A Rose With Thorns

By Paine

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So the chocolate hadn't worked. Tenten had realized that the moment she had awoken that morning feeling just as depressed as she remembered feeling the night before.
Also she fallen asleep on her kitchen floor, leaving her this morning with a throbbing pain in the back of her neck, and she was certain that although she had spent most of the morning retrieving chocolate wrappers from her hair, there were still some trapped in her buns.

And she still had to go to work. And tonight she was supposed to be fitted for her bridesmaid dress.

Yes it seemed that God really loved her.

Perhaps she wouldn't have been so moody today if she hadn't decided to walk to work, but she had never passed the driving exam, being too frightened to try after the Hanabi Hyuuga had told her about one of her cousins who had ended up in the hospital because of his jerky actions behind the wheel. A disgrace to the honorable family, of course…to Neji…Haha…

She usually didn't mind walking, it was good exercise, but today she hated it. Today was Monday and Neji was getting married on Sunday. And today as Tenten walked her way to work, she felt as though each step brought her closer to that unavoidable day.

She wished it would rain; if she got wet, maybe she'd catch a cold and die.

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"Good morning sunshine" a sarcastic voice greeted her as she wandered into the office. "What's with the sad face?"

"It's not raining" Tenten said to the gorgeous oriental woman, the owner of the voice.

"Why would you want it to rain?" Most people would look at the question, as just an innocent question, but Tenten knew better. Ino was the writer for the gossip column, which made her, incredibly nosy.

"I like the rain"

"No one likes the rain"

"I love the rain"

Ino shrugged. "I made you a cup a tea" She pushed the beverage under Tenten's nose. Tenten wrenched her face with disgust and tried to expel the overwhelming smell of peppermint from her nostrils, knowing her the "tea" was probably laced with some sort of truth medicine. Damn Tsunade and her drug store…Business was booming.

"I hate tea"

"But you love the rain" Ino raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow, but removed the cup.

She followed Tenten to her desk and stared at her through her baby blue eyes until she sat down.

"I came by your apartment last night" She said finally as she sat at her respective desk.

"That's nice"

"You weren't there"

So that was the point of the whole tea act.

"Really?" Tenten had been working for the Konoha newspaper for nine months and during that time, she had learnt never to tell Ino anything about your life, you see if you did, it usually ended up on page seven of the Konoha Scoop, next to the horoscope section.

"Don't play with me Tenten"

"I'm not playing- fine if you must know my mother was- sick"

"Your mother in Tsuchi no Kuni?"

"Yes my only mother the one in the Land of Earth…"

"Strange how you managed to get from Konoha to Tsuchigakure and back in just one night, seeing as you can't drive and there happens to be a million mile difference between the two places" Hyperbole…Ino's nickname…

Damn.

Tenten glanced at the woman in absolute amazement.

"You see Tenten" she glanced at the brunette over the top of her very own cup of tea. "When you work as a reporter for 4 years, you learn some things"

"Obviously" Tenten muttered and began the daily hunt for her pen.

"Under your dictionary love, so you were going to tell me where you were"

"I was not going to tell you anything"

"Why not?"

"Because when I tell you anything you always write it up in your stupid column"

"That was ages ago"

"It was last month and how the bloody hell did you know where my pen was"

Ino frowned. " That was different, everyone wanted- needed to know when the Hyuuga-Haruno wedding was, and I was looking for some string"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I was at some awards ceremony"

"The Annual Sports Ninja Awards, how did you get invited to that?"

"Neji invited me"

"Ohhh"

"What"

"Is that why you were so put out this morning, didn't he look at you or something"

"What do you mean…"

"Please, we all know you have a huuuggggeeee crush on the guy"

Tenten felt her face grow hot. "I don't understand what you are talking…who's we?"

"We is me" Ino stood up "And of course I know the way your eyes glaze over when you talk about him and well the hearts next to his name and doodles on most of your possessions was also a give away"

"I would appreciate it if you'd keep away from my desk"

Ino laughed. "Don't worry I won't tell, it's a wonder if he doesn't already know, and the people from the office sent a message––something about tardiness… they said you can take the driving exam tomorrow night"

Tenten had the grace to turn beet red at the reminder of her repetitive failure at the damn test…she just got jittery behind the wheel…

And with that she sauntered over to a girl named Hoshi, her cup of tea in hand.

She left Tenten feeling very stupid, but still she had a point. It was a wonder if he didn't know.

