Nejiten and The Chamber of Secrets
Not as raunchy as the name would suggest! I love Harry Potter, and I love Naruto, so I stuck all the Naruto characters in Hogwarts. Is that so wrong? Anyway, this story follows Tenten and her rivalry against one such Neji Hyuga.
Disclaimer: Slight pg13 language, but not excessive
AU: Hogwarts!!!!
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Tenten knew that she and Neji Hyuga were sworn enemies the minute she stepped onto that train.
Of course, after spilling her stuff everywhere, she was late to finding a cabin, and so she chose the last one in the entire train. The cabin was empty save for one student. She opened the door with a toothy grin (that was still missing a few teeth in the back) and waved a big hello as she sat across from her new friend.
The new friend (who, after closer inspection, she realized was in fact a boy and not a girl) had long dark hair held in a low ponytail. He sat with his feet criss-cross-applesauce with his hands on his knees. Tenten tried not to giggle when she realized he was meditating (or that's at least what it looked like). When she sat down across from him, he opened his eyes for the first time since she had walked in. Tenten was shocked to see that they were bright white. His robes lacked the logo of a House on them, meaning that he was a first year, just like her.
"I'm Tenten!" She smiled happily. "What's your name?"
"Please leave this cabin." He answered.
Tenten frowned slightly. "Well, there's nowhere else. Besides, that's not a very kind way to treat your new friend." She said teasingly.
The boy opened one white eye, and looked at her intensely, scrutinizing the young girl. Her second-hand robes, her old shoes, her lopsided twin buns, and her giant smile told him everything he needed to know.
"I don't want to be friends with the likes of you." He said sternly.
Tenten was flabbergasted. "Why not?"
The boy sighed. "Do you even know who I am?"
It was her turn to inspect him now. His perfectly polished black shoes, perfect hair, brand new robes, and haughty expression told her everything she needed to know, but she didn't work that way.
"Well you seem like someone who isn't very nice, since you hate me and you haven't even met me yet." She answered.
He scoffed at her reply. "I am Neji of the Hyuga family, one of the most pureblood lineages in the entire wizarding world."
She rolled her eyes. "Ohhhhh. So you're one of those."
"One of those?" He questioned. "Are you daring to insult the Hyuga family?"
Tenten eyed the Hyuga thoughtfully. "No." She decided. "Because I don't judge people off of a first look like you do. But, I don't approve of your beliefs."
"Our beliefs."
"Yes." She nodded. "About people......people like me."
"Ah." He said. "So you're a muggle born then."
She nodded enthusiastically (even though he didn't see it, since he was still meditating). "MmmHmm! And I'm gonna be the best witch ever! Even greater than the great Tsunade!" She exclaimed.
Neji smirked. "Yeah, right. You can't change what you are, muggle-born. No one can surpass their lineage, Tenten."
Her eyes widened at both his statement, and the way he said her name for the first time. Grinning even wider than before, she leaned in to the boy, leaving her face only inches from his. The sudden proximity forced Neji's eyes wide open for the first time. Normally, he would push away anyone this close to him, but for some reason, he found himself frozen when he looked into her eyes.
She tilted her head a little bit and proclaimed, "Well we'll just see about that, huh!"
From then on, Tenten decided she would try her very best to prove to Neji Hyuga that she could surpass the boundaries set by her heritage. The orphanage raised her well, and she was always taught to be kind to others. Thus, she would destroy him with kindness and determination!
Their rivalry was only intensified when Tenten was placed into Gryffindor, skipping happily to her table and sitting next to a fellow first year with a strange bowl haircut, and when Neji Hyuga was proclaimed a Slytherin the minute the Sorting Hat touched his head.
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By their seventh year, Tenten had more than proved Neji Hyuga wrong, much to his annoyance. Not even he could deny that Tenten was the best and brightest witch of their year, who had made Head Girl, while Neji made Head Boy. She had also taken an immediate liking to the rough and tumble game of quidditch, and was named the captain of the Gryffindor team for her final year of Hogwarts. She was second only to Neji Hyuga himself, who had been named captain of Slytherin the year prior. It seemed that although Tenten excelled in all fields, Neji was always one step ahead of her, and this frustrated her to no end.
Over the years, she had made friends with practically anyone who met her. She was kind, friendly, and fun to be around. There was only one person who she had not extended the hand of friendship to, and he was more than happy with that. It wasn't that Neji Hyuga did not like Tenten. No, that was far too simple. He just had too much pride to allow himself to acknowledge her after all these years, vocally, that is.
Although he was widely praised for being a prodigy of the Hyuga family, wizened far beyond his years, he still refused to see his emotions as any less than what his pride allowed. It was easy to despise Tenten at first, with her dirty blood-status, her carefree (reckless, more like) attitude, and obnoxious smile that never left her face. However, in his second year, he was proven by one such Naruto Uzumaki that status doesn't matter. And looking around at his peers, he found that very few of them were actually pure-bloods, and no, that didn't seem to matter too much. (Especially since his younger cousin Hinata, even purer blooded than he, had been the first ever in his family to be sorted into Hufflepuff, and held no initial talent whatsoever). Tenten's strange bushy-browed friend (Lee, he believed his name was) and of course, Tenten herself, had proved themselves capable far beyond their blood would suggest on multiple accounts.
