Day 2
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Nejiten Month 2021
''I wrote it about someone I dated who made me feel like I wasn't cut out for my own music career. It's sort of about that really ugly moment when you try to do something sexually wild to save a relationship, only to make it more painfully apparent that it's not going to work.''
- Michelle Zauner, Japanese Breakfast on Road Head
A/N: Here we are at day 2! This is my favourite song not only by J Brekkie, but Road Head is actually my favourite song ever. Not ashamed to say I have played this at least twice every for the last four years, and it's gotten me through some pretty rough periods and shitty breakups during that time. Enjoy!
''You'll never become jounin. You're pathetic.''
Her brown eyes are brimming with tears and she holds back the urge to let out a mangled cry. He's putting on his clothes as she sits there in the forest clearing, naked and staring at her own pile of clothes thrown messily around the grass.
''I...I was simply just telling you my dreams and aspirations, just as you did. I told you, I think it's amazing you want to become ANBU and lead the clan-''
He cuts her off in disapproval and she feels her heart break into a million pieces. ''My dreams are achievable. That's the difference.''
Her breathing turns raggedy and the heat on her face is making her feel woozy. ''I don't understand what I need to do in order for you to just treat me like a fucking human being.''
He silently ties the last of his clothing shut and begins to walk away and back to the campsite.
''And be more quiet next time. We're going to get caught,'' he calls before he leaves her vicinity.
Tenten reaches for her shirt, now covered in dirt, and puts it on over her head with shaky hands.
She would break off this engagement with him tomorrow.
The hot pot celebrations with the Konoha 11 was going swimmingly well and her boyfriend of the last year, Nara prodigy and champion cloud watcher, Shikamaru, was keeping the steady flow of alcohol coming.
''Another round please, waiter!'' he calls before wrapping his arm tighter around his girlfriend. She spares a glance at him and raises a brow in amusement.
''No comment on this being troublesome, then?''
He smirks and pecks her quickly on her cheek. ''Not tonight. You deserve this, Ten.''
Her heart swells in pride and embarrassment upon his compliment and she quickly turns back to the rest of the group. They were peering at her with huge smiles on their faces (bar one, she noted) and were eagerly waiting to give their praises to the weapons kunoichi. Only a handful of the others had been promoted to jounin over the last couple of years and Tenten really wasn't one for big celebrations, especially not when it came to herself.
''Thanks for coming, everyone!'' she giggles, the sake already getting to her head. ''I've had a few ups and downs over the last few years, but I couldn't be happier right now. It's been a long time coming and...well...I guess I just want to say, thank you all for being here.''
''Yes, Tenten!'' a clearly drunk Sakura screams, frightening the Hyuuga girl sitting next to her, ''I knew you could do it!'' She takes another big gulp of her sake, much to the shock of Tenten, and sighs. ''Sasuke is away on a mission, so I'm drinking enough for the both of us.''
Tenten laughs and waves her hand in dismissal. ''Drink all you want. I miss drunk Sakura.''
It was Naruto's turn to slam his drink down and stand up. ''I always believed you could do it, Ten!''
''Yoooosh! They don't call you the youthful flower of Team Gai for nothing!''
Tenten inwardly cringes when Lee flashes a dazzling smile at her, but her annoyance doesn't last long as Kiba and Shino both reach over and give her a pat on the shoulders.
''Welcome to the jounin squad, buns,'' Kiba laughs (Tenten grips Shikamaru's hand a little harder upon the utterance of his nickname for her) and Shino and Chouji nod in agreement.
She blushes. ''Thanks, guys.''
''Here's a bouquet of sunflowers from my mother's shop,'' Ino says and produces a handful of yellow petals from seemingly nowhere. Tenten blinks and gratefully accepts the present, careful not to drop anything into the dishes below her - sunflower-infused octupus was not the one - and admires them. ''Hinata helped me pick them out, you wouldn't believe how proud she was of you.''
