A/N – Ok, here we go with another chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/followed/favourited this story! It really means a lot to me and I'm so happy I can create content you guys love. I hope you enjoy this chapter and of course, let me know what you think at the end!"
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto!
-X-
"You complete ASSHOLE, Shikamaru Nara!"
The moment that Tenten made her arrival home known, Shikamaru knew it meant that he had about five seconds before he had to start running for his life. He had anticipated this; he had mapped out every single escape route out of the house, possible hiding places to lay low for a while and multiple ways to cover his tracks so the seething brunette wouldn't be able to hunt him down.
What he didn't anticipate however, was his slow response to Tenten's sharp reflexes which had been honed from being a former member of the fastest team to ever emerge from Konoha. As soon as the door burst open, he found himself pinned by the arms and legs to the nearby living room wall by numerous kunai and an incredibly angry Tenten storming inside.
"You really are a son of a bitch, you know that?" she snarled, now right up in the Nara prodigies face.
Had he have not had to put up with Ino's vexed outbursts over the years, or Temari's tantrums when they were still together, Shikamaru might have actually cowered under Tenten's livid scowl.
Instead, he yawned ever so casually and said, "You know, these kunai are going to leave marks on the wall and I'm for sure not paying to repair the damage."
"Spare me your bullshit," the weapons mistress hissed venomously. "Me and Neji? Seriously, Shikamaru? What the hell were you thinking?"
"Well, I was thinking that I really didn't want to have to escort my troublesome ex and her two brothers around the village for days on end and that it would be far less of a drag if you and Hyuga did it instead," he replied easily.
"Less of a drag for you, you mean," Tenten huffed accusingly as she poked a finger to his chest.
"That's how the mind of a genius works."
"I never knew you to be such a schemer."
"I'm not Konoha's top strategist for nothing."
"More like Konoha's top, laziest and cowardly asshole," the brunette jeered before crossing her arms indignantly. "What kind of a friend are you, throwing me under the bus like that when this should've been your job?"
Shikamaru raised a single eyebrow in amusement at her expression before answering, "The kind of friend that wants you to tie up loose ends with your teammate because he cares about you."
Tenten could feel her eyes roll right around the back of her head before they refocused on Shikamaru's trapped figure. He was making no attempt to free himself and the fact that her glare seemed to have no effect on him made his face seem all the more punchable.
"Right," she drawled, sarcasm oozing through her tone, "because throwing me right in the deep end really shows that you care about me."
"You never would've spoken to him otherwise," he paused before enquiring, "you did speak to him, didn't you?"
Tenten flushed in surprise at his sudden inquisition and answered almost stutteringly, "I…yes, I did."
"And how'd it go?"
"It went…fine," was all she could manage as she thought back to her conversation with Neji.
She was still trying to comprehend that it had actually happened, and though she didn't know where her relationship with Neji sat at the present time, at least he was talking to her, right? Things could've turned out a whole lot worse.
The bun-haired girl shook her head and refocused her attention on the shadow user pinned in front of her. He looked expectant, as if waiting for more details so Tenten just offered, "We're on speaking terms."
"Then I don't know why you're so angry at me," Shikamaru spoke, knowing full well why she was still mad at him. "I just saved your friendship. You're welcome."
"Don't you play dumb," Tenten rounded on him, "It doesn't suit you. Besides, I wouldn't even call me and Neji 'friends' yet – more like acquaintances for the time being. Also, don't pretend like you did this for me – we both know you only did it to avoid Temari."
"Again, that's how the mind of a genius works; I kill two birds with one stone," Shikamaru smirked despite the soreness beginning to tire his limbs. "I get to elude my scary ex-girlfriend and you get to repair your friendship with Neji."
"It's not that simple and you know it."
"Yes it is," he replied nonchalantly and continued, "You're just behaving like any typical female and over analysing everything before anything even happens. If you want things to work out between you and Hyuga then you need to stop anticipating the worst case scenario and just live in the present. Build a solid foundation, mend your friendship and then make sweet, sweet love to him, get married, have lots of annoying little brats and live happily ever after. The end."
"I do not want make sweet, sweet love to Neji!" Tenten burst out defensively, her face now flushed a cherry red. "Nor do I want to get married and have kids! I don't love him or barely even like him or whatever it is you're alluding to! Besides, he's getting married anyway so me and him are never going to happen."
The Nara prodigy raised a delicate eyebrow at her last sentence and said, "Neji's getting married? I didn't think the Hyuga clan still practiced arranged marriages."
"Well, they do." Tenten said hotly. "So you can get over your stupid little matchmaking scheming cause it's never going to work."
