So the series ended, Tenten's single, NejiTen's still in the green GO SHIPPERS GO! GO FORTH WITH YOUR NEVERENDING LOVE FOR THAT IS DEAR TO YOU, IN THIS CASE, OUR BELOVED NEJITEN!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

So yeah. As someone who has loved this pairing for almost a decade, I hope that you who also love NejiTen and may be reading this now, do not stop, and will always yearn for this beautiful concept.

Confidence and Things
Chapter Three: With Flying Colors

The next day, Neji was still happily reliving his happiness as he remembered the events from the day before. He was heading out to meet Lee to prep for the festival on Saturday. And all was well and happy…until he walked by a pot of flowers from Yamanaka's Flowers.

Which made him think about Ino.

Which made him think about her words that day in the store.

"My my, your face…you really love her, don't you?"

Damn it.

Now faced with yet another problem, Neji's eyebrows furrowed into a frown. But his frustration barely began before he almost ran into Hiashi, who was walking out of his room.

"Oh, Neji." Hiashi greeted with a surprised smile. "Good morning."

"Hiashi-sama! I-I'm sorry, I almost ran into you. I was careless, forgive me." Neji bowed his head to his elder, who only chuckled lightly in response.

"Haha not to worry Neji. Have you begun your training for the upcoming games?" he asked instead. Neji nodded, "Yes, I was headed out to meet Lee at the training grounds in preparation for it."

"Oh, I see. That's a very good idea." Hiashi was actually hoping that Neji would have gone to him for training prep, so he was actually a little disappointed. But no less, he found that training with Lee and Gai would be able to offer him something that nobody in the Hyuuga clan ever could. "Nothing wrong with more stamina training." Hiashi laughed a little nervously, patting Neji on the shoulder. Neji only gave the same nervous chuckle back, before bowing his head slightly to dismiss himself.

"I'll be leaving now, please excuse me—"

"Neji?" Hiashi cut him off. Neji looked back up at Hiashi, a little surprised that he had interrupted. "Yes, Hiashi-sama?"

"Are you alright?" Hiashi had noticed how distracted Neji was when they almost ran into each other, noticing how quickly his expression had changed, and the way his eyes had lowered when he was taking his leave. It was a look that made him a little concerned, to say the least.

Neji however, was taken aback. Was it that noticeable? He stared up at the taller Hyuuga head. Hiashi-sama had been married for a while now…would he…know anything about love?

He shook his head to dismiss the thought. No… he thought, that was ridiculous. To inquire about such trivial matters to someone such as Hiashi-sama. It'd be disrespectful, and he would surely lose his respect.

"Neji?"

Neji looked back up at Hiashi, and was surprisingly met with eyes filled with worry and concern. Maybe…

"Aa, Hiashi-sama. Everything is alright. It's just that I didn't sleep very well last night."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at his nephew. Not sleeping well? That wasn't ordinary at all. He set his hand on his shoulder again. "Okay, work hard today, Neji. And if you want to spar with me…or anything else…I will be here." Neji blinked up at his uncle. Was he that easy to read? He nodded, bid his goodbye, and began on his way to meet Lee.

"Oh, and Neji," Hiashi added as he was walking away. "Some things don't need that much thought. The mind may sometimes cloud reality with extraneous thoughts, and overcomplicate things for the individual."

Neji turned to face his uncle with a gracious smile.

"…thank you, Hiashi-sama."

Neji panted as he collapsed to the ground, a puff of dirt giving way beneath him.

"Done so soon, Neji? I know you have more than that in you!"

Neji didn't answer, and instead focused on regaining his breath.

"How do you expect to beat the other jounins when you cannot even defeat your teammate?! Quite frankly I expected more from you, genius of the Hyuuga clan! Maybe it does show that hard work will always prevail over natural talent, no matter how long it takes!"

Lee's continued bickering didn't seem to bother Neji at all, as he continued focusing on steadying his breathing.

"Come Neji! We must continue—"

Lee's sentence was cut off by the sound of a body hitting the floor that Neji had been waiting for since he himself had collapsed. Lee had a lot more stamina than he did. A lot. But Neji liked to think he was close, at least closer than most, and he also liked to think that he was one of the few that could actually give Lee a run for his money, and deplete his infinite supplies of stamina more efficiently than most as well. However this is Lee we're talking about, it's not easy. It's really not easy at all.

But he measured how close he was getting to Lee's vitality by how long Lee continues talking after Neji's collapsed. Lee had been going on about defeating his rival and boasting something about youth and power and hard work for a while…but it was wayyyyyyy shorter than what it used to be. Neji remembered the first time they did this, Lee still had so much energy still even after Neji collapsed that Neji was actually able to recover while the still continuing rant from Lee that seemed to have been going on forever…was still going.

