Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 3 – Realizations
The first week passed by, and Neji was glad that he could finally enjoy the weekend. It was a habit of his to wake up early for gym and go for a run later. So at 7 am sharp he was already lifting some weights at the gym. After almost an hour he would go for a run, to keep his cardio and stamina in check.
Tenten wasn't a morning person, but she didn't mind waking up early for volleyball practice. What she didn't expect was to see goddamn Hyuga running in a sports outfit, and by the looks of it he was exercising for some time already.
Tenten cursed under her breath. She wasn't blind, Neji was handsome, but seeing him running under the morning sun, damped in sweat, shirt clinging into his torso, letting her see the silhouette of his muscles under that soaked shirt, his usually impeccable hair now in a messy man bun. That was a sight from heaven.
She was staring and she knew, and for some godly reason he didn't notice her, which she was relieved, because right now her face must be some shadows of red. Forcing herself to look away, she tried to suppress her blush and decided to run for the court.
After the practice was over, she excused herself from her friends. Today she would have lunch with her 'family', Lee and Guy. She didn't get to interact much with them all week, just some messages here and there, but they made a deal of always having at least meal together on the weekends.
Said men were waiting for her at the university gates, wearing matching green, skintight shirts, and dark green pants. In comparison with the heavenly sight this morning, this one was hellish.
"My youthful flower! How have you been this week?" Her tutor, Guy, asked, hugging her in a tight hug. Frantically tapping Guy's shoulder for him to let her go and be able to breathe again, Tenten grinned.
"Was good, only a few things here and there, but everything has been, uh, youthful" She gave Guy a thumbs up, which the man answered with a ferociously thumbs up and a laugh. "What about you guys?"
"It was splendid! We put in al lot of work and workouts" Lee beamed, jumping in place like a kid who just got some candy. Tenten just hopped that he did good in his studies, although he would probably seek a career like Guy, who was a top volleyball athlete.
"Indeed, this week Lee was able to beat his record on his jumps!" Guy proclaimed proudly, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"It was all thanks to you Guy-sensei!" Now it was time for Lee's tears to stream down his cheeks. Tenten just sighed, those two were a lost cause.
"I see, good, good. Now, shall we head for the restaurant?" She interjected. Both males nodded and cleaned their tears with their sleeves, smiling to her, and she return with a smile of her own. They were a weird duo, but she loved them dearly.
After arriving at the restaurant, Tenten ordered herself some dumplings, while Guy and Lee ordered spicy curry.
While the men chatted among them, discussing future ridiculous workouts routine, Tenten settled in watch the movement of the establishment. It was rather empty, but then again, it was rather early as well.
Her heart stopped when she saw emerge from the front door four people with some 'weird eyes'. Her face must have been funny because Guy asked her what happened.
"Umm, bathroom" and with that, she rushed to the bathroom with a velocity that would make the green beasts jealous. The memories of that guy running were successfully buried during practice, but they reemerged with just a look at him. Looking at her reflection, she noted how red she was. It wasn't worse than Hinata's blush around Naruto, she figured, but still, she was crimson red.
Slapping her cheeks with both hands, she calmed herself, thinking of all the times that Neji Hyuga were an asshole with her during the week, which were quite large. Everyday they would have a small bickering, whether she would be late for class, or be struck in a question which he would give her some tips in form of insults, or just be a pain in the ass in general.
After her face was free of the blush, she made her way back to her seat, eyes glued to the ground.
Neji had seen her making a run for the bathrooms. At first, he thought it was just an illusion, but five min later he saw her emerge from there. What he found odd though is where she sat, with Rock Lee and Might Guy. From all the people on earth, he would never think that they would be on the same table.
He understood that Lee saw Guy as a father, but Tenten there was a strange connection. She didn't seem like the type of girl to be yelling about youthful things and he was sure that she wasn't addicted to workouts as the beast duo. Maybe she and Lee were dating?
The though send a pang in his chest and he furrowed his brow, he never had that, and he was too young to be having a heart attack. Maybe he overdid this morning exercises.
"Neji, are you listening?" His uncle asked him, forcing him to change his attention to his family.
"Sorry uncle, I got distracted thinking about a class" He lied, but it was better than to say what he was thinking until then. Hinata gave him a sideway look but said nothing.
"I know you are a very dedicated man, but now its not the time to think about classes my nephew" Hiashi said chuckling.
"Yeah Neji-nii, you need to loosen up a little more!" Hanabi, his other, lesser angelic cousin grinned at him. Choosing to ignore her, he nodded to his uncle.
Hiashi went back to talking about how they should plan a trip on Christmas, but Neji didn't pay much attention, just hummed, or grunted in agreement, his mind thinking on how the brunette would end up with Lee.
