Withdrawal
by simplyme26

"Tenten, you're being unreasonable." Neji scolded, deflecting yet another kunai. Tenten raised her eyebrows in contempt, a scoff escaping her throat.

"UNREASONABLE?!" Tenten cried, pulling out her scroll and sending another flurry of weapons upon the Hyuuga. Neji scowled, adopting his notorious stance.

"Kaiten!" And in a whirl of blue, the weapons clashed against Neji's chakra, quickly falling to the ground. But Tenten's fury didn't subside. She was still angry as hell.

"You know how much I've trained for this mission, Neji! I deserve this!" She yelled sharply, pulling out another kunai from God knows where and charging at him. She extended her arm in an attempt to stab his shoulder, but he was able to grab both her wrists before they could make any deadly contact with his body.

"Tenten, your opponent is an S-ranked nin who uses wind-based jutsus and is, thus, long-ranged. Much like Temari-san, he is the wrong match for you." He reasoned, avoiding any concern or sentimentality to come to his tone. "He will kill you." He glared, ending with a note of finality. Tenten looked at him, at the austerity of his eyes.. But she tried to see past his cold-hearted exterior, past the emotional (or lack thereof) barrier he never lets down.

She couldn't. She sighed.

"Look, Neji.." She started as he loosened his hold on her wrists. "I'm glad that you care and all, but you can't just request my withdrawal from a mission I've been training so hard for, especially without my permission. I've improved, you know that. I can handle it." Neji let go of her wrists, maintaining that stoic expression. "Now come on, let's go tell Lady Tsunade I want that mission back." She smiled warmly, grabbing his hand. But he refused to budge.

"No."

" . . . WHY THE HELL NOT?!" She growled, letting another mass of weapons rain down on him. He was quick to defend, activating his Byakugan and deflecting everything.

Once all the weapons were thwarted, Neji continued. "I've told you before, Tenten. Your chances of victory are slim."

Tenten glared at him, letting metaphorical daggers stab at him. "So you're saying I'm not good enough?" Neji remained unfazed.

Suddenly, a voice called. "Oh for Kami's sake- IT'S CAUSE HE LIKES YOU, TENTEN!"

"SHUT UP, NARUTO!"

Neji stiffened visibly. Naruto and Sakura were there.. Who else?! And how the hell could he have not sensed them?!

A small distance from Neji, Tenten snorted audibly. "Yeah, right." She barely whispered. "I believe Sakura has the hots for you too, Naruto!" She laughed.

"WHAT?! TENTEN!"

"R-really?"

"N-NO!"

Tenten laughed. "C-can you believe them?!" And laughed. Neji stared at her, partly relieved she didn't take Naruto's comment seriously.

But then again, why wouldn't she? Was it so hard to believe that he may have liked the pretty brunette? That he actually found her brown eyes enticing? That when her equally brown hair was down, he would sometimes stare at her in disbelief and awe?

Really, was that so hard to believe?

"I . . . really do like you, Tenten." He said, a blush tainting his cheeks.

And with that, Tenten's laughter subsided instantly. She stared at him with the brown eyes Neji found so enticing. "You . . . What?"

He froze. Neji really didn't want to repeat that, especially with the 'WTF?!' expression she was issuing him. And blurting that out the first time was hard enough, what more a second time?

Embarrassedly, Neji scowled then folded his arms over his chest and turned away, a blush evident on his cheeks. "I believe you heard me the first time." Great. His reputation as the Ice King was ruined!

Tenten continuously stared at him, befuddled. He strips me of my mission because.. He likes me? "You were worried.."

Neji's blush reached a new level of red.

Tenten couldn't help but think that that was the sweetest thing anybody had ever done for her.

"So you don't wanna say it again, huh?" She teased playfully. Neji's scowl adorably softened and he looked up as inconspicuously as he could, refusing to answer.

She went on. "Fine, then. Goes I'll just go.. Maybe help Naruto with the Sasuke retrieval mission, you know. Wouldn't want his pretty little-"

"I love you."

Tenten's breath hitched and her heart stopped for a second. "That's not . . ." What you said. . . She stared at him, forgetting all the other prying eyes a few feet away.

Neji retained that famous scowl, but with a new-found determination. "Forgive me if that's not what you wanted to hear." He said, inching towards her. "But . . . it is the truth." He found himself less than a feet from her, their faces inches away, their lips.. He was so close. Her face remained blank.

She shook her head. "Are you.. Are you sure that's the truth?"

He looked at her, lifting his hands and placing them gingerly upon her cheeks.

He didn't answer, as he firmly pressed his lips against her own. Her breath left her, and it was strangely like they really were the only ones presently there.

As she smiled against his lips, she couldn't help but be glad that she didn't have to go on that mission.

That way, she and Neji could waste time together.

–-

"Aww . . . That's so SWEET." Sakura squealed. "I wish that would happen to me.."

Kiba nudged Naruto, who yelped audibly. "Dude, hear that? She wants you to do that too." Naruto swallowed.

When suddenly, Ino interjected. "Oh, honey." She placed a hand on Naruto's shoudler. "This is a NejiTen fic. Go to the NaruSaku fandom. You'll love it there!"