Maybe in terms of skill and actual damage dealt they can be equals or close to it if Neji didn't prevail. But in stamina he's come close to just accepting that Lee will always have more. But that never stopped him from pushing himself, of course...after all, what are friends for?

Neji continued trying to catch his breath as he listened to his teammate and close friend, if not his closest friend, try to recover his own breath. He stared up at the sky, feeling the world around him, trying to understand his feelings for Tenten.

As he listened to Lee's breaths beside him, he wondered if he could ask. Lee was tired now, he had depleted his energy, thanks to yours truly. If Neji decided to ask Lee about his problem, now would be the time. And considering how quickly Lee usually regained his energy, it was kind of a now or never sort of thing.

Neji turned his head to look at his best friend beside him, whose eyes were wincing and half lidded as he tried to catch his breath. As he watched his friend, Neji thought back on his uncle's wise words. Was it really that simple? Neji did sometimes think too hard about things, and did overcomplicate things sometimes…he actually found that of the three of them, Lee was the most able to pick out the most practical solution to the seemingly most difficult problems at times. (Though sometimes it should be noted that the most practical isn't always the most logical…or plausible in any way shape or form.) Perhaps his thick eyebrows gave Lee some sort of extra magical brainpower that no scholar or ninja (or natural genius, in this case) could ever develop in a lifetime.

"Lee?" Neji spoke quietly when he heard Lee's breath had slowed down. Neji's own breath had just barely begun slowing down at this point. Lee's recovery rate was quite remarkable indeed. Neji would really have to work on that.

Lee turned his head to face his dear friend, one eye still closed as he spoke. "Yes Neji?"

Neji thought for a moment. How should he ask? He had been asking himself so many questions, he didn't even know what would be the best way to ask.

Time passed before Neji was able to gather his thoughts and speak. "Do you understand…what the feeling of love is?" he managed to ask eventually.

Lee gave a light chuckle, smiling at Neji. He didn't seem to react in any irrational way, or take advantage of Neji's question to go off on a tangent. It was probably because he was exhausted or perhaps because Lee knew that Neji was actually asking a serious question that he actually wanted Lee's consideration on. Or maybe it was a nice little combo of both.

"Love is a lot of things, Neji. There are so many words to describe, so many forms of beautiful language and literature and art and mediums to portray it."

Neji paused before pressing on, letting everything Lee was saying sink into his thoughts. "…how do you know?" he asked, turning his attention to the sky again. "When you love someone?"

Lee laughed at Neji's question. "Tell me Neji, do you think you love me?"

Neji's eyes widened dramatically at his friend, before narrowing into a frown as he closed his eyes, looking away from Lee. "What a preposterous question…"

"Neji, I am serious. Think about it."

Neji turned his head to face away from Lee as he thought. Did he love Lee? Ridiculous…yet…in a way, he realized, he did, didn't he?

"…You are my comrade, my teammate, and my friend. And for that, I suppose that I do." Neji spoke without turning back to face Lee, who blushed a little as a huge grin emerged from his face. "So? Do you love our Tenten then?"

Neji's face snapped back to Lee's, revealing a kind of desperate expression. Lee snickered lightly at this, before sighing at his friend's pleading face, turning his gaze back to the sky.

"There are many ways to describe the feeling of love, and many ways to understand it." Lee turned his attention back to Neji after pause. "But your feelings of love for Tenten is something that is yours to understand. Nobody else can feel or understand it. They are unique to you."

Neji realized that this was unfortunately true. There simply was no way of ever knowing if he didn't figure out these feelings for himself. Tenten was his, and these were feelings of his own, feelings that he would have to eventually come to an understanding with and decipher.

Lee pat Neji on the shoulder. "I think in this situation it is most appropriate to say, you will know it when it comes." Neji nodded understandingly at Lee before looking back up at the sky above him.

After a continued period of silence and sky watching, Lee piped up.

"Perhaps we should see how others portray their love and see if it can help decipher the sophisticated puzzle that may possibly be your love for Tenten?" Lee shot up and turned to roughly pull Neji up by the shoulders, who didn't really feel like being moved at the moment.

"Come Neji! Let us go!"

Neji trudged solemnly back to his home. It was beginning to get late, probably around 12 or 1 in the morning, and Neji was pretty wiped, to say the least. He should have known better than to count on Lee's calm to last for any longer than the moments of discussion on the training field, when it came things like feelings and emotion that typically evoked the same sort of passionate springtime of youth sort of response from his dear teammate. That and he definitely should not have underestimated Lee's extensive stash of romance movies. Stash was a definite understatement.

While Neji would definitely be lying if he said he didn't at least enjoy about a third to a half of the movies played, considering that they had been watching them nonstop for almost 12 hours, his mind and his body could only handle so much. He definitely learned a lot about movies and entertainment with a romance genre though. He felt he could possibly direct his own if he wanted to at this point, as he found he was beginning to highlight common themes in the movies as Lee repeatedly put them on back to back, one after another after another…

All of which was stupid, because he still wasn't completely sure how to go about his feelings towards Tenten.

