Part of the Neji and Tenten Romance Collection: This story is a companion piece to my NejixTenten Romance fanfictions. Does not require you to read the others, but does follow within the same universe. If you would like to read more about their lives as friends, teammates, lovers, and parents please check out (in chronological order):

- Summer in Ginger Village
- Ice Cubes under the Summer Heat
- Mud, an Aphrodisiac
- December for a Hyuga

Author's Note: Pardon the canon inaccuracies, it's been a while since I watched Naruto. Also for plot convenience, let's just say that kids in Konoha start the shinobi academy at around eight-ish :). The story is split in different themes but they're all ordered chronologically. Enjoy! And don't forget to review!

Summer in Ginger Village

A neighbor

It was a sad day for Tenten when the cottage next door, after being vacant for many lonely years, was finally being occupied. She silently sat by her kitchen's windowsill, overlooking the once-empty abode as an elegant woman, her son, and several moving assistants unloaded boxes and furniture from a truck to the entrance parlor. Her brows furrowed, her lips pouted, and her mind raced in concentration as she tried to imagine the sort of people that were moving in to the place that had many times housed her imaginative adventures with her two best friends, Toki and Red. A gentle purring below her brought the eight-year-old's attention down to the slender ginger cat that had begun to intertwine himself with her legs and for a moment she was distracted from her reproachful musings regarding her new neighbors.

Tenten leaned her body forward, taking hold of the cat and bringing him up to her knees with ease. "Can you believe them Toki? We can't play in that house anymore," her pretty face smiled at the purring sounds that emitted from her pet and best friend as she stroke his rich fur over and over, her chocolate brown eyes trailing back to the people moving next door.

Her spirited lightened at the notice that one of her new neighbors seemed to be around her age, whom she could perhaps befriend, and at this thought she couldn't help but smile; maybe this way the kids from her school would stop bugging her about getting real friends.

333

Chicken

"Tenten if I see you dirtying the clean laundry you will be in big trouble, missy!" Her mom bellowed from the kitchen after noticing that Tenten and Toki had come a little too close to smudging the bleach white bed sheets with mud for the tenth time.

Huffing with annoyance, Tenten stopped dead in her tracks, her insides itching with the urge to continue playing and disregard her mom's threats. The young girl then heard a clucking noise behind her and she made a swift turn just in time to see her pet chicken, Red, about to make a leap towards Toki… who was right behind her… who was merely feet away from her mother's laundry… Tenten made a desperate jump and caught Red midair, Toki following her lead, almost as if he still believed them to just be playing. After landing, to Tenten's sheer horror, she noticed that the chicken, the cat, and her had gotten themselves tangled with a clean pillow cover. The young girl stole a glance towards the kitchen window, noting that her mom hadn't noticed her blunder, and snatched Red and the dirtied pillow cover, making a run for it.

She jumped past the mud and the thicket and the bent, wiry fence that bordered her back yard, her attention on the chicken and the pillow case that were nestled on her arms. The brown-haired girl turned her gaze back to make sure that Toki was still right behind her, tripping with the wired fence in her moment of distraction. Her body rolled forward as she brought Red up closer to her torso in a protective manner, and up became down and vice versa as she rolled through the thicket and down past a small hill behind her house. By the time her body came to a complete stop her shoulders and her head were throbbing painfully. She felt Red slipping out of her grasp before pecking her on the cheek and nestling next to her body, as if unaffected by the fall.

The first thing Tenten saw when her eyes finally fluttered open was a pair of lavender eyes that were staring down back at her. She laid on the ground, breathing heavily and still in shock from her fall, paralyzed by the boy that knelt next to her, his light eyes boring into her very soul. Tenten suddenly sat up, Red jumping away after being startled, and she shuddered despite of herself as every nerve in her body flared up in pain. She watched the boy apprehensively as he glared back at her, almost waiting for him to offer the assistance that never came. His skinny hand slowly pointed down at Red and he lazily stated, "Your chicken is walking away."

