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Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Naruto.

Destined to Love
By: Chigiri Sasaki

Summary: He was a prodigy, with a damaged past and no future. She was a commoner, with a hidden secret. Strung together by fate, it was only a matter of time before she changed his life forever. [AU, NejiTen]

Chapter Fifteen

The first thing that greeted her the next morning was the brisk wind of late autumn.

The chilly morning air seeped through the thin material of her nightgown the moment she threw her covers off. She instantly shivered and sneezed. Mumbling curses, she went over to the open window and shut it with a distinct click.

She fell back onto her bed and sighed deeply. The air in her room was crisp and cold—the result of keeping the window wide open all night long. But it really didn't matter much, Tenten thought with a smile, as her new surroundings were simply astounding. She spent about an hour last night after the party simply taking in her new room, wondering how such luxury existed. It was huge and airy, and the impact it had on her was just as strong as if it was the first time. However, it lacked the cosiness and hominess that was present everywhere at Ino's house.

But then again, who was she to complain? Just about everything was better than the abandoned cottage she lived in.

"Miss Tenten?"

The quiet voice that made Tenten jump belonged to a maid who stood in the doorway. "Miss Tenten?" she repeated, and held out a stack of clothes. "These are the newly washed clothes selected personally by Hinata-sama. She says she hopes they suit you well."

"I'm sure they are. Thanks." Tenten smiled at the maid warmly and thanked her once more as she took the clothing. They smelled of fresh lilacs.

Tenten smiled softly to herself. For once, the little fire inside her heart—the shred of hope she clung onto all her life—grew, and she could almost see a future in her life now. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she could see that she wasn't going to starve and she would have friends to support her. In the past few days, her life swerved around so quickly she couldn't do anything more than to be grateful and thank her lucky stars.

After changing into the beautiful clothes, she stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her; it was time to wake Neji.

This was obviously part of her job, but she didn't think of it that way anymore. She truly did want to befriend this seemingly heartless boy. She especially didn't want the feelings she had yesterday with him to end. She smiled more, she laughed harder, and it almost felt as if she had no more worries in the world. It was odd, but knowing that he was beginning to accept her made so much more of a difference in her life.

With a deep breath, she walked towards Neji's room and knocked gently.

"Neji?" she called softly when there was no response. "Neji, are you there?"

"He's probably still sleeping."

Although caught off guard, Tenten instantly recognised the smooth, musical voice. She spun around to see Hiro walking up to her, looking as immaculate as he did last night. He stopped in front of her, so close there was less than an arm's length of distance between them. Tenten felt heat pervading her face.

"H-hi," she managed to spit out.

He simply chuckled in response, his eyes light and amused. "Hi."

"Um, what are you doing here?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I live here?"

Tenten's cheeks coloured a shade brighter. "Oh, right."

He smirked. "So I see you're wearing the necklace I gave you."

Her hand flew to her neck instinctively. Feeling the emerald pendant, she lost all traces of nervousness and smiled genuinely. "Thank you so much," she said quietly, and then her eyes were downcast. "You don't know how much this means to me. I had a necklace too, but I lost it some time ago." She looked back up into his pearly eyes. "This is also my first real gem."

The edges of Hiro's eyes softened. "You're welcome," he murmured softly.

She couldn't quite breathe then.

"It really brings out the colour of your eyes."

Tenten giggled softly and pushed him away. "Always the womanizer."

"You know it."

Tenten smiled. "Well, go bother someone else. I have to do my job." She pointed to Neji's room door and then gestured to the other side of the hallway. "Have a nice day."

He simply chuckled and winked before resuming his walk.

Once Hiro was out of sight, Tenten took a deep breath and took a moment to recollect the conversation she just had. What a strange, yet oddly satisfying encounter that had been. Then something occurred to her; did Neji hear the entire conversation? From spending only a few hours last night, she could instantly tell that there was a slight hatred going on.

She slid Neji's door open, expecting for him to be standing right there with his patronising eyes. But to her immense surprise, he wasn't outside training—instead, he was sleeping under his covers in a slumber so deep he didn't seem to notice much of his surroundings. It was rare that an elite ninja would let his guard down like this. His eyes were peacefully closed, his hands were on either side of his body and his chest rose and fell every time he breathed. He looked angelic to Tenten, almost inhumanly beautiful. There was no imperfection to his smooth, flawless complexion. There wasn't a single trace of that hatred or bitterness that contorted his conscious self.

