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 )

She watched as Neji's figure went over to Sakura. They stood there for a moment, exchanging words that Tenten couldn't really hear. And then they hugged each other. The girl in the car felt a pang at her heart as she continued to stare at the two of them out of the car window.

"Why does it feel like my heart's been broken?"

Realizing what she had just said she slapped herself mentally. "Why am I thinking that?!" she mumbled in frustration. She took one look at the couple and noticed how they looked so happy. Tenten opened the car door and got out, closing it behind her. Even she realized that she wasn't really supposed to be here. They're probably going to want some alone time…

Tenten wandered throughout the streets, chewing on a sausage stick. Her thoughts were in a jumbled mess.

"Calm down, Tenten," she said out loud. Her feelings were all fluctuated. That was it. She probably was even more ill than she thought she was back in the mountains. She nodded. That was it. That… was… it. "I just need a cup of water," she muttered, dazed. "That's it! Just a cup of water…"

She took a deep breath and lifted her head to the sky.

Ok, she thought. Maybe I like him more than a friend. She was just a little mixed up. Maybe she even considered him to be her brother. Tenten nodded her head – agreeing with that thought. It was definitely brother-sister affection. I mean, what else could it be? She pondered that for a moment, and then grinned, glad that she had sorted out her thoughts. Moments later, her eyes grew downcast.

Then why didn't that pain stop already, dammit?!

She balled up her hands until she realized that she was also squishing a thin, empty wrapper where the sausage she was indulging used to be. Tenten stared at it for a moment until her eyes widened as her thoughts shifted to the plastic bag of food she had just left in the car.

"OH SHIT!"

"Neji…" Sakura wore a huge grin on her face as she intertwined her hand with him. "I'm glad…" She took a deep breath as her smile grew even larger. "I'm glad that you came back," she admitted. "I was… I was beginning to worry that you didn't really…"

Neji gave her a hug and felt glad as he felt hands wrap around him as well. He almost showed a rare smile. The man thought about Tenten who was in the car now. If she had never honked that horn, then Sakura would… The Hyuuga hugged the woman in his arms tighter and finally released her. He decided that he would thank Tenten later.

"You can stay in the hotel," Neji told her. Sakura's eyes widened with surprise at his generous offer. "I'll take you there myself," he continued, "if they have no objections." He nodded to Moegi who was standing off to the side with a grin on her face. He watched the small girl talk to the driver for a moment before turning to the pair.

"I'll see you at the hotel, Sakura," she told her friend. "You two go on ahead." The girl then got into the limo and sped off, leaving the two of them there.

"Shall we go?"

They proceeded to walk back to the car. On the way, Neji's phone (which Tenten handed over reluctantly) rang and he picked up. "Hello?" he asked. He stopped and so did Sakura. "Birthday?" he muttered. He then gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes… I'll tell her." He snapped it shut and continued walking.

"Who was it?" she queried curiously.

"Uncle," Neji responded briskly. "He wanted to tell me that they're celebrating the birthday of Ten-" The Hyuuga paused in mid-sentence as he noticed that the girl wasn't in the car. He looked to his right and then to his left, hoping to see Tenten nearby. She was easy to spot. Two buns on her head…

The man frowned.

Then why didn't he spot her already?!

Sakura noticed his seemingly paranoid state and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "Neji," she began, her voice edged with concern. "Are you alright…?"

He shook his head and opened the door to enter the car. "It's nothing," he stated.

Sakura gave him a confused look as she took the seat next to him, but it soon washed away in happiness. They were together. It's fixed, she thought contently.

Tenten made it back to the entryway of the hospital and saw the car pulling out. "DAMN!" she cried as she started chasing after it. "HEY!" she shouted angrily. "STOP THE CAR!" She kept on running, although she was a little worn down from yesterday. Plus, the shouting she was doing definitely caused some damage to her energy supply.

"CHECK YOUR REAR VIEW MIRRORS, YOU MORON!"

Neji was still perplexed about where the hell Tenten went. Why would she just leave like that without even telling him? After all, he was the one with the car. He dodged around that thought for a moment, and then snorted. If she wanted to walk home, then so be it. He'll just pick her up later or something. The Hyuuga slapped himself mentally, realizing the stupidity of that plan soon after. Then Uncle would want to know where she went. How was he supposed to explain that she just disappeared?