The brown-haired kunoichi raises a brow in surprise and turns to look at the Hyuuga heiress with a small smile. ''Really? They're lovely, Hinata. Thank you so much, both of you.''
''N-no problem, Tenten-san. I k-knew they were your favourite, and today is a m-momentous occasion.''
''Oh, you guys!'' Tenten quickly gets up and rushes over to give a big hug to Sakura, Hinata and Ino - much to the dismay of Lee who really wanted in on the group action - and sniffles. ''You guys are the absolute best, you know that?''
''Only the best for our Tenten,'' they agree in unison.
As she walks back to her seat where her boyfriend was patiently waiting for her, she catches a glimpse of the Hyuuga prodigy - lodged perfectly between Hinata and Lee - and doesn't even react when he inclines his head towards her, almost as if he expected her to stop and chat. He was the only one who hadn't congratulated her yet but, to be quite honest, she didn't care.
''Right,'' she cheerily shouts, ''let the eating commence!''
The meal passes quickly in a blur of vegetables, tofu and cooked meat and before she knows it, Hinata has already secretly gone off to settle the bill for her friend's special occasion.
''I am STUFFED,'' Ino whines, holding her stomach for dramatic effect.
''You've had what, like two beansprouts?'' Chouji cackles as he shoves another tofu roll into his mouth.
She frowns. ''Shut it, you!''
Tenten smiles and Hinata returns with a knowing smile on her face.
After exchanging a few more words with her friends, Tenten slips her arm into her jacket quickly. The Konoha nights were getting colder, and she was definitely not going to catch a cold during her first week as a jounin.
''Thanks for coming, everyone!'' the weapons' mistress says with a smile so big, her eyes become crescent moons, ''I'm so grateful-''
Suddenly, Shikamaru grabs her and she turns to him in surprise at the random gesture.
''Tenten. I have something to ask you.''
''Er...okay...'' she says, looking around at the table who was now staring at her. Was it her imagination or was Ino and Sakura smiling devilishly, like they knew something was going to happen? She turns back to him and whispers, ''how important is it? Can't you ask me when we get back to mine?''
She saw his eyes fight the urge to roll and say something about her being 'troublesome', but she couldn't even fathom the extent of what he was going to ask next.
''Will you marry me?''
Her eyes widen and her hand, which was gripping her bag, opens reflexively from shock.
''I-what? What?''
She could mildly hear whoops of 'YOOOOSH!' and 'fucking finally, Nara! I've been egging you on for ages!' (the latter sounded suspiciously like Naruto), but the blood rushing to her head was enough to make her feel a little woozy.
''Well,'' he begins with a shrug of his shoulders, ''I've been wanting to do it for a while but I knew you were concentrating on becoming jounin. Now you're jounin...will you marry me?''
She grins wider than she did that morning when Tsunade announced her promotion.
''Fuck yes. I will.''
She feels the familiar burning of lavender eyes into her side profile, but all she could focus on was the pineapple-headed weirdo in front of her.
''Tch. Troublesome.''
Her walk home is a long one from the hot pot restaurant, but she doesn't mind - after the events of the day, all she wanted to do was go for a walk to clear her head. Everyone had already dispersed and she told Shikamaru, her new fiancée, that she would see him tomorrow morning.
She's humming happily as she walks down the side streets but pauses when the familiar scent of pinewood and vanilla hits her.
Instead of her chest tightening and her breath catching - which is what her younger self would have done - she felt a wave of annoyance wash over her.
''Hyuuga,'' she nods in acknowledgement and turns around to find him right behind her. ''Stalking me, are we? Isn't the Hyuuga compound on the other side of town?''
''Tenten,'' he breathes, a hint of...was that sadness?...in his eyes.
She raises a brow at the tone of voice he used.
It was...soft. And she hadn't heard it in years.
''Tenten,'' he says again, his expression unreadable (but then again, when was it readable? She hadn't spent time with him for months and her rusty Hyuuga-decoding skills were showing), ''congratulations on your promotion.''