He would sometimes glance back where the girl and his teammate were, watching their interactions. Lee said something that made her laugh, making Neji's left eye twitch. She seemed like a different person, smiling and laughing around Lee.
A pang in his chest again, this was getting him worried, he probably should go to a doctor to see if everything's alright with him.
Hinata and Hanabi were conscious of their cousin odd behavior. Hinata saw Tenten, and Hanabi noticed that since her cousin fixated his eyes in a woman with her hair up in two buns, he seemed very distracted. Both shared a look, Hinata having a more innocent look and Hanabi grinning deviously.
Tenten's plan to go unnoticed by the Hyugas were drowned as soon as Lee landed his eyes on Neji while they were leaving. If Hinata wasn't there she would just ignore, but she joined Lee to salute the Hyugas.
"Neji, my eternal rival, how nice to see you here!" Lee shouted, and Tenten winced. There were more discrete ways of greeting someone weren't they? And eternal rival? What the heck was that about?
Now the entire restaurant was staring at them, and Neji was glaring, hard, at Lee. She never saw the boy have such a murderous aura around him. She gulped, turning her attention to Hinata.
"H-Hey Hinata, fancy seeing you here" She waived awkwardly.
"Tenten-san, nice to see you" Hinata smiled cheerfully, that girl was an angel on earth, Tenten bet her life on it. Neji didn't say a word, he just sat there, still death glaring at Lee.
"Hello there," A little version of Hinata suddenly spoke, "I'm Hanabi Hyuga, nice to meet you" the girl, Hanabi, grinned at Tenten.
Tenten regained her composure, she was glad that, Neji apart, they seemed nice.
"Hi, I'm Tenten, Hinata's roommate, nice to meet you" She bowed respectfully. The older man who said nothing smiled kindly at her, making a gesture for her to straighten herself again.
"Nice to meet you Tenten-san, I am Hiashi, Hinata's father. I hope you and her are getting along well" He said, in a deep, gentle voice.
"For sure, Hinata is the best roommate I could have wished for" at this, Hinata blushed a little, Hanabi laughed and Hiashi smiled and nodded.
"Glad to hear it" It was nice to know that not all Hyugas had a stick up on their arses.
"Ah, so you're Neji's uncle, Nice to meet you," Guy butted in from nowhere, "I'm one of his coaches from volleyball, and I must say that he is a splendid player! A very complete and youthful athlete!" Guy flashed a bright, giant smile at Hiashi.
"And I'm Rock Lee! Neji's eternal rival and teammate!" And there was Lee, mimicking Guy's smile. Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata's expression was of confusion over the rival part, and Neji was still with a dark aura around him, but now at least he wasn't glaring at Lee, he had his eyes closed.
"Right, right, now we need to go you two" Tenten begun pushing both beasts away, before they got overexcited, "Have a nice meal" she offered an apologetic smile for the Hyugas and left, pulling both beasts with her.
"Well, that is a lively trio" Hanabi commented, "Hey Neji, you should learn with then" she joked, earning a glare from her cousin, prompting her to laugh.
They resumed their lunch with a light conversation, but Neji was still in a bad mood. They indeed had nothing in common, so Tenten and Lee should be dating.
It was not his business, but just the sheer thought of that made him loose his appetite, and it was intriguing him.
His mood didn't change all day, and at night while he meditated, he mused over and over of how the heck did she and Lee end up together.
"I'm sorry about the ruckus my family put in the restaurant" Tenten kept apologizing to Hinata, who just waived her hand at her.
"It was no big deal. They are very lovely" Hinata's words were genuine. Tenten relaxed.
"They sure are" She started, "They have their… unique loudness, but I would do anything for them… I was a street brat before Guy welcomed me to his house, where he already had Lee. Needless to say, he saved me" Tenten would probably be dead or in prison if weren't for Guy taking her out of streets at young age. Now she was almost halfway through college, healthy and a bright future ahead.
"I'm glad that he found you" Hinata gave her a warm smile, and Tenten felt blessed for having such a nice person as a roommate. They chatted through the night until it was time for them to sleep.
Second week of classes was up, and Tenten didn't feel rested at all. Her dreams were of a sweaty Hyuga. Cursing under breath, she wondered how that guy could have had such impact on her with only being sweaty. Usually, sweaty people were gross.
Picking up her pace to not be late and having to hear Neji tell her a rude remark, she was just in time, seating herself in her seat, next to the genius, who was surprisingly silent, his eyes still closed, like he was sleeping. Deciding that it was for the best to let him be, Tenten made a mental note to avoid making eye contact with him.
Neji felt her presence next to him, but decided to ignore. He didn't have the energy to pick on her. Discreetly glancing towards her, he noted that her attention was purely on the teacher, her face impassive, like always. Looking at the teacher, he tried hard to pay attention to class, but that damn girl went back into his thoughts.
