Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc.
Summary: Tenten is indebt and a really good liar. Neji's family is rich and is in need of a temporary niece. What happens when these two meet? ( Nejiten & minor others )
But at last, she skipped all of the calculations and landed on a blank page. Taking her pencil, she wrote the word "GOALS" and underlined it three times. And she wrote thus:
- Pay back the debt.
- Live in the small house that Neji owns w/ family.
- Fall in love and get married.
At last Tenten smiled to herself and nodded her head in agreement to all three. She would definitely complete all of these by the time she reunited with her father again.
She fell asleep imagining her and her family living a rich life in that red bungalow by the sea.
Tenten did her best to avoid Hyuuga Neji throughout the entire day. She stayed with Hiashi, reading the newspapers and handing him some of the Chinese pork buns she had bought yesterday. They even played a few rounds of Chinese checkers and Tenten… Well, Tenten always lost.
She only left the room once Neji had left for the office. She sighed in relief and reveled in her fury from his overreaction last night. Did she mention that Neji was such a spazz? Oh well. She'd say it again: Neji was such a spazz.
The girl went off into the kitchen and took the teapot into her hands. She reached into the cabinet for Hiashi's cup and poured him another cup of tea. Even now she didn't get what the big deal was. Ok, sure she went off with Sasuke for dinner, but he offered it. It would be rude to not accept it. Plus, she'd be late for dinner anyway if she returned home at that time.
She slammed the teapot down angrily. It was not only that! Does he know what it feels like to be cooped up in this house all day with Asuma's watchful eye and talking to Hiashi about piano lessons WHICH SHE DID NOT EVEN TAKE?
In fact, the only time she ever gets to go outside is when Hiashi is taking his nap in the room. Even then she only goes to Ino's apartment. She doesn't even dare to try and spend her money on eating in a fancy little café. Tenten has the debt to worry about.
"He's a bad man!" she yelled to herself angrily. She downed the cup of tea in one chug, ignoring her scalding tongue as she tried to soothe her nerves. "I'm not a freaking maid, dammit! I am Tenten and I'm-" Her eyes widened in realization as she stared at the cup. "Crap!" It was Hiashi's tea she was drinking.
Now she had to wash it. Damn. It was the only cup the old guy used and now she drank from it. Tenten gave off a sigh. She could be doing so many things right now, but she's stuck in a house washing a cup.
A CUP, people.
"Darn my luck," she whispered to herself hotly. How she longed to go outside and inhale the… Wait. She raised an eyebrow and scrutinized that thought. It was cold outside. Her eyes widened and she rolled them again.
I must be really desperate to actually WANT to go outside.
She went back into the room with Hiashi's cup of tea and sat down, picking up the newspaper as well. She sighed at the headlines. Another Haruno Sakura. She could say that she was a bit envy of the girl, but she respected her.
She had gotten to where she was through hard work! But she silently hated her for she was missing twelve – TWELVE – of her drama shows in the past two or three weeks. All of the TV stations were cluttered with news about the young tennis player. Tenten sighed. Now she'll never know if Tongao will get together with Tianyu (14).
Hiashi noticed her sigh and asked, "What's wrong?"
Tenten was startled by her thoughts, and she laughed sheepishly. "Oh, it's nothing, Uncle," she said quickly. "It's just that all of the headlines are the same these days…" She settled down in her seat and held up the paper. "Anyways, Haruno Sakura – "
She paused.
She looked at Hiashi. "Is something wrong… Uncle?" The man had gone silent and his eyebrows were knitted together in concentration. He didn't answer her. "Uncle?" she prompted again. "Is something the matter?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing, Kit– Tenten." A pause. "I'm getting tired. Why don't you go do something else while I'm sleeping?"
Tenten raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue. "Ok…" she muttered, placing the paper down. "If that's what you want…"
She got up and closed the door behind her. Was it her fault? What did she do wrong?
"Maybe I shouldn't read the paper to him anymore," she muttered to herself. "He seemed pretty hostile…"
She wandered down the long corridor and stopped at the portrait of her "parents." She looked at them. The woman had long hair, her eyes having the same white eyes as Neji. She frowned. I wonder what happened between her and Hiashi that made her run away…
Hyuuga Neji was sitting in his office.
Hyuuga Neji was not stupid. He was, in fact, an (egotistic) intelligent man. He knew that Tenten was avoiding him the whole day. Not only that, but he knows for sure that she didn't know about what he knew and that he knew what she didn't know which was he avoiding her as well, because he knew about what she knew about what both of them knew last night which was both of them knowing that they were right and thinking that each other were wrong.
