Author's Note: I wrote this in honor of Neji's birthday last week (July 3), but alas - I'm a little late on the delivery. Hope you enjoy!
A glowing blue ball of chakra swirled where Neji Hyuga stood a second ago.
Ten-ten's breath stalled in her throat the first time she saw the transformation before her eyes. She sensed that it was something not meant for her eyes. The only reason she encountered him so late in the day was because she'd walked back to the training green to retrieve a few stray shuriken and kunai. There must have been a reason Neji remained behind to practice well after Might Gai, Rock Lee and Ten-ten returned to the village proper.
And so Ten-ten pressed her back to a tree, her head angled to keep an observant eye until she could sneak past Neji to reclaim her lost weapons. She flattened herself and shallowed her breathing while praying she escaped detection.
The raw power in Neji's display both mystified and fascinated her. It reminded her of when Lee focused every muscle in his body toward opening a gate. A second later, the chakra dissipated and Neji stood at the center of a circle of scuffed earth and torn grass, chest heaving. Around him, Ten-ten saw circles of different sizes – he'd clearly been practicing the jutsu for a while. Now would be her opportunity, Ten-ten thought. Drained of chakra by his strange jutsu, Neji would soon depart and leave the green vacant. To her surprise, he straightened his shoulders and set both hands on his hips, eyes boring straight into the tree that was her cover.
"Hm. Whoever you are, you can show yourself," Neji called. "If you wish to punish me, I have no regrets."
Cursing, Ten-ten wondered whether she'd snapped a twig beneath her heeled sandals or shifted too suddenly against the tree bark. Continuing to hide from a bearer of the Byakugan would do her no good, except if she wanted to rouse Neji's suspicions and compound his rage. The intense stare of his strange white eyes unsettled her even during regular training. Better to head off his anger before it worsened.
Ten-ten drew three deep breaths then stepped out, palms raised and lips stretched into a nervous grin. The few weapons she'd lost weren't worth this trouble. If only she'd left them behind.
Neji's white eyes narrowed and he traced her path as she approached him. Ten-ten avoided any sudden movements that might trigger his reflexes.
"Uh, hey. It's me, Ten-ten," she stammered. "I...don't want to punish you. I just left some weapons behind and I...didn't want to bother you while you were doing your thing."
"Don't let me stop you."
"Oh, yeah. Sure."
Pulse thrumming in her ears, Ten-ten fixated her gaze on the grass and looked for the telltale glint of stainless steel in the fading daylight. Her frayed nerves certainly didn't help her quest to find the weapons scattered across the green. It was agonizing – the more desperately she wanted to flee, the harder it was to achieve her objective.
The entire time she scanned the grass, Neji stood watching her like a prison warden. After a few agonizing minutes of searching that passed like hours, Ten-ten shrugged and turned in the village's direction.
"Well, I don't see anything here. Someone must have taken them," she laughed, fingers twisting where her hands clasped at her navel.
Her teammate raised a thin brow at her.
Please let me go, please, please, please – she prayed. Ten-ten reached the edge of the training green before Neji spoke again.
"Ten-ten."
The sound of her name spoken in Neji's clipped tones made her flinch and turn around to face him.
"I see one of your shuriken ten feet ahead of me to the northwest. A kunai due south of my position approximately fifty feet from the treeline."
She gasped. Leave it to the Byakugan, she thought. If Ten-ten had all-seeing eyes, she could have spared herself the humiliation of scrambling for her weapons in vain.
"Hey, thanks."
He huffed, then waited for her to retrieve the first two weapons before pinpointing every single one. Ten-ten stowed her recovered weapons in her pack. She dipped her head at Neji in thanks and muttered something about seeing him tomorrow at training.
"Finding them was good practice," Neji said. "And you looked so pitiful searching for them."
So he'd been watching her struggle for his own amusement, only to later save her with his superior talents. That was typical of the Hyuga snob. Neji probably kept his jutsu a secret because he considered his teammates too beneath his genius to learn from him.
The taunt made heat rise in Ten-ten's core and she thought of three spiteful remarks to counter it. However, the darkening sky and her annoyance at the mere sight of him suppressed her more reckless instincts. Ten-ten's parents would expect her home for dinner. Knowing their daughter was out at the training grounds alone with a boy after dark would lead to unwelcome recriminations.
"Good for you, Neji," she muttered over her shoulder.
Ten-ten slung both straps of her pack over her shoulders without a backward look. Before she cleared the edge of the training green, Neji moved to intercept her path, his square jaw locked. She shuffled to a stop only a few paces from him.
"One more thing, Ten-ten. I ask that you don't speak with anyone about what you saw today."
Ten-ten detected hesitancy in his quivering voice and the way his weight shifted from left to right. The Neji she trained alongside spoke and moved in quick, decisive strokes – and he didn't ask for favors.
"Well, whatever that jutsu is, I'm sure Lee isn't beating you anytime soon. But okay, I'll keep your little secret."
Neji's eyes squeezed shut. He shook his head, a fist balled at his side. His other hand reached up to brush the metal of his hidden leaf shinobi headband and he parted his lips before closing them again. Her sarcasm had clearly gotten beneath his skin, and that brought Ten-ten a small tingle of satisfaction.
"This has nothing to do with whatever feud that idiot thinks he has with me," Neji fumed. "You must understand, Ten-ten – I'm not supposed to know that jutsu. If anyone sees it, I'll be punished in a worse way than you could imagine."
"What? Like a forbidden jutsu?"
Ten-ten's brows scrunched. Gai attempted to teach all three of his students multiple forbidden techniques. No doubt other jounin senseis offered their students similar training ahead of the chunin exams.
A low growl sounded from Neji's direction and he shook his head again.
"Not a forbidden jutsu in the sense you're thinking. Explaining all of it to you would be far too much. Both of us should return home, Ten-ten. I'll see you tomorrow."
He ran past her, taking off in the opposite direction from where her family lived in the village's central business district. Bounding over the rooftops of the village, Ten-ten mulled over Neji's final remarks to her. She couldn't avoid the feeling that she'd walked into something far larger than a single genin trying to outdo his competition in a petty rivalry.
"Ten-ten."
A hand settled on Ten-ten's shoulder as she lingered to pack the last of her weapons. Ecstatic over Lee's mastery of a new jutsu, Might Gai and his favorite student had departed 20 minutes early to celebrate at a restaurant. It must have been Neji, she thought. But what did he want with her? She'd assumed Neji would stay to train once she followed them back to the village proper.
"Yeah? What's up?"
Ten-ten balled a fist to suppress the quiver in her voice.
Neji stared back at her and bit his lower lip. He drew a deep breath before speaking, hesitation again evident in his shuffling feet.
"Do you mind staying behind for an extra half-hour to train with me? I could benefit from practicing the rotation jutsu against your weapons."
So Neji called his secret jutsu the "rotation jutsu."
"Oh…I'm not sure I can –"
"Considering you've already seen me performing the jutsu, I believed you would be best positioned to serve as my partner. I also want to practice my defenses against an opponent like you who attacks from a distance."
And not even a please or thank you, Ten-ten fumed. His stiff appeals were probably the closest he would get to pleading – not that his stern expression or commanding voice tempted her to say yes.
Ten-ten glanced up at the sky. Tendrils of orange and pink had just begun to unfurl. She could afford to remain for an extra 30 minutes and still return home before darkness fell. Their teamwork would benefit from a closer study of his techniques. And the extra practice might ease the cold friction between them.
"Yeah, I guess I can," she answered. "Uh, I just need to unpack my things, so wait a second."
"Of course. Take your time."
His white eyes bore down on her while she opened her pack again. Neji appeared to study her, but she didn't know what for.
Scrolls holstered at her sides and weapons in her belt, Ten-ten faced Neji once again with hands on her hips. He gave a few terse sentences explaining her role in his training exercise. Then she stepped back 10 paces and launched her first array of shuriken in his direction. Before the sharp blades reached him, Neji activated his Byakugan and deflected each shuriken with his rotation jutsu. The points of the shuriken planted in the earth around him.
The orb of chakra he generated around him apparently served as some sort of barrier, a perfect counter to her style.
They worked well in silent cooperation. She attacked, he defended.
But Ten-ten realized her endurance partially compensated for Neji's sheer power. Repelling the rain of weapons from her rising twin dragons jutsu left Neji just a little breathless, and Ten-ten's heart smarted with pride. Yet he straightened his buckling knees and bladed his hands in anticipation of more attacks. To her enduring frustration, she got no closer to breaching his defense during any round of their back and forth.