"Whatever you say, Tenten," Shikamaru dismissed her miffed expression with a knowingly smile. "I say though, do you think you can let me down from here? My blood flow is being cut off."
"After that comment?" Tenten began, raising an incredulous eyebrow before whipping around so her back was facing him, "No. Also, you're the one cooking dinner tonight after everything you pulled today."
And with that, the brunette stalked off leaving the Nara prodigy still pinned to the wall. The man just sighed and slightly shook his head before muttering, "Troublesome."
-X-
The first thing Neji did when he reached the Hyuga compound was collapse onto his bed. He felt exhausted and he pinched the bridge of his nose with two slender fingers to help stop the throbbing headache that began to settle in. What a tiresome day it had turned out to be. The last thing he had expected was to be paired up on some mission with his former female teammate that he had neglected to speak to in years.
It was strange, seeing Tenten after so long. They hadn't exactly left on good terms and he knew he was partially to blame, but it wasn't really his fault that after his promotion to Jounin and then ANBU that it left him little to no time to see his teammates. His missions were much longer and more gruelling and on his exceedingly rare day off, he often found himself wanting alone time; mostly to sleep or recuperate. He also had the amounting pressure to meet certain expectations that the Hyuga clan maintained for him. He was regarded as their prodigy and they expected him to do great things. It was stressful and overwhelming and Neji found himself struggling to keep up with his missions, seeing his teammates, upholding Hyuga honour and keeping true to his dreams and aspirations.
So when Lee and Tenten had both confronted him, he felt himself snap – whether from exhaustion, strain, trepidation or just because he knew what they were saying was true, Neji didn't know. He'd had enough. He was sick and tired of keeping up with everyone's demands and so he had said hurtful things he didn't really mean and that afternoon, he requested his removal from Team Gai in hopes it would relieve some of the pressure he felt.
It didn't.
Instead, guilt seemed to settle all too comfortably in the pit of his stomach. He didn't speak to his former teammates – he didn't want to. For the first couple of weeks, Lee would find him and beg him with wide, pleading eyes to come back to the team and always, Neji rebuffed him. Soon later, Lee stopped trying. He barely saw any of them after that. At first, it was uncomfortable but Neji learned to push the guilt away and focused all his time and energy into achieving his dreams.
"Neji?" a small voice and a knock on the door snapped him out of his reverie.
He propped himself up onto his elbows and ran a weary hand through his hair.
"What is it, Hinata?" he murmured and shy Hyuga heiress cracked the door open ever so slightly.
"Sorry to disturb you," she said lingering in the doorway. "But Father wants to see you."
Neji let out a small sigh and pushed himself up so he was sitting on the end of the bed. By the look on Hinata's face he knew exactly what Hiashi wanted to talk to him about. He had been avoiding his uncle for weeks now, but it now seemed like the time has come.
"Alright," he said, "I'll be right there."
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed a sweater and pulled it over his head.
"You could always refuse," he heard Hinata speak up in a sympathetic voice.
"And where would that get me?" he asked monotonously.
"I know you don't want to do this; I don't want it for you either."
"It seems like you're the only one."
"Father is considerate towards you," Hinata told him, "He knows how much you value your freedom. Arranged marriages are such an outdated tradition, I don't know why the elders still carry it out."
Her tone was slightly bitter and Neji understood why. She and Naruto were to be wed quite soon, however, she had to fight tooth and nail to get out of the arranged marriage the clan had previously set up for her in order to be with the Kyubi boy. If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto had become the main prospect for becoming Konoha's next Hokage, Neji seriously doubted that the clan would've allowed his and Hinata's marriage to take place.
"You were lucky, that's all," Neji told her with a small shake of his head. "Plus, you're in line to take over the head of the clan soon and you have uncles' favour whereas I'm still from the side branch of the family. Everything I've ever done, I did it for the clan. At the very least I get to cut out the hassle of having to find someone to court. The clan picks out worthy candidates to be my bride and I select among them. There's freedom in that."
Hinata gave him a sad smile. She had noticed that ever since Neji had left his team all those years ago, he had become a different person. There was no spark in his eyes anymore, no sense of stability or happiness. Instead, it seemed as though he had reverted back into his old self, distant and fatalistic. He seemed to have lost the joy that gave his life meaning and whether Neji wanted to admit it or not, that joy stemmed from his former teammates.
"Everyone deserves to find love," Hinata stated as Neji stood up and brushed past her. "That includes you too, cousin."
He paused and tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and replied, "Maybe I just wasn't meant to find love."
With that, he strode off down the corridor and disappeared into the shadows.
-X-
"Come in."
At the sound of Hiashi's voice, Neji opened the door and stepped inside.
"You wished to see me," he said, and the older man simply nodded.
