Things are finally heating up in this chapter. This is what you would call the climax? Thanks for the reviews.
Disclaimer: Not owning!
Black and White
Chapter 9
Training had been over for a while now, even Lee had gone home. Neji asked for Tenten to train with him a while longer, though the girl didn't understand his motives much. If perfection didn't exist, Neji's kaiten was dang close to it, so why continue when both were exhausted? However, since Neji barely ever requested something of her, she decided to oblige. Well, requested is too light a word. More like demanded. She was supposed to be meeting Kiba, but thought that he could wait a little.
"Okay," Tenten panted. "I'm sorry, I can't go on."
"That's fine. Let's stop. Thanks."
She grabbed a water bottle and drank half of it. "Why are you so eager to train today?" She threw the bottle at him.
He caught it and drank the remaining water, sharing personal items or even germs being nothing unusual for them after all those years together. "I guess I had excess energy to burn."
"Well, I should be going..."
"Tenten," he cut her off. "There's something I want to tell you."
The girl looked at him curiously. "Something to tell me?"
The boy took a few steps closer to her, the distance between them was now one foot at most. Neji, never afraid of telling exactly what he thought, wanted to be honest with himself so he told her directly and bluntly.
"I love you."
"Say that again, I think I misheard you." Was her ears playing tricks on her?
He repeated. "I love you."
She looked at him for a while, unable to say anything. What was he talking about? He loved her? As in, romantic love? "I don't believe it. Are you serious?"
"I'm in love with you, Tenten."
Neji had expected her to be surprised, confused or even angry, but the expression on Tenten's face was one of pain and sadness.
"Why now, of all times? You're not fair at all."
"I don't understand what you mean," the boy said.
Unable to look him in the eye, she turned her gaze to the grass at her feet. "I had loved you for months. Ever since I was worried sick over you when you came back half-dead from the mission to retrieve Sasuke, I knew I loved you, Neji."
Neji continued to listen to her, unable to say a word. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"But you never paid much attention to me. You barely talked to me outside of missions or training and you never seemed that concerned about me."
Each word pierced the bewildered Hyuuga like a knife. Is this how she truly felt? That he never cared about her? Well, it was true that he had only shown interest in her recently. Before that, she was just a normal friend, a teammate. Perhaps he hadn't been taking good enough care of his friends... So she was right about him, after all.
Tenten's story was still not over. "It hurt, you know? So eventually, I gave up and I moved on. Then I found Kiba-kun and..."
What she had just said reminded Neji about what Kiba had told him the first time they had confronted each other.
Hinata only has eyes for Naruto. I'd be a fool wasting my time forever. I have Tenten now.
In the end, Tenten and Kiba were just two heartbroken souls, caught in a one-sided love with a Hyuuga, who had eventually found each other.
Neji cursed mentally. He had failed to notice Tenten's feelings all along, and now they belonged to someone else. It's only after something has been taken away that you truly realize how much it meant to you. Now it was too late, what a fool he had been. If only he had paid attention to others more before.
"I'm sorry. I never realized." Apologizing was all he had left to do.
Now she looked at him with angry eyes filled with sorrow. Why did he have to tell her that now? She had a boyfriend now. If only he had told her before...
The young man looked at her, upset and saddened he had caused her pain. He never meant that. The strong young woman he knew now seemed very fragile in front of his eyes.
"You're so unthoughful..." Her voiced trembled.
Suddenly, Neji felt like she would break down and cry and he refused to be the cause of her tears. Obeying an unknown force, he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her closer almost brutally, and with a hand behind her neck, he pressed his lips on hers. He knew he would regret it. He knew he shouldn't. He knew she might hate him after, but right now, he didn't care.
Tenten answered the kiss back.
His heart jumped. Not wondering why, how or where, he just enjoyed this moment while it lasted..
But because fate hates Neji ever since he gave up on it, Kiba chose this exact time to come looking for Tenten because she was taking too long. His timing was perfect to see Neji pulling his girlfriend into a kiss, except that from his angle, it seemed like Neji had violently forced Tenten to kiss him.
Neji's heavenly moment was abruptly ended with a harsh punch to his face. Taken completely off guard, he fell to the ground.
"YOU BASTARD! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??" Kiba growled, fangs bared and face wrinkled from the severe frown he displayed. His eyes were those of a mad beast.
Tenten was shocked by Kiba's fierce entry, but also by how scary he looked right now. And he had seen them. "Kiba-kun! I..I can explain…"
Kiba still stared at a scowling Neji picking himself up from the floor as he addressed his girlfriend. "Tenten, did that guy just force himself on you!?"
The frightened girl search for what to say. Kiba thought Neji had used force to kiss her? If she lied and said that was the case, Kiba wouldn't think badly of her but she'd betray Neji. On the other hand, if she told her boyfriend the truth, he would most likely break up with her.
"The truth is..."
Before she could continue, Neji cut her off. "That's right. I did force myself on her."
"HOW DARE YOU!!"