His attention turned to the fax machine which was actually working for once. He got up and took the sheet of paper out. His eyes widened at the picture. So this is what Hinata was talking about, he thought. His brows furrowed as his eyes scanned over two girls. She was right. Neji couldn't even tell which girl was which.
But he ignored that fact for now and glanced at two figures. One had silver hair with a mask over his face, the other with a scar on his nose. He would find these two people and interrogate them on what happened that day. Hinata was returning and would hand him their names, he knew.
Neji took the picture and the newspaper obituary into the first desk and closed it shut. He was still thinking of a way to possibly make it up to Tenten. He had a feeling she was the type that, if provoked, would kick him in the shins and then slam the door on him. The Hyuuga needed her to stay for Hiashi, even if he was practically in full health now. At least… that's what he told himself.
He admitted that the first 3 hours of being at home in the morning had felt awkward without seeing Tenten around once. ONCE. The only thing that he could hear / see of her was her buoyant voice coming from his Uncle's room.
Sure, he admitted that he had overreacted the night before, but they couldn't risk the lie getting to Sasuke. Neji knew that he was a driven person and that he would inform everyone if he knew. He had to keep an eye on Tenten. She could slip up anything at any moment.
Things would be ok once he found the real niece.
In truth, he could understand why Hiashi was so keen on finding the niece all these years. It was his fault. He had driven his sister away just because she had fallen in love with a man that did not possess the traits that were needed to be a "good" husband. But she had fallen in love anyway. And they ran away.
They ran away and lived in Japan. But then the earthquake happened. And… she had passed away along with her husband. But the niece wasn't found in the wreckage, and Hiashi was determined that she was still alive. The man had been devastated when he had found out.
And things were never really the same again.
Kurenai was sitting in front of the TV. Crying her eyes out.
It was a sappy drama. It was a corny drama. It was a drama where the girl leaves the guy after being sick of the guy leaving her all alone so she just does it and it's so sad but then she comes back like the guy didn't and they kiss and make up at the end anyway.
But Kurenai was still crying.
She had chosen to watch this drama since one of her favorite actresses was in it. The scenery was just perfect too. A blizzard with snow landscape. There was a single black car with some handsome lad holding the door open for the lady. But then another not-so-handsome lad was standing off to the side, hidden away.
But then when the car starts its engines, the not-so-handsome man steps out from behind the tree and the woman catches a glimpse of him. Tears fall from her eyes and she says sorry. But she gets in the car anyway and then they drive away. That's when the other guy comes out and starts chasing the car.
Haha. Ok. First, why did the guy chase the car WHEN he had a perfect chance of chasing it when it wasn't moving. And why did he reveal himself AFTER the car started its engines? The world may never know…
But anyways, Kurenai was crying and cursing all the while for forgetting to bring herself a trash can to deposit her used tissues. She got up to get one when she spotted Asuma by the doorway… CRYING?! Her eyes widened.
"Are you…" She gave him a weird look. "Are you crying?" she asked incredulously. She bent down to meet his eyes and gasped. Holy shit. He was! "You're crying!" she cried out, stating the obvious. "I can't believe you-"
"I was watching," he cut in. He sighed a little at the TV. "I always cry at the same parts of this movie," he said sadly. Kurenai's eyes widened. She did too!
"I know," she agreed solemnly. "It's so sad in the movie…" She forgot about getting the trash can and instead sat back down. She motioned Asuma to sit down as well… if he wanted to that is.
"But it's even more sad in real life," Asuma muttered. He noticed the invitation and sat down as well.
-
The same snow landscape. Large flakes were falling down through the trees as a young man saw a woman with red eyes and black hair nearby a car with another man. Kurenai. She looked at where she knew Asuma was standing and her eyes gave a sad look. "I'm sorry."
She dropped her umbrella as she went into the car with the other man as Asuma "finally" got to his senses and began to chase after her.
(- cough -) That was cheesy.
-
Asuma shook his head suddenly. "That was cheesy?" he said aloud.
"What?" Kurenai cried. "You think it's cheesy?" Asuma quickly shook his head no.
It turned out that Asuma and Kurenai were watching the drama together throughout the entire day. And also throughout the night. Now, what is the problem with this? Well…
"Where's dinner?" Tenten piped up. "I'm starving." Neji looked over at her distastefully, but held his tongue. Gosh she was so impatient! Impatient and beyond, really!
