Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

WEDDING

"Dearly beloved, are all gathered here today…" Tsunade began.

Neji watched his beautiful bride as the ceremony began. He could hear the hokage speaking, he could hear the murmurs in the crowd of those present; he could even hear the shrieks of shock and sorrow coming from the fan girls outside the hall. But none of this seemed to matter at the moment.

All Neji could think of, was how beautiful Tenten looked. He had caught a glimpse of her early, when he had snuck past the other kunoichi outside of Tenten's changing room. Looking at her now, Neji couldn't help but smile inwardly. He had loved her for so long; he couldn't even remember when it started.

FLASH BACK

The day Tenten smiled at him, (for that was how Neji liked to remember that day), he had been so effected, that he had been unable to remove the bun haired girl from his mind. Try as he might, he could not shake the sound of her laughter or the image of her radiant smile from his mind. On several occasions that day, and well into the night, he had almost caught himself smiling at the memory of the girl he had mistakenly taken for an angel.

All throughout class, Neji could not focus on what the teacher had been saying. He often found himself glancing over towards the girl that had captivated him. There was something about her; he just didn't know what. He hadn't seen her before, and he wasn't sure why. All the girls were always chasing after him. Reluctantly, he had come to know each of their faces; though he could care less about any of them. He had merely made a point of knowing them, so that he knew which he needed to stay away from; which was generally all of them. But this Tenten... he had never seen her in the groups that chased after him. He had been left wondering if she were new.

During lunch break, he took it upon himself to do a little investigation. He had discovered that she was in fact NOT new; she has started the school year with everyone else. He simply had not taken notice of her because she was not one of his many fan girls. She preferred weapons training to chasing boys.

Neji learned that she was an orphan, having lost her mother at birth and, recently her father, during a top ranked mission. Her father had been all the family she had, and fate had taken him away from her. Neji couldn't help but feel for the girl. He too, knew what it was like to be completely alone. True, he had the other Hyuga clan members, who were vast in number; but he still felt alone. He had no mother, no father; no one at all. They were the same. He wondered if perhaps that was why he had been drawn to her. If their common pain had somehow created a link between the two that Neji just could not understand.

The remainder of the day, he kept thinking about her. He remembered how he had felt upon the death of his father; how he still felt. But then he remembered her smile, her laughter. How could someone be that happy when they were all alone? Neji was certain that it had to be an act. He was convinced that on the inside, she was as pained as he was, and he decided that he would do something about it.

The next day, an unusually timid Neji walked up to a smiling Tenten during their lunch break. She had been sitting alone, up on a low branch of the same tree where the two had met the previous day.

"Did you need something?" asked a cheerful Tenten as she jumped down from her spot on the tree.

"Aren't you eating with the other kids?" Neji asked, noticing she did not have a lunch with her.

"I woke up late and forgot to bring a lunch today" Tenten replied, staring off into the trees as she said that.

"Oh" Neji had been about to ask how it was possible to forget ones lunch, when he realized it was probably because she hadn't had time to make the lunch herself that she had forgotten to bring any. He had felt very lucky then, that even though he had no mother to make his lunch, he did have the Hyuga maids to prepare all his meals.

"Was that all?" Tenten asked, now looking into the young Hyuga's eyes.

"No…" Neji quietly replied, slowly reaching into his pouch as Tenten waited patiently for him to continue.

"Here." Neji said, shoving a small package into Tenten's tiny hands.

Tenten looked at the package she held, then at the boy who had given it to her. She gave him a questioning look, which was met with an emotionless stare, but behind that, Tenten could see a pleading in his eyes; asking her to open the elegantly wrapped box in her hands.

Tenten gently undid the sides of the package. She was half afraid it might blow up, but figured the boy had nothing against her so there was no reason for it to be an explosive. Still, it was odd for the normally antisocial Hyuga to talk to other people, much less give a complete stranger a gift. So Tenten wearily opened the package to revel the contents within. To her utter amazement, inside the small box she found the most beautiful kunai she had ever seen. It was lighter than she was accustomed to, clean and shiny, and had a dragon engraved on the side. It was the nicest gift she had ever received. She was speechless.

"It's to replace the old and rusted one you had yesterday." Neji explained, after the silence had become too awkward for even him to tolerate.

"Oh." Tenten let out a sad sigh, as she slowly pushed the box toward Neji; casting her eyes downward.

"Did you not like it?" Neji asked, slightly hurt by the gesture.

"No, it's beautiful" Tenten replied, looking up at Neji once more.

"Hn." Neji replied, not understanding why Tenten had decided to give him back his gift if she had, in fact, liked it.

"It's just…" Tenten began, casting her eyes down at the ground once more, "That kunai was my father's. I could never replace it."

"…" Finally understanding, Neji couldn't find the words to apologize for his thoughtlessness. He cursed himself for not having considered it.

Noticing the look on Neji's usually passive face, Tenten reached out to take the box back.

"But…perhaps it's time for that old kunai to retire," she said, as she took the box back. "Thank you Neji-kun" Tenten added, with a smile.

Afterwards, he had invited her to share his lunch with him; and though he had been the one to give her the kunia, Neji had felt at that moment like he had been the one to receive a gift each time she smiled at him during that lunch. (1)

END OF FLASHBACK

"Do you Neji take Tenten – " Tsunade began wrapping up the ceremony.

"I do" Neji replied. Still somewhat lost in his memories; hardly realizing he had interrupted the Hokage.

"Fine." Tsunade sighed, forgiving the prodigy's enthusiasm. "Then by the power vested in me, as Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

The two lovers moved closer together, leaning into each other in a soft, demure kiss. A light applaud ran through the hall; then suddenly, Neji wrapped an arm around Tenten and roguishly pulled her to him, deepening the kiss into a more passionate one.

Neji had never shown even a glimmer of emotion in public. No one, other than Tenten, had ever seen him smile, or laugh, or cry, or anything else. He was known by all for his cold emotionlessness; though Tenten knew the true Neji. But today was different. As he kissed his bride with pure abandon, he let down his wall of ice and showed the world (or at least all those present) that he loved her.

No one would ever doubt that the "stone-cold Hyuga" married Tenten for anything other than love.

TBC...

(1) In the original version, I ended the flashback after Tenten accepted the kunai... but I always wanted to fit in that Neji shared his lunch with Tenten, so in this edited version, I did. XD