A/N – Hey, everyone! As you can tell I've begun a new NejiTen story and I'm so excited to show you my first chapter! I know a lot of you are waiting for me to finish my other fic 'The Laws of Logic', but I'm currently suffering from writer's block. But don't dismay! I promise to finish it one day. But for now, sit back, relax and enjoy my latest story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto!

-X-

Neji Hyuga was destined to do great things.

Tenten had known that from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him in their early academy days. Being only eight years old, she was unfamiliar with the intricacies of the noble families within Konoha, however there was one clan more distinguishably murmured about by the townsfolk than all the rest – the Hyuga clan.

She knew that they were one of the oldest families in the Leaf Village and that they were famously known for their strange white-silver eyes. Tenten could vividly recall her first meeting with a Hyuga, for it had been with none other than Neji.

It was their first day at the academy. Back when Tenten still wore ribbons in her hair and had fun doing girly things. The whole class was outside, running around and playing ninja as they waited to be called into class. Yet, the tiny brunette noticed one boy sitting alone on a bench, away from the rest. He had dark hair – easily longer than her own – tied in the middle on his back, he wore a strip of black cloth around his forehead and he was staring out into nothing with a mildly bored, yet calm expression.

She had approached the boy, not wanting him to feel excluded, with a cheery smile and a skip in her step. He didn't even bother to look up when she stopped right in front of him.

"Hi, my name is Tenten!" she said giving him a toothy grin. "What's yours?"

He didn't reply. Didn't even give the slightest indication that he knew he was being spoken to and continued to gaze into nothingness. However, that didn't deter Tenten from trying again.

"You're not gonna have much fun sitting here all alone. We're all playing ninja. You should come and join us!"

She extended her arm as a gesture of friendliness, hoping the boy would accept her offer. However, as she leant down to rest her hand on his shoulder, he sharply turned around, his eyes finding hers with a fixed glare. It wasn't the coldness of his expression that made Tenten retract her hand, but rather the majesty of his eyes.

They were breathtakingly beautiful – like pools of liquid ivory, tinged with lavender. A purplish light danced around in the depths of where his pupils should've been, almost like a small flickering fire. Now that he was facing her, she could also see the other features that adorned his face; perfect, unblemished, fair skin, a straight-edged nose, flawlessly angled eyebrows, high cheekbones and a sharp jawline.

Tenten had never taken too much interest or notice in boys, yet even she couldn't deny that the boy sitting in front of her glaring so intently, was fairly attractive, even for an eight year old. It was in that moment that little Tenten realised that she was staring at a Hyuga for the first time.

And he did not look happy.

But before she could open her mouth to say anything else, a bell began ringing throughout the courtyard and everyone started to rush inside, excited to commence their first day. The boy stood up in a dignified manner (Tenten noticed he was a few inches taller than she was) and strode past her without so much as a second glance or word her way. She blinked a few times before stumbling after him and the rest of her classmates. She noted that she didn't catch his first name, but she didn't have to wait long to find out.

-X-

"Neji Hyuga."

That was his name as their new sensei began rattling off down his list for rollcall. Everyone, apart from Tenten had exploded into excited whispers and murmurs. Heads turned, necks craned, and eyes darted towards the back left corner of the classroom as everyone tried to steal glances at the boy who sat pensively at his desk, ignoring the admiring gazes from his classmates and the simpering giggles that came from a bunch of gaggling girls. Even their new sensei had raised an inquisitive eyebrow and seized a quick glimpse of Neji before continuing down the roll.

He was a Hyuga after all, and everyone expected great things from him. And he certainly lived up to expectations.

Despite his dark, sombre and unsociable personality, people were instantly drawn to him – children and adults alike. He was a skilled fighter, even at such a young age, and many of the academy instructors were left gobsmacked at Neji's natural talent and his ability to already have mastered his clans dojutsu to such an extent. He was remarkably intelligent, absorbing information like a sponge, and it was only a matter of time before he began topping every class they took.

