xXBabyxDollxLaceXx: Sorry it took so long! I always get started on the next chapter before I post the current one up but somehow I always end up never finishing it cause I get distracted! So on the last chapter I forgot a disclaimer. Haha. Anywho, this chapter is really long and I'm not too happy with it. Give me your opinions after you read.
Thank you to: imf cutie, LaLa, Jins-swords, Akairyu Alizarin, and Chocolatemarshmallowcupcake94.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Viz, and Shonen Jump.
Picnic
Her lungs stopped working for a few moments after Neji asked her for her hand in marriage. She should have felt overjoyed and just had said yes as soon as the inquiry left his mouth but she was just beyond shocked. She had loved him secretly, in her heart for years, but because she knew that she was not the person intended for him, she had tried desperately to bury the feelings that kept sleep from claiming her on countless nights. Here he was now, offering her an opportunity to fulfill one of her dreams and she was speechless. Why would he ask her that? Of all the women in his clan, Konoha, why Tenten? Why her? There were so many other more beautiful, young, and skilled kunoichi that he could have asked and yet he asked her.
"Neji I-I... Why me?" She stood in front of him, just as she had done when she first arrived at the field, and looked up at him. There was something hidden in her bright eyes that he could not see.
"Because I wanted to. I don't think there is another woman who I can stand to be around."
On another occasion an arrogant response would have not been tolerated, Tenten would have quickly put Neji in his place. Tonight, though, she simply nodded her head and smiled at him.
"I need to get to know you better, Neji. Although we have been teammates for years, I don't know you that well on a personal level and you don't know me. I would hate to have to be bound to a stranger for the rest of my life and I'm sure you would too."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes, I'll marry you. Only if you court me until the wedding. I want to get to know the Neji you have been keeping from me since the day we first met each other. There's someone hiding behind the mask of a genius and I intend to find out exactly who that person is. Tomorrow meet me at my apartment around midday; you can start then."
He smirked. She had managed to make him nervous earlier and now she had given him the answer he expected. His confidence was solid again. Neji dug his hand in his pocket and took out the little velvet box. Tenten eyed it curiously, fully aware of what was sure to be in it.
"You are right. I would hate to be married to a stranger I have known for years. I will court you until the wedding." Neji chuckled and received a light punch from Tenten. He opened the box and took out a diamond engagement ring. The diamond sat on a silver band with an intricate filigree design etched all around with a series of smaller diamonds encased throughout. It appeared to be, no doubt, expensive and a family heirloom. The diamond caught whatever light was left from the sun and shone beautifully as Neji placed it on her left hand.
Tenten looked at the added weight on her finger somewhat disbelieving it was indeed there. It fit her perfectly.
"It was my mother's ring and now it's yours."
She was still staring at it but now in awe. "Its lovely, thank you. I guess this means we're affianced now, huh?"
Neji nodded. "Strange isn't?"
"Very." She blushed a darling shade of pink. "Well I don't suppose you intended to train with me tonight, so with that being said, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Midday."
"Yup." She kissed his cheek and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind a taken aback Neji.
He lifted his hand up to his cheek; he could feel heat rush up to his face as he smiled to himself. Tenten was the perfect choice no matter what the consequences.
Tenten laid on her bed playing with the ring on her finger. She still couldn't believe what had happened not so long ago. She had become content with loneliness. The love of her life had proposed to her but she was not as happy as she should have been. Neji had never shown any signs of affection towards her and she him. At the back of her mind she knew he had not asked her of his own free will. There had to be a reason behind it. Not wanting to sour her mood, Tenten decided that instead of being weary of the whole situation, she should be happy. She was going to get married and to Neji no less.
Maybe he was marrying her, to quote him, "because [he] wanted to." She smiled to herself as she fell asleep.
Neji arrived at the compounded headed straight for his room. He had decided on telling Hiashi tomorrow morning, before heading to Tenten's, about the outcome of tonight. Because his mind was still replaying the events from earlier, Neji failed to realize that his uncle was already in his room. Hiashi was seated on a chair in the farthest corner of the room, his eyes were closed. He looked to be deep in thought.
"What did she say?"
"She accepted."
Hiashi opened his eyes and stared into nothingness. Somehow, Neji knew where their conversation was headed.
"If she had said yes, the elders were determined to know more about her. Since she did, they want to know who she is and where she comes from and..."
"And?"
"They want to meet her. Alone."
"When?"
"They said they would let me know. I hope, for her sake, she doesn't frighten easily. As you know, they can be somewhat... intimidating. Let me meet her before you present her to them. If you chose her, there must be something special about her."
Neji nodded and sat on his bed, taking off his headband. It was his turn to close his eyes and think.
"Why her Neji?"
"She doesn't expect anything from me." Neji opened his eyes and looked at his uncle who had left the chair and was very close to the door. He looked at his nephew with what seemed to be understanding in his eyes.
