A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long to get this story updated! I haven't forgotten, I promise! I've just had a lot going on lately... But anyways, here's chapter twelve. Only a couple more chapters until the end! Anyone excited? I know I am! :)

Chapter Twelve

Sakura and I walked around for a while, having nothing to do. Earlier, Tsunade had made an announcement that the classes and lessons today would be cancelled due to a recital that all the teachers participated in and we, the students, were free to roam the halls and practice rooms to our content.

Soon after we left Shikamaru and the fuming Temari, Sakura spotted Ino, Kiba, and Sasuke and left me with a hasty goodbye. Alone, I wandered a little more, hoping to run into Neji. However, after half an hour of looking, I came up empty-handed and gave up. I ran back to my room, passing Temari, who was still yelling at Shikamaru; Hinata and Naruto, the former's cheeks red in… anger? and Sasori and Deidara, who looked to be in a heated argument; to grab my book and iPod so I could read and enjoy the sunshine.

When I finally arrived at our tree, I fell onto my butt in the shady crook of the trunk and pulled my headphones above my ears, opening the book to lose myself in the world of Les Miserables.

Not five minutes had passed before I heard the faint sound of a human voice above my loud music.

"You know, this is all your fault."

I looked up to see Shikamaru, his normally spiky ponytail falling out and his clothing ripped. Putting my book down, I calmly lowered my headphones and tilted my chin, signaling for the boy to elaborate.

"Temari punched me. Multiple times. And it hurt." He explained in his lazy drawl.

I stuck my tongue out at him, scrunching up my nose. "And how, exactly, is that my fault?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, seemingly unsure if I was being sarcastic or sincere. Deciding upon the latter, he raised an accusing finger at my nose and shook it slowly, as if disciplining a dog.

"You told her to do it."

I shook my head and giggled, unable to help it.

He is way too naïve.

"All I said to her was that it would most likely help to talk to you. The punching was her idea."

Shikamaru continued to glare at me, but his tone softened a little. "I know I hurt her really bad. I know what I said caused her to starve herself. She told me all of that. I just don't know how I can fix it. And trust me, I really do. " He sighed and fell down next to me, lacing his fingers behind his head. "This is just all too troublesome."

I patted his messed-up hair and laughed.

"I think you just need to drop some balls and apologize to her. Really, sincerely apologize. Nothing half-assed or cliché. Do it from your heart. And don't randomly kiss her. That was weird. Why did you do it, anyways?"

He suddenly turned bright red and jumped up, backing away and frantically waving his hands in front of him.

"Uh, th-thanks for the advice, Tenten! I-I'll definitely do that!"

And with that, the promptly turned around and ran away.

Men… I thought to myself, rolling my eyes.

Just then, Naruto appeared out of nowhere, plopping himself beside me and throwing a friendly arm over my shoulder. I leaned away from him and tilted my head.

"Yes?" I asked, grabbing his arm between my thumb and forefinger and taking it off of my neck.

He grinned at me, white teeth shining in the sunlight.

"So, uh, Tenten! You're friends with Hinata, right?"

"…Yes?"

"I think she's mad at me, but she won't say why, so, you should talk to her for me, okay? Thanks!"

And, without giving me a chance to reply, he stood up and left.

"Wait! I-" but he had already disappeared.

Shaking my head, I whispered to myself, "men."

I was about to put my headphones back on and continue reading when a long shadow obstructed my light and heat. Slightly annoyed, I again lowered my headphones and raised my eyes to the person in front of me and almost growled, "Yes?"

Sasori raised a red eyebrow at me and sat down a good distance in front of me.

Without even a hello or wave, he said, "I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"What do I do about Deidara?"

Slightly confused, I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Elaborate?" I requested.

He glared at me and gracefully stood up, not using his hands at all.

"Never mind," he mumbled, barely moving his lips, "You're no help."

He spun on his heel and stomped away, the back of his neck very red, leaving me stunned and even more annoyed and confused.

"Gah! Men!"

I smacked my own forehead and fell back against the tree.