Hiashi smiled awkwardly at her and then turned his attention back to the kitchen. "I'm not sure," the man admitted. "But Gai and Lee are making dinner today. Perhaps - ?" Hiashi looked around.
Where did they go?
Sakura was in a fancy restaurant. Her cell phone was in front of her. Even now she was afraid to actually talk to Neji. From the last moment they talked, he seemed pretty bitter towards her.
She had achieved her goal, but it wasn't really achieved if the person she liked didn't even acknowledge it. Plus, they were interrupted the last time. Maybe they could talk in a more secluded place… Maybe…
Sakura nodded her head. "I'm ready," she whispered to herself out loud. She picked up the cell phone and dialed Neji's number. It rung and rung, but then the operator's voice could be heard in it.
She raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't he answering?" she muttered. She dialed the number again.
"Can you believe it?" Tenten cried. "He said that GAI and LEE were making dinner." The two of them were at a restaurant. It was pretty simple. Not too fancy and not too run-down either. Tenten could even bet that she could pay for her own meal.
It was a relatively crowded area, but there were a handful of tables that were empty. Plus, Tenten and Neji were only two people anyways, so how hard could it be?
The girl tapped her fingers on the wooden table and gave Neji an inquiring look. "Do you think they can cook really well?"
Neji rolled his eyes. "Hn."
"Yeah," she agreed, nodding her head. "I thought so. If they cooked dinner, everything would probably end up green." A pause. "But I don't have a big thing against them… Well, they can be a bit annoying… But – AHHHH! Whatever." She picked up her menu. "We might as well eat here."
His cell phone rang and Neji picked it up. He frowned at the name that was displayed on the screen and just left it on the table faced down. Tenten raised an eyebrow from his antics. The vibrations from the cell phone were making it shake against the wood, creating an irritating sound.
"Uh… Neji?" Tenten began. "Aren't you going to pick it up?"
No answer.
"Uh… Neji – " She stopped. The cell phone had gone silent again. She shrugged as she went back to her menu, but the phone had begun to vibrate again. She looked at Neji expecting him to do something.
Neji grunted. Tenten raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Ok, Mr. Grumpy," she snorted. "Let's see… I'll probably have some rice with err…" But her voice was drowned out by the announcer on the TV that was attached to the wall:
"Haruno Sakura is in Korea, everyone! We have received live footage from the time she has gotten off the plane. Of course…"
Tenten sighed again. "Wow." She raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't be surprised if they canceled my favorite TV show because of this." Another sigh. She didn't watch it for about a week now due to Korea's victory in the tennis games. She looked over at Neji who was obviously taking an interest in the pink–haired girl.
She shook her head. The Hyuuga Neji getting attracted to someone? Well, this is a first for her.
"You know," she began. "Sasuke told me she used to have a boyfriend." She saw him stiffen and she frowned in confusion. She continued, watching his strange reactions. "But he also told me she dumped him to pursue her dream."
She looked back up at the TV. "I feel bad for the boyfriend," Tenten muttered, mostly to herself. Neji heard her, though. The cell phone kept on ringing. "I mean, she's all over the place. The newspapers, the radio, the TV – everywhere!" A pause. "It must be hard for him to see her everywhere." She laughed lightly to herself. "I haven't been able to look at her right ever since Sasuke told me that…" She trailed off.
"I highly doubt that the 'boyfriend' would want your pity," Neji said jerkily. Tenten glared at the way he was reacting.
"But it's the boyfriend's fault too," she protested "I mean – the only reason she probably dumped him was because he didn't agree with her to go for her dream or something…I mean... He could be a lot more supportive of what she wanted, you know? I highly doubt that she just decided to walk out on him like that I mean..."
Neji narrowed his eyes at what she was saying. The cell phone vibrated again and he growled, picking it up. "What?" he said unemotionally. Tenten stared at him. Silence then a, "Fine."
He got up. "Let's go," he said.
"What?!" Tenten cried. "But I haven't even eaten-"
"Let's go!" he repeated, harsher this time.
Tenten quickly got up and followed him to the car. "What's his problem?" she muttered to herself, angrily. "All I said was a few words – What's the big deal?" But she got into the car.
They drove on in silence until they reached their – his – destination. Neji got out of the car quickly and turned to her. "Wait for me here," he ordered. "This will be quick."
"Neji, you –" She watched him run inside. "I'M HUNGRY!" she yelled. But she knew he couldn't hear her.