He'd amassed a loyal and dedicated fan club after his very first day which only increased as the years went by. Tenten wasn't an avid devotee unlike the majority of the girls in her class who gushed endlessly about his charming looks and brooding nature. Instead, she admired him from afar, commending his hard work ethic and fierce determination. Besides his grandiose and condescending attitude, she wanted to be just like him.

Neji never spoke to her. Especially after their awkward first encounter, Tenten learnt quickly that the white-eyed boy preferred the company of his own solitude. He didn't speak unless civil necessity demanded it, and he regarded anyone below his level superfluous.

Nonetheless, Tenten could barely contain her excitement the day they made the announcement for the new Genin teams. For it would be that years number one rookie, Neji, the strange, Taijutsu wielding fanatic, Lee and herself that would be under the tutelage of Maito Gai for the next few years of their lives. Tenten received many death stares and hateful comments that day from the other girls who claimed she had "stolen their precious Neji" away from them. She didn't mind though. She was just ecstatic to finally be recognised as a full-fledged shinobi and to be working alongside the great Neji Hyuga.

-X-

Tenten had finally found her family in the form of Team Gai. Growing up as an orphan, she'd never really experienced what it was like to have familial bonds. Gai had become almost like a father to her, Lee, he was like the little brother she always wanted and Neji…well their relationship was always a difficult one.

The first Chunin Exams they undertook was a humbling experience for all of them, especially Neji. After her spectacular loss to Temari, Tenten doubted that the Hyuga prodigy would ever want to speak to her again. So, it confounded her when he appeared at the hospital the very next day and personally asked her to help him train for the upcoming finals. All the other Genin were utilising their Jounin sensei or a family member of the same rank to help them train, and there was Neji, asking his female teammate who had lost her own match, nonetheless, to assist him.

Tenten was so overwhelmed with gratitude that she automatically agreed, not stopping to ponder the fact that maybe he was just using her for his own personal gain. But at that moment, Tenten didn't care. It showed that he trusted her abilities and though neither of them knew it, but in that moment, they had become friends.

As promised, the brunette aided Neji in perfecting the Kaiten – one of the Hyuga clans most sacred techniques and they began training gruellingly every day from sunrise to sundown. They found that their techniques worked well against each other and that they actually enjoyed each other's company in comparison to the alternative option of hanging out with Lee and Gai on their own. And, so even after the finals had come around, they continued to spar together, and it became an unspoken daily practice as well as a symbol of their friendship.

And as the years followed, they became known as 'Neji and Tenten'. Not ever one without the other. They were best friends and for a while, many rumours circulated around the village that they were secretly dating. And for some time, Tenten wished those rumours were true.

She had always admired him from when she was young and now those feelings of admiration were evolving into something stronger and very much unwanted and the fact that he kept becoming even more appealing with age, didn't help either. The weapons mistress didn't want to put any unnecessary emotions on their already fragile relationship. Besides, Neji was completely out of her league – he was a genius, a prodigy with a prestigious clan tied to his name, whereas she was an orphan with no last name who was just fortunate when fate decided place them on a team together.

Tenten knew she wasn't in the least bit worthy to be considered as a romantic prospect in Neji's eyes, so she diffused the rumours around the village and composedly told anyone who asked whether they were dating that they were only friends and that she would never be deserving of his greatness.

The second Chunin Exams saw Neji propel himself even further ahead of his two teammates, the distance between her and Neji's capabilities becoming even more apparent.

Herself and Lee had both been promoted to Chunin. They were both elated for it was a giant milestone they had worked so zealously to overcome. But it was Neji that surprised them all with his double promotion to Jounin.

He was completely deserving of it after his spectacular rescue of the Kazakage and Fu and Tenten couldn't have been any happier for him. She and Lee both offered their congratulations to which Neji thanked them earnestly. As the Hyuga prodigy met her eyes, she could see the fire and the pride burning within them.

As Lee ranted on about how their teamwork had gotten them this far, Tenten found herself saying, "Yeah, for sure. Our three man squad if forever, right?"

"Yes, I hope so," Neji replied with an unreadable expression.

They had all smiled and Gai had treated them all to dinner that night, eyes full of tears with loud proclamations of how proud he was of all his three students and, of course, the burning power of youth. Little did they all know that after that day, Team Gai would irrevocably change forever.

