Hello all. I bring you another drabble since these only take half an hour to write unlike a full Stripped Bare chapter which takes weeks and my school schedule is definitely not allowing that right now. This is all Neji/Tenten fluff and is so sugary sweet, you just might get a cavity. Please enjoy.

XXXXX

Anything but Ordinary

Ever since her academy days, she had felt like she lacked any special qualities that set her apart from all the other aspiring shinobi. She had no bloodline limit, nor did she excel at certain elemental jutsu. She had taken well to weapons training, and had focused on honing her skills with almost every sharp object she came across, but she still felt like she was substandard, like she could be easily replaced by someone with secret techniques or other coveted abilities.

Her own team captain fawned endlessly over the student he had cultivated since their first meeting, and while it gave her hope that her chakra-lacking teammate had become so extraordinary through no other means than hard work, it only made her feel more mundane in comparison. She didn't particularly excel in taijutsu or chakra control, nor did her family have an alliance with wild creatures that would come to her aid in battle. She could simply throw a kunai better than most, but deep down she felt that anyone could acquire the same skill if they put their mind to it, but most had never needed to, for thy could rely on other powers, but for her, her weapons and the scroll that summoned them was all she had.

For years she had kept her smile firmly in place, never wanting anyone to know that all the confidence she exuded was a façade, that underneath the show of flashing steel she always put on, there was nothing there but an ordinary girl. She didn't want anyone to know she was scared to death of becoming obsolete, that even successfully completed missions brought her little joy because she always wondered when the assignments would stop coming, given instead to someone who could carry them out better.

She had continued on, trying to be brave and pretending to be proud until one day while training on her own, she found she couldn't do it anymore. She wasn't strong and she had never believed she was, and at last she succumbed to all the self pity she had refused to acknowledge, coming forth like a flood from a broken dam until she was so overcome that she dropped to her knees, sobbing softly as she released the shuriken she had not yet thrown, letting it tumble into the dirt.

So engrossed was she in her tide of tears that she did not feel him approach. She didn't even know he was there until a pair of strong, warm arms surrounded her, and a sculpted torso pressed to her back, Silky strands of long, brown hair spilled over her shoulder and she knew the man embracing her had to be Neji.

He said nothing, strong in his silence as always. He didn't chastise her for showing weakness in her tears or demand an explanation for her current state. He just held her and let her cry until she had no more tears left to shed and her body was exhausted by shuddering sobs. He knelt in the dirt along with her, head so close to hers that she could feel him exhale on the bare skin of her neck. She had to tell someone how she felt about herself, because the burden was too much to bear alone. She didn't want to keep pretending without someone knowing the truth.

"There's nothing special about me," she whispered, her breath hitching as the last of her sobs subsided. "I'm generic, ordinary…"

She trailed off when the hands around her waist slipped free, trailing down her arms to intertwine his fingers with hers, not seeming to care that she was slightly dirty from training.

"I've known you for most of my life," he whispered, his voice smooth and low and holding an honesty that she had never heard from him before. "And I've never once thought of you as ordinary."

"But I have no bloodline limits or special skills," she whimpered pitifully, not quite ready to be roused from her melancholy. "You have the Byakugan, Lee has his taijutsu…"

"Idiot," he murmured warmly against her ear. "Do you really think those things shape who you are? Having all the special jutsu in the world wouldn't change who you are, Tenten."

When the heat of his body left her as he rose, she found herself missing it immediately, but she was surprised when he circled around and crouched down in front of her, gently taking her chin in his hand and brushing away the lingering tear on her cheek with his thumb.

"But Neji—" she began, but he cut her off in a way she never would have expected in a thousand years. He pressed his lips to hers in a chaste, but incredibly tender kiss.

Her brown eyes were wide, like a frightened doe's when he pulled away and he blushed slightly, apologizing for his forwardness.

"But don't you see?" he added. "I wouldn't have kissed just anyone. I was saving my first kiss for someone very special. I was saving it for you, and have been for a long time. Whether you return my feelings or not, just know, you couldn't be an ordinary girl if you tried, so don't ever think that you are."

Tenten could only sit in stunned silence, too moved by his words to respond. He had always been so…detached from her, warm, but detached, and the fact that he was saying all this now while she was in a state of emotional imbalance made it even harder to take in. But she didn't push him away when he pulled her in for another embrace and when he asked if they could try being more than just friends and take everything slow, she nodded mutely.

XXXXX

In public, their relationship didn't seem to change much, which was understandable considering Neji's strict upbringing and the fact they still had to keep up appearances of being a functioning team. He didn't hide the fact that they were dating, but he was hardly as gushy as Lee, who shouted joyous nonsense about "the wonders of finding love in the springtime of youth" when he found out they had become a couple.

But even in the presence of others, he gave her warm glances and tiny smiles that she knew he never gave anyone else, and when they were alone, he was more affectionate than she could have ever imagined, holding her close as if he couldn't get enough of her, and running his fingers through her endlessly long hair when he could convince her to take it out of the customary twin buns.

He whispered that she was irreplaceable, for no one would ever fit in his arms the way she did, or smile her smile or laugh her laugh. He listed endless, petty details about her, some that she even disliked about herself but he insisted that he wouldn't change a single one of them, for he wanted her just as she was.

After a while, that gnawing ach inside that came with feeling substandard began to diminish until it was gone all together. No longer did she feel useless and unimportant, for every moment she spent with Neji was a moment that reminded her that yes, somebody did want her just the way she was, and Neji certainly wasn't the type to settle for a generic, cookie-cutter girl. He wanted her, even if she could do nothing but use weapons when they sparred. Tenten was no longer bothered by that either, for she found that even with all his jutsu and abilities, sometimes, she could still beat him.

XXXXX

Thanks for reading. I really love the fans who have told me they'll read anything I put out. It always amazes me that you guys read my silly little drabbles, even when there's no promise of smut. Thank you for all the support everyone!

J-Pop