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Author of 20 Stories |
You know, I see TenTen as either a totally violent mood-swinging kunoichi with lots of attitude, or a totally calm person who helps Neji out and follows him around, but not like a fangirl, more like his best friend... I think I went for violent mood-swings in this fic.
Plus I'm terrible with romance... :P it's weird to write... well... yeah...
Oh, and if you haven't read certain chapters in the Japanese manga, this is ahead of the English translation and makes references to certain things that I'm sure those of you on here long enough know about, but still... (read: This has spoilers. Don't read unless you know what happens later.)...
-hits self over the head- Cliche'd plot device ahead.
You have been warned.
"You earned it, Neji," TenTen informed him after a particularly cold soaking. "You are so tactless."
"Only when I talk. Which isn't much."
"But when you do..." She grinned. "You are as subtle as... Lee."
Ouch. As if the raccoon had understood her intent to verbally wound Neji and wanted to play along, he decided to walk up to Neji at that moment and attack his foot. Neji spent several minutes attempting to pick up the raccoon and move him aside or give him to Hinata. Something. But the raccoon was, for some strange reason known only to it, intent upon hurting Neji. It scratched him (who knew raccoons had claws?) and bit him on the arm. He cursed under his breath. Hinata better have been right when she said the thing hadn't had any diseases. Like rabies. That can put a real damper on being a ninja. Neji continued to battle over the raccoon while Hinata ignored him and TenTen giggled.
"Oh... 'subtle as Lee'... That's a real insult," laughed Hiashi as all this happened. Neji remembered when Hiashi met Lee... What a sight that had been. Exclamations of The Springtime of Youth and such things... Hiashi had been rather overwhelmed, and had eventually recieved a headache, and needed to go to bed four hours early that day.
Hiashi, as a ninja, could take on several teams of jounin. And Lee drained him of all energy.
Neji still remembered Hiashi's words that day. "I don't doubt that boy's skills... But he could take on several platoons and not be harmed. That Gai must be a really good teacher, ne?"
Neji had replied, "No."
He decided to acknowledge TenTen with a simple, "Hn," and finally succeeded with the raccoon, handing it over to Hinata, who scolded it.
"Oh, now you're worried, aren't you, Neji?" She was clearly rather pleased with herself.
As well she should be. Neji was starting to feel as though he was losing... Although what battle he was fighting he still wasn't sure.
"Hn," he said.
TenTen suffered a severe mood swing, and said, "Fine! Be like that! You think you're so special if you only say 'Hn' like that Uchiha!"
Ew, she was comparing him to that pale pointy-haired traitor!
She went over to join Hinata with a small wave of the hand.
Well, hanging out with TenTen was never boring, that much Neji knew. It was always fun... and when it wasn't, it was funny later.
Hiashi thought so, too. "Your girlfriend is very interesting, is she not? She seems to be very fast at... well... shifting from one thing to the next."
"She's not my girlfriend, Lord Hyuuga."
Hiashi gave him the I-Am-A-Know-It-All-And-You-Are-Wrong-Look that Neji had recently perfected, as a Hyuuga (it was practically required). With his arms folded, one eyebrow raised, and the mouth in a nearly-straight-but-slightly-curved-down sneer, and face tipped a little to the side and back, he made even Neji almost feel a little foolish.
Almost.
"If that's what you say..." said Hiashi.
Neji really needed to fix the problem of people wrongly assuming that he and TenTen were together... He wasn't quite sure how yet, however, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and glared at the ground.
The girls' conversation, in the silence of the Hyuuga boys, was clearly audible in the echoing tile-floored kitchen.
"I g-g-got the sh-shoes at-t P-p-payless..."
"Oh! Okay!" said TenTen, clearly over her angry mood swing. "I'll be sure and look there later! Hey, do you want to go shopping with me sometime? I've seen your clothes... They're so cute!"
"Oh! I'd l-l-love t-t-to... That would b-b-be so much f-fun!" said Hinata.
"Well, it's nice to see they're getting along well," said Hiashi. "Even if she's mad at you."
