'Just tell her, Neji. Say it out loud, just tell her the truth.'
Neji rubbed his forehead as he walked towards her apartment.
There was no doubt that he was going to tell her; he just needed the strength to. As her apartment door came into sight, Neji wondered just what he could say to her.
He didn't want her to be upset or confused, but the only way he could think of saying it was the straightforward way.
He made it up to her door and knocked a few times. She opened it and said, "Oh, hey Neji. I'm glad you came over. I was actually planning on coming to get you. Come in."
She stepped aside and he walked in. She closed the door and smiled at him with uncertainty, asking, "What brings you here?" He looked at her and lost the composure to tell her.
She looked at him and took a step forward.
Neji impulsively took a step back and regretted it.
Tenten sighed softly and said, "I know I'm not your Tenten... I'm not all that strong and I'm still scared of you. But I am worried as well. If this is something about last night, just tell me."
Neji looked away, almost caught up in thought.
Finally, he said softly, "It's..Nothing too important. I just wanted to check the area where you passed out. Maybe we'd find more clues as to how you got switched."
"Oh." Disappointment swelled in her throat, but she held back on saying anything about it. Instead, she said, "I really hope there is something there that could clue us on why I can't get back home."
"Indeed," he replied, "You said you were planning on leaving to find me. What for, if I may ask?"
Tenten stammered a little before saying, "Ah, I uh, was going to ask you the same. I-I figured if we looked together, we might not miss anything. That's all."
"I see." Neji wasn't convinced at all, but he couldn't force her into saying anything.
After a moment, Neji said, "Well, whenever you're ready, Tenten."
She smiled slightly and said, "Just give me a moment to collect my scrolls."
She turned and walked to her bedroom, shutting the door moments later. She then gripped her stomach gently.
'I couldn't tell him...'
She sighed heavily and grabbed the scrolls on her table.
'I need to tell him.'
After putting the scrolls in her pouch, she turned around and opened the door, walking out and greeting Neji with a smile.
'I can't tell him...'
~
Neji's head felt like several bricks were thrown at him.
He groaned and sat upright, finding himself on Tenten's bed.
He tried to recall the events of last night. He remembered trying to drown his thoughts in alcohol. His footsteps were pacing towards his home, but he somehow found himself at Tenten's front doorstep.
She let him in willingly, which was a first.
Of course, that wasn't his Tenten, he reminded himself.
Neji carefully stood up and walked outside of her bedroom, and found that she was cooking in the kitchen. Tenten was humming softly and stirring something in a small pot.
He inhaled the smell and smiled to find that she was stirring soba noodles.
She turned to him and smiled, saying, "Good morning, Neji. Took you long enough, I thought I was going to accidentally drop a pail of water on your head."
Neji chuckled at that and said, "And if you did that, then I'd just have to get you wet. An eye for an eye."
"Hn," Tenten responded, giggling softly, "you're such a pervert."
"I try," he replied, smirking as he sat at the table.
She turned to him and handed a tall glass of water before returning to the stove. Moments later, he heard something sizzling. For a moment, both were silent. But after hearing what she did the night before, she couldn't stay quiet for long.
"So Neji," she said, not turning away from the stove, "Why did you get drunk last night?"
Neji tensed up at that question, and said not long after, "The Hyuga Elders irritated me too much, so I tried to get rid of the thoughts."
Tenten seemed to believe it, because she said, "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. You know, the other Neji would always come to me about his problems. Well, after we both grew a little. He'd rant and then leave."
She stirred the soba some more and flipped the herring.
"Oh, and you said some, uh, pretty interesting things last night."
Neji looked at her and asked, "Like what?"
She looked over her shoulder at him and turned to look at the food once the blush started spreading.
"Well, most of them were mumbling. I thought I heard stuff about your cousin, the Hyuga Clan, and..." Her voice drifted, and Neji asked, "What else did I say? Was it bad?"
Tenten turned off the burners and turned to him, saying, "Well, you... Kind of admitted that you liked me... A lot."
Neji blushed softly and asked, "And by a lot, you mean..."
"...You said you loved me, Neji."
~
The walk to their training grounds was quiet and awkward.
Neither had the endurance to tell the other how they felt, and because of it both felt immensely guilty.