The movies, as enjoyable as some of them were, along with being able to spend some genuinely bromantic (like seriously, he enjoyed spending the time he did with Lee, even if he was completely drained…) time with Lee, did not help clarify his feelings towards his darling Tenten. It did a little, but he was still quite conflicted.

At some points, Neji would believe that yes, he loved Tenten, how complicated can it be?

Then at another point, in another movie, Neji would become immersed in thought again. What if he was mistaken? What if his mind is just deceiving him somehow? He definitely cared about Tenten, no doubt, but…how do you really know you love someone? And then the movies also added other themes into his mind…like living a dangerous life, Tenten being a liability, or anything else that Neji had been shown that evening.

He found that his face was too tired to even scrunch his eyebrows together into a frown.

He would later also find that he was too tired to even notice that Hinata had returned.

"…ii-san…"

Zzz…

"…Ne…san…"

ZzzzZz…snore…

"…nii-san…"

…snore…zzZzZz…

"Neji-nii-san?!"

Neji gave an uncharacteristic snort-grunt-groan as he woke up, ruggedly turning his body to the direction of the rude noise as he abruptly sat up. He groggily stared at the figure who stood before him. "Uh?"

"Neji-nii-san…it's almost 5…did you want any food?"

"You…" Neji rubbed his eyes at the fuzzy figure who was speaking to him. Their voice sounded awfully familiar…

"Um…Neji-nii-san? Are you awake? I'm sorry for waking you up, I heard you coming back late last night and would usually let you continue sleeping, but you've never slept in for so long…"

Neji's eyes narrowed as he tried to focus. His head was pounding and he felt absolutely disgusting. Not to mention this stupid godforsaken headache and he felt like the whole goddamn room was spinning, and his eyes could barely stay open, his eyelids constantly threatening to drop and stay that way permanently, with his body longing to return to being laid flat against his bed. Where was he again…?

"Neji-nii-san?"

Neji squinted.

"…Hinata…sa…ma…?"

Hinata was using all the willpower she could muster to not burst into a fit of raging giggles and laughter. Her cousin looked absolutely hysterical at the moment. Neji's hair was in a giant tangled mess, and it almost looked like he had somehow messily braided his hair in his sleep, as well as put up two knots on each side of his head, with stray hair sticking out basically everywhere and in between. One of his eyes were half lidded as her disgruntled cousin sat slumped over on his bed, his other eyelid basically only a quarter open. He looked a bit like a broken, ground up, beat up toy. While she still felt bad that she had woken him up, as hardly anyone ever did since he always woke up on his own, the face that her cousin had on at the moment was absolutely priceless and just made it so damn worth it. No regrets, whatsoever.

Plus Hinata had heard from Kaede that Neji had been looking for her the day that she left on her extended mission. And from the looks of her cousin as he sat in a way that looked a little bit like a pile of sad trees, or something resembling closely to it that was also sad, she definitely had the idea that something was more than likely bothering her cousin.

"Um, good morning."

...

Neji's eyes widened dramatically. (Or to the best of his eyelid's ability)

"…Hinata-sama?!"

For a moment, bemused as she stared at his whining, pitiful looking face, Hinata thought her manly, too-cool-to-be-human-or-eat cousin was about to burst into a fit of tears like a little girl.

Neji was sitting next to Hiashi on the wooden floors of the Hyuuga compound. Neji was so groggy and disoriented when he was woken up by Hinata and her presence so suddenly, that even after he took a shower to try and refresh himself he still felt lost. By that time it was close to being almost 6 in the evening, so Neji asked Hiashi to spar and train with him briefly, so his day wouldn't have completely gone to waste.

Hiashi, the proud Hyuuga clan head uncle that he was, was secretly overjoyed that his nephew had asked for his help. Despite what it often seemed like, Hiashi actually adored his nephew a good amount. To him, Neji was the talented prodigy of the Hyuuga clan and beyond. He was kind now, and has changed. It made Hiashi want to take Neji under his wing, not only as his nephew, but almost like an adopted son of the sorts. He always sees his beloved twin brother in his eyes, and could only think of Hizashi and how proud he would be of his son now. This made Hiashi extremely happy.

Neji, however, while becoming less tense around his main house clan members, was still extremely formal and polite around his family, including his uncle. Hiashi sometimes found himself just a teensy bit jealous of Neji's outrageous teacher, Gai, as Neji had rarely ever asked or spoke to Hiashi casually, and never really conversed with him. He saw that while Neji often was exasperated at his teacher and his teammate's antics, he still had enormous respect for him, and would actually have casual conversations with him. This…made Hiashi a little…sad, of the sorts, as he wanted to show that he was and would be there for his nephew, not only because he wanted to honor his brother and his love for his only child and son, but also for his own love for his nephew.