Once only a few patches of blue remained in the center of the sky, Ten-ten raised two fingers to call for an end. In response, Neji nodded once without saying a word. Checking her pocket watch, she saw that well over half an hour had elapsed.
The scent of earth, grass and sweat clung to both teammates, overwhelming her for a moment when Neji passed inches away. He settled beneath the tree where both of their packs sat with canteens of water. She pivoted toward him and took a few steps forward, then knelt in the grass. Ten-ten had a few minutes to indulge her curiosity about the jutsu until she needed to walk home.
"So, rotation, huh? That's how this thing works?"
Neji released a quick breath and the corners of his lips pinched. Ten-ten braced herself for a preening lecture on the ins and outs of his jutsu. He relished being the one with the knowledge, the one who explained things to his inferior teammates. Gods, why did I ask him? – Ten-ten thought.
"Yes. It's called the rotation jutsu because it involves rotating my body at extreme speeds while I release chakra from all the chakra points on my body."
He paused to drink, then turned his nose up again.
"The Hyuga call it the ultimate defense and the ultimate attack," he finished.
Averting her face, Ten-ten raised a brow and rolled her eyes. Neji couldn't help boasting even when he'd humbled himself enough to ask for her help. However, she couldn't deny the jutsu's strength and versatility in combat.
"Huh. Wonder why it's so forbidden."
She could imagine expelling chakra risked draining the stores of a shinobi with lower reserves. However, Neji's jutsu didn't seem half as dangerous as opening the fifth gate or performing the barreling lotus.
"As I told you, the rotation jutsu is not forbidden in the normal sense," Neji said with a defense edge. "I'll say again that the explanation is far too complex for your understanding."
Snobby asshole. It was almost as if he had little idea how to address her on matters unrelated to training or missions.
"You're calling me stupid? That's just like you –"
"No, Ten-ten. I am not calling you stupid."
His soft voice held unexpected sincerity and vulnerability.
"Hey, you can tell me," Ten-ten ventured. "I saw you...and I guess we're in this thing together. If I'm going to keep doing extra training with you, we're definitely in it together."
Circumstance had made Neji and Ten-ten co-conspirators. First she stumbled into his secret – and that hadn't been her choice. But she volunteered to become his training partner, and that was her choice.
Neji sat far too still. Only the faint whistle of his breath and his blinks reminded her that he was alive.
"I suppose you're correct, Ten-ten."
"Tell me, then."
"I'm...not like you. I don't have your freedom."
A nagging voice her told her to avoid embroiling herself in whatever tangled web kept Neji captive. To reconsider her complicity in his training. A genin with no clan could afford no distractions from her advancement through the ranks. More forbidden knowledge was a liability.
However, the stubborn side of her needed to know what truths he kept.
Neji's white eyes drifted up to the sky, past the leaves quivering in the evening breeze. Ten-ten watched with wide eyes and slightly parted lips as he removed his shinobi headband, exposing cotton strips wrapped around his forehead. She realized that she'd never seen his forehead totally uncovered. Before Neji became a genin, he arrived at the academy clad in the same bandages. Only his steely glare kept their classmates' sneers from surfacing in his presence.
He unwound the strips until they wrapped around his wrist. The careful ritual left Ten-ten captivated by suspense.
Finally, Neji faced her again with arms crossed. Two straight lines snaked across either side of his forehead, meeting in the center where a slanted cross sat. In the last light of dusk, Ten-ten could see that the lines were bright green.
"This is why I must keep the jutsu secret. Why we must keep it secret."
A firm hand seized her shoulder. Neji didn't need to gesture to the strange mark on his forehead for her to understand that somehow, this brand bound him to secrecy.
"Oh – what's that from? Does that mean you're spying for another village? Like they tattooed you to say you're one of them now?"
Perhaps Neji had sold his allegiance to learn his secret jutsu, and now his hidden masters held him in bondage. A tide of panic swelled in her chest. Ten-ten's oaths to her village and the hokage demanded that she report Neji if so.
The accusation of treason only appeared to amuse him.
"No. No, those who marked me are loyal to the hidden leaf. I even call them family."
When Neji invoked the Hyuga clan's insular traditions, she could only fall silent. The clan was notorious for its secrecy, even by the standards of shinobi clans.
"The Hyuga clan?" Ten-ten gasped.
Unease pooled at the base of Ten-ten's stomach. Maybe Hiashi Hyuga had branded Neji as a piece of property because of his birth into the branch clan. Whatever customs the Hyuga kept confidential, the subservience of the branch clan was not one of them.
"It's a seal from my uncle," Neji explained. "If they find me performing the rotation jutsu, my uncle can activate this seal to deliver worse pain than you can comprehend. Torture me to death, even. I'd be punished for revealing it before you."
"Yeah, I won't say anything. I-I'd never want you to be punished like that."
He now heaped such a heavy burden on her. Ten-ten couldn't imagine the normally aloof, arrogant Neji divulging anything so personal. Her fingertips drifted over to his forehead and brushed one of the lines. The marked skin was smooth to her touch and slightly warm, no different from regular skin. Some emotion flickered across Neji's face – discomfort, perhaps. Or relief.
"So – why does your clan not want you to learn that jutsu?"
"It would make me far too powerful, too dangerous to the main family. Therefore, this jutsu is reserved solely for members of the main family like my uncle and cousin, Hinata."
"Then who taught you?"
"I learned it myself from watching my uncle practice it in the compound's training grounds," Neji sniffed, smirking at her as if they'd accomplished a tiny victory together.
Ten-ten reminded herself that Neji's uncle was Hiashi Hyuga, one of the village's wealthiest and most influential men. The Hyuga patriarch had over 200 shinobi at his command, each of them equally loyal to him as the hokage. Knowing the hidden power Hiashi wielded over the branch clan, the price of defiance loomed far steeper than Ten-ten could have anticipated.
Unlike his fellow sealed Hyuga, Neji remained unbowed – and Ten-ten felt an unexpected rush of affection for him.
"Well, that's not fair. You're plenty capable."
She didn't know what else to say, though "not fair" didn't begin to describe his situation. Neji nodded.
"Not fair is the least of it," he answered, putting words to her silent reaction. "I'm expected to fight and die for them, like my father before me. The clan has functioned this way for generations. My life means nothing to my uncle except that he might exploit it for his own ends."
Ten-ten sat in awe, her face flushed. The irresistible fire in his voice convinced her of the righteousness of his cause, of the freedom he craved.
"Oh...uh, you shouldn't let them own you like that –"
"My fate was sealed the day my uncle placed that brand on my forehead."
Ten-ten watched her twisting hands toy with a leaf that had fallen into her lap.
She released a quiet "oh." The conviction that the daughter of a grocer could become Tsunade Senju's equal drove Ten-ten to persevere on her worst days. To tolerate Might Gai's foolish antics. Ten-ten's eagerly spouted reasons for becoming a shinobi must have filled Neji with bitter irony. If the village truly rewarded the best and most capable, a genin with his natural talents and motivation should have advanced without bounds. Her optimistic dreams soured when she considered the oppression cemented by generations of tradition and sealed by his brand. Bile gathered at the back of her tongue.
"Hey, you know your life means something to me. I mean...not that I can do anything about your uncle or the seal or anything, but I think that's all messed up."
Ten-ten had no lofty words to console him. Truth be told, she didn't have much interest in calming his entirely justifiable anger. If Neji stopped resisting, he'd lose the last part of himself that Hiashi Hyuga couldn't touch.
She shifted onto her feet and began to mutter something about heading home. He would no doubt roll his eyes at her little reassurance. Her feeble platitudes would confirm that she was a silly girl unable to comprehend his situation or hold his secrets close.
"Thank you," his whispered at her turned back. "I only wish this world were different so your opinion on that question actually mattered."
Extra training with Neji soon became part of Ten-ten's routine. They'd wait by their packs for Might Gai and Lee to race back to the village proper. Alone at last, the teammates would turn to one another. Ten-ten would ready her scrolls and weapons, and Neji would position himself to repel her attacks. They didn't speak much, because Neji wasn't one for unnecessary words and Ten-ten had little notion of what to say to him. On most days, they exchanged only an "I'll see you tomorrow" after recovering from the day's training. On a few days, the trace of a smile played across Neji's lips once they finished.
Neji's smile – or the illusion of his smile – prompted Ten-ten to venture a question one day.
"Hey, Neji," Ten-ten asked. "I...kinda have a stupid question for you."
Neji opened his eyes where he leaned against a tree trunk with his head tilted back.
"If you admit it's a stupid question, then why ask? You'd be wasting my time and yours."