Tenten tried to start conversation by telling him that Sakura was looking after her in a sense, but it died down quickly.
It seemed that nothing could break down the wall they both put up.
When they got to the training grounds, Tenten pointed towards the south and said, "There. That's where I walked out. Come on."
She walked ahead, wishing she could run, and Neji followed her footsteps. They were almost a mile out when Tenten saw a familiar landmark.
"There," she said, pointing at a dead, white tree, "That's where I woke up. Or rather, where I passed out. Just pass this tree. I guess we can start looking here."
Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan, looking everywhere for anything. But there was nothing to be found. He sighed and deactivated, turning and find Tenten crouching in a certain area.
Her hands caressed an area as she said, "I passed out right here... It was like something overtook me and I lost consciousness..."
Neji took a step towards her and stopped himself. 'She isn't the right Tenten,' he reminded himself, 'Don't attach yourself to her; you can't tell her.'
Tenten looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong?" "Nothing," he replied flatly. She sighed and said, "You can't keep lying to me, Neji. It's all over your damn face; something IS bugging you, damnit!"
She stood up and glared at him.
He looked at her flatly and said, "My issues are irrelevant to this task, Tenten."
"Don't fucking play that card with me."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that I've been around you long enough to know that you're avoiding me, Neji!!"
Tears developed in her eyes but she held back from crying. She was done crying because of him, regardless of which Neji he was.
"I know when you don't want to talk to me; when you don't even want to look at me! I can see the disgust in your eyes! I understand that I'm not your Tenten because you've made it clear plenty of times! But... I would like, even if just for once... You weren't looking over me..."
Tenten started to cry and mentally berate herself.
"I know I'm not her," she continued, wiping her eyes quickly, "but I'd like if even for just a moment, if you just loved me for me. I want you to look at me and love me, not because I look like her. Because I'm doing the same when it comes to the other you."
Neji was taken aback. "Tenten, what are you talking about?"
Tenten flushed softly as she said, "I'm in love with you, Neji.."
~
He averted her look, all but embarrassed.
She couldn't help but to smile at him softly.
"Yeah," she said, tending to the food, "but I think I was just imagining things. Drunken people say things they don't mean, so I didn't take it seriously."
Neji looked at her, feeling a bit hurt. He started to remember the events of last night.
'Could I really tell her?' he thought.
She placed the soba and herring in a bowl and seasoned it before placing it before him. He nodded his thanks before grabbing her hand.
She blushed slightly and asked, "What's up, Neji?"
He sighed softly and gripped her hand hard.
Tenten felt nervous, but she relaxed when she saw him smile.
"You do realize that I was probably not blabbing about, don't you?"
She smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah, I did... Is that love for the other Tenten?"
Neji nodded slightly and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't really want to say anything, as I've kind of already hurt you enough. Not you, but her. Goddamnit, you know what I mean."
Tenten laughed at his annoyance and confusion, and she placed her other hand on top of his. "Yes, I do," she said, calming down.
He studied her before griping her hand harder. "Your face doesn't lie either."
Tenten didn't even bother denying; she merely smiled.
"Wait. You love him? Since when?"
Tenten laughed and sat next to him when he let her hand go. "For a while," she replied, messing with the ends of her shirt, "Of course, being a busy bastard like he is, he never notices when I try to make subtle moves. I mean, it's not strong love, but I really do care for him. I guess that comes with being comrades. If I even think about someone else holding hands with him or k-kissing him, I get upset."
Neji chuckled softly and said, "Uh huh. And that's not strong love at all."
"Oh shut up!" she spat, punching his shoulder.
He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her arm across him, gently caressing his lips up against her arm.
She blushed hard and said, "Don't do that."
He chuckled and said, "I'll consider. Looks like we'd better get you home as soon as possible, huh?"
"Maybe," she said, smirking, "but you'd better eat what I made you first."
"Only if you share with me."
"Deal."
~
Neji couldn't avert her look. She was upset; desperate, upset, and clearly unable to contain what she had been holding in.
Tenten said, "I can't... I can't keep being around you, knowing that I'll be separated from you. This is wrong of me, I know it is. But I'm yearning for you more than I ever have."
"More than... Wait, are you telling me that you love him?"
