More Than You Bargained For [Neji]

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

Here she stood, in this probably ridiculous outfit, her hair and face all dolled up, to probably do much of nothing for the night. Tenten still genuinely wondered why she was here, of all places, but if that was what was going to happen, then... At least it would keep people from crawling all over poor Neji as if he were some object. The reason he'd probably asked her was out of respect, and Tenten returned that. Although... She couldn't help but think that it was kind of cute that he'd asked her to go along with him, too. Well, it wasn't that he'd really asked her, it'd been more of a mutual agreement between them as going as friends. They were friends, after all, but she hoped some of the nutcase girls that would be there wouldn't get the wrong impression.

And so, here she stood, with most of her hair tied up into a single bun at the back of her head. Two long strands that reached past her jawline by a good couple inches had been straightened to hang straight, and the front part of her bangs was pinned off to the left side of her head. Her face was loaded in more makeup than she ever wore, her eyes outlined gently in black eyeliner and her eyelashes marginally lengthened by mascara. She even wore a little bit of pink lipstick, to boot, and there was a touch of light brown and pink eyeshadow on her upper eyelids. Not only was there that factor involved, but the fact of what she was wearing was even worse in her opinion.

She felt so bare in the smooth dress that reached to just below her knees. It was a sleek, black garment with the back open from about her mid-back upwards, tied just behind her neck as a halter. The halter reached down just far enough that it didn't really expose much of her bust, but the fact that it was slim and tight to her body showed off her curves quite well. Most people probably wouldn't recognize the weapons-loving kunoichi, except maybe Neji. He just seemed to have skill like that. In her hand she held an intricate white mask, with a clear string that would fit around her head easily, not bothering to put it on. They weren't inside yet, so what was the point?

Clicking her way towards the door in her slightly high heels - they were only about a quarter of an inch of heel or so, not enough to be dangerous - she leaned against the marble pole that created the slight archway into the building as giddy couples passed by her. A few single guys looked at her and whistled, and it took all of Tenten's willpower to avoid clobbering them. Good thing Neji wasn't a disgusting pig like a few of the others; otherwise, he could've been in for an interestingly painful night.

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Neji didn't understand what the big deal was with the masquerade, but the fact that he had actually agreed to go was confusing. He hardly remembered agreeing to it, but now that he had been reminded by Lee, he wasn't going to make up an excuse. Not that he would have in the first place. He was just pleased that he had decided to accompany Tenten to the party instead of having to put up with the other girls that had proven to be annoyances rather than comrades.

He felt stiff in the black Western-style tuxedo and the pressed white formal shirt, but what really almost killed him was the silk tie that he had managed to somehow knot onto his neck. It looked messy and unprofessional, but he had never once even dreamed of wearing the costume, so there was no way that he had prepared to tie the nuisance.

Feeling quite uncomfortable already, Neji loosened and finally removed his hitaiate and carefully wrapped the green curse on his forehead with pure white gauze that would hopefully look decent with the stiff suit. After examining himself in the small mirror that belonged to his mother, Neji found that he looked a tiny bit more mature if he let his hair down completely instead of wearing the band to bundle his ends together, but he slipped the rubber band into his pocket just in case.

As he walked out the door, Neji swiftly nabbed the hideous bird-like mask from his nightstand and tucked it away in his jacket. He passed many a fangirl from his school days, but he promptly ignored each until he finally reached the meeting place and found a dark-haired woman wearing a slightly revealing dress. Knowing his teammate's figure from constant training, Neji took his place beside Tenten and nodded in greeting. "Tenten."

He knew that they were out only as friends, but he couldn't help but notice the drastic change of appearance that a few simple changes brought about. The depths of her eyes stood out more than usual, the odd - for Tenten - hairstyle revealed the soft structure of her chin much more than usual, and the appropriate dress flaunted the figure that was more likely than not to be hidden by her normal attire; however, his slate-like face portrayed none of his emotions.

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

So she'd been right; Neji would have been the only one to recognize her for who she was. Her mother had said she looked nothing like she usually did, and Tenten could agree that she'd barely been able to recognize that it was herself standing in the mirror earlier. As a coolly familiar and icy voice spoke her name behind her, she turned to see exactly who she'd thought it was; Neji, of course.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?' Tenten said with a laugh, twirling the small white mask between her fingers absent-mindlessly. Lowering her voice as the area cleared for about half a minute, she smirked. "I knew you'd probably be the only one who'd recognize me," she said, a gentle smile gracing her dolled features. As she looked at the rather odd - well, compared to what he usually wore, anyways - attire that Neji was dressed in, she probably could've laughed at how awkward they both seemed.

