Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Neko (Tenten), or Sasuke, or Neji…

Author's note; Someone mentioned that typing "Neko" messes you up and makes you want to type "Neji" instead. I have the same problem, try typing them both during a spar!

Chapter 14: Alliance

It had been a week since that crazy night at the hospital. Kakashi and Gai were watching Neko like a hawk, meanwhile having her train more than usual. Kakashi had completely taken over helping her use her sharingan, something Sasuke seemed rather grouchy about. Actually, he had been grouchy for a few days.

As far as Neko could remember, it had started one day when Sasuke had answered the phone after she returned home after practicing with Kakashi. She had failed to see the look on his face when he had answered with the usual "Uchiha." Neko had been sitting with a warm cloth over her eyes; Kakashi usually worked her hard and spent her chakra quickly. Why should this phone call have been any different than usual? The pauses between his responses should have been the first clue, and his tone should have been the second.

Now, days later, the plop of an outfit in her lap with the words "put it on" told her that there was something he was keeping from her.

"What's going on?" Neko looked over the clothes he had given her. They were all black. One was a black brocade shirt, another was a black skirt with a white and red hem and the last was a simple kimono style jacket with the Uchiha crest on the back.

"The Hyuuga clan has requested a meeting," Sasuke sighed. "It sounds like they plan on some kind of partnership."

Neko paused and thought back to the week before. Neji's words in the hospital… 'He wants to marry off Hinata for her safety.' She studied Sasuke's stressed out face and frowned. Naruto would be disappointed, this much she knew from the midnight confession so long ago.

"Why do I have to go?" she wondered out loud and looked over the clothes once more. She did not feel any desire to watch Hinata's father give her happiness away. But when she felt the steely glare of Sasuke's eyes upon her, she thought it over again. Of course she had to go. Was she really supposed to expect him to enter a house of white-eyed, chakra blocking ninjas alone?

"I mean… In these?" Neko held up the clothes and watched his glare fade into a scowl.

"You're the head of the Uchiha branch family, so I'll need you to dress like it," Sasuke explained then sighed. "They expect us in an hour, please just go change?"

Neko scowled back at him but went into a nearby bathroom anyway. The walls were thin enough for her to hear him pacing and she guessed that he had never met with another clan before. Much less as the head of his own. And what was this about a branch family all of a sudden? When she finished changing she was about to ask, but then Sasuke just started talking.

"Here's how the etiquette works: you stay five steps behind me at all times; I do the talking, greeting and so on; and finally you speak only to me."

Neko huffed but agreed in her own silent way. She crossed her arms and happened to see a mirror to her left. She did not exactly like the look. All of the black with her dark hair and eyes just made her look pale and ghostlike. It seemed that she looked like… like…

Sasuke.

xXx

"Tsunade-sama, you called?" Shizune poked her head through the door to the Hokage's office and was waved in immediately.

"Shizune, I want your opinion on something," Tsunade began and Shizune took the usual seat before the desk.

"Go ahead, I'm here to help," Shizune encouraged and Tsunade smiled gratefully.

"As I've told you, my mother was a Neko. That's how I was able to help Sasuke tell us what we needed to know, and to let Neji go to help his cousins and friends."

"So you want to tell Neko-chan?"

"I think so, but I can't think of how to do it. If I were to tell her I would expect her to ask for training, when I don't have the time with Sakura."

"Would you like my opinion on everything?" Shizune asked and waited for Tsunade to give her a slight nod. "I believe Neko-chan should know, she can use the support of more family. Also, Sakura-chan has advanced very far. She will not require much more training, and I would be happy to help with that if you needed the time with Neko-chan."

"I couldn't ask that of you, Shizune."

"You're not asking; I am offering," Shizune stood with a smile and began to leave. "Think about it, I'm always willing to help."

"Shizune," Tsunade's tone made her pause and turn. "Thank you."

