Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and the song 'Electropop' is by Jupiter Rising
A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for tuning into chapter 3 – and here's where the fun really begins; it's SINGING TIME! XD! After stalling for 2 whole chapters, I will finally make Neji and Tenten stretch their vocal cords! To refresh your memories on the story line so far, we last left our heros at; '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, then snatching the mike, 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.
Unfortunately for Neji, me being the evil author I am, things are not going to go so smoothly for him, right Tenten? (Tenten; RIGHT! *high fives Snowshinobi* !) Without further ado, here is the next installment of 'Sizzle'! Happy reading!
(Onstage . . . )
Neji stared straight ahead, rigid. Tensely, he waited for that peculiar electronic sound to start up. He began reciting his lines under his breath, until was instantly stopped by a soft prod to his ribs. He peered over at the black-gloved hand that had poked him, and followed its arm up until he finally met Tenten's eyes.
She tried to shoot him a reassuring grin, but Neji could tell she too was feeling daunted. "Remember; loosen up, it's just a song, and we're just playing characters - ok?" Tenten whispered. Neji blinked at her. I know, . . . but those pesky butterflies flitting about in his stomach surged up in a sudden frenzy as the music finally cued in.
Tenten started humming, as her lines directed, and Neji started bracing himself for what was to come.
For in approximately 3 seconds, he'd be singing the first line.
"Hey girl, what's your name?
L-u-v, I see your game
It's okay, I do it too
Make me wanna play with you"
Neji swallowed uncomfortably as he finished croaking out the verse and stepped back for Tenten to take center stage. She caught his eye as she strode easily forward, and Neji swore he saw her wink. "We're just playing characters - ok?", Tenten's comment from earlier echoed in his mind. Still, fake characters or no, singing such - 'suggestive' - stuff to your best friend, who just happened to be of the other gender? How could that not be awkward? Neji scoffed to himself. It was now Tenten's turn - let's see how well she'd pull it off!
"Here boy, sign the line
Fools like you don't waste my time
I ain't game to play with you
Are you gonna follow through?"
Neji was in absolute shock. Tenten had seriously gone out there and struck a girly, hand-on-one -hip pose right there in front of the entire audience. And on that last line, she'd cocked her head at him and actually "Hn?"-ed. "Hn"-ed! At him! Neji felt his ego bruising and felt a rush of frustration. He'd show her! Smacking the laziest smirk he could muster onto his face, he smoothly uttered his next line:
"Step inside, we'll take a ride
Bonnie, Clyde, you and I
We can do this, do or die
Why don't we just take a drive?"
Top that, Tenten!
"Sounds gangster, I'm game sir
We'll play the D*MN prankster
Using up this bar we play
Then we make our getaway"
She screeched that profane word at the top of her lungs and eyed him cheekily, mockingly reminding him of his first reaction to having to swear. Oh, that was IT. Fueled by the feeling of being shown up and hating it, Neji belted out his part of the chorus with a new energy.
"Electropop hot
It's addiction when I can't stop"
Tenten played her sassy character flawlessly, even shooting Neji a flirtatious grin.
"I may be your sweet spot
Take me to your candy shop"
Neji ground his teeth.
"Electropop hot
Fr-riction when it's getting hot"
It sure as heck is 'getting hot' Neji thought miffedly as he felt anger begin to boil inside his chest.
"Feeling like it's getting hot?
Come on baby, what you got?"
Tenten lifted her chin just a fraction as she trilled out her challenge. She watched Neji's face go blank with shock, and then harden as her line struck his pride. She smirked at him. Riling him up like this was just too fun!
They repeated the chorus as the lyric sheet had directed, but by the end of 'round two' Neji still felt like he was losing to Tenten by a mile. She was positively brilliant at this character-playing thing! She had the upper hand, and Neji knew it. Still, he fought to act even more nonchalant about the whole thing then she did - if she could handle playing a girl who was in a relationship with his character, then he could darn well manage the reverse!