Though, as she glanced, she couldn't help but think that Neji did look rather handsome in the tuxedo. He'd let all of his hair out, it seemed, so it flowed gently down his back; she was so used to it being tied, and she'd never really taken much notice to how long it actually was. Now that she could tell... It was a lot longer than her own. That thought made her laugh mentally, because it seemed so ironic for some reason.

She still couldn't help but feel so awkwardly revealed in this outfit. She'd worn tighter outfits in her younger years, but she was so used to the baggy top and bottoms she always wore that it just felt so weird to have it tight to her skin like this. Sure, on more casual days she'd return to that black sleeveless style she'd worn when she was younger, but even that wasn't as horridly revealing as the dress. The whole back of it was exposed to the air! I guess it's a good thing that nobody aside from Neji can actually recognize me... Otherwise I'd probably hear about it days later.

"Well, should we, uh, make our way in?" Tenten said, lifting up the mask and pulling it very carefully over her head to hang around her neck. With careful precision, she lifted the clear string to rest just below the bun and to go underneath the strands of hair on either side of her face. The whole masquerade theme seemed a little overboard for Tenten, but nonetheless, she was sure they'd have a lot of fun with the whole festival.

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Neji sighed and shook his head lightly in response. "It was either this or endure the insane training that Lee and Gai-sensei would have put us through." He could already see Gai's furious reaction in his mind about how they would have been wasting their youth, then he would make them do five hundred laps around the village or something similar. And there was absolutely no way that Neji was going to strain himself that hard just because he decided to not go with his comrade to a pointless masquerade.

It seemed a little awkward for Tenten to be twirling a mask instead of her usual kunai. He couldn't possibly imagine her flinging the porcelain mask across the room in an attack... though, she was Tenten. And Tenten could use almost anything as a weapon. So he supposed it was possible, but not likely.

At the comment, Neji cocked a dark eyebrow. How long had they been partners now? Five or more years... but it seemed like the two had known one another for much longer. Of course Tenten was wearing the revealingly-cut, slim black dress, but it was still the figure that had been chiseled from the strenuous training that he and she herself had put her through. It was still the intelligent, deep brown orbs that scrutinized his every movement during practice and gave him the comforting gaze that made him feel welcome at any moment in her presence. It was still the dark hair that was always pulled into the double-buns to keep out of her sight for battle.

It was still Tenten.

How could anyone mistake her for another? If someone could recognize him in the god-awful tuxedo, then that person could surely pick out Tenten from a crowd... right?

He allowed the thought to pass as he lifted the bird mask to cover his countenance and adjusted the string until it fit his head snugly. He didn't want to be revealed as the strange man with the Western clothes and the bird face.

At the request, Neji gave another nod. "Let's get this over with..."

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Suddenly the world seems three times brighter when it comes to me being dressed in this rather ridiculous attire," she replied to his comment about their avoiding Gai and their overly stupid training rules and other various headache-causing quirks. "Let's just hope they don't show up here," she muttered as they entered promenade-style into the room. The sights they were graced with awed Tenten only slightly; along the walls were tables at which tired dancer couples lounged, taking a break from dancing. The curved ceiling was adorned with a beautiful crystal chandelier that cast a gentle glow over the dance floor. The tiled floor was fairly packed with couples dancing to the tunes that the orchestra, set on a raised stage, played with precision and beauty. Waiters and waitresses bustled along the tables serving water and various alcoholic drinks such as sake to some.

As the song finished, Tenten turned to look at Neji, a smile gracing her face. The tune that was about to begin was - as the orchestra conductor in his gaudy tailed coat announced - a polka tune. Well, that would be easier, and contrasted well with the two-step tune that had just finished. As the orchestra was getting themselves organized with their music, Tenten turned to Neji.

"Do you know how to polka?" She asked. She wasn't sure if he knew any forms of social dancing, as it was only by chance that her mother had forced her to learn. Nonetheless, if he had no knowledge of how to polka, she was sure he could catch on rather fast. Polka was one of the easier dances to learn, although it was also one of the more tiring dances as well. She'd worry about the spins later, or perhaps even spin just automatically. Once he had the steps down, his work would be finished. She had the harder job with going backwards and twirling while keeping the steps anyways.

Feeling only slightly awkward, she held out her right hand for his left, hoping he would have the coordination to avoid steping on her toes...

