Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from Naruto.
A/N: Okay may I just say that I LOVE everyone who has reviewed. You guys are the best! And thanks to that I might even add one more chapter, just a lil fluff. I don't know, anyone interested? Let me know.
Special thanks to my new friend for checking the main scene for me!

xxxx

"May I present, my daughter, Takashi Tenten," the Tenkage announced grandly and she smiled as best she could. "And the two competing for her hand are; Hyuuga Neji of Konoha,-" Neji gave a slight nod from the midst of the crowd. Tenten smiled down at him as all eyes looked towards him.
"- and Gaara of the Sand."

All eyes went to the back of the room to see Gaara standing there, looking as bored and tired as always. Tenten's stomach flipped at the announcement, there was no wonder her father had decided not to drop her fiancé's name. Gaara stood there, not even noticing the eyes upon him, with Temari and Kankuro to each side. He had his gourd of sand as always, and was wearing a basic long sleeved magenta shirt and plain black slacks with a white sash tied around his waist.

Neji's eyes widened slightly at the sight of his competition, realizing the difficulty of the task that now lay before him. He could only think of one person who had beaten Gaara; Naruto. And Naruto had even beaten Neji, the odds were not looking in Neji's favor. Turning his white eyes up to look at Tenten, he saw the worry she had in her eyes that she tried to hide. Neji frowned, if anything he had to at least keep her from marrying Gaara. He remembered how concerned she'd been for Lee after the match against Gaara during the Chuunin exam, he couldn't let her marry Gaara.

Gaara didn't pay much attention to the scene around him. The only thing that interested him was his "fiancé". She was the girl who had thrown weapons randomly at Temari during the Chuunin exam. Why did he have to do this? There was no point, he was only following the rules laid down for him as the Kazekage. He'd learned that there was more to life than killing, but that didn't mean he took a lot of joy in his life. Gaara glanced over at his competition once more, seeing the man his fiancé had chosen over him. He couldn't really blame her, this Neji was at least someone she knew. But the look in this guy's eyes as he looked up at the Tenkage's daughter, even Gaara who hadn't spent much time socializing could see that there was something more than friendship there. Gaara looked back up at the girl once more, she was okay looking and didn't seem too annoying. He sighed, if he was going to marry someone it might as well be this one. He had his doubts that he'd ever find someone else who would marry him.

As Amaku said the rules of the match, Tenten didn't listen. She could only imagine what was about to happen, and she was worried. The winner would marry her, and she felt completely powerless. She had a fifty- percent chance of happiness, and a fifty- percent chance of the unknown. The unknown worried her, and she didn't want to know what it would be like to marry Gaara. Little did she know, destiny had a plan for her and she would have no control over her fate.

xxxx

Before they knew it, Neji and Gaara were standing on a field. Spectators from many different villages surrounded them. Tenten and her father sat on one side of the field near them; Gaara's posse sitting equally as close on the other side. Neji and Gaara stood there in silence, both being as practiced in stoicism as the other. Tenten felt butterflies in her stomach, she was nervous for Neji. The sword at her hip sent waves of feeling through her, as her thoughts became more emotional. Her father had told her that once the bond was made between her and the sword it would react with her feelings, but it had never been this strong before. Then again, she'd never been so worried for Neji before.

Neji casually looked over at her, and she did her best to give him a reassuring smile. As unnerved as she felt, he had to be worse off. He was the one on the field after all. In the stands, their friends from Konoha were cheering even though it blended in with all of the other shouts.

"Why is Neji fighting Gaara anyway?" Shikamaru groaned from boredom.

"He's fighting for Tenten's love, of course!" Ino squealed and bounced a little in her seat.

"She loves Gaara?"

"No, stupid! She loves Neji, but she's engaged to Gaara!"

"Oi…How troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered but Ino hit him upside the head anyway. Behind them, more of their friends were talking about the same thing.

"It's so sweet! Neji's fighting for her!" Sakura sang happily, Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her.

"Why is it sweet?" Naruto asked.

"Because he's saving her from marrying that awful Gaara!"

"…But…You won't let me save you from Sasuke…" Naruto said quietly and received a lump on the head from Sakura for the hidden insult to the Uchiha next to her.

As the cheering continued, Gaara made the first move, if it could even be called that. The sand slowly started spilling out from his gourd and growing in a pile around his feet. Neji took the scene in and analyzed it, if he went up to hit Gaara, the sand would block it. If he used a katana, or any other weapon, the sand would block it. He was better with close-range combat, but Gaara's defenses were too strong for him.

