Chapter 5: Change of Scenery

Tenten and Neji hadn't spoken to each other for weeks at a time. Tenten was barely speaking at all— not to Neji or to her friends. They started to notice her lack of socialisation. It was finally school holidays and the weather was finally warmer; the girls were in town getting ice-cream. They'd asked Tenten to come but she decided to stay at the dorm.

"Guys I'm really worried about Tenten." Sakura licked her chocolate ice-cream cone

"Yeah she and Neji haven't spoken to each other for weeks now. We need to do something"

"Maybe a change of scenery; now that it's the holidays we should go somewhere."

"Where to?" Ino asked

"We could go to our family beach house"

"You guys have a family beach house?"

"Well yeah, my parents, little sister, Neji and I usually go there for vacation when it's hot. And then we got to our winter resort obviously in winter." She explained

"Oh yeah, I forgot you Hyuuga's are loaded. But I think that's a great idea; time on the beach sounds great."

"Alright then it's settled we leave tomorrow."

They headed back to the school and found Tenten reading a book on her bed.

"Hey Tenten we're going on vacation so pack your bags." She looked up at the girls and agreed. She of all people needed a change of scenery so she got off her bed and began packing with her friends.

"Okay so what are the details?" she asked as she ate her dinner

"We're going to the Hyuuga beach house for two weeks. We've already spoken to the guys they're coming too. We leave tomorrow morning at four a.m.; it takes just over four and a half hours to get there."

"Alright than we better get to bed if we want to wake up early" Sakura said and got into her covers. They turned the lights out and went to bed; Tenten turned on her side and couldn't get Neji out of her head.

It was half past two in the morning; Tenten was the first of the girls to wake up and take a shower. The rest of the girls got up and got ready; they cleaned their room and took their luggage out by half past three. Hinata left ahead of the girls and went downstairs. They went downstairs and met the guys by the student parking lot. When they arrived they found Neji and Hinata standing in front of two Range Rovers: Hinata's was white and Neji's was black.

"When did these get here?" Naruto stared in awe

"I asked my father to have someone bring them yesterday." Hinata answered his question "Let's load the luggage and get going." She unlocked the boot.

The first car consisted of Hinata at the wheel, Naruto in the passenger's seat and Ino and Shikamaru comfortably in the back seat. The second car consisted of Neji at the wheel, Tenten awkwardly in the passenger's seat and Sasuke and Sakura in the back seat. After final check and the works the group set off on the road.

They hadn't been on the road for an hour yet and Tenten, Sasuke and Sakura had fallen asleep. Neji however was wide awake—he had to be since he was driving. The road ahead was consumed by darkness that was penetrated by the head lights of his car. He glanced to his side for a second and saw Tenten fast asleep; as much as he could tell for he could only look at her for split seconds; she looked quite comfortable and quite pure as the orange street lights poured in from her window and gave her a certain glow that he would never forget. It had been over two and a half weeks since he'd spoken to her—not since their supposed date—and he had to admit he missed having her talking to him more than he thought he would.

Did he have feelings for her? I mean sure he loved the way she'd overreact to him saying that she liked him; and the way she smiled at him—a smile that she only ever gave him and in his opinion the best smile. He also enjoyed spending time with her even when they didn't speak, they just enjoyed each other's company with a comfortable silence, and he also loved how she would shyly turn away from him when he'd made her blush. She knew the right question to ask when he didn't feel like talking and knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. The list could go on for all eternity but the thing he loved most about her was the way she said his name—to others it sounded casual, nothing really that special but to him it carried a lot of weight and meaning because of everything they'd been through together, she made his name so significant. After all that said Neji knew the answer to his question—he definitely had strong feelings for Tenten. He just didn't know what to do about it and he knew that refusing to speak to her was hurting her and that's the last thing he wanted to do to her.

It was six 'o' clock in the morning, the girls were still asleep but Sasuke just woke up. He could see Neji turning to the side ever so slightly to check up on Tenten.

"It seems I was right about you" he yawned

"What are you talking about?" Neji looked at him through the rear view mirror

"You do have feelings for her"

"Of course I do; she's a dear friend of mine"

"That's not what I meant and you know it. You have deeper feelings for her but you let your pride get in the way and it's clearly hurting her" Sasuke sat up now getting serious

"Aren't you a fine one to talk, lecturing me about pride. And what makes you think you know anything about her, unless, there's something you're not telling me" he tried hard to keep his voice under control as to not wake the girls

"That's none of your business and if you haven't noticed that she's been different for a while now, than you're even more of an idiot than I thought"

"Her not speaking has nothing to do with that night"

"It has everything to with that night. You two haven't spoken to each other since that night and it's taking its toll on her, not being able to speak to the person she cares about most. She even started shutting her friends out, she barely talks at all. If you would just get off you high horse and let her explain what happened then she'd be okay."

