A/N: I don't own Naruto, enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Duties

The brown haired kunoichi couldn't sleep. A haunting image kept flashing through her mind, it wouldn't leave her alone. Tenten rolled over in her bed and looked at the time displayed on her small alarm clock. Bright red numbers flashed at her through the darkness of the night, '3:06 AM.' Tenten sat up straight, brought her knees close to her body, and wrapped her arms around them. This same routine would happen every night since that incident happened exactly two years ago.

FLASHBACK

Tenten was 16-years-old and full of spunk. She had everything she could ask for…except for one. Yes that was correct, the one thing she was missing in her life was the thing she had yearned for since she was just a Genin at 13-years-old. The love of her teammate, Hyuuga Neji. She'd had a crush on him from the day of their first training session together. But he always ignored her, always pushed her silly feelings aside.

She knew today was the day she would finally gussy up her courage and tell him how she really felt. How she truly felt about him all these years. They've trained with each other almost every single day, they always went on missions together, even if he didn't have feelings for her, even he couldn't be emotionless enough to harshly reject her…could he?

She walked over to the training grounds where Team Gai was to hold yet another training session. As soon as she reached the training ground, she saw Lee and Neji kicking two separate tree stumps in perfect unison to Gai Sensei's count.

Gai looked over when he glimpsed Tenten entering. He grinned kindly, "Tenten, my usually-punctual student! What is the reasoning behind your tardiness today?"

Neji and Lee stopped kicking and faced Tenten. Neji looked at Tenten with his usual emotionless expression. Tenten blushed when she saw his face before looking back at Gai Sensei to answer his question.

She stammered, "I…uh…had a lot on my mind…"

She glanced once more at Neji to see what he was doing. He was still looking at her blankly, she couldn't find a single hint of emotion in his face.

"Well Team Gai works hard! So quickly Tenten, please join our exercise on that tree stump!" Gai Sensei pointed at the tall stump next to Neji's.

Tenten blushed a bit deeper before walking over to her assigned stump, head down the whole time, avoiding eye contact with the Hyuuga.

Tenten mumbled quietly, eyes focused on the ground, "Ohayo…Neji…"

Neji didn't know why his usually energetic teammate was so timid today. He simply grunted back, "Ohayo."

"We will start from the beginning! One! Two! Three…" Gai Sensei continued to call out numbers in a rhythmic beat.

Tenten couldn't concentrate on training, she was too busy thinking of the words to say. Was she going to tell him straight forward? Or was she going to make small talk and lead into the main point? Where could they talk privately though with Gai Sensei and Lee? And what time would they talk? All these questions spinning inside Tenten's head made the confession she wanted to make even more difficult.

"Tenten…Tenten…TENTEN!" Gai Sensei yelled at her.

Tenten snapped out of her daydreaming and spun around, looking at Gai Sensei. Neji and Lee were staring at her, wondering what had gotten into her.

Gai Sensei lowered his voice, "Did you not hear I told you all to take a five minute break now?"

Tenten apologized, "Gomen," she bowed deeply.

She saw this was her chance to talk to Neji. Either now or never, she told herself.

She walked over to Neji, who was now walking over to his satchel.

She stammered quietly, "Um…Neji…I need to tell you something."

Neji turned around and gave her the familiar emotionless look. He nodded, waiting for her to speak.

"I uh…we've been teammates for so long and…um…I think I…" she started. She looked at the groun and bit her lower lip, not knowing how she should say it.

She didn't have to because Gai Sensei broke into their conversation, "Neji, Tenten, Lee! I got a message from the Hokage for all of us to go to her office ASAP!"

Tenten looked in the air, a bird had dropped a note from the sky. Tsunade-sama must've sent it.

Tenten sighed and told Neji, "Nevermind."

He nodded and Team Gai sprinted to the Hokage's office.

---

In the Hokage's office were the Konoha 11. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Neji, Tenten, Lee, and the Team Senseis. Sasuke was still gone in his search for power with Orochimaru – which of course still upset Sakura greatly.

"I have called all of you here today for a very important matter," the Tsunade spoke loudly to the crowd of people.

There were several nods in the audience before she continued.

"ANBU has decided to take in more young ninjas to train them as early as possible. We have made a decision to take in 3 of you for ANBU. This means your days of being a care-free shinobi are over. You are a full time shinobi, working every single hour around the clock, protecting many lives and always going on missions. You will never see your other team members again, so now is your last chance to get one final glimpse of your comrades," Tsunade spoke clearly.