Neji walked into the restaurant on the second floor. He searched around for Sakura and found her relatively quickly. Her hair was hard to miss. It was a prestigious restaurant and it was a lot less full than the other one. He could see why she wanted them to meet here.
He walked up to Sakura. The girl lifted her head and she released her breath that she didn't know she was holding. She smiled at him. "I'm glad you came," she said softly.
"You wanted to talk?" He ignored what she said and sat down.
"Yes," she said. She bit the bottom of her lip as she played with the table napkin. Silence. "Have you eaten?" she asked. "We could order something –"
"I don't plan on staying long," he quickly cut in. Sakura gulped nervously.
"Well, we were interrupted last time and…" She took a deep breath. "I was wondering if we could start over. I never meant to leave you those three years ago. It was my fault and…" she trailed off. "I was just caught up in my dream and…" She looked at him. "Well, you should understand, right? I talked to you about it."
Neji simply nodded her head. "Yes," he admitted. "You did."
"… Well?" she prompted. "Maybe we could –"
He shook his head. "We can't."
Tenten scoffed in the car. "Five minutes my foot!" she muttered angrily. "Jeez…" She looked out of the window. "What's taking so damn long? Gosh… He could've gone alone but NOOOOOOOO! I had to get dragged along too!"
She looked at the watch in the car. "Feh…" she hissed. "Twenty – five minutes is quick?" She looked back at the door again. "You've got to be kidding, Neji!" The girl slumped back into the car seat. "I could just sleep right here if I wanted to," she mumbled. "But I haven't even EATEN yet…"
She considered ditching Neji and just getting something to eat on herself, but she shook her head. She probably might not be able to make it back to the household quickly afterwards…
"Why… not?" Sakura asked. "Why can't we…"
"We just can't," Neji said firmly. "What we had was three years ago. It's in the past."
"Is it…?" Her grip on the napkin grew tighter. "Have you – Have I really changed that much, Neji?" Silence. "… Well?" she prompted. "Aren't you going to say something…?"
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I have to go." He got out of his seat.
"What?" she cried. "Wait – Neji!" She got out of her seat as well as she ran to catch up with him.
"That's it!" Tenten cried. "I'm going in!"
She got out of the car and went into the building. She stopped at the elevator and looked at the directory map nearby. "Now…" she mumbled. "Where is Neji most likely going to be…?" Her eyes drifted to the second floor, however. A restaurant! "That's where I would want to go," he muttered. "But-"
The elevator doors opened and Tenten looked at the people coming out. A man with long brown hair came out. Neji! Her eyes lit up, but then she frowned. Who was that girl with him though…? Wait… Is that… Haruno Sakura?!
Tenten hid behind the directory map. If Neji caught her here she would be so DEAD.
"Why can't we start over, Neji?" Sakura's voice met her ears. Start over…? Tenten narrowed her eyes in confusion. What is she talking about…?
"We can't, Sakura." Neji. "We had a relationship three years ago, but that was then. This is now." A pause. "Things have changed. We have changed."
"Have we…?" Sakura again. "We were so happy back then, Neji…" Silence. Her voice grew a little hostile. "Do you love someone else, now? Is that it? Neji – Are you with another person?"
"…"
The conversation came to a halt right there. Neji remained silent and Sakura was staring at him, waiting for his answer. Tenten, however, did not notice these things for she was processing what she had heard: Start over… relationship… three years ago… Love… Her eyes widened in realization. This means...
"I highly doubt that the 'boyfriend' would want your pity..."
"Oh shit," she whispered. She leaned back further on the directory board in bewilderment.
Neji was the boyfriend?
(14) These are two characters from another drama titled The Prince Who Turn Into a Frog. I'm thinking about creating a story for this one, but I haven't gotten the details down. It's a Chinese drama.
( My mom watches all of these – It's not what you think, truce buddy... )
A/N. I have a favorite line. Guess what that line is. I'll reveal it… next time.
I also took time to re-edit some chapters. I didn't change any words, really. Just the style on how they were written. Hopefully it looks a lot neater than it used to. XD
As for Sasuke and Sakura, I've decided to give an open-ending for them. Fanatics can elaborate if they wish.
Random: If I had a favorite character in the story so far, it would be Kiba. XD
Thanks to those who read and reviewed. Or just read. That's cool.
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Shinko666 -Thanks for the review. XD I re-edit a lot to make sure conversations are smooth. I'm glad it paid off.
copycattacypoc - Happy Chinese New Year to you too, truce buddy. :D