is getting engaged?" Tenten's eyes widened. She ignored all of Hanabi's word but that. Hinata sighed as she looked scornfully at her smaller sister. Hanabi glared to Hinata in return, "So what if I tell her that?" She turned to Tenten, "And no, he's NOT engaged, but he will be!"
"Is that right, Hinata-chan?" Tenten asked Hinata, ignoring Hanabi. The little girl smirked, but said nothing as Hinata nodded and replied, "Yes, Tenten-san. Father is looking for a bride for Neji-niisan. It's a custom for a man to marry before twenty-two in our household."
Hanabi glared at Tenten with a 'See-I-told-you' look on her face, which the weapon mistress returned with an empty gaze. "You love him." Hanabi said, this time softer, but in a still mocking way. "You love Neji-niisan, don't you?"
"..." was all Tenten could muster as a reply. Hanabi smirked. "You do." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. Hinata looked at her sister scornfully and nudged Tenten's arm. "Come, Tenten-san. The bathroom is just around the corner." She said as she led Tenten to the bathroom. "After that, Neji-niisan would like you to return to his room."
"Okay." Tenten said, nodding. Hinata smiled and turned, and then she started to walk away when a soft call from Tenten stopped her. "And Hinata?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks." The kunoichi smiled, "Because of you and Hanabi, now I realize my own feelings."
Hinata looked surprised, but when her head had finished processing the words, she smiled gently. "My pleasure, Tenten-san."
Tenten grinned and she entered the bathroom.
o-x-o
"You looked fresh." Neji examined when Tenten appeared from his bedroom door. "Where is Hinata-sama? I heard from a maid that Hanabi harassed you. Hinata-sama should've known better."
"How impolite." Tenten smirked. "But no, Neji. Hanabi didn't harass me. She helped me."
"Oh?" was all Neji could give as a reply, but he sounded as if he didn't believe her at all, so Tenten said reassuringly, "She did."
"How so?" Neji asked. "Hanabi-sama hardly ever helps people. She loves to harass guests."
"Yeah." Tenten nodded, I couldn't agree better than that! "But this time she helped me... Because of her and Hinata-chan, finally I come to a conclusion."
"What conclusion?" Neji frowned.
"That I love this man." Tenten grinned.
"Oh."
Tenten let out a sharp disappointed breath. "Are you going to ask?"
Neji looked at her quizzically, "Should I?"
"Well, no, but…"
"Uchiha." He had spitted out.
Tenten seemed a little surprised, but she hastily said, "No."
Neji shrugged. "Oh. Okay." He turned away.
The weapon mistress furrowed her eyebrows again. "Are you really uninterested in this?"
"I'm interested." He replied through gritted teeth. "I'm just not going to invade your privacy when you don't want me to. And since it looks like that you are asking for it, I'm asking you back. Who's the man?"
Tenten grinned. "You." She replied without hesitation.
The Hyuuga prodigy furrowed his eyebrows. He was quite sure that he heard wrong. Did Tenten just said "You." as in him? Was that even possible? "What?" He asked, leaning in so that he could hear well.
Tenten smirked. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm not going to repeat this again." She warned, "So listen closely. I said, you. I love you."
It was simple.
"... Tenten." Neji looked astonished. This time, he didn't even bother to hide his emotion. Tenten smiled as she mustered a puzzled look. "What?"
"I love you too." He replied, and that only made the kunoichi blushed furiously. Suddenly he smirked as he leaned in and kissed her lips softly. This time, she kissed back as his arms circled around her waist.
Little did they know that Hyuuga Hiashi was watching them, not far away from their room.
But if they did know, I bet they wouldn't care.
o-x-o
Owari
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Finished. Completed. Good-bye!
Tee-hee. People say that I couldn't make a good ending, so this is the best I came up with so far. What do you think? Please tell me!
Oh, and thanks for ALL the people who reads this! My pleasure to entertain you (if I did), really!
If I did not reply your reviews... well, forgive me. I'm a bit caught up in everything around me... sorry!
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Thanks for reading! Without you guys, this story would not happen.
Special Dedication to ALL Fans of this pairing!
Cyberwolf, angellive, K.C, BlackVampire14, K.R, FaIRy PrInCeSS-17, aznwolf4evr, Necoto, BlooVeggieStix, Shadow-Ninja-Fay, #1AnimeFanForever, .Rainmoon., Cliff Hanger and Pluki-kun, lilxcutexmonstah, humpa gamefaqs, ThouShaltKill, Hybrid thing, Baka'sAngel, naash, KarinNatsukawa, AtlantisPrincess, Anonymous, hinata;s inner universe, YonderTiger, Someone, meliss, Winteress, YunaYukari, Rade Hunters, Claire, Tayuya-hime, zomgkris, LaZyEnErGeTiC, Byakugan Hyuga, sasukeluver101, themangaloverofdoom, Sora. The angel of the sky, puppy444219, aznflower148, …, Karin, Nadaelea, tomboy901, Sumomo92, BitterLife, non-of-ya-biss, hyuuga605, tsukigana, morte de rire, MirokuHoushi471, dreaming.sapphire, lalalamoore, crimson neji boxers xD, rosytenten, winderful1, anonyms, OMGltzvicky, lpprincess517, shaniqua, serenesorceress, PandaTenten, Serenity Silence, Azul Luna, nefaith, DreamingIris, summerlover1, -AstreA-AntareS-, JustPlainPeachy, luciferius, Mekkacaluptus, IrresistiblyIrresistible, sweetangel823, Jenica, Faereh, RedBrick, silverdragon994, Luna Forest for reviewing me before I updated the last chapter…
Oh, and for the people who adds this story in their favorite list and waits for the long update. I don't know if this is worth the long waiting or not, so please just bear with me, kay!
Sorry if I miss anybody in the list up there, you could add yourself since I really need to thank you all!
Sincerely,
MyFallenAngel
o-x-o
From now, I'll try accepting challenges fics, but only the ones I am confident in. I only accept challenges with the genre romance, and I do not and will not accept same-gender pairings until further notice. Thanks, anyway!