Tenten tried to glimpse at Neji, but couldn't. He was all the way on the opposite side of the office. The girls were on the right, the guys were on the left – the men obviously outnumbering the women.

Tsunade continued, "We have already let the selected ANBU recruits' parents know that they may never see you again. All the parents I spoke with were very proud to have raised an ANBU member. As soon as I call out your name, please step forward. An ANBU member will immediately take you away for a formal training session."

There was complete tension in the Hokage's office at this moment. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths.

"Aburame Shino," came the first name.

Shino stepped forward. An ANBU member appeared in a puff of smoke in an instant. In another instant, there was another puff of smoke, and both the ANBU and Shino disappeared.

So that was the last time seeing Shino, thought Tenten. She never really cared much for Shino since they never interacted with each other.

"Nara Shikamaru," came the second name.

Shikamaru stepped forward. Tenten looked at Ino, who was standing right next to her. Ino's eyes teared up but she tactfully kept them from dripping out of her eyes. Many knew Ino had feelings for the Nara, but many also predicted Shikamaru just thought of her as a friend. If he had feelings for anyone, many guessed it would be Temari of the Sand Village.

The same procedure happened with Shikamaru, an ANBU came and took him in puffs of smoke.

The moment Tenten dreaded finally came. The third name came, "Hyuuga Neji." The Hokage glanced at Tenten when she said the Hyuuga's name.

Tenten bit her lower lip hard, the tears welled up in her eyes but didn't fall.

Neji stepped forward. Tenten wanted to yell at him to stay by her side. But just like that, the love of her life disappeared in a puff of smoke. He didn't even give her one last look. As soon as he left her, she let the tears leak out of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.

She never had a chance to tell him how she felt. Her heart felt like it had ripped into two. She now understood Sakura's pain when Sasuke had left her side.

Sakura laid her hand on Tenten's shoulder and whispered, "It's ok. Now we have something in common."

But even the sweet words of the pink haired medical ninja couldn't console Tenten – Hyuuga Neji, the love of her life, was never to be seen again.

END OF FLASHBACK

Tenten had the same flashback every night about this early in the morning. She would get in the same position and have the exact same memory. Like every other night, she would get out of bed this early in the morning, get changed into her soft pink oriental shirt and black capris, tie her hair up into two buns, and walk over to the bar – the place where she got drunk every single morning. She would usually fall asleep in the bar after getting drunk, wake up at around 7 AM and walk to the training grounds where she would train with Gai and Lee – tired and weak, which of course always worried Gai and Lee.

She got changed and tied her hair up and slowly walked to the bar.

"Where are you going, Tenten?" her mom would yell at her every morning when she heard Tenten's bedroom door open.

"I'M GOING TO TRAIN, MOM!" Tenten would yell loudly. Why does that woman even bother asking, she knows what the answer is the same every day, Tenten thought.

She slammed the door to her house shut and trudged over to the bar, not being able to forget the horrible memory of the Hyuuga.

---

As soon as she reached the bar, she sat down in her usual seat where the bartender – who was a scraggly looking man looking around the age of 50 – would ask her, "The usual, Miss?"

Tenten nodded and waited for her drink. The bar was almost completely empty except for a doggish looking man around the age of 40 sitting a few tables away from her.

He eyed Tenten and watched her as she chugged down several cups of strong sake. After about 20 – yes 20 – cups of sake, when he was sure Tenten was thoroughly drunk, he watched her fall asleep. He had been examining her for a few months now and her drinking routine.

---

When Tenten woke up, she found herself in a man's arms. She was also no longer in the bar, she was surrounded by tall trees. She couldn't recognize where she was or who was holding her.

She heard a man's voice speak to her, "Sleeping Beauty finally woke up."

She blinked a few times and breathed, "Neji…?"

There was a small pause and he spoke again, "I don't know who this Neji guy you're talking about is, but I could be your prince charming."

Tenten spun around and recognized the man who was holding her as the man from the bar. She screamed and tried to break free from the man's grip. As hard as she tried, she couldn't, she was way too fatigued from all the drinking she did a few hours ago.

Her shrill scream was muffled by the man's lips that were now engulfed around hers. He was now on top of the poor kunoichi and his hands were reaching toward her chest area.