So when Neji, for the first time ever, asked Hiashi to train him, Hiashi almost couldn't contain his happiness. Almost.

Knowing this, you can probably imagine Hiashi's reaction when Neji asked for his expertise on an issue that had been apparently plaguing his dear nephew's mind for a good while.

"Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi glanced over at his prodigal nephew. "Yes?" They had been sitting in mostly quiet till he had spoken up, mostly consisting of Hiashi looking at Neji concerned as his nephew stared at the ground, bewildered and deep in thought.

Neji had been staring down the dirt and dusty stones on the ground for a while, contemplating on to whether or not it was appropriate to speak his mind. He had realized while they were training, Hiashi had been married for a while…hasn't he? Neji had no doubt that Hiashi probably knew a thing or two about emotions and love and passion and the lot…but was it appropriate to ask his prestigious uncle and clan head?

"When…did you realize that you..." Neji's voice gradually decreased in volume, until his last words were barely above a whisper. "…loved…oba-san?" he finished with a murmur.

To his surprise, Hiashi gave a light, airy chuckle, as he closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly reminiscing.

"When, you ask?" he chuckled, pausing briefly before speaking again. "There was a day in the past that she went out to buy groceries, and there had been word of a mercenary who was working for a human trafficker, taking women off the streets to be trafficked along the black market…she was an hour and a half late." He said, rubbing his chin, a little embarrassed, as he continued to tell his story. "Even despite her being an extremely capable shinobi, I still became panicked, and acted rashly, taking almost half the clan to go look for her." He looked back at Neji. "Which was really unnecessary and brash, as you probably may have figured." He told him, tapping his cheekbone. "She had just run into an old friend at the grocery store, and had gotten carried away in the conversation."

"She chided me, albeit gently because of it." He continued. "And I remember thinking, before I fell asleep that night, that I was irrationally fearful at the thought of losing her."

Hiashi nodded approvingly to himself. "Yes...that was when I realized it was probably because I had these feelings for her."

Neji stared at his uncle with intense eyes, deep in focus. "I see…"

Losing Tenten…he had always pushed the possibility away, so he never really thought about it much. That, plus Tenten had never been in any real danger before, since he was often around on a lot of her missions, or Lee was with her, but even so he knew well enough that she could very well take care of herself without either of them. So did that mean…

"Oh, I'm afraid I must take my leave. The Elders brought forth topics of concern for discussion, and require my presence." Hiashi said, standing up. He looked down at his nephew's face, whose eyes were staring up at him with what looked like a tinge of hopelessness.

Hiashi gave a gentle smile as he crouched down beside his cousin, rubbing his back lightly.

"I have faith that you will find your way through your troubles." He smiled. "I will be here." And he left, Neji staring at his uncle in a bit of awe and shocked appreciation as he disappeared into the hallway, but not before grabbing some tea that Hinata had been preparing.

Neji set his hands on his knees as he drew a deep breath. The festival was tomorrow…Tenten…training…that stupid competition was seriously the least of his worries at the time.

His thoughts were cut short when he felt someone's gaze on him, as he looked in the direction it was coming from. Hinata motioned to him, holding up a teapot and a cup with a welcoming, and knowing, smile.

Hinata poured Neji a cup of tea as he somewhat-slouched over to her, gently sliding it over before him as he sat down, beaming at him happily. Hinata loved seeing her cousin in such a doozy. It was simply so uncharacteristic of him. Perhaps on normal occasions she would feel bad for feeling this way, scolding herself for being so inconsiderate to take joy and be amused at his misery. It wasn't as if she thought his pain and troubles weren't serious, but it was because she knew for sure that all he needed was a little guidance. She was hopeful that she would be able to help him.

Also, she had the feeling that even her father and sister were able to help him…she wanted in on it too.

She smiled at her cousin, who was currently rubbing the smooth edges of the teacup she had just pushed towards him, with a dazed look on his face.

"I have a feeling you have a lot to tell me about all that's happened during the many months that I was on my mission." She spoke up.

Neji however, barely responded, giving a mumbly "Yeah."

Hinata took a sip of her tea, still as happy and bemused at her cousin as ever.

"Are you ready for the competitions tomorrow?" she asked, looking at her cousin's slightly desperate and hopeless face, chipper as ever. Hinata thought it was absolutely hilarious that it was like she was trying to get a group of small children excited about paying taxes or something.

Neji almost sighed. Almost. Instead, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, grabbed his cup of tea and held it against his head, exasperated at his predicament.

Hinata stifled a giggle. She gazed wonderingly at her cousin, waiting patiently for him to speak. Hinata had a feeling that her dear cousin wasn't at a loss for words, oh no, not at all. Instead, she had a strong feeling that he actually had a lot of questions and a lot of words to share with her. He simply was just trying to compile them into one question that would most efficiently answer the others, because Hyuuga Neji most definitely seemed to be a man of few words. And few questions. Despite the past couple of days, of course.