As if triggered by his nonchalant attitude towards her accident, hot tears began to pool and overflow in her eyes and she couldn't help the loud wails that exited her throat. "No! Stop crying!" The boy reached over and covered her face forcefully with both hands in panic, only elevating the tone of her cries. "Stop!" He exclaimed as they struggled with each other; the boy making failed attempts to close her mouth in hopes that she would cease crying, and Tenten fighting back with bouts of sobs and tears, until suddenly someone snatched the boy away from her, ending their wrestle.

"Oh dear, what happened here?" The boy's mother came in to her aid, lifting her body up to her feet and taking a gentle hold of her hands, saying, "Sssh, it's OK darling, let's take you home."

333

Toki's popsicle

Tenten sighed in annoyance as she maneuvered her popsicle away from an eager Toki, who had taken her moment of distraction as an opportunity to steal her afternoon treat. The young girl gave her icy treat a few tentative licks before settling her elbows on her knees. She was bored out of her mind, sitting on the brick steps that lead to her house porch, Toki presently being her only companion. Today her mom was having tea with the book club friends, and so she couldn't play out in the backyard, there was nothing good on TV, and now that she had neighbors, she couldn't escape into the once-abandoned cottage to create imaginary worlds like she had been so accustomed to.

Well at least she had a popsicle.

Her musings were interrupted when she spotted a boy walking down the worn-out asphalt road that lead to her house. She huffed angrily once she noticed that it was her next door neighbor holding a pair of grocery bags, probably coming back from a few errands. Her face burned hot in response to the tongue that he stuck out at her once he noticed her staring. Tenten didn't hesitate before sticking her tongue out as far as it could go and made sure to give him the meanest stink-eye she could muster; the memory of her blunder in his backyard still fresh in her mind.

Suddenly something began tugging on her popsicle and her face fell at the realization that Toki had taken the opportunity to finally steal her icy treat. "Toki, no!" She exclaimed in exasperation but simply settled with giving her cat the whole popsicle stick. Ahead of her she heard the boy's condescending laughter in response to her misfortune. He pointed and laughed all the way until he got to the porch of his house, Tenten fuming with anger and embarrassment.

333

Calligraphy

Tenten hated calligraphy lessons. She wholeheartedly believed that being in her summer break, her mother shouldn't force her to attend inking and calligraphy lessons. The young girl also felt sort of fond to the normal school term calligraphy teacher, but the kind woman always left town over the summer vacations, and she was every year replaced by a grumpy old woman with little to no patience towards youngsters like Tenten. But, by far, the worst part of her summer calligraphy lessons was that the meanest pair of bullies to ever cross the face of Ginger Village also attended with her every Monday through Thursday.

Today though, old Madam Chow didn't introduce her lesson with a boring Chinese tale about calligraphers, instead she cleared her throat importantly and announced that from then on they would have a new classmate. "Children, please, welcome young Neji Hyuga to our small family of calligraphers," the old woman said with a fake smile as she ushered the short, long haired boy into the classroom.

Tenten immediately grunted in annoyance; not only did she have to deal with the Obha twin bullies, but now she had her mean neighbor in her calligraphy lessons as well. She panicked when she saw him walking to the empty spot next to her in the table. Tenten quickly spread her scrolls and quills out to her side, making sure to take as much space as possible for herself, so that she could stay a healthy distance away from him.

She was expecting him to stick out his tongue or give her a stink-eye when their eyes locked gazes, instead he offered her a civilized smile that made her blood boil.

Well at least she finally knew his name.

333

Twin bullies

Two thirty in the afternoon and Tenten was already at the door of the calligraphy lessons establishment. She took a few moments to bask in the hot summer sun before setting her sights to the dirty asphalt road, ready to embark on the adventure of walking home. She'd been walking out on the road for at least a minute when she heard the jeering laughter of the Obha twins behind her and her insides panicked. Tenten spared them a tentative glance before speeding up, failing to escape their attentions, and she came to an abrupt stop when one of them took hold of her right pig tail.

"Walking home alone, pweeety Tenten?" The oldest and ugliest of the two jeered oily to her.

"Let me go!" Her voice broke, hating herself for being so scared of them.

"Fine!" The younger one, who moments ago had hold of her pig tail, shoved her away before turning to face her, giving her cheeks a painful squeeze with his hands.

