Sorry for taking some days to update, this chapter was a tough one kkkk

I apologize for grammar errors in advance.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Complications

The next day of class, their deed to make it to the nationals was the talk of school. People congratulated her whenever she went, girls tried to tackle her here and there, but as soon as she got with Lee to walk to their class, the girls backed away. Lee was her shield and she was forever thankful to him for it.

"We are going to the nationals!" She cheered when they reached their classroom. Neji was already there. He gave them his version of smile, though it was more of a subtle twitch of his lips. She grinned at him.

"Yes! And this time, we will win it!" Lee joined her in cheering, his bright smile illuminating the room. Neji simply nodded. Taking her seat behind him, she was surprised when he turned around, facing her.

"The presentation it's on Friday. You remember, right?" Actually no. Her face paled, she still needed to read the goddamn ancient book.

"Yeah, of course I remember" she scratched the back of her head, grinning sheepishly. He gave her a dull look.

"You're a terrible liar." Considering that she was fooling him into believing that she was a man, she disagreed with him on that regard. "In any case, just be ready by Friday. There's plenty of time, it's not much to read, one hour should be enough." One hour was easy. She could do it.

It was what she thought, until, after class she tried to read it.

"One hour my ass!" She whined, frustrated that she had to re-read some parts just to understand a thing or two. That's it, she would just Google her way, it was much easier. Going to the next page, as in hopes to it be easier to understand, she noticed some small scribblings. It was Neji's handwriting alright, but it seemed less polished, as if he wrote it in a hurry or when he was little. Occupying her mind with them, she noticed that there were more notes here and then. Feeling that it may be personal, she thought over if she should really read it, or if it was best for her to ignore it. Her curiosity won over, and she started to go over the little notes. They were written in small letters, so she had to squish her eyes, bringing the book closer to be able to read it correctly. She wondered how he could have written so small, and how good his eyesight was.

Reading it, she realized that it was all fate related. She remembered how he mentioned that he was very interested in this topic in his younger age, and now, she understood what he meant. His notes where mostly saying that fate couldn't be changed, that it was foolish to try and change it, if even a God couldn't, save for Zeus, and only a fool would try to change it. There was one little note that she saw that was scratched over. Doubling her efforts to read it, she managed to understand what was written

We are who we are, there's no changing. Once a failure always a paths are already set in stone, a fixed flow, unchangeable. Just like yours was, father.

Well, someone was edgy. But she felt that his words transmitted agony, pain and suffering. His words made clear that his father was gone, and probably that was what made him like this. Directing her attention to the more recent note, scribbled right under this one, she read it.

Father, it took me some time, but now I know, fate can be changed, we can change. We can strive to improve and set our own destiny.

Unconsciously, she smiled, but then she felt guilty for prying over this, it was way personal, but at the same time, she felt like she got to know him a little better, and understand him more. Deciding that she pried enough, Tenten closed the book. She would just go over Wikipedia or anything to know better about her project. An idea popped out in her head, she rushed out of her room, his book in hand.

She knew where their room was, she had accompanied Lee until his door before for him to grab some things. And there she went, hoping to be lucky and find Neji in there. Knocking the door, she waited. For her relief, Neji opened the door, eyes widening upon seeing her. She suppressed a laugh at his shocked expression to see her.

"What's up" she greeted him, waiving his book in her hand. His gaze went towards the book, and he immediately widened his eyes even more.

"Hn" rolling her eyes at him, she handed him the book.

"I was wondering if you already did the paper" Neji relaxed once she said that. She figured that he tensed up because of his little fate notes, making her feel even guiltier.

"I was about to start" he told her nonchalantly, his usual stoic face now present. She grinned.

"Mind if I join?" She asked. He seemed to think about it for a while, before stepping aside, giving her space to enter his room. She swiftly went in, and as he closed the door, she suddenly felt very self aware. They were alone in his room. She started to get nervous.

"You can sit in here" he picked a chair, that she supposed it was from Lee's desk, placing it by the side of his chair. She sat without a word, afraid that her nerves would make her voice feminine. "Are you ok? You look paler" he commented, making her head snap at him. His face was still stoic, but he had an eyebrow up.

