Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc.
Summary: Tenten is indebt and a really good liar. Neji's family is rich and in need of a temporary niece. What happens when these two meet? ( Nejiten & minor others )
"Eh… heh… RIGHT…" she muttered half-heartedly. "So…"
"We're having a family reunion dinner tonight. Everyone is going to be there," he said, getting straight to the point. "Where are you-"
"FAMILY REUNION DINNER?!" she shrieked. "WHAT FAMILY REUNION DINNER?!"
Another sigh at the end of the phone. "It's when our families come together and just eat and talk," he answered. A pause. "Do you want me to pick you up or-"
"No, no!" she said quickly. "It's fine! It's fine…!" She snapped the phone shut and slammed her head against it. "Perfectly fine," she muttered sarcastically. How the hell was she supposed to put up this act against the whole family now? "UGH!" she yelled. She slammed the phone against her head repeatedly. "Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"
Tenten finally calmed down and sighed, looking up at the sky.
Joy.
When she arrived at the house, she was definitely surprised. Everybody was there already and she made a big entrance – opening the door so hard that it bounced off the white walls. Eight pairs of eyes landed on her in surprise. Mikoto raised an eyebrow in speculation. Tenten twitched from her gaze and looked at the newcomer instead. She recognized her as Neji's secretary, although she never really talked to her in person. Neji shook his head from her stupidity.
Hiashi gave a loud cough and motioned her to sit down at the table. The girl gave a sheepish and embarrassed grin as she planted herself between him and Neji. She was hitting herself mentally in her head. The stares didn't go away and Hiashi coughed loudly again.
"Now that Tenten has joined us," he stated, "I would like to say that I'm glad we finally got a chance to get together." He smiled at his 'niece' who poured herself a cup of water. "Would you like to tell us about yourself, Tenten?" Neji raised both his eyebrows in bewilderment. Sasuke settled down in his seat – interested to see where this would go.
At once the girl exploded into sputtering and hacking coughs from surprise.
WHAT?!
"Err…" Tenten began, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her sweatshirt, "Like… what… exactly?" Her small smile seemed branded on her face.
Hiashi gave a simple shrug. "Like how your life in Hong Kong is," he suggested. "Where do you go to school? Do you have a lot of friends? Do you play any musical instruments? And-"
"Give her a chance to talk, Uncle." Neji gritted those words through his teeth. Hiashi raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else. Neji nodded to Tenten to say something. His eyes were saying, 'Remember what we reviewed that time…'
"Eh… heh…" Tenten laughed sheepishly, trying to ignore the gaze that Neji seemed to be burning into her skull as if he could mentally transport the information they had gone over. "Err… I take… piano… lessons?" she squeaked. She cast a glance at Neji to see if she was right and he raised an eyebrow – questioning why the hell she was looking at him.
"Oh?" Hiashi raised his eyebrows again. "That's interesting. Perhaps you can play for us one time?"
Lee burst in with, "YOSH! I'd like to see our beautiful flower play as well!"
Hinata nodded shyly. "I… like the piano too…" she offered.
Kurenai nodded and put in, "It should sound nice…" She glared at Asuma. "It would help my creativity unlike SOMEBODY'S MUSIC!" Asuma merely coughed at her outburst.
Tenten's eyes widened. "…!" She nudged Neji frantically and he spat out the piece of broccoli he was in the process of chewing. Sasuke tried to hide a smile that was breaking through. Neji, on the other hand, gave her a death glare. Tenten rolled her eyes and she motioned slightly over to Uncle telling him to, 'Say something DAMMIT!'
Neji coughed slightly, trying to compose himself. "Uncle, Tenten's left hand is…" He stopped, thinking of a liable reason, but Tenten pounced in with, "Is numb from the cold!" Her hasty explanation received stares from the others, but they dissipated within a few minutes.
"I… see…" Hiashi muttered. He shrugged it off. "So what composers do you like the best?"
"I like Beethoven – I MEAN CHOPIN!" she blurted out the correct answer after receiving an inquiring glance from Neji. Seeing their startled expressions, she managed a smile again. "I meant… Chopin," she murmured, embarrassed.
Hiashi just shook his head and smiled. He gestured to the food. "Let's begin to eat."