Finally Neji set his tea cup down, paused, sipped from it, then set it down again, his eyes closed. He was currently compiling all the information he had received the past couple days, trying to sort them and form them into something. Anything.

Some things don't need that much thought. The mind may sometimes cloud reality with extraneous thoughts, and overcomplicate things for the individual.

…your feelings of love for Tenten is something that is yours to understand. Nobody else can feel or understand it. They are unique to you.

"Hinata-sama, how do you know that you love Naruto?"

Hinata flashed Neji a fond smile, happy that he asked. All the thoughts of Naruto flashed before her eyes, wondering where to begin to answer her cousin, who waited patiently for her reply.

"Naruto-kun…I think about him a lot." She begins. "I think about him and spending time with him. And when I don't, the things around me remind me of him, of any random moments that we've shared." She says. "Even though I see Naruto-kun a lot, every time I see him I get a little jolt in my chest, and my heart is excited to be with him, or even see him in those passing moments." Neji gives Hinata a brief look, as if to say Tell-me-something-the-whole-village-doesn't-know-already, but Hinata doesn't notice as she rubs her thumb along her teacup, continuing. "When I'm with him, I feel safe, but I want him to feel safe too, because I also wish to protect him, and I want to be by his side, because I feel that it is my rightful place." She smiles up at her cousin. "Nowhere have I been that has felt more right." She looks back down at her teacup again. "We have been through hardships, where Naruto-kun has been in danger, and the same jolt in my chest returns, except it surges all throughout my body, and it hurts." She says, her voice slightly pained. "It pulls me forward, and I don't stop until I am by his side, to keep him safe." She looks back up at Neji again. "I love his smile." She says, blush lightly dusting her cheeks. "And all these feelings I know are what make up my love for him."

Neji looks back down at his steaming cup of tea. Tenten really was everything to him…he thought about the long hours that they've spent just roaming the village together, chatting.

About all the times where he sees her approaching or just walking by and he feels drawn to her, to go up and speak with her or even so she would acknowledge his presence, flash him a smile, or a wave.

All the times where, even though he knew her ability and strength almost as well as she herself does, he would still get a little nervous and his back would get a little cold when he realized she was under attack.

All the times where, his day is brightened, even just a little, after speaking with her, or just giving an exchange of smiles or brief hellos when they were both busy.

And how he gets an uncomfortable feeling in his chest and abdomen when they have to part ways.

All the times that she has been by his side, as a teammate, a friend, and as the one he cared about most.

And Neji realized, he doesn't know about how it feels to be under the impression that Tenten was in trouble or had gone missing without him around, because the idea is so unbearable that he simply doesn't allow himself to think about it.

Indeed, his feelings for Tenten was unique to himself. He had never felt this way towards anyone before. They were unique to him, for her.

The times that he spent with her, were simple. These were simple moments, simple times. He was overthinking all of this, he really was. His uncle was right.

Lee was right.

Hinata was right.

"Neji-nii-san, isn't your tea cold?"

Neji looked up at Hinata, having broken out of his brief trance. He smiled at his cousin. Her timing could not have ever been more perfect.

Neji gulped down his tea, which, even though it had been sitting out for a while, was still fairly hot, so it scalded his mouth and throat briefly, but even so, he didn't care. He felt the weight lifted off his shoulders. He felt free now.

Hinata raised an alarmed eyebrow at her cousin. "N-Neji-nii-san…"

"Come Hinata-sama, I will help you with dinner." He stands up, setting the teacup down and brushing himself off, looking over to his cousin, waiting for her to move.

"O-Oh…" Hinata gets up abruptly. She stared at her cousin wonderingly again, concluding that either Neji had finally lost it, or he had found closure with his problems. "U-Um…okay…"

As they began walking to the kitchen, Neji spoke up again.

"In regards to your question earlier, Hinata-sama. The competition…tomorrow, could not come soon enough."

"Hinataaaaaa!" Ino exclaimed mock-irritated. "You're leaving us for Naruto alreadyyyyyy?!"

"Hey hey, you know it's a night of romance for Hinata and Naruto tonight," Sakura said, winking as she elbowed Ino. "with the festival and all I mean."

"S-Sakura!" Hinata gasped, embarrassed. "You guys…"

Tenten giggled. "Aww, you guys are so mean to her." She crossed her arms and held her chin as her eyes narrowed at Hinata, hinted with mischief. "But don't get too carried away now, okay? I know Naruto has that stamina and—"

"TENTEN!" Ino and Sakura laughed. Hinata's face was as red as a radish now. "She's going to pass out!"

Tenten laughed in response to this. "What do you mean? You guys started it!" Eventually the laughter ceased and she beamed at Hinata. "Seriously though, have fun with Naruto okay? The festival will seem completely new when walking around with him, I'm sure."