She was tempted to punch him, but she knew better, and was not about to return home with another bloody lip or black eye. The boys laughed with malicious delight until somebody shoved the oldest one away, and the younger Obha twin tripped next to her, falling with her onto the hard ground. The scrape on her knee captive her attention for a few seconds and she was initially unaware of the flurry of long black hair that was defending her against the twin bullies. Tenten's eyes finally met with the figure of her next door neighbor, who had effectively fought the twins off, as they were now running away with their tails between their legs.

Neji kneeled next to her in the same fashion he had done when she had fallen onto his backyard, bringing back familiar memories. His lip was bleeding, and he had several scrapes and bruises in his arms, yet his shiny black hair remained tidy and flawless as if he had not just fought two boys twice his size. He placed a hand on top of her forehead as he asked, "Are you OK, neighbor?"

The boy removed his hand after seeing her nodding in response, nonchalantly getting up to his feet and away from her. She watched him in sheer amazement as he began walking away, her face breaking into a huge grin. Tenten leapt to her feet, dusting herself off and running after him. "Can I walk home with you?" The young girl leaned forward to him as they walked, her face lighting up at the realization that her neighbor wasn't such a bad person after all.

"No."

"Ok," she replied in a sing-song voice, disregarding his reply and keeping a close distance to him as they walked together under the hot afternoon sun.

333

Angel food cake

Tenten wasn't sure on the details or how it happened, but somehow, someway, Neji's mom had joined the book club, and consequently had apparently become great friends with her mom. After really thinking about it though, this didn't seem as such a bad thing as she didn't feel so bashful about playing or stumbling in the elegant woman's backyard anymore. The only downside, it seemed, was that she recently found herself making a little too many errands between both houses nowadays. Her only consolation was that she also got to see Neji making deliveries and errands to and from his and her house as well.

The eight-year-old huffed as she found herself carrying a pan holding angel food cake from the her mother's kitchen down the brick steps in front of her hilly house and down towards the cottage next door. Tenten hummed to herself after ringing the bell with some difficulty, as both her hands were busy holding the pan, and within moments Neji's black-haired head had poked out of his door to welcome her. "Tenten," the older boy rolled his eyes, which Tenten ignored as she made her way into his foyer.

"Mommy wanted me to bring you angel food cake," the girl smiled while she handed him the pan.

He eyed the contents of the pan, his usually indifferent countenance betraying him, and she could tell he was immensely grateful for the treat. "Wait here, let me take this to the kitchen," Neji instructed her as he walked deeper in to his pretty house.

Tenten took her time of solitude to look around the living room, noting how the inside of the house was so exquisitely decorated. The girl sat on a sofa, her chocolate brown eyes trailing to a picture portrait that was poised on one of the end tables. Her curiosity got the best of her and she soon leaning forward, detailing the portrait. In the picture stood a tall man that shared a great resemblance to Neji, for they had the same silky, black hair, identical lavender eyes, and shared the same proud posture. Next to him stood the elegant woman that was his wife and in her arms was an infant toddler whom Tenten figured was Neji. Neji's footsteps behind her caught her attention, and once he had approached her she took the opportunity to address the subjects of the portrait.

"Neji is that you?" The girl giggled in delight.

Neji simply nodded as he sat next to her on the sofa, his legs crossed under him and his arms neatly placed in front of him.

Tenten tilted her head to the side in slight confusion, then why wasn't his dad living with them as well? "So that must be your dad?" Again, he nodded. "Why doesn't he live with you two?"

His lavender eyes were facing away from her questioning gaze when he blandly replied, "He's dead."

The air was caught in her throat at his reply and she immediately regretted prying into forbidden territory. There was a slight awkward moment between them until Neji finally broke the unforgiving silence saying, "We moved here because summers without him aren't quite the same." Her pretty eyes settled on his boyish face and once or twice she was tempted to offer him an embrace, but knew better that her advances would not be appreciated by the usually stoic boy. Neji sighed soundly and told her, "Well anyways, my mom says thank you and wants to know if you guys would join us for dinner."

Tenten suddenly leapt off the sofa, remembering that she had to go home and get ready for calligraphy lessons. She made her way to the front door and said with a smile, "Ok, I'll tell mommy." She made to open the door, then stopped herself at the last moment, delivering him a friendly smile as she said, "Neji?"