The dinner went fairly smoothly. It was a relief (to Neji) and a miracle (to Tenten). No embarrassing acts, no dropping silverware, no messy eating from Tenten, no squabbles between Kurenai and Mikoto, no staring contests between Hiashi and Neji, no food fights – nothing! But the problem was…
Miracles don't last very long.
Tenten clinked her chopsticks together as she reached for a dish she didn't try yet. Hiashi raised an amused eyebrow. "You like these too, Tenten?" he asked. "Your mother liked the very much."
Tenten just nodded, not really hearing what he was saying. "Yeah… sure…" she muttered, carefully dragging her chopsticks back onto her plate. Neji noticed her lack of listening and jabbed her on her side with his elbow – payback from before. The girl quickly slammed her hands on the table, making the dishes jump, in order not to fall out of her seat. She glared as hard as she could at the prodigy as she slowly slinked back into her seat with the food on her plate.
Hiashi narrowed his eyes angrily at Neji's rash action, but smiled again at Tenten. "You like spicy foods too, I see. Just like your mother."
Tenten gave him a weird look. "Actually, Uncle, I don't really-" Another jab from Neji. "-I LOVESPICY FOODS!" she shouted. She glared at Neji again. Hiashi sighed as he glared at his nephew again.
"Neji," he stated. "Perhaps you'd like to share why you've been…" She saw Neji roll his eyes at Hiashi and she grumbled inwardly. An argument arose soon after and she heard Kurenai yelling. Oh well, she thought. She was just hungry right now. A hungry Tenten is not a very concentrated Tenten.
She put the food she recently got into her mouth. She chewed. And chewed.
And then her eyes widened.
At once Tenten exploded into a fit of coughs. It was so loud that the rest of the family stopped arguing and stared at her. "(cough)WATER(cough)!(cough)" she managed to choke out. Kurenai went straight to the kitchen and came out with two pitches of water. She poured Tenten a cup and handed it quickly to her. The family watched as the girl chugged it in one stroke. Sasuke just chuckled under his hand. Neji was… amazed… for once.
Kurenai hurriedly poured her another cup. And another cup. And another cup until she was finally back to normal. Or as normal as she could be. Tenten hit her chest a few times to get rid of the sting and she finally managed a light smile at the rest of the family.
"Eh… heh…" she muttered. "I think it was a little too spicy…"
Hiashi sweat dropped at her comment. YOU THINK?! But he swallowed this thought down along with his food. "Anyways, Tenten," he continued, "Tomorrow you must go and pay your respects." He nodded gravely and the rest of the family members followed suit.
"My whatta, whatta, what?" she drawled dumbly. Neji slapped his face openly and she stared at him. What's his problem?!
Hiashi coughed loudly and explained quickly in one breath, "Pay your respects to your mother."
"Respects, respects…" she mumbled. Her eyes widened. "Oh!" she cried out excitedly, glad that she knew what he was saying. "Respects!" Her eyes flashed with realization and she muttered quietly, "Oh… respects." Neji rolled his eyes inwardly at her, but said nothing.
"Neji will be accompanying you," Hiashi continued. "You'll be traveling to the mountains, so stock up on gas."
"Tenten, is that really all you're going to buy? I mean, I'm not traveling to the mountains and look at me!"
Tenten merely rolled her eyes at Ino's chastising. Indeed, Ino had bought too much again. Way too much. And guess who got stuck carrying the bags. Uh-huh. Yeah. You guessed right. Tenten. The only thing the brunette had bought was another gigantic sweatshirt since her old one was breaking apart. Ino on the other hand bought anything that was 'too cute,' 'adorable,' or 'shiny.' Yeah. That equals a lot if you add them together.
The girl had went to the apartment to deliver what had happened so far. That she was going to be traveling in the mountains and is going to be stuck with that stuck-up, no-good Hyuuga prodigy guy. Then Ino rose up and demanded that they go shopping for heavier clothes. And… Well…
She shifted the bags in her arms grumpily and twitched at the squeal that came from Ino's mouth.