"Yeah." Hinata smiled back at the girls. "Thank you."

"You got it, Hinata." Ino grinned at her friend. Sakura beamed as well, before making a fist at her. "And if Naruto does get any crazy ideas, don't hesitate to pummel his ass okay Hinata? AND LET ME KNOW TOO."

Laughter erupted from the four again. "I really, really believe that will not be necessary, Sakura." She said, shaking her head joyously. "But I should go and find Naruto-kun, I don't want him to wait too long for me."

"Speaking of, Ino you wanna go back to the other side?" Sakura asked. Ino nodded. "Yeah let's go, I think we totally missed a bunch of stuff back there, maybe the crowd has cleared up now." Ino paused for a second. "Plus I'm supposed to go and drop by to see the others too…"

"Yeah. Tenten, you coming?" Sakura asked, turning over to look at her other friend.

"Huh? Oh, well, since Hinata's leaving, and I already covered most of the area you guys are going back to, I think this would be a good time to go find Neji."

Ino and Sakura's eyes lit up with mischief again. Tenten got a little nervous at this, as even Hinata's face seemed a little sly.

"Ohhhhh?" the two piped up.

"I'm glad he asked you, Tenten." Ino giggled. "You should've seen his face when I ran into him at the store. He looked as red as our roses in the shop."

Tenten broke out into laughter at this. "What?! No way!"

"Yeah! His face was just…oh god, I can't even explain it." Ino snickered.

"Aww, I wish I could've seen it." Sakura added. "Neji-san doesn't really ever seem to show these sides."

"On the contrary, Neji-nii-san almost looked like he wanted to cry when I spoke with him the other morning."

The girls laughed at this, but then were in disbelief at Hinata's words, especially Tenten. "Really? What? Why?"

Hinata only giggled at Tenten in response. "I believe that he'll tell you himself later. It's better that way." She said, smiling. Tenten raised an eyebrow. "I-I see…okay. I hope everything's alright…"

Hinata nodded happily. "Yes, I'm sure it's more than alright."

Tenten didn't have a chance to prod on before Ino and Sakura pushed her along. "Well, go find your loverboy, Tenten!" Sakura piped up.

"Honestly, after making that face at the store, there could be no description more accurate of him." Ino added on.

"Hey, stop pushing!" Tenten cried out, turning herself out of the girls hands. She readjusted her shirt as she looked over at her friends slightly annoyed as they only stared back with mischievous eyes. Tenten sighed, exasperated at their antics. "Yeah, I'm going I'm going…"

The girls bid goodbye to each other, eventually separating. Tenten held her hands behind her back as she began to roam, realizing that she and Neji never really specified a place to meet up at…

Tenten walked by a booth that had a clock hung up on a column. She had been roaming the festival for about 20 minutes now on her own, and surprisingly she hadn't run into any of her other friends.

She knew that Neji couldn't have ditched her, especially considering his situation where he had been so nervous to even ask her to meet up with him at the fair, so she knew that definitely wasn't the case. But she figured that the best chance to find him at this point would probably be to drop by his home, as there was a chance that he may have went home after the competition for a while, maybe to clean up or something, even though the stadium had showers and locker rooms. But then again, Tenten reaaaally wouldn't be surprised if Neji went home to clean up, opting out of the makeshift showers. But then again, she wondered if she should stay, as it was impossible for him to have trouble finding her, Byakugan and all…

…WELL she figured he was going to find her, regardless of where she was on her way to his home. She turned her heel, and began heading towards the exit that was just in the distance. She hadn't seen Neji for the past couple days since he had asked her to accompany him, which was normally fine, as it wasn't as if they saw each other every living moment of their lives. However she didn't realize how much she missed him until she saw him while he was competing in the jounin games. Sucks that he got second place, she realized, giggling at this. She wondered if he was grumpy any because of it, and suddenly got really really excited about seeing him.

Right as she was giggling, her attention was taken off of where she was walking for those brief seconds, and she walked right into another person.

"Oh, geez, sorry." She apologized, looking up at the person she had almost toppled. The person smelled a way that tugged at her heartstrings, though. "I don't know what I'm doing here…" Tenten's words were cut off with a gasp.

"Neji!"

The Hyuuga smiled at her, his eyes gentle and caring. "Hey." He greeted her. "I've been waiting."

Tenten looked up at him, mesmerized, as she felt her face becoming warmer and warmer as she stared up into his eyes, yet she found that she couldn't turn her face away. She wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms and take in him and his scent that she had missed so much. He looked and sounded as if he had been waiting for a long time…not for her to show up, but for something else too…

Neji's smile never faded as he began to walk forward, pressing an arm to her back to gently push her along as he began walking.

"So, where have you not been, here?"