"Oh, I'm not mad at Neji!" called TenTen cheerfully. "I just think he lacks tact, is all! But I'm not mad at him! In fact, I-" her eyes widened, and Neji looked at her, eyebrows raised, hoping that she'd finish that. But she did a u-turn as fast as possible. "In fact, I can't be mad at him! I have to train with him in the mornings, and I can't be mad at him, or else-"
"Or else I wouldn't be able to live a normal life... what with your Soshoryu," finished Neji, muttering the last bit under his breath.
"Yeah!" said TenTen. "That! Anyway, so, um... The storm seems to have cleared up! Look!"
And surely enough, the moon was visible through a tiny crack in the cover of clouds that before had been rather mountainous and menacing. The night sky, though, turned them an odd brown color, and they no longer looked quite so frightening.
They all sat and admired the moon in the sky, except Hinata, who was working on removing the water. She did, however, take short breaks to pet Hideki and look out at the sky with them as TenTen identified different constellations.
After one such break, Hinata dumped a particularly large ball of water on Neji.
"Lady Hinata... I thought you were done with that!" he said angrily. Indeed, she had refrained from doing so for quite a while, and he had thought she was done.
"It's the element of surprise, Neji!" said TenTen. "If you thought she was done, you wouldn't attempt to defend yourself, would you?"
Neji thought Hinata had been incapable of such underhanded methods, but one look at her face told him she was smirking... Well, as much of a smirk as she could manage. It was an unfamiliar, and rather frightening, look on Hinata's face.
"That's my daughter!" pronounced Hiashi proudly, beaming. "A fine kunoichi."
"I admit that was a good move..." said Neji grudgingly.
"Good? It was fabulous!" TenTen said happily. "You should have seen the look on your face! It was so cute- I mean, funny!"
"Cute?" asked Neji.
"No, I meant funny!" said TenTen defensively, although she looked like she knew it was a losing battle.
"But you said cute," said Hiashi.
"But I meant funny."
"But you said cute," said Neji.
"But I meant funny."
"But you said-" Neji got cut off.
"BUT I MEANT FUNNY, GOT IT?! I CAN MIX UP MY WORDS, CAN'T I?" blustered a now frustrated TenTen.
Neji thought it was funny how they could make her moods change so fast.
"Wow..." said Hiashi. "Neji, you've got yourself a really interesting g-"
"Don't say it, Lord Hiashi," said Neji dangerously. TenTen glared at Hiashi, as if willing him to finish that word.
"Right," said Hiashi, smiling benignly at them.
"A-anyway..." said Hinata. "I'm d-done."
"Oh," said Neji. "Thanks. A lot. You really helped out."
"N-no p-p-problem..." said Hinata. "I needed t-t-to p-practice ch-chakra c-c-control anyway..."
"And thanks for dumping several gallons of water on Neji," said TenTen, who looked as though she didn't particularly forgive him for bugging her about the cute-vs.-funny thing.
"No p-p-problem... It was... fun..." said Hinata, turning red.
"Hn," said Neji derogatorily.
"Oh, it's getting late," said Hiashi.
"Oh, um, the weather seems to have cleared up, right?" said TenTen. "I can go to my home now, I mean, I don't really want to trouble you guys."
"Oh, okay. Th-that's f-f-fine. Whichever y-you w-want," said Hinata.
"Well, in that case, I think my parents are probably expecting me, and they don't particularly like it if me or my little sister make plans out of nowhere unless it's necessary," TenTen said. Hiashi nodded in agreement. "I'd better go home, then."
"Y-yeah," said Hinata.
"Well, in that case, have Neji walk you home!" said Hiashi brightly.
"Okay!" said TenTen, just as happily.
"That's fine," said Neji, although he was a little angry at Hiashi for volunteering him without asking. He liked TenTen (really liked her), but he disliked her little sister (named Nana, TenTen's family had a thing about liking repeated syllables), who was just like Hanabi. With weaponry. And twin ponytails (like TenTen's hair-bun-things).
