Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and the song 'Electropop' is by Jupiter Rising

A/N: Hello everyone! Ok, I admit it, I have a weak resolve . . . I'm posting chapter two now, even though chapter 1 of 'Sizzle' didn't get the full 10 reviews I'd set as the goal - but hey, 6 reviews is still pretty close! I want to thank you guys for the great feedback you gave me, the predictions were fun to read ;)! I believe someone wanted a jealous Neji . . .? Well, look out for a little of that in I think chapter 3, heehee . . . XD! So thanks again for the support, and now I shall present you with the next installment of 'Sizzle'! To recap, last time we left off at; "Wait a second - Neji's stare shot a few lines down to the second verse. Was that - no, surely the songwriters hadn't put in a - . . ! Neji's eyes widened just a fraction. Tenten's lines had one too. Of all profane, obscene things . . !
The pissed jonin leaped up and hurriedly strode around the corner Tenten had strolled past. There was NO way they were singing this!" What was it that Neji found to be so appalling? At last, we find out! ;D! Enjoy chapter 2!

Tenten was fingering the tape, humming along to the surprisingly hip beat, when a furious Neji suddenly skidded to an elegant halt behind her. She whirled around and gave him a funny look. He merely glared at his poor copy of the lyrics as if he was trying to burn a hole through it.

"Tenten. Do you realize what this song has in it?" He growled, eyes blazing.

She blinked. To be honest, she'd just been grooving along to the tape until Neji'd caught up with her - she hadn't looked at the lyrics once. Now she did, frantically searching for anything that might possibly be seen as offensive, as Neji's disgusted tone indicated.

"Um . . . it's got . . . words?" Tenten tried. She got a 'no duh' look from Neji as the jonin huffed a short sigh and roughly shoved his lyric sheet in her face.

"Look at the circled word!" He hissed.

Tenten looked.

And burst out laughing. Arms wound around her sides, she guffawed heartily for a few seconds before Neji's impatient and disgruntled "Hn?" caused her to try and regain her composure.

"Neji-" She choked out between giggles "-It's just a swear!"

"'Just' a swear? Tenten! It's profane language! I'm NOT saying this!"

Now it was Tenten's turn to sigh, albeit laughingly. "Then I will; D*MN." Tenten paused for a second as Neji stared at her, amazed. "There. I said it. And did some respectable noble run up to me and scream at me for using 'profane' language? No! It's a song, Neji - loosen up! Think of it as when you sing this, you're not really you. You're playing the character in the song. Ok?"

He just glared. Then he snatched back the paper with a scowl, crumpling it in his fist, and strode hotly away, grumbling something about "Stupid songs that force you to speak dirty." Tenten grinned, and continued down the hallway - until she remembered that the stage was the other way. Quickly, she spun 'round on her heel and sped after Neji, just as Tsunade's voice rang out over the intercom: "Competitors, please report to the stage - the show will begin in five minutes!"

Gulp.

Neji shook his head, trying to clear it, but it remained muddled. He didn't understand this. He was a jonin - an elite ninja - who risked his life daily to complete perilous missions. He'd endured boatloads of stress, the weight of the lives of his teammates on his shoulders, and had handled it all in a cool, level-headed, collected manner. He simply could not feel fear.

Or so he thought.

For now, Neji Hyuga made a mind-blowing discovery - he was scared of, of all things; singing.

Or, an evil little voice - that a horrified Neji reluctantly recognized as 'hormones' - whispered, Maybe it's just singing with Tenten that's making you nervous.

That made Neji's gut start to churn a bit. Why would it matter who he exposed his not-cut-out-for-singing voice alongside? In fact, if he was going to embarrass himself anyways, shouldn't it be a relief that it was with Tenten - his best friend whom he already felt pretty comfortable with in regard to his shortcomings (translation: she'd already seen him fall flat on his face - as rarely as it happened - seeing as they were training partners - so what should one more humiliating incident matter)?

Grudgingly, Neji realized that he had two choices; either decide he was in fact nervous of attempting something as ridiculous as singing, or that something about the thought of looking bad in front of Tenten was suddenly starting to bother him. Neither option was preferable.

He never got to pick one though - for a moment later Tenten suddenly grabbed his wrist and squeezed it, squealing "We're NEXT!"; and as a result quite effectively sending his train of thought over a cliff edge.

She then seemed to notice her out-of-the-blue and rather impressionable gesture. She swiftly released his arm, hissing "Sorry . . . " and swung her head in away from Neji's curious eyes. He too darted his gaze to the opposite end of the room, bringing his free hand to rub at the wrist Tenten'd grasped. Why couldn't he erase the very odd, almost burning sensation that flickered over where her hand had touched his? Had that been the faintest hint of a blush he'd spied on her face as she'd flinched away? And why did he all of a sudden have to suppress the urge to blush too?

Yet again, the perplexed Hyuga had no time to recollect over what had just happened; "Neji! Tenten!" Tsunade smiled smugly at then and stuck out her arms to them, a microphone in each. "You're UP!"

ALREADY?

Tenten's mind raced. She still had to figure out what crazy impulse had compelled her to do something as outrageously gutsy as grab Neji's hand! It was as if some part of her brain - contrary to the others who'd all agreed that NOT letting Neji know how much she really did like him even now was a very good idea - had acted on its own and made her spill the biggest hint she'd ever dished out. Long ago, Tenten had given up on subtlety; if Neji the genius ninja couldn't put two and two together, then he must not have ever thought she was potential-girlfriend material. Case closed, right there. She tried to convince herself to give up on her never-gonna-happen fantasy involving Neji seeing her as 'more than just a friend'. But as much as she wished she could just let it go, become water under the bridge, she knew it wasn't as easy as that. Every time she saw, trained with, and talked to him - all of which occurred every single day - she was reminded of why she had a crush on him in the first place. This vicious cycle would just keep repeating itself, until she decided to just take what she could get. If being a friend, and only that, was how she could be close to him; she'd accept and be grateful for that.

That said, In spite of her desire to be near him, singing a duet with Neji in front of basically the whole village was NOT something Tenten was up for. Talk about embarrassing.

Well, it's too late to back out now, Tenten thought. So she reached for the mike, scanned her lyric sheet one last time and spun around to eye Neji - who oddly enough looked uncharacteristically frazzled.

"Let's go kick some butt!" She offered as a pep talk, and she relaxed upon seeing the old self-reassurance resurface in his eyes. He seemed to take a deep breath, and then snatching the mike, he did the last thing Tenten would ever expect; he seized her wrist and pulled her towards the stage. "Let's get this over with - fast" he corrected.
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A/N: Ok, so since the 'I-won't-post-until-I-get-10-reviews' idea didn't work that well last time, I'm scratching it. That said, I'd still LOVE to hear any comments you have on the story so far, predictions, anything at all! I'll probably let this chapter sit for a day or two, just to see how it does as far as how many hits it gets, and then I'll put up chapter 3. After that, it's the last chapter – chapter 4! So please do tell me what you think of this story, how you like the direction I'm taking it, what you think I could add or not put in for the future chapters. Thank you, and please stay tuned for chapter 3!