Entry no. 28: Dreamer

First, this chapter is dedicated to akirasatsuna because of two things: she bears with my irregular updates and still reviews AND because this is a NejiTen.

Second, thanks to LilyVampire for... well... everything. ;)

Short NejiTen, because yes, you can pair Neji with girls as well (the Autor saw way too much yaoi about him) - NOTE: I don't say yaoi is bad. I say that shounen ai stories are frequent in Naruto.

"Tenten."

Tenten looked up at Neji, who stood in front of her with one hand outstretched towards her, looking as calm and compose as ever, even though a small smile seemed to be playing on his lips as he waited patiently for her to stand up.

She blushed. As always, she spaced out when listening to their sensei's rants. Taking Neji's waiting hand in hers, she let him pull her to her feet swiftly. Tenten used the short while of close proximity to marvel at her teammate's eyes. She couldn't help it; she was sure any girl in her position would do this, when having the opportunity to properly study the faint shades of white Hyuuga eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes she's ever seen.

Neji's smile faded as he looked at their sensei, following him deeper into the training grounds they gathered on today, ending Tenten's little happy moment. She tried not to let it get her down and rushed after the other three.

Her eyes still lingered on Neji's broad shoulders, though.

She pondered the little daydream she had earlier, before Neji's voice interrupted it, the one in which there was a little flat clearing somewhere high in the mountains, an ugly chequered blanket borrowed from Lee and, of course, her, Neji, and a big basket full of sesame dumplings.

Anyone sensible would probably tell her that crushing on a teammate wasn't a good idea. It could be distracting during missions, worsen the teamwork significantly and, even more importantly, it could end in a crushing heartbreak if the teammate happened to die during a mission.

Dating a civilian, or at least a ninja from a different team, would be a much better decision.

But, unfortunately, love is not a choice and Tenten was almost painfully aware of that.

If there was a choice for her, she would by no means choose someone so devastatingly unreachable for her as Neji was. He was perfect – he was from the most prominent clan in the village, he was intelligent, handsome, understanding, talented. But that was the problem. It was easier for her to ignore her attraction to him back in the times before Neji met Naruto, before his eyes were opened, when all she got from him were unimpressed looks and arrogant smirks. But now, when she could relish in seeing him smile almost everyday, see his respect for her and Lee's hard work... it was hopeless.

Because who was she? A clanless kunoichi who, unfortunately, couldn't hold a candle to people like Sakura, much less to her childhood idol, Tsunade.

So she decided to keep her love for Neji secret, keeping it alive through daydreams, overvaluation of each of his smiles, loving gazes when his back was turned to her and occasional shy compliments. It was hard that way, but she was sure it was the best way to do it.

They stopped as Gai and Lee got into some kind of heated argument. Tenten stopped on a branch overhead while Gai, Lee and Neji stood on the clearing below her.

Her eyes wandered towards the Hyuuga again. Sometimes she wondered if his Byakugan could see her heartbeat quickening every time he looked at her.

In the end, there was nothing bad about being a dreamer, was it? She could dream if it didn't affect her work. And it didn't affect it up until now.

Her conscience seemed clearer when she said it like that: She was just a dreamer.

Neji rolled his eyes as the argument ended in another lengthy speech about youth, and his white eyes wandered up to her.

Neji smiled at her.

Tenten smiled back.

Or was she?

Reviews are appreciated... *hint hint*

Peace, love and NejiTen,

Moya-tan