"Well, we b-b-better go," said Hinata. "You sh-should p-p-probably leave, t-too."
"Yeah, let's go, Neji!" said TenTen.
"Hn," said Neji in agreement.
TenTen dragged Neji to the door by the hand. Which nearly made him blush. And he couldn't see her face, so he couldn't tell.
They went the opposite direction to walk to TenTen's house- TenTen was too tired to run or anything like that.
Since Neji wasn't the most talkative person, they passed most of the journey in a slightly awkward silence.
"Well..." TenTen said, breaking the silence. "There's my house."
"Hn," said Neji, thoughts focused on trying to figure out how they could get people to stop thinking they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Oh! Neji!" said TenTen's mom. "How sweet of you to walk TenTen home! Why don't you come in?"
Neji liked TenTen's mom. She was friendly, and always made him come in for stuff. Of course, then he had to talk to Nana, who was really high-pitched and a lot like Hanabi, always hinting at his and TenTen's "relationship".
"I just made cookies!" said TenTen's mom.
Plus, TenTen's mom always offered him cookies. Neji, although not fond of sweet food, liked the dark chocolate in her chocolate chip cookies. So he always had one. It had been that way since they were a Genin team, on the very first time he walked TenTen home (Lee and Gai had insisted on training until late, which TenTen's parents had been fine with because they'd known about it for a week.). She'd offered him cookies, and pretty much forced them down his throat. Of course, he'd liked them, so he always stayed for cookies.
"Okay," said Neji. He never said, "hn" to TenTen's parents... Nice as they were, somehow he didn't think they'd appreciate it.
And he liked the cookies.
So TenTen's mom sat him down at a table with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Neji, although feeling childish, ate the cookies and milk.
Suddenly, TenTen's mom gasped and pointed to his unbandaged leg (the one the raccoon had attacked). "Neji-kun! How did you hurt your leg?"
"Oh... That... I had a bad experience with a raccoon... I'm told it didn't have any diseases, though."
"Well, why didn't you bandage it or anything like that?" TenTen's mom was now scolding him. "That can really be bad for you. Here, let me heal it. But I've got to clean it first."
"Mom..." said TenTen, looking embarrassed.
"Don't you 'Mom' me, TenTen! Open wounds like this, especially inflicted by an animal, can have serious consequences and require tending to! And cleaning. Special cleaning that medic-nins like myself can do. And most people can't. Hang on, I've got all my stuff from when TenTen used to get hurt with all her dad's weapons."
She disappeared around the corner, muttering about "irresponsiblity" and "serious problems that result from ignoring wounds from wild animals".
"I did clean it..." said Neji.
"Yeah, but you didn't bandage it or heal it. That's the thing," said TenTen.
"Hello," said a high-pitched voice from behind Neji.
"Hello," echoed a similar voice from behind TenTen.
"Nana," said Neji. "Hello, and Hanabi, too. So that's where you were spending the night."
"Hello, you two," said TenTen.
"I didn't write on your walls," said Hanabi. "That was the green kid. With the big eye-brows. He came in while I was there, and I thought I was going to get in trouble. But he yelled something about youth, drew that on the wall, and left, and I guess he didn't tell on me. But I put up the pictures," she said proudly. "I hope you know why."
"We know," said Neji. TenTen nodded.
"Oooh, Hanabi, he said 'we'!" said Nana.
"Yeah, I know, Nana! Does that mean they're together?"
"No," said Neji.
"Shut up, Nana," said TenTen. Neji glared at Hanabi, who grinned. So did Nana.
"Shall we, Nana?" said Hanabi.
"I think so," said Nana. "On three."
"Right!"
"One, two, three!"
Neji was expecting a pull on his hair and then something horrid. Or perhaps a pull on his shirt and then something horrid. But he didn't expect Nana to surround him using clones, knock him out, and then pull him into a closet.
Neji, although he hated to admit it, had been beaten by a small child.
Well, he hadn't had his Byakugan activated. He had been eating cookies! Who activates their chakra-using Bloodline Limit while eating cookies and milk? Plus it would be just plain mean to beat up a little girl whose mother had offered him cookies.