"Yeah?"

"Walk me to calligraphy?"

"Ok."

333

Three best friends

Tenten soon found herself having extraordinary adventures not only with Red and Toki, but also with her new next door neighbor, Neji. She had to admit that he was everything she wanted in a friend, and finally realized the reason why she never really clicked with any of the other kids in the small village. He was adventurous, nimble, and not afraid to get his hands dirty—qualifications the rest of the kids her age around here lacked. Her spirit itched for running, jumping, and exploring, and amazingly, Neji was able to keep up with—if not beat—her pace. They climbed trees, raced each other around riverbeds, and jumped from roof to roof in the more populated parts of the quaint village.

Presently, though, they were engaged in an active game of tag.

The brown-haired girl jumped after Toki as the ginger cat leapt up to a mango tree, knocking ripe fruits to the ground in their wake. She could hear Neji's panting breaths behind her as he rushed to catch up to her, eager to tag her so that they could finally switch roles in their tagging game. Tenten miscalculated her leaps and almost fell out of one of the branches, an opportunity Neji took to tag her. Her sweaty hands slipped past leaves and twigs as she struggled to regain her balance, and before she could react, Tenten found herself falling down onto solid ground.

Neji was quick to react and grasp her left hand, but it seemed that her weight was too much on him, or her hand was just too slippery, for moments later his aid became futile as her hand slipped out of his grasp and the girl fell, landing hard on her butt. Tenten was breathless for an instant, her bottoms in pain, and she was quick to react when she heard Neji also falling right where she had landed. The girl pressed her back against the ground instinctively as Neji landed like a cat on all fours on top of her, trapping her under him. Lavender met brown as their gazes locked for several long seconds, their hearts beating hard against their chests and their breathing labored.

The two children remained transfixed for a moment until Toki finally jumped down onto the grass ground next to them, his fall bringing the children back to reality.

A wide grin found its way to her pretty face and Tenten used Neji's moment of distraction to shove him off her, saying, "Tag, you're it!"

333

Shinobi

On one rainy, lazy afternoon, when Red and Toki were off napping soundly in one of the guest rooms, and when her mom was off visiting her ill great-aunt at the nursing home, Tenten sat by the kitchen windowsill, as she had done over a month ago, overlooking the neighboring cottage at the base of the hill. Her eyes were screwed in concentration as she detailed the mysterious men dressed in traditional robes that entered and exited Neji's house. More than once their shrewd eyes would search their surroundings, as if daring anyone to peak in on them, moments that Tenten had to duck and hide before she was discovered spying. They reminded her of the shinobi that came on TV every once in a while whenever something terrible happened in the great village Konoha and she reproachfully wondered what they were doing, meddling in Neji's house.

Her idle musings made her angry and Tenten resolved on simply ignoring their menacing postures and the unforgiving rain, settling with just leaving her house and heading next door to figure out exactly what all the commotion was about.

Tenten quickly leapt down the slippery brick steps leading down to the asphalt road, her wet locks clinging to her face as she made her way for Neji's front porch, and her insides panicked at the calculating glares she received from the men lingering around the front door. One of the men suddenly placed his hand on her forehead when she reached the front door, blocking her path. She glared up at him and resolutely exclaimed, "I want to see Neji."

One of the men to her right began laughing, amused at the eight-year-old's bold statement. "You hear that guys? She wants to see Neji!" He jeered, several other laughing alongside him.

"Leave her alone," a boyish, raspy voice came from within the house, and the men immediately cleared ahead of her, revealing Neji wearing clothes similar to the men and devoid of the headband he usually wore around his forehead. Neji walked forward, reaching a hand out to her, which she took without hesitation, ignoring the men's stares on her. Something about his house didn't seem inviting anymore, and she felt reluctant to remain inside, even if Neji was still right next to her. He must have sensed her apprehension, for he quickly suggested, "Let's go for a walk, Tenten."

They walked out onto the cold rain, fingers still intertwined, not caring if their hair and clothes soaked right down to the bone, enjoying each other's company. "Who were they?" Tenten was the first to speak, after they had been walking down the muddy asphalt road for several long minutes.

"Shinobi, from my family," Neji replied indifferently.