"Ohhhhhhh these peaches are so sweet…" Tenten mused, biting into the large fruit she held in her hands. They had covered basically every inch of the festival, going backwards to where Tenten had already walked so Neji could see it too, even though he really didn't mind either way, and were walking towards the edge of the festivities. "…why is it that the peddler only comes by once a year? That's so unfair…" she complained, with a hefty chunk of peach in her mouth.

"Tenten, you've bought more than enough." Neji looked at the full baskets of peaches she had on each of her arms, two on each one. He actually had one on each of his arms as well. "Besides, you'd be sick of these peaches if that peddler was here every day."

"No way! I'd never get sick of these. And they're a perishable good Neji, I can't save these for later."

"You say that, yet you bought so much. Do you really intend to eat all of them yourself?"

"Hell yeah!" she exclaimed to him. Neji gave her a small, slightly concerned smile. He could see the chunks of peach in her mouth.

"You will be eating these for every meal of the day. You're bound to become ill."

"Huh! I'll be just fine, you'll see. And once I prove you wrong, you're gonna go find that peddler wherever he is then, and buy more peaches for me."

Neji raised an eyebrow at this. "Why don't you track him down? You're quite capable of it yourself."

"Because I don't have a bloodline limit that would let me pinpoint him in like five seconds!" she motioned to her eyes, then her eyes became a little sly as she looked up at him. "And…because you're my boyfriend." She said, her voice a little shy.

Neji smiled fondly at this. In reality, even if they hadn't had this conversation, Neji would not mind taking a day trip to find the peddler and retrieve more peaches for his beloved Tenten. But, he figured it was best to keep this to himself, for now…maybe for a rainy day.

"Oh, let's sit here." Tenten stopped and motioned toward the rocks that bordered the water. They were a little outside of the festivities now, but the light from it was still shining brightly on the water, and there was less traffic of people walking by. "It's hard to eat this peach with the baskets weighing my arms down." Neji looked around as they walked towards the large rocks where Tenten began setting down the baskets. It was a fairly private place, as they were a little bit down a hill.

Neji followed her down, and set the two baskets of peaches behind him, sitting down next to her on the large rock.

"Mmmm…this is so sweet…have you ever had peaches this sweet before Neji?"

"I suppose not. They are very fragrant though. I've never come across peaches with such a strong and pleasant smelling fragrance as when we came across that peddler."

"Yeah." Tenten was happy hearing this. She glanced over to the baskets he was holding for him. Only one of them were actually his. "Thanks for carrying them for me too." Neji nodded at this. "Are you sure you bought enough for your clan?"

"They can buy for themselves. It's not like they're not attending the fair."

"Yeah good point…I guess that'd be a lot of peaches to buy."

Neji glanced around at the baskets filled with peaches around him. "Probably around as much as you bought."

Tenten only smirked at this. "Too bad, they're mine." Neji smiled at this to himself, forfeiting the conversation.

"So did you have fun, Neji?"

This question caught him slightly off guard. "Did I have fun?"

"Yeah, I mean, you made such a big deal about asking me to come with you, and we kind of walked to wherever I wanted to go, and you obviously really wanted to come so…"

"Yes. I had a lot of fun." He answered her with a smile, before turning to look at the water. It was shimmering from the light of the moon overhead and the lights from the fair.

"When you are by my side, I'm always content, Tenten." He said, turning to face her again. "Always. There is no other place where I can be happier, than by your side. I feel that…it truly is my rightful place in this world that we live."

"I am thankful for this. If not for you, I would never experience such happiness, not with anybody else. You have been by my side for the longest time, and every time that I am given the chance to see you, it is as if it's the first time. I don't believe I can imagine my life without you beside me, or if anything were to happen to you…I would not know happiness."

"The way that I feel…with you, is unique only to you, no one else. I am enlightened by the mere thought of you, seeing you, when I'm with you, and I wish for nothing else than to continue being by your side from now on. I believe…I think…" Neji's voice faltered briefly, glancing to the side at the water again, avoiding eye contact with her for a moment. Yes…

"…that's…that's why I love you, Tenten."

He looked deep into her eyes as he spoke. "I love you."

Tenten's eyebrows slanted upwards, and she began trembling. She turned her back to him, and seemed to contract away from him.

"Tenten?" Neji spoke softly, questioning her. This reaction…was beginning to worry him. He reached out a hand to her shoulder. "Tenten, I…"

Her trembling figure flinched abruptly at his touch.

Neji was mortified.

"I-I'm so sorry, Neji…"

Neji fell back, staring at her back for another moment, before looking down at the rocks and water at his feet. Silence fell upon them for a moment. Were those sobs that he was hearing…?

"…no, Tenten. I should be the one apologizing. I was impulsive, and was not considerate of your feelings."

But of course. All this time that he had been fretting over his feelings, as to whether or not he loved her or not…how selfish could he get? His eyes clenched shut painfully.