Silence fell over them for a few minutes before Neji spoke up again

"Do you know what happened that night?"

"Of course I do but I'll let her tell you" another long pause occurred

"What is she to you?" he couldn't help but ask, he knew so much about her on a personal level, just as much as he did

"She's a very close friend and I don't like seeing her get hurt"

"Do you care about her?"

"Absolutely" Sasuke knew what his final question would be

"Do you…"

"No…but I know you do" he finished his sentence then decided to go back to sleep they still had over two and half hours to go.

At seven both Neji and Hinata pulled up at a rest stop, it was time for breakfast. The sun was fully out and shining when everyone got out of the cars to stretch their legs.

"Finally an opportunity to stretch our legs" came Ino from the second car

"Neji and I will refuel the cars, you guys should get breakfast so long" said Hinata

"Alright see you in a few" said Sakura as she and Sasuke went in the direction of coffee shop. The rest of the group went in their own directions to get food for themselves. Tenten was about to head off when she decided to ask drivers what they wanted to eat.

"Hey Hinata is there anything special you want for breakfast?"

"Could you get me a cappuccino and a couple of croissants?"

"Sure" she then went over to Neji's car ask him what he wanted

"Anything specific you want for breakfast Neji?"

"I'll just have whatever you're having"

"Alright" she couldn't help but smile, it was the first time he'd said anything to her for a while. As soon as Tenten was gone Hinata then walked over Neji's car and stood next to him.

"Is there a problem Hinata?" he asked

"I'm not sure Neji is there?" she looked up at him "You two haven't spoken in a while, don't you think it's time to fix things?"

"I really don't want to talk about this Hinata"

"I know you don't that's why I'm the one talking so just listen for now. We both know that you care for each other but if you guys don't fix this, one of you is going to end up regretting it."

"Tenten will be fine" he broke eye contact and looked away

"I wasn't talking about her Neji." He looked at her with confusion

"Everyone can see it clear as day that Tenten is upset but I can see that it goes both ways. I know you better than you think Neji and I know you're better at hiding it than she is" she put a hand on his shoulder "The same way I don't like seeing her upset; I don't like seeing you like this either." She put her other hand on his shoulder "I do really care about you Neji and I want to see you happy, we are cousins after all" she smiled at him

When was she able to read him like this? But he couldn't help but smile at her; he knew everything she said was true.

"I know you do…" he sighed before carrying on "Thanks Hinata" then he did the unexpected and hugged her for a short time and she hugged back before they separated. They both turned to the side and saw Tenten on her way back with the food. Hinata went back to her car but not before winking at him.

"Alright Hinata here's your food and Neji since you're having that means you get a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of orange juice" she handed everything over to him before taking a seat in the car and eating her food.

They ate their food in silence but it was a comfortable silence as though things were staring to improve ever so slowly. An hour later everyone returned to the car and set off on the road again. Tenten took out her cellphone and began texting Ino.

"So how are things going with you and Neji?" Ino texted

"We're somewhat talking to each other but any mention of that night and he shuts down completely"

"At least you guys are talking again"

"I guess but I really want to tell him what happened that night because it's not what he thinks"

"You'll get your chance, I know you will" Ino replied with a smiling emoticon

It was 08:42 when the group finally reached the Hyuuga beach house. It really had taken over four and a half hours to get there. Neji and Hinata opened the large garage doors and parked their cars inside before turning off their engines.

"This isn't a beach house it's a beach castle, this place is huge!" Naruto exclaimed

The gang unloaded their luggage and followed Neji as he unlocked the door to the house and walked in first, the others following closely behind. Their eyes were greeted with luxuries of the wealthy. The floors were tiled with white marble and the walls were a cream white colour. There was a large crystal chandelier in the centre of the room; there was a double winding staircase on each side of the room leading upstairs and the windows were full length providing a magnificent view of the ocean.