"D*mn girl we're moving fast
It's a movie, who's the cast?
I can be your leading role
Won't you let me take control?"
Tenten grinned proudly as Neji spat out his last word and glared pointedly at her. He hadn't even blinked at the swear. Her plan was working - getting Neji into the song by making it seem like she was trying to be better at playing her character than he was was totally doing the trick. Although he really did look pretty pissed . . . Tenten thought. Well, what the hell - if this method for getting him to participate is functioning fine, why mess it up? Besides, being able to openly wound his ego a bit was so worth getting the crap beaten out of her at training tomorrow . . .
"Like Juliet I'm femme fatale
Take your pick, I'll play them all
Each one to satisfy depending on the type of guy"
That line rubbed Neji the wrong way for more reasons than its perfect delivery on Tenten's part. The idea of Tenten 'playing' or hanging out with any other guys but himself and Lee made Neji feel instantly protective of her. She's my training partner - go 'play' with someone else! Neji wanted to growl at those other guys - until he remembered it was just a song. It disturbed him how relieved he felt that this scenario would never occur in his real life. But at the moment, he reminded himself, he was no longer Neji Hyuga. He was some guy bantering back and forth with his girlfriend. So the jonin stepped up to the plate and gave it his all.
"I'm just a nervous type
Put me in the spotlight
I can talk this all night long
Only if we take it home"
Tenten giggled to herself. Neji still hadn't realized he was being completely manipulated. Well, it's his own fault for having that all that darned pride . . !, Tenten thought.
"Ohhh, that is not what I'm about
Men without backing out
That is how I strategize
So hold your breath for this surprise"
Neji took great offence at those last few words. Tenten of all people would know how much he despised being kept waiting, and now she was using the convenient song lyrics to string him out!
Again came the chorus, and by now Neji felt fairly confident singing these borderline-suggestive recurring lines to Tenten. It's just an act, he thought, go with it - the song is nearly over anyways.
That was when something queer happened; the half-lidded eyes and smirky smile on Tenten's face flashed back to the soft brown gaze and gentle grin she normally sported. Neji was floored - Tenten had just dropped her character! But her part was next, and she made no indications that she was returning to her role anytime soon. Whatever she was about to sing, she must really mean in real life as well . . . Neji surmised. Fascinated, he studied her along with the audience who had also picked up on Tenten's change of facial expression.
"Don't want to spend this night alone
'Cause you're just what I need
I'll lock your digits on my phone
For as much as I tease
I know this affection may be temporary
for night-like behavior, it is necessary
But for tonight, yes we're doing it right
And you got my number if you like what you like"
Tenten suddenly realized Neji, along with the entire crowd, was staring at her intently. Trying not to blush, she fidgeted nervously as she waited for the part where she needed to hum started.
"oohhhh-ohhhh- oh oh oh oh oh
ooohhh-ohhhh oh
mmhmmmmm"
So Tenten had truly meant all that? Neji's mind replayed those few seconds; the small smile and quick look she'd sent his way after she murmured "'Cause you're just what I need", the tiny wistful sigh of regret that followed "I know this affection may be temporary", the lonely plaintive undertone in her sorrowful voice. It hit him hard, painfully, someplace a bit below his left shoulder: Tenten was in . . . love?
He mentally shook himself. What did he care if she was in- er, had feelings for -someone? That's right. He didn't. But that eerie numbing feeling kept gnawing away at him even as he attempted to coolly sing his part of the chorus.
"Electropop hot
It's addiction when I can't stop"
As quickly as she'd vanished, the sassy Tenten reappeared.
"I may be your sweet spot
Take me to your candy shop"
Tenten was a little concerned. Neji looked slightly shaken as he stumbled over the familiar words he'd just sung minutes ago. What'd happened?
"Electropop hot
Fr-riction when it's getting hot"
Ha, ironically enough now all he felt was cold, gut-wrenching dread. That much told Neji this was clearly not a matter he could just leave alone. His tomboy-ish teammate - in love? His next thought caused Neji to stiffen without thinking; With whom? It was then that the pool of dread in his stomach morphed into a whole new feeling.