His crisp, aristocratic accent made the expression of contempt all the more insulting. Perhaps they didn't talk much for reasons other than awkwardness, she thought.
"Oh, well never mind then," Ten-ten snapped. "Be an asshole, I don't care."
Her mother would have slapped her across both cheeks if she heard her daughter calling anybody an asshole. If Ten-ten's mother knew the target was a highly competent, dangerous Hyuga, a stern lecture would have followed the slap. But days of proximity and coexistence emboldened Ten-ten enough to speak her mind. She found herself not caring if he decided that today would be their last extra practice.
Neji released a soft huff and grinned for a moment. Not only did he hold such contempt for her, he even found her funny. Gods, Ten-ten wanted to call him far worse than a mere asshole.
"Then ask away," he said, just before the insult left her lips.
"How nice of you to let me waste your time."
He sighed.
"I apologize, truly. Please – what did you want to know?"
"Yeah...sure. So does the rotation make you dizzy?"
Again, he huffed and smiled. Ten-ten guessed that was the closest he'd ever get to laughter. In spite of her lingering outrage, Ten-ten flashed an open-mouthed grin back to him.
"No, it doesn't."
"Really?"
"Why would you believe I'm lying to you?"
"Well, I'm not calling you a liar. I just think that's a little hard to believe."
"Many things are difficult to believe initially."
"Because if I spin fast even a few times, I get dizzy."
Neji raised a brow. He looked amused again, she thought, locking her teeth.
"Hm. Really, now?"
"Yes, really!"
Something in Neji's implicit mockery drove Ten-ten to prove herself. What exactly she wished to prove, she wasn't sure.
She stood from her cross-legged position and stepped back onto the training green. Ten-ten spread her arms and spun round and round. Soon, her world began to tilt and she could stand no longer. Then she collapsed onto the soft grass, peeking over at Neji as he, too, wobbled up and down in her vision.
He remained in place seated against the tree while her chest heaved and she waited for her surroundings to hold still. The blank white eyes and blank face before her said nothing of what he was thinking or feeling in the moment. Once Ten-ten rolled onto her side and propped herself on an elbow, Neji walked over to her and reached a hand down. Groaning, she accepted and pulled herself back into a standing position. His hand was warm and firm, his skin smooth. Part of her expected him to feel cold and hard, like his usual expression.
Once Ten-ten stood on two somewhat stable feet, Neji grinned for a moment then laughed a single time. A second later, his blank expression returned and he faced her with arms crossed as usual. She could have imagined his lapse in composure. Perhaps she made herself so dizzy that her mind created sounds and images out of nothing.
"Okay, what's your secret?" Ten-ten panted.
"You really want me to tell you?"
"Yeah, duh."
She expected some form of breath training, some chakra manipulation exclusive to the Hyuga clan. Before he answered, Neji renewed his smirk and told her that it was mind-numbingly simple.
"You begin by selecting a point around you, outside your orbit."
"O-okay? Like a tree or a bird or something like that?"
"Correct, Ten-ten. Then you fix your eyes on that point while your body spins. You keep your head pointed in its direction for as long as possible before you pivot again."
She couldn't tell whether he meant to test her credulity and make light of her child-like curiosity. The curl in Neji's lip suggested that he could very well be mocking her.
"That's...seriously it? It works while you're spinning...what? Two hundred times per minute?"
"Closer to 400 times per minute, but yes."
She shook her head, fingertips perched on her forehead.
"Hm. That makes me dizzy just thinking about it."
For the first time, they shared a laugh. Since forming their incidental alliance, their relationship had extended only to sharing secrets and honing one another's strength. Neji hadn't felt like a friend until his mellow laugh echoed across the clearing, complemented by Ten-ten's jingling giggle. Then he cleared his throat and hugged his folded knees against his chest. She wished she could capture the moment in a bottle, to hold the warmth close until Neji's walls slipped for another instant.
The training green and the trees surrounding it looked just like they had in the minutes before. But the air felt different – lighter, warmer, just a little brighter.
Part of Ten-ten could understand why Might Gai now occupied most of his waking hours worrying over Rock Lee's survival.
But she also resented her teacher for neglecting his remaining students, including his only student who advanced to the chunin exam finals. Gai hadn't acknowledged Neji's participation in the finals beyond a cursory remark about continuing to train every day. Not that Neji needed any reminder. Unlike Kakashi Hatake – who directed Naruto Uzumaki to Ebisu, Gai never bothered to find an alternate teacher for Neji.
If the neglect bothered Neji, he didn't express it in words. He only commented that his teacher's absence freed him to focus on his strengths without wasting time on silly exercises. But as he said it, a telltale scrunch of his eyebrows and a purse in his lips spoke of frustration, and a trace of hurt.
That left Ten-ten to train with Neji in the month between the chunin exam preliminaries and finals.
He never demanded her presence at the training grounds when he arrived at dawn every morning. Neji told her that he often trained alone, and could manage his own routine without a sensei or teammate pushing him. But he never objected to Ten-ten's presence and even flashed her occasional smiles. She was the only who joined his daily training. As she later discovered, Ten-ten was also the only one to speak more than a few obligatory words to him since the preliminaries.
One day two weeks before the finals, Neji seemed off balance, his rotation jutsu just off center.
If Ten-ten mentioned how he seemed unwell, he snapped that he felt alright and only needed a drink of water or a few minutes to rest. When she pressed her concern yet another time, Neji blamed his malaise on the heat and humidity. And perhaps it was the heat. The heat wave tearing through the valley left Ten-ten's skin sticky and her face dripping with sweat, her mind muddled.
After the heat began to escalate at noon, the few other teams Ten-ten saw in the morning soon left the training grounds. As they passed, she overheard snippets of conversation about cooling off with ice cream or a swim under the waterfall. Once the final team left the training grounds chatting about their favorite ice cream flavors, Neji angled his chin in their direction as if to say Ten-ten was free to leave if she liked. In response, she only turned back toward him and brandished a summoning scroll. Their wordless exchange complete, they renewed mock combat after a drink from their respective canteens.
In the rounds that followed, her motions gradually grew more sluggish with every attack or retreat. The salty taste of sweat bled in through Ten-ten's lips. More sweat flooded down her face every time she attempted to wipe it with the back of her wrist. Yet she pressed on – determined not to demonstrate weakness.
As the sun reached its peak in the sky, her shaky knees collapsed beneath her. Ten-ten could barely plant her elbows in the earth before she fell. She felt far too hot, every muscle refusing to move when she willed herself to rise again. The scents of grass and earth filled her nose, grass cutting into her cheek. The shivers began moments later. I don't want to die, Ten-ten prayed. Please don't let me die like this.
Neji had just repelled a rain of her weapons, and shuriken, kunai, flails and maces lay in a corona marked by a circle of bare earth. In the circle's center, he stood looking dazed, hands on his knees.
Recognizing the symptoms of heatstroke in her condition gave Ten-ten some reassurance. According to the academy's required first aid class, heatstroke rarely did long-term damage if addressed properly in the field.
"Ten-ten –!" Neji shouted. "We need to get you water."
"Under the tree. Left pocket of my pack."
She next remembered Neji's hand prying her shoulders from the ground, then supporting her neck while tilting the canteen to her lips. He, too, showed signs of heat exhaustion – but not as advanced as hers. His bottom lip quivered, a blue tint in his usually pale lips. From where he perched over her, he shielded her from the unrelenting sun above.
"Ten-ten, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't notice...I didn't think you would…"
"Hey, I chose to stay."
Her faint voice was almost indistinguishable from the whistle of her breath from her lips. Neji's long, pale fingers brushed away the sweaty bangs stuck to her face. She'd seen his hands cause untold pain and destruction, but never witnessed their gentle touch. Ten-ten sighed when the last dregs of water dripped from her canteen past her lips. The lukewarm water offered enough relief that Ten-ten could move her joints and muscles a bit at a time. Yet her inflamed body still craved more water and her throat burned with thirst.
"Got more...water?"
Neji nodded and gestured toward the backpack sitting in the shade next to hers.
"Are you alright now?"
"I'm a little better, yeah."
Ten-ten caught his hand when he reached across her face to cup her cheek. Nobody had cradled her like that since childhood, when her mother or father held her while she burned with fever. Once she turned 10, she began to reject her parents' soothing touch. Ten-ten hated the reminder of her helplessness when they caressed her hot skin or gripped her hands for comfort. Despite how little they spoke and how little she knew him by comparison, Ten-ten didn't mind being at Neji's mercy. She felt safe, supported by Neji's firm hands.
