Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter! And an even bigger thanks to those who alerted, because I had only promised a possible continuation; I didn't even know for sure if I wanted to add to this or not. But alas, I've thought of a loose plot (because I never know exactly what I'm going to write until I actually write it), so I've come up with a chapter two to this fic! And I kind of know where I want to go with this. I'm sorry that it took so long to continue this, for those of you who waited. I try to fit writing into my schedule, but it's not that easy (and I'm crazy and start more fics than I can handle at a time). So thank you for your patience.

Basically, with this fic, I want to write a NejiTen piece that isn't all about romance and unsure feelings and all that confusing, stressful stuff. I'm one of those people who doesn't believe that just because a guy and a girl (or guy + guy or girl + girl) like Neji and Tenten are really close, that they MUST be in love with each other. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE NejiTen, but there's something fulfulling about writing them being just friends. So this fic came into existence. I think I can stop babbling now... You get the picture. XD

Acquaintance

2. July 3rd

She had been practicing. Not often, but often enough, when time would permit it. A fold before an early morning mission briefing, a crease in the spare minutes between returning home and leaving again for whatever called her. She had improved, little by little, and soon she was making animals and flowers instead of just things and shapes.

She never had gotten Neji to teach her how to fold origami. She had used her brain and her ingenuity and imagination (and a book she had borrowed from Hinata) to figure out the process. It made her feel more accomplished.

She knew what she wanted to make him. His birthday was nearing, and she knew what to make him. His present had to be origami, she reasoned, because it just did. It made sense: he had gotten her origami for her birthday; she would make him something from this origami for his birthday.

It was meaningful.

And his present had to mean something. He was Neji, her once-and-kind-of-still best friend. The boy who had trained her to pass her chuunin exam, because everyone knew he was going to pass that time after his initial failure, but no one had paid her much attention. The man who had told her that she wasn't worthless, and had proved that although it didn't seem it, he was still there for her when she needed him.

She smiled faintly, fingers working with the thin paper. She knew exactly what to make, and her face was set in determination as the lamp glowed over the pages of the book in front of her.

A cricket chirped from somewhere outside in the dark, and she let out a jaw-cracking yawn. She made the mistake of trying to fold a crease whilst her eyes were still watery, and once she wiped the tears away, she cursed. "Dammit, this won't work."

The crease wasn't perfect, wasn't straight down the middle. She swiped the paper off the table, pulled out another – the same burnt orange color – and set to work again from step one.

"Fifth time's the charm," she muttered tiredly, realizing too late that it probably wasn't the best idea to wait until the night before his birthday to actually start his present.

At least she had the steps memorized by now.

"You sure as hell'd better appreciate this," she said, a bit stiffly, as she stuffed the small box into Neji's hands the next morning. "Oh yeah, happy birthday. I guess I should say that."

"You look tired," Neji observed after recovering from his initial shock, looking at her face and the shadowy circles under her eyes.

Tenten waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry. I'm only exhausted."

"Only?" Neji repeated, noting her sarcasm. "Why are you so exhausted?"

"I was working on your present all night. There's a good lesson, though, that came out of this. Neji, don't ever put off getting someone their birthday present until a few hours before their birthday. You'll regret it."

He raised his eyebrows, about to ask her why she was telling him this, because as far as he remembered, he hadn't been at all sleep deprived as he had given her her present a few months earlier.

"I'm not saying I regret making you a present!" Tenten added quickly, preventing Neji from speaking. "I'm just saying, sleep is good. It keeps you healthy. If I die a premature death anytime soon, I'm blaming it on you."

Neji's eyes softened and a slight smile touched his face. "Thank you, Tenten."

She looked surprised for a second. "For what, blaming you if I die? That's kinda – oh, wait, got it. God I'm tired." She ran a hand over her face and sighed, and then gave him a weary smile. "You're welcome. Happy birthday. Don't open it now, wait until later. I don't want you to crush it or anything. I think I'd probably kill you, and then I'd blame you for your death."

"I appreciate that very much."

She exhaled a laugh through her nose. "Good. Ugh, I should get going. I've got a lot to do today." She didn't move as if to leave, however. Instead, she gazed blankly out towards something at her right, and she blinked her eyes forcefully, feeling them sting as they shut.

She had accosted him in the middle of the street, and people had to weave around them to get by. No one really seemed to mind, or notice them for that matter; they might as well have been two stone statues, two stone statues that happened to move. The crowds buzzed with voices from all around them, but the sounds seemed far away to her ears. She was so tired, and she wasn't sure she could get her legs to move if she tried.

"You're overworking yourself."

She gave him a dazed look, and then seemed to return to herself with a start. "No no, I'm fine!" she said, shaking her hands out in front of her haphazardly. "You know, just this and that, and work and stuff. I've got a meeting with Tsunade later," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"A meeting about what?"

At this she grinned. "You'll find out when you open your present!" she said brightly. "But really, I should get going. I'll see you around," she said, and gave him a quick hug ("Only because it's your birthday. I'm allowed to, today.") before punching him in the arm. She was proud to see that he forced back a wince.

"Don't tell me you're getting weak, Neji!" she laughed as she turned and began to walk away (her legs would still follow her commands, she was glad to find). "We need to spar sometime, so that I can toughen your skin again. And you'd better appreciate your gift!" she called over her shoulder. When she peered back to see his response, he was already gone, off to comply with whatever busy schedule he had for himself.

She rolled her eyes, a smile touching her lips. "Whatever," she muttered, and lost herself in the crowd.

