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When they were both younger, they had really long hair.
Hers was a tidal wave of auburn that always seemed to feel like summer and smell like warm blankets. Often she kept it up, but it was the most beautiful down because it became a gorgeous tangled mess and flew in the wind. Her hair puffed up and fell all around her head, often reaching her lower back. It felt so similar to soft fur on a cat, and if you tried to pet her you'd likely lose a hand. She doesn't usually wear her hair down, because of how impractical it gets, but sometimes she wears twin plaits that trail after her small body like rivers of mahogany.
His was a deep bistre in hue that hovered between dark chocolate and jet black. If you touched it, let it slide between your fingers, it falls between them like slippery chains of seaweed. If you get close it smells like the ocean. He usually keeps it out of the way, restraining it in a low ponytail, but if he ever lets it loose it has a tendency to glide softly in the breeze and sway like a banner. It could drape over his shoulders and linger down his back like water, just as fluid if you combed it.
They had been really good friends when they were younger, back when times were easier and the world wasn't such a scary place.
She moved to China and he stayed in Japan until his freshman year of high school, the year that he lost his long hair and she in turn lost hers.
Neji remembers clearly how the grimy linoleum floor of the men's bathroom had tasted, smelled like, and felt like as the abhorrent douchebag of a football's star quarterback Kidoumaru held him down and called him a pansy girl. He then proceeded to shave off all of the hair on Neji's body. All of it. And when he was done, having to use violence to keep the struggling adolescent down, he threatened to cut even more of Neji should he breath a word of it to anyone. Neji went through his first year of high school getting jeered at for his looks and withdrew deeply into himself. He couldn't bear the shame of telling anyone of what had happened; as if anyone would believe him either. He was just some creepy looking nerdy freshman and Kidomaru was the school's homecoming king. He'd always be a loser, and kept his hair short after that. Partly because it'd be asinine to try and grow it back to its original length of just between his shoulder blades, but because he was afraid Kidomaru would just cut it all off again. He kept to his academics and was the smartest kid at school. He never got acknowledged for it - not like he cared.
Tenten didn't even attend her freshman year of college. She had been stuck in the hospital after a horrendous accident impaled the side of her head. She had to go into surgery and get all of her hair cut off so the doctors could fix her skull. For most of the school year she was recovering from the mental trauma of blades getting too close to kill her, as well as her face needing to heal and feeling too embarrassed not to walk around with scars all over her. Most of them were covered by her hair, which she quickly tried to grow up, but her nose, mouth, cheek, and around her eyes will always be covered in small nicks and lines; the worst one being under her right eye where it was the most visible even from a distance. Her parents never allowed her anywhere near the family's collection of war blades after the incident, claiming that it was her own fault in the first place and that her deadly obsession with knives will wind up killing her. They are a strict, traditional Chinese family, and Tenten found no reprieve. She only went back to school a week before freshman year ended, and everyone feared her. Despite her story, which was labeled as just a horrible accident and a non-purposeful self-inflicted head trauma, rumors spread that she was a dangerous sociopath even when she grew her hair longer to hide the scars. She turned to books, because they don't judge you.
The hatred grew on him, and after one sinister breakdown later, Neji was nearly expelled from school. He had begun threatening people, if only to leave him alone, but their gossip grew and now he was deemed mentally unstable and to be 'transfered' immediately as to not tarnish the school's reputation. His uncle was infuriated, and sent Neji far away so that he couldn't stain his family name anymore. To a place where no one knew the name Hyuuga. To a place where he was still a nobody.
Her parents couldn't stand being asked if their child had self-inflicted her wounds upon herself. It made them seem like bad guardians, and so they took her out of school and flew her around the globe where she will still have her scars, but at least people might be more believing to her story. Tenten didn't make friends though, because no matter the place people were scared of her face. So she merely blended into the background.
He threw himself into his studies, already taking all Advanced Placement courses and giving himself no room for electives. She blinded herself to the scorn of her teammates as she went into as many sports as she could, the best female athlete and the most hated one. Too engrossed in the dark parts of their minds, they never reunited until much later in their miserable high school life. By then it could have been too late.
His hair remained as a short crew cut, not enough hair to grab at (he had grown paranoid, he admitted) but also long enough so that he didn't look ridiculously bald.
Hers was still thick and wild, but it grew slowly and frame her round face. She had to fight to keep it out of her eyes, not even long enough to put into a small ponytail still.