"Feeling like it's getting hot?
Come on baby, what you got?"
It feels like my ribcage is on fire! Neji thought, on the verge of panicking, 'till; You're jealous. The sudden realization made him freeze. WHAT? He was so wrapped up in thought that he nearly missed his cue to start humming:
"Electro-e-ectro-p-pop
Frict-ict-ict-iction is hot"
Tenten's initial worry had grown considerably at this point - the distracted look in Neji's eyes was what really alarmed her. Neji did not get distracted. Something was wrong here.
"I may be your sweet spot
Take me to your candy shop"
Just focus on your lines . . . Neji told himself, wincing inwardly at how off-task he was at the moment.
Electro-e-e-ectropop
Fri-i-i-i-iction's hot
Good grief, Neji - are you ok? This was the first time Tenten had ever seen Neji's focus deteriorate so easily. Between lines, she glanced at him, concern written in her eyes.
Feeling like it's getting hot
Come on baby, what you got?
Neji was still trying to process this freakish new sensation that held him in its grip. He didn't look at her.
(Electropop hot
It's addiction when I can't stop)
Ohhh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-ohhh
(Electropop hot
It's addiction when I can't stop)
(Electropop hot
It's addiction when I can't stop)
Tenten faked a sly grin at Neji in an effort to remind him, We're playing characters! His teeth clenched as if he were in pain, and sent a thin clearly strained smile back at her. She noted that his eyes - Tenten had learned over the years that looking at them was the only way to remotely guess as to how Neji really felt about something - were glittering in a way she'd never seen before. Almost . . . broken, somehow . . . in spirit . . . ? she thought, puzzled.
y-yeah y-eah
Neji barely noticed how he ended the song with a tiny unintentional sigh. Defeatedness saturated his being now, in contrast to the bubbling rage it had been before. She likes . . . someone . . . thatway . . . He thought dismally, glancing at Tenten with a longing he never knew had existed within him until the moment he figured out she had feelings for . . . someone else. How convenient - he only found out he might like Tenten as something more than a mere training partner in the same second she basically confessed her affection towards another. "You never know a good thing 'till it's gone . . . ", Neji's brain chided him. It's your own fault for not realizing sooner. He had had an abundance of chances - training, missions, heck, their houses were both within walking distance of eachother! Every second of the day had practically been an opportunity to sit himself down and have a good thinking session on his and Tenten's relationship. But no - he'd put all his time into working to achieve his goal - to become strong enough to never lose to anyone ever again.
And now, just when he'd achieved jonin status and finally thought he'd been able to fulfill that promise to his dad, all that work had been deemed useless in approximately four minutes due to an affair of the heart, along with a sassy song and an old friend. Who Neji now realized he wanted to be more than just a friend to.
The crowd's cheers and whoops were only a negligible buzz humming in the background of Neji's brain, drowned out by two little words that hit harder than even that punch Naruto'd connected with Neji's jaw in that fateful Chuunin Exams match back in their genin years. All Neji could hear were those two short hateful words echoing painfully in his mind. Too late . . .
A/N: So how do you guys like my version of Neji? I say 'my' version, because I realize how uncharacteristically emotionally I write him, XD! I'm a bit unsure about the format of this chapter; from what I've seen, it's ok to post song lyrics as long as you break up the stanzas - right? Any comments and questions on this chapter and predictions for chapter four would be much appreciated, so please do review if you would be so kind! As for the last chapter of this tale, chapter 4, I'm actually not entirely sure where to go with it. I'm thinking some sort of heart-to-heart chat between Neji and Tenten, but the whole concept is still rather sketchy – I'm open to suggestions for how you readers think the story ought to be wrapped up, if you happen to think of any! Thank you so much to all of you who've stuck by this story and for every review – it means so much to me. Thanks again, and I hope we'll meet again at chapter 4 for the last leg of 'Sizzle'! ;D!