At that precise moment he looked at the mirror to his left and his eyes widened in surprise as he slammed the brake pedal loudly. It was so sudden that Sakura felt herself lean downwards and then snap back up into the seat forcefully. She looked at Neji, confused, but her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Tenten pop up near the window.

She didn't look too happy.

Tenten had her hands on her knees and was bent down slightly from tiredness. Her breathing was heavy and her blood was boiling. Her head snapped up angrily and she was about to scream at Neji, but then she noticed Sakura in the car. The girl froze, rethought, and instead gave a wide grin. The girl didn't want to freak the celebrity out. This is famous people we're talking about here!

She laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "I'm (huff) sorry," she said uneasily. "I just have to (huff) get the groceries." She reached over a confused Neji and pressed the unlock button herself. She went to the door, opened it, and fished out the bag. Then she returned to the car window. "Once again, I'm really sorry." Tenten bowed and was about to leave the scene when Neji stopped her.

"Birthday party," he told her. "On Wednesday. Remember that."

Right then and there, Tenten wanted to scream at him even more. He was throwing random events at her! First she had to pay her respects and now a birthday party. It didn't help knowing that he was planning to leave without her too! However, she resisted knowing that there was someone in the car that didn't know about their secret. "Yeah," she replied. "Ok."

Neji snorted. "Get in," he ordered. "We're going to the hotel and then we'll go back home."

Tenten's head snapped up and she shook her head rapidly. "N-No," she said hurriedly. "It's ok. You two… have fun!" She quickly turned around and headed down the road in the opposite direction, swinging the plastic bag back and forth.

Neji watched her from the car mirror as she walked away to make sure she wasn't going to be all ditzy and become road-kill in the next ten minutes. When he was satisfied that her intelligence was still intact, he started the car and began to drive away.

Sakura looked at him at the corner of her eye as the radio switched on. She couldn't help the uneasiness that suddenly swept into her heart as she saw the light amusement in Neji's eyes and the odd joy that sprang into them just now. The girl frowned, confused on the true relationship between the two.

The radio in the car sprang to life playing a rather familiar song.

Ni shi dian
Ni shi guang
Ni shi wei yi de shen hua
Wo zhi ai ni
You are my super star…

Sakura turned to Neji, almost expecting him to change the radio station. It was just too… She paused, thinking of the reason. Just too happy and bubbly for someone like him, she mused silently. She enjoyed the song as well, but she had a feeling that Neji wouldn't, which is why she was quite perplexed with his next course of action… or no action at all, really.

He didn't touch the radio.

Sakura arched an eyebrow in curiosity and made a move to change it herself, but Neji spoke with, "It's fine."

She snapped her head up. "Eh?" she muttered.

He smirked at her. "I don't mind the music," he said slowly. "It doesn't bother me."

There was silence in the car as Sakura took that information in. At last she turned to Neji with her mind swirling in questions. "You like S.H.E. now?" she inquired.

He frowned. "No."

"You like the song?"

"No."

Sakura was stumped. "Then what?" she asked. "Do you like the lyrics or something?" She paused as she realized something. "I…" she began, "I didn't know you knew Chinese…"

Neji sighed. Well, it wasn't an exhausted kind of sigh, Sakura observed silently. More like a… She paused and blinked, unable to complete that train of thought. What kind of sigh was it, really? Her head whipped back to Neji as he answered, "It's…" His voice trailed off and Sakura didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

At last the Hyuuga shook his head. "It's… nothing," he mumbled.

Augh.

Tenten felt like such a wreck. Not a car wreck either. It was more like a… a ship wreck or a plane wreck or something.

To be honest, she didn't know where she was going. Throughout most of the day already, she had wandered aimlessly throughout town. The girl held the bag of food in her hand heavily, like it was a burden of some sort, and kept sighing every now and then. Her thoughts were out of priority and each kept slipping back and forth into mixed up categories. The most apparent ones were Neji and Sakura and Tenten did her best to shove those out of the way.

