~ one – madame secretary ~

It all started when Neji Hyuga was made president of the Asian Student Association.

Gritting her teeth, Tenten tapped her pen against the desk. Surrounding her were the fifty or so students that represented their ASA charter—a mix of upperclassmen, second-year sophomores, and newly recruited freshmen that had shown up during orientation weekend.

At the front of the classroom, Neji cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Tenten sighed and dropped her pencil beside her planner, moving her hands to her laptop to take notes for the record.

"For those of you I haven't met yet," Neji began, "I'm Neji Hyuga. I'll be your ASA president for this school year, after which Sakura Haruno will take over."

Neji gestured to Sakura, a pre-med junior with dyed, pale pink hair. Sakura smiled and gave a jaunty wave. There were a few murmured hellos, then Neji continued, "For the freshmen in the room that we met during orientation week, welcome. I've been a member of this organization since I was a freshman, and it's been influential in my collegiate career. As an Asian student organization, we do our best to invite Asian speakers every couple of months, as well as hold fundraisers and cultural events throughout the year.

"This year, we're going to host one big event in May, before graduation, so most of this semester will be spent fundraising to pay for it. It will be a play on a night market, and it will be campus-wide, which is something we haven't attempted before. At the next meeting we'll go into more details. Miss Kato?" Neji looked to their association advisor, Shizune Kato, who walked over with a big smile on her face.

"Welcome!" she greeted brightly. "I'm so excited for this year! I'm Miss Kato, and I am responsible for helping all the events go smoothly, as well as running interference with the administrative leg of the university. I'm very happy about our officers this year—they're all very talented upperclassmen, and I know they'll lead us to success!"

Tenten stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Miss Kato took a moment to introduce the officers, briefly re-introducing Neji as president, Sakura as VP, and a stoner junior, Shikamaru Nara as treasurer. When Miss Kato ended with her, Tenten smiled coyly and waved pleasantly to the gathered crowd.

"Let's have a great year!" Miss Kato exclaimed and dismissed those assembled.

Tenten exhaled as her smile faded, shutting her laptop as she began to assemble her things.

"Tenten! Neji! A word, please?" Miss Kato called.

Tenten glanced at Neji. He was in the middle of a conversation with Shikamaru, but his gaze briefly met hers. Tenten looked away quickly, feeling her expression harden into indifference. She joined Miss Kato and smiled politely.

"Tenten, I'm so happy you decided to take on the secretary position, after our email exchange," Miss Kato said lowly, treating Tenten to a kind smile. "I'm feeling really good about this year's officers."

Tenten nodded but said nothing. A moment later, Neji joined them. Miss Kato looked between them and said, "I just wanted to remind both of you that it is absolutely necessary that the president and secretary collaborate with each other as often as possible. I've had years in the past where I didn't have a good secretary, or vice versa, a bad president, and it caused a myriad of issues. Tenten, it's up to you to take very detailed and precise notes so we can refer to them in the future if there are conflicts of interest, or we can't remember something that needs to be done. You're navigating the ship, so-to-speak! As for you, Neji, it's important to outline what it is you want to go over in meetings, and to inform Tenten of any outside matters that are discussed if she is not present. If it's not written down, it didn't happen! Do you think that's something you both can commit to?"

"Yes," Neji said without hesitation.

Tenten scuffed the toe of her shoe against the carpet. "Well, I'm pretty busy, so I don't know how often I'll be able to meet. . ."

Miss Kato and Neji stared at her, waiting.

"Tenten," Miss Kato began, "is there a scheduling conflict? Because if you don't have the time to commit maybe—wait, Shikamaru! We need to discuss last year's budget! Excuse me just a moment." Miss Kato rushed away to catch Shikamaru before he slipped out the door.

"So? Is it a scheduling conflict?" Neji prompted after a beat.

Tenten glanced at him. "No. I'm just busy. I'm a senior," she added in a clipped tone.

Neji stared at her. "And? So am I."

Tenten crossed her arms. "I just don't know how free my schedule is going to be to meet with you every week or every other week. I have a heavy course load and—"

"Why did you accept the position if you didn't think you would be able to handle it and your classes? It seems to me that you've overcommitted."

Tenten pursed her lips. "I haven't overcommitted. Look—maybe it would be easier if we corresponded strictly through email. You can send me your outline, I can put it in the record, everyone's happy."