"Can you walk to the shade if I help you? I can give you some of my water."
"Sure."
Neji knelt beside her while Ten-ten lifted herself into a seated position. Everything wobbled before her. She pressed the palms of her hands into the ground just to stay upright.
After a little coaxing from her teammate, Ten-ten rose on unsteady feet and draped an arm over Neji's shoulder. Her knees buckled when he took their first step. Neji gave her a soft smile and lifted her by the armpits. He encouraged her every step until they reached the treeline and the cool shade hit her overheated skin. With a relieved sigh, Ten-ten laid in a patch of soft grass at the feet of a broad tree. Consciousness fading into the gray haze that preceded sleep, Ten-ten vaguely registered Neji giving her water from his canteen while he muttered to himself.
In her half-conscious state, Ten-ten heard snippets of his hissed rebukes – against himself, mostly, but some directed at Might Gai or his uncle.
"I'm sorry, Ten-ten. This is my fault entirely," he said, addressing her once the anger drained from his voice.
"I stayed. I told you," Ten-ten slurred.
A low growl sounded from next to her.
"Why did you continue when you could have left? You aren't competing and you have no reward for continuing to help me."
"They've all forgotten me," he added, almost as an afterthought.
The hard edge in Neji's voice when he said the word they made Ten-ten flinch.
"We're in it together. Nobody else was around to do it."
She attempted to open her eyes wide, to stare him down if he tried to protest. But her eyelids seemed weighed down by lead. This time, Neji only answered her with a nod.
"Thank you," he whispered.
His hand draped over Ten-ten's core. She stared up at him as if the world held still.
"Drink water, Neji. You're showing signs of heatstroke, too."
He shook his head.
"I shouldn't. You need it more."
"I'm not drinking until you do."
Neji sighed and lifted his canteen to his lips for a moment. He would face dehydration unless he drank more. However, pressing him would make him more defensive and even less likely to seek help.
"Hey, why didn't you go home when it got really hot? Something's got to keep you out here training."
He leaned against a tree, the back of his wrist pressed to his forehead. Eyes sliding closed from fatigue, Ten-ten heard only his shallow breaths next to her.
"What else do I have, Ten-ten?"
Ten-ten's eyelids parted in time to see Neji's torn expression. He seemed offended by her question, or alternatively, offended that she would question the wisdom of his choices.
"I mean...you could have gone home, right? Sat in front of the fan. Gotten ice cream. Gone to the waterfall like I know Team 10 was going to do."
His lip curled and he shrugged.
"With who?"
Me, I guess. – Ten-ten wanted to say out of politeness, before asking herself whether it was really true.
Neji almost always found excuses to skip Team Gai's bonding events, organized by Might Gai himself. He refused to accompany them to the hot springs, though Ten-ten could understand his need to hide the seal. He found something displeasing in nearly every restaurant their teacher suggested. Ten-ten couldn't imagine herself keeping Neji company outside training. She couldn't imagine him existing outside their training sessions and the small intermissions and breaks before and after.
"My point –"
"I'd go. Don't know what we'd do, but I'd go," Ten-ten interjected.
"Hm."
Neji took a prolonged drink from his canteen before looking to Ten-ten again with a raised brow.
"I appreciate your politeness. But you're forgetting that if I forgo training because of non-optimal weather, I'll fall behind."
He didn't state who he was afraid of falling behind. Did he meant his self-declared rivals in the main clan, or the other competitors in the chunin exams finals? Ten-ten supposed his reputation as a genius and the most powerful genin from the hidden leaf trapped him. The village imposed expectations on him that weren't cast upon a less exceptional shinobi like her.
"There's more to life than being a genius, you know. I mean, what happens once you get chunin? Or jounin? When you become the best Hyuga shinobi?"
She doubted Neji had much time to contemplate these questions when he spent his days from earliest light to dinnertime on training. Once he returned to the Hyuga compound, Ten-ten guessed he had little energy to contemplate anything but rest.
"More to life? Uh, explain what you mean by that."
"Friends and family, maybe? Hobbies?"
Ten-ten pursed her lips – maybe mentioning family in the same beat as friends wasn't a good idea. But despite his hatred of Hiashi Hyuga and his main clan cousins, he surely had cousins who weren't enemies.
Neji took another drink and cleared his throat.
"I have no friends to speak of, and I've ruined my chances of making any. My family now shrinks from me in fear when I even approach them within the compound's walls. Something about trying to kill their precious disinherited heiress does that."
In the days after the preliminaries, Ten-ten heard the village awash in whispers about Neji's vicious, unhinged behavior during his match. A branch Hyuga striking the daughter of the clan head repeatedly in combat, pushing her to the point of near death, was unprecedented in chunin exams history. Ten-ten guessed it was also unprecedented in the history of the Hyuga clan.
She thought to herself that he deserved a chance at redemption – especially when he was so young. Already, Ten-ten could hear regret in the way Neji referred to his actions. If Neji allowed Ten-ten to speak of what she knew and people would listen, the village would instead be scandalized by his attempted murder and his bondage in equal measure.
"Oh...I'm sorry then," Ten-ten whispered. "I don't think that's fair. That was just one mistake, you know?"
He sniffed and turned his nose upward, just as she'd seen him do so many times. Snobby, headstrong Neji no doubt bristled when Ten-ten said he made a mistake, even if he privately agreed.
"Hm. Fighting to establish yourself in a world that doesn't care about you naturally leaves you isolated. I would rather stand alone and refuse to bow my head."
And he's doubling down again. Ten-ten thought she'd made a small breakthrough, but Neji once again defaulted to his regular stubbornness.
So, being a loner was part of his identity. Neji saw himself set against his entire clan and village. But in his defiant declaration, Ten-ten noticed a contradiction. Something drove him to show her his seal and recruit her as his partner in their covert training program. And she was certain it wasn't just for pragmatic reasons. Neji had learned the rotation jutsu's secrets on his own, without assistance. She knew if he really wanted to, he could manage to hone his skills without help from one civilian kunoichi.
"I don't believe that. I know that's not true."
Ten-ten had recovered enough to prop her head on one elbow.
"You seem to 'know' a lot of things, Ten-ten," Neji sneered. "I don't appreciate you pretending to know me."
She held her breath and counted – one, two, three, four, five. His arrogance grated on her. With a flash of annoyance, Ten-ten thought it was no wonder he had no friends and faced the scorn of his family.
Ten-ten had faced his ultimate defense jutsu in training, but Neji had another ultimate defense. Keeping the people around him at bay kept him focused on his goals in life – to stand strong in mind and body against the main clan and surpass his limits to become a superior shinobi. His defense took on a different purpose now that his defiance had so isolated him from everyone else. Neji needed to tell himself that he didn't need anyone else. Otherwise the rejection he faced would crush his all too human heart.
"I stand with you. I've told you already and I've been trying to tell you this whole time."
"What did you say?"
"You're not alone, Neji. I won't let you be alone."
Ten-ten set one hand on each of Neji's shoulders and locked eyes with him. His eyes widened.
"Okay. If you say so, Ten-ten."
A hint of disbelief still clung to his voice, though Neji indulged her for now. But even if none of her sharpened steel could penetrate his ultimate defense in battle, Ten-ten had scored a victory against one of his defenses in their battle of willpower. It wouldn't be a difficult war to win when Neji signaled his defeat with every moment he spent by her side and every gesture of genuine care and trust he showed.
Ten-ten had insisted – even pleaded – that Neji stay off the training green on the day before the chunin exams finals. Or if he chose to train, she refused to cooperate. His huff and eyeroll hadn't given her much confidence that he would listen. Neji said maybe when she invited him to dinner on the eve of the finals, which she interpreted as a yes to not risk leaving him hanging. But half-answers were rare with him. Neji almost always gave straightforward answers – yes, no or I don't know – in response to straightforward questions.
So Ten-ten waited outside a noodle house on the night before the finals, twirling her lanyard around two fingers. She leaned against the building's brick facade and surveyed the street for Neji's familiar white jacket and black shorts.
"Good evening, Ten-ten!" Might Gai's booming voice sounded from somewhere in the crush of evening pedestrians.
"Oh – uh, hey there, Gai-sensei."
Ten-ten immediately straightened her shoulders and slipped her lanyard in her pocket to avoid Gai's lecture about proper posture.
"What are you doing here on such a fine, fine night?"
"Just...waiting. I'm going to have dinner with a friend."
She grinned and hoped Gai would move on to wherever he was headed – an ill-advised drinking contest with Kakashi Hatake, perhaps. If Neji arrived during their conversation, Ten-ten knew his encounter with their teacher would be awkward at best, angry at worst.