Neji looked over at the stand once more, and the worried look on Tenten's face only made him more afraid of losing. Not only would he end up in bad shape, if not dead, she would have to marry Gaara. He turned back to his opponent, smirking inwardly. 'Technically, as her bodyguard, I have to protect her. That counts for emotional damage as well, right?'

Taking a deep breath, Neji finally decided to give an attack with weaponry a try. He threw several shuriken at him, only for them all to be caught by a wall of sand. He tried twice more, once with senbon and once with kunai. Both had the same result. Gaara smirked ever so slightly, 'This guy's been spending too much time around the weapons mistress' Gaara thought.

Neji had one more weapon to try, a katana. He ran towards Gaara, bringing up his katana as he went. Gaara stood there, like always. Never moving, and simply watching the spectacle like he was witnessing a boring TV show. Then without warning, the sand came up at Neji.

It was like a million tiny vines, all wrapping around Neji's arms at once and tightening. He shouted without realizing it, and dropped his katana. The pressure began to increase slowly, and Neji realized he was losing circulation.

"No! Neji!" Tenten cried, flashing upon the memory of Gaara's sand severely damaging Lee's left arm and left leg.

"USE YOUR EYES YOU FOOL!" Someone screamed from the sidelines and Neji seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in. It was an obvious answer, how else was Gaara controlling the said? It was chakra, and he hadn't even thought to use byakuugan. He instantly activated it and shot through the sand holding him with gentle fist. Tenten fidgeted nervously, if she'd let him practice byakuugan or gentle fist more with her it might have occurred to him sooner.

"You idiot! You helped the wrong person!" Kankuro snarled at Temari who was too taken with the action before them to care.

"What does it matter? He's at least fighting for something, Gaara doesn't even care!" Temari replied and they lost track of their argument as things began to happen on the field.

Neji was hitting every available point on Gaara that he could reach with unthinkable speed. As much as the sand attempted to block his attack, at least one or two hits would sneak through with each attempt. Retreating to a safer distance, Neji looked over the damage he'd done. And he was disappointed to see that it was not what he'd hoped for.

About half of Gaara's chakra was restricted now, unfortunately that meant half of his sand was still fully useable. That gave Neji the possibility of one opening to the side, but it was a very slim shot. Even if the chakra on one half of Gaara's body was blocked, the sand likely wasn't.

But he had no choice, the image of Tenten's smiling face burned brightly in the back of his mind. Neji knew he had to try it, for her sake. He feigned attacks with kunai so that he could have more time to assess the situation. Once he decided on a place to charge once more, he walked to the other side to throw Gaara off his plan. And then, Neji charged.

"Why on earth is he doing that again?" Naruto groaned. "He should know by now it's not going to work."

"He's already sliced Gaara's chakra output in half, he's trying to attack in one of the weak spots he created," Sasuke explained calmly, causing Naruto to roll his eyes.

"It won't work."

"How do you know?"

"It-It just won't!" Naruto went red.

"Even a long shot is worth a try when something important is on the line," Sakura said plainly, glancing down at Tenten pointedly.

The crowd gasped when Neji landed several blows using the 64 hands of Hakke. Gaara's sand shell cracked all the way up his neck and stopped beneath his chin. There was another gasp from the crowd when Neji went around the side to land a finishing blow and the sand took a hold of him once more.

Neji cried out in surprise, and attempted to pull free with gentle fist. Gaara anticipated the attack and had prepared for it by keeping extra sand near at all times to keep Neji trapped. Both hands were caught in a glob of sand that was quickly becoming harder and harder. He grunted involuntarily, fighting the sand as best as he could.

"I think I remember you now," Gaara spoke at last, his voice even toned and casual. "That 'Hyuuga prodigy', right?"

"Yeah, what difference does it make now?" Neji felt the sand crushing his hands more and more with each passing second.

"It doesn't. I was just wondering what kind of person my fiancé chose to pit against me."

"She doesn't even know you. You don't know her, why do you want to marry her anyway?" Neji asked, the pain making him want to fall to his knees but he managed to stand.

"I didn't plan it. My father did, the last Kazekage. Because he died, the next Kazekage has to fill the deal made with Tenkage. I have to do it."