Deciding to give up on reading, I quickly gathered all of my things and stood, planning on going to the practice rooms. After all, this was a music camp. I scurried back to my room to drop my book off and pick my sheet music up, and afterwards, walked to the practice rooms. Many of them were empty, as a lot of the students chose to take advantage of the day off and relax a little. However, there were two or three that were taken. I saw Hinata in one of them, furiously playing her violin, cheeks still red, and made a note to talk to her about Naruto later. As I wandered to the end of the hall, towards the three rooms with grand pianos, I witnessed Ino and Kiba working together on what sounded like a beautiful duet, Gaara work on scales, some kids that I had seen around camp playing various instruments, and Sakura and Sasuke eating each others' faces in one of the piano rooms. I made a mental note to never go in there again. In the other grand piano room, I saw Anko practicing for her part in the recital, with Kakashi sitting in the corner, nose buried in his little orange book. From the last room, I did not hear any sound, so, not looking, I pushed on the door and attempted to walk in. The only problem was that there was a Neji attempting to get out.

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, even as his papers went flying into the air and I went flying into his chest.

His arms awkwardly wrapped around my waist to balance me and his face turned bright red. I laughed a little and, to try and avoid the impending awkward, I fell to my knees and started picking his papers up. Upon grabbing one of them, Neji's messy scrawl caught my eye. Curiosity won over and I looked over it, seeing handwritten notes instead of nicely printed ones. The title made me gasp slightly and blush wildly. Tenten's Song.

Cheeks red, I held the paper out to Neji and asked, "Did you write this?"

Seeing the paper, his face turned and even brighter red and he nodded, hands shaking as he took it from my hands.

"Can-can I hear it?"

Neji blushed harder and nodded, seemingly too embarrassed to speak. The two of us made our way to the piano in silence and he sat on the bench, setting up the music. I stood off to the side, leaning a little onto the piano as he moved the bench in and re-adjusted the height.

Taking a deep breath, he began playing, and immediately, I was entranced. The song he had titled after me was beautiful, and he played it with such passion and raw flavor that I was paralyzed with feeling. The fortes, staccatos, pianos, and legatos were so beautifully written, and executed so well. The song itself was happy, bubbly, but at points, slow and romantic. And Neji played it with such passion, so beautifully. The way Neji played made me want to listen to him forever, doing nothing more than leaning on the crappy, old piano and listen to him play.

When he finished, Neji stared at me, as if waiting for my approval.

"Neji… That's… beautiful." I whispered, unable to properly speak.

He smiled and stood up, walking towards me, a hint of pink still on his cheeks.

"It is not even a candle compared to the flame of your beauty." He whispered back, gently cupping my face.

Unable to help it, I giggled a little at his cheesy line.

"Did Lee tell you to say that?" I asked, still not wanting to break the lingering magic with a loud voice.

He gave me his signature smirk and wrapped his other arm around my waist, pulling me closer.

"Perhaps."

His face was so close. If I just leaned forward, we would be kissing. I could feel his cool breath on my face.

Suddenly embarrassed, I looked down, red flushing my cheeks. He chuckled a little and used his finger to lift my chin.

"Hey," he whispered, and kissed me.

I have kissed many guys in my past, and I am not ashamed to admit it. There was Zaku, in the back of Kin's car, Kabuto, in the back of the band hall, Suigetsu, as a dare, and the list goes on. But none of them were as amazing as kissing Neji. I literally saw fireworks. As the kiss deepened, I shut my eyes and felt the butterflies in my stomach go up to my throat. And I loved it. I loved the feeling of Neji's lips against mine. I loved that his hands didn't wander. I loved it.

We finally broke apart after God-knows-how-long and I felt a smile creep upon my face.

"Wow." I breathed, still flushed.

"Yeah." He said, resting his forehead against mine, though he had to lean down a considerable amount to do that.

We stayed like that for a while until we heard a tap on the door. Looking out the small window embedded into the wood of the door, we saw Anko, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke. My coach gave me a thumbs up and a wink and I saw Sakura doing a victory dance in the background. Kakashi was mouthing get some to Neji and Sasuke gave him a silent nod of approval. My face flushed red and I wildly waved my hands, shooing all of them away. Anko laughed and nodded, turning around and walking away, pulling Kakashi and a very unwilling Sakura away. Sasuke followed with a slouch and hands in his pockets.

"That was slightly embarrassing." I nervously laughed as Neji gathered me up in his arms again.

"Yeah?" he asked before claiming my mouth with his own again.

I'm okay with this.