NejiTen Oneshots And Drabbles

Racetrack To My Heart

Ino slants her a charming smile. "Step one: Find someone whose looks you agree with. Step two: Plant your ass in his car. Simple as that."

Tenten stares dumbly at her. Some blind date this turned out to be.

"Hey Hinata, the Kyuubi's over here! Let's go!" Naruto yells, breaking her concentration.

Tenten looks over, in time to see a slim woman with long, black hair stepping forward, looking towards Naruto with a shy smile. Her eyes, though, are what makes Tenten stare - pale, pale lilac, with her pupils almost indistinguishable from her irises.

The gathered group is already scattering, though a few of them remain. Ino gives Tenten's shoulder a quick pat ("Don't just stand there, hurry and grab one!" she whispers), before hurrying off with Kiba, slinging her arm around his.

"I thought you were riding with me," someone else says in a deep baritone, and Tenten flicks her attention to the only other person who hasn't started moving - a tall man, with hair and eyes like Hinata's. Are they related?

Hinata looks sheepishly at him then. "I made plans with Naruto, Neji - sorry about that."

"You might wanna get moving, Neji - maybe you'll be in last place for once," Naruto yells at him, already halfway towards an orange-painted car. Hinata gives her relative a quick, shallow bow, and hurries after the blond.

The man - Neji? - frowns at Hinata, as if in a mix of annoyance and confusion, and looks around then. Tenten freezes awkwardly when his gaze lands on her - there isn't anyone left in the group - and gives him a strained smile.

"Um, hi," she says, looking around at the emptying parking lot, then back at him. Way to go, Tenten. "I, um, really need a ride?"

He exhales in an exasperated sigh. There are already low rumbles of cars making their way out of the basement. "Fine. Follow me."

She steps awkwardly behind him with a grimace. Somehow, this guy, Neji, moves with a fluid grace, and Tenten feels like an elephant clomping behind him. His car isn't too far away - black, polished, and refined. Almost like a reflection of what she's seen of him so far.

Neji stops by the passenger side door first - he opens it for her - and Tenten has a moment to gape at him. "Get in," he orders. "Everyone's heading out."

She gulps and jumps in. The door shuts at her side; Neji is crossing over to the driver's seat and settling in next to her moments later, shifting the car out of Park.

"Um, I'm really sorry if I'm hindering you in the race," Tenten mumbles awkwardly. She only notices now that the car is not very wide - she's seated closer to him than she would in an ordinary car.

He slants a cool glance at her. Smirks. "It takes more than a head start to beat me."

Tenten goggles at him. The interior of the car smells like a mix of cologne and pine - very pleasant. She sets her purse by her feet, watching as he steers them out of the basement, and up into the blinding sunlight. Neji checks for traffic, and they're on their way down the road, picking up speed in a way that presses her back into her seat.

They're behind everyone else now; the car in front of them hits a sharp turn, and Neji follows. The bucket seat prevents her from lurching into the door. Tenten stares at his long, elegant fingers when he reaches over to the center console to hit a button - the car lowers itself closer to the ground yet, if that is even possible, and she watches the needle on the speedometer hit sixty miles an hour. Eighty. A hundred.