"Hn. Good night."
Hiashi exited Neji's room and he was left alone with his thoughts. With his entire body now resting in bed, Neji looked at the ceiling. What he told Hiashi was true, he did chose Tenten because she didn't expect anything from him, which meant he was safe with her. She had known him best for years and she knew exactly the kind of person he was. She would not try to change him. But she wanted him to court her to get to know him. He thought he knew her pretty well and then he came to a realization. He only knew her as an apt shinobi and not as an ordinary person. The Tenten he knew was half a person, the one he could read with no problems. The other Tenten was a stranger to him. The same went for her. He didn't bother changing out of his training clothes, he was asleep within a few minutes.
Tenten woke up the next morning with an unusual feeling in her stomach. Butterflies were flapping up a storm. The reason: her fiance. Today Neji would start to court her. They had never spent any time together when they were not training or on a mission. He was always busy with his uncle and she would spend time with the girls whenever they were available. She regretted asking him to court her at first, but the more she thought about it, she was glad she had. They would get to spend more time together.
For the hundredth time she thought about the proposal. It seemed unreal. Last night he had told her she looked nice. She smiled to herself, he had never complimented her appearance before. Maybe she should dress like that more often. She giggled with girlish delight. She looked at the ring again just to reassure herself that it was still there. It was. She sighed and got up from bed to shower. He would arrive early, as was customary with him, within three hours.
She showered quickly and decided to clean her apartment before Neji arrived. As of late, she had been on several missions and training without end, that she ignored her apartment. There was a large pile of dirty laundry all over her bedroom floor, dust bunnies were sure to be under and around her furniture, and her kitchen was disgusting after yesterday. She would be the dirtiest wife in the history of the Hyuuga's. Well it wasn't like she was dirty by nature, she was just always busy. She put on an apron and gloves and attacked the mess, determined to make her home as presentable as she possibly could.
Neji turned his body to his side and sighed. He had woken up three hours late and all because his brain had been exhausted yesterday. He was never late for anything. She was already doing what he dreaded, she was beginning to change him unbeknownst to her. He got up and made his way to his shower, letting loose his long hair and stripping away yesterday's clothing. He turned the shower on and decided to wait a few minutes for the water to heat up. Neji looked at himself in the mirror and subconsciously frowned at his forehead. The cursed seal would always be there to remind him of the caste system that once had existed within his family. Hiashi had managed to do away with both the main and branch houses in order to better unify the family together, but the elders always demanded something in return for their compliance, they wanted to continue to uphold all of their traditions even if there were no houses to separate the clansmen. So although there were no diving houses, everyone still had to act as if they were still members of a specific house. Ultimately, what Hiashi had managed to abolish was the cursed seal. No longer would any children be put through needless pain, especially not his. Neji showered and dressed quickly. He needed to arrive at Tenten's early. There were many things he needed to discuss with her and the sooner he arrived the better.
Within two hours Tenten managed to clean her apartment and wash and dry a few loads of laundry. She couldn't have felt more accomplished. Now she only had half an hour to dress herself before Neji arrived. Tenten looked within her closet and found an ecru colored cotton dress to wear. Although she was unaccustomed to wearing anything other than pants or shorts with a t-shirt on her days off, she decided on the dress. She felt that the ring would stand out more with the color of the dress than the other dark clothing she wore on a regular basis. Well that was more of an excuse. She just wanted him to compliment her on her appearance again. Her time was winding down and she still had not fixed her hair. Hurriedly, Tenten fixed her hair in a messy bun that sat low on the back of her neck. She put on a pair of white sandals and gave herself a once-over in the mirror. Her outfit was uncharacteristically feminine.
Neji knocked on the door and waited only a few moments before Tenten answered. She stepped aside to let him in. She looked more beautiful now than she had last night. The off white dress really suited her coloring and her hair pulled back accentuated her narrow shoulders and neck. She walked over to her kitchen motioning Neji to follow her. The gentle sway of her hips eluded grace as she walked, she couldn't be anymore alluring.
"Pretty."
"Uh, thank you. I wanted to dress up a little because of yesterday. So, I just thought maybe we could go on a picnic today since, well... I'm not going to be courted, again, so I thought, why not go out on a picnic with my fiance and enjoy the day, like on a date!" She had been holding her breath the whole time and finally exhaled after her long rant. Neji stared at her confused.
"On a date?"
"Yeah, well we can eat and I can ask you a million questions about yourself to get to know you better. And then you can ask me. But I need to prepare something for lunch first or would you rather get something from a restaurant and eat that?"
"Show me how talented you are in the kitchen. Surely, Konoha's weapons mistress can handle knives as well as she can kunais."
"I can handle knives well enough to feed myself. Now I think I'll saute some shrimp with a side of white rice and a salad. For desert I'll just slice up the watermelon I got yesterday. Does that sound alright?"