"What? The last Tenkage and the last Kazekage make a deal, so the next two have to fulfill it? Why not change it?" Neji asked incredulously.

"We cannot. It was a written document for the peace to be maintained between our two countries. We tried a few days ago, this very match was the only loophole we could find."

Things seemed to make more sense to Neji, in a fuzzy painful sort of way. The deal was written and sealed, and neither party could do anything to change that. Once more, he looked at Tenten. She and her father were just the wrong people at the wrong time, and he was right there with them.

"You don't even want her, why not just let me win?" Neji questioned.

"Now that just wouldn't be a fair match, now would it?" Gaara said and Neji happened to see the sand coming up around him. With horror, he realized that a desert funeral was on the way if he didn't do something fast.

"Daddy! Do something!" Tenten cried, the emotion overpowering her. She knew what was coming and couldn't allow it to be.

"I can't," The Tenkage said plainly. Tenten's eyes filled with tears and one slid silently down her cheek. "But, the rules do say that 'if the prize should see the match as uneven, the prize is allowed the chance to put things in their favor'."

Realization dawned on her as her father spoke those words. She was the prize, and she could clearly see that Neji was about to die if he didn't get help soon. And she had a sword that she knew how to use at her hip, a sword that could cut through anything. Even sand.

Neji felt panic set in as the sand closed in around him, getting taller and taller. He was helpless, he couldn't move and he couldn't stop this from happening. But then he saw it; the flash of pink.

In a single, swift motion Tenten had not only cut the sand holding Neji's arms, but the back wave cracked Gaara's shell even further and blew the sand away from her and Neji. As the breeze from her sword settled, she stood with her sword at the ready between Neji and Gaara. Gaara looked mildly surprised, and Neji was shocked.

"What are you doing?" Neji demanded.

"Saving your life, you're welcome," Tenten smirked over her shoulder at him.

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can, it's in the rules. The prize, me, is basically allowed to judge and I decided to step in."

"This is humiliating…"

"Don't worry, you'll be more embarrassed when we get married. We're going to have an American style wedding!"

"What? No we won't!"

"Oh, yes we-"

"Argue some other time," Gaara snarled and the two stopped bickering immediately. Gaara's face was cracked and sand was pouring out. He did not look happy with the two standing before him.

"Look! They're working together now! It's like a fairytale!" Ino squealed.

"Nah, it's more like a fan fic," Shikamaru suggested.

"A what?"

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru grumbled and Ino was distracted once more by action in the arena.

The sand slowly rose and came back at the couple from Konoha. Tenten merely positioned her sword, muttered a mantra under her breath, and let loose another deadly blow from her sword. The waves of energy flew at Gaara, ripping apart the ground at his feet. Clouds of dust blocked all view for a moment, feeling like an eternity to all of those watching.

Tenten and Neji shielded each other from the dust, and looked up cautiously as it settled. It looked like there was nothing left where Gaara had stood. Chunks of the ground were torn up, but if one were to look closely Gaara was laying on top of one piece still flat on the ground. Stiff pieces of sand were standing around him but had failed to shield him completely from the blast, and he was barely retaining consciousness. The medic nin rushed out and put him on a stretcher for treatment. As they left, the arena fell silent, like it was waiting for something.

"Tenten," Neji said and she turned to look at him, her hair and dress still billowing in the breeze gently. "We won." Tenten smiled as she slowly realized this as well, and Neji pulled her towards him for a kiss. Then, the arena burst out in applause.

The Tenkage rose to announce the obvious outcome of the match, and Tenten's future husband. Everyone continued cheering, except for the two standing in the middle of the arena whom were too consumed in their own world to bother with anyone else's.

"They won! It's so perfect!" Sakura cheered, with Naruto happily shouting beside her.

"I love happy endings!" Ino squealed once more, and Shikamaru couldn't help but smile at her excitement.

In the end, the happiest two that day were of course Tenten and Neji. They were married after a long engagement, and eventually had two children. Their older child, a son named Ashitaka, was the number one rookie of his year and used byakuugan while never failing to hit his targets with deadly accuracy. Their daughter, Minako, became the owner of a very successful weaponry shop.

The deal made between the Tenkage and Kazekage was officially broken, but the two villages managed to maintain friendly relations with each other. Sources are unsure if this had anything to do with the power of a certain kunoichi's sword against sand, but the more accepted tale is that Gaara decided to drop the agreement.

-The End-