"You have a freaking birthday party to sit through!" she seethed angrily to herself. "Why the hell are you thinking about those two?! You have to concentrate on how the hell you're going to act in front of them and… nygah – AHHHHHH!" She really had to take this one step at a time. The party was a little ways off anyways. It was a Sunday. The party was on Wednesday.

About three days for relaxation. Kinda.

"Just do what you normally do around him," Tenten instructed herself. "Just act normally."

Half of her… Ok, more like ¾ of her wanted to just go back to Ino's apartment and never go back to the Hyuuga residence. But a part of her knew that she would be in deep trouble if she didn't and… She sighed again, blowing a stray hair out of her face. Either way, she had to make her way back to the household.

Her thoughts shifted to Ino and the others. What the hell was she going to tell them? The girl's brows furrowed as she peered at that thought. It's not like I'm in love with him or anything, she thought to herself. I'm just a little iffy around him.

As the house came into view, she saw Sakura waiting outside of the household, Neji's car parked nearby. Curious, Tenten crept closer. Why was she just standing outside like that?

Tenten walked over to the celebrity and with a shaky smile said, "Hey."

Sakura looked over at her and smiled nicely as well. "Hello," she greeted. Tenten didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. Silence came between them, and the girl finally spoke.

"So… Err…" she began, "What're you doing out here? Err, I mean, why aren't you inside?"

Sakura gave a wistful sigh as she looked at the house. "Well… I… I don't know if Neji's uncle will…" She paused and then turned to Tenten with a shaky smile on her face. "Never… Nevermind," she said finally. "It doesn't matter." There was another pause. And then:

"Your birthday is coming soon, right?" she asked.

Tenten's eyes grew wide. "Err… Not… Well, not –"

"Ah… Wait!" Sakura rummaged through her bag and pulled out a card. She handed it to the girl in front of her. Tenten stared at it for a moment and then quickly stuck out her hand to pluck it from Sakura's fingers. She glanced over at it as she rotated it between her thumbs and pointer fingers. The girl arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

"It's an invitation," Sakura explained to her confused impression, "to a party I'm having soon. There will be a lot of famous people there. Food and –"

"Wait," Tenten said hastily, "Will it be free?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes in confusion. "… Uh… Yes…?"

The girl grinned. "Alright! I'll be there!" she cried happily. "I'm sure Hia- Uncle would –" Tenten stopped in mid-sentence. She was reminded of the time when she had begun reading the newspaper about Sakura… And… Her eyes narrowed and she looked at the girl in front of her.

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "… Is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

Tenten shook her head rapidly. "No… No! Nevermind. Err…" She ran a tongue over her lips in thought and she grabbed Sakura's wrist. "Hey," she said hurriedly, "Why don't you come inside?"

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. "W-What? N-No. It's fine –"

"Don't worry," Tenten butted in determinedly. "Just come in for a sec… You must be freezing out here…"

Sakura still shook her head. "No. I'm –"

Her hesitant replies were left unheard, however, as Tenten reached out for the doorknob and opened the front door with a bang. The first thing she saw was Neji snap straight up in the living room. Kurenai (who was wincing at the damaged flower print) and Asuma were present with Lee and Gai standing up. Hiashi was to the side of him with a grim look that just became even grimmer as he made eye contact with Sakura. The girl quickly looked down on the floor.

Taking notice of Sakura's action, Tenten quickly put on a big smile – despite the serious atmosphere. She felt everyone's eyes on her. Neji was staring at her especially hard, and she took a deep breath, done planning out what she was to do next. "Uncle!" she cried out happily. She lifted up her right arm and put it down forcefully around Sakura's shoulders. The girl next to her leaned forward a bit from the sudden impact.

"Uncle, look at the new friend I made today!"

There was a long silence and Tenten had a feeling that this wasn't such a good idea. Sure enough, Hiashi sighed, turning back to his cup of tea. "Tenten," he stated severely. "Don't –"

"But… But wait!" the girl cried, hastily pulling out the card from her pocket. "Look what she gave me Uncle!" She thrust it in the air. "She gave me an invitation to a nice party," Tenten explained. "So… Uh… Can I go? … Please?"