"Sure."
"Well make yourself at home. Sorry if its a mess, its as clean as its gonna get. You can go into the living room and watch TV or something."
Tenten began to rummage through the cabinets and refrigerator looking for the ingredients as Neji walked out of her kitchen to the living area. He had been inside her apartment only once before but he had not payed much attention to what it looked like. The living room area was small and did not contain a lot of furniture besides a loveseat, two chairs, a coffee table, and the TV. It was pretty empty but with her career, she didn't really need more furniture. She barely used the furniture she already owned. The chairs didn't exactly match each other in style, the loveseat seemed to be too small to be able to seat two people at a time, and the TV was a prehistoric model. The walls were also bare, as was the coffee table. Nothing in the room could give him insight into her.
Neji sat down on one of the chairs and stared at the coffee table. A small corner of a paper stuck out from the drawer. Neji opened the drawer and took out the paper. It was a small picture of a child with long light brown locks and chestnut brown eyes looking away from the camera. A frown was plastered all over the child's face. He turned the picture back and saw, written in horrible penmanship, 'Patient: Tenten, Age: 5, Blood Type: B' scrawled across the left hand corner.
Tenten had never mentioned being a patient at a hospital before. Then again Tenten never mentioned much about her personal life. She was always very professional, very talented at separating her personal life from her professional. A talent that many kunoichi had trouble with. He looked at the photograph again. She was wearing what appeared to be a school uniform that had seen better days. Tenten appeared to be very defiant in the photograph turning away and frowning instead of smiling and looking straight at the camera. He wondered what could have caused that facial expression, why it was taken, and where. Neji placed the photograph back in the drawer and noticed a manilla folder with her name written across the dead center. It was aged and yellowed slightly crumbling at touch of his fingers.
"The food's ready."
At the sound of her voice he closed the drawer shut and placed his elbows on his knees, making it look like he was thinking. Tenten was standing in the doorway holding up a small basket on one hand and a blanket on the other.
"It's kinda empty isn't?" She waited until Neji nodded in response. "I don't spend very much time in that room. It's just such a cold room and I don't know. I don't like it in there."
They left the apartment and walked to the training grounds in silence, Neji carried both the basket and blanket. When they arrived Tenten placed the blanket under a tree and laid down on the floor as Neji placed the basket off to the side and sat down.
"Neji, lay with me." She turned to look at him with a smile on her face. He did so without arguing but decided to keep his distance.
"Why did you propose to me?"
"I told you yesterday, didn't I?"
"Yea, but, I know you didn't really ask me of your own free will. I mean, I doubt you would ever up and ask me to marry you of your own account. You can tell me you know, I already said yes and although no one knows about our engagement, I wont change my mind. You have my word."
"Hn."
"Have you told someone?"
He turned his head to look at her. Her face was quizzical, it was obvious she had no intention of dropping the subject.
"Since I'm going to marry you, I need for you to be able to talk to me openly. One word answers and questions as responses don't work."
He remained silent and turned to face the sky. It was a nice day so far, much cooler than yesterday had been.
"I can be patient."
He closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. "Hiashi-sama reminded me of my need to find a bride by my twentieth birthday, since its less than a month away I needed to choose quickly. The only person I could think to ask was you but I didn't want to let you know why. If I did, I thought I would guilt you into agreeing, possibly leading you to regret your decision in the future. So I didn't tell you. I didn't plan on telling you either."
He turned to look at her. She didn't stop smiling but the look in her eyes hinted at something other than happiness. Was she hurt by is honesty?
"Well, I'm glad you can turn to me in your time of need. I would agree to marry you even if you weren't pressured to. Don't feel guilty, I could never regret my decision. Besides, I'm going to marry one of the most handsome, if not the most handsome, men in all of the fire country!" Her laugh was loud and boisterous, a sound he really enjoyed. He felt the atmosphere lighten.
"Shallow are you Tenten?"
"Nope, not at all, just grateful."
"Tell me about your childhood."
She looked a little startled by question.
"M-My childhood?"
"You said this picnic was for us to get to know each other better. I'm going to take full advantage of that and ask you a million questions as well."
"Where do I start? Well, I am an orphan. I was found by the village gates when I was a baby and all they found on me was a note with my name and my birth date. Its pretty safe to assume that I'm not from Konoha. But this is the only place I've ever known, so it doesn't matter to me if I'm not from here. Konoha is my home. I grew up in a publicly funded orphanage. They are horrible places. There are way too many children in those institutions to be looked after properly. No child gets the love and attention that a child deserves. Most of the children were suffering from depression, including me. As a result, I acted rebelliously when I was there. I think all the caretakers must have hated me. Then, one day when I was five, I ran away. It was silly of me being so young and all. I was out on the streets begging for food for a while until I met my landlady. She is such a generous person, she allowed me to live in the apartment free of charge for all these years. She said she couldn't bare to see me begging for food on the streets when she could tell I was going to benefit the village one day."