Neji stood in the dark closet and, activating his Byakugan, looked outside to see Hanabi and Nana pulling faces at them through the door.
"Well," said TenTen, who had suffered a similar fate. "Looks like they got us, huh."
Neji could only seethe in silence. Hanabi was dead. TenTen pronounced the same for Nana, and they proceeded to look at the door.
"It's no use," said Hanabi. "The only doorknob on this is on the outside. We rigged it so that it won't open except from the outside."
Neji cursed. They heard footsteps.
"Well, where did Neji go?" asked TenTen's mom's voice. "I found all the best bandages, too! That boy!"
"We're in here, Mom!" shouted TenTen.
But her footsteps faded, and Hanabi's voice came back. "Oh, and she can't hear you guys, even if you bang on the door, 'cause we put some tags in there that prevent that. We can't either, but we know you're yelling something fierce in there 'cause TenTen's face is red. Haha, now it's turning redder!"
"I'm going to kill her," said Neji. He actually felt bad for TenTen right now. And he really, really hated Hanabi. He was certain she was the one who put Nana up to this. Nana was annoying, and even though she was TenTen's little sister, she wasn't really all that smart.
"Please do," said TenTen.
"So when are they planning on letting us out?"
Neji walked up to the door and mouthed very clearly, knowing Hanabi would pick up on it. When are you planning on letting us out?
"Oh, I don't know. Whenever we feel like it."
Neji looked at TenTen using the technique that allowed him to see things at night better. She was sitting in the corner.
"You know, my mom's gonna kill me if she finds out I spent the night in a closet with a boy, even if they put us in here," she said. "And even if it's you. She likes you, but..."
Neji didn't really think they would do anything like that in a closet, but TenTen had rather overprotective parents. He sat down beside her.
"So what should we do?" he asked. "This is your closet, after all. What do you have in here? Flashlights... Games, anything like that?"
"No... that's the back closet."
"So do we just sit?"
"Well... That's kind of boring."
"So...? Any suggestions?"
They heard TenTen's mom calling for her.
"Oh, snap," said Nana. Neji saw her make a clone, and then transform it into TenTen, who walked upstairs.
"Hooray! Maybe my mom will figure it out!" said TenTen happily.
"No, they just made a clone of you."
TenTen's shoulders sagged. "Aw, and I thought we'd get out of here."
"I suppose we can't really beat the door down, can we," said Neji.
"No, I don't think so."
"And we can't do that teleportation jutsu that Gai does."
"No."
"So we really can't do anything."
"Nope."
"What do they want from us?" said Neji. This, by far, was probably the worst moment of his day. He was stuck in a closet with no means of getting out, his leg was beginning to hurt from having a raccoon mauling it, and to make it all worse, TenTen was stuck in the closet with him. He shifted his position, and bumped into an extra-long coat that overbalanced on its hanger and fell. The sharp part of the metal hanger hit his head.
"Ouch," he said, looking up.
"Hey, TenTen? What's that?" he asked, looking at the space above him. It looked... almost like a door!
"Oh... that's a kind of an attic, of sorts. Not really big enough for anything major, but it's a little extra space. Doesn't lead to anywhere, though."
Neji sighed. "My day isn't going well."
"Sorry," she said.
"Hn." And now his head hurt. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, remembering that he'd done that just this morning.
"Do you always say that?" she asked, sounding annoyed.
"What?"
"Hn," she said. "You and that Uchiha boy. You're always saying, 'hn'. It's so annoying." TenTen tended to lose her patience with people when trapped. He just let it slide, and decided to apologize.
"Oh," he said. "Sorry."
"Yay!" she cried happily. "You apologized!" She leaned over and hugged him.
"Okay," he said, taken aback by the sudden shift in her mood.
She let go and sat back down. "But we're still stuck in here."
"Well, then we have to do something about it. No air-conditioning vents, huh."
"Nope."
"Well, that was my last resort."
"And we don't know when they'll let us out. Geez, I'm starting to be hungry already."