She gives a small smile - the most she would offer him - and dips her head. ''Thank you.''
It was actually kind of surreal, she notes in amusement. Aside from team missions in which she obviously had to spend time with him, she couldn't remember the last time they spoke outside of Team Gai activities or the Hokage's office, and even then it was very clinical and void of emotion.
Oh wait, no - she could remember the last time they spoke. She shudders at the memory.
With a hand on her hip and staring at him defiantly with the confidence her younger self would have never imagined possible, she gives an awkward smile and begins to turn away.
''Did you like the flowers?''
She pauses mid-turn and turns her head to face him. She nods. ''The sunflowers from Ino and Hinata? Yeah, they were nice.''
He smirks arrogantly and she feels her insides recoil with anger. ''Do you know how Hinata knew they were your favourite?'' he inches closer, much to her dismay, and she wrinkles her brows in surprise.
''Did you tell her?'' she asks.
''Yes, I did.''
Again with that unreadable expression. But Tenten was tired and she was itching to go home.
''Well, thanks for that.'' She nods in gratitude and turns away once more. ''They were nice. Bye now-''
He grabs her and she reflexively tries to yank her arm away, his touch sending nothing but disgust through her veins. He was strong - annoyingly strong, she notes - and he keeps his grip tight on her. She sighs loudly to emphasize her annoyance and cranes her head around to look at him, her chocolate orbs boring into his white ones.
''May I help you, Hyuuga?'' she bites out. ''I want to go home and sleep.''
His watchful eyes feel as though they're burning holes in her face and she decides to look at the ground instead.
Ooh, is that a penny?
''I've...missed you.''
Lol what.
She couldn't help the involuntary chuckle that came from her chest, and she feels his grip tighten.
''What?'' she laughs, lifting her head to fully look at him now. ''You...miss me?'' She really couldn't help the way her shoulders bounced as she laughed, but seeing the look of disbelief on his face, she didn't plan on stopping, either. ''You are joking, right? This is some sort of sick joke?''
He presses his lips into a firm line and shakes his head slowly. ''No. I miss you. I...'' he pauses, and Tenten almost feels sorry for him. ''I've been thinking about you ever since we broke up over a year ago.''
She raises a brow in disbelief and blinks. Was this really the arrogant, cold-hearted Neji Hyuuga she was engaged to for three months?
''I was wrong. I showcased the most vile behaviour a man could bestow upon a woman, and when I saw Shikamaru propose to you, I...I always pictured you as my wife, and-''
That was enough. Tenten finally yanks her hand out of his and puts it up to stop him. ''Lovely speech, Neji, truly amazing, but I really have somewhere to be. You'll move on and find someone else, okay?''
He blanches (Tenten thinks he truly looks like a ghost of a man at this moment in time - was she really in love with this?) and splutters, ''I keep replaying that last night in my head.''
She nods slowly as if in thought, emulating her cloud-watching fiancée when presented with a difficult mission report, and lets out a little laugh. ''What, when I let you fuck me in the middle of the night in the forest during a mission?''
It wasn't even good sex, either.
He winces at her direct language and stills. ''I would prefer to see it as a night of passion, but, essentially, yes.''
This time, it was her turn to pause. ''It was a last ditch effort, and I was desperate. A makeshift siphon for trying to hold together whatever the fuck our relationship was, I suppose.'' She catches the way he winces (maybe her Hyuuga-decoding skills are still good, after all) and she sighs with a big smile. ''Well, it was nice catching up. I have missions to do and a wedding to plan. See ya!''
And with a quick and defiant turn of her heel that screamed 'don't even dare touch me', she continued on her way back home, walking away and feeling his presence grow further and further away from her.
Some things were best left behind her. Literally.
A/N: this was sort of inspired by my last relationship, wherein he sent me a handwritten letter out of the blue a few months after our breakup begging for me back. The relationship itself was pretty bad and I felt like an emotional punching bag most of the time, and when he suggested getting back together I genuinely laughed so hard I almost cried, lols.