Tenten's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She wasn't strong enough get this man off her, but she could at least keep her shirt on. She held firmly onto the fabric of her top and refused to let this man strip her of her dignity.

---

Meanwhile, at the ANBU headquarters…

"Looks like someone's in need of a little assistance," an 18-year-old Shikamaru muttered while looking at a computer screen of all the activities going on in Konoha at this time. The three chosen shinobis from Konoha were now in charge of monitoring day to day activities in the whole village of Konoha. They would usually take turns monitoring the computer and going out to save the day.

Shino looked over Shikamaru's shoulder, "What is it this time?"

"A girl being sexually assaulted," Shikamaru said in a disgusted tone.

Neji was leaning lazily on a wall in the corner of the room, arms crossed. He had gone on so many hazardous missions, this incident seemed extremely minor to him. Neji played a slightly different role compared to Shikamaru's and Shino's. He was more advanced and went on missions outside of the village of Konoha if he was needed. He was considered the highest out of the three of them for he had several advantages – he was an absolute prodigy in his clan, he was a Jonin when accepted into ANBU while Shikamaru and Shino were still Chuunin, and the most important reason…he had rejected all his bonds with comrades while he was young. His parents were both dead, and he learned to become hard and emotionless even before he reached the Genin level. Shikamaru and Shino both had loving parents and bonds with a few of their teammates. It took them much longer to release their bonds a bit, but even now, they hadn't completely forgotten their comrades of Konoha. Neji was the one and only that was completely void of any emotion. He knew he didn't and never will need emotions, they were just a sign of weakness.

"Neji, you should take this mission," Shikamaru informed.

"I only do important missions," the Hyuuga, dressed in black ANBU robes, said arrogantly.

"But this mission suits you perfectly," the Nara insisted. There was no response from Neji indicating he was refusing to do it.

Shikamaru added, "Considering the victim is," there was a pause for effect, "Tenten…"

Neji's brow furrowed just slightly. So slightly Shino didn't catch it, but Shikamaru's sharp eyes did, and he grinned knowing that Neji was disturbed by the situation.

Shino and Shikamaru were two smart men and knew without even having to ask Neji that he'd had a childhood crush on Tenten for a long time now. After he had become an ANBU member, those feelings were almost completely drained away. As smart as Shino and Shikamaru were, they weren't sure if Neji had completely given up his feelings for Tenten. Assigning Neji this mission would determine the answer to that.

"Fine," Neji grunted, standing upright and heading for the exit to ANBU.

That was a clear indicator that he hadn't given up on his bond with Tenten.

The Nara grinned as Neji put on his white ANBU mask decorated with orange dots on the forehead and purple and blue lines on the bottom half of his face. His mask was pretty unique in terms of design, not many other ANBU recruits wore a mask with that type of pattern, only high status members like the Hyuuga got that mask.

Hyuuga Neji - prodigy of his clan, dead parents, almost no bonds, never shows emotion, Jonin by 15, ANBU by 16, many bloodline limits, admired by many. He had it all in terms of becoming a great shinobi.

Tenten - average kunoichi, loving parents, many bonds, full of emotion and spunk, not yet a Jonin by 18, no bloodline limits, admired by no one.

Their differences were so great...and yet a shinobi of that great status would fall for a kunoichi of that below-average status.

Before Neji walked out the long hallway leading to the exit of ANBU headquarters, without turning around even once to face Shikamaru, he commented icily, "Don't give me that look, Nara."

Shikamaru wiped the grin off his face and thought to himself, how can he always do that?

---

Tenten was now fighting for dear life, she couldn't think of any time in her life worse than now. She tried to scream again but the pervert would just muffle her voice in yet another cold and disgusting kiss. The man was still trying to pull the kunoichi's oriental silk shirt off, but luckily Tenten still had barely enough energy to fight this sexual assault. Although she had to admit, she didn't know how much longer she could hold him off from digging deeper into her body.

Once those cold dry lips were released from hers, Tenten felt the man's heavy bodyweight lifted off of her own. Her eyes were shut tight, not wanting to know what might have been coming up next. This was a scar in her life that would never be erased, much like the day Hyuuga Neji left her – only about a thousand times less painful than when her teammate left her side.