For the first time, Hiashi hesitated. Neji kept staring at Tenten. The rest of them were staring at Hiashi, waiting for his response. At last he gave a shaky smile to Tenten that eventually seemed to look branded on his face. "O-Of course…" he said slowly. "You can go…" Everybody looked at him in surprise, but he took a deep breath. "Tenten, why don't you go… why don't you go upstairs for awhile?" he suggested. He turned to Sakura with a hardened gaze. "I – We, have some things to discuss."

Tenten's eyes widened. "Wha? But Sakura's really nice and –" She stopped as Hiashi gave her one of "those looks" that made her feel like she was see-through. Understanding, she took one last look at Sakura and then nodded. She went up the stairs.

Hiashi took a deep breath. He waved the others out, but motioned for Neji and Sakura to sit down on the sofa. There was a moment of silence as the man closed his eyes in deep though, sorting out his thoughts and what he was going to say. At last he sighed and opened them again.

"I suppose I should thank you for inviting Tenten," he said slowly. "It was rather thoughtful of you."

Sakura, who was looking at her hands, snapped her head up in surprise, giving a small, warm smile. "It's no problem, really," she replied lightly. Neji looked surprised that his uncle was actually able to thank someone for once. Well, to someone he isn't quite fond of, he corrected mentally.

Hiashi just nodded his head. "It seems that… Tenten has taken a liking to you," he stated. "I will allow your presence because she enjoys your company." He turned to Neji and raised a cynical eyebrow. "However, if I find that you hurt her in some way…" He shifted his attention back to Sakura. "… You will no longer be welcomed in this household. Anymore. At… all. Understand?"

Sakura nodded her head rapidly.

"Alright. You may leave."

Hiashi rolled himself to his room on his wheelchair while Neji led Sakura toward the door and out of the house. He bid her farewell and closed the door, still taking in the information he just heard from his uncle. He didn't know what to make most of it.

"Tenten has taken a liking to you. I will allow your presence because she enjoys your company."

Neji sighed but had a satisfied look to him. It seemed he owed Tenten again.

"Wow…" Moegi put down her cup of water and grinned. "Wow. I can't believe it. It's like… It's like a happy ending for you!"

Sakura smiled. "Yeah," she said happily. "I'm glad it worked out in the end…" Her voice trailed off, however, remembering the strange twinkle in Neji's eyes as his cousin had come by to pick up the groceries in the car. They couldn't really be… But still…

"Your love is fixed," Moegi declared. "Just like your necklace."

Her head snapped up and she frowned. Her attention went back to the broken replica that was currently in the corner of her desk. "I'm not sure… if his heart belongs to me just yet."

Dinner was relatively silent. Everybody had already finished. Tenten was still out of it from that morning. She kept rolling her broccoli back and forth across her plate, through the mashed potatoes and the carrots and the –

"Tenten. Stop doing that. It's revolting." She nearly dropped her fork from surprise. That's when she noticed everyone was done. She rolled her eyes, however, at the person who the voice belonged to: Neji. Jeez, she thought angrily. I help him with his girl problems and he's still messing around with me?! Who does he think I am?! Some kind of –

Her thoughts were interrupted with a, "Do you want to go anywhere tomorrow?" This time, Tenten really did drop her fork with a clatter, sinking in the mashed potatoes.

Did he just say what she thought he just said?

Whoa.

Neji… Being nice?

Cynical maybe… Pessimistic maybe… Annoying maybe… But… nice? Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, NO.

Tenten turned to him, confusion written on her face. "… Did you just… Say what I think you just said?"

Neji snorted. "Well?" he prompted. "Where do you want to go?"

The girl picked her fork out of the potatoes and grimaced at the fluffy potatoes etched around the handle. Gah. She knew she should have eaten those first and then the peas. "… Well…" she began, putting the fork down on the napkin beside her, "I do have a place… But…" She gave him an incredulous look.

"Why?"

All was silent until the Hyuuga took a deep breath and sighed. He muttered something under his breath that Tenten couldn't really hear. She raised an eyebrow. "What'd you say?"

"Thank you," he said louder, but hastily. "If you didn't…" He trailed off, not really good with these kinds of things. There was a moment of silence until he finally managed to utter a sheepish, "Forget it," instead.