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Orange is such a graceless color.

It's not the first hue that comes to mind when you are picking the tone for your bridesmaid's gowns, or any gowns to be honest.

You see orange flatters no one.

This fact seemed to have slipped Haruno Sakura's mind, because her bridesmaids' gowns were orange.

It probably wouldn't have mattered if they had been a different color. With the magnitudes of silk flowers and beads that decorated the dress they had been doomed from the very first hem.

"Isn't this woman a designer?" said a woman who Tenten knew was Kira Hyuuga, Neji's manager. "So then why are these things so hideous"

"I think she designs handbags" Tenten replied, stifling a giggle.

But Kira had a point, other than being the ugliest things ever mended together by thread, none of the dresses fit. Tenten's dress was about eight inches higher than where it was supposed to be, Kira's was practically falling off of her, and the other bridesmaid, a woman called Nana hadn't even been able to get hers over her head.

Kira was now swearing, very loudly about this fact to the only one who'd listen, herself.

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"Here I am!" came a voice, accompanied by its smile. It was the her, of course, a good twenty minutes late.

"You're late." Kira had taken a break from her ranting to remind the designer of her tardiness.

"Oh am I?" Sakura glanced at a silver wristwatch on her hand. "Well, it's not as if any of you have any where else to be"

Tenten rolled her eyes and focused her glance to her feet. Beside her she heard Nana whisper an expletive under her breath and Kira resume her cursing from across the room, not so inaudibly.

"Well let's see these dresses, I made them myself you know, down to the last thread"

"It shows" Nana said.

"Yes, I hope it does" Sakura clasped her hands together dramatically, obviously interpreting the comment the wrong way.

"Everyone asked me, Sakura why use orange, no one else does, but I said well I'll start a new trend then, right!?" she laughed again, but soon stopped noticing she was the only one in the room doing so.

"So I'm sensing a problem?"

"Are you blind?" Kira exploded at once. "Your dresses don't fit!"

Sakura's green eyes began to finally take in the appearances of her bridesmaids. "Oh, well, I was thinking that we'd have to make a few adjustments- Tenten did you grow?"

"Not ten inches in the last month"

Sakura frowned. "Well" she whipped out her cell phone from a pink handbag. And with a slight shove on her part, she had pushed Tenten in the nearest gas lamp accidentally setting Tenten's dress on fire.

Sakura started screaming, but soon Nana had extinguished the fire with her oversized trenchcoat.

"I am so sorry" Sakura replied, she hadn't sounded very sorry and it really didn't help that she was smiling her patented "Sakura Smile" when she'd said it, her cell phone mysteriously vanishing into her bag again.

"I suppose I might have to make you a new dress Tenten"

"You might?" It was Kira, she was obviously becoming less and less impressed by Sakura by the second. "You set the dress on fire, and, mind you, I think it looks better now"

Nana laughed.

Sakura's smile flickered but refused to vanish. "And I suppose that either of you think that you can do better, I am the most coveted designer in all Konoha, and Tenten loves my designs don't you Tenten?"

Three pairs of eyes rounded on Tenten, whose dress now barely went mid thigh.

"Well, I…"

She was saved from having to answer by a figure that had just appeared at the doorway.

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"What's with all the noise?"

"Neji" Sakura bounded over to him immediately. "Your manager and what is she––cousin––are insulting my dresses"

Her droning reminded Tenten of a child who had just seen her favorite doll destroyed and was telling the teacher about it.

"And tell them Neji, tell them that I am the most praised and respected designer in all Konoha!"

"You design handbags for God's sake!"

Neji's eyes scanned the room, the antique ceiling and mirrors and the three women, who dresses lay in three different states, Kira's whose lay in a ball in the corner, Nana's whose was being supported by the wearer herself, and Tenten's whose dress had scorch marks all over it and was significantly shorter than everyone else's.

Tenten's eyes found that familiar spot on the floor again as Neji's eyes took in her appearance.

Finally he turned to his soon to be wife. "Maybe we should all just go home"

"Best thing I've heard all night" Kira was gone before anyone else could get a word in.

"I agree" Nana grabbed the edges of her gown and walked over to a room in the corner and slammed the door shut. She really didn't need to since she could be heard quite clearly muttering from the other side anyways.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but decided against it and just continued smiling. "Come along then Neji" she grabbed his arm "I'm very tired, now that I think about it"

"Actually" Neji retracted his arm from her grasp. "I want to talk to Tenten for a bit"

"Oh well" Sakura's smile refused to be put out. "Later then, goodnight Tenten"

"Goodnight" Tenten replied still not looking up from the ground.

