Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... unfortunately
Tenten bent over panting trying to get her breath back. It was the end of another unforgiving training session with none other than the one Hyuuga prodigy, a merciless taskmaster. Why do I put up with this? She thought to herself wryly as he calmly picked his way through the forest of weapons to grab his water bottle. He'd hardly worked up a sweat. Oh yeah, he's gorgeous and I have a huge crush on him, that's why I keep coming back for more…
"You might as well kill yourself now," her inner self told her sarcastically "because sooner or later he WILL train you to death."
"Tenten"
Neji tossed his bottle to her. She caught it and gulped the rest of the water down gratefully.
"Your chakra control is better; you were able to last longer this time," said Neji without expression.
"Thanks," Tenten nodded wearily and summoned her weapons; they all disappeared with a poof. She tossed his bottle back to him. "It's getting late Neji I need my dinner."
Neji nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow same time then."
"Ano… I can't make it tomorrow and for the rest of the week," Tenten rubbed the back of her head and grinned at him sheepishly.
He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, he looked pissed.
"Tsunade-sama gave me an assignment."
"What kind of assignment?"
Flashback
"Tenten, you may have noticed that I haven't given you a single assignment where you are required to do any flirting."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama" Tenten said, rather confused at where this was going.
"It is very diligent of you not to allow yourself to become distracted by shopping, clothes and makeup like most other kunoichi but it is important that you are able to employ your feminine wiles in order to gather information as well."
Tenten nodded, so the Hokage thought she was a tomboy, which was fine. It was true and it wasn't a big deal to her really.
"So that's why I'm giving you a special solo assignment," said the blonde woman as she leant back in her chair and placed her feet up on the chair with a smile, a slightly evil smile.
Tenten cleared her throat apprehensively, "And what exactly is my assignment?"
"To get in touch with your feminine side and Ino is going to help you with your assignment" replied the Hokage as she took a sip from her sake bottle.
Ino, who was standing next to Tenten turned to her and gave her a wide innocent smile. Tenten smiled back at the younger kunoichi weakly, her stomach churning rapidly.
End flashback
Tenten blushed and muttered, "It's a secret assignment."
It was just too humiliating to tell him that Ino was basically going to give her a makeover and instruct her on how to flirt with members of the opposite sex.
"Hn"
She sighed and they both began walking home together. It had become a bit of a ritual for Neji to walk her home last year when she helped him prepare for the jounin exam, which was about the time her crush on him developed. It had intensified after they had gone on the mission to retrieve Gaara when he was kidnapped by the Akatsuki. Tenten blamed it on her hormones.
As they walked through the town Neji paused in front of teahouse and turned to her abruptly, "Do you want to grab dinner?"
Tenten almost tripped, that was unexpected. "Sure" she said as nonchalantly as she could and followed him into the teahouse. Inside she was screaming and jumping like the teenage girl she was.
It was a quiet place and they sat down at a booth and ordered their food. While waiting, Tenten sipped her tea and studied it with great concentration since the silence between the two of them was growing awkward. Glancing up she realised that Neji was studying her intently. She blushed and smiled at him shyly and he quickly looked away, a faint pink gracing his cheeks.
He finished his tea quickly and suddenly handed his cup to her. "Read my tea leaves, what do they say?"
Tenten took it and as she did, their fingers brushed. They both jumped and Tenten leant back against the wall and tried to fight another blush. His fingers had been surprisingly warm and she tried to stop imagining how they would feel against her skin.
Tenten frowned as she examined the tea leaves, rotating it slowly trying to discern a pattern or a symbol. Palm reading was more her thing. Heck, even tarot card reading told her more than tea leaves. But palm reading was what she found the easiest.
A person's hands told you a lot about that person. Hers were calloused from all her weapons although she tried to put cream on them regularly. Her fingers were long and nimble. Musician's hands Neji once told her. She herself had always privately thought his were more like musician's hands than hers with his long fingers that performed Jyuuken so gracefully and accurately.
She cleared her mind and focused on the bottom of the tea cup. "A shield and crossroads, or maybe they are two katanas. It's hard to tell sorry."
"Why is it every time I ask you about my fate you give me the vaguest answers possible?" asked Neji quietly with a small smile.
"The future or fate as you like to call it is not set in stone. It's like a river that can change its course gradually slowly over time or a landslide may make it change drastically," she replied pensively. "I can only tell you what I interpret from the signs. You have to figure out what the signs mean for yourself."
Their food arrived and they ate in silence. Neji insisted on paying muttering something about his uncle telling him to try to act more gentlemanly and walked her home.
When they reached her apartment building, Tenten turned to her team mate and smiled, "Thanks for dinner Neji and for walking me home."
"Hn"
"Goodnight then"
Neji nodded, "Good luck for your assignment" and walked off.
Tenten watched him until he turned the corner and sighed. Thanks I'll need it.
A/N: Yeah I know the whole Tenten makeover thing has been done so many times but I'm trying to put my own spin on it. Hopefully it works P