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Neji grimaced at the fantastic scene that was now layed out before him. Never before had he been once for social dances, especially with all of the giggling fangirls, but he had made a promise to his comrade that he would join her at the event.

Now he regretted that promise.

Taking her hand in his with a light mental sigh as to not tip off his confusion with the subject of dancing, he responded with an easy, "No." He examined the footwork of the other dancers - other being a loose term, for he did not consider himself one of them - twirling about the dance floor and smiling, laughing, talking while they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Well, Neji, once again, wasn't familiar with the practice of chatting while he worked...

.... That sounded like a good idea. Instead of thinking of the event as "dancing," he could think of it as "working"... or, more precisely, training.

It was a normal thing - almost a ritual - for Tenten and him to train together, so the footwork wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would. Now as he examined the others with another eye, he felt almost like he could pull the exercise off. Instead of dancing, he was training... Neji would have to keep that in mind as he moved, hopefully in rhythm, with Tenten's movements

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

So Neji had no prior experience with social dancing..? Well, that would make the night a little more... Interesting. Then again, Neji would probably catch on a lot quicker than some of the other people she'd been forced to learn with... She remembered teaching it to her cousin when she was younger, and that had been a hassle, especially the waltz...

As the polka tune began, it seemed Neji was fairly close to being in step with her. His movements were about a sixteenth note or so behind hers, but for someone who'd just started, he was keeping up rather well. One-two-three one-two-three, Tenten thought, following the beat of the music to the polka steps. Around the floor they went, sort of in a circle, Tenten stepping backwards at about a 45-degree angle as Neji was stepping forwards.

"You've got the easy part, don't worry... I have to step backwards, and later on there's spins..." She hoped he wouldn't think that he would have to spin, but she wondered if she could perhaps incorporate spinning as a couple into the mix. It seemed he was mostly following her own movements, and so she thought it could be interesting to give it a try. Setting herself up, she glanced around to see a few other pairs doing it, and gestured with her head towards them.

"That's one of the spins," she said, turning her head this way and that to see whether she could catch another couple doing the other spins, but she couldn't. "Usually it's the girl that does most of the spinning, but... I don't know a lot of the complicated ones." She would have complimented him, but it didn't seem quite right. As the song seemed to drain on - Tenten swearing the orchestra was drawing it out just for the hell of it - her feet began to tire, slowly, the more she was forced to bounce on the balls of her feet to keep with the music. Once the tune stopped, Tenten sighed in relief, hoping they wouldn't strike something else complicated up.

"You know... You caught on pretty well... For someone who's never done it before. You never cease to amaze me with your talent," she said, smiling. As customary to social dancing, she followed with a tiny curtsey, but rolled her eyes as she did so. As the orchestra started to strike up a flowing quick tune, Tenten groaned. It was a waltz. The dance for you and your significant other, her mother's words repeated in her mind, but to Tenten this was much the opposite. She was sure that if Neji were her 'significant other' that one or both of them would have realized such, but as of now it was just a kill-me-now tune.

"The waltz. Fun." Tenten could barely get the proper waltz turns in herself, but the steps were easy. "Okay, just like this..." First she stepped back with her right foot, brought her left back to 'brush' by her right and step to the left, followed by her right joining up with her left. She repeated the same motion but with the opposite foot; her left stepped back, her right came to brush her left and step to the right, and her left then joined up with her right foot.

"Just like that, except you step forward with your left foot first." She still thought he had the easier part in this, but the fact that she had prior knowledge to the dance itself somewhat evened things out. "The beat's fast, so... Do what you can to keep up. Don't worry if you can't, though," she added. Hoping he could most likely catch on to that rather easily, she held out her right hand once again.

[[Oh, if you want to know a waltz tune to get the idea, look up "Waltz No. 2" on YT. xD]]

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

][blah I am no good at dances scenes myself XD haha. But I shall start with the walts paragraphs XD][

Neji looked up to the music that changed dramatically, it was slower than the last piece they played but seemed to pick up right after the intro to the piece. His lavender eyes shoot over to Tenten when she started to show him the footing to a waltz. This was going to be a nightmare for him, it seemed like he couldn't get out of this and knew if he blew this piece of he would not hear the end of it from Lee or Tenten. He nearly wished that he didn't agree to coming with her on this, tho the way Tenten was dressed up at the moment made it slightly better in the long run for him. He bit the inside of his lip slightly before taking a deep breath. ”Tenten...this...is weird...you know that right?” He just wanted her to know how uncomfortable he was with all this. This wasn't him at the moment, but he knew he was slightly trying to make her happy and that what mattered tonight right?