Wasn't it enough that she made fun of him? She had to share room with his cousin and probably polluting Hinata's pure soul, and now she was importuning him without doing nothing, just ignoring him. This girl surely was bad for him.
He ignored her all class, and when class was over, he just watched her leave in a hurry as always. Sighing, he knew something was wrong, she usually would glare at him at some point, but today she didn't even look his way.
'What am I doing, worrying about her now?' He scowled to himself, dragging himself to his next class.
By the time of practice, Neji couldn't hold his questions anymore, and went straight to Lee, ignoring everyone else who greeted him.
"Lee" Neji started but was soon interrupted.
"My youthful rival! Have you come to me to finally challenge me?" Lee loudness was getting on his nerves more than usual. Taking a deep breath, Neji asked.
"How do you know Tenten?" Lee blinked, then smiled brightly.
"The youthful flower?" That's it, Neji was going to serve into Lee's face, "She is my adoptive sister"
'Adoptive sister?' Now it was Neji's turn to blink. Lee was still talking, but Neji's mind was blank. Just that phrase made his shoulders relax, and he released a breath he didn't know he was holding. 'They are not together…'
"Why the question, my youthful friend?" Snapping back to reality, Neji cleared his throat.
"She's in the same class as I, was just curious after I saw you both with Guy at the restaurant" Lee didn't need to know how that had affected him, heck, even him didn't know why it affected him so much.
"Ahh, how nice! She never mentioned you though" That hurt, "we were on a family meal!"
"Family?" Neji arched a perfect eyebrow.
"Yes, like I was saying, Guy-sensei adopted both of us when we were very little!" That explained some things, and he sure was glad that she wasn't like Lee or Guy, having someone like them by his side for a whole class would have been nerve wrecking.
"I see" Neji trailed, still lost in thought.
"Hey Neji, why are you so interest on Tenten?" Naruto butted in. Neji was almost ignoring him, but letting the imagination of the blond run wild would be worse. He better give him an answer to that question.
"There's no interest, we are in the same class, and was only curious about her and Lee" he calmly said, crossing his arms in front of him.
"You were jealous of Lee?" Naruto said as a matter of fact, earning some curious glances of the others there.
Neji would have laughed, but he never laughed. 'Jealous, ridiculous' But Naruto's output maybe would explain all the commotion that he was having inside all weekend. Ignoring the little voice in his head that was telling him that, he scoffed.
"Don't get me wrong Lee, but I want the most distance of that girl" the little voice in his head stated that he was lying to himself, but he ignored it.
Lee furrowed his brows and was about to say something when Guy appeared with Jiraya. The practice begun, and no one touched the subject anymore.
Almost two weeks have passed since then, and Neji was in a real predicament. Tenten still paid him no mind, and that was driving him insane. All their interactions were started by him, a rude remark here and there, helping her somewhat with a question. Even when buying tea, she would not even look at him.
Neji was angry, never anyone ignored him like that, and he trained extra hard that Saturday to relieve his stress. 'Hinata told me about a game today …' he heard that the girl's team was good, so he made would watch it to see how good they were, or at least that is what he was telling himself and Hinata.
For Tenten, she tried to avoid watching him run, unaware of her eyes on him. But every time she would go to her Saturday practice, he would be running, and her eyes would bath with the sight of his sweaty, toned body.
She had accepted her attraction to him, but she really didn't want business with him. He was cocky, egoistic, and extremely rude. Looks weren't everything after all.
Today however, she couldn't let her thoughts about the Hyuga linger too much, today was game day. It was a friendly match, but still, she always gave her all in any game.
At 10 am sharp, the game would start, Eastern Konoha University against Amegakure University. They were a smaller college, but their volleyball team wasn't bad, their coach Konan, a friend of Tsunade, was setting them in the right path, to a new reborn team. They were, however, still in the second division, and used the opportunity of friendly matches to grow their game.
Three sets against none, it was an easy win for Konoha. After the game, the girls started trading tips, and Tsunade chatted for a while with Konan.
Neji watched all the game. As soon as the bloody girl with her hair up in two buns showed up, he was entranced. While in the game, she was focused and her body moved delicately, like she was dancing instead of playing, no unnecessary movement, perfectly placed balls, when needed a good spike or block or defense.
He wasn't proud, but the way her uniform hugged her body, it highlighted her, erm, assets. He caught himself staring at her legs or butt way too many times.
"They are really good, right Nii-sama?" Hinata asked, he just grunted in return, eyes still in the brunette. The little voice that he tried so hard to hush for the past two weeks now very loud in his head, and he had to acknowledge what it was saying.
Neji Hyuga had a crush on Tenten.
TBC
Hope you all liked it. It was actually very fun to write this one. Give me your thoughts, every comment and critic are welcome!
I apologize for the grammar erros.
Have fun and be safe!