"I don't think you heard Miss Kato correctly," Neji replied haughtily, raising an eyebrow. "We're supposed to work together on all association business, not just meetings."

"I'm aware of what Miss Kato was saying," Tenten retorted frostily.

"Great. Then we'll meet this Wednesday in the student center to discuss today's meeting and the agenda for the next." He looked pointedly at her and waited, as if expecting her to argue.

Begrudgingly, Tenten shrugged. "Fine. I'll see if I can fit you in." She brushed past him.

Neji muttered lowly, so only she could hear, "See that you do."

As she walked out of the building, Tenten let out a growl of frustration. What an undeserving, condescending asshole.

As a junior, Tenten had set two strict goals for herself: stick with her recently changed major, even if the coursework killed her, and become president of the Asian Student Association. Tenten spent the entirety of her junior year passionately fundraising for the ASA's two biggest projects—which is why, when Miss Kato sent her an email over the summer asking her to serve as an officer, Tenten knew her hard work had paid off. That is, at least, until Miss Kato had CC'd all the officers on one email for formal introductions, and Tenten realized that the position she had been working towards for the whole of her junior year had been given to Neji Hyuga instead, the spoiled asshole.

It wasn't even that Neji Hyuga was a real asshole—he wasn't like some guys that attended their university: going around, catcalling girls and being generally insufferable and obnoxious. No, Neji Hyuga was simply a spoiled know-it-all with poor social skills, no sense of humor, and a giant stick up his ass. From the first moment she'd met him in their freshman English class, Tenten had decided to dislike him, based off his haughty interpretation of Shelley's Frankenstein. Her opinion of him had only devolved from there.

Most did not hold Tenten's predisposition. Neji's reputation of unfailing politeness preceded him, making him a huge draw for freshmen (or perhaps more accurately, freshmen's parents) during orientation week. There was also his massive intellect ('swollen ego', in Tenten's humble opinion) and his penchant for being willing to help almost anyone ('self-interested hypocrite').

Not to mention, he was widely accepted as one of the hottest guys in their graduating class. So, there was that.

Though Tenten wasn't in the habit of actively avoiding him, this new development of meeting every other week was certainly not how she thought she'd be spending her senior year.

Tenten sighed and chewed on her thumbnail as she walked across campus to her dorm on a hot August afternoon. It wasn't that she was dreading meeting Neji—she just didn't want to waste her time with an egotistical jerk who had claimed of one of her only goals of last term.

Tenten flushed thinking about it. She reached into her jeans pocket for her phone and video-called her brother.

The screen was dark when he first picked up, but after a moment light flooded in, leaving a very sleepy-looking and squinty Rocky.

"Tennie, what's wrong?" Rocky muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Tenten smiled, a pang echoing in her chest. "Nothing, I'm sorry. I forgot what time it was in Singapore. I'll call you in a few hours."

"No, no," Rocky said, moving to a sitting position. His eyes were fully open now, though shadowy. "I'm awake."

"No, I'll call back later. You look like a wreck. Call me when you wake up." Without another word, Tenten hung up and took the stairs to her dorm two at a time.

When she got into her room, she dropped her backpack on her desk and took a glance around, frowning. The former secretary of the ASA and her roommate, Ino Yamanaka, was studying abroad this semester in Italy. Ino, however loud and crass and irresponsible, was one of Tenten's closest friends at university, and the start of her senior year felt distinctly lonelier without the blonde's presence.

Reaching for her phone again, Tenten sent a quick text to Ino saying she missed her. She was, somehow, unsurprised when the phone buzzed a moment later.

Ino (3:23): 10, it's the 2 week of school u cant miss me already. go get toasted

A second later, Ino sent a photo of a selfie that included two very handsome-looking Italian men and a flawlessly contoured Ino. Tenten smiled fondly and responded with a flexed bicep emoji.

Since she'd switched to majoring in history last term, Tenten was playing catchup with some of her classes, making her last two semesters overloaded. Unfortunately, she was also having to take statistics—a class Tenten should have taken her freshman year but had somehow skipped over. It was required by the university for graduation, and if she didn't pass it this semester, she wouldn't graduate in May, as her advisor had been reminding her constantly.

Tenten loved history. It was a subject she had always been good at and fascinated by, but when she arrived at university, she'd made the decision to take steps for a more practical career option: Business.

