Gai won the competition by default. Kakashi refused to dance in the presence of others apart from Airin~ a dance that none of them wanted to view.
Tenten was thrilled when the game ended and dashed straight away to meet up with Anko. She was however intercepted halfway through when she bumped into her favourite "bump victim"; Hyuuga Neji.
Instead of falling backwards with her butt hitting the hard ground again, Neji caught her effortlessly by her waist. Neji's face was hovering at approximately 3 centimetres apart from Tenten that she could make out his notable scent; pine and an earthy scent, a combination of a strong, masculine scent.
"He smells so delicious.. Wait, what?" Tenten thought inwardly, she cursed herself as soon as Neji pulled her up to a standing position.
"Where are your..." Neji started but Tenten finished his sentence for him.
"...eyes? Right here in my head. That was the same sentence you asked me the first time we bumped into each other." Tenten stated.
Tenten realised that Neji's hands were still wrapped around the sides of her waist, she looked down the same time as Neji, he quickly let his grip of her waist go.
"So.. Had a fun time during the competition that you have been "dreading" to go to? You turned the Uchihaa and my invitations down yesterday. But looked who you were all 'chummy' with at the training grounds earlier." Neji exclaimed quietly.
Tenten looked at Neji, with her eyes widened, "You cannot be serious! You were there?! You watched the competition?!"
Neji was now fuming red as he activated his byakugan out of anger and replied, "Hey, it happened at a public location, any passerby could have seen it. Although there were already front row spectators to the scene.."
Tenten frowned at her roommate, what was his deal? She started to breathe in before she retorted, "You think I am the one who invited all those people? Kakashi-Sensei invited his teammates while Airin-San invited Itachi-Senpai. Why am I even explaining myself to you? You could have just jolly-well joined in if you wanted to, Gai-Sensei was just showcasing his obscene dance moves.."
A prominent anime vein had propped up on Neji's left temple before he spoke in a dangerously low growl, "I do not give a flying fu**.." Tenten realised that Neji was cursing, he hardly cursed unless, he was really pissed, ".. about that oaf's dance moves. What I am trying to refer to was of your behaviour earlier, Takagi. It was highly inappropriate. He might not realise it now, but soon enough he will, giving the fact that you are practically 'throwing' yourself at him and behaving inappropriately just like a fan girl..."
Neji was not even able to finish his sentence, he had to dodge a kunai that came flying towards his direction. Neji's eyes widened as he looked at Tenten who was now flaring.
"You think that I am throwing myself at him?! What are you suggesting?!" Tenten spat.
"It is pretty obvious, Takagi. You kissed him.." Neji started.
"To save our asses! We were caught in a predicament back there!" Tenten growled in response.
"And just today, you were embracing him!" Neji pointed out.
"I wasn't embracing him! We were laughing at Gai-Sensei's ridiculous dance! I have laughed like that with Lee countless times and you never bothered! Why are you making such a big deal out of it, this time? Is it because you dislike Itachi-Senpai that much?" Tenten asked him incredulously.
Neji's eyes were now back to it's normal size, no byakugan was activated, but his eyes have turned into a darker shade; filled with rage, "I do not care about him, this discussion is about your behaviour. You are the one who is supposed to be pretending to be a guy, but you are slipping up. It's a burden for me but I can't save you if you keep up with this atrocious behaviour."
"Then don't. Don't save me, since I am such a burden towards you." Tenten yelled as she walked away from Neji.
————————————————
Anko had brought tonnes of exclusive, colourful dango from the land of tea, where her recent mission took place. Tenten and Anko were seated at the living room, savouring the delicious sweet and sticky texture of the mouth watering dessert. Tenten told Anko everything as they ate, by the end of the story, Tenten had sprouted a frown on her face.
"Why must he behave like a total jerk Anko?! Why can't he leave me be if I am such a burden towards him. Why can't he be more understanding like Itachi-Senpai?" Tenten whined as she bit off a pink coloured dango from the skewer stick.
Anko raised a knowing eyebrow and looked into Tenten's eyes, "You cannot be serious. You mean, you really haven't figured it out yet?!"
"Figured what out?" Tenten grumbled on.
Anko wanted to continue but stopped, she figured that she should not be adding more weird suggestions into poor Tenten's already clouded mind. She decided to leave subtle hints and replied, "I think the Hyuuga is extremely worried about your safety. He is a Hyuuga after all, once they made a decision to do something, in this case, he agreed to protect you and keep your identity hidden, he will go out of the way just to ensure he fulfil his task."
Tenten sighed as she inwardly agreed to Anko's reasons before she asked Anko, "Say, Anko.. Have you ever like, erm, like someone?"
"Okay.. Maybe she is aware..." Anko thought inwardly.
"Hmm...A crush you mean?" Anko clarified further, to which earned a nod from the other brunette, "Let's see..There was this one time, I was totally into Asuma. He was kind and all you know? But that feeling kind of died a slow death within me. I mean that's what crushes are about, unless you are trying to say otherwise.."
"I see, so it's just a phase? Like let's say hypothetically speaking, I feel extremely awkward and embarrassed around this particular guy. Would that be considered as a crush?" Tenten asked without looking at her Guardian.
Anko smirked at that before she wrapped Tenten in a mass of chakra wires. Tenten who was unprepared, started screaming her lungs out, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!!"
Anko stopped when she was certain that Tenten would not be able to release herself from the extremely secured and tightened chakra wires around her body.
"You are not going anywhere until you reveal who this crush of yours is. Lucky guess; he is a prodigy from a prestigious clan?" Anko asked in a sickly sweet tone.
Tenten glared at her and nodded her head.
"I knew it! You are into your roommate aren't you?! The Hyuuga!" Anko squealed as she clasped her hands together.
"No! Euw, gross! Haven't you been listening to a single word I say?! He is such a prick! Besides he would never see me as a lady even though he knows that I actually am." Tenten spat out her answer.
Anko blinked, her were focused hard onto Tenten's, "You are kidding me right?"
"Of course not! It's Uchihaa Itachi... The one who I kissed during the mission." Tenten mumbled her words out as she turned impossibly red.
"Wait a minute... This is getting interesting..." Anko thought as Tenten's confession slowly digested into her system.
"ITACHI?!!!" Anko yelled.
Somewhere within the Uchihaa compound , Itachi was choking onto his matcha tea.
When Anko was slightly composed, she released Tenten from her chakra wires, her face turned serious as she motioned Tenten to sit before her, "I don't know how I should tell you this but... He is kind of due for an arranged marriage."
—————————————————