"I - yeah, I'm cool" her voice, as Julio would describe it, was like a twelve year old kid going through puberty. She facepalmed herself mentally. Neji didn't comment about it though.

"Hn, did you read..."

"Your notes? No! Of course no, what made you think I would have read them? They were so tiny and barely visible" she snapped at him, making him blink at her. Then, for her surprise, he chuckled.

"I was going to ask about the book. You really are a bad liar, by the way" he told her again smirking. She pouted.

"I'm sorry, I, well, I'm a very curious person. I hope you're not mad..."

"I'm not. Hope you don't find me too weird after reading them though." He gave her a shy look, and she felt a smile tugging in her lips. He was adorable.

"Don't worry, everyone has their emo phase." She grinned when he gave her a glare, "to square things up, I'll tell you about my emo phase. I'm very fond of fortunetelling, just like your fate belief, mine was that it was absolute, but when I didn't get into a car accident like it predicted, I started to think that maybe it wasn't like that. Not to mention that I was utterly relieved, I was so scared to enter a vehicle that it was needed to drag me into one. Nowadays I just use it as a hobby" she told him, cheeks with a faint tint of red. Her brother teased her to no end on that time.

"I guess we were kind of the same then" he chuckled.

"But I was less edgy" she teased, grinning, making him roll his eyes.

"Sure" he replied, a little smile in his lips. "Anyway, let's go back to the paper. Have you understood well about the topic?" He asked.

"About that... I was hoping to understand it better while doing the paper... I might not be as helpful to do it, but at least I'll prepare for the presentation" she grinned sheepishly at him.

"Why I'm not surprised" he said dramatically, she had to stop herself from laughing at him, instead, she smiled at him.

They worked on the paper, well, Neji worked while she kept pestering him with questions. For her surprise, he wasn't annoyed, replying each one of them calmly. Tenten wondered how she could have thought of him being an asshole before, because, right now, he was the exact opposite. Sure, he was still a little antisocial, but he was kind, gentle, and funny in his own way. She was comfortable with him, and Tenten felt like her brother did have a point about him. Widening her eyes in realization of her thought just now, alarm bells started to ring in her head. She wasn't crushing on Neji. No no no, now way, or way? Well, he surely was a sight for sore eye, and he smelled good, even after practice, his scent was wonderful. And even if his hair was messy and he had sweat dripping from his face, he was hot as heck. Him being so considerate, kind and gentle didn't help her cause.

"Tenshi?" He called her, and her head snapped at him, his pale eyes looking directly at her grey ones. Suddenly feeling extremely hot, she just grunted, feeling the need to get out of there before she did something bad.

"I, uh, remembered that I need to get ready for practice" she quickly got to her feet and rushed out of his room, without even waiting for him to reply.

"But... we don't have practice this week..." Neji mumbled, not knowing what happened.

….

The next few days, she tried to avoid him the maximum. She was back at blushing just the sight of him, but now it was worse. Just thinking about him was making her feel all girly and heat would creep on her cheeks. She made a point to avoid him as subject in her talks with her brother, as she didn't want to give him more room to tease her. She was successful on her task, somewhat, until Friday arrived. Their presentation was due. Staying in close proximity with him, his scent intoxicating her, while she needed to focus on what she needed to say, it was one of the hardest things she did.

"Are you ok?" And of course, he would be concerned. She nodded at him, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"I'm not good with presentations…" She lied. If he saw through her lie or not, he didn't let it show. They did good, even though she was close to hyper ventilating here and there. A breath of relief came when it was done.

…

Since the day they did the paper together, Neji noticed that Tenshi started avoiding him again. He would flush whenever he was at sight. He didn't quite get what that meant, but some part of him was hopeful that it was a good thing. Another thing that he noted, was that the boy seemed more and more feminine to him, but he figured that it was just his hormones taking a tool on his imagination. Before the presentation, he saw that Tenshi was a nerve wreck. He said that it was because of the presentation. Neji knew that it was a lie, but let it slide, not wanting to further increase his nervousness. After the presentation was done, they had lunch, which was lively like always.

