"Hey, Tenten," Shikamaru mumbled when I opened the door, and I smiled.
"I'm guessing Ino forced you to come," I said, stepping back to allow him to step inside the Hyuuga household.
He nodded, and I shut the door. "I didn't want to argue with her," he stated. "She's much less troublesome when she's not screaming at me."
I knew exactly how he felt. Hinata had protested the baby shower that Ino had wanted to throw, but Ino was adamant on having it. Hinata finally had to give in but wanted it to be at the Hyuuga household. It was better in size anyway.
So I'd spent most of the day helping them string pink and white streamers all over the place and blowing up stupid balloons that said retarded things like "It's a girl!" and "Welcome New Baby!"
At first, I'd been in an awful mood, but the giddiness that had caught onto Hinata finally caught up to me as well. Still, it was an awful lot of work to put up all that stuff with only three people. Sakura couldn't come because she was still at the hospital.
Another knock sounded on the door, and I opened it to reveal a smiling Sakura and unsmiling Sasuke. "I thought only women were supposed to come to baby showers," Sasuke said, and I shrugged.
"Obviously this one is different."
I just a half hour, there were too many people to count. Leave it to Ino to invite people that Hinata didn't even know. But she was having fun nonetheless. Naruto had his fingers entwined with hers, and every once in a while they'd steal away to a corner to sit alone and talk in soft tones.
It really was nice to watch them. Both of them seemed to glow with a happiness that made others smile warmly and gaze at them in jealousy. Okay, that last one was me, but it was possible for anybody.
"Tenten," Ino slurred, popping up in front of me suddenly. "We ran out of chips. Could you be a dear and go get some more from the kitchen?"
Well, someone had a bit too much to drink already. I glanced over her shoulder to see Shikamaru hurrying over with an annoyed expression on his face. "Sure, Ino," I said and let her be led away by the brunette.
We were, indeed, out of chips, so I made my way through the mass of people to the kitchen. I passed Hiashi by the stairs, and he stopped for a moment.
"Your friend, the blond, she really knows how to throw a party, doesn't she?" he said, and I smiled.
"Partying is her lifestyle, Sir," I responded, and he shook his head.
"Hiashi will do," he stated before nodding in goodbye and walking out of the manor, no doubt to escape the noise. I smiled to myself.
The kitchen was like heaven to me at the moment. It was empty, seeing that the refreshments were all out in the living room, and I sighed in relief. Like I was supposed to, I opened a bag of chips and poured it into the large blue bowl. There was a bit of shuffling behind me, and I turned my head to see who it was.
I nearly dropped the bowl when I saw Neji digging through the fridge casually. I just stood there, the bowl in my hands, and watched him. He had to have seen me when he walked in, so how could he march in as if I wasn't really there?
I'd only gotten out of the hospital two days ago and hadn't had the chance to thank him. I could do it right now, but the nervous shudders that ran through my body made it hard to think straight. The chips jumped in the bowl as my shaking hands clutched it tighter, and I set it back down on the counter. I could do it.
"N..Neji," I said in a voice barely above a whisper. Shit. That's not how I wanted it to come out.
He whipped around and glared at me. "What the hell do you want?" he barked, and I was taken aback by his rude manner. I was so surprised that I didn't respond for a moment. "Well?" he said, raising his eyebrow and staring down at me with a look of superiority.
Anger shot through me. Who the hell did he think he was talking to me like that? I narrowed my eyes and placed my hands on my hips. "Well if you're going to be a dick then I really don't think you deserve to hear it," I snapped, grabbing the bowl and marching away.
He stopped me at the door, shooting his arm out in front of my face and pressing his hand on the door frame. I blinked in surprise before gliding my eyes along that finely toned arm of his and glaring at his damn gorgeous face.
"What the hell is it, Tenten?" he asked once more, and I shoved his arm aside, secretly loving the feel of it.
"I was going to thank you for helping me, but now I think I would have preferred someone else," I said. Liar!
He smirked, which sent another rush of anger through my veins. Why was he smirking?
"No problem," he said, and I realized just how close his face was. His breath was hot and tickled my face pleasantly. Shit, he was distracting me. "I'm used to saving your ass all the time."
My eyes bulged, and I was sure I looked like a bug. Did he just call me weak? Oh, hell no. Letting my rage control my actions, I lifted the bowl up and dumped the contents of it on his head before stomping off.
That stupid, pompous, egotistical bastard! Where did he get off telling me shit like that and acting so rude? Kami, I wished there had been dip or punch in that bowl instead of chips. Or maybe even a bunch of nails and thumbtacks, though I'm not really sure why nails and thumbtacks would be in a food bowl. Oh, whatever. That wasn't even the point.
Hinata immediately sprang off the couch when she saw me stalking through the living room. "Tenten, what happened?" she asked, waddling after me as I headed toward the door.
"Your damn cousin is what happened to me," I snapped and immediately regretted it when I saw the hurt look on her face. "I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to go home now."
She only nodded. "What did he do?"
"He's being an ass," I responded and sighed.
"It's like a defense mechanism," she said softly. "He was hurt, and now he thinks that being rude to you will make it better."
Over her shoulder, I saw Mai, in all her freaking beautiful glory, come down the stairs and turn into the living room. She and Neji were staying here with Hiashi for a while.
"Well, Mai obviously makes it better, so I think being rude is sort of a random act," I mumbled.
"You know how Neji is," she said. "He just doesn't know what he wants."
"Hinata, I know how much you don't want me to give up on him, but it's pretty evident that he doesn't want me back," I responded sadly.
Hinata only shook her head and hugged me at the door. "I still think you're wrong, Tenten."
A/N: I can actually see Tenten doing that to Neji. Lol. In the next chapter, there will be a false alarm for Hinata, and Neji and Tenten will kiss! Yay! Okay, I know Hiashi is out of character in this story, but I don't want him to be a boring killjoy, so you'll just have to deal. Later!