-X-

"Check."

Tenten's eyes narrowed as she scanned the little chess pieces that littered the board. She swiftly glanced up her opponent to quickly read his expression before flickering her eyes back down to the game. Her fingers gently touching each of her remaining pieces left on the board, her opponents' pieces far outweighing her own. She tapped her nails idly on the table as she analysed her situation.

A small smirk graced her lips as she knocked her competitors' white bishop over with her black night.

"Check," her voice rang clearly through the still air.

The man lying across from her, shoeless, with his elbow propping his head up, merely yawned before moving his queen across the board with deft fingers and supplanted it right next to Tenten's king.

"Checkmate."

"Dammit!" Tenten groaned as she threw her hands up in defeat. "I thought for sure I was going to win this time!"

"You moved far too hastily," the man replied before rolling leisurely onto his back. "I don't know why you keep bugging me to play with you when you know you're just going to lose every time."

The weapons mistress made an unpleasant face before a mischievous glint shone in her eyes. With a quick, powerful flip of her wrist, the chessboard and all of its pieces went flying and conveniently smacked the unsuspecting man hard in the face.

"Damn it, Tenten!" Shikamaru growled as he sat up in annoyance, brushing the little pieces off his torso and tossing the board a few feet away from them. "What was that for?"

Tenten laughed wholeheartedly, replying, "That was for being a jerk."

He murmured to himself and the brunette swore she caught the phrase "troublesome woman" which made her grin widen.

One of the more unforeseeable things that had changed over the years was her friendship with Shikamaru. They were now at the impressionable age of twenty years old and through a twist of fate, they had found themselves living together.

They'd been assigned a mission and Tenten had been injured quite badly due to a miscalculation that Shikamaru had made. Almost having lost her life and her career as a kunoichi, Tenten had to spend months in hospital in order to recuperate. And once she was released, she was still incapacitated for quite sometime which meant no missions. And no missions meant no money. And no money meant that she could not afford to pay her rent and soon enough, she was evicted.

Shikamaru had offered her to stay at his place, feeling mainly responsible and guilty for the situation the weapons mistress found herself in. They weren't particularly close, and it was only supposed to be temporary until Tenten could afford to rent another place, but somehow, they had managed to worm their way intricately into each other's lives and Tenten just never left.

They were only eighteen at the time and of course once word began circulating around the village that Konoha's top analytical strategist and Konoha's top weapons mistress were living together, a whole lot of gossip came with it.

Shikamaru and Temari had just suffered a rough breakup, due to the fact that neither one wanted to leave their village to be with one another. It was a back and forth war and eventually Temari had ended it, leaving the Nara prodigy in a state of sombreness. Many rumours circulated that they were dating, some speculated that Shikamaru was using her as a rebound, but their relationship was mainly platonic – consisting of teasing, support and acceptance for who the other person was. It was a friendship born through mistakes, loneliness and hard work.

It was one of the only good things in Tenten's life that had come from the past few years after Team Gai had disbanded.

And now, as fate would have it, they were both sitting on the living room floor of Shikamaru's apartment, Tenten in nothing but an oversized T-shirt that did nothing but expose her long slender legs, and Shikamaru sporting just a pair of baggy sweatpants. This situation would've been unthinkable two years ago.

He suddenly stood and stretched his arms over his head, contorting the muscles beautifully in his chest and shoulders. One of the first things Tenten had learnt about the pineapple-haired boy was that he definitely wasn't as scrawny as she imagined him to be.

"Go put on a shirt, you show off," Tenten rolled her eyes as she proceeded to get up.

"I would if I had any left to wear," he replied eyeing the shirt she was wearing and Tenten pouted.

"But your shirts are so much comfier to sleep in than mine."

"Besides the point, I would have shirts to wear if you had done the washing yesterday like I asked you to."

"You do realise that I'm not your slave and that you're perfectly capable of doing your own washing."

"Yes, but I'm letting you live here. Plus, you're a woman, you're supposed to do jobs like that."

Tenten let out a low growl at his comment before attempting to whack him across the head which he easily sidestepped.

