Title: Strange Singing Voice
Author: Anorexia
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Neji Hyuuga x Tenten
Theme: #14 - Radio-Cassette Player
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the songs Haruka Kantra and Ryuusei. They belong to Masashi-Sama, Asian Kung-Fu Generation and TiA.
Author's Notes: Even though there are songs in the story, it isn't exactally a song-fic. Oh, and the lyrics that she isn't singing are in italics...(I also decided, that since Naruto is actually a Japanese show and has Japanese opening/ending theme songs, I decided to post the Japanese lryics and not the English. I do hope that's alright with everyone.)

I never was really good at singing. It was the one thing I couldn't do, no matter how hard I tried. I'd either screw up by hitting the wrong note or messed up the lyrics in a noticeable way. My mother said I should just stick to being a Ninja, but I wanted to be a normal teenage girl and singing in front of the mirror was one of the ways to stay normal.

It was another one of those days. Once again I had my cassette player blared up to the top, I stood in front of my mirror, one of my hands wrapped tightly around my purple hairbrush and was holding it closely to my mouth as if it was a microphone. The other hand was making motions that went with the song. My body moved at the right beat with the song while I sang at the top of my lungs with the lyrics.

"Fumikomu ze akuseru! Kakehiki wa nai sa, sou dayo! Yoru wo nukeru. Nejikomu sa saigo ni, sashihiki zero sa sou dayo! Hibi wo kezuru..."

My hips swung from side to side while I shook my head and waved my free hand around. When it came to this song I was always wild and active with it, moving faster and faster with each verse of the song. I could feel the sweat of my dancing slip down my head as the song neared it's end.

"Itsuwaru koto ni nareta kimi no sekai wo nuritsubusu no sa shiroku shirou."

I pressed the 'pause' button on my cassette player and sat down on my bed to catch my breath before the next song. My hair that was once tightly wrapped in two buns was loosely falling out, strand by strand. My body was now hot and a little sweaty. I took a sip of water and stood up.

"Alright!" I said with enthusiasm. "Next song!"

Once more, I hit the 'play' button on the player and grabbed my 'microphone'. The next song began to play, singing in the English language.

"I believe your promise, it's too hard to give me courage, always I feel it the precious time seeing you..."

"Ryuusei..." I said to myself, getting ready to sing the Japanese words, I didn't know the English well enough to sing them allowed, that was the only singing I wouldn't do.

The song was slower then my last, but still kept a good pace. I took a deep breathe and began to sing once more.

"Tachidomatta kado ni. Asu e mukau kaze wo kanjiteta. Machi no akari hoshikuzu mitai ni. Futari tsutsumu kedo..."

I gave this song a small sway and my hands moved in a different wave then the other. My head only tilted to the side and would switch with every other verse. My eyes were closed, giving it more of a romantic mood. It was a love song after all.

The English lyrics started again and my singing stopped. Next time I'd maybe try singing them, but it would be embarrassing if someone walked in on me messing the words up.

"Why did you stop?"

I screamed and turned around, holding the brush up high to be used as a weapon in case it was a rapist.

Leaning against my door, my teammate, Neji Hyuuga stood in my room. He was emotionless in the face as usual and seemed so relaxed like he had been there for a few minutes.

"Oh! Neji, it's just you..." I sighed with relief and stopped the cassette player to be polite. "What...are you doing in my room?"

He gave a small smile. "Gai-Sensei wanted me to give you a message. Your mother told me to go up to your room to give it to you." His eyes quickly dashed around my room. "You were singing so I decided not to bother you."

"I wish you did..." I muttered, my face becoming hot again. "Um..do you want to sit down?" I quickly raced over to my desk and pulled out the chair.

"No, thank you."

"So...what was the message you wanted to give me?" I didn't sit down either, it would've seemed rude to him.

"Training is going to post-poned until one thirty on Monday." He said casually.

I raised my eyebrows. "That's it?"

He nodded.

"Now I really wish you bothered me...if that was all you had to tell me, it would have saved me the embarrassment of my terrible singing."

"Your singing isn't terrible." Neji continued to speak casually. "What was the name of the song you were singing?"

I blushed and reached for the cassette. "Ryuusei...b-by TiA..." I mumbled. No one had ever complimented my singing before. "Would you like to hear the rest of it?" My thumb quickly raced along the volume, and turned it down in case he wanted to hear the rest of the song.

He gave a small nod. I suppose he was just embarrassed that he wanted to hear the rest of a song most girls would prefer to men.

The singing started up again and I tempted to finish what I started.

"The song I was listening to before this would probably be more to your liking..."

"This one is nice..." Casually spoken once more. "Do you sing it often?"

I shook my head. "I just got this mix tap yesterday and I've only sung this song once or twice."

"And you've memorized the lyrics?"

"Well," I brightened up, "it's not like it's hard to memorize them."

"Yume wa ryuusei no you ni. Ameagari no niji no you ni. Kono kokoro ni hikari wo tsuretekuru. Nayami tsuzukeru koto ga. Hitotsu no kotae ni naruyo. Gomakashitari shinai to chikau no."

The song neared it's end. Why did it have to be so short? This song seemed to be the one thing that made Neji open up a little.

"Are you going to continue singing?" He asked.

"I...if you want..." I blushed once more.

I turned up the volume so it was a little bit louder and stood up. The song was nearing it's end, I only had a verse left to sing.

"Toki wa ryuusei no you ni. Nagaku hikaru o wo hiki. Matatakuma ni kakenukete yuku kara. Nidoto modoranai kyou wo. Ima to mukiau tsuyosa wo. Akirametari shinai to chikau no."

The song ended, as well that side of the tape. It gave a small click, letting me know it was done and I had to turn it over if I wanted to continue with the music.

"You have a pretty voice..."

I looked down at my feet and smiled. "Thank you, Neji."

He stopped leaning on my door and stood up straight. "I'll be going now..."

I walked over to him, to show him the way out like a polite hostess should. "Here, I'll walk you out..."

It didn't take long for us to reach front door.

"You should really think about singing more often, Tenten. You have a beautiful voice." He gently pressed his lips on my cheek and left.

I stood in the doorway, awed. My fingers pressed softly upon the place where he kissed me.

"Neji Hyuuga...you're a strange one..."

Author's note - Behold my Neji OOC-ness power! Muhahah! Okay, I know it sucks, but for this, it's the best I could write.