She sighed softly. She wondered if she would ever be able to be as happy as that.

"Neji," she said, so gently it was as if she was rocking a baby to sleep. "Neji, wake up."

His eyes didn't open right away; they didn't snap open the way a ninja would. They opened slowly, and Tenten was taken back by the beauty of his eyes once more.

"What is it?" he asked, quietly and husky from sleeping.

It took Tenten a second longer to respond. "Well, I just wanted to wake you up. I want to go somewhere today!"

"Do I have to?"

"What do you think?"

He pondered this for a moment and with a quiet groan, got out of bed and headed for the door. Tenten followed him with a smile on her face, completely ecstatic he finally accepted her a little bit more. However, she wondered how much further she could push him.

"You know," she said casually as they walked down the corridor, "You can pick up the groceries and some supplies for the kitchen along the way. I heard Hiashi-sama's hosting a dinner tonight. And," she added, a smile playing on her face, "Perhaps we could go shopping? I want to see if there are any shoes to go with the dress Hinata gave me."

She didn't expect him to say yes; even she wouldn't play along if the person she hated asked her to do such things. And plus, she really didn't care if she had matching shoes.

So she was dumbfounded when Neji sighed quietly and nodded. "Might as well," he murmured.

And he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Tenten completely stunned and her mouth hanging in shock.

When the two walked out of Konoha's largest grocery store, Tenten carried six large bags full of food in her hands, while Neji carried nine. She turned to Neji to beam at him. "Well that was fun!"

And it was true; Tenten always shopped alone back then, but it was somehow much more fun when she read off the list and had Neji fetch the items. That was probably one of the reasons why she went overboard and bought every type of food—the other being the fact that she knew the Hyuugas were picky and didn't know what they wanted exactly. But what kept her there the longest were the oddly satisfying wide-eyed stares she got from a few townspeople when they saw Hyuuga Neji shopping with a commoner like her.

"You could have asked a servant to come," Neji replied in irritation.

"Well, why work them harder than they need to?" She turned to look at him seriously. "You know, there are people who don't have servants, Neji. Just because your family is rich doesn't mean that you can take advantage of it and be so… so selfish."

Neji raised an eyebrow but remained silent, unmoved and unaffected by her words.

"Well," she said at last, putting a bright smile, "I think that's all we have to do. Let's go home then."

"What about your shoes?"

For a moment, Tenten had no idea what he was referring to. Shoes weren't part of the list, and Hiashi never mentioned anything about it either. After a second of realisation, she immediately gaped. If she didn't remember, then why would he?

"S-sure," she managed to choke out at last.

The walk to Konoha's finest shoe store was quiet. Yet, there was no uncomfortable silence lingering; both teenagers had always lived in solitude. Tenten simply took in her new surroundings. She couldn't quite remember how moist and humid the summer air felt against her skin anymore; everything seemed to pass right before her eyes without her even knowing it. There was no more of that fresh, musty smell of newly cut grass anymore, but, she thought with a sigh, the sight of falling leaves was just as beautiful. It was almost like a scene from a painting, or even a dream, full of rich colours that warmed the heart.

Neji noticed the change in weather as well. He was always the observant one—the one to notice the tiny differences that led to the eventual change of season. To him, it meant time was fleeing. And that was only a reminder of how useless his life was and how he was letting everything pass him by.

That was the only reason as to why he agreed to go out today with Tenten. He wanted to see if there was a different side to life—he wanted to see if there was a side of the world that wasn't ugly and harsh. And for once, he wanted to be as carefree as those people around him. Maybe, there was a way to unlock the cage that the hatred he harboured all these years built. Maybe, there was a way to be happy.

He suddenly stopped.

What happened to him? When did he… change?

And then, as if something somewhere answered, the girl—his annoying, lost, vulnerable tutor—beside him suddenly spoke up. "Those shoes," she murmured. Her eyes were suddenly full of life, and her cheeks were suddenly rosy and she smiled with such a brilliance it nearly made him breathless.