"Mind explaining where everything is" Tenten couldn't stop staring at everything

"There are ten bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms. All the bedrooms are upstairs, as well as four bathrooms; the two and a half are downstairs. The kitchen is to the right and the living room and study room are to the left. Most of the bedrooms have balconies." Neji explained

As soon as everyone got the general idea of the house they all went upstairs to a bedroom of their choosing. Tenten walked into her room: it had a balcony with two chairs facing the ocean; the room itself was an off white colour and had a queen size bed with a white duvet and navy pillows as well as a joined bathroom which contained a large white marble bath, champagne tiled floors and a shower with frosted glass—talk about five star living.

She put her suitcase at the base of the bed and lay down on the soft mattress with a smile on her face.

"Do you like the room?" Tenten sat up as soon as she heard his voice, Neji was standing at her door with his arms folded

"It's beautiful" she stood up and watched him walk inside and stop in front of her. Tenten looked up into his eyes before speaking. "You know we haven't spoken in a while…not since that—

He interrupted her with a passionate kiss and immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Tenten—completely lost in the moment—wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her hands in his hair. They broke apart a few moments later and all she could do was look up at him with confusion.

"Why did you…" she asked but deep down she knew the answer and she was not at all pleased. After all they'd been through his thoughts hadn't changed, she felt a certain pain inside her chest and pushed him away. He didn't try and fight her for he knew that she'd figured it out, she knew without having him tell her. After looking at her one last time he left her bedroom.

Xxx

The girls were all sitting in the living room listening to Tenten's experience with Neji that morning.

"The nerve of that Hyuuga, how dare he just come into my room and kiss me like that." Unfortunately she didn't sound as angry as she wanted

"So in other words, you really enjoyed the kiss" Ino apparently hit a bull's eye because Tenten blushed as soon as she finished speaking

"So he came in and kissed you just like that?" Sakura asked

"Well not really, we were talking first then I brought up the night of our date and he kissed me mid- sentence"

"Oh I get, he's still not too comfortable about talking about the night you stood him up—and he's a Hyuuga."

"I didn't stand him up, he just thinks I did and everytime I try to explain what happened he thinks I'm going to say I don't have feelings for him and that's why I stood him up."

"I think by not showing up you hurt his pride, I mean he's tie for first place with Sasuke for the most desired guy in school. He could get a date without even uttering a single word, then he gets a date with his best friend and she doesn't show up, it's got to hurt."

"Oh boo-who so I hurt his pride, that doesn't give him the right to act the way he's been acting"

"I'm sure you've heard this before but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway, you guys need to talk and soon."

"How am I supposed to do that if he keeps dodging the situation?"

"No offence Tenten but you've been too soft with him, if he won't sit down and talk about it then you have be a little more forceful and demand that he hears you out. But that can wait until tomorrow; right now I say we hit the beach."

The girls got changed and headed outside to take advantage of the great weather. Ino wore an aquamarine bikini, Sakura wore a canary yellow one piece with cut outs on either side, Tenten wore a navy nautical patterned bikini and Hinata wore a white bikini one-piece. Tenten went straight into the water while Ino decided to catch a tan, Sakura was still testing the water and Hinata decided to hang back with Ino. Tenten—being as sly as always—managed to wet Sakura when she wasn't looking; causing her to chase Tenten into the water, going on about how she was going to destroy her. Tenten was enjoying herself though; after a while Sakura managed to calm down and helped Tenten get Ino and Hinata into the water. After ten minutes the girls were all in the water splashing each other and chasing each other; clearly having a great time. But it was short lived when Ino saw a figure standing on top of the hill above where they were floating—it was Naruto.

"Cannon Ball!" he yelled at the top of his lungs before jumping off and plummeting to the water below him. Ino and Sakura managed to swim out of the way just in time to avoid Naruto's giant splash.

And next thing you know all the guys were on the beach with the girls. Neji and Shikamaru—being boring as ever stayed on the beach while Naruto—as was mentioned earlier—was already in the water while Sasuke was surfing—with incredible talent. Sakura watched as he maneuvered his way across the waves and managed to stay ahead of the wave as it curled over, he looked so focused and like he was enjoying himself. He did a flip over the waves then surfed in front of Sakura.

"You looked pretty good out there"

"Do you want to try?" he held out his hand to her

"No ways, I can't surf."

"Don't worry I'll help you; just get on." He helped her up on to his surfboard and took them back to the shore. As soon as they were on the sand Sasuke started giving Sakura some tips.

"Surfing is quite simple, it's all about balance. Your body should be as fluid as the waves you ride; all while keeping balance on your surfboard." He stood right behind her with his chest against her back and put his arms on her hips—making Sakura blush big time "The best way for you to navigate your board is to keep your knees slightly bent, if you stay standing upright you're that much easier to knock off your board. Got it?"