Tenten participated in numerous school activities. Her elective was the dance class, and attended the girl's soccer practices every week. Every Wedsneday she would join up with the sports club and play a variety of engaging activities before heading home. She balanced this dutifully with her increasingly demanding academics, and now that the year was ending she was more stressed out and put even more time in her studies than in her already-minimal free time.
Many of the girls regarded her with disdain. To them, she was just like any other nerd, who just happened to be the best athlete too. They couldn't wrap their heads around how she could have the best of both worlds, and shunned her for it. The guys were easier to get along with, but because they didn't see her rowdy nature very 'girlfriend-material' they also passed her in favor of others who could wear lipstick and walk in heels. Tenten wasn't bothered by this, she wasn't interested in making friends with those slackers and two-timers. In every story pertaining to high school life she had ever read, she had decided to bypass all the needless drama for people who obviously rode on their parent's wallets and thought true love at first sight was real. Smirking, Tenten prided herself on being one of the top kids in school. Only few others could hold themselves higher than a 4.0, and she took great pride in being one of those few. She didn't know who else had it, but as far as she knew there were only about four or five other students.
But now, what was really annoying her was her dance class. They were to perform for the school right before final exams, and within a month they had to make their own choreography to be completed, memorized, judged for a grade, and if yours was liked then you would be performing for the entire school. Tenten would have been okay with it, but her problem lied in the fact that you couldn't do your dance solo. She needed a partner, and everyone had paired up in their little cliques already.
Tenten wasn't worried about not having a partner and not getting the grade - their teacher would simply break apart a team - what she was worrying about was her partner not meeting her 'unbelievably high standards'. Tenten desired well-coordinated control. She was a workaholic, some would say, but she already was admitted to the best college of her choice so she found no need to listen to some trollops whine about wanting to slack off just because it was the end of their senior year. Besides... she really did want to perform for the school. It would be her last send-off to this horrible place, to show everyone just how much better she was than them.
It wasn't even pride! Tenten came from a mediocre Chinese family, and when they moved they were even poorer. Her mother and father worked bone and tooth to send her to this school, while everyone else used their parent's influences to attend, and then shirk their responsibilities! If Tenten knew anything, it was to respect your elders. No one else seemed to think the same, complaining about how strict their guardians are about their curfew at eleven o' clock or not allowing them to pierce their bodies or getting a tattoo. For Tenten and her upbringing, it was all incredibly distasteful and idiotic. She wasn't going to waste her education on the same pointless things, she would rise above them all with her hard-work; even if no one ever saw her shine, she'd shine brighter than them all.
Because of that, it almost came as a surprise when the dance class' male prodigy, Miriam Delacroix, approached her saying that he'd be her dance partner. Tenten saw through his charming smile immediately. His girlfriend broke up with him after accusing him of cheating on her (of which nothing has been proven or disproven yet) and was going to use Tenten, the class' female prodigy, to make her jealous. She called him out on it, and while he stubbornly dismissed it as his girlfriend being a ginormous bitch anyways, she agreed because he really was good.
Sadly, he was poor in a lot of other things, such ad academics. But it wasn't her problem if he flunked his ass for trying to win a girl in some silly show of impressing her.
Neji could not fucking believe this. The school heartthrob, Miriam Delacroix (OH, Neji had thought with much annoyance, he's French), approached him and asked him if he could do his homework until the end of the year.
"You damned cheese-eating-surrendering-monkey," Neji spat as he sat in the library in his usual corner, arms folded across his chest in aggravation. Miriam just kept that amiable smile on him, no doubt the smooth-talker with the ladies (sluts). "What makes you think that I'd do your homework for you?"
"I want to delegate all of my time to choreographing for the big dance," the beautiful dark-haired dark-eyed young male replied, no doubt his tongue made of polished silver. "And I won't be able to have any time besides studying for finals. I need you, Neji-kuhn." The white-eyed male growled ferociously. How dare someone misuse honorifics like that! It was an insult to his heritage!
"What makes you even think that I will agree to this?" he said, eyes alight with indignation. How about you jump off a cliff instead, you frog.
Miriam kept up that shit-eating award winning smile of his, leaning against a bookcase languidly. Neji was about to snap at him, saying that he'll topple it over like the amphibian-brained delinquent he was, had the heartthrob not spoken up, "Well, wouldn't you like to see me perform an amazing dance with the lovely Tenten-chyan?" Neji's heart stopped, only giving one stunned glare at the other for mispronouncing yet another honorific.
Tenten.