He watched her has she held her hands out towards him once more to dance. He looked around the dance floor at everyone else at the moment has they did this waltz thing. He mainly focused on the footing for a moment so he knew slightly what was expected of him. Watching a couple at the moment was a better example than watching Tenten try and just show him the footsteps and explain to him what he needed to do.

He took another deep breath and let it out before taking her hands in hers, and noticing the size difference this time. He would try for her, but she knew that he made no promises about getting all this down. He did have a thought earlier today to ask his mother about this but it had slipped his mind has he was getting ready for this dance, and now he was regretting that in the long run. He would have to make a note to himself to ask her later to show him how to dance.

He took a step closer to her, his eyes wander into her brown ones, he slightly smiled to her, but it looked mostly like a grin at the moment. ”I shall try for you.” He whispered mostly to her at the moment, he didn't want anyone else to hear him at the moment because it was so unlike him to speak that way about trying. For him it was either do or don't. He stepped forward with his left foot and waited for her reaction at the moment.

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

Tenten chuckled slightly when Neji told her that this whole thing was weird. She didn't find it that weird, not really, although the fact that she was this close to him, with her left hand gently reseting on his shoulder, his right hand casually on her waist, and her right hand clasped in his left made her slightly nervous, and now that she thought about it, it almost made her blush. The phrase "significant other" was making her think a little... Although she wouldn't admit it openly or even to herself, she had more than just a slight little crush on Neji. When it really came down to it, she was deeply attached to him, considerably head-over-heels, though she dared not admit it to anyone, especially herself.

When he said he would do this for her, however, it was only customary for her to flush the lightest shade of pink when he said it, because the comment touched her deeply. She was glad that he was willing to give up his evening of what probably would have been training in order to "suffer" through this with her. Regardless of what he would have said, she still would have gone to the dancing without him, which would have left him to be harassed by poor lee. It was mean, sure, but it was also convincing.

"Erm, well, I'm sure you'd rather dance with me and not some random girl who would one, not be able to paitiently teach you and two, spend most of the time ogling at your gorgeous face," Tenten lamented, emphasizing the word "gorgeous" in a mocking, sarcastic fangirl tone. "And I would rather not dance with someone who truly cannot dance. Meaning, they know the steps yet are too uncoordinated to remember not to step on my poor toes," she added in a lightly joking tone. "Sure, you might not know the steps as of yet, but for one you're a fast learner, and two, you're coordinated." Glancing around for a moment, she caught one of the aforementioned "uncoordinated" men trod on his partner's toes, and she chuckled lightly. As the slow beat ended and a jive began, Tenten knew she shouldn't let Neji live through a jive, at least not yet.

"Mind if we go outside? It's sweltering in here," she saidl ightly, fanning her face with her left hand. Her right stayed in his as she led him outside to the empty canopy and porch swing. Not daring to give up an opportunity to sit, Tenten led him over to the swing, then released his warm hand, sighing in joy and relief. The swing was comfortable, yes, and Tenten leaned into the corner and kicked off her heels, propping her feet up on the foot rest that was there as she patted the space beside her.

Now, however, thoughts and feelings began to flutter across her mind. She now felt a somewhat strong urge - for some reason she wanted to know and at the same time didn't - to breach the subject of her personal feeligns to him, but she wasn't entirely sure how to. She had never really been one to talk about those sorts of subjects, not even to her slightly hare-brained mother. Bringing up such an odd subject with Neji so openly would simply be awkward. As well, Tenten wasn't quite sure how he might take such a comment; would he shun her, thinking her to be another one of his little fangirls? Would he accept it? She didn't know, nor could she predict.

"So, enjoying yourself?" she asked, reaching down to massage her tired feet. Wearing heels liek that was a fairly abnormal thing for her, along with the kohl outlining her eyes, the mascara that lengthened her lashes to luscious lengths, the hairstyle that was clearly showing the softer curves of her face and jawline, and the dress that hugged and exploited the curves of her bust, waist, and hips, not to mention exposing her entire back and soft-skinned shoulders. It was a good thing Neji wasn't disgusting like Naruto was or there would have been some shiny, dangerous objects flying, and that was speaking literally. Tenten was prepared, as always; she had two Sai blades strapped flat to either thight, with a small, sheathed tanto of only about four inches in length hidden in her top. Little did any notice that the two simple sticks that were shoved in her bun were none other than senbon needles; yes, she was prepared all right. She wouldn't dare leave her house weaponless and unarmed.