The assistant smiled sweetly and went back to her desk.

xXx

The Uchiha cousins left promptly and made the walk across town in silence. Neko had no idea of what to expect, it was not like she had ever had a clan to be a part of before. Would it be like in school when it did not matter if you paid attention to the teacher as long as it looked like you were? Or would it be like their teams, where one person tells everyone else what to do? And what was this branch family thing about? Why now?

The Hyuuga complex soon loomed before them, seeming bigger than ever before. Neko passively fell in five steps behind Sasuke and they continued to the complex. Before long a fair-faced Hyuuga appeared and began to escort them to their set meeting point. Finally, they found themselves in a room with Hiashi sitting at a table and a few others sitting behind him. Neko found little comfort in seeing Neji there. What if she messed up? She would still have to face Neji in training, plus Sasuke's cold silence at home. Butterflies were now dancing freely in her stomach.

"Welcome, Uchiha-san," Hiashi bowed politely as Sasuke and Neko returned it. He then signaled for Sasuke to sit across from him; Neko took the spot conveniently located five steps behind Sasuke. "We have decided that it would be advantageous for both our clans if we were to form an alliance."

"How so?" Sasuke inquired, more for formality than anything else.

"It is obvious that the Uchiha clan needs growth more than anything at this time," Hiashi said matter-of-factly.

"And you can help this?" Sasuke sounded increasingly doubtful. It was beginning to be obvious where Hiashi was taking this.

"I propose an alliance. Your clan head, and our heiress," Hiashi said. Sasuke made no response as Neko immediately saw Hinata behind her father. She was sitting next to Hanabi, whose arm had healed thanks to Sakura, and shaking like a leaf. Neko could feel the situation pulling at her heart strings : there was something wrong here. Sasuke was drifting into a tense silence and the Hyuuga clan heads and elders were staring down at him. The Uchiha cousins were like two crows lost in the snow.

"I must discuss this with—" Sasuke twitched at calling Neko such a thing for lack of a better term "—my elder. May we have a moment in private?" Sasuke was seething inwardly; just because she was a year older she was the elder. It did not seem fair.

Of course," Hiashi waved them out of the room. Sasuke rose and Neko followed obediently. Once they were in the corridor, the door closed softly behind them and they were alone.

"I should have known," Sasuke grumbled and ran a hand through his hair. "Why else would they ask for an alliance now. Especially after last week."

"What do you mean?" Neko was confused.

"If I decline Hinata, then they'll suggest an alliance between the branch families," Sasuke looked her dead in the eye. "That means you and Neji. I can't do that to you, Neko."

"What's wrong with Neji?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

"It's not Neji. Listen, if you were to just marry into the Hyuuga branch family then they would have the talents of three clans: Hyuuga, Uchiha, and Neko," Sasuke explained. "And their family is not as kind as ours when it comes to the branch family. We only use it as a general category for meeting purposes."

"And if you were to marry Hinata, they would be rid of their…"

"Disappointment," Sasuke said it when Neko could not. "Really, either way the Hyuugas would win unless I can negotiate with Hiashi. We would have to turn down both."

"What do you mean by negotiate?" Neko wanted to know, feeling oddly let down. He sighed again, looking very troubled. Neko frowned and glanced at the door. They would have her marry Neji just to have the strength of her blood, and they would marry off their eldest heiress without a second thought.

"If they weren't so hard on their branch members I would just have you marry Neji," Sasuke admitted.

"What?" Neko's eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't try to hide it, you two have chemistry. He speaks highly of you, and just now you were ready to slap me for saying I wouldn't let you marry him," Sasuke smirked as he watched her reaction carefully. Her cheeks were bright pink and she could not formulate a comeback. He knew he had caught her.

"What about Hinata?" Neko asked quietly.

"I can't do that," Sasuke glanced over at the door. "To Naruto."

"That's nothing if you really like her," Neko pointed out.

"I don't; let's leave it at that," Sasuke said and lifted his gaze back to her. "Let's go."