"Ohmygosh, Tenten!" she cried. "Come here!" She beckoned her over to the street stand and pointed at an object. "Look at this! Isn't the most shiniest and adorablest thing you've ever seen?! It's too cute!" Tenten twitched again at the three words she just heard AGAIN! But nonetheless, she took a closer look at the object and snorted.
"A necklace?" she questioned. "That's all you want?!"
The necklace was shaped in a key. Pink diamonds were cluttered in the hole ring of the key and Tenten raised an eyebrow at it. Why did it seem so… familiar? But she quickly snapped out of her thoughts as Ino frowned at the price tag right next to her.
"Aw, man," she sighed. "I don't have enough money to buy it. And it's the last one too…" Her eyes flashed in glee as she turned to Tenten. "TENTEN!" she cried. "My good friend! Can I borrow some money?!" The brunette sighed, regretting ever telling her how much she had earned from the job. Ino noticed her sigh and began to try to convince her the… err… Ino way.
"Please, Tenten?!" she squeaked. "I'll pay you back! I swear! PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEE?!"
"Alright, alright!" Tenten cried, waving her hand at her friend's face. "Yeesh… Stay there. I'm going to get some from the ATM machine." She glanced at the bag she had in her hands and shoved it to Ino. "Hold this." She ran off to where she had seen one last.
Ino took a look at Tenten's bag and shrugged as she placed it with her other bags.
Oh yes…
Did I mention that these bags all looked exactly the same?
Sakura decided to talk to Neji once more. She was going to tell him that she was going to leave Korea. For good. It was clear to her that he didn't like her as much as he had back then. And it hurt. Badly.
But she knew it would hurt even more if she saw him by chance encounter. And it would be the same for him. She sat in the lounge area of the company building and took a deep breath. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Neji's number.
"Yeah… Neji? I'm here in the lounge… I want to tell you something…"
"WHAT?!"
Tenten stood agape in front of her ATM account. Why that no-good little- HE DIDN'T GIVE ME MY PAYMENT FOR THIS MONTH GODAMMIT! She yelled in rage inwardly, but held it in as she tried her best not to smash the buttons on the machine to get her money.
The girl rushed back to Ino and dumped the money in her hands. "Here!" she said quickly. "This should be enough. Give me back the change later, ok?" She took a quick glance at her watch. Good. Neji should be in his office right now.
"Whoa," Ino but in, holding up her hand to stop her friend's blubbering. "What do you mean by 'later'?"
Tenten sighed. "I have to meet up with Neji right now. He –"
"Oh, job thing. Whatever." Ino grinned as she paid for her necklace and dropped it into the bag nearest to her. "You can go ahead, Tenten," she said. "I'll just call Shikamaru or something to help me with my stuff. He never has stuff to do anyways. And –"
"Yeah, yeah," Tenten said quickly, breaking her off. She turned to get her bag but…
She didn't know which one was hers.
"Ino, do you know which one's mine?" Tenten asked. An eyebrow rose in speculation. Ino crossed her arms in thought and put a finger to the bottom of her lip – a habit. Tenten sighed as she rolled her eyes. She slapped a hand to her forehead. "You didn't – Don't tell me-"
"No, no!" Ino butted in hastily. "I know where it is!" She looked over the bags and gulped inwardly. "Err… This one!" She chose one that was randomly near her and handed it over to Tenten. "Here you go!"
Tenten had both eyebrows raised now. "You sure?"
Ino nodded her head. "Positive!"
The brunette sighed, but she wanted to meet Neji as soon as possible. "Oh all right," she muttered, running off. "You'd better be right!" she called back.
Ino broke into a tentative smile. "Err… Don't worry!"
"You wanted to talk?"
The two of them were seated in the lounge, sitting across from each other. Sakura stood up with her back straight, while Neji relaxed into the chair, waiting for her response.
Sakura nodded attentively, taking calming breaths. Her hands were folded in her lap nicely, and she was currently staring at them instead of him. "Thanks… for coming," she said slowly. "I know it must've caused you trouble." Neji raised an eyebrow and gave off a small shrug. Sakura bit her lip and she rose to meet his eyes.