"Anyway" Ino started, and Neji had a bad feeling about it. "There's a party next Saturday, in my cousins house-" she kept talking, but Neji turned her off as soon as he hear the word party. He for sure wouldn't ever think about -

"Yosh! Let's celebrate our victory Tenshi! Let's go!"

"Yeah! A party sounds nice" like he was thinking, he wouldn't ever think about missing this party.

"Neji! My eternal rival, what do you think?" Lee gave him a knowing look, and Neji had to think on why Lee was giving him that look.

"Hn, sure" the entire table looked at him shocked.

"Oe Hyuga, are you feeling well?" Kiba asked, worried that he might have burnt a fuse. He wasn't so far off though.

"Yes. Like lee said, to celebrate our victory" that was the reason for sure, not because Tenshi was going.

And you said that the guy was a terrible liar

Hn

"That means that Hinata-chan can go too?" Naruto butted in, eyes shining. The girl in question blushed madly, but she looked at Neji, her eyes hopeful. Neji wanted to deny that, but the glare he was receiving from someone prevented him. Grumpily, he nodded.

"I… can?" Hinata asked, incredulous. It was the first party that she would be attending. Neji cleared his throat, still not liking the idea, but giving in anyway.

"Yes"

"Awesome! Hinata-chan, let's go together!" Naruto held both hands of the girl in his. She managed to squeak a yes before fainting, and soon enough, lunch became a war field.

…

Having one week off from practice was a blessing, Tenten desperately needed the rest. The rest paid off, and for today's practice she was like new, ready to receive Neji's bazooka like serves. Neji… Her mind wandered towards her most recent problem. Not that he was bad but liking him was. She was supposed to be act like a man, getting a hold of herself. She knew that Neji was a no nonsense man, and if her control slipped and she let her feelings show, he would probably avoid her like her brother avoided studying. She also knew that she couldn't avoid him forever, they were in the same team, and she was a setter, and he was the best attacker. They needed to be in constant communication. Sighing again, Tenten got to her feet, she needed to get ready for practice.

Guy was, as always, relentless with his warm ups, and for the first time, she was glad. It was a perfect excuse to why her cheeks were reddened. After warm ups, Neji ordered them to practice fundamentals again, while he coached the freshmen more closely, another thing that she was glad, his attention wouldn't be on her. After fundamentals were done, they had a little game, and for her dismay, or relief, Neji was on her team. In her worry about Neji, she didn't notice how someone else had his sight on her.

"Good work Tenshi" Neji complimented her, after their team won over Sasuke's team. She stared at him like a deer in headlights.

"Uhm, sure" she tried to sound calm, but she couldn't really stay calm when the rest of the team was already in the lockers and just her and him were out there. She knew she should have sprinted to the safety of her room, but it was routine now for her to wait for Lee.

Neji looked like he wanted to say something else, but refrained, giving her a nod and walking towards the locker room. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Receiving a compliment from our captain, ain't that special" a voice startled her. It was Nomura, and he didn't look very pleased with her. She sighed.

"It's not, really" she knew he didn't like her, but it was pathetic to hold a grudge on her because she was a starter. One should think about the team!

"Oh, it is. Neji rarely compliments people" Nomura got closer to her, her instincts yelling for her to forget about Lee and just get out of there.

"Well, then that proves that I deserved it" but she was no chicken, she wouldn't give that guy the pleasure to scare her away. Nomura glared at her, and she wondered if she hit a nerve.

"You enter this team and are a starter right away, not to mention that you are receiving compliments here and there, even from captain. I've been in here for much more time, and yet, captain never even directed a word of phrase for me." Yep, definitely hit a nerve.

"What you want me to say? Work harder if you want a compliment too, if that's what you're so sore about" she knew her voice wasn't so nice, but her patience with him was getting thin. Deciding that she had enough of this discussion, she started to head out, she would apologize to Lee later.

What she didn't expect, was a firm hand grasping her shoulder and turning her around. It happened so quick that she didn't have time to process, she just felt pain. In one movement, Nomura grabbed her, bend her in a way that his knee found her stomach. He roundhouse kneed her. Strongly. Black dots blurred her vision while the pain invaded her system, her air was knocked of from her and she felt her throat close, not letting her breathe. She fell on her knees, trying her best to grasp some oxygen.

