S I X

Her

She still couldn't believe she had a phone now. She still couldn't believe Hyuuga Neji gave her a phone as a present. Or did he? She shook her pretty little head when she flipped it open. The first thing that popped up on the screen was Neji's number. And written in small caps just below the number was:

call me as soon as you open this.

She felt her palm sweat a little, her eyes widen by a lot, and her teeth unknowingly grinded. She could not believe everything at all. But she didn't really have a choice. She dialed the number and set it to call. It rang, and she felt like a fool. She didn't have to be nervous, she shouldn't be. But calling someone on the phone is… something she hasn't done before. Sure, they had phones in the house, but she never did get to use them even once. Even if she did, they would all be relatives of hers.

The ringing had stopped. And Tenten suddenly froze up on her bed as soon as she heard his voice.

Which was much deeper on the phone.

"H-hello?"

"I thought you wouldn't call."

She could've sworn she felt Neji smile when he said that.

But then that would be ridiculous.

"Why w-wouldn't I…"

"I never thought you'd be this nervous."

"I… this is kind of like the first time I've talked to a guy on the phone."

"Yeah, I kind of sensed that."

"You jerk. Why do you have to go and buy me this anyway? …t-this is for me, right?"

There was a pause, but Tenten knew Neji was still there.

"Because I'm batman."

She stood silent, as did he.

It didn't take long before he suddenly hung up on her. She was left dumbfounded.

Well that was unexpected, she thought.

Him

He was panting, he was sweating, and he couldn't keep still in one place. He was walking around in circles, his phone tightly clutched in his hands. Why did he say that? He wondered. He couldn't possibly tell her he just wanted a way to talk to her whenever they weren't on the train, he couldn't possibly tell her the reason was because he just wanted to hear her voice. He couldn't. For seventeen years Hyuuga Neji has never been one to give in to a woman. For seventeen years he has never worked this hard for a woman.

Was he falling for her?

He shook his head.

He couldn't.

He wanted to, though.

That night, Neji couldn't sleep. He waited for her when he got on the train the next day. He was glad she came. He wanted to see her.

"Hi."

"Hello, Batman. Oh, wait—sorry, forgot about the secret identity thing."

"Very funny."

She handed a paper bag in front of him before he could offer her a seat beside him. He expected this, but deep inside didn't want to believe it.

Her

"I can't… accept this." She said, holding the paper bag firmly. She had put the phone back in its case, back in the plastic box and everything. It all looked new. She didn't want to return it to him; owning a phone was everything she wanted ever since she turned thirteen, when all of her friends got one and made it too much of a big deal. But she had to return it.

"That's already been paid for." He answered, still not getting the bag. "That's yours, really."

"But—"

He looked at her with those cold, cold eyes. "But what?"

"it looks so… expensive."

He didn't answer right away, instead he rubbed his temples. Tenten somehow recognized that stance. She somehow figured that it was his way of thinking, of coming up with a plan of some sort.

"Then go on a date with me after school today."

Her eyes widened at his sudden conclusion. A date? She's never been to one!

"I'll go to your classroom afterschool. Consider this conversation done." He got up and left, just in time for the doors to open.

She still couldn't stop staring at him.

She had just gotten herself a date with the Hyuuga Neji.

Him

He kept tapping his table with the end of his pen, constantly keeping an eye on his watch. To him, it was as if time had suddenly stopped, as if it was going by slower than usual, or it was just him.

Just him.

Of course, he had just gotten himself a date after all.

"Neji." Lee called his attention, surprising him a little. He was so focused on his little 'date' he had almost forgotten he had friends of his own. He wanted to consult them about it. He wanted to. But can he? Should he? He knows he won't get anything useful from his friends, especially from a certain blonde.

But he went and did.

"Wait, what?" Naruto's eyes widened as he stood, like everything in the universe didn't seem right anymore. Same did Kiba. "Neji's got himself a girl?"

Neji rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe even Uchiha Sasuke was joining in the conversation. He smirked, in all his Uchiha glory. "Thought you were gay."

Kiba quickly reacted, "I thought so too! Just the other day he was even asking for a girl's phone number. Who was she again?"

Neji remained silent, not showing even a bit of embarrassment. He took a quick look at his watch. 11:45 AM, ah crap, he thought, four more house to go.

"Tenten!" Naruto yelled, catching Neji off guard and looking at his friends like he had seen a ghost. Naruto, for the first time, seemed to realize what was going on. "So it is her."

Neji felt a sweat drop.

Her

She kept looking at her brand new phone. It was weird enough her friends weren't asking her about it, now she felt like she was being encouraged by them.

Could they have known what was going on between her and Neji? Probably.

Hinata would know, even if Neji wasn't the type of person who would tell her these things. And even if Hinata did know, she wouldn't be telling it to Sakura and Ino secretly. No.

But what was going on?

She felt a cold sweat ran down her cheeks. She was getting nervous, she had never been on a date before. What do people do? How should she act? What kind of date is it anyway? the kind couples do? or the kind just friends do? She suddenly felt dizzy. She flipped her phone open and looked at the time.

1:28PM

Almost.

When it was time, she braced herself and got out of the room. She planned on escaping, she wanted to, but she just couldn't. Her feet stopped at the door. She remembered Neji saying he would go to her. She waited. But what if he'd suddenly decided to bail? then all this waiting would be for nothing. It was then that she decided to go to him instead.

Would he be happy? Would he be mad? Would he still be there?

Questions kept on popping up in her mind.

It was endless.

By the time she got to his classroom, the doors were just about to open, meaning they were just about to go home. Meaning they had just been dismissed. Tenten was a little relieved—happy even, could she have wanted to go on a date with him?

"Are you looking for someone?" A tall, pale guy asked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing—he had the same look as Neji if she weren't mistaken. She couldn't decide which of them was handsomer. Tenten blushed at the realization of her own thoughts.

"H-Hyuuga." She stuttered, and felt ashamed. The guy didn't seem to mind, and went calling Neji.

"Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke." He returned his attention to her, and in an instant Tenten suddenly felt small, not just in height, he was obviously a little shorter than Neji. But in presence. She felt like he had this strong aura around him, like everywhere he goes people would immediately look at him. People would immediately notice him.

She asked herself why she doesn't feel this way about Neji.

And just when Neji appeared too.

"Tenten." She said, her eyes never meeting Sasuke's.

She turned her head to Neji and gave him a weak smile.

"Let's go."

Him

He never did like Kakashi. He was always late, always slacking off and reading his porno books in class. But he never particularly hated him.

Except today.

It was already time, dismissal time, classes over.

But no, it just had to be today Kakashi decided to keep the class in for minutes.

Neji could feel his blood boil at the sudden anger.

He was even thinking if Tenten would escape and go straight home.

But he trusted her enough to be sure enough she wouldn't.

Or would she?

…

When Kakashi finally let them out, he had quickly shoved his belongings in his bag, not even bothering to notice Naruto who was snickering right in front of him. Chanting "Neji's got a date" over and over again. With that enormous grin of his. Neji grunted, and headed towards the door.

He felt his blood boil even more at the sight of Sasuke.

But not just that—the sight of Sasuke talking to Tenten.

He wanted to give the guy a good scolding, if not a good beating. But he was smiling uncontrollably, which he quickly hid with his hand. He clutched it tightly, making it stop. Hyuuga Neji never smiled a lot, and he was not about to now.

Maybe.

Just maybe.

He was happy that Tenten didn't stand him up and actually went to him herself.

Chapter six up!
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