"Sounds like a worthy way to spend the night, indeed!"
Gai beamed and flashed Ten-ten two thumbs-up. His signature gesture reminded her of Lee's childish excitement – a painful reminder of her teammate's brush with death.
"I haven't been to see Lee recently. Is he doing okay?"
Gai bowed his head and his expression turned sober. He only wore that face in truly dire circumstances. Ten-ten's heart quickened as she dreaded hearing the latest developments in Lee's recovery.
"Well. Lee is now able to get out of bed. But, the medics say it's unlikely he'll ever return to fighting shape."
Lee without training and missions wasn't any Lee that Ten-ten knew. Without his dreams in hand, Lee would be reduced to a deflated shell of his former self.
"I really should visit him," Ten-ten said. "It's just that I've been training with Neji every day."
At the mention of his sole student advancing to the finals, Gai grimaced and shook his head. He leaned in so their faces sat inches apart. A meaty palm fell on Ten-ten's shoulder as he wiggled the index finger on his free hand to beckon her closer. Ten-ten almost needed to summon extra chakra to her ears to hear what her teacher had to say.
"Truth be told, Ten-ten, I've been avoiding Neji," Gai confessed, to Ten-ten's gasp. "You weren't there to see it. But the look in his eyes when he was fighting his cousin and the way he looked at me after I stopped him...it scared me. That wasn't the look of an ordinary genin."
"You're his teacher!" Ten-ten choked out. "You're supposed to be a sensei to all of us, not just Lee."
"I saw him the other day leaving the Hyuga compound. If you can believe it, he looked even more angry than he had during that match."
Of course he's mad, she fumed. Everyone treats him as this monster, not a lost kid who needs someone.
Ten-ten crossed her arms and her face flushed with indignation. Her teacher – like every adult in the village – had abandoned Neji. Now Gai dared to be appalled at the consequences of leaving him to fend for himself.
"Maybe, just maybe, if you paid him some actual attention –"
"Well, I…I don't know what to say. Nothing like that has ever happened with any of my students, and I'm deeply shaken. I suppose with time, I might get over it."
For once, Gai looked defeated before her.
"Sorry I'm late, Ten-ten. Oh, hello, Gai-sensei."
From behind Gai's turned back, Ten-ten heard her teammate before she saw him step forward to greet her. The nervous quiver in her teacher's lip spoke of fear or at least great apprehension. If she weren't still reeling from her outrage, Ten-ten would have laughed that a simple greeting from Neji left him so unsettled.
"I...uh, better head off. The night is still young!" Gai said in a sing-song meant to mimic cheer. "Y-you two enjoy your dinner!"
Ten-ten gave Neji a lopsided smile. No, he didn't need to hear what Gai thought of him. But given Neji's sharp perception, she suspected he already had an inkling of the deeper reasons behind Gai's neglect.
"Should we go in?" she ventured with a thumbs up.
"I suppose so."
Neji's hunched shoulders reflected his hesitation – like he had second thoughts about taking time off for dinner with her. Maybe he now wished he were at the Hyuga compound drilling his jutsu or in the woods around the village practicing his long-distance vision.
Whatever his regrets, he trailed behind Ten-ten as she opened the door. The bell on the door announced their entrance to the bored-looking hostess at the front podium and the restaurant's guests. Nearly every chair in the restaurant was occupied. The chunin exams finals were unofficially a two-day event. In anticipation of their holiday the next day, villagers often celebrated the night before. Ten-ten recognized three other shinobi teams from their academy class, and a few civilian acquaintances.
She waved to a group of girls she knew from kunoichi classes, who returned her greeting with smiles. Their happy expressions graded into cautious glares once their eyes darted to Neji.
"Hello, table for two, please," Ten-ten told the hostess when Neji only stood in stony silence behind her, hands in his pockets. "Booth, if you have one available."
The hostess – a blonde young woman – glanced at Ten-ten's smiling face and Neji's scowl.
"Of course! Right this way."
"This is my mom's favorite restaurant in the village," Ten-ten explained to Neji as they wove through families and clusters of shinobi enjoying their food and drink.
"Oh. I've never…been here before," Neji muttered. "I've only dined at restaurants when we went as a team."
"You mean the few times you bothered to say yes?"
As they passed, parents tugged their children's hands to direct them away from Neji's gaze, or whispered sharp words in their ears. One of the jounin seated with Asuma and Kurenai pointed a chopstick at Neji and hissed something, shaking his head.
Without a glance backward, the hostess offered them a booth next to the noisy kitchen in the restaurant's back corner. Not two seconds passed without the shrill clang of metal on metal or shouts from restaurant staff. Ten-ten couldn't help but suspect she gave them the table out of spite.
Amid leery stares, Ten-ten couldn't ignore the way the crowd projected their fear and suspicions on Neji. He bowed his head and twisted his empty teacup in his hand. No doubt their resentments wore on him.
"Ten-ten, perhaps this is a bad idea."
"What? Come on, you can't train every minute until your big day."
"No...But I can rest at home. Thanks for the invitation, though."
"Eh, the noise from the kitchen isn't that bad? Is it?"
Neji lifted his eyes to look at her, then looked back to the table.
"Hey, is it because of those people? Everyone staring at us?"
"I don't want to keep you from enjoying your night just because...of me."
"It's not your fault," she stammered.
A voice in Ten-ten's mind countered that attempting murder on Hinata was his choice and his fault. She suppressed it, pressing fingernails into her palms.
Both people existed within Neji, she realized. The one who cared for her and seemed genuinely distressed when she overheated on the training green. And the one who allowed his thirst for vengeance to overwhelm him in the preliminaries.
"The very fact of my presence is already turning people away from you by association," Neji explained as if addressing a toddler.
"Yeah...I can see that."
Seeing her old friends recoil had stung. But she wouldn't treat Neji as a monster, or else risk him truly becoming one. They left the subject of others' reactions unaddressed while Ten-ten ordered them edamame and dumplings as an appetizer. Both agreed to have her handle all transactions with waitstaff. The waitress fixated on Ten-ten anyways while Neji hid his eyes behind the menu. Would the cook or waitress spit in their food or otherwise tamper with it out of spite against Neji?
Once their platter of beans arrived, she watched Neji methodically dissect each pod and eat the beans one at a time with chopsticks. His strange way of eating made her giggle into her hand while he worked his way through pod after pod.
"What're you doing?" she asked, when he finally looked up at her with knit brows.
"Eating. You haven't touched a single one," he huffed. "Assuming we're splitting the bill evenly, I don't think that's a good investment of your money."
"Oh...uh…"
His totally deadpan response left Ten-ten lost for words. He really had no idea how weird his mannerisms appeared to ordinary people. Neji stared back at her with an exasperated look.
"Did you really invite me out so I would buy you dinner? I'll have you know, I don't exactly have access to the clan fortune at the moment."
"N-No! No, not at all. I mean, how you're eating them."
"How I'm eating…"
Ten-ten picked a pod between her thumb and forefinger.
"Here. This is how normal people do it."
She bit the pod to release the beans into her mouth and dropped the empty pod on the napkin before her. Neji watched with his lips pursed, the face he wore while analyzing a complex jutsu.
"Nobody's ever shown me how normal people do it. I suppose I can try it."
He picked up another pod and tried to replicate Ten-ten's method. As he ate one bean, the other jumped from the end of the pod onto his jacket, falling into his lap. Neji sighed and muttered something about how his way wouldn't make such a mess. Ten-ten laughed loud enough that a table of old men and women turned their heads to cast her disapproving looks.
"...kunoichi have no manners these days. Just look at that girl in the pink," one of the women told her friends. Ten-ten didn't doubt she was meant to hear the rebuke.
"Hm. The elders of our village have no manners these days. Seems rather unfair that we're expected to look to them as sources of wisdom," Neji countered with a sneer.
His eyes tapered with a smile and Ten-ten laughed all the harder. Neji held a cloth napkin to his lips, his quivering shoulders hinting at laughter.
"I'm used to cranks. Working at your parents' grocery store on your days off does that to you."
They split the remainder of the edamame beans one pod at a time. Neji continued to eat them in his odd way and Ten-ten stuck with the normal way. For her main course, she ordered soup noodles and Neji nodded to say that he wanted whatever she did. He seemed to have relaxed, sitting with his shoulders rolled back and the lines on his face slackened.