Absent-mindlessly, Tenten glanced up towards the moonlit sky and the stars, wondering. She knew that sometime, she would simply have to tell him; it was only fair that he at least knew. She didn't want to keep any secrets from him, because she was confident in his honesty. There seemed to be nothing he purposely kept from her; she knew full well that the subject of his father was still a touchy one, hence why it went unspoken, but pretty much anything else she could ask about and be told; she just never really asked.

"Hmm..." she started, pondering a little more on what she should say. "You know, I've been wondering. What do you do in your spare time, other than training?" She didn't have the guts to breach it yet. Perhaps she'd get lucky and he'd breach it, spare her the embarrassment and probably stuttering. The things that he did in his spare time had always been something she wondered about, because to herk nowledge, the only thing Neji did was train with either her or his uncle. He had to have some other hobbies of sorts; Tenten's was weapons making and to an extent, drawing. Tenten enjoyed drawing pandas, for the most part, because they were her favourite animal... At one point, however, she'd made a deal to herself that she'd do a portrait picture. Perhaps she could do one of Neji for his birthday...

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Totally not whipped by Saska pleading with posting with Neji........Shut it Kiba........go play with your doggies toys...

---

Neji couldn't really say that he was okay with dancing with Tenten, specially at how close they was and where their hands was position at the moment. This was all new to him that he knew that he had to get over sooner or later. If there was another dance anytime soon he had not doubt that Tenten would trick him into going with her again. There was only two reasons why he came with her today and that was because of the promise that he made to her that he made sure he kept any promises to her, and two he didn't want to feel the wrath of Lee coming down on him. No one wanted that, mainly because Neji knew that Lee could seriously hurt him if he placed too much effort into him and that was something Neji rather avoid at all cost for now anyways.

What shocked Neji more was the fact that he was catching onto all this rather fast and not stepping on her toes all the time. His attention was drawn back to Tenten has she commented about dancing with a complete strangle that would stare at him to no end. That sent a shiver down his spine has he thought about coming here with someone else. If that was the case he would rather be training with Lee and Gai if someone else had made him come here to dance. ”....If someone else would have asked me....I would be wishing that I was training with Lee and Gai....” That was saving something even for him to admit that he would rather be training with those than to be out with someone else. It was Tenten so he didn't mind has much has he would if he was dragged here by someone else.

When the next song came on and Tenten suggested that they go outside. That was a relief for him not to be dancing to the next song. He already felt looks of the girls that they graduated from the academy beaming at them, this made him more uncomfortable at the moment. He nodded and let her lead him out of the building at the moment. He didn't mind her holding his hand has they walked, it just meant that the girls would know to keep their hands off him at the moment and that was okay with him at the moment. Once outside he took a look at their surrounding, noting that no one was around at the moment has Tenten took a seat on the swing and finally letting go of his arm at the moment.

He reached up with his left hand and slowly pulled at his tie at the moment. He was in front of Tenten and outside at the moment. If they headed back in he would fix it up before heading back in. His attention was drawn over to her has he decided to sit down next to her. He didn't look a bit shock at her question tho, sure he wasn't expecting that but still he knew her two well to be shocked. He was kinda shocked at what she was wearing and knew she probably had some kind of weapon some where but he was not brave enough to ask or try and find them. He pondered her question for a moment wondering what would be the best answer to give her before he opened his mouth. He tend to do this more now than he had in the past. ”I tend it like being around you, and this is just a new experience to being around you. So short answer is yes Tenten, I am.” It was an honest answer but he knew there was holes in it, and knew she might poke holes in his statement.

It was her next statement or question that caught him slightly, his lips slipped opened just for a second and they was pierced back together rather quickly has thoughts started to run through his mind at the moment. This was the first time he he could remember her asking him such a question so personal about himself. He tried to think if this had ever came up before, there was nothing that he could come up with at the moment. He looked towards his left and away from her at the moment trying to think, which for him was not going to well at the moment. ”What I like to do?” He repeated the question more so for his own time to readjust the question at the moment. ”I help my mother to take care of the plants she has, she has a large memory and liking to plants. There also books she has given me over the years that I like to read from time to time.” He was a Jounin and a brewing of war at the moment and there was little time to enjoy the time off at the moment.