Kiba punched him again, but this time he was expecting it so he did not fall over. However, he did topple a few steps backward, and had to wipe the blood from his mouth. Tenten's eyes widened in shock as she watched him take all the blame. Why did he do that? Why would he accept to throw his pride away and look bad for her sake?
"Stop!" The girl grabbed Kiba's arm to prevent him from hurting Neji any more. "He's not like that!"
Kiba ignored her completely. "Tenten is MINE! If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you!"
The Hyuuga never would accept to be talked to that way, but he was at fault this time, so he had to keep quiet. At least, he had saved Tenten from having to explain why she had kissed him, though Neji would've liked to know the answer to that question himself.
"Come on," Kiba said, pulling Tenten's arm. "We're outta here!"
Neji watched as the dog-boy dragged the object of his affection away, rather roughly too. And he's the one complaining about Neji using force? The aching boy was actually disappointed in Tenten, though. Because the feminist kunoichi that he knew wouldn't let Kiba say that she was "his", and wouldn't let a guy decide for her if she was leaving or not either.
Tenten turned to look at Neji as Kiba continued to pull her away and wondered if he was okay. Neji caught her gaze and understood her worries. He smiled, his eyes full of confidence, far from the eyes of someone admitting defeat.
It's okay.
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As she followed Kiba through the woods, Tenten wasn't paying attention to anything anymore. She just let the furious boy lead her wherever, too lost in her own thoughts. She was still trying to process the information about Neji being in love with her. The Neji Hyuuga, the genius many envy. The guy who acts like he's too good for anyone. The guy she had wanted for years.
Why'd you have to kiss me, you idiot? Because you wanted to? Always have to have it your own way, just like when you ask me to train with you when you know I'm exhausted. You're so selfish. I finally have a relationship that works, why'd you have to try and blow it up? You're only thinking about yourself. All the time…
She was unsure if she truly believed this or not, but right now, Neji had her completely lost and confused. Kiba felt a thug on his arm and turned to see that Tenten had stopped walking, tears in her eyes.
He put both arms on her shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not mad at you. He won't touch you again, I promise."
The girl started to cry so he hugged her. She felt pathetic, crying in his chest. Tears were for the weak.
You idiot, that's not why I'm crying!
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"Hey, you'll never guess what this jerk Neji did yesterday!"
As soon as he saw them, Kiba couldn't wait to tell Hinata and Shino about what had happened the day before.
Hinata raised a finger to her lip. "I-I think you are mistaken, Kiba-kun. Neji-nii-san wouldn't do a thing like that..."
"He did! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Maybe you should ask yourself if what you saw is really what you think it is," Shino said calmly.
"What do you mean by that?!" the impulsive teen replied.
"Find out for yourself."
Perceptive observer, Shino had known that Neji secretely craved for Tenten just by the way he looked at her, because Kiba used to look at Hinata with the same eyes. But he also knew that the bond between teammates was very strong, strong enough for Tenten to cheat on Kiba, perhaps? At least that was Shino's assumption for now, but he'd keep it for himself.
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"Tenten did not show up today," Lee said, worried. "Maybe I should go visit her and see if she's sick."
Neji shook his head. "No, it's best you left her alone."
"Why? Do you know something?"
No reply. Surely Tenten was just upset about yesterday and wanted to avoid her sudden new admirer. Unless she feared him now? Or that she preferred not to see him anymore because of Kiba's threats to him? Neji hoped it wasn't anything of the sort. Nothing, especially not Kiba, would prevent him from seeing Tenten, except if she was to request him to stay away from her herself. The long-haired boy was starting to fear that maybe that would be the case.
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Tenten had spent the day all alone in her home, too depressed to see the others, wondering if all men were the same.
Yet, right now, she was sound asleep in bed, as it was the middle of the night. Suddenly, her ninja senses woke her up, alerting her that an intruder was in her room. She quickly grabbed a kunai she always kept on her bedside, and threw it at the shadow she saw in front of her.
"Who's there?!"
The trespasser deflected her kunai with his own, knowing she would do something like this.
"Tenten, it's me." The shadow approached and the faint light coming from the window identified the intruder.
"What? Neji? Why are you here? How did you get in?"
"I'm a ninja.," came the obvious reply.
"But it's 2 a.m..." said the sleepy girl as she looked at her clock.
"I wanted to talk. Seeing you during the day would only cause problems with him."
Of course, he wasn't doing this to obey Kiba's orders. He simply didn't want Tenten to have troubles because of him.
The girl sat in her bed, her legs still under the covers."If it's about yesterday, I'm sorry Kiba hit you," she said sadly. "Let's pretend nothing happened."
The boy sat on the edge of the bed. "No. It did happen. I do love you"
"What do you want me to do about it? I'm sorry, but I have Kiba-kun."
Then, Neji crawled over to her on all fours. Instinctively, the girl tried to back away but she couldn't because she already sat against the wall. She felt like a trapped animal facing a hungry wolf. She was able to handle hungry dogs, but wolves were a completely different story. He looked at her with passionate eyes and approached closer to her.
"I want you. Be mine."