Her smiled seemed melancholy now as she tried to hold back tears. It was not very often when he got to see her like this, he felt a slight tug at his heart. If he were another man, he would have taken her into his arms, but he was always aware of himself. He continued to stare at her, never offering a comforting word or touch. She blinked the tears away and ceased smiling.
"I have always tried to pay her back, she never lets me. I must owe her a fortune by now. Without her kindness I don't know what could have happened to me. I will always be grateful. Then I went into the Academy once I was old enough. From that point on you pretty much now everything."
She turned her head to him and stared back at him in silence. Her eyes searched his face for something he could not decipher. He looked back up at the sky.
"Thank you for sharing that with me."
"Well you did ask and how could I refuse you?"
He could feel her smiling at him again.
"The elders want to meet you,they're curious to meet the woman I have chosen. It should come as no surprise that they disapprove of you."
"Why don't they approve of me? Is it because I'm an outsider?"
He had not planned on telling her the full length of the truth, just enough to ease her mind, but she had always been very inquisitive. Satisfying her curiosity with little information would not keep her content. He had to tell her everything now. Well, not everything.
"When my father gave up his body for my uncle, I was granted a gift. At the time, my gift did not seem importnat, in fact it angered me. Why should all I get from my father's death be a stupid decision that I would not need to make anyway? The gift was a decision, a decision to choose my future bride. The elders believed it to be an insignificant choice in my future, especially since I was born a branch member. It was, until they realized my kekkai genkai surpassed the main house's, then the freedom to choose my bride seemed to be of the utmost importance. They want me to marry within the clan in order to perfect the Hyuuga genes, marriage to an outsider would be throwing away the perfect genetic opportunity. They are worried if we're to have children that they will be useless to the clan."
"So what you're saying is, you basically are going to marry me to defy them?"
"Not entirely."
"Then why else are you marrying me? Its not like we are romantically involved."
"You are the only on that does not expect anything from me."
He could see her from the corner of his eye, her face was flushed.
"Oh." She paused for a moment. "Do we have to have children?"
She sounded somewhat distressed. Did she find the prospect of having children with him so repulsive? He thought about it for a moment. The elders would not want fruit from their union.
"No."
He heard her sigh of relief. Was he not physically attractive or something? Women in the village always gave him appreciative glances, not that he noticed anyway. She had also mentioned that she was marrying one of the most handsome me in the Fire Country.
"So, uh, when's the wedding?"
"The day before my birthday."
"That's less than a month away! I don't suppose you have anything planned do you?"
"No. Hyuuga weddings are usually small ceremonies with a wedding breakfast instead of a reception. No one outside the clan is allowed to attend, unless you are the Hokage or invited specifically by the elders."
"So Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Lee, or Gai-sensei wouldn't be able to attend?"
"Fortunately."
She frowned at him. "They aren't that bad. They're the closest thing to a family for me. I know they are all somewhat eccentric but still, you shouldn't be so mean. Who's gonna organize everything?"
"You." Tenten jumped up. Her eyes as wide as saucers and her mouth agape.
"ME? I'm an outsider remember? I don't know how your family runs things!"
"You'll most likely have both Hinata-sama's and Hanabi-sama's help. Even if you wouldn't ask for it, I'm sure Hanabi-sama will give you her opinion regardless."
"You know, I've never really gotten a chance to talk to Hanabi before."
"You have been lucky, believe me."
"Oh?"
"She's very adept at conversation."
"Sounds like the perfect little sister. I'm jealous." She snickered at Neji. She could picture him sitting stoically while Hanabi pestered him with her incessant talking. Neji shot her a teasingly haughty look. "I really am jealous of both Hinata and you. When do I get to meet her?"
"Tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Why not? I can give you a tour of my home, which will be yours in the near future. I'll introduce you to Hanabi-sama and her father."
"Your u-uncle?"
"Yes, he also wanted to meet you."
"Wow, him wanting to meet me is kind of intimidating."
"Not at all."
"It's cause you're used to him!"
"He's really not that bad."
"Says you."
"The food's going to get cold if we just talk all afternoon."
"You're right. Let's eat."
They ate lunch in silence and spent the rest of the day enjoying the weather. It was not stifling hot like yesterday had been. Occasionally, Neji would get up and train a little with Tenten as his audience.
xXBabyxDollxLaceXx: Ok. I know this was horribly long! I still don't know in what direction this is going. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but my writing style is changing. I'm still not sure how I want to write this out, maybe I'll edit it after I'm done writing it! Thank you for reading. OH! I'm also thinking about changing the title of the story. Any suggestions? Review motivate me to update faster!