Another gift for my darling xaburame15, who asked for a fic about his favorite couple.
And when my sweet baby asks I will always deliver.
(Also, look! This is my 50th little story! (I don't count the one about the kids))
Tenten grumbled as she tugged at the kimono she wore, fidgeting and hissing as she tried to figure out why the hell she was being forced to wear the stupid thing. It felt bulky and crooked, heavy and hot, and no matter how many times Neji gave her that patronizing look of his she knew that the stupid thing really was itchy.
She hated itchy.
"Tenten," Neji sighed as he grabbed her arm to keep her from pulling at her sleeves any longer. "You're going to have to stop twitching so much when we get to the estate." Tenten scowled at him and considered taking out one of her hidden kunai and throwing it at his stupid face, but she decided it would be better not to. The stupid kimono restricted her movements too much for her to do any real damage anyway.
"I can't help it if this stupid thing doesn't fit right. I don't see why I have to wear it anyways since it only makes me feel like I'm a bloated beached whale." Neji shook his head at her, prompting the woman to stick her tongue out at him for acting like she was some petulant child.
"We're going to meet with the clan elders so that they can discuss our marriage with them since we didn't have their official support or an official representative at the wedding. And everyone has to dress traditionally and formally for the meeting." Tenten grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at her husband's stupid Hyuuga face. Now she was going to spend a couple of hours in a stuffy meeting in a stuffy outfit that itched.
"Well, maybe if they could get those sticks out of their asses we would have invited them. That way we wouldn't be going to this stupid meeting, I wouldn't be wearing this stupid outfit and that way we could still be in bed."
"Tenten, it's almost after noon. There's no way we would have slept in this late. And I though Hinata-sama had helped you with getting used to the kimono."
"Who said we would be sleeping?" She muttered, watching as a slight flush covered Neji's face and as an electric light flashed in his pale eyes. She had to hide a smile, thrilled at how she affected him. Maybe now that he was thinking about it he would regret forcing her to go to the stupid meeting.
"And yeah, Hinata tried to help," The elegant woman had almost seemed to float across the room in her own kimono, looking like the beautiful heiress she was. Whereas Tenten consistently continued to try and stride across the room like she normally did instead of taking the tiny steps that the outfit required, often tripping over the hem of the stupid thing and nearly falling on her face. "But it didn't do much good. It's like trying to get a ballerina to teach a fish how to dance. Absolutely impossible."
Neji blinked at her before shaking his head, a smile flirting with the corners of his mouth as he grabbed her arm and carefully brought her alongside of him, continuing to hold on so that he could make sure she didn't fall. "I can't believe you just compared yourself to a fish."
They made the rest of the trip to the Hyuuga compound in silence, Tenten feeling Neji tense up the closer they got to the gates as if bracing himself for a crippling blow. Tenten knew how he felt about the council and even with all her complaining she was happy to go with him, happily coming along to protect him from whatever evil the old stiffs would try and impose on him.
They would try to break them up now that it was no longer just their precious prince flirting with a poor pauper. They had married each other without permission from them since the two had obviously known such permission would never come, and now the couple was -to their minds- a serious threat to the prestigious Hyuuga bloodline.
The couple knew that they were walking into to a trial and not the "meeting" they had been promised, but Tenten was confident that there wouldn't be anything that would go the council's way, especially when it came to breaking her and Neji up. They were too strong together and loved each other too much.
They stepped up to the imposing gate to the estate and waited for a branch member to come and lead them to where the meeting was, the caged bird seal on her forehead seeming to shine like a beacon as they walked the tastefully groomed path.
There was a lot of formal talk that went on as they were introduced to the council that Tenten ignored, glancing around the room at the assorted elder council members that were seated in what Tenten supposed to be an imposing half circle on a slightly raised platform, Neji and Tenten sitting on two cushions that were placed slightly apart in the middle of the room.
Neji had been right when he had told her that they were all going to be dressed traditionally, everything about the whole thing reeked so badly of old traditions that Tenten wanted to sneeze. Everyone was sitting back on their legs like it was nothing, but Tenten could already feel her legs start to tingle from the foreign position. Hadn't these people heard of chairs?
"Hyuuga Neji, you have been called here so that we may discuss your recent," The old man's white eyes flicked over to Tenten, "Divergences from the honorable Hyuuga way." Tenten wanted to snort at how stupid all of this was but restrained herself, glancing at Neji from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be at ease, his face smooth and emotionless, waiting for something to happen.