Tenten's heart was beating fast. Why was Neji being so seductive all of a sudden? Didn't he come to talk? It seemed like he only came to tempt her. She didn't recognize the person in front of her anymore.
"I don't belong to anyone."
Neji smirked. There she was. The feminist kunoichi he knew and loved. He knelt on the bed, a leg on each side of the girls's thighs. He still looked at her with those intense eyes reflecting the moonlight from outside.
"And I don't love you," she said firmly, trying to appear like the boy's unusual actions did not intimidate her.
Neji must've thought that the young woman's words and actions contradicted each other, because he ignored her and kissed her again. And just like the previous day, Tenten answered it back. It simply happened on its own. He was unsure what it meant, but he continued, nonetheless. His own heartbeat was getting louder as the blood rushed through his body. Tenten's mind was blank, but when the young man placed a hand on her leg and the other to her face in the same manner Kiba did, she came back to reality and realized what she was doing. She pushed Neji away.
"Stop, please. Why are you doing this to me?"
Neji just looked at her, flustered and unable to say anything. Why did she kiss him back twice if she didn't want this?
"You can't do this! Telling you I was once in love with you was a mistake. You only came in here to try to seduce me, didn't you? It's your fault that this is happening! You don't care if you hurt me or Kiba-kun, you're only here for your own selfish ambitions! Can't you see I finally found happiness? Neji, I will not leave Kiba-kun."
Neji was shocked. This was the first time Tenten had ever been this harsh to him. Yet getting reprimanded by her was the wake-up call he needed. He realized what he was doing. Trying to steal someone's girlfriend was wrong. His jealousy had convinced him that Kiba was an awful person, yet he couldn't be that bad if Tenten still loved him. Neji tried to convince himself that it wasn't just lust that had guided him to the girl's bedroom, yet he did want her badly. So it's true that love brings out the best and the worst in people. He tried to make the move on a taken girl, get her to cheat on her boyfriend. How could he do something like that? If he continued, he'd only be confirming what Kiba thought and forcing himself on her. Knowing that Tenten was once in love with him, he had imagined it would be easy to win her over again. How could he ask her to be unfaithful, when it was her loyalty, kindness and strong will that he admired? No matter if Tenten still loved him or not, she had said it herself: I will not leave Kiba-kun. She was right, he was selfish and it was all his fault.
Neji got up. "I'm sorry, I have acted wrongly. I've put you in a difficult situation." He turned his back to her. "Forgive me. I'll stay out of both your ways from now on."
Tenten couldn't believe how sincere he had sounded just then. So he did understand now? Yet, as he prepared to leave her, she suddenly felt like he was walking out of her life, like he'd never be the same around her and she was instantly scared and sad. He made her feel safe just as much as he made her feel awful. She did need him, no matter how he acted.
She grabbed his sleeve. "Stay." He paused for a moment, yet not answering. So she repeated in a soft voice: "Stay."
She felt lonely and disconcerted, and feared being abandoned. She needed comfort right now, even if she had to receive it from the one who had caused her to feel this way in the first place. Neji faced her once more, confused again at her puzzling behavior. She moved over in her bed in order to leave some room beside her and eyed Neji.
Again, Tenten, your words and your actions are in conflict with each other.
He did not understand how her brain worked, one minute she wants him to stay away from her, the next she wants him to share her bed? But since she had been the one to invite him, he did not hesitate to settle down under the blankets beside her, going against the what he had said just seconds ago. His own words and actions contradicted each other as well. In a way, both Neji and Tenten were wrong.
She turned her back to him. "Tomorrow, I'll tell Kiba-kun the truth."
No reply. They just slept, back to back, never touching.
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In the morning when Tenten woke up, instead of Kiba's familiar red markings, she found herself staring at Neji's blue cursed seal. She sprung up instantly and remembered what had happened. Oh God, what have I done?
She left Neji sleeping soundly in her bed, and got out of her house. Then she ran. She ran as fast as she could, to nowhere. She just wanted to get away. Get away from pain. Get away from both Neji and Kiba. As she turned a corner, she bumped into a familiar figure, Lee.
"Hi, Tenten! What is…wrong?" the boy said as he noticed that look of distress she had.
Infinitely grateful that she had bumped into a boy who did not want to get into her pants and about to suffer from a nervous breakdown, she finally snapped and threw her arm around Lee and cried.
Lee held her too and stroked her back, feeling great pain and worry for his dear friend.
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Waah this chapter was longer than the others but it was so fun to write I made it longer ) Now let's play the moral game! Who has acted most wrongly in this chapter? The jealous, controlling boyfriend, the girlfriend-stealing jerk or the "I don't want to betray my boyfriend so I'll let another man sleep in my bed" girl? XD Seriously, I think everyone was a bit OOC in this, but whatever. At first, Neji and Tenten were supposed to do much more than just kissing in that last scene, but I thought 'Nuuu, they'd never go that far. That'd be very OOC.'
Anyways… tell me what you think! Next chapter: Lee's words of wisdom. Stay tuned.