She ran to the shoe store display. "Those are beautiful!" she exclaimed in complete awe.

They were the perfect shoes. The stilettos were coloured in a light shade of metallic silver, and the straps curved and twisted around in just the right way. They were perfect for her—the shade was subtle enough for a plain girl like her, but it was shiny enough to catch attention.

She stared at them for what seemed like an eternity, until Neji broke into her thoughts. "You can't fight in those."

She turned to him, half smiling and half laughing. "No, you can't," she agreed, "but they really are beautiful."

"Go buy them, then."

She snorted. "Are you kidding me? I can barely survive with the money I have. Now why would I spend my money on that?" And as an afterthought, she added, "I wouldn't want anybody buying that for me anyway. It costs a fortune."

He looked at the pair of shoes for a moment. "Go home, then?"

Tenten looked at him with a hopeful smile. "Can we go to the hospital first?"

She didn't think he would say yes. She honestly didn't.

She thought he would firmly say no and simply walk off, like he had done before. Or maybe he would even drag her back without hesitation, muttering curses about how he walked around Konoha doing simply nothing.

But now they were in the hospital, in Amaya's room as the tiny, bubbly blonde gushed about how she loved and admired Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy was simply overwhelmed by the little girl's enthusiasm, and after ten minutes, he cast an annoyed glance at Tenten, who in return laughed weakly.

"So Amaya," she interposed, "how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm good, thanks. I get a little woozy now and then, but other than that, I'm fine." She grinned, and Tenten could see that her two front teeth were starting to grow in.

The brunette held her two little hands and looked into her eyes earnestly. "I promise you that you'll be out of here in no time, Amaya. And then I'll bring you to the aquarium and to otherplaces! I'll teach you how to do special target training!" She couldn't help but feel empty lying. She remembered what Ino said when she gave them a pill to prevent them from being infected. Ino said that Amaya was already at her final stage.

The little blonde's grin widened. "I can't wait!"

"Oh, but remember to finish the Academy first," Tenten continued to lie. It was a good thing she was used to disguising sad events in her life. "When classes are dismissed, then you promise to come and find me!"

"Tenten-nee-chan, I sometimes think of you as my fairy godmother."

Tenten smiled and felt some of her worry leave. No matter how serious things were, Amaya was always happy. That made her smile, as well. "Well," she suggested, "As your fairy godmother, I'll grant you three wishes!"

Amaya laughed and clapped giddily. "I've always loved that stuff!" She put a finger to her chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "Well, my first wish was to meet my idol Neji, but I already got that."

"My second wish is to get out of the hospital," she said finally. She pinched her tiny button nose. "I'm always bored and this place is smelly."

Tenten laughed; the corners of Neji's mouth uplifted ever so slightly.

"And third… well, I'll get back to you on that one, Tenten-nee-chan."

Far away from Konoha, lighting splintered in the sky and a booming sound followed shortly in the night. Raindrops that pelted against the roof of the tall tower were heard from the incensed room. The room was dark, dimly lit by the light that spilled in through the two large doors that was left ajar. There were two figures, one female, bowing on the floor. The other figure sat imperiously in an ornate chair. There were rows of chairs next to him that were vacant.

The female was the first to speak. "I'm sorry, father. I have failed you."

The male made a sound between a snort and grunt, but then there was a certain gleam in his eye. "While you were gone," he started, and chuckled in his deep, raspy voice. "I already commenced my plan in Konoha. This time you will not fail me, Akira."

She bowed. "I promise I will not, father."

She left the room then, and after closing the door, she left her father completely in the darkness.

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A/N: So sorry for the late & short chapter! School is officially on my butt… but anyways, just wanted to get this out. So sorry if it's rushed or whatnot. And haha! Akira's baccckk.

But oh oh! Who watched TWILIGHT?! I went to watch the midnight release… and it wasn't as good as the book, but I still love it! Robert Pattinson was seriously… OMG OMG, too beautiful to describe. But I seriously wanted to stab that girl next to me… kept giggling and screaming during the whole thing. I love Edward cullen too, but honestly.

Anyyyways. Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. reviews will be greatly appreciated!

Chigiri:)