"Is it true that on the fourteenth of this month you were joined in an illegal union to the woman who sits beside you?" Tenten bit her tongue to stop it from making a mistake, trusting Neji to guide them through this since she knew that he could skillfully navigate the murky waters of the clan politics far better than she could ever even think of doing, hoping that they could also get out of here earlier so long as she kept her mouth shut.
But that didn't stop her from viciously and repeatedly throwing her kunai at the old man in her mind.
"No, Council elder, that is not true. The Hokage himself presided over the ceremony, making it legal in both the eyes of the law and my eyes as well." Well, didn't he sound all fancy.
"Yes, yes," One of the other elders spat, pulling out a glossy print from the folds of his sleeves. "We have seen what came of this so called 'ceremony'." He said, giving the print to one of the branch members to take to the couple. Neji's eyes flicked over it briefly before passing it to Tenten, his face a blank slate that none of the elders would be able to crack.
Looking down at the photograph Tenten smiled down at the still moment that someone -probably Ino if she remembered it right- had captured. It was the kiss at their little wedding, her in nothing but a slip and Neji's jacket, grinning as she pulled Neji's smiling mouth down slightly to meet her own.
Figuring that if she asked for it they would just say no Tenten slipped the photo into her sleeve. At least the stupid outfit was good for something.
"Nothing about that holds even the slightest bit of decorum! What would people think about our clan if a photo like that got out?" Tenten merely thought that people would be surprised that someone as uptight as Neji had done something like getting married in such a way, but she made sure to hold her tongue and not voice the opinion no matter how badly she wanted to interrupt the old bag of wind. "As the most skilled of your generation you represent the honor of the Hyuuga! Do you not care for your clan?"
"My clan is my family, and as such I will always think of their interests." Neji quietly replied, and Tenten watched with a sinking heart as the elders smiled as if they had gotten the exact answer they had wanted.
"Yes," Said one of the calmer and younger looking ones said, though when he smiled he looked something like a cobra going in for the kill, "And that is how it should be."
"Yes," Another interjected, "We are glad you understand. But you must also understand your importance to the clan. You were a child prodigy and are one of the strongest and most loyal of the clan. You have certain responsibilities."
"I understand my responsibilities." Neji said and that collective grin was once more passed around the room.
"Good." One of them said, nodding as if this settled the entire matter and tied it up with a neat little bow. "Getting the union between the two of you annulled should be an easy enough matter if the clan pushes enough, especially with the girl's low social status. We have allowed you these years with her to sow you wild oats but now that we know you are ready for a commitment we have a few select women for you to choose from that will result in children that will be just as skilled as yourself. Something the clan desires greatly."
They rustled around as if celebrating a great victory, some of them preparing to get up and leave, but Neji's cool voice cut through the chatter and caught their attention.
"I am unable and unwilling to do that, Clan elders." They blinked as if unsure that they had heard correctly, almost as if they couldn't process the fancy 'NO' Neji had just casually tossed their way.
"Your duty to the clan-" One of them angrily began, obviously finally catching on to the fact that they had been denied.
"I know my duty." Neji coolly interrupted, "And my talents are yours to use as is best for the clan. But I do not belong to you, not in body, heart or soul, no matter how this clan has strived for it. The only person who will ever be able to claim that is Tenten." Tenten flushed at his words, wondering what the old stiffs would think if she got up from her seat and went over to Neji to give him the kiss of his life. Maybe it would be the last little push for the heart attach she desperately wanted each of them to have.
"You do not know your place!" One of them angrily thundered, Neji's cold eyes simply cutting through the man's bluster.
"Yes, I do." He said quietly, leaving no doubt in the elders' minds as to where he meant. He was saying that he belonged with Tenten, not following along with whatever the council demanded. He belonged with the woman he would call wife no matter what they demanded of him.
The room erupted, the elders angrily picking apart everything both of the people in front of them had ever done, pointing out every wrong doing and every fault. One proposed a payout, saying that since Tenten had only married for money just giving it to her would suffice. They continued on and on, voices echoing throughout the room as they tried to save their precious "Hyuuga honor".
"Since you seem to be fond of the girl why don't you just keep her on as a mistress?" Another prompted, his tone kind in a desperate kind of way as he tried to persuade the boy in front of him. Neji's eyes turned sharp as he glared at the man who had dared to open his mouth, his icy eyes turning absolutely frigid as he cut the elder down with a single look.