"I wanted to say…" she began, "I wanted to say that I'm –"
Bzzz…
At that precise moment, Neji's cell phone began to ring. She jumped in surprise. Someone was calling him now? But she…
"Hello?" She could see Neji's eyes narrow, but she saw a twinkle of emotion in them. "You're here? Now?" Sakura winced as she could hear a small volume of talking coming from the phone, but she knew it was loud at Neji's side.
Sure enough, the Hyuuga extended his arm holding the phone far away from his ear and waited until the loud noises stopped.
"YES I'M HERE, YOU IMBICLE!" Tenten shouted menacingly. She was currently in the second part of the lounge that was more secluded from everything else. The section was emptier than the first part and she understood how she had to keep their arrangement a secret.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU PAY FOR THIS MONTH?! HUH?! HUUUUUHHHHH?!" she spat acidly. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I NEED THIS MONEY FOR?! I NEED IT FOR MY DEBT GODDAMMIT AND NOW I'M STARTING TO THINK THAT YOU'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MY SERVICE!" Another huff.
"FINE! YOU KNOW WHAT?! I'M GOING TO-" She stopped as she heard a few words through her end of the line. "… Fine. I'm in the second area. Behind the divider." She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean you can't see a divider? It's as big as your egotistic-"
-
"-morbid mind!" Neji sighed as he snapped the phone shut. He heard her. And he saw the divider, too.
Unfortunately.
-
"Why did Neji rush like that?" Sakura muttered under her breath. He didn't even wait for her to say something! What was so important that needed his attention so quickly? She paused as she thought. At last, she made her decision to follow him. She would wait until he was done and then talk to him.
The girl quickly hurried off to where Neji went.
She looked around the lounge area and finally spotted him with… Her eyes widened. A… girl? She frowned. It never occurred to her that Neji would've… Sakura shook these thoughts away as she went over to the pair. She would be leaving soon and she just needed a little bit of time to talk to him. She was sure that the other girl wouldn't mind.
Tenten's shopping bag was perched on the table between them.
"How come I didn't get my payment for this month, hmmm?" she inquired angrily. "This is the third time you're paying me! You're never late before?" Silence from him. Then a smirk. She clenched her teeth. "So what's your excuse?!" she demanded. "Where's my payment?! Don't think I'm doing this for free-"
"Vacation."
Tenten stopped. "What?!" she spat. "Did you just say… Vacation?!" Neji raised an amused eyebrow that clearly said, 'Are you that stupid that I have to say things more than once?' The girl just rolled her eyes at him and said, "How the hell is visiting a GRAVEYARD a vacation?!"
Neji shook his head. "Remember our agreement?" he asked. "We agreed that any place that took more than four hours would be considered a vacation." His smirk widened as he saw her eyes widen in remembrance.
At last she sputtered, "Then how long is the freaking car ride?!" Neji held up five fingers.
"5 HOURS?!" she screeched. "I'M GOING TO BE STUCK IN A CAR FOR-"
-
"-5 BLOODY HOURS?!"
Sakura winced as she heard the volume of the girl's voice. Wow. She must be the one who was yelling at Neji through the phone. At last, she coughed, and both of them turned to look at her. Both were surprised that she was there. She smiled lightly as she bowed in greeting.
"Hello," she said. "I'm Haruno –"
-
"- Sakura."
Tenten twitched. It was… Neji's girlfriend. Or was Neji's girlfriend. Or… whatever. She couldn't really remember. The girl cast a glance over to Neji to see his reaction and it seemed that he was equally surprised just like her. No one said a word and Tenten was getting nervous. So in greeting, she bowed down slightly as well from her seat.
"Hey!" she cried out cheerfully. "I'm Tenten – Neji's cousin." She watched as both of them twitched simultaneously at how casually she had thrown out the title and rolled her eyes. Morons…
"Your cousin?" Sakura asked, turning to Neji. "I didn't know that you found her…" She trailed off, not really knowing what to say. "Err… Congratulations," she offered. Tenten kicked Neji under the table to say something nice to her, seeing how he said nothing at all. Nothing again. She kicked him even harder and he kicked back even harder.
"Why are you here?" he asked stoically. Tenten twitched. That wasn't nice at all!