He slowly looked back over to her and tilted his own head at the moment. It was like if a light bulb just went off inside of his head. She was questions a few personal questions about him, maybe there was something deeper that is coming of it at the moment. But he was not sure what it was at the moment. He took a deep breath at the moment and looked down to his feet at the moment. ”Tenten...what do you like doing?” He felt his chest tighten for a moment because this was the first time that he had really asked her something like this and he was not sure if he was doing it okay.

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

Tenten was remotely surprised when Neji actually gave her a long answer for an easily-answered question. Well, that was odd for him... Whatever the case, she flushed a very light shade of pink with the remark... It touched her. He actually enjoyed her presence? Well, that was a feat... Sort of. She'd had an inkling that he enjoyed being around her - obviously - but she'd just never heard him say it aloud... And that surprised her.

Intently she listened as he explained what it was that he liked... Plants and reading? That one was an unexpected one. She'd never guessed him to be a plant person, but it made sense that he would be if his mother also was. The reading, however, was only slightly a surprise. He was intelligent, so it would make sense that he might like to read, right..? At the same time, it was surprising. Neji seemed to spend almost ninety percent of his free time training... She never guessed he would find time to slip some form of literature in there as well.

Then he asked her what she liked to do. Well... She rarely shared her drawing talent with anyone, but hell, why not? It was something she liked to do, after all... The one, she knew he wouldn't be surprised. To hear of Tenten working with weapons in a forge wasn't exactly something new. She was already a weapons mistress... Didn't it just fit well?

"Well... For one, I like creating and fixing weapons. Sometimes I spend my time in the forge me and my mother have, and either make repairs on my weapons or make new ones to use for the ones that I lose during battle." She paused for a second, wondering whether to bring out the subject of her drawing ability. She'd never shared that talent with anyone, not even her mother, really. Her mother knew that Tenten liked to draw, yes, but Tenten rarely even showed her the drawings she would do. The kunoichi was simply independent like that.

"And I like to draw, too... Though.. I don't really show anybody anything that I draw, because, well, they're not exactly the best of drawings," she said, hoping to deflect any comments about what they might look like... She was still a little bent on surprising Neji someday with one of her drawings. She hated sounding so modest, but it was the least she could do... She really didn't need all sorts of questions about that sort of thing. Not that she thought Neji would do such a thing, of course, but at least it hopefully killed the chance of trying...

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Neji knew that one of her interest would be weapon making. He had at one point in time been drawn into going to the weapon shop for his uncle for some reason. The weapons that was in there didn't look like most of Tenten's weapons to start with, even in the academy there was not that many weapons that looked like Tenten's. Sure he couldn't pin point all the weapons that she had that did look like other weapons she used but the ones that didn't he could point out just fine. To hear that she like working in a forge was not surprising to him, he would have been surprised if he didn't hear that actually.

He didn't make a comment about the forge, there was no need to in his eyes and that would waste time for the both of them getting too caught up in something like that. He had read that forges was suppose to be hot inside because of the heat that was use to bend the material used in making the weapons. The one thing Neji was not was dense about things that his team mates was into from first glance between them. Everyone knew what Lee's extra time was doing.

To hear that Tenten was into drawing was something else, he never pictured her for the drawing type during a mission or training. He would have to phrase this carefully in order not to get scolded or get slapped by her, tho he didn't think anything he said would make her want to hit him. He took a deep breath and returned his lavender eyes to her, than down to her hands trying to imagine her drawing, tho it still seemed out of place for her to do so. "You draw." He knew he just repeated her statement, and it was meant for a question that just didn't come out right for him. He sighed slighted when he heard him say that out loud, her felt like he was being stupid with her and that was never good.

He turned his attention back to the streets, trying to regather the thoughts that flowed inside of his head. He started to tap his finger lightly against his leg, something he had picked up recently when he was sitting and thinking about something. He normally only did this at home tho, so it was nothing that Tenten could pick up other than something that he normally didn't do to start with. "I would like if you showed me a drawing sometime." A simple request between friends right? to him Tenten was his best friend and he didn't know exactly how to express that to her, so if they started off small it would work right?

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

His repeating her statement was rather normal... She knew it meant he didn't have much to say on the subject. Simply acknowledgement of what she did... And there was nothing more. Here they were, back to the two-word answers again. It made her chuckle that he was like that. Him, who rarely talked, only when he was either forced, actually enjoying or part of the conversation, or when it involved something important. Here, he was neither being forced, nor did it involve something important... So he was probably enjoying the conversation. As he'd stated.. He enjoyed her presence. That was a good thing, right?