"And they close the gates to the Hyuuga compound at a certain time of night. And no one can get in. It's a recent addition- since Lady Hinata's... kidnapping."
"Oh," she said quietly. He knew she was remembering what he'd told her about his life.
"And I won't be able to go home tonight unless we get out soon."
"So how should we get out?"
"That's what I've been asking you."
"So why, with your almighty Byakugan, can you not see a way out?"
"I can only see what's there, TenTen. And if it isn't there I can't see it."
"Bickering, are you?" called Hanabi. "I can tell by your expressions!"
"Ooh, are they bickering like a married couple already?"
"Yes, they are!"
"Shut up!" yelled Neji. "Just shut up!" Hanabi stuck her tongue out at him.
"Neji, they can't hear you," said TenTen.
"I know, that's why it's fun. You should try it." Neji was starting to get a little touchy, too.
"SHUT UP, YOU TWO! JUST SHUT UP! WE'RE NOT TOGETHER, AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO STOP THINKING THE WRONG THING!!!!!!" yelled TenTen. "Oh, that was fun," she said to Neji.
"Well, that one was clear. I read your lips, TenTen. And I have an idea for you two. Since you so obviously like each other, and don't want people to think the wrong thing, well, people think you're together... So why don't you make them correct?" said Hanabi.
TenTen and Neji blinked.
"That's an approach I'd never thought of before," said Neji.
"Me neither," said TenTen. "And I usually do well at those think-outside-the-box kind of things."
"Well, I don't."
"No, you're too... Stick-to-the-rules-ish."
"Hn," he said.
"Do you have to say that?!" she said.
"Sorry," he said again.
"I love it when you say sorry!" she said, hugging him.
Neji liked it when she hugged him. He was beginning to think Hanabi and Nana were right about what they said.
"You know..." said TenTen, still with her arms around him, "they might... they might have a point."
"I was just thinking that. So, will you go out with me?" he said.
"Yes!" said TenTen. He put his arms around her.
"So... Now we'd really be in trouble if your mom caught us in here, huh?" he said.
"Yeah..." She laughed, and kissed him.
"Augh! MY EYES! MY INNOCENT, NAIVE, CHILD'S EYES! LET THEM OUT, NANA!" Hanabi screeched. Nana obliged, and the door unlocked with a click to reveal Neji and TenTen kissing. Nana, too screeched, causing her mom to come running. She took one look at the closet and turned red.
"TENTEN!" She, too, screeched. "ONCE YOUR FATHER HEARS ABOUT THIS, YOUNG LADY, HE WILL MAKE SURE YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! AND YOU-" she rounded on Neji. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD, KIND LITTLE BOY!"
Neji cursed inside his head. This really was turning out to be the worst day of his life.
"But Mom..." TenTen said.
" 'BUT MOM!' 'BUT MOM!' DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU CAN GIVE ANY GOOD EXPLANATION AS TO WHY YOU TWO WERE IN THE CLOSET-" The thought was apparently, too horrible for words, and she turned redder, a vein pulsating in her temple.
"Nana locked us in, and told us we weren't allowed to come out if we didn't-"
"OH!! OH... So that's how it is, then..." said TenTen's mom, quieting down to a dangerous hissing whisper, and Neji was silently grateful he had been spared. "You, young lady, are in so much trouble."
"Mrs. TenTen's mom, I'm sure my cousin put your daughter up to it, she's been doing stuff to me all day... I could bring her home, or you could talk to my uncle-" Neji volunteered, but he got cut off.
"Oh, is your uncle still up? Do you know his phone number?" she said to Neji.
"Yeah, here, I'll dial it."
He dialed, and Hiashi came to the phone.
"Moshi-moshi," he said. "Oh, hello, Neji. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, Hanabi got in a bit of trouble..."
"Oh she did, did she? May I talk to her friend's parent?"
"Um, yeah, that's why I'm calling. Here-" and he handed over the phone to TenTen's mom, who then proceeded to talk Hiashi's ear off about the fact that she had just found Neji and TenTen kissing in her front closet and apparently Hanabi and Nana had locked them in there and told them they couldn't leave unless, well, he knew, so what should they do?