Although Neji was currently frustrated, Tenten couldn't help but smirk a little. She knew what he was trying to say. Was THE Hyuuga Neji that incapable of expressing his own thoughts and ideas? Wow. Hmm… she thought to herself, does that mean I'm actually smarter than him -

"… So?"

She snapped out of her thoughts again. "… Eh?" she muttered.

Neji rolled his eyes again. "Where do you want to go?"

Her eyes widened. "Wait… You're… You're serious?"

Neji sighed, wondering why this was so difficult to grasp. (And maybe why the hell he suggested it in the first place.) "So?" he asked again.

Tenten grinned. "The 63rd Building," she said.

The next day, Tenten made her way though the house with a happy face, doing all of the chores. She was going to ride up to the top of the 63rd Building tonight. Her grin grew wider as she made Hiashi's tea. I'll finally get to see it, she thought to herself eagerly.

Who ever thought that Iruka and Kakashi's bad habits would actually do something good for once?

Time passed slowly throughout the day.

Night came and Neji and Tenten made their way to the 63rd Building.

The girl's eyes were shimmering in pure delight, ignoring how Neji kept rolling his eyes every time she stopped to look at a brochure or a poster advertising the glitzy lights and spectacular views from the top. She was like an infant, curious in every little thing. Neji grunted as she stopped at another poster. Part of him was annoyed, but part of him was also amused. Very amused.

They walked over to pay for their tickets, Tenten 'ooh-ing' and 'ah-ing' at the pictures the brochure in her hands displayed. The man rolled his eyes again for the umpteenth time as he handed over the money – enough for two people.

"Why are you obsessed with this building?" Neji asked dryly. "It's just a building."

Tenten snapped her head up. "It's not just a -!" She stopped in her protest and then looked back at the pamphlet. "Oh… Nevermind. Forget it." She huffed as she flipped open one side. "People like you wouldn't get it," she muttered under her breath.

The Hyuuga arched an eyebrow, hearing her last sentence. "You're being prejudice," he stated.

The girl lifted up her head. "What?" she asked. "I wasn't being prejudice… I was just –"

"Yes," he cut in, "you were."

"No, I wasn't. I was just – Ugh!" She blew her bangs up in frustration and then sighed. "Ok. Fine," she said. "I admit it. Well… But…" She took a deep breath as she crinkled the edge of the paper, debating how to say her words. "It's hard not to be opinionated around people you," she said finally.

"Besides…" She turned to him. "I don't even know you. To me you just have –" She paused, searching for the right word. At last, she said, "- issues."

He narrowed his eyes. "Issues," he repeated.

Tenten smiled sheepishly and made a so-so motion with her left hand. "A… little," she managed, although it was the total opposite of what she really thought.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Issues?" He received the tickets and both of them began to walk towards the elevators.

She rolled her eyes, finally closing the pamphlet. "Do I really need to say them all?" she mumbled to herself.

"Do you have a choice?" he parried. "If –" The man was interrupted by the phone ringing in his pocket. He looked at it and sighed – a sigh that was recognized by Tenten as a "you again" kind of sigh. But it sounded quite happy. And… pleased? She watched him flip the phone open. "Yes, Sakura?" he asked. Neji began to walk a little ways from her, finally stopping in the middle of the lobby.

Being respectful, Tenten didn't follow him. But she couldn't help but overhear their conversation and hear him say, "Dinner? Now?" She felt her heart sink. She knew that he wouldn't refuse the offer.

Sure enough he answered, "Yes. I'll be there in a minute." He went over to Tenten, unaware that she had already heard most of the dialogue exchange. "Sakura invited me to dinner," he said. Neji looked at his watch. "There's still time before it closes," he continued. "I'll come back when I'm done."

Tenten swallowed the lump in her throat, aware of how he didn't even ask if it was fine with her. "… Sure," she managed to choke out. "It's fine by me."

Neji nodded and then ran out of the lobby, leaving Tenten behind.

She looked over at the entrance and considered going in by herself. Finally, she decided to wait for him and leaned back against one of the gigantic toy teddy bears that were set up for the holidays in winter. She guessed that he would be rather miffed if she just went in on her own. "Besides," she said to herself, sighing at the same time:

"How long could a dinner take?"