However, after taking a particularly difficult economics class last year, Tenten had fizzled out on the business track. In the middle of her junior year, she'd almost had a panic attack in her advisor's office to go over her options. Eventually, her advisor had pulled out her original college application essay, which had been on the Chinese porcelain trade in the 17th century and its effects on the modern day.

Her advisor had gestured to her paper and said, "This is what got you in to this university. Why don't you try your hand at it again?"

So, she had. And she'd been loving every minute of it.

The same could not be said for statistics. It wasn't that Tenten was bad at math; she had been a business major. But something about the subject, its impermanence and fluctuations—it twisted Tenten's brain around into a jumbled mess.

Tenten took a deep breath and sat down at her desk to review her statistics notes, her eyes crossing as she tried to make sense of the formulas she'd mindlessly written down. She worked at it for a good hour and a half without making much headway before her phone buzzed with another text.

Hyuga (5:18): Where are you? I'm in the student center.

"Shit," Tenten muttered, cramming her books back into her bag and sprinting out of her room. She walked at a fast pace towards the center of campus, where the student center sat connected to the library. When she entered, she spotted Neji immediately, sitting at a small two-chaired table by the bay of windows. He looked distinctly irritated.

Tenten walked over and said neutrally, "Sorry, I'm late. I lost track of time."

Neji did not respond to this, waiting until Tenten sat down across from him and pulled out her laptop to speak. "Do you have the notes from the last meeting?" he asked.

Tenten nodded and pulled them up with a few taps, handing her computer to Neji.

As he reviewed them, he glanced up at her, saying, "How did you think our first meeting went?"

Tenten shrugged, noncommittal. "Fine," she said.

Neji looked up, wordlessly raising an eyebrow. "Anything else?" he prompted.

After a pause, Tenten offered up limply, "More freshmen than last year."

Neji nodded and returned to reviewing her notes. "They won't last. Once most of them get into the swing of things, they'll disappear. We'll probably end up with a third of who showed up."

"I guess," Tenten replied, wrinkling her nose at his attitude. "We could try to keep them around though."

Neji continued reading, not looking up. "How do you suggest we do that?" he asked disinterestedly.

Tenten thought for a moment, glancing out the windows. "Well . . . we could do a freshmen workshop—you know, help them feel . . . connected to ASA. We could do team-building or have topic discussions, give them more facetime with the speakers we invite this year. . ." Tenten trailed off.

Neji looked at her, his attention caught. He handed back the laptop. "And how would we start that? It's already the second week of the semester."

"We've lost some ground," Tenten agreed. "But that's from lack of planning. It could be put together over a weekend. It doesn't have to be excessive—maybe once a month."

Neji shook his head. "I don't think we have the resources for that."

"We wouldn't need much. All we need is some willing ASA members, and to incorporate it with the speaker's schedule. It's not impossible," Tenten said, growing more excited over the idea as she talked about it.

Neji pursed his lips. "It's a good idea, but I can't say yes yet. I'd have to talk it over with Miss Kato."

Tenten sighed and settled back in her chair. "Fine."

Neji leaned back, holding her gaze, his expression unreadable. Finally, he said, "I was thinking we could get to know each other better for this first meeting. I know we've had classes together before, and we've both been in the ASA since freshman year, but since we'll be working closely together, it would be good to analyze our respective strengths and weaknesses."

Tenten stared at him, turned off by his stiffness. She picked through her bag for a pen to fiddle with. "Shouldn't we have this . . . team exercise with Sakura and Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Sakura has a night class this semester, and I have no idea where Shikamaru is. Besides, we agreed at the ASA meeting that we would be meeting privately this year to discuss details."

Tenten pressed her lips together in disappointment. "Lucky us."

Neji did not grace this with a response. God, he really is affected, Tenten thought. As the awkward silence grew between them, Tenten wondered if Neji disliked her as much as she disliked him. Probably, Tenten decided.

"We used to be on the business track together," Neji began thoughtfully. "But I didn't see you in any of my classes last semester, and you're not in any of them this term either. Why is that?"

"I switched to history. That last Econ class was the death nail in my BBA."

A small, almost undetectable smirk pulled at the corner of Neji's mouth. "Yes, that was a hard class," he agreed.