"See, you're just a wimpy boy" she didn't need to see Nomura's face to know that he was smirking smugly at her. She wanted to tell him that he was a coward for attacking her when she was with her back at him, and that if she knew that he was going to attack, she would have whooped his ass. Which was true, she was good in fights, when she knew she was in a fight.

"Co...ward" she managed between grasps of air, glaring at him. She was being able to breathe again, with difficulty, but at least she wouldn't suffocate. His face contorted into rage, and she saw him prepare another kick, now to her head she presumed.

"You're still able to talk? You little excuse of a man" and he went for the kick. Tenten was ready this time, ignoring the pain, she ducked, making Nomura miss her head with his kick. For his misfortune, he put so much strength and momentum in his kick that the fact that he didn't hit a thing made him lose his balance, his support feet slipping, making him fall. In a swift movement, she managed to get on top of him, and would have punched him, if someone had not prevented her, holding her wrist.

"Don't" she looked at said someone, it was Neji. He wasn't looking at her, but glaring at Nomura, whose eyes where almost jumping out of his skull from shock and fear. "If you do that it will be bad for you." He had a point, Guy made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate fights inside the court. Grumpily, she got to her feet with Neji's help, wincing in pain. Her stomach would have a nasty bruise for some days.

"Fine" she grumbled, still grumpy that she didn't get to punch the bastard. Neji gave her a concerned look, letting go of her wrist.

"Tenshi! Are you alright?" She heard Lee yell at her. Turning around she saw that most of the team was there. She flushed slightly, embarrassed that they saw her weak form just now.

"Yeah, it was just a weak blow, I was more shocked to be honest" she lied, it hurt like hell, but the glare Nomura gave her made it worth.

"Nomura" Neji directed his voice at the boy, who now looked more scared than angry. "You will come with me" Neji ordered in a dangerous voice, his eyes dark with rage, and started to walk away. Nomura quickly got to his feet and followed him, looking to the ground as he felt the gazes of his other teammates.

Said teammates came to her, asking if she was alright and telling how awesome her dodging was. She thanked them for their concerns, excusing herself to go to her room, Lee by her side.

"Are you really alright?" He asked, again, now that they were out of anyone's hearing.

"Yeah, lucky he didn't hit my chest" she confessed, a hit to the chest would have been way worse. Lee nodded in agreement.

"You want me to fetch some ice?" He offered kindly. She gave him a warm smile.

"No, it's fine, I'll just shower and put some cream on it" she told him, remembering how Julio sent her a healing cream that he made. She was glad for it.

"Ok, if you need anything, just say it" she smiled again to Lee. He could be loud and weird sometimes, but he was the kindest person she knew. They walked in silence until her room. Lee insisted on accompanying her to the end. Getting inside, she went straight to the bathroom, quickly discarding her shirt and bindings. There was an ugly purple bruise already, and she winced when touched it. Wasting no more time, she showered, taking extra care when washing her belly. When she was done, she put some of Julio's cream, a burning sensation started on the area applied. It would help, she was sure. Binding only her stomach, she put her pajamas, in hopes that sleep would make her feel better.

...

Saying that Neji was angry was a misjudgment. The guy was breathing fire. He wanted to beat the crap of Nomura until he was just a pulp, but he couldn't. Tsunade may not care about a brawl here and there, but Guy did. It was ok to challenge each other, but not beat. If you did that, you were out of the team. And if he did what he wanted with Nomura, he was sure that Tsunade would get his neck for it, because he didn't want to just punch once or twice. Glaring again at the boy behind him, he made his way towards where he knew Guy sensei would be.

"My youthful students! What brought you here?" Guy asked as soon as he spotted them. Neji bowed, then glared at Nomura, waiting for him to spill what he did. When the boy didn't say a word, Neji did.

"Nomura wicked kicked Tenshi" he hissed, anger boiling inside. Guy's smile vanished, and the older man looked sternly at Nomura, who flinched.

"Nomura?" Guy wanted to hear it from Nomura himself.