She watched Sakura bite the bottom of her lip nervously and Tenten gave some sympathy to her. Jeez. If she was aimed at Neji's level 3 death glares than she would be nervous too. "Err… The real person is a lot prettier on TV!" the girl cried out nervously – trying to lift up the mood.
Tenten stood up to create a sort of barrier between the two, but in the process, she knocked over the shopping bag on the coffee table accidentally. The girl slapped her hand on her forehead.
"Oh!" Sakura cried. She got down on her knees and helped her pick up her items. "I'm really sorry," she explained hastily, picking up a pair of earrings. Tenten twitched at the set and realized that this was one of Ino's other bags! Right, she thought angrily. 'Your bag' my foot!
"I just wanted to talk to Neji for a moment," Sakura continued. "I never-" She stopped as her eyes landed on a necklace. A key with pink diamonds…
Tenten raised an eyebrow but followed her gaze to the necklace. She froze as she saw almost a replica of it dangle in front of her around Sakura's neck. Except it was studded with white diamonds. Shit.
Sakura got up with the necklace – still in its case – in her hand. She gaped at it. "What… What –"
"No, no!" Tenten said, trying to keep her tone happy. "Err… You see, it belongs to my friend," she tried to amend. "She found it at a street store. I'm sure-"
"Street store?" she murmured. She turned to Neji. "You got this at a…" The girl trailed off, waiting for Neji to respond. He didn't and she clutched the one around her neck tighter. "Do you understand how much this meant to me?" she whispered. "How much it still means to me…?"
Silence.
At last, his eyes narrowed. "What we had is over," he stated. "You should leave."
Sakura held her breath and then finally handed the necklace over to Tenten and bowed slightly again. "Sorry," she repeated. Tenten shook her head, saying, 'No need." The girl turned to Neji and told him, "I'm leaving today for France." She watched something flash across his eyes and smiled inwardly – glad that he cared after all. Even if it was just a little. "I'm sorry for bothering you."
She bowed again and then slowly walked away.
Tenten looked to where she went and frowned. She then looked back at Neji who was seemingly indifferent to the whole matter. "… Well?" she prompted.
He raised both his eyebrows as if he was saying, 'What?'
The girl opened her mouth to say something, but shut it. One: because she didn't know what to say, and two: he can mess up his love life all he wanted. It really wasn't any of her business. She shrugged. It's his problem.
Neji stood up and walked past her. "Let's go," he said. "We have to pack."
It was late afternoon and Haruno Sakura was in the limo that was speeding towards the airport, all the while replaying the conversation that had occurred nearly four hours ago. She unintentionally clutched the necklace around her neck every now and then and peered out the window.
Moegi was by her side and she smiled. "You sure you want to do this, Sakura?" she asked. "I – We – don't know when you'll be coming back, you know…"
But Sakura nodded, confident. "I'm ready." She felt her heart contract when the car finally stopped in front of the airport. Her eyes widened as she saw the mass of fans that were perched right outside. They were holding banners and signs. She sighed. A mob.
Moegi was nervous as well. "Do you want to try the other side?" she inquired. "The driver-"
"It's almost time for the plane ride," Sakura reasoned. "If we waste time finding another way in, we'll probably miss the flight." She looked to Moegi pointedly and the small girl nodded.
"Ok," she said. "Let's go. Just remember to stay close by."
They got out of the car and they were mobbed by the fans immediately. Sakura shrugged away from them as she charged on forward, working her way in. Moegi and the others did their best to block them from getting to the celebrity. Sakura worked her way through the area and rushed forward the gate.
Moegi and the bodyguards noticed how close they were and so they stopped blocking the people to rush with Sakura into the gate. The fans charged forward, circling the girl. One reached out to try to grab something and caught Sakura's necklace instead.
From the harsh grip of the person, it ripped off her neck and was tossed on the ground. The girl didn't notice until she was at the edge of the gate. Sakura touched the areas around her neck apprehensively searching for the hard pendant that was under her shirt. Her eyes widened as she couldn't find it anywhere.
"Sakura!!"
The girl charged into the crowd on her hands and knees, patting the ground with her hand to find it. She saw a glint by someone's foot and she charged toward it. Sakura extended to pick it up, but someone's foot slammed hard on her wrist. She could hear a sick snap and she cried out in pain.