However, he found it more and more difficult to hate Tenten as the years wore on. By about his fourth year, he begun to notice how bright that obnoxious smile was, and how silly her attitude was, and whether or not he agreed with her recklessness, he could at least appreciate the fact that she was always optimistic in a negative situation, and thus good in a crisis (which, when one went to Hogwarts, one came into a lot of those). One such situation came in their third year, when an angry hippogriff came loose onto the grounds. Tenten was the only one brave (and stupid) enough to "help him." She calmed the rampant horse-eagle-whatever with an apple. Yes, she bounced up to it happily with an apple, and the hippogriff took an immediate liking to her, much like everyone and everything else at the castle had done. According to many of the younger students (including Neji's youngest cousin, a second year Gryffindor) found Tenten to be the most comforting upperclassman. And, Neji supposed, he owed Tenten at least a little gratitude for being kind to Hanabi when Neji was.....a little less understanding.
By his sixth year, Neji had noticed that Tenten's feminine, erm, features were much more prominent. Sure, her figure had changed since she was eleven. That was to be expected. Neji just wished she wasn't so goddamn distracting during quidditch practice, or Slytherin/Gryffindor potions lessons, or in the dining hall, or when she walked the grounds with her friends, or, any other time for that matter. He wished her hair would just stay in those godforsaken buns and not fall out attractively around her face every once in a while, or maybe if her eyes were a little less golden, or if her laugh was a little less euphonious, or if she was less stubborn, less determined, less....herself, then Neji would not be in this situation, which he realized after having an embarrassing conversation with a fellow Slytherin (an Uchiha boy who was completely whipped over some pink haired Ravenclaw). Yes, Neji Hyuga realized that he had a little bit of a thing for Tenten.
The one girl in the entire castle who wouldn't look his way.
The girl who hated him for his sharp attitude and cruel demeanor towards her in their younger years.
Ok, maybe it was more than a "little thing."
No, Neji Hyuga had it bad.
As for Tenten, well, she laughed at her former self for ever seeing Neji as a girl, because that mistake could never be made now. No, Neji was not even a boy anymore. He was, well, oh for God's sake. Yes. He was a man. And at night, she found herself frustratingly thinking of his long smooth dark hair, and his bright, yet cold, white eyes, and his voice. Oh, his voice had (naturally) lowered significantly since they had first met. And now, well now it was like a goddamn aphrodisiac. His intelligence was definitely attractive, and, dare she say it, so was his arrogance. Fuck. She had a thing for that cold-blooded (but hot on the outside), arrogant, asshole.
The last quidditch game of their seventh year was the long-awaited Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. This game would decide the winner of the Quidditch Championship, and, quite possibly, the House Cup (if enough points were scored).
The warm summer breeze rolled playfully through their team huddle, running through their hairs and fluttering their uniforms even before they left the ground. Tenten linked arm in arm with the other two chasers on the team, while she stared intently and determinedly at the six players alongside her. Naruto, a beater who never held back his swing (especially when against one Sasuke Uchiha), Kiba, the seeker who never lost the ball, Konohamaru, a young chaser and quick learner (who took strongly after Naruto), Hanabi, who was an amazing seeker with incredible eyesight (likely takes after her older cousin), Kankuro, a beater in her year, and Lee, the fastest chaser at Hogwarts. It was this team that was the fastest and strongest that Gryffindor House had ever seen, and she kept this in mind as she spoke to her players.
"Ok, guys." She grinned her wide smile. That smile was one thing that had not changed in her seven years. "This is the moment we've been waiting for. If there is anyone who can win this match, it's the six people in front of me, for sure. You are all amazing players, and I have no doubt of your abilities. No matter what happens out there, just know that I am already proud of you all and the work we have put in together. Now, let's go show them what that hard work can do!"
"Amen!"
"I'll beat that bastard, ya know!"
"Let's get some!"
"Kiba, phrasing?"
"THE POWER OF YOUTH AND DETERMINATION WILL PREVAIL!"
Tenten laughed joyously at her ridiculous teammates, the people who have become much like the family she never had growing up. Looking around her, she was so thankful for these people that have made her seven years the greatest she'd ever had.
Grabbing her broomstick, she led the team out onto the pitch. The Slytherins were already lined up in the center, smirking like they had already won. Tenten went to go take her place across from the Slytherin captain and seeker.
"You're late." Neji remarked.
"Yes well, I wanted to see your face for as little an amount of time as possible." She grinned.
"Hm. Well I'll end this game quickly for you then." He answered.
"Yes, well, I'm sure this game will end quickly, but not in your favor."
Neji brought his face closer to hers, much like she had done to him when they first met. "Yes well, we'll see about that, won't we?"
Tenten chuckled at the irony and placed a hand on Neji's head as if he were a child, unknowingly churning Neji's stomach as she did so.
