Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 8: He searched his shoe box, in hopes of finding a ring … Instead, found a picture of a girl.

Dedication: This one is dedicated to Black'MirR0r… Belated Happy Birthday! I'm SOOO sorry I posted this one day late... sorry... (It was also when she told me that she was getting a camera for her birthday that I got this idea…) Hope you like it!

PICTURE

"Where is it?" the black-haired boy thought out loud as he rummaged through his closet. Great. Just great timing. He sighed as he pulled out another jacket and checked its pockets. Empty again.

She was waiting for him outside and here he was, searching for an object smaller than his palm.

Another jacket was thrown to the floor as he pulled out another one. He spent his whole day yesterday planning on how to pop the question, and when everything seemed perfect… He couldn't find the most important object of all! After all, how was he supposed to propose without a ring? He could buy her a ring of another design, of course, but the one he had bought yesterday was perfect for her.

Neji looked down and saw all his clothes at a heap on his floor. He looked around, only the shoeboxes at the corner of the room remained unsearched. He knew how silly it was to look for a ring in a shoebox, but the situation left him no choice. He scratched his head impatiently as he quickly made his way to where the shoeboxes lay.

She must be really annoyed now, he thought, with a fearful look to the door.

He quickly pulled out the first shoebox. It was empty. Except for a pair of shoes. Of course. What else did he expect to find? He pulled out the next box, and the next, and the next. But all yielded the same brown leather shoes. He was running out of boxes, and was losing hope when he finally opened one that yielded a different site from the usual holed piece of paired garment.

It was a wallet. His eyebrow flew up as he pulled it out of the box. It was brown—well, it used to be. The color had long faded, and the edges had now turned gray. The last time he had seen it was years and years ago. His father had given it to him when he turned ten. How it was now in a shoebox, he was yet to find out.

Opening it, he found no money, no cards, nothing except for what looked like a piece of paper. Pulling it out, he found the paper to be a picture of a girl climbing a ladder.

He still remembered the day he took it.

His father had given him a camera, and how happy he had been. It had been the newest model, then. And one he had wished for, for many years. The park was where he headed for to take his first shot. It seemed ideal. There were a lot of fauna and flora there, like the ones he saw in the tv or in magazines. Yet plants or animals, or the sunset was not the picture he took.

It was a picture of the girl. She caught his attention immediately. The way she moved and the way she smiled gave her an ethereal glow. As she skipped around, her blonde, curly hair bounced with her. But what made him stop in his tracks and pull out the camera from his bag, where her brown, twinkling eyes, as she climbed the ladder to the top of the slide.

With a click, those eyes were frozen forever in time.

The Hyuga genius smiled sadly as he looked down at the picture. After that day, he kept coming back again and again hoping to see her. But he never did.

Judging by her blond hair, Neji assumed that she was a foreigner and had finally gone back to her country. Thinking that, he kept her picture inside his wallet, a simple remembrance.

Neji sighed as he stuffed the picture back in the wallet and placed it on the floor. She was just a childhood crush, and now… He had finally found the one he really did love. One he loved even more than himself. Tenten.

The thought of his girlfriend reminded him yet again of the original purpose of his search. Panicking now, he pulled out another box. "Not here," he said impatiently, throwing the box to the floor.

"What is?" He heard a cheery voice say behind him.

"Tenten." Neji said as he turned around to face his girlfriend. As usual, her brown hair was tied into two twin buns at the top of her head. But today, her attire wasn't the usual baggy clothes. Instead, she was wearing a lavender dress that fell just below her knees. "You look beautiful…" He said, the words just coming out of his mouth.

"Is that true or are you just saying that coz you've been letting me wait?" She said, chuckling as she stepped to him and kissed his cheek.

Neji smiled as he looked at her brown eyes. "I'm sorry." He said, taking her hand. "I've just lost something," he hesitated. "Something important."

"Well why don't you let me help you?" Tenten asked, with a soft tone.

"I-" Neji felt lost for words. What was he supposed to tell her?

"What's that?" Tenten suddenly said, saving him from having to answer. She bent downpicked the wallet lying beside his feet.

"Oh… I-" Once again, Neji didn't know what to say. How would he explain the picture of the girl?

He watched uneasily as she opened the wallet. "Tenten…" He started as he saw her eyes widen in shock.

"Where did you get this?" She asked.

"I took that picture when I was ten." He said smiling, despite himself. "I saw that girl in the park when I first got my camera, so I took her picture. It was years ago… I just found it a few minutes ago."

Tenten slowly raised his eyes and looked at him. "But… This is me…"

"What?" Neji asked, confused.

"This girl… It's me…" Tenten said, locking her eyes with him.

"But… Her hair… Its…"

"I dyed it… We were leaving town the day after that… And since I was still a kid… I wanted the last day with my best friend to be really special… So I dyed my hair to match hers…"

Neji stared astonishingly at the girl in front of him… All this time… It had always been her…

Tenten laughed as she gave him a peck. "I can't believe you took my picture." She said teasingly.

Neji just smiled as he kissed her forehead.

"Oh and Neji….?" Tenten said, as he broke away from her.

"Hm?"

"I found this in the kitchen," She said innocently, holding out a ring.

END

A/N: OMG… Was it good enough?

Guys, please review and tell me what you think... :D thanks!

Editted: 5.11.13

If anybody is interested, just PM me and I can send you the original version. Lol.