Then he requested that some time, perhaps he could see some of her drawings... Well, it didn't sound like a bad idea. A small 'hm' escaped her lips, her eyes speaking what she was doing; she was deep in thought... Well, not necessarily deep, but she was thinking. Perhaps they could get up, dance one more dance, and then head out... Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Hopefully he would agree to it... Hopefully.

"How's this... Why don't we dance one more song, then we'll head back to my place, and I can show you those drawings?" Tenten asked, before realizing how crass that sounded. Well... Whatever. Neji would know what she was talking about. She still couldn't believe how happy she was tonight... That was it. She couldn't hold it back anymore... She had to confront it, rather, confront him about it... But not now.

No, she'd do that later. She would confront it, though... Because he didn't need to be kept from it any longer. Worst case scenario, she'd lose her best friend... Minor case scenario, things might be a little awkward, but he'd understand, and gently tell her no. Best case scenario... Bah, she was getting ahead of herself. He would understand... At least to an extent. He knew her well, and she was sure he was smart enough one, not to call her a fangirl, and two, to know that she wasn't anything of the sort. In her mind... It was just a genuine affection. They were close, and that was to be expected.

Maybe... Maybe it wasn't quite as much as she thought it was. Maybe it literally was just a tie between them as friends... Perhaps she only loved him as her best friend. She knew they were at least that... They had been such for years. Chances were, he thought of things the same way... Whatever the case, she would be able to live with loving him from afar, if that were the case. She would move on to someone else, most likely... Wasn't that the way it always worked? You had a fling, and then it ends. You have another one. It ends. That was all it was.. A game. Until you found your significant other.

All she could do was hope now...

"Tenten-chan~!" A very familiar voice called... None other than Haruno Sakura was walking by and giving her a look as she passed by that made her blush. Tenten wanted to kill Sakura... Seriously? The girl thought a little too much sometimes.

"There's nothing here, Sakura... Why don't you go find Naruto, hmm?" Tenten taunted back, her cheeks lightly pink. Oh right. Hell, like she could deny it, at least for herself. Here she was, dressed in ridiculous attire, sitting next to Hyuuga Neji, the most amazing teen she knew, who was not only her best friend, but was also amazingly gorgeous. And someone she cared about. A lot. And Haruno Sakura had just pointed it out with a look... And made Tenten blush over it. Hopefully Neji was a little too dense at the moment to catch on.

"Okay, whatever you say, Tenten!" the medical kunoichi taunted, disappearing inside. Tenten huffed, crossing her arms and frowning. Tenten seriously would have to remember to beat Sakura later... In some fashion. The words 'keep your distance' were the only ones registering at the moment... But nonetheless, they should have gotten going sometime soon anyways. Tenten sat up, pulling on her heels with utter silence. Hopefully Neji would neither catch on nor ask about it... Explanations could come later. Yeah, if he asked, she'd just say she'd explain later. That sounded feasable... Hopefully.

"Well? One last dance to wither away the night, and then I can show you those drawings, like you asked..?" She held out her hand to him, which was rather against tradition, but she could care less. She wasn't helpless, after all...

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...

[Hyuuga Neji]

Neji only talked to answer questions, or give statements that he knew that he had to give. The only time that he felt like talking was usually with Tenten, but he was never sure of how to tell her that. His short response that he did wasn't usually because of him want to shut everyone out, it was just that he had always been like that since before. With Tenten tho there was things that he knew at any point if he wanted to talk about it with her, she would always be there for him to talk to. He just had not gotten up the courage in a way to talk to her about things.

To say that he didn't have emotions was kinda pushing it. He didn't know how to express them nore because he had close it up years ago. He thought that he was getting better showing them off, well mostly to Tenten who seemed to read him like a book anyways for the most part. Now that he was slowly thinking about how Tenten knew him better than most of the people around him the more he seemed to realized to actually how important she was to him. Usually there was nothing that he wont do for her including this time at the ball with her. Now that he was realizing all this there was nothing that he would do that would go against Tenten.

He looked up to her when she talked about going in and having another dance and the going back to her place and showing him the drawing. That wasn't a bad idea, he just wished that they could skip that last dance bit. Wearing these shoes was not something that he was custom in doing and they was starting to pinch his toes together and that was not a good thing. He wasn't sure at how Tenten was managing in the shoes that she was wearing, if he had to wear something like that he would gladly just go barefooted. He trained barefooted from time to time at his house.