All this time, he had only been thinking of himself. What about Tenten? What about how Tenten felt?

He painfully glanced over at her again. Neji could hardly stand looking at her, knowing that it was him who had caused her to be in such a state. He was arrogant, selfish…now he was paying the ultimate price for his ignorance. The very thing that he was afraid of, he had now caused, having successfully pushed Tenten away with his brash actions. The pain in his chest was sharp and clenching. It felt like it was collapsing into itself. He felt cold.

Silence fell upon them again. It felt like it was eating him, and he felt like he had been sitting here forever, as if he were withering away. All those happy times that they had just shared…it all felt like a dream that never happened…some facet of his imagination. Did all that really happen? Did this really just happen?

He looked over at Tenten one last time. She had not moved from her position, a slight tremble still visible on her body.

Neji knew he had done enough damage for a night, and it was time for him to take his leave.

"Please forgive me…" He concluded quietly, as he began to stand up.

Tenten heard his movement and turned around at him violently.

"NO!"

She hoisted herself up to wrap her arms around Neji's waist from behind. He had barely gotten up off the rock. "No! Don't!"

A shocked Neji tried to turn around to see what she was doing, but he could only turn enough to see the half eaten peach that had ended up near the edge of the water.

"Don't leave!" she cried at him. "How can you possibly leave…after…after saying all that?"

Neji felt his hair shift up slightly. What was she doing?

He felt her arms tighten around him.

"Neji…Neji…I love you…" she cried. "I love you…so much..."

"You can't…you can't expect to just say these things, and not have it affect me...alright? I love you…I love you a lot, okay…?"

"So don't…don't go..." Neji tried to turn around to her again, but was stopped by Tenten. "No wait! Don't…don't look at me, this is so embarrassing…I'm barely keeping myself together, hearing your words, being here with you…I'm so embarrassed…I can't control this beating in my chest…"

He realized she was actually hiding herself under his hair.

He felt her body as she pressed herself against his back.

He couldn't handle staying in this position any longer. It was killing him.

He had to turn around.

And when he did, he didn't let her stop him. He didn't let her push him away. He didn't let her shy away from him. He didn't give her time to flinch away from him. And when he swiftly reached out to pull her close until their lips met…she didn't.

Neji kissed her, wanting more than anything to let her know how much she meant to him, kissing her as passionately as he could, as even though their bodies melded as such, he yearned for her yet, like an insatiable need, as if nothing he ever did could ever convey to her just how much he loved her.

And when it came to Tenten, it was a lot.

Tenten could only do the same as she wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting herself into his kiss, never wanting to part. His scent filling her senses, her being beneath his touch, against his body, his lips against hers…words certainly weren't enough. Each wanted the other to know that yes…yes…I love you. I love you. My rightful place is by your side, as yours to mine. I love you…only you!

They parted, and Neji held his forehead against hers in a gentle nuzzle. A smile graced his face as he lifted his hand to her cheeks, gently wiping the last tear that had fallen. Her light laughter cracked a little at this.

"I love you, Neji." She said, a bright smile shining on her face.

And they kissed again…and again. And again.

And they held each other, as close as they possibly could, as Neji slanted his mouth to the side, as he held her body as close to his as he could, as if he didn't she would somehow disappear, and he would have to feel that godforsaken pain again...only this time it would be worse because it'd have stripped away this warmth that he felt within him.

Tenten broke their kiss abruptly, and looked up at him, pink blush dusting her cheeks. "Neji…sitting here like this…doing these things here…it's uncomfortable. Can we go back to my home…or yours, maybe?"

Neji could only smile at this, as he kissed her again.

"Yes."

Regardless of what was to happen the rest of this night, it wouldn't matter, he decided. For Tenten, his most beloved Tenten, he knew she would be with him the whole night, and it wouldn't matter, as long as they were together.

And that alone was enough, for Hyuuga Neji. As he found that, with a pinch of patience, a little bit of guidance, and a dash of confidence, this thing that he currently had with Tenten has and will only continue to be absolutely wonderful.

Anndddddd that's all folks!

Yeah okay the ending was cheesy as fuck but whatever lol. I feel like Neji's confession was too long but meh, I'll fix it later if I feel like it. I didn't mean to make him seem obsessed with Tenten and make a shoujo manga ending but shit happen you know?

In all honesty, this has basically been finished for a while but I always like to read it completely before actually updating. xD I'm terrible I know I'm sorry.

I still have like 3-4 more fics I want to write for NejiTen, so I hope you guys don't ever stop loving NejiTen. Ever! And maybe when I get a new tablet I'll start pooping out fanart and animations for NejiTen too. ^^

So long as Neji or Tenten don't become canon with anyone else, our pairing will live forever! We're invincible, okay?!

LOVE NEJITEN OKAY?! –violently shakes you-