The rest of their meal passed without much conversation. They exchanged an occasional remark on food here or there, or a few words about something inconsequential. Ten-ten rambled about her parents' idiosyncrasies, the latest weapons she would buy once her paychecks came in, the restaurant's décor and everything else that came to her mind. A pit formed at the base of her stomach when Neji hummed, gave one-word answers or simply nodded. I'm probably annoying him, she thought.
"Hey, I guess I'll shut up now," she muttered, biting the inside of her lip.
Ten-ten swirled the ends of her chopsticks in her bowl to fish out fragments of noodles from the broth.
"I didn't mean to tell you that. I...think you're perfectly pleasant to listen to."
Perfectly pleasant to listen to could have meant that he liked her or found her merely tolerable. With Neji, it was difficult to tell.
"Oh, okay. It's just that you weren't talking back to me, so I thought I was being obnoxious," she rambled. "I imagine hearing about how my mom steeps her green tea for exactly three minutes isn't your idea of fun."
"I honestly don't have much idea of fun. I figured it would be rude to discuss training or shinobi matters when you specified that tonight was for rest."
"Oh. Nothing else you like talking about?"
Ten-ten rebuked herself for lacking awareness. Neji probably didn't have any other topics on hand that wouldn't recall his peculiar condition as a branch Hyuga, or the fact that he'd made himself an outcast.
"Not in particular."
He toyed with his thumbs and looked apologetic like he was at fault for disappointing Ten-ten. Neji said something about needing to use the bathroom and began to slide from his side of the booth. If he left, Ten-ten imagined him hiding on the toilet until the check arrived, then escaping as soon as he laid down his half of the payment. Gods, she didn't know whether to consider his social awkwardness endearing or infuriating.
"So...remember that time Gai-sensei made us all train in those jumpsuits?" she blurted out, trying to make him stay.
The mention of Might Gai made Neji snort and jump back into his seat. Neji would remember the exact incident she referred to.
"Yes, Gai-sensei insisted that ridiculous outfit was far more practical than what we wear on a daily basis. Which was quite foolish of him."
"Oh, Gai-sensei," Ten-ten sighed. "You can't make us all into Lee."
Their teacher often ranted about the impractical attire of his fellow shinobi, and resolved to instill change in the hidden leaf village starting with his own genin team. While Lee watched with admiring eyes, Gai lashed Ten-ten for wearing heeled sandals and Neji for wearing shorts that hindered his mobility. Then he handed them both jumpsuits fit to their exact measurements and insisted they change before beginning training that day. After Neji tore his jumpsuit in half from collar to crotch, Gai abandoned any notion of trying to reform his wayward students. Though she acted appalled for Gai's sake, Ten-ten had secretly thanked Neji for sparing her the humiliation.
"Could you imagine? All of us – in bowl cuts and jumpsuits?"
Ten-ten's laugh drew the old woman's ire again, but Ten-ten didn't even spare her a single glance. Listening to her laughter sent flushes of pink to Neji's pale cheeks. Neji's smile peeked over his fingertips.
"You...really found that funny?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"I'm glad I could make the time you've spent with me somewhat worthwhile."
She hummed. Bashful Neji wasn't a sight she often encountered, and she instinctively rushed to restore his confidence.
"You don't have to worry about wasting my time. Promise."
Ten-ten wasn't sure how long she spent swapping stories with him – or rambling while Neji listened with a tiny smile on his face. He rushed to the bathroom amid one of her stories from kunoichi class, then returned with a red face. He'd forgone using the bathroom just to listen to her, which made her laugh until her lungs threatened to burst. In the background, she heard someone getting up to complain to a manager about the "out of control" noise.
A few minutes later, the waitress slammed their check on the table and demanded they leave as soon as they'd paid – manager's orders. Neji counted a few hundred ryos from his wallet and handed them to the waitress before Ten-ten could protest. She drew his money into her apron pocket without so much as a thank-you.
And earlier Neji had complained about the prospect of her freeloading off him. Money from a murderer in the making was still money as far as the restaurant was concerned, Ten-ten thought. That's what her father – the shrewd shop owner that he was – would have said.
Ten-ten was slack-jawed while they walked to the door. Once the bell jingled behind them, she caught Neji's arm and insisted on paying him back.
When he refused, a question escaped her lips before common sense could stop her.
"Does this mean you want me to be your girlfriend? My mom said that when a boy buys a girl –"
The suggestion seemed to sour Neji's mood.
"No. No, dreaming of something so impossible would be futile. I suggest you cast that thought from your mind."
As I thought, Ten-ten told herself. She wondered whether he was capable of having a normal teenage crush. Probably not.
"Right, okay. Well, goodnight, Neji."
Ten-ten pivoted away from him and took one step back into the street. This time, his hand caught her shoulder.
"I paid to thank you for tonight, though your company is worth more than money. I didn't realize how much I needed this."
"Hey, don't think about it. Best of luck tomorrow, okay? I'll be watching and cheering for you the whole time."
Neji's touch softened, turning from attention-grabbing to affectionate.
"Then I'll win the tournament for you."
Ten-ten unpacked her mother's makeup bag item by item – eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, blush. Seeing the full spread on the bathroom counter left Ten-ten feeling a little foolish. She considered that Neji wouldn't see her painted face from so far below in the chunin exams arena. And her sweat in the sweltering summer heat would blur the bright pigments on her face into runny smears.
Still, this chunin exams final tournament deserved her special attention because Neji promised to win for her. She'd already donned the deep blue sleeveless shirt her parents bought for holidays and family gatherings. The shirt – made of silk – cost almost as much as her pay for two D-rank missions. Ten-ten wasn't sure how else to mark the day, other than painting her face.
Picking up the eyeliner pencil, she steadied her hands. Drawing a line around the rim of her eyes really wasn't that different from aiming a kunai or shuriken, Ten-ten told herself.
"Ten-ten, dear. What are you doing?" Ten-ten's mother – Takako Sato – exclaimed from behind her.
"N-nothing, Mom. I just...uh, wanted to look nice today."
Takako laughed, running a hand across Ten-ten's shoulders.
"I thought you hated makeup and nice clothes. My little tomboy," she teased. "So, is there a boy in your life?"
The breath stalled in Ten-ten's throat. Neji was a boy. Counting every hour at the training grounds, they'd passed more time together over the past month than Ten-ten spent with even her own parents. Did that count as having him in her life in any special sense? Genin didn't normally train alone with their teammates every day leading up to the chunin exams finals.
"Kind of, yeah."
Ten-ten's mother released an excited little giggle and kissed the top of her head.
"Your first boyfriend! First a date, and now this. Oh, I'm so excited. Let me help you!"
I guess he's my friend...and he's a boy, Ten-ten thought. And he bought me dinner last night. But Neji had told her to cast away all thoughts of romance because a love between them could never bear fruit. That was in-character for Neji – painfully aware of his limits even as he strived to shatter them. Thankfully, Takako didn't ask for the unseen boyfriend's name, or Ten-ten knew her excitement would have soured into concern. Despite the momentary embarrassment, Ten-ten thanked the gods for her mother's capable hands. Perhaps enhancing her features with pigment wasn't like lodging a kunai into a target.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Anytime, dear!"
Takako began by examining her daughter's face with narrowed eyes that left Ten-ten feeling naked. After wiping Ten-ten's face with a small towel, she dabbed on foundation with a thick brush.
"Tell me about your boyfriend – is he handsome?"
"I guess. I don't really think about it."
The girls of her academy class certainly considered him good-looking. Even those within the village who hated the Hyuga never disparaged their fine features, dark hair and pale skin.
"Hm. Don't be modest, I know you must see something in him if you're prettying yourself to make an impression. I shouldn't tease you too much, though."
Ten-ten squeezed her hands into fists to hold still against the tickle of various brushes against her face. Looking in the mirror, she could see her familiar face disappearing beneath drawn on contours and blush. Hot blood rose to her cheeks, thankfully hidden beneath layers of paint. Neji and Lee would probably snicker if they saw her now.
Finally, Takako ran her lipstick over Ten-ten's top and bottom lips, before instructing her to roll her lips inward. That would smear the oily paint into the grooves and curves of her lips.
"Honey, you look amazing."
"Yeah, uh, thanks...Mom."
Takako approached to give Ten-ten a hug, then faltered once she realized it would mess up her careful preparations.
"Tell me if I can expect your boyfriend over for dinner soon, will you?"
He's not my boyfriend, and no way he's coming over for dinner, Ten-ten silently countered. The truth would be far too complicated to explain to her mother, especially when the first round of the chunin exams began in 20 minutes. Neji would face Naruto Uzumaki – an easy match for her teammate to win. For me, a hopeful, excited part of her added. The reminder bubbled up, warming her heart.