"Yes, I suppose we will."
The game, despite the smack talk of the captains, did not end quickly, not even a little bit. In fact, the game lasted longer than any other had in all of Tenten's time as a chaser, ending after over six gruesome hours. Despite its length however, the match never became boring. Possession of the quaffle changed almost every minute, and each team barely got any lead before the other gained it back. If not for the excellence of the keepers on both sides, the amount of points stacked up would be practically infinite, and the announcer, a sixth year Ravenclaw named Shino, was struggling to keep up with the rapid events. As for the snitch, the golden-hell-ball had shown itself five times since the match started, each one of them resulting in an epic battle between Hyugas. Surprisingly for everyone, Hanabi held amazing potential as a seeker, enough so to keep up with her prodigious older cousin. On the sixth showing of the snitch, the race between Hyugas occurred again, and if Neji hadn't been hit by a large bludger to the face from Naruto, the results may have been very different. But, Hanabi actually caught the snitch ahead of Neji (although she hit the ground pretty hard in the process), and named the Gryffindor team the winners with a score of 490-310. On top of it all, the large number of points won (widely thanks to Tenten and Lee) would likely put them in first for the running of the House Cup.
The team quickly sped down to the ground to support their young teammate, lifting her from the ground and up onto Naruto's shoulders. Hinata ran down from the stands to hug and congratulate both her sister and her boyfriend for the win, causing both of them to blush a bright red in the process. The rest of the team gathered in a giant hug (courtesy of Lee) and held on tightly as if for dear life. Tenten tried not to let tears come out of her eyes as she gazed into the eyes of her teammates for the last time. She tried not to mourn the end of her last quidditch game, but rather celebrate in their successes. Students from all houses flooded the field, congratulating various members of various teams. Two of Tenten's best friends (both Ravenclaw sixth years, Sakura and Ino) rushed to Tenten in a suffocating embrace and congratulated her on her victory, also shedding tears for the imminent goodbye of their seventh year friend.
"Let's go celebrate in the common room!" Kankuro yelled.
"Alright! Naruto, come steal some food from the kitchens with me, will ya?" Kiba yelled to the blond.
"On it!" He exclaimed. He kissed Hinata on the cheek before running off to join Kiba in his pilgrimage for food.
Tenten simply wanted to stay on the quidditch pitch for a little longer and reflect on her time in the best place in the world, the place she had called home for so long now. Long after her friends had gone to party in the common room, she laid out in the center of the field, with her eyes closed and her hands behind her head.
"Shouldn't you be celebrating?"
She opened her eyes to see her visitor, although she hardly needed to. She would recognize his voice anywhere. "Oh. Hello Neji. No, I just wanted to relax, I guess. Why, would you like to insult me or something?"
He laid down next to her, trying, and failing to not allow any grass to get on his pristine (even after a game, it was still clean) quidditch uniform. "Quite the opposite actually." He finally answered.
Tenten opened her eyes, wider this time. "Huh?"
"I would like to congratulate you."
Tenten was, well, surprised to say the least. She sat up slightly and looked down at her sexy, stoic nemesis. "Well, thank you Neji." She smiled. She never expected to say those words in her life.
"You finally beat me." He said, looking up at her from his lying position.
"I, what?"
"Well, Gryffindor had not beaten Slytherin in a match for a while before this year." He clarified. "So, you finally beat me."
She chuckled softly, sending tingles down Neji's spine. "Oh yeah. I suppose I did."
Neji sat up and looked at her in slight confusion. "Were you not keeping track?"
She smiled, shaking her head. "No, I sort of stopped keeping track of that long ago."
"Oh. I see."
There was an awkward pause before Tenten spoke up again. "I heard about your Ministry job. Congrats on that."
Neji nodded. "Yes, I'll be working under my uncle." He paused. "I heard about your contract with the Harpies. Congratulations."
Tenten smiled softly. "Thank you. I'm really happy that I get to play again."
Neji looked thoughtfully at her. Her hair had annoyingly come loose from those wretched buns again, and her eyes were just as golden brown as he pictured them being. "Yes well, I suppose our date will have to be before you head off to Holyhead then." He said.
Tenten looked shocked. "I-our, what?"
Neji kept his face neutral, like he was thinking. "Yes well, it will have to be sometime before the term ends, for convenience of course. Hogsmeade is the obvious choice of venue, since the school would be a strange place for a date. I think The Three Broomsticks will do."
"I-erm, Neji!" She still had not gotten over her shock.
"Hm. Do you not accept?"
She grinned, drinking in his big white eyes and haughty attitude (that she had come to love, yet hate), his strong build, and refined intellect. "Okay." She decided. "I will accept."
"Good." He smirked. "Then I will pick you up on Saturday evening at 6pm from the Gryffindor staircase. Please be there on time, I do not like waiting." With that, he got up from his position on the ground and walked off the pitch.
Tenten stared in wonder, still sitting on the field. She shook her head playfully as he walked off, mumbling under her breath, and yet smiling all the while.
"That arrogant bastard."