"Um, I think so" she replied with the blush still on her face

"Think you can handle it on the water?"

"It's worth a try" she took his board and went into the water. She stroked her way deeper into the water and caught a wave on her first attempt. She stood up and maneuvered the surfboard like a professional; she then surfed through a wave as it curled over creating a tunnel. She waved out to Sasuke before doing 360 degree turn on the board and dove into the water. He watched her with shock at first then ended up smirking—so that's how she wanted to play it.

She swam back to shore and handed back his surf board with a smug look on her face.

"So how was that?"

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" he smirked at her

"Yes I did"

"You never told me you could surf" he put his arms around her waist

"You never asked and I didn't finish my sentence; I was going to say that I can't surf as well as I used to" she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him

Xxx

It was late afternoon; the gang was relaxing on the beach when Ino had idea.

"Hey guys why don't we play a game of beach volleyball"

"Sounds interesting, what are the stakes?" Tenten peered at Ino from the top of her sunglasses

"How about, the losing team has to cook dinner and do the dishes" She suggested

"You're on, so who's on which team?"

"You, Neji, Naruto and Hinata on one team and Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru and me on the other team."

"Let's do it" Tenten stood up and headed to the net—that was set up earlier that day—followed by the others.

The two teams stood on their opposite sides of the net; Ino's side was serving first—she had the ball in her hands for a few seconds then without warning she threw it into the air and slapped to the other side. It came right in Tenten's direction; she leaped up and hit it forward for Naruto jump for but Sasuke jumped up as well hoping to hit it before Naruto could but that wasn't the case—Naruto hit it just before Sasuke and it landed on the beach on his side—one point for Naruto's team.

Ino's team didn't stay down for too long though—Shikamaru passed the ball to Ino who passed it forward to Sakura who hit the ball onto the other teams' side, scoring themselves a point.

The game had been going on for a while; first team to fifteen points would win the match. Both teams were tired but still determined to play—both sides had fourteen points, Neji's serve. He hit the ball over to the other side, Sasuke hit the ball up and it ascended literally between both sides. Naruto looked back at Tenten and she nodded in confirmation and began running towards him. He had his hands intertwined and ready for her; he caught her foot and launched her upwards in pursuit of the ball. The same tactic had been used by the other team as Sasuke launched Sakura into the air. The two girls looked at each other for a split second before turning their attention back to the ball. They were both the same distance above the ground but Tenten managed to hit the ball over the net before Sakura could—securing victory for her team. Tenten landed on her feet right after the ball hit the other side; her team won fifteen to fourteen.

"That was a close match but we won Ino." She high-fived her

"Yeah good job, but I'll beat you next time"

They all headed back to the house together to get ready for dinner. The sun was setting over the horizon while the group settled in the living room.

"So what's for dinner tonight?" Hinata asked

"I think you guys should go all out and make tiny pizzas" Tenten suggested

"Sounds great, I love pizza" Naruto commented

"Fine but I think it would be easier if the work was split up; two people make the pizzas and two people do the dishes—

"I call making the pizzas with Sasuke" Sakura interrupted

"Hey you can't call that; I wasn't done speaking yet!" Ino yelled

"Too bad I said it first so you're stuck doing the dishes" she stuck her tongue out

Tenten rolled her eyes at her arguing friends then went upstairs to her room. She took off her swimsuit and went to take a shower.

A few minutes later Neji knocked at her door but there was no response; so he decided to walk in. He walked past the side table by her bed and picked up the photo frame she kept. It was the photo frame he gave her on Valentine's Day. He sighed and walked out on to her balcony to clear his head—lost in thought about Tenten.

"Neji?" she walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body

"Tenten I didn't realise you were…" he trailed off

"Well since you're already here; did you need me for something?" she walked over to the closet

"No it's alright; it wasn't important" he looked at her for a moment before heading to the door and leaving.

Tenten got dressed in her royal purple pyjama top with the number '10'on the front in black and her black shorts then headed downstairs to her friends.

The group ate their dinner in the living room and helped clear the table before relaxing in their own parts of the house. Ino and Shikamaru finished the dishes and joined their friends as they relaxed and talked. Later everyone went to bed around the same time.

Tenten laid awake in her bed thinking about when Neji came into her room earlier that night. He seemed quite bothered by whatever he wanted to tell her; why would he just dismiss it as nothing? She had to talk to him tomorrow; it was finally time.