"Yeah, got it, Mom. We should get going, shouldn't we?"
The walk to the area would take them just until Neji's opening match was slated to begin.
"Oh of course! Your dad's downstairs closing up the store early, then we'll head down to the arena together."
Mother and daughter descended the stairs to meet her father. He rubbed Ten-ten's shoulders and teased her for looking so pretty on a day when she normally didn't dress nicely. Fortunately, neither of her parents had more to add on their daughter's "boyfriend" while they joined the streams of villagers pouring into the arena.
Once they ascended to the arena's seating area, her parents turned to continue climbing to the highest levels. Takako swore the cool drafts of air from above could best reach them from the "nosebleed" seats. It made sense, Ten-ten thought. The mid-morning heat had already made her skin sticky with beads of sweat.
"Actually, I'm going to sit closer so I can...uh, get a better view," Ten-ten muttered.
Though the lower seats in the arena were already nearly full, Ten-ten noticed clusters of empty seats between groups of friends and family. There, she could see every detail of Neji's fights – and he could maybe, possibly see her face.
Her mother paused on the landing where their paths would separate.
"Oh, you want to sit with your boyfriend? Tell me, is he somewhere down there so I can say hi?"
Ten-ten bit the inside of her lip. Not for the first time that day, she felt stupid for adorning herself in makeup and her nicest outfit.
"N-no. He's shy. He wouldn't be ready to meet you."
"We're not scary," Ten-ten's father laughed. "Come on, Ten-ten. We've been waiting long enough for you to start showing an interest in boys and not sharp objects."
Ten-ten's mind blurred, and not just from the heat without. The hot blood filling her head dizzied her with humiliation and panic. She turned to find a seat, but her mother's hand around her wrist stopped her. Below, the chunin exams finalists assembled in two lines. She could see Neji becoming more agitated by the minute as he awaited Naruto's late arrival.
"Um. Actually, he's competing," Ten-ten answered, speaking as quickly and quietly as she could. She prayed her parents wouldn't make out her words. "So, uh, you can't meet him now."
"Oh – he's f-from the leaf, I assume?"
"Yeah, Mom. He said he'd win the tournament for me."
Her mother released her, out of shock or acceptance, Ten-ten wasn't sure. And in the moment, she didn't care. As Ten-ten ran down to an empty seat, the finals proctor announced the names of Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Of every hidden leaf genin in the finals, her parents could no doubt piece together that Ten-ten's "boyfriend" probably wasn't Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha or Shikamaru Nara.
Ten-ten didn't linger to see their reactions. She fixated her eyes on the blur of motions where Neji and Naruto clashed. Whatever her parents thought of Neji, she could handle it after the tournament ended.
Finding the arena's infirmary required navigating a bewildering maze of corridors and dank stairwells. After facing multiple dead ends, Ten-ten finally found a fire map stuck to a concrete wall. A few blunders later, she located the infirmary through a mixture of educated guessing and luck. Her heart jumped when she saw a white-eyed man with long, flowing black hair outside the door. His white-eyed daughter stood by his side. Ten-ten recognized them as Hiashi and Hanabi Hyuga. She dreaded to imagine what Hiashi might do to Neji following his nephew's double treachery. Covertly learning the rotation jutsu and revealing the clan's secret wouldn't go unpunished. Maybe Neji lay on his side reeling from the pain his uncle inflicted with the seal. Hiashi's impassive expression told Ten-ten nothing.
Though she could do nothing meaningful against Hiashi, Ten-ten narrowed her eyes at him and curled her lip. She wanted to scream that he had a lot of nerve showing his face now. After thousands of people learned his terrible deeds, and the moral rot at the Hyuga clan's heart. But her thick tongue refused to speak. Raising a brow at her glare, Hiashi merely lifted a hand in acknowledgment and directed his daughter back down the corridor. So he would allow her to see Neji. That meant whatever happened, her teammate wasn't too badly tortured or incapacitated.
Ten-ten pushed the door open, curling her toes. The sight of Neji sitting on the counter – battered, but still conscious and otherwise alert – made her breath stall. He glanced in her direction and looked at his bandaged hands. Her heart sank. After all her efforts to find the infirmary, Neji didn't want to face her.
Still, she wouldn't allow his cold reception to deter her. Ten-ten resolved to stay until he explicitly asked her to leave.
"H-hi, Neji. I just...wanted to see if you were okay, and uh, maybe keep you company again."
Ten-ten ventured one step into the room, her heeled sandals clicking on the linoleum floor. Neji tore his eyes from his hands and waved to her.
"Hello, Ten-ten."
They fell silent again. Ten-ten burned to ask what his uncle had said or done during his visit. But reviving the raw memories could hinder his recovery. Neji's lips twitched as if he wanted to address her. Finally, Ten-ten hoisted herself onto the counter beside him. If a medic asked her to get off, she would, but she found standing in the otherwise empty room far too awkward.
"I'm sorry," he began. "Sorry I didn't win for you as I promised."
Neji sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his fingers.
Ten-ten shook her head and mouthed no. Of everyone with a stake in Neji's victory, it seemed she was the only one whose interest wasn't monetary. Ten-ten had wanted to scream when the men and women seated around her grumbled about all the money they'd squandered betting on Neji. An embittered man behind her – a father seated with his wife and young son – called Neji a "damn mutant cousin-fucker."
Ten-ten felt like the only person watching who understood what victory meant for Neji, and how hard he'd worked to attain it. She didn't care whether she lost every ryo she'd earned on her missions so far. All she considered was whether Neji's loss would reafflict him with hopelessness.
"You tried your best. I swear, you didn't let me down. I-I can't talk because I didn't even make it this far."
She watched as Neji leaned his head back and covered his face with both hands. He muttered something about wasting her time in the month they spent training. Then his limp hands fell into his lap. Ten-ten drew a deep breath and inched a hand in his direction. Their fingers touched on the counter halfway between them, the first time they'd deliberately touched hands for comfort. Neji's white eyes turned to her, brows raised in a question – can I go further? Should I?
Pulse racing, Ten-ten shifted her hand along so their fingers could lace. The rough cotton bandages on Neji's hands brushed her skin, and beneath that, she could feel his warmth. He adjusted the fit of her hand so that it sat within his grasp, and gave her a squeeze so tight the tips of her fingers tingled.
"Medics said I can't train for at least the next week," Neji sighed. "That'll set me even farther behind –"
"I don't want to hear anything about that now. Hey, while you're not training, we could go do fun things together. You said you had fun at dinner last night, right?"
Heavy footsteps sounded from beyond the door. Ten-ten heard a man's deep voice answered by a girl's high chirp. Before Ten-ten could withdraw her hand from Neji's grip, Hiashi Hyuga entered again with his youngest daughter in tow. The Hyuga clan head's white eyes scanned Ten-ten, then Neji. Keeping her shoulders tall, Ten-ten internally wilted under the judgmental heat of his gaze. Hiashi said something about checking on Neji to see how he handled their previous conversation.
Though Hiashi didn't verbally acknowledge Ten-ten, his white eyes drifted back to her every so often as he and Neji exchanged remarks that went in one ear and out the other. She heard something about a misunderstanding, an apology that Hiashi hoped Neji would take to heart. Though she wanted to urge Neji to release her and save what face remained, he kept her hand on lock. From the tightness of his grip, Ten-ten could tell when some turn in the conversation agitated Neji.
She hoped merely holding his hand wouldn't result in painful punishment. A comforting gesture didn't have to mean loving him in open defiance of the clan's traditions. However, Hiashi hadn't levied any punishment for Neji's insubordination during his match, and even sought amends with his nephew. Ten-ten dared hope that Hiashi wasn't the heartless man she imagined.
Finally, Hiashi bowed his head before Neji and wished both of them a good afternoon.
"He's going to have questions after this," Neji muttered, almost to himself. "My uncle wouldn't say anything around you, but I have no doubt he'll want to know about our…uh, connection."
By now, sweat had beaded where their hands joined.
"I hope he doesn't hurt you."
"I don't believe he would. If he disapproves, I'm sure he could dismiss our hand-holding as a youthful mistake. And I'm not so stupid that I'd actually stake a claim on you. That hasn't changed."
For some reason, his dismissal hit differently than it had outside the restaurant. Ten-ten found herself disappointed that Neji hadn't thrown away his caution.
"My parents think you're my boyfriend now," she replied with a hint of spite. "Don't worry – I'll be sure to clear things up once I get home."
"You should. I would still like to take your offer of spending time together, though. As your friend."