"Move! MOVE!" Moegi's shrill voice could be heard as she shoved everybody out of the way harshly. She bent down to Sakura who was panting heavily. "Sakura!" she shouted.
"Sakura! Are you all-"
"You shouldn't have done that, you know."
Neji didn't respond, but Tenten noticed how his hand clutched even tighter on the driving wheel. She rolled her eyes. He was so difficult to manage! She tried again. "You realize that you're letting her slip right through your hands, right?" she said. "You do realize-"
"I believe it's none of your business what I 'realize' or not," he cut in harshly.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, Neji!" she cried out. "Go and ruin your love life if you want!" She glared at him. "If you do, don't come running to me!"
"Forget it," he stated. He smirked at her. "We're going on a 5 hour ride. I hope you have the decency to be prepared."
The girl's eyes narrowed even more. "Oh don't worry about me," she muttered angrily. "I just need some food."
Sakura woke up. She was in the hospital.
Her first impulse was to find the necklace. She shot straight up, but instantly regretted it as pain shot up her right arm. She looked down and saw the cast around her wrist. What had happened…?
Moegi spotted her rising form. "You're awake!" she cried. The small girl went to Sakura's side and noticed how she was scurrying around under the blankets and under her pillow. Sighing, she held up the broken necklace to her face. "Are you looking for this?"
Sakura's eyes widened as she lunged toward it and clutched it to her heart. She frowned at the broken chain. "Don't worry," Moegi said. "We're ordering a new one right now." She spotted the broken face of Sakura and she frowned. "That one can't be fixed." Silence. "Sorry."
The pink-haired girl nodded, taking it all in. "Ok," she said. "Ok."
Moegi scratched the back of her neck. "You broke your wrist," she told Sakura. "Because of it, you won't be able to play tennis for awhile. We'll be staying here for about two weeks or so for you to heal up." Sakura's eyes widened. Two weeks? Here?
"Does he know?" she blurted out.
Moegi's eyebrows went up. "You mean Neji…?" Sakura nodded and Moegi shrugged. "I don't know… But I'll call him." Before she could protest, Moegi quickly added, "You should go to sleep now." Sakura nodded and leaned back down on the bed and closed her eyes. Soon she was asleep again.
Tenten loaded her only bag into the car. And sighed. "Neji!" she called. "I'm ready!" She huffed, blowing up a strand of hair. It was ridiculous to go on a 6 hour ride into the mountains if they were just going to be resting there for about an hour. She got into the seat next to the driver's and leaned back.
Neji came soon after and closed the door tightly. He started the engines and they drove away. Tenten was still sleeping and she leaned down on the window. But she woke up when they finally stopped. "Whoa!" she cried. "We're here already?" But then she frowned.
They were at a hospital.
Neji got out of the car leaving Tenten behind. The girl looked out the window as he ran off and raised an eyebrow. What happened here?
Neji burst into the room to find Sakura sleeping. He looked at the table next to her and spotted the broken necklace. So he was right. She had broken her wrist like her assistant told him. And she broke it trying to get the necklace back. So this meant it was his fault… about.
She began to stir and Neji immediately left without saying anything to her.
Tenten saw him reappear in a matter of five minutes. She was even more perplexed as he opened the door and sat back down. Silence between them as they just sat there. After awhile, she turned to him. "So?" she asked. "What happened?" Her eyes narrowed as he didn't respond. He just started the car.
Her first conclusion was most likely Haruno Sakura. She smiled. He was so clueless when it came to girls. First he leaves her, and then he comes back. Her smile widened. It was like something out of a cheesy soap opera. Tenten tried to keep back her amusement, but it reached Neji's ears. He just merely gave her a cold look.
"What?" he demanded.
She laughed even louder and Neji's eyes narrowed. Unlike a lady-like giggle, her laugh was a "throw your head back and yell it out" kind of laugh. He couldn't decide whether it was repulsive or unique. In the end, he decided on both.
"Heh… It's… (ha) Nothing (ha)!"
Neji rolled his eyes at her hyperactive demeanor as he made his way to the road and onward toward the temple in the mountains. Tenten leaned her head back down again.
"Wake me up when we get there," she mumbled.