"Thank you for coming," Hiashi replied and gestured for Neji to sit down.
The Hyuga prodigy took a few steps forwards before taking a seat on the mat that lay in front of him and crossing his legs.
"I'm sure you know why I've called you here," his uncle began, his voice deep.
"Yes, sir."
Hiashi nodded at Neji's response and continued, "As you are aware, my nephew, you are soon to be wed. The Hyuga elders have been working arduously in trying to find you a suitable bride and they've managed to find many worthy candidates. We've decided its time for you to choose your bride. Over the next few weeks, we will present to you all the possible options you can choose from. I assure you; they come from noble and wealthy families and are considered honourable women. By the end of the third week, you shall choose who you wish to marry, and an engagement will immediately take place. Is this understood?"
Neji could feel his hands clenching into tight fists and a heavy weight began to sink in his stomach. Even though he knew this talk was coming, it didn't lessen the shock.
However, instead of complying, Neji found himself saying, "I've been assigned a mission."
"I am aware of this," Hiashi responded as if expecting this. "I've already spoken with the Hokage and we will be able to work around the parameters of your mission."
"I see," was all the white-eyed prodigy could manage.
It felt like too much to deal with, at the moment. He was still trying to wrap his head around being assigned the same mission as Tenten and now he also had to worry about meeting future, maybe-fiancés while he was on the job?
Neji didn't know what to expect. He definitely wasn't thrilled at the fact that he was technically being forced to marry a complete stranger, but strangely, he wasn't completely opposed to it either. Like he had said to Hinata, it cut out ninety percent of the hassle he would've had to go through trying to find someone to court. And while he never had any trouble catching the attention of the opposite sex, it was more so the fact that Neji just wasn't amazing at social interaction and intimacy. But confusingly, that made him even more desirable to women.
"You're taking this rather well, Neji," Hiashi spoke up and Neji gave him a questioning look.
"I'm sorry?"
"Well," the head of clan began with a small chuckle, "I expected you to kick up more of a fuss at the prospect of getting married. After all, you've always gone on about creating your own destiny and freedom."
"Tantrums are for children," Neji simply replied. "And freedom still has its consequences. In all honesty, uncle, it saves me a lot of effort and emotional stress and I should be honoured to choose amongst those you have picked for me."
"This is most unbecoming of you," Hiashi remarked, a hint of surprised in his tone. "You would marry one you do not love?"
"Isn't that what's expected of me?" Neji said, and continued, "I don't think I've ever known what it is like to be in love. I suppose I am lucky in the way that I won't know the pain of ever having missed it."
"Love is a beautiful thing, my nephew," the older man murmured. "I had always thought you'd be able to experience it before an arranged marriage took it away."
"Well, I suppose I'll never find out now."
"Do not be so quick to discount it," Hiashi demurred before slowly rising from his position. "Whoever you choose as your bride, even though you won't love her now, you may come to love her very much in the future."
"Yes, uncle."
Hiashi gestured to the door and Neji stood up and made his way across the room. As he laid his hand on the door-knob he heard his uncle say in a low voice, "You know, I always thought you would end up with that teammate of yours – Tenten."
Neji could feel the heat arising in his cheeks as embarrassment began to settle in. He looked up into Hiashi's face, his features relaxed and calm, almost as if what he said was an afterthought. As he contemplated about it, the idea of him and Tenten seemed somewhat ludicrous. She had been his teammate and friend for years until he left the team and now – well, he didn't really know what they were.
From all the time he had known her, she'd never had a boyfriend before, and she just didn't seem like even the dating type unlike Ino, Sakura and even Hinata who was always head over heels whenever Naruto was anywhere in proximity to her. Tenten was more interested in weapons and missions and becoming a splendid kunoichi. That was one of the reasons why Neji admired her.
For a while, there were even rumours of himself and Tenten dating widespread throughout the village. Neji never entertained such rumours and he was never made aware if Tenten harboured such feelings towards him either. Besides, he was more focused on becoming stronger than the concept of love.
Tenten definitely wasn't marriage material and the idea of them getting married, especially after everything that happened between them, was just a bizarre concept that Neji didn't want to think about.
He didn't know what to say after Hiashi's awkward comment, so he simply gave a low bow to the older man and exited the room swiftly. However, he swore he could hear Hiashi's light chuckle as the door swung close.
-X-
A/N – Another chapter done and dusted! A little shorter than my previous chapters but I promise I'll make it up to you in the next one! I've got some spicy ideas and I can't wait to share them with you. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and again, feel free to review so I can know your thoughts and feelings. Believe it or not it really helps give me ideas and motivation to keep writing. Thanks to all my loyal supporters out there!