Neji entered the restaurant. It didn't take him long to find Sakura, who was sitting at a table dressed casually.

Her eyes sparkled as she spotted him and she waved over to him. The man, who seemed to keep his cold façade, was happy as well as he strode over and greeted her.

"I'm glad you could make it," she said. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she added hastily. "I just… I just wanted to have a dinner between the two of us."

Neji nodded in understanding. Sakura's eyes widened as the ends of his lips turned up in a small smile. But… It was almost a smile. Not quite. Something was just… The girl quickly shrugged the thought off though as she gestured to the seat across from her. She watched him as he sat down.

In fact, Neji also couldn't help but shift his thoughts over to Tenten when Sakura had mentioned "interrupting anything" in her sentence. Alas, he, too, shrugged off that thought as he picked up the menu and began to order.

He was sure that she would understand.

Tenten looked at her watch again. About forty-five minutes have passed by. He still didn't show up.

"Err… Miss?"

The girl swiftly picked her head up in surprise. She saw a woman, who she recognized as the ticket lady near the elevator, stand in front of her. Tenten quickly lifted herself off the giant bear she was leaning on and smoothed her sweatshirt down. "Y-Yeah?" she asked, wondering if she violated some rule.

She watched as the woman gestured over to the tickets in her hand. "Do you want to go in now?" she asked her. "You do have tickets…"

"No thanks," was the automatic reply. "I'm… I'm just waiting for someone," Tenten explained.

"And then at the match with the –"

Sakura was cut off by Neji's phone that was now ringing. The Hyuuga looked at the name in the screen and flipped it open. "What?" he asked. Sakura went back to eating some of the eloquent fish on her plate, partially listening to the conversation. There was silence and she saw Neji's eyebrows furrow in… annoyance? She could never really tell what he was thinking anymore.

"I'm busy," he said impassively. "I'm eating." Another moment of silence. "Just wait a little longer," he said.

He hung up and turned his mind back to Sakura. "What were you saying?"

Tenten held the dead phone in her hand for awhile snapping it shut.

"'Wait a little longer,' huh?" she muttered angrily at the blank screen. "Why you little –" The girl stopped herself as she shoved the phone back into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. She counted to ten, trying to calm herself down.

"Alright," she sighed at last. She took the phone out of her pocket again. "Hyuuga Neji," she said to it, "you're lucky I have more patience than you."

The girl looked at her watch, widened her eyes at the time, and then looked at the clock on the wall to confirm if her watch was on time. About an hour had already passed from the last time she had checked. She grudgingly shoved her hands back into her sweatshirt pocket.

"Just a little longer…" Tenten mumbled.

She turned to the entrance and gaped as the ticket lady pulled out a sign in front of it.

CLOSED.

For Neji, time passed quickly. Sakura filled up the empty space about her travels all over the world. How she trained with Moegi in the afternoons and among other things. He cut in every now and then with a remark or a question, and she had answered happily – glad that he was interested in what she was saying.

When it was time to pay the bill, Neji took it before Sakura had the chance to protest against his paying. He turned his cell phone off, trying to get his tiny guilt off and to also make it stop ringing whenever Tenten called. Which was a lot.

Both of them left together. Neji dropped Sakura off at the hotel.

In the lobby, he turned his phone on and rolled his eyes when it rang. He picked up.

"What?" came his monotonous voice. "If this is about the building, I'm coming over…"

Tenten paid no attention to what he was saying next as she clenched her fist inside her sweatshirt pocket and worked to keep her anger in. "Don't bother coming," she cut into whatever he said last. "It's closed."

"Closed…" His voice trailed off and then, "It's only been about an hour –"

"Two hours," she corrected. "It's been two hours." She took a deep breath as she took a look at the entrance, ready to say whatever she was going to say next. The girl had gone it over a few times in her mind until she thought that it was pretty well-thought out.

"Neji," she continued, "if you're going to bring me here as a thank you, at least have the decency to tell me if you're going to show up. That way I won't have to waste my time waiting for you."

Without listening to what he was going to say next, she hung up and made her way out of the building.