4:49 in the late afternoon…
They arrived later at the temple. Neji and Tenten both bowed down before the monks who supervised it. Then they did a brief overview on how to clearly "worship the passed." Tenten just nodded her head, clearly depending on Neji to remember their words. Then she would follow whatever he was doing once they got there.
They entered the shrine of Tenten's supposed "mother." She looked at the small picture in its frame on top of the small table that was covered in red silk. Unconsciously, her fingers brushed a few strands of hair that were hanging loosely in front of her face. The woman… She did look a bit familiar.
However, she was returned back to earth by a jab at her back.
The girl glared at Neji as she watched him to go the left of her and kneel down on the pillow. Her mind snapped in realization. Oh right! They were supposed to be praying. She arranged herself just like Neji and then bowed at the same time he did. She closed her eyes in prayer and she remembered the woman in the picture.
"Sorry," she murmured quietly. Neji twitched slightly at the sound of her voice next to her.
"I need the money for my dad. Sorry for pretending to be your daughter, you know…" She trailed off and she opened her eyes. She slowly got up at the same time Neji did and they left the shrine together to go back home.
"…"
"…"
The car ride was silent. Tenten considered sleeping the whole way back again, but… She went into a gloomy state as she heard the almost inaudible noise of her stomach rumbling again. She needed some grub, dammit! She looked over to Neji who was acting normal during her conflict.
"Neji."
He looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "What?" he spat.
She turned to face him as well. "I'm…" Tenten faced back in front and took a deep breath, afraid of how he was going to react. "I'm… I'm hungry." She heard him snort and she whipped her head around. "You're not?!" she asked incredulously. "I was expecting to eat something at the temple, but they didn't even give us anything!" Silence. "… WELL?!"
Neji rolled his eyes. "Hunger is for the weak," he muttered.
Growl…
The man twitched as his stomach betrayed what he had said right there and then. Tenten smirked. "For the weak, eh?" she inquired. Talk about being a hypocrite. But Neji just harrumphed as he changed the car from the main road and drove trying to find food. There was no sound until Tenten thought of something. She thought about not mentioning it - he was an intelligent guy even if she didn't like to admit it. But she finally decided to ask him anyway.
"You know where we're going, right?"
Silence.
Tenten took that silence as a yes.
Too bad she was wrong.
10:37 at night…
Tenten was slamming her head repeatedly against her seat.
"Neji!" she cried. "Do you know where we're going?!" Neji harrumphed again and she slammed her head against the seat again. "You don't know, DO YOU?!" She stared pointedly at the gloomy atmosphere of the woods that seemed like it was taken out of a story book with the creepy wolves and stuff.
Silence.
"OH MY GOSH, NEJI!" she shrieked. "Let's go back to the temple!" A death glare was aimed at her. "Well," she began, trying to persuade him, "we can stay there for the night, you know… And we can get some food-" She put emphasis on the food part. "And also a map-"
"We're not lost!" he barked back acidly. And then as an afterthought, he quickly added, "This is your fault anyways!"
It took five seconds for Tenten to process what he had just said to her. At last she exploded with, "WHAT?!" If there was more room in the car, she would've stood up from impulsive anger. "MY FAULT?! THIS IS MY FAULT?!"
"You were the one who was hungry in the first place," he retorted – out of character from frustration. "You-"
"Don't pin this all on me!" she snapped back. "You were hungry too you lousy, no good, hypocritical…" She held her breath for a mere second – caught up in the moment – before bursting out, "FREAK!"
He turned to glare at her. "At least I-"
"At least what?!" she butted in. "You were-"
"You were the one who was-"
"You were just as hungry as me! Why are you-"
"-So frustrating all the time!"
"Why you! You just took the words out of my-"
Pvvrbbbt…
Both of them became silence at once. They looked at the gas meter. Then they looked at each other.
They both thought the same thing: Shit.
Out of gas.
A/N. Heh, heh, heh… Sorry for the delay. I wanted to make it extra long because of the bad chapter last time. XD And I added the summary up at top since I know it can sometimes be a pain when you open a random story and then don't read it later. But by then you forgot what it was about. XD
Thanks to those who read and reviewed. Or just read. That's cool.
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