Not even a thousand times less painful, you might as well make it 500,000 times less painful. The day when Neji was removed from her life of confusion, her already broken life went even further downhill. She stopped training hard, she didn't eat, she didn't sleep, she drank heavy amounts of sake every morning. Her parents would ask her to sit down and eat a proper dinner once in a while, but she would always give them the same old excuse, 'I'm meeting Lee and Gai Sensei at Ichiraku's Ramen Bar tonight.'

She couldn't even begin to explain the large chunk of her life she had wasted since Neji left. She didn't have any motivation whatsoever, she had lost her sense of wanting to live. There was nothing to look forward to when the sun rose every morning. There was no excitement in training with Team Gai knowing she wasn't going to see those gorgeous ivory eyes of his. She would only see those large circular eyes of Gai Sensei and Lee's.

Tenten was literally living her life as if she was dead these past two years. Nothing mattered anymore. She punched a few tree stumps with Gai and Lee, went to bed, couldn't fall asleep, thought of Neji, got herself drunk, and woke up to punch more tree stumps in the morning. All these past 2 years, completely wasted.

Tenten didn't even care that she had just been sexually assaulted, that was absolutely nothing compared to the scar Neji engraved in her heart.

Tenten woke up to find herself in another man's arms. She blinked a few times to get the blur out of her eyes. It was now getting dark and there was a strong drizzle of rain coming from the gray sky. She recognized the male carrying her as an ANBU member. She assumed this man took care of the pervert that had just been lying on top of her moments ago.

Her body was unusually sore, she felt very bruised up. Then again that probably wasn't uncommon, I mean how long had that heavy man been oppressing her body? She wouldn't be surprised if the doctor diagnosed her with a crushed rib cage, she could barely breathe under that man's bodyweight.

The ANBU was probably carrying her to the Konoha Hospital. At least there, her comrade Sakura could heal her. And at the same time they could have a much-needed chat. Tenten couldn't remember the last time she talked to any of her comrades other than Lee and Gai Sensei. The last time was probably when the Konoha 11 were gathered in the Hokage's office that Sakura told her they now had something in common.

"Arigato…" Tenten mumbled, though she wasn't sure why she was talking to an ANBU, they didn't usually talk to normal villagers anyway.

The ANBU just nodded, an expected response.

Something quickly caught Tenten's eye, behind the colorful ANBU mask was long silky onyx hair tied in a loose ponytail. It made her think of Neji, she remembered how he would always tie it loosely at the end into a ponytail when going on a mission.

She mumbled to herself sadly, "Neji's was exactly like that…"

Tears welled up in her eyes thinking of Neji, she tried consoling herself by thinking of her memories of the Hyuuga. She told herself that at least she got to spend all those years with him before he became an ANBU.

"Kunoichis shouldn't cry so easily," came a deep male voice from behind the mask of the ANBU carrying her.

Tenten swore she recognized it to be Neji's. She suddenly felt so stupid. An ANBU with long onyx hair that told her not to cry. How could she not recognize this to be the one she loved earlier? Was she too dazed from all the drinking she had done?

She reached for the mask of the ANBU and took it off. Surprisingly the ANBU didn't stop her. Once she slid the mask off, the tears fell out of her eyes. The same kinds of tears she cried after Neji disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Neji kept walking, trying to ignore the river of tears flowing out of Tenten's eyes. He avoided eye contact with her. After all, he had already broken two rules of ANBU by letting Tenten take off his mask and speaking to her. He was not going to disgrace the whole ANBU cooperation any further.

Tenten didn't know how to react. Her voice trembled as she tried to speak with her former teammate, "Why did you leave us?"

There was no response from the arrogant man.

Tenten continued to speak through her tears, "Why didn't you reject the offer?"

Neji again didn't speak back to her. The man didn't even look down to meet her eyes.

A sudden surge of anger went through the kunoichi's body. She unexpectedly yelled at him, "Team Gai isn't the same at all anymore! We train lifelessly everyday! Even Gai Sensei and Lee barely smile! Do you know how much pain you've caused us?!"

Tenten noticed the slight twitch movement the Hyuuga's mouth made, indicating he was actually listening to her. But he still didn't respond.

Tenten's eyes began to well up with tears again as she swallowed down her anger in a large gulp. Her voice softened and began to tremble again, "Do you know how much pain you've caused...me?" The kunoichi asked this final question.

Despite how hard the persistent kunoichi tried to make eye contact with her, the cocky Hyuuga refused her that one small satisfaction. Despite her yearning to hear his voice just one last time, he deprived her of that priveledge also.