He opened the box when he was alone in his room later than evening. The first thing he saw when he pulled off the lid was a folded slip of paper, which he took out. He unfolded it, and was surprised by the amount of writing he saw on it: it was filled from top to bottom in Tenten's not-quite-neat, not-quite-messy scrawl.

Beneath where the letter had been in the box lay another piece of paper; origami paper, he noticed, after turning the lamp to better light the desk. Origami paper he had given her, but this piece had been artfully manipulated into…

His brow wrinkled. Was it a fox, or was he just looking at it wrong? He gazed at it with a growing sense of puzzlement, and decided it would be better to read the letter before he wracked his brains trying to understand what exactly the origami in the box was supposed to be.

His eyes skimmed over the long note – had she written him an essay? He couldn't fathom how she could think of so much to put in a birthday note, and started at the top:

'Yo. Oh god, let me start over. That was the LAMEST thing ever. Why didn't I just erase it? Neji, tell me why I didn't just erase it. And why am I continuing to write about nothing? Okay, forget any of this is here. I need a pen.'

That part was crossed out with a big blue X. Neji could feel the expression of baffled amusement on his face, and promptly forced himself to lower his eyebrows. He had the strangest friends… Or maybe Tenten had had a bit too much to drink when she wrote this? Or both, that was possible as well. He continued to read:

'Dear Neji,

Well, first of all, I'll start of by telling you I'm really bad with these kinds of things. You know, birthday cards and stuff like that. But I'll try to make this work. And ignore that up there.'

She had drawn an arrow up to the crossed out part of the note.

'So yeah, happy birthday. I think that last time I wrote you a card for your birthday was when we were sixteen. Which, when you think about it, really isn't THAT long ago. That's only five cards I haven't gotten you. Wait, no, ignore that. Maybe I shouldn't have switched to pen…

Ahem. Anyway. I'm sure you're wondering what the present part of this present is. (Seriously, I know you're looking at it with that 'What the hell is this?' look of yours. I know). Remember when I used to help out at that daycare during my free time, and I dragged you there with me that one time? You were totally freaking out ("Tenten, I don't handle children well. I'm not afraid, I just…don't handle children well) and you were as tense as a plank of wood the whole time, just standing in the corner like a total lurk.

Well, remember that one little girl? The one who called you Fox-Man? She said that it was because her favorite story book had a fox with white eyes in it, and that since your eyes looked like the fox's, you just HAD to be Fox-Man. I don't think you liked that very much, but she absolutely adored you. Every time you came (I dragged you along) she would yell "Fox-Man's here, Fox-Man's here!" and you would scowl and she would smile and you would scowl some more and go stand in your corner and she would laugh and latch onto your leg.

I don't really know why I decided to make you an origami fox for your birthday, except that that memory came to mind when I was trying to figure out what to get you, and this just kinda happened. I guess I just wanted to give you something of a memory from the "good old days." I really do miss those days. I barely ever see Lee any more, or you. I miss you guys…'

He didn't miss the twinge of sadness she had sewn into the end of the paragraph, and it made him feel a bit guilty. They were all so busy now – Tenten, Lee, and himself – that they barely had any time for each other, and he knew that Tenten had depended on them so much in the past. They were her support, her brothers, and now Neji was sure that she felt like their family was being pulled apart. He had seen the gratitude in her eyes when he had gone to see her on her birthday, but he had also seen a deep-set fatigue and loneliness. And he had seen it even clearer earlier this morning.

He made up his mind to find her the next day to thank her, and then he would challenge her to a spar. It was the least he could do.

'ANYWAY, that's the explanation behind the fox thing. There's one more thing at the very bottom of the box, under the squishy white stuff. I couldn't resist. (Look at it now).'

Neji followed the directions and gently lifted the origami fox out of the box and placed it on the desk. It was really well done, he noted, and realized with another pang of guilt that he had never taught her how to fold origami like he said he would. The 'white stuff' was a layer of cotton cut into a square, and beneath it was another piece of paper, folded in half and then in half again.

He took it out and unfolded it, and was greeted by the sight of a very disproportional picture of what he assumed was him (judging by the sloppily written caption of 'FOX MAN' written in all capitals underneath). He looked back at Tenten's letter:

'She gave that to me one of the times you weren't there. She told me to give it to you, and I put it in a "safe place" in my room, and then lost it before I could give it to you. You know how that goes…right? So not my fault. Kinda. Safe places never work! You always just lose whatever you put there, and then you completely forget where the safe place is in the first place. But yeah, I found that a while ago, and it's been sitting on my desk for a while now, and I just HAD to give it to you. It's so adorable!

So there you go, now you know that these presents aren't as random as they seem. And maybe if I find some time…sometime…I'll get you something a bit more…present-ish. But don't count on it (please don't). So yeah, wishing you a happy birthday and all that. Save me a slice of cake! (You do eat cake on your birthday, right?) Don't lose the gifts, and, well, have a great birthday, Neji.

Lots of love,

Tenten'

He finished the letter and realized that he was smiling. He knew, without a doubt, that that was the best present he had ever received, and was instantly filled with a profound amount of gratitude. He was so thankful that Tenten was his friend, and that they had been able to mostly hold their relationship together through the busy years. She understood him, and sometimes surprised him by knowing exactly what he needed or wanted before even he knew.

She had given him a memory, one that he had forgotten about, and that was precious. And it was something that nobody else could get him or buy him with money. When he went to bed that night he was content, and he didn't find himself thinking a million different things like he usually did. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep quickly, never having noticed that he had missed the postscript scribbled quickly onto the back of Tenten's letter.