He was about to comment on the plan with Sakura came near them, and giving the two of them a look. He couldn't tell exactly what the look was about and didn't see Tenten blushing about the look. All he could do was chopped this up has something to do with the universal girl thing that most to all including Tenten had from time to time. He listened has Tenten told Sakura to go find Naruto or something, and then Sakura just telling her whatever. He was more confused now than before. He wanted to ask Tenten what that was all about but knew that it was not the right time to do that. He would ask maybe on the walk back to her place or something.

He watched her stand up without much of a noise from her shows. He then heard her question about the dance and the drawings once more. He nodded and look to her hand when she held it down for him to take. He knew that it was suppose to be the other way around, but he didn't care and it was not like he was going to allow her to pull all of his weight up, that would hurt her for the most part. He reached up and took her hand, and moved his other one down beside his leg and pushed himself up to him standing next to her.

It was then that the light from the doors caught Tenten just right, and his eyes was drawn for to her. He didn't understand this feeling that was washing over him, but he knew better than to act on it. Acting on one's emotions specially knew ones could only mean one thing, downfall. There was no way he was going to do something to get Tenten to stab him with the hidden weapons that he knew she had on her. He might be a idiot when it came to emotions, but he was no idiot when it came to Tenten. He coughed slightly and turned his head away from her. "The light from the door, captures you nicely."

[Tenten]

Stand In The Rain, Stand Your Ground, Stand Up When It's All Crashing Down...

~She Doesn't Know Why, But She Knows That When She's All Alone, Feels Like It's All Coming Down~
❃♈❃ тєитєи ❃♈❃
"Okay, if you insist, remember you asked for it!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

The fact that he'd said it wasn't what was horrible about it. No, it had nothing to do with him, really. Well... Indirectly, perhaps. The fact that it was unexpected wasn't the problem. It being a little... Awkward, per say, wasn't the problem, either. No, the true problem was with Tenten... And her face, for the most part. Her cheeks were burning a deep shade of red that probably matched or came close to the shade that her clothing usually was... And when one said clothing, they weren't talking about the white shirt. No... It was the burgundy pants. Definitely the burgundy pants.

Several times the chocolate-haired kunoichi opened and closed her mouth... Rather speechless, of course. Well, what the hell was she supposed to say? It wasn't every day that one, your best friend was more than just a crush to you, two that you were out dancing with him - the most gorgeous teen in your graduating class - wearing a rather... Beautiful, she had to say, and somewhat 'sexy' dress, and third... That he, a normally emotion-free kind of guy, complimented you about your looks. Oh yeah. You were bound to turn a few nice shades of red if that happened...

"Uhm, uh, th-thanks," she managed, her cheeks still burning intensely. Oh God, what was wrong with her? She couldn't even keep a straight face around him now? She really needed help. A slap in the face would've been nice... Or having a sunburn across your cheeks. At least if her face was sunburned, she could pass it off as the 'light' on her sunburn... Failure. Absolute failure. This was more than just embarrassing. Oh, way more than embarrassing. As they entered the large room, Tenten flinched slightly... It was hot and crowded in here. She would rather dance outside...

"Hey, look, why don't we go uh, under the gazebo..? It's much cooler outside, and a lot quieter," Tenten said, not really waiting for an answer... She was already walking her way out to the gazebo, where it was much cooler than indoors. Not to mention, the gazebo was empty... She'd rather be in a more deserted place and embarrassing the hell out of herself in front of only her best friend rather than in a room packed full with people... and embarrassing the hell out of herself. In front of her best friend. Some days, she wondered about her own sanity...

Tenten was so drawn up in everything that she'd barely realized she was shaking... Oh God. Shaking more than she'd ever thought she could. As they walked out slowly towards the gazebo... she glanced down at her hand for a few seconds... and noticed that it was quivering slightly. And it definitely wasn't the wake of her movement, either. Something was wrong... Quite wrong, actually. Why would she be shaking? It didn't make sense. Something like that wasn't enough for her to start shaking... And the outdoors were suddenly rather hot... Hell, she wasn't sure at all what was going on.

Little did she know, however, she'd realized too late... She stumbled, not over her heels. The world spun around her, and the next thing she knew, she was... Falling towards something. She wasn't sure what she was going to hit... But she was falling forwards. Before she could remember hitting anything, her vision blacked out on her, and she collapsed.

______________________________________________________________________________________

You Stand Through The Pain, You Won't Drown, And One Day What's Lost Can Be Found...