"Don't pull that sexist bullshit on me," she said. "Besides, you're the one who's wearing my sweatpants!"

"Only because you wear mine too," Shikamaru retorted smoothly. "And you said these ones don't fit you anymore and why waste a perfectly good pair of pants."

"But they look better on you than they do on me!"

"Everything looks better on me than it does on you," he simply pointed out as he began gathering up the chess pieces scattered all over the floor before meticulously putting them back in the box and stashing it on the shelf. "Also, you lost so you should've been the one to clean this mess. Now you owe me."

Tenten folded her arms and attempted to give him her cutest pout with wide puppy eyes in hopes to pacify him. However, the Nara prodigy remained unfazed.

"A deal's a deal, Tenten."

The brunettes face morphed into a disappointed frown as she squeezed her crossed arms even tighter.

"Fine. What'll it be this time?"

"Shower privileges," Shikamaru smirked and Tenten grumbled in protest.

"No fair! You always use up all the hot water," she whined pointing an accusing finer at his chest.

Shikamaru just shrugged, making his way towards the staircase before replying, "Then you should learn to get better at chess. Enjoy your cold shower."

He managed to give her one last smug look before a barrage of pillows came hurling his way as he ran up the stairs, locking himself in the bathroom to escape the fury of the woman down below.

-X-

"You're such an ass, you know that?" Tenten expressed as she entered the kitchen.

She was now clad in usual attire, and her hair was twisted up into her two signature buns atop of her head.

Shikamaru remained impassive at her insult as he sat at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She pulled a mug out of the cupboard before proceeding to sit across from him, dragging the teapot across the table and filling her cup with its steaming contents.

"Can you not smoke inside the house?" Tenten scrunched her nose disdainfully, waving her hand to dissipate the smoke that was filling the space.

"My house, my rules," Shikamaru asserted before pointedly blowing a cloud of smoke in her face.

"At least open a window," she managed between coughs.

She got up and walked over to the kitchen sink and unlatched the window that was directly above it. All at once, the stench of the tobacco began wafting out into the fresh, winter air.

"That's better," Tenten wheezed before sitting back down and taking a sip from her cup. "I still can't understand why you still insist on smoking those things."

The Nara prodigy simply shrugged.

"They were from Asuma Sensei. Might as well use them."

"Well," Tenten began with a heavy sigh, "At least you've got something to remember your team by."

"You could too if you just swallowed your pride and talked to him."

Tenten could feel her jaw clench and her eyes narrow at Shikamaru's statement.

Team Gai had disbanded years ago. It wasn't sudden, but more so like a piece of string that had been stretched out too far before it decided to snap. While it was common for most teams to break up at some point or another, no one had ever thought that Team Gai would be one of them. They were known as the greatest Taijutsu squad to have emerged from the Leaf Village, and above all else, they were a family. Tenten still managed to see Lee and Gai on occasion, joining them for lunches or just conversing idly. It was Neji who seemed to withdraw himself from the equation that was Team Gai.

Nothing seemed to change much after his promotion to Jounin, he still managed to spar with her and join in on team gatherings. But soon enough, he was being sent out on mission after mission, either on his own or with another squad for weeks or even months at a time.

Tenten and Lee had all understood. It was to be expected of course – becoming a Jounin was no walk in the park and though it saddened them to able to see their teammate very scarcely, they understood that he had a duty to carry out. Hell, even they were more often than not scrambled up into different teams and sent on their merry way. They barely saw him that first year. And although Tenten had hoped that their friendship would be able to stand against the test of time, it seemed that Neji thought otherwise. In the very few rare moments that he had free time, he seldom spent it with his teammates.

Tenten and Lee had confronted him about it and demanded to know why he couldn't find the spare time to see them anymore. It was meant to be a civil dispute, but Tenten's emotions had gotten the better of her. She had felt abandoned, cast away and thrown aside by her supposedly best friend. Accusations and insults got whirled around like kunai being recklessly hurled through the air. And Neji who very rarely ever lost his composure, finally cracked.