Tenten raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Oh, yeah? It seemed like you didn't have any problems with it. From what I remember, you were constantly being lauded by the professor for having the highest marks on all our tests. I'm sure he used your work for his grading curve."

The smirk grew. So pretentious! Tenten thought, frowning.

"You have a good memory," Neji said.

Tenten waved her pen. "Hence, Madame Secretary," she replied flatly.

"If I recall correctly, you made good grades in that class too. Not as good as mine, but I'm an overachiever," Neji said.

Tenten stared at him, beginning to feel a sharp annoyance in her gut. "Well, not everyone can be a genius," she quipped.

Apparently oblivious, Neji's smirk widened into a self-deprecating grin. "True."

At that moment, Tenten's phone buzzed with an incoming call. Neji frowned disapprovingly, but said nothing as Tenten excused herself, walking outside to take the call.

Rocky looked fully awake now, bright-eyed and energetic as he pressed his face close to the phone's camera.

"Tennie! Good morning!"

Tenten smiled. "Good evening. Sorry about earlier."

Rocky shook his head. "Don't worry! It made me that much more appreciative of the nights when I get a good night's rest!"

"Rock, I'm actually in the middle of a meeting. Are you—"

"A meeting for what?"

"ASA. It's kind of dumb, but the president is unbearable and wants to meet separately to go over notes."

"Ah," Rocky said, nodding sagely. "Very well. I guess I'll speak with you later then."

"Will you be free in an hour? I can call then, and maybe I can talk to you and Dad?"

Rocky shook his head, frowning sadly. "Sorry, Tennie. We're headed to the studio right after workouts and we'll be there all day. I'll text you later, when we're free, okay?"

Tenten nodded and said goodbye, heading back into the library. In a slightly better mood after speaking with her brother, Tenten said as she sat back down, "Sorry—that was my brother. He and my Dad are in Singapore, and the time difference is a little—"

"Twelve hours," Neji said, nodding, his pinched expression relaxing. "It's alright. What are they doing in Singapore?"

"Working," Tenten answered, unwilling to elaborate.

Neji didn't push. "Right, well, concerning the next meeting, I'd like to hear your thoughts on some points I want to bring up."

Neji went on for fifteen minutes as Tenten typed out his agenda, watching him as he consulted his handwritten notes. When he finished, glancing at her for a response, Tenten gave him a mildly convincing nod and closed her laptop. She still had to try to wrestle through her statistics homework, not to mention start on her reading for the week.

"Give them some thought and get back to me," Neji said with an arched eyebrow as Tenten got to her feet. "We can meet again before the next ASA meeting to discuss it. And I'll get back to you about the freshman workshop."

Tenten placed her computer in her backpack. "Shouldn't you be discussing your agenda more with Sakura?" she posed, eyes narrowed. "She's the vice president."

Neji shrugged loosely. "Sakura's not a senior."

Tenten's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You and I have been in the ASA for four years," Neji said, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he got to his feet. "We've fundraised and given the recruitment speeches at orientation. And since we're two of the three seniors in the association, we should get to decide what legacy we're going to leave this year."

"How. . ." Tenten paused, searching for the right word. ". . .elitist of you."

Neji frowned. "I just believe in making the most of my opportunities," he replied, gazing at her unabashedly.

"Okay, Hyuga," Tenten muttered. "I'll look over your ideas and let you know if I like any of them."

"I'll look forward to that. I think we'll work together well this year," Neji said, smirking again.

Tenten smiled humorlessly. "I wouldn't count on that, Hyuga."

Neji released a small smile and turned away to go towards the library. "I'll do my best to endear myself to you, then. Goodnight, Madame Secretary."

Tenten winced at the moniker. As Tenten made her way back to her dorm, she entertained thoughts of dethroning Neji Hyuga from his coveted presidential pedestal.

A/N: Hello again! I'm so glad I'm finally able to share all of this with you - I've been working on it for three straight weeks and it's been a little exhausting, to say the least. But, it's ready now, and I'm so excited for you to read it; I'm very proud of how it came out.

I always intended this to be read straight through, which is why I'm posting all of the chapters at once. You'll notice that I've adjusted some names throughout the fic, particularly Lee and Guy, for cohesion. Also, most of the chapter titles hold double meanings, so do with that what you will.

I'll pop down here when I have research notes, like always. Enjoy reading, friends! - KNO