9When Lightning Strikes
"What's left? Just pieces of pieces; a memory of a memory." Tenten gives up and Neji stands still, unmoving.
N: Initially, I wasn't sure in which category to place this one. After some inexplicably long time of staring blankly at my computer screen, I decided to go with Romance/Angst/Drama, which it kind of is when you think about it. But enough about my failure to make decisions; enjoy (and don't mind my horrible attempt at writing fanfiction). Also, I apologize for the lack of updates. Life sucks :)
D: I promise to return all characters to Kishimoto when I am thoroughly finished using them. In other words, Naruto and his fellow nin do not, and will never, belong to me.
01. clash
They clash with each other sometimes; Tenten apologizes and he walks away, because he doesn't really have anything to say to her.
02. dim
The lights are dim in the run-down motel, but her bruised, awkward smile lights up the whole room despite the pouring rain outside.
03. futile
"Stop your futile attempts of affection," Neji growls, pushing her away. "I'm not your friend."
04. erratic
Her behaviour would put a child to shame- she's smiling in all the pictures he sees of her, but when her eyes meet his, her lips tell a lie.
05. loved
"I loved you, once," he whispers, but Tenten is too busy hurling kunai to notice the past tense.
06. soft
Neji places a hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat; however, he notices nothing save the softness of her skin.
07. hold
On the other hand, Tenten has tried – many times – to hold his own, but he jerks it out of her grasp every time she does so.
08. shackles
There's something about seeing him lie so still, bruised, battered, and shackled; that makes her heart quiver dangerously.
09. broken
"Let me fix you. You're not broken beyond repair, Neji," she says softly, and he can only nod his head- what's the harm in trying?
10. precious
He doesn't have anything he holds precious, and when he tells Lee this, the boy tries to hide his sad frown.
11. bliss
Bloody fantastic. Now he has something to work with. Now he... Damn, she knew how to kiss. He truly doesn't know if he can stop, and for a moment, he wants to keep on kissing her, Hiashi be damned.
12. tea
Her house smells of mint tea, but she doesn't- he takes comfort knowing she's often not at home, for some bizarre, perverse reason.
13. twisted
The locks of Tenten's hair, when left unbound, are like tree branches, brown and twisted and smelling of morning.
14. echo
"Don't touch me." Neji hisses, and when his voice echoes loudly throughout the night, Tenten flinches.
15. soothe
The only thing he finds soothing besides the sound of silence is his mother's voice, but both of these are damn near impossible to find.
16. fight
It's like he's born to fight, to kill and to defeat anyone who opposes his village. Tenten tells him it must be a family thing and he comes this close to hitting her pretty face.
17. coma
Neji looks almost peaceful, as if under a spell; and though she so wishes it were, the heavily bandaged kunoichi at his side knows better.
18. push
The first time they meet, he pushes her away because she's distracting him from his training; now she pulls him closer and kisses him.
19. alive
The climb is cold and ruthless, but when he reaches the top, only to witness Tenten's loss against a mysterious foe, he has never felt so alive.
20. perfection
The search for perfection is futile (Neji knows this, of course, but somehow he can't stop looking for a woman with chocolate brown hair and topaz eyes).
21. born
Tenten is born into a quiet little town, and she is raised in the placidity that only villagers have; Neji is left to fend for himself in a clan where nobody seems to give two shits about him, which, really, tells a lot about who he is.
22. bitter
"... Probably one of the most forgettable kunoichi I've ever seen." Neji's fist tighten silently at his side when Tenten smiles determinedly up at her insulter.
23. devious
When he feels particularly devious, he drops by her place – uninvited, of course – and kisses her, slow and deep; he adores knowing that Ino and Sakura will bombard her with their idiotic questions, and perhaps that's the only reason as to why he does it.
24. isolation
When he isolates himself to train, he goes to the great lake; it drives him insane with fright- the noise of waterfalls makes him sick and the slow bubble of the pond reminds him of past tragedies, and that only makes him stronger.
25. starve
Somedays she just can't bring herself to eat; not because she's worried about her weight, god no. In the end it's just the fuel that keeps her body functioning, and there are times when Tenten really wishes it wouldn't.
26. breakable
Sometimes, when they've just exhausted themselves in training, he forgets just how fragile the bones beneath her skin are, and when she discreetly looks away from his scathing gaze, he feels a pang of guilt.
27. winter
He hates winter because it's like staring straight into a mirror of himself; cold, frozen, and utterly miserable.
28. ignore
When you read this, come find me, okay? I... I miss you, Neji.
29. colour
His cheeks colour when he decides to heed the words she's written, because somehow he feels better already.
30. grace
When he takes a mission in Sand, trying to forget a certain brunette with clear amber eyes, he fights an enemy nin whose gracefulness in battle rivals hers, and the point of traveling is immediately rejected since he is constantly reminded of her.
31. belong
"You belong to me," he hisses, letting go of her collar. "Don't forget it."
32. choke
She chokes on her rebuttal, but it still comes out fierce, "I belong to no one."
33. reach
There's a funny feeling in his chest when she reaches her hand out to take Kiba's, but Neji doesn't really know why (and he doesn't want to, either).
34. difficult
"This would be so much easier if he wasn't so pigheaded," Naruto grumbles under his breath while an exasperated Tenten tries not to uproot the tree she's leaning against.
35. heat
Their eyes meet, and, suddenly, there's so much heat in the room, he has to excuse himself.
36. veneer
When she's challenged, she maintains a facade of coolness and sympathy; but when they're alone, Neji notes just how fiercely her instincts truly run.
37. fall
"I didn't think it possible to fall this hard in love with a person," Tenten confesses, and she laughs hollowly in a way that clearly says the whole idea was utter bullshit from the start.
38. nightmare
She shakes him by the shoulders forcibly until he realizes that he's awoken, but the telltale wetness is upon his cheeks, tangible and real, and Tenten finds herself to be crying as well.
39. disgust
He finds himself thoroughly disgusted at the ease with which Shikamaru and Tenten smile towards each other.
40. good riddance
"She would have shamed us all," his uncle states cooly, and though his own insides twist into uncomfortable knots, he nods.
N: Well, on that depressing, rather craptastic ending, feel free to express your discontent in the reviews. The author would like to apologize, she hasn't had her coffee.