Ten-ten could think of many fun things to do on her day off from missions and training. Yet she somehow agreed to meet Neji at the Valley of the End. Traces of Sasuke Uchiha's battle with Naruto still remained in the charred, battered rocks. Neji awaited her at the foot of Madara Uchiha's statue and scarcely gave her a "hello" in greeting before putting his hands and feet to the weathered gray stone.
He scrambled his way up Madara's hulking figure. Upon reaching a carved fold in Madara's flowing sleeve, he paused to beckon Ten-ten up. So soon after his near encounter with death, and he already threatened to strain his newly repaired tissues once more. Ten-ten wanted to tell him to slow down and at least stay close to the ground. If he injured himself again, she alone would bear Might Gai's endless energy for training exercises that were by turn grueling and silly.
By the time she parted her lips to speak, he'd nearly rounded the upper curve of Madara's shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Ten-ten swallowed her words and shook her head. She doubted he would hear her above the din of the waterfall anyways.
If anything, facing death had made Neji far bolder than she remembered. Ten-ten drew a deep breath and touched her toes, warming her joints and muscles for the climb ahead. She concentrated chakra in her hands and feet, stepping first onto Madara's sandal before climbing one tentatively ventured hand or foot at a time. By the time she caught up to Neji, he already sat atop Madara's head and gazed out at the green valley around them. One final push, and Ten-ten collapsed belly-first next to him. The hot stone burned the palms of her hands and every bit of exposed skin pressed against the statue. She shuffled back along the gently sloping stone head until she found level grounding, then released a breath of relief.
One wayward glance down the curve of Madara's head, and her world lurched forward. Ten-ten flinched and looked over at Neji, who surveyed their surroundings with blank eyes.
"What...you shouldn't be doing this," Ten-ten stammered. "You should probably still be in bed."
"Hm. I believe I'm recovered enough to not be an invalid any longer."
Ten-ten let his point stand, figuring that any attempts to dissuade him came far too late and weren't likely to be effective. Though he expressed quiet respect for her abilities, Neji still retained a stubborn streak around her.
"So...uh, do you plan to practice your rotation up here?" she asked. "I mean...I did bring my pack and everything."
"No. I didn't invite you here to practice any jutsu. This is our day off."
"Then what are we doing on here? Huh? You're so weird if you think this is fun. And need I remind you – you almost died once already."
It shouldn't have surprised Ten-ten that this was Neji's idea of fun. She couldn't imagine that training with Might Gai and his Hyuga tutors left him much time for conventional play. The thought of Neji playing with regular toys or board games struck her as far stranger than what he chose for their outing. Of course, he'd enjoy climbing to the highest point in their valley where no safeguards would protect them if they fell.
Her "helpful" reminder seemed to stir some kind of recognition in Neji.
"In a sense, you could say I'm here because I almost died on that mission," he whispered, words almost carried away by the wind. "Almost dying actually made me realize that I was living in fear of embracing what I wanted. I hid behind fate as an excuse for that fear."
Cowardice wasn't something she associated with Neji, who boldly rushed in to Lee's defense in the Forest of Death. He also was the one who charged first every time they faced an adversary on a mission. But Neji was only human. The primal part of him feared pain and turned to pleading at the thought of it. The prospect of mind-rending torture inflicted by an inescapable seal would reduce her to a mere servant of whoever wielded that pain. Ten-ten parted her lips to ask what exactly he wanted that inspired so much apprehension, then reconsidered.
"Yeah? Guess being in the hospital left you a lot of time to think, didn't it?"
"Yes, it did."
The wind stirred Ten-ten's bangs and almost swept her headband over her head, eliciting a quick yelp. Neji's lips curved for a moment before he turned his view back over the valley.
"And…what do you want so much?"
"To not be alone," he breathed out. "The seal binds us in multiple ways. I imagine the one is obvious to you. It also isolates us from anyone outside the clan because we must keep it hidden at all times. Any form of close contact means the secret will come out."
"– you showed me, though."
"You needed to see it, to understand why practicing that jutsu was so important to me."
Ten-ten nodded. In a strange sense, Neji had set himself free by showing the most visible symbol of his bondage before the assembled crowd at the chunin exams. Thousands had seen the Hyuga clan's shame. Now the burden of absolute secrecy no longer laid on the shoulders of every marked Hyuga.
"Hey, you're already not alone. I mean, you have me...Lee, Gai-sensei."
Curling his lip in frustration, Neji sighed, which made Ten-ten falter. Maybe he found her expression of pity too cloying or condescending.
"That's not what I meant."
"Oh."
Drawing her knees closer, she willed the hot blood from rushing to her face.
"So, what do you mean?"
Her pointed question seemed to embarrass him as much as it embarrassed her.
"Sometimes...I crave companionship beyond what a friend or teammate can offer."
The answer, delivered with clear hesitance, inched Ten-ten closer to an uncomfortable realization. Beyond teammates or friends meant boyfriend and girlfriend, or lovers once they grew older. The realization sent a numbing pulse of shock through her veins. His decision to show her the seal had been far more profound than she realized at the time. Even then, did he harbor the feelings he now expressed for her?
"You don't mean – you like me?"
"More than that."
Ten-ten rolled her lip between her teeth, her heart fluttering. The heat in her face now threatened to overwhelm her, if not for the gusts of wind sweeping over her.
"Oh. Uh, okay. That's the purpose behind this whole trip, huh?"
"Yes. I love you. If you'll have me."
"I – um, that's not something I've thought about."
None of the boys in her academy class – Neji included – ever stirred anything but the warm affection of friendship. She'd watched her classmates pine after Neji and Sasuke with annoyance and a hint of contempt. Ten-ten wanted to tell the lovesick girls that pinning their hopes on men distracted them from becoming strong kunoichi. And Ten-ten prided herself in having dreams of greatness that went beyond securing a kiss or declaration of love from any boy.
"This might seem sudden. Please consider it."
Neji's hands clutched his bare knees. With every moment that he awaited an answer, his bulging knuckles seemed to grow whiter. Neji struck her as the type who sank his entire heart into the object of his affection, same as he sank every effort into escaping his fate.
In the wake of Neji's confession, Ten-ten wanted to run back to the safety of home, where no weighty commitments awaited her. So high from the ground, the threat of falling kept them trapped together and forced her to confront the bold move he'd ventured.
And so she took her eyes from him to avert the heavy tension that now hung between them. Just don't look down, Ten-ten told herself. Whatever you do, don't look down. She gazed out over the entire valley, sweeping her gaze across the cloudless sky and the endless forests ringing the the distance, the hokage tower peeked over the trees. The sight brought her an instant of wonder before adrenaline set in and Ten-ten's stomach roiled. Seeing the world from so far above made her head light and blurred her vision. She was dizzy – and terrified to plummet down the curve of Madara's imposing stone head.
The whoosh of air rushing by below her feet reminded her of how far she had to fall.
"I...had heard that taking a girl to some place with a good view was a romantic gesture, but it seems you aren't too happy with my choice."
"Heights are so scary," she laughed, clasping her quivering hands until her knuckles turned white. "It makes me dizzy just looking out at everything."
She curled her toes within her sandals.
"I quite enjoy the feeling of flying that you get from sitting up here. But I wasn't aware that you didn't feel the same way. I should have been more sensitive then. Sorry."
Ten-ten squeezed her eyes shut. She reached a hand across the rock in his direction, but waited for him to touch her.
"I'll be okay. Just give me a minute to breathe."
Warmth and a reassuring pressure settled over her hand, then Neji's fingers curled around her palm. Ten-ten sucked in gasping breaths through her mouth and gradually tried to transition into breathing more evenly.
"I'm here. You aren't going to fall. Remember what I told you about not getting dizzy?"
"Right. Just focus on one point. I remember."
"Look at me, Ten-ten."
"Okay."
She turned her head in the direction of his voice and slowly, her eyelids fluttered open. Neji's face appeared before her and she saw his eyes widen in concern. Light tendrils of wind blew loose hairs around his face. Now the weight of his I love you pressed on her until the insistent pressure became almost unbearable.
"I understand if you don't want to tie yourself to me when I have this," Neji said, touching two fingertips to his forehead. "You probably want someone without the burdens of my birth."
"No! That's not it at all. I...this is new, and I don't know what to say."
"Be honest with me, Ten-ten."
"I am."
Ten-ten mirrored his smile.
"Ten-ten – I promise, I'll devote my life to making sure nothing separates us."
She scrunched her brows and nodded.
Kissing him made her dizzy, but in a different way. Ten-ten didn't mind this disorientation.