They heard Hiashi's reply through the phone. "Why don't we let them have their sleep-over tonight, and deal with it tomorrow? It's much too late right now, and I think that punishments are always best dealt out in the mornings, anyway, and it'll give us some time to think of something beneficial and fitting to the act. So let's just let them have their fun for now. But Neji's too late to get in."
Indeed, he was. Neji looked at the clock. It was 11:37. He really had been in that closet for quite some time.
"It's impossible to get through the gates of the Hyuuga premises after 10:00, so we can't go out or in. Disabling the jutsu is rather complicated, requires... destroying things, and it only works if we evacuate everyone, so I'm sorry, but can you have Neji over tonight? He needs a place to stay," explained Hiashi.
"Of course, Neji is such a good boy, we're always glad to see him here. It's fine if he wants to stay the night, we've got an extra room."
"Oh, well, that's good, then. Thank you so much."
"Oh, Neji's no problem at all."
"Well, thanks again. Goodnight."
"Goodbye!"
They hung up the phone. "And don't ever let me catch you two doing something like that in a closet!" she said to Neji and TenTen.
"We won't," assured Neji.
"Although I always thought you two were together... You seemed like it, you know."
Well, at least now it was true.
"But don't do stuff like that if you do ever get together! Do nice things that parents are okay with! Like... the movies... wait, no, that's in the dark... Maybe the zoo? Yes, the zoo is always a nice place. Well, no, animals aren't that interesting. Shopping... Shopping is a cute thing for couples to do! Yes, go shopping. And... Festivals are good... But people are always dancing there and doing all sorts of things- Oh, wait, I never did fix your leg! Come here, Neji." She looked at them suspiciously. "Wait, if you were in the closet, why didn't you call out! I know you can see through walls, Neji..."
"Hanabi made it so you couldn't hear us, but we did plenty of yelling, believe me," said TenTen.
"Oh all right, well, come here, Neji. You did clean these wounds, didn't you?" She began to work on patching him up, and surprised him when she healed his wounds really well.
"Thanks," he said.
"That's all right, I wouldn't want you to get gangrene or something like that." She left them, saying, "Why don't you two watch a movie or something? I can trust you, Neji, and that's the only reason I'm doing this. So TenTen, show him to his room when you're done. You know the rules... Don't pull any of that stuff from the closet or whatever, or you're sleeping on the streets, Neji. And I will come and check on you." She left the room, and they sat down on the couch.
"So... movie?" asked TenTen.
"Yeah... what's a good one?" asked Neji.
"Oh, I don't know... Something with action, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess, sure."
"Hm..."
They perused the DVD's TenTen's family owned, and finally came up with some good movie and turned it on.
They watched the movie for a little while, then practiced their weapons throwing skills with popcorn- read: threw popcorn at each other when they got tired of the movie-, Neji laughing and TenTen giggling until they realized they'd have to pick it up by hand because the vacuum would wake everyone up, and in TenTen's words, "It wouldn't be pretty." So they picked it up. While they were doing so, TenTen looked up at him.
"So... Neji?" asked TenTen
"Yes?" he said, remembering she hated for him to say "hn".
"You mentioned earlier that you were having a pretty bad day... Well, I was wondering..." she said hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"Is it still bad? After we got out of the closet?"
Neji smiled. "Not at all... After all, we're going out now, right?" TenTen squealed and hugged him.
"I was hoping you'd say that!" she said happily. He kissed her, and decided that his day really hadn't been so bad after all.
I'm terrible at ending things... But the ending was fluffy, and I like fluffy things.
If I ever think of a better ending, I will fix it. I promise.
Well, I'm proud that I'm done with my first ever fic after much hard work and agonizing and parents telling me to just GO TO BED.
Of course, I didn't listen to them, and that's why I sleep in every morning! I'm glad I finished it before I left on my vacation, though.
Please review. Reviews inspire good writing.
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