He yelled at them – blamed them for their own incompetence for not getting stronger and arising through the ranks like he had. He had goals and dreams to achieve, and they couldn't be met if he spent every waking moment of his time wasting it on his teammates who couldn't understand that in order to become stronger, he needed to be alone.

Tenten almost lost it as Lee had to hold her back from physically hurting Neji. She was on the verge of tears as she screamed at him.

"Does Team Gai mean so little to you?" she spat acidly, her eyes never leaving his – she felt as if her heart was caving in. "After all we've been through, you think that it's ok to just toss us aside like we mean nothing, you heartless bastard!"

Do I mean nothing to you? Am I really just that convenient?

Gai had to intervene before it became a full on fist fight. He had heard the commotion and broken it up. He had scolded all three of them, saying he was ashamed at the display of their 'unyouthful behaviour'. Neji didn't bother to stay and hear the rest. He swiftly and unapologetically stormed off down the hill and out of their former training grounds without a single word. And it was in that moment that Team Gai had formally ended.

It had been nearly three years since then and now the most Tenten ever saw of the Hyuga prodigy was when she would answer to the Hokage's office and she'd glimpse him reporting back from a mission. If they crossed each other in the street, Tenten deliberately made the effort to walk over to the other side of the road. They never spoke, never gave any sort of indication that they were once good friends and teammates. She thought she was over the child-like crush that she once had, but the pain and hurt still remained as she knew that she would never, ever be worthy of him.

"Well?"

Shikamaru's voice sliced through her reverie and Tenten exhaled a breath she didn't even realise she was holding.

"You know I can't do that, Shikamaru," she told him, leaning her body weight into the back of the chair. "He was the one that decided to leave us, he should be the one to put things right."

"You know he'll never make the first move."

"Then I suppose we will just have to stay this way then," the weapons mistress attempted to shrug her shoulders as unperturbed as possible.

"You miss him," Shikamaru stated.

Tenten blinked at him before responding, "Of course I do. He's my friend and teammate."

Shikamaru shook his head slightly before trying, "You love him."

When she didn't reply, he simply took another puff of his cigarette and waited for her response.

"What do you think I should do?" she sounded defeated.

"Like I said, try reaching out to him," he told her before crushing the butt of the cigarette on the table. "Neji's never been much of a talker, so you can't just expect him to suddenly start talking to you out of the blue. He's proud and stubborn, so sometimes he needs a little nudge in the right direction. Stop avoiding him whenever you come into contact. He probably sees you crossing the road and takes it as an indication that you're not willing to patch things up, so he doesn't bother. You've just got to find a way to engage him in some sort of civil conversation and it should be smooth sailing from there."

"But what if he doesn't want to become reacquainted?" Tenten murmured, her fingers curled tightly around her mug.

"Then I suppose you're no worse off than what you are now. You're not talking anyway so the worst that could happen is that he'll keep not talking to you."

Tenten pulled a face as she tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear.

"Why do you have to be so damn logical?" she asked him tiredly.

"To make women angry," he replied simply. "You know I'm not good at comforting people. You talk to me because you want honesty."

"That's true," Tenten conceded. "Still, I don't know if the rejection of him not talking to me is worth it."

"Then that's a decision that you have to make."

They fell into a small silence, no noise apart from the occasional sipping of tea and the slight breeze whistling through the kitchen.

"I suppose we're just two lonely souls, huh?" Tenten said, breaking the pleasant calm.

Shikamaru stood, draining the last dregs of his tea before shoving his hands in his pockets and answering, "I suppose we are. Now if you'll excuse me, this lonely soul has to report to the Hokage."

And with that, he grabbed his flak jacket off the lounge and made his way to the front door. He turned to her with his usual expression and said, "Make sure to have lunch ready for when I get home."

Tenten just rolled her eyes and responded, "Go do something productive, you lazy-ass."

And with that he closed the door behind him with a soft 'shush'.

-X-

A/N – This took me so long to write! I know the beginning is quite slow, but I assure you that they'll be plenty of NejiTen-ness to come! How are we all feeling of Shikamaru's and Tenten's relationship? Personally, I love it and I'm so excited to explore their relationship together. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Love my avid fans, always!