Tenten nodded guiltily and said, "I don't want to, though. I love you more. I don't want him, I want you. And the thought has been eating me alive. What you feel; I know it's not for me. It never has been. I know you love the other Tenten, and the fact that I could soon be apart from you... I don't want that. I want to stay here with you, damn all consequences."
Neji took a few steps towards her, planning to embrace her, but she took a step back.
He asked, "Why? If you loved him, or loved me, why didn't you say anything to either of us?"
"Because of what he's done," she replied quietly, feeling sick to her stomach.
"What has he done to you?"
She looked away and said, "It... It was a long time ago... But after what he said and did... I didn't want another. Even though it was clear he didn't want me."
Neji walked towards her, and this time, she didn't back up.
"He was like his father in every way," she said softly, "cruel and possessive. And just like his father, he has a list of doing lewd and perverted things. He and I were teammates at the time, and he was aggravated with something. I-I tried to help him, but he... He took advantage of me."
Neji tensed up and gently grabbed her shoulders.
"Did he violate you?" he asked, rage building up deep inside.
She nodded softly before quickly saying, "He d-didn't take my virginity though! He just... He just touched a lot. It seemed to make him happy, so I let him do what he wanted to me..."
She started crying softly, and Neji grabbed her in a tight hug, kissing her forehead over and over.
She choked out, "I wanted him so badly after that... I knew it was just lust, but I didn't care. We were weird around each other afterwards, but one day he started being cruel to me, and I never knew why."
Neji tilted her head up and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, regardless of how I was feeling at the time."
Tenten gripped his shirt gently and said, "I love him a lot. But I'm starting to love you even more."
Guilt was tugging at Neji, and he knew that he couldn't hold back on how he was feeling any longer, regardless of which Tenten it was.
~
The duo laughed and pushed each other aside as they made their way past the training grounds.
Neji chuckled and said, "You're too much, you know that?" "
Oh I know," she replied, giggling.
He grinned before saying, "If we find a way to get you back, it'll suck seeing you go."
Tenten smiled and said, "Yeah, but at least you'll be able to express to Tenten how you feel."
Neji nodded and said, "I've hurt her so much... More than you or anyone else would know. I just want a chance to try and prove to her. It'll be hard though. I'm a big breast type of guy."
Tenten flushed slightly and said, "Creep."
"Bossy."
"You'd better believe it."
They smiled at each other before Neji said, "Look, about yesterday. I wasn't mad at you for charging at Hinata like you did. I was angrier at myself that I didn't step in for you. I guess I was kind of afraid of her myself."
Tenten waved him off and said, "I had fun. The Hinata I know is completely innocent and wouldn't even bother hurting a fly if she could avoid it. It was nice, although I really was angry."
Neji grinned and said, "I'm starting to think that a woman's fury in general is scarier than a man's."
Tenten smiled softly and said, "I don't know about that now. When a man gets angry... Sheesh."
Neji laughed softly, and Tenten couldn't help but to blush. It was rare to hear him smile let alone laugh.
As they closed in on the area, Tenten said, "It felt like someone delivered a blow to the back of my head. I don't know who it was or why, but it happened the moment I saw your Tenten. Maybe that person left some kind of clues. You mind?"
"Of course not," he replied, and he activated his Byakugan and looked around.
All the while Tenten tried to look around for anything familiar. Her eyes caught the sight of a white tree, and she said, "Hey wait. I think I see something I remember."
Neji, who deactivated his Byakugan after finding nothing, walked over to her and asked, "What did you see?" She pointed at the tree and started to run, saying, "I remember passing out there! Come on!" He was beside her in moments, and she couldn't help but to feel happy.
'I'm one step ahead on going home! I can't wait to see Neji; I'm sure he'll be happy to see-'
She skidded to a stop, breathing heavy and trying to quiet herself down. Neji stopped as well and asked, "What's wrong?"
Tenten gently grabbed his chin and tilted his head forward.
He saw what she did, and his jaw almost dropped. They saw themselves, not thirty feet away, almost hidden within the trees.
And not only were they embracing, they were locking lips.
Tenten's heart almost stopped.
~~~
DRAAAAAMMMMMAAA INCOMING!!!!! Next chapter is sure to be confusing as well as very emotional, so I'll be sure to make it as easy as possible to understand. I hope you enjoyed this.
Until the next Update!
~ Nimo