"You insult me and you insult my wife by thinking that either of us would go along with such a suggestion." He said, his voice low and just as cold as his gaze, showing the room just how dangerous the whole situation was becoming.
"Neji," The head elder said, the entire room becoming silent. "Are you saying that you are choosing this woman over the clan?" White eyes met and clashed, both men holding their ground against the powerful opponent they found themselves facing.
"I am saying nothing of the sort."
"But would you?" The stared silently at each other for another moment before Neji, his voice clear, his eyes strong, answered with a sureness that none of the men in the room could hope to shake.
"Yes."
There was a murmur of distaste that spread though the room before the head elder spoke again, his voice grave.
"Then you leave us no other choice." He sat back and drew himself taller as to make an even more imposing figure.
"Hyuuga Neji, if you continue to refuse to break the union between you and the woman who sits beside you, in order to protect a bloodline as pure as yours from being tainted you will force us to turn on your caged bird seal." The branch members that had stayed in the room to serve collectively gasped, their hands automatically reaching up to touch the seals that branded their foreheads.
Tenten felt her heart stop, just literally stop beating in her chest. She knew what that seal meant, knew what they could do with that seal and just how far they could go if they wished it. She knew the horror the branch members lived in because of the seal and she knew that she wouldn't even begin to comprehend the pain he would be in if they enacted it.
She wouldn't let them take her family -her tiny little new family that she had placed all her hopes and dreams on- and destroy it as they pleased. She wouldn't let them saddle her with the guilt of his death and with the knowledge of what could have been done to save him. Not when it was a simple thing to help him, though it would kill her to do so.
Opening her mouth and closing her eyes, she prepared herself to give up the only man she had ever loved, when his voice cut through the fog of pain and bone aching sadness that filled her.
"So be it." He said, Tenten's head whipping over and her eyes flashing open as she gaped at him. He looked so serene and strong, as if the threat of an agonizing death at the hands of those who had called him family didn't phase him in the least.
Seeing this Tenten took strength from him, sensing that he had a plan. She turned back to face the council, chin up and her eyes fierce, desperately praying that he knew what he was doing.
All of the Hyuugas that filled the room looked shocked, as if they hadn't even considered that Neji would choose such a thing.
"One thing." Neji said, jerking the men from their stupor, "Only the main branch is to know how to turn on the caged bird seal. How did you learn to do it and what makes you think that you'll be able to control it?" The head elder was just opening his mouth to answer him when another voice, sharp in its fury, cut through the room.
"Yes, I was wondering the same thing."
The room turned as one unit, everyone staring at the imposing figure who had silently made his way into the room.
"Hiashi-sama." Neji said, bowing his head down respectfully in a smooth movement that Tenten tried to copy, though hers was jerky and a bit to quick.
Hiashi nodded to the two of them, "Neji, you and your wife may leave." The pair bowed their heads once again before standing up, though they were stopped when one of the council members jumped up in protest.
"Wait! They have not been accepted by the clan and-" He was stopped by the harshness in the clan leaders gaze, an icy coldness that was an equal for Neji's.
"Yes, they have. The ceremony was watched over by my eldest daughter herself and I have accepted the union personally. And as the clan leader my blessing should be sufficient enough." The elders nodded slowly and unhappily, watching as the prodigy and the girl they thought of as nothing more than a pauper walked away.
Once the gates closed behind them Tenten whirled around and punched Neji as hard as she could. "Don't you ever do anything like that to me again," She growled, forcing her tears to remain pooled in her eyes, not wanting to let them fall so close to the bastards they had both just faced. "Do you understand me?" He smirked slightly and rolled the shoulder she had hit, reaching out to bring her close and press a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"Yes." He murmured, and she wrapped her arms around him and held on desperately, never wanting to go through another moment like the ones where she had thought that he might have been taken from her.
I hope you liked it!
Once again this was a little slight continuation from the chapter Feelings, which was my first NejiTen.
This got the juices flowing so there will be more for this couple sooner rather than later.
And to the guest that commented yesterday (For some reason your comment isn't showing up on the website): Of course I don't mind ideas! In fact, I adore it when you, as my readers, ask me to write out ideas. I find it challenging and they help kick Kathy back into gear if she's being lazy (just like this one did for me now). Your ideas are good and I promise to get to them, though I don't know when. I just kind of go with the flow on these things.
Oh, and for the deprived people who didn't get my little reference last chapter: TTFN ta-ta for now is what Tigger from Whinnie the Pooh says.
Stop judging me.