Tenten looked up at him in surprise and couldn't help but prying more into his life, "You're from a family of ninja?"

Neji slowly nodded.

"Will you become one?" Her eyes trailed up to the mark he carried on his forehead, a mark she had never before seen up until now, and was tempted to ask about it, but stopped herself at the last moment.

Again, Neji nodded wordlessly.

"Then I will become one with you." At this, Neji couldn't help but meet with her chocolate brown eyes in surprise. She smiled up at him, a smile which he couldn't help but wholeheartedly return; her childish resolution sealing their fates forever.

333

Lunch break

Neji eyed her with disgust as she stuffed the whole peanut butter and jelly sandwich into her mouth, smacking her lips together every time she chewed. Instead of telling her anything about it or reprimanding her though, he simply decided on eating his sandwich as civilized as possible, to give her an example of how normal people were supposed to eat. They eventually finished their snacks in silence—not counting Tenten's noisy eating habits—and basked under the afternoon sun on the back porch of the calligraphy school, in the comfort of each other's presence.

"So you're gonna go back to Konoha, huh?" Tenten said as she leaned her torso back onto the warm grass, allowing the dirt and the weeds to caress her messy brown hair.

"Yeah, I'm gonna start shinobi school," Neji also followed her lead, leaning on the soft grass and facing her sun-kissed face.

"Mom says we can't move to Konoha…" the girl murmured in defeat, already feeling like a failure for failing to fulfill her promise to him.

The boy slowly moved his hand up to tip of her hair, enjoying the feel of its texture between his fingers, and simply smiled knowingly down to her. He tried to ignore the pressing fact that he was soon going to leave Ginger Village and convinced himself that all that mattered was that he could enjoy her here and now, all to himself.

333

Letter

Tenten rushed down the brick steps of her house, Red and Toki following right behind her in an unspoken game of cat and mouse. The young girl, however, wasn't concerned about the animals following her, or if once or twice she fell on her knees and scraped her skin; her mind was set on reaching Neji's house as soon as possible, the letter she held feeling as if it were about to burn a hole through her skin. She knocked hard on their cottage door several times, until Neji's mom answered the door, and Tenten rushed into the house without welcome or explanation, leaving the flustered woman at her wake.

Tenten slammed the door to Neji's bedroom open in sheer excitement, catching Neji in surprise. He was sitting on his desk, diligently practicing on his calligraphy homework, but put the parchment and quill aside the moment Tenten barged into his bedroom. "You're supposed to knock, Tenten," he told her patiently.

"Neji! Look!" She threw herself onto his bed, sprawling out the letter she had been carrying all this time. Neji walked over to her, climbing on top of his bed as well and eyeing the scroll curiously. "I got a letter from the Hokage! It says that I've been granted a full scholarship to go live in Konoha and join the shinobi academy!"

Neji leaned forward, his beautiful lavender eyes absorbing the kanji words that were written on the scroll. He smiled up at her, sharing her moment of excitement, inwardly knowing that this was perhaps his mother's doing, after he had casually let it slip to her how very much he would like it if Tenten came to shinobi school along with him. Tenten tackled him to the bed in an enormous bear hug, and the two children laughed together as they thought of all the adventures they were sure to have.

Their laughter subsided and the young girl rolled off him, finding comfort laying next to him with her big brown eyes facing the ceiling. She sighed in bliss and finally said, "Best friends?"

Forever.

August 13, 2014:

Hello reader! I'm happy to see that you made it this far into my writing! I hope the story was entertaining to some extent and that you enjoyed it! Maybe you will enjoy this:

I am writing a novel, original fiction, and I am looking for a couple of people who will beta read it in its early stages. Now when I say "beta reader" I don't mean that I need help with spelling or grammar or plot elements or characters or writing or any of that stuff. I want to find beta readers who will be willing to start giving it a read (and keep on reading if it interests them) and tell me how they feel about it. Was it fun? Retarded? Boring? Would you recommend it? That sort of thing. I wouldn't want much, just some input here and there.

If you are interested, please let me know and provide a way for me to contact you back (email, PM, etc.) and I will happily give you more info on the story to see if it sounds like something you would like to do.

Thanks again for your time and attention, have a nice one :)!