"I... yes, I hit Tenshi..." he admitted, knowing it was futile to say otherwise. Guy closed his eyes, taking a calming breath.

"Then, you know that you're out" he simply said, and Nomura nodded, starting to walk away. Neji stared at Guy.

"That's all?" He asked, anger still boiling inside him.

"He is out of the team, isn't that punishment enough?" Neji wanted to say that no, it wasn't, but he knew that it was the maximum punishment. After all, brawls are accepted in this school, as long as one doesn't get too hurt, and Tenshi said he was fine. "How is Tenshi?" Guy brought him back from his thoughts. The older man had a concerned look on his face now.

"He's fine, I think" and hoped.

"Good, I'll talk with him tomorrow. Now you should go to sleep my dear student! Your youthness won't charge itself alone!" Guy gave him his thumbs up and smile. Neji didn't need a second order to get out of there, rushing to his dorm. Once there, he sighed, frustrated and angry. He had seen when Nomura was preparing the kick while Tenshi was on his knees, and he sprinted to stop him. He was late, but Tenshi's agility and quick thinking surprised him, making him relieved. If it wasn't for the team, Neji would gladly let the boy punch Nomura, and would probably have joined too, but he didn't want him expelled.

"Neji!" Lee shouted at him, his face close to his. He backed away immediately, hitting the door behind him. Lee raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you ok? I've been calling you for some time but you spaced out with an expression that screamed that you want to kill someone"

"I've... been?" He blinked, surprised.

"How were things with Nomura?" Lee gladly decided to change the topic.

"He got expelled" he limited himself to saying, blood starting to boil again. Lee nodded. "How's Tenshi?"

"He's ok, but he god kicked pretty hard, I could tell he was having trouble walking" Neji's face twisted in more anger.

"If Nomura gets close to him again, I'll kill him"

Damn right

Yeah

Lee gave him an odd look. He knew that maybe he was exaggerating. They had fights before in the team, and he never reacted this way. Deciding to ignore whatever Lee wanted to talk more, he went for a cold shower, one that would help calm him. After the shower was done, he was met with Lee again. He frowned. Lee was usually sleeping by now.

"Do you want to... talk about...?" Lee asked. Neji gave him a questioning look.

"Talk about what? Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"You and Tenshi" Lee was more objective this time. Neji's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Neji, don't lie to me" Lee gave him a look that he knew well. They had been friends for far too long for him to know that it meant that he already knew, just wanted to hear it from him. Neji sighed, massaging his temple. Sitting on his bed he gave Lee a defeated look.

"I, well, don't know what to say" it wasn't a lie. He wasn't good in expressing his emotions, and it wasn't today that he would learn how, he was stressed enough.

"Have you two talked?" Neji snorted at Lee's question.

"Lee, if I don't even know what to tell you, do you really think I would know what to say to him?" He said exasperatedly. Lee seemed to ponder about it.

"Are you ok with it?"

"I think I am. Have thought about this for quite a while..." Neji admitted, closing his eyes and sighing loudly, "but I don't know about my family... or Tenshi himself... I guess I'm afraid to do anything and scare him away, I mean, what if he isn't... you know" he had trouble voicing it out, even though he was fine with it, he had yet to say it out loud.

"I don't think you would scare him away" Lee told him, face serious.

"He's gay then?" Neji snapped, feeling heat in his face.

"No" Lee said, and Neji slumped his head, "but you two really need to talk, I mean, I can't really know, maybe he is. But talk, before anything, talk" Lee amended after seeing him get depressed. Neji gave him a weak nod.

"I guess..." Neji then gave a small chuckle, "it will be the first time someone rejects me" he never tried anything with anyone, but he was well aware that if he tried, the odds of him being rejected were too low, close to zero. Lee gave him an awkward smile.

"You never know until you try it" Neji rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, let's sleep, it's been a long day" Lee nodded and got under his blankets. Neji did the same, even though he knew he wouldn't be getting sleep anytime soon.

This chapter took forever to write haha But it turned out ok, i think. Hope you all liked it! Leave your review to let me know what are your thoughts so far! I'm very excited for next chapter hehe

Anyway, see you guys on the next chapter, be safe!