Okay, I admit it, the first chapter sucked. But it's the first chapter. The next ones will be so much better.

Disclaimer- I still don't own Naruto sigh or any of its characters.

Tenten grabbed her backpack and slammed her locker. She shuffled down the hall through all of the other teens, trying to beat the rush out of the parking lot. A hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she turned to look up to the owner.

Neji looked down at her with a troubled look.

"What?" Tenten cried, confused. "What did I do?!"

"Come. We need to talk," Neji said sternly. He dragged her through the hallway, back where Tenten had just come. It got her steamed.

"Get the hell offa me!" she screamed, and tried to yank her hand away. But Neji had an iron grip. "I hafta go home!" She tried to pry his fingers off of her wrist, but they wouldn't come loose. Inside, she was overjoyed. Ohmygod! Neji Hyuuga is holding my hand! Well, not really hand, but close enough to count! She thought, but kept her face upset. She couldn't break the thin layer of self control she had left now.

Because, what if Neji doesn't like me…? Tenten wondered. If he doesn't it would be bad. Horrible! A total tragedy. "I'm getting pissed, Nej!" Tenten warned, but threw in a nickname. Our first!!

"Deal with it."

"You suck, Neji Hyuuga."

"Gee, thanks."

Tenten couldn't break past his calm façade. No wonder, he's spent years building it up.

They ended up under the roof of the outside walkway, near the courtyard with the oak tree she always sat under during lunch. "What are we doing here, Nej?" she asked

"Talking."

"Oh…. Okay." She said, a little confused.

"What… did you mean by," he swallowed, "what you said at lunch..?"

Tenten's eyebrows shot up. "Y-you heard that?!" she gasped. It felt like the ground was falling beneath her, and her vision blurred. Her legs buckled, and she fainted. Neji bent down and shook her.

"Tenten? Are you okay?!" he said frantically. "Tenten!"

The icepack on her forehead began to hurt, so she waved it away. Tenten was gaining consciousness, and she opened her eyes. She blinked a couple times, then let out a weak, "Neji…"

"I'm here," he said softly.

She really opened her eyes now, and began to recognize the surroundings. I'm in the nurse's office? She thought. What happened?

As if he read her mind, Neji answered her question. "You fainted. From the heat, probably." Tenten knew he was covering something up, from the way his eyes drifted downwards. The nurse had just reentered the room. She was carrying a large box.

Oh! I remember now. I was talking to him, and he asked me what I meant about- Tenten gasped. Neji gave her a quizzical look, and she closed her mouth quickly. Ack! He knows!

She felt her whole world crashing down around her. How could she have let this slip out? She'd spent years covering for herself, keeping her crush under wraps, but now everyone knew. And the one she'd been crushing on knew! She felt like she couldn't breathe. She gasped for air and tried to calm herself down.

Neji looked at Tenten's face as she steadied her breathing. She began to look more peaceful… more beautiful….

Ten years ago- Neji and Tenten are six

"Class, we have a new member today," Iruka sensei announced one day. "I'd like you all to meet Tenten." Neji looked away from the window he'd been looking through to see the new kid. He expected an average student, like Sakura or Kiba.

A little girl with her soft, shiny brown hair pulled back in two small buns stepped through the door Iruka was holding. She was blushing, and was twirling a lock of hair that had fallen out of one of the buns. Iruka showed her to her seat, right in front of Neji.

A few minutes passed. He longed to touch her soft hair, and talk to her, but he was shy then. But finally, he reached out to touch. He was inches… centimeters, seconds away from touching her hair, and then-

She turned around. He was caught, wide-eyed with the deer-in-the-headlights look and his hand inches from her nose. Tenten giggled, and said, "What are you doing?" She kept giggling until she got Hinata, who sat next to her, giggling too. Then there were two giggling six-year-olds in front of him. Neji pulled his hand away and looked out the window again. He didn't want anything to do with laughing.

He did, however, want something to do with the new girl.

Present day- Neji is seventeen, Tenten is sixteen

Remembering this made Neji chuckle. He still didn't laugh a whole lot, but it intrigued him a little now that he was older.

Tenten opened her eyes. "What are you laughing at?" she said, thinking that he was laughing at her crush, which brought her back to gasping for breath.

"I'm just… remembering the academy." He said, a dreamy look in his eyes. Tenten fell asleep a couple of minutes later, and Neji waited the whole time.

The next chapter is going to be intense. but i'm not telling you anything :) Yay for cliffhangers