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She heard Neji's footsteps drawing nearer, her own breath quickened. And it didn't help that he was playing around in her hair.

"Do you know that you have chocolate wrappers in your hair"

"Really?" Tenten felt her face grow hot, she still felt the necessity to stare at the floor.

"Yes really" she could hear a hint of laughter in his otherwise quite monotone voice.

"I fell asleep on my kitchen floor last night"

"Did you?"

"Yes, and it's not funny, I think I hurt my neck because of it"

"Is that why you're not looking at me?"

He wasn't helping matters.

"Why do I have to look at you Hyuuga, are you that special?"

"I think so"

"I know you do- hey did you know your wife burnt my dress"

"I can see that, I can also see that you haven't gained a pound since the Ninja Academy…eat something, won't you?"

"You little liar, I've gained ten"

"Maybe your hair grew"

Her eyes darted upwards, meeting his.

"There, now I feel special" He grinned.

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"Well, that's that, see you around Hyuuga-san, Tenten, I read your story today"

"Yeah?" Tenten had returned to the former habit of staring at walls now.

"Yeah, really very good, goodnight you two"

The familiar bang and Tenten knew that Nana was gone too.

"Go get changed" Neji prodded her in the direction of the closet, which had served as a restroom this night.

"Don't you have to go home, your girlfriend is what was it, tired"

"I'm walking you home"

"Neji, you don't need to"

"Of course I do, I need to protect you from any of those delinquents that roam the streets"

"I live a street away, can take care of myself, and you're not very good protection; I remember when I was seven and that girl tried to steal my practice wooden katana and you ran home"

"Only for reinforcements, and besides how old was I, seven, now go get changed before I change my mind­"

"I wouldn't want that" Tenten walked over to the direction of the room, and shut the door behind her. Damn, Neji always had to make things so complicated.

"Oh––and besides, I didn't win the best athlete award for nothing…" Ha! The guy was talking to himself…Did her words have an affect of some sort on him, maybe? Did he care what she said?

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"What I don't understand is, why you just won't take the driving test"

"Shows how much you know Hyuuga, I am taking it tomorrow"

"Finally"

"The point is I'm going to take it"

The lift stopped and the two got out. They walked in silence to Tenten's door.

"About that story you wrote"

"What about it"

"You've done better"

"Thank you Neji your opinion means so much to me"

"Now where's the Tenten that I know and love––she would have slapped me at least five times tonight…or at least tried to…"

"She's tired Neji"

"I'll bet"

More silence. Tenten stared at her shoes again.

She felt Neji touch her hair, which was now out, the curls tumbling onto her shoulders. When did it come out?

"I liked it better when it was shorter"

The scent of his cologne imprisoned her. She could feel the warmth from his body on her skin. She could almost feel his heart beating.

They had stood this close before, but somehow, it had never been like this.

Her eyes darted upwards, meeting his, and once she met his gaze, she felt the will to look away leave her. She saw his face drawing nearer. She forced her eyes closed, and braced herself for what was to come.

His breath was on her face, fogging up her glasses. A hand, not hers, brushed her cheek.

This was it.

A second passed, and then another, and soon many seconds had passed, and nothing had happened.

Cautiously, Tenten opened one eye, and then the other one followed. Neji was no longer standing in front of her. He was now facing the lifts, running a hand through his mane of brown hair.

"Goodnight Tenten" he muttered after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

Tenten managed to scavenge her voice from her stomach. "Goodnight".

He was gone in an instant, leaving a very confused girl standing in her doorway, desperately trying to hold onto the last remains of his cologne.

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To those who reviewed, thank you very much.

REVIEW SOME MORE! Next chapter will come sooner the larger the amount of reviews!

By the way, guys…I've become slightly more demanding…how about 20 reviews this time? I'm looking forward to it! And this story will be on hold for a few weeks because I'm working on other projects…If I get more than thirty reviews, I'll give you faster updates for all of the upcoming chapters, with some conditions. But they'll be smaller ones…maybe 15 reviews per chapter…hows that sound?

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Disclaimer

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters... except for Kira and Nana, they're MINE!

By the way, guys…I've become slightly more demanding…how about 20 reviews this time? I'm looking forward to it! And this story will be on hold for a few weeks