Sasuke had been driving again, planning to visit the Hyuuga household to see if Tenten and Neji were back from the mountains. Neji's disappearance let him skip about two days of work. And then he had heard from his mother who had heard from Kurenai who had heard from Hiashi that Neji and Sakura were back together again.

He himself did not know how it happened. Neji and Sakura had a rift between each other. What – or who – had been the bridge that connected them across?

Sasuke continued to drive until he came to a sudden halt. There, walking down the pathway, was Tenten. Without thinking twice, the Uchiha jumped out of his car to catch up to her.

Sensing someone behind her, Tenten turned around and her eyes widened at who she saw. Sasuke's steps slowed down as he went beside her. The girl was quite bewildered at his appearance, and finally managed to utter, "What are you doing here?"

The man next to her shrugged. "I was driving," he said. He turned to her. "What are you doing here?"

Tenten shrugged as well. "I was just…" She paused and heaved a sigh. "It's…" She turned her head up to the sky and then back down, shaking it. "Nevermind. Forget it." She watched Sasuke raise an eyebrow in an understatement, but he didn't pursue the matter. He noticed how she kept looking back at the building – the 63rd Building, he now realized. It was clear to him now.

Both of them continued walking for awhile, until he stopped. Perplexed, Tenten stopped as well. "… What?"

"Do you still want to see the city?" he asked.

The drove to an area far away from downtown. It was tourist area, but there were only a few people littering the steps of the small balcony-like structure. Tenten gaped at the beautiful view – surprised at all the lights that could be visible from far away.

Sasuke walked by and handed her a cup of coffee. "You don't have to be high to see a good view."

Tenten nodded, taking the cup and planting herself down on one of the stone steps. Sasuke did the same. They both sat side by side for awhile, not knowing what to say. At last, the Uchiha started a conversation with, "So?"

Tenten chewed the rim of her cup ( Sasuke realizing that she had done the same the first time they had met ). "So, what?" she prompted.

He sighed and didn't answer, knowing that she knew what he was talking about already. A moment of silence passed.

"I'm confused."

Sasuke glanced over at her and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then, "About?"

The girl continued to chew the cup rim in a puzzled and a seemingly dazed state. "I hate him… and then… like him at the same time," she whispered inaudibly. However, Sasuke heard what she said.

"Do you like someone?"

Tenten nearly dropped her cup. Did she say that out loud? "… W-What?" she asked, not turning to look at him. He didn't say anything and kept silent once again. She didn't know how to respond, but then she finally said a shaky, "… Yeah… I… I guess…" She didn't notice how his eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

A/N. Wow. Thanks for all the reviews I received. Glad to hear that no one is getting sleepy from all of these chapters. XD It's getting longer than I thought it would.

I took time to edit the previous chapters, searching for grammar mistakes ( thus, the long wait ). Surprisingly, I found many. XD I still think I missed one… somewhere. Ah well. I'll edit later.
I also want to say that I don't mean to make Sakura extremely mean/annoying. It's hard to adjust with the characters. Sorry to Sakura fans, etc.

I also noticed that I forgot to mention my favorite line from Ch. 15. So…

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.

Thanks to those who read and reviewed. Or just read. That's cool. Thanks for 200… or 250 reviews. :)

aizuhime
kiko-chan19
dreaming.sapphire
flynnfriend
alliwant
earthlover
Ice Phnix
Spetiane
Shinko666
Matahari
Shikyo Yaiba
sallyluv16
WolfSummoner93
BlooVeggieStix
Hatake Megumi
lilchibihina
nejitenrocks – Ah. I'll try putting in some jealously…later. :D
ballagurl06 – Hum… I hope you weren't disappointed…? But thanks for the encouragement.
egocentric-theorem – Yes. I actually rewrote most of the chapters already. Just the mere memory of going through all 16 just fries my brain. XD But thanks.
chaosdragon82 – Yep. This is a Nejiten story. Not changing it any time soon.
AsianAnimeGoddess – Woo… Thanks for all the reviews you gave. It made me look back on the chaps to see what you were talking about. XD
Blaze2Sage – Thanks for your review. It wasn't too short and it helped a lot. At least I know I'm doing things right. And it's a plus that I enjoy your stories as well. XD