It couldn't be the same girl, could it? He had never looked... ever since she moved away, they had lost communication. And ever since freshman year of school in Japan... he had given up on having any friendship; even his family had estranged him. If she was here...
Instinctively, Neji's hand flew to his incredibly short dark brown hair. If she is here... she never recognized me. He almost chortled with dry amusement. To think that they'd only be able to recognize the other by their hair! Their relationship had been a lot more in depth than that; it was true though, if this Tenten wore the same buns in her hair he would have recognized her instantly. To Neji's chagrin, he realized that if he had seen her, they were merely indistinguishable faces amongst the masses.
He was broken out of his thinking when Miriam spoke up, this time a blade of steel hidden in his words, "And even if pretty little Tenten can't convince you, I can always just... persuade it out of you."
Neji froze. He had never told anyone of getting bullied by Kidoumaru, but he should have known that it was what someone at the top of the chain would do to someone lower who didn't agree with them. Adjusting himself, Neji hung his head in grim submission. It seemed that he would always be at the end of the food chain. Maybe when he becomes CEO of a large company, Miriam will be there mopping his floors, but for now, it was Delacroix who held the aces.
"Good!" Miriam exclaimed, as if they had just come to a very diplomatic conclusion together. "I knew that Tenten wouldn't have been enough! She's too uptight! Always studying in the library or out playing sports! What a crotchety bitch! Well... sai-ooh-nar-wa!" And with that garbled mangling of the Japanese language, Miriam was gone to go make-out with whichever big-breasted daddy-issues girl he had that week. But it got Neji thinking.
If he met up with Tenten, they could maybe become friends again. It would ease the pains in his heart, even if it probably wouldn't get him out of doing Miriam's fucking homework. Funny, how she was apparently in the library too! He had always retreated to the most isolated place, and now it had come to bite him in the ass. Neji rushed to a school computer, looking up the students and going straight to the Senior T's. Tenten was at the very end, because either she really didn't have a last name like she told Neji all those years ago, or her name really was that hard to continuously spell without growing up knowing how to write Pinyin.
He found the basic data of her, even where she lived, but what surprised him was the picture that was taken at the beginning of each year. Sure, she'd change by now, but to this extreme?
"Your hair...," Neji breathed, blinking a bit and ignoring how everyone scooted an inch away. He was creepy looking, who gives a shit? He turned his gaze back to the image, wondering if it was creepy to also want to print out her picture and put it up in his room.
Her long brown hair she had loved had been shorn short, just like his, but it almost looked as if she was trying to grow it out with the way it was tangled all over her head and framing her face in vibrant, thick curls. Her hair had always been a giant bush when it was lose, but seeing her wide eyes and bright smile, slightly dimmed a little, made Neji rediscover his loneliness. This was so fucking stupid, to have all these feelings of missing her come back. He wasn't fourteen anymore.
And then he noticed something. There, under her right eye. A jagged line of skin, a lighter shade than her regular caramel tone, was a scar. He took a breath then as he discovered smaller ones, and even some peeking out from beneath her mass of hair. What had happened to her? To disfigure her beaming face like that?
Neji had to know. He couldn't look up her schedule, but he can scour the school more. She was apparently in dance class, if what Miriam told him was true. He'd have to catch her.
Tenten couldn't help but feel like she was expecting something. It had first started out as Miriam sweet-talking their teacher into letting them practice in the auditorium so that they had more room, but now it was as if he was forcefully dragging her out of the dance room as quickly as possible.
He was... not as good as the girls gave him credit for. One, he couldn't lift her up worth shit. Apparently her boobs were too fat, and not because he wasn't the most athletic guy she knew (that reward still goes to the sweet Japanese boy, Rock Lee, back when she lived in Japan). And because Miriam was too much of a pussy to allow her to lift him up instead, they had to resort to acrobatics. Which would have been fine for Tenten had Miriam actually been god at doing a backflip more than three times in a row.
The moment he stumbled and fell, she knew that she'd have to one day lower her standards. "Try it again, and this time keep focusing on one central point. It's just like a ballet turn," she admonished, thumbing through all of the next moves they might be doing. Miriam, having already been insulted by her for the millionth time, kept his mouth shut for once and just prepped himself for the next set.
Tenten was only happy that he was indeed a fast learner. She didn't see why girls like him, but at least he had one redeemable trait. Turning back to her laptop, surfing the internet for any interesting dance moves, Tenten sighed to herself. For the past week she had this gnawing feeling eating at her innards. She had first thought that she was forgetting to eat again, but whenever she went out to get something, she was never hungry as soon as she got back home. Her parents were complaining that she had too much yang in her, and had begun getting her old Chinese recipes to bring back her yin. It was disgusting, but not the worse they had done.
She could never forget having to stay in a bath of leeches and pond water. She got a rash from it and had bloody spots all over her the entire week! Naruto had claimed that she was contagious with the chicken pox, and made a show of running away squealing like she had cooties. The day got worse when some girls she didn't know began picking on her by cornering her during lunch, pulling at her buns until they almost fell apart. Thankfully, her old friend Neji intercepting them and giving her his juice box because he knew she liked that flavor. It had been a happier memory, she recalled, because Neji had even remarked that he didn't care what she looked like.
"あなたのルックスは重要ではありません," he said as he offered up the juice carton. Her hair was ruined, but she wasn't going to take it out just to put it up again. He'd never seen her without her buns, it would be too embarrassing. Gratefully, she took the juice and caught how he smiled so subtly if she was an inch farther she wouldn't have seen it. "あなたの人格が重要です。"
Now grinning widely, no matter what those girls has said of how ugly she was or how no boy will love her and she'll be unmarried for the rest of her life, Tenten exclaimed jubilantly, "本当にありがとうございました, ネジくん!我愛你!" She had always kept that a secret, but reveled in how she could tell him that every day. He never knew, even if he asked her what that meant, and Tenten wondered if one day she'll ever get to chance to have him understand it.
"Fuck!" Miriam swore, having apparently hit his head again. Suddenly back to beautifully hideous reality, Tenten groaned and got up to scold the arrogant ass. She felt that knowing of someone searching for her when she walked over to Miriam, and when she glanced over her shoulder to the large auditorium where everyone will be watching her come next month, she saw no one but empty chairs. The bell rang, signaling for the end of the period. She walked off, not even helping Miriam get to his feet.
Neji chickened out on Friday. A whole week of waiting patiently outside the dance room, wondering why none of the girls held the same self-confidence Tenten had or the shining radiance she naturally exuded, only to find out that she and Miriam were given exclusive permission to train in the auditorium.
"Why are you so interested?" the girl who had told him, having become annoyed that such a freak would constantly be outside the door when they exited for passing period. "Just 'cuz she's dancing with Miriam doesn't mean she's desirable. She's so snotty, always out-staging us! Ugh, what a bitch!" That's the second time Tenten had been insulted in such a way. Neji found it increasingly difficult not to strangle the people who have said it, too. The first was that Miriam cocksucker, and the second would be this blondie with the giant hoop earrings and shorts that broke the dress code by a good eight inches.
"I don't have to tell you anything," he shot right back. "Thanks for telling me, though, it hasn't been pleasant listening to you."
And off he went, waiting patiently for Friday the next day to arrive so that he can track her down. He excused himself early from class for not feeling well, and immediately found her. She was sitting on a work-out ball, laptop and notes out either on her lap or around her. She looked so peaceful, sitting there. Then, Miriam did an impressive set of three flawless back-flips, getting rather clumsy on the fourth, and smacking his head against the stage on the fifth. He swore indecently, prompting Tenten to scowl and get up.
The way her face looked, the scar under her right eye and fiery mess of short brown hair, was too much for him, and he left right as she turned her back to address her dance partner. He was afraid, wondering if the changes to her face would also mean changes to her personality. She wouldn't recognize him anyways, maybe even if he told her his name. Would she disregard him, just an old friend she didn't have time to rebuild relations with? Would she fear him, and how eerie his short hair and blank eyes made him appear to everyone else? Neji wasn't exactly the most self-assured person, he knew, but in regards to his best friend he had thought he always knew how he felt. Now he didn't know how she felt and it made him miss the times when he thought she did.
"我愛你!" she had told him back in Japan, when everything was simpler. She wouldn't tell him, but he had asked her parents one day and they told him its meaning. Every time she said it, he felt it was like their little secret. It had been nice, feeling loved, even if it had been a childish middle school crush.
Neji wasn't an idealist. He knew that his feelings for her were nothing but puppy love and vice versa, a strong friendship on the delicate string of growing up and hormones. Maybe if they had stayed in Japan, it could have blossomed into real affection, and even love when they became adults. But now, all he wanted was for her to remember him and not turn around like she had done in the auditorium. Sure, she was just scolding Miriam (apparently doing three perfect backflips was slacking off, go figure) but she had turned around all the same.
So he didn't follow her anymore, and did Miriam fucking Delacroix's homework like a chained dog who got kicked when he didn't do the right command. Tenten didn't have to know him, it wouldn't change a thing anyways. She'd still dance with Miriam and he'd still be doing Miriam's homework.
It'd be nice if she passed him in the hallways and smiled at him though...
Only two weeks until they had to present their dance to the teacher, and Miriam still sucked balls.
Tenten had first been okay with it, knowing that he could improve, but now even he was waning on her. Griping about her bitchiness while not-so-subtly asking if he could feel her tits. The glories of high school life.
She also got angry looks from the girls, believing that she had 'stolen' Miriam from them by way of brainwashing. She got it the hardest from Miriam's girlfriend-slash-ex-girlfriend-slash-girlfriend#13. Honestly, she wasn't interested in any of that hooplah, it was all going to be pointless anyways. A high school romance just isn't made to last. But the fact that her stuff went missing, her locker had been busted in several times, and the constant glares were getting to her.
Tenten thought that she could handle the hatred she dished out in return, but she was just one girl with a face full of scars and it felt like no one was friendly anymore. Her glory had driven her to the top, but it made her so alone.
The lies, the truth, the glamor, and the ugly; Tenten was certain that she had been mature enough to stay out of it, but sadly she had created her own shitstorm. It was... tiring, and she took it out on sports and by studying late into the night. For once, Tenten was losing control of her life, and she hated it. She was unhappier than she had ever been, and it was because of some jackass heartthrob named Miriam. What a ridiculous asshole who gave her that price-winning grin like she was going to hand her soul over on a silver platter. Self-entitled little prick, probably wrangled some poor scholarly nerd into doing his homework for him, just so he can attend Tenten's rigorous training course to entertain a girl he'll break it off with when he gets into college.
If Tenten had to think of a proper metaphor for the guy, she'd say that he was a male peacock. Sure his feathers are beautiful and charming, but when a wild predator comes after him he'll be the one with the hardest time getting away. Watching how he had probably smashed his pretty little head against the stage so many times already, Tenten was at least confidant that her analyzation wasn't far off.
She spent the weekend with her parents, practicing their daily ritual of numerous martial arts and some great bonding time only a traditional Chinese family could bother sticking to so religiously. She and her father would spar using dull blades; the sharp ones they had were only ornamental and could only be used if a robber broke in (she wasn't allowed to even touch them after The Accident) her father had told her. Tenten didn't want to admit it, but she often found herself holding back on her old man during their matches. She was getting stronger and he was getting weaker. Sometimes she'd fear piercing through his paper flesh with the rounded tip of the sword, but her father had been sparring since he was her age and was still light enough on his feet to give her a run for her money.
Her mother would often complain about this or that, and they would squabble with each other all day in their native tongues. Sometimes they would lapse into Japanese, for old time's sake, but none of them could think back without the Knife incident coming back up and then no one was happy.
So, Tenten relaxed and ate the food her mother worked hard to make, being sure not to leave any grains of rice in her bowl less she marry someone with speckled skin. She bathed with her mother of course, because it was tradition and didn't cost as much for the water, before spending the rest of the day doing homework and thinking about her dance.
When Monday came around, she was surprised that the feeling of expecting something had passed away. The anticipation in her gut was left unsatisfied now, like a good mystery with a bad ending. It only added to her mounting annoyance, and in her frustrations she couldn't concentrate so well. It... was almost regrettable that she had just let the feeling stay, and not tried to find out its meanings. But, the past was the past, and she had a big dance ahead of her.
A/N: This must be why I'm still single. And also why I hate high school AU's about romance. It always ends with the assumption that the guy and the girl will stay through college and get married and have a happily ever after. Sure that's what everyone would want, but the realistic side of me just can't cope with that, and thus I am bending this thing into a shrieking bloodcurdling monster of really angry perfectionist nerds and bad stereotypes about American schools. Part 2 coming soon, but I want to finish the rest of Wonders in the Dark just to make sure I can finish it.
I don't know about this one, it just sprung from wanting to see a picture of Neji and Tenten with radically different hair. Some of this is actually based off of experience too, and the Chinese/Japanese is probably wrong because I don't want to go look up all of my old Japanese grammar books. Hopefully it's satisfactory for now. March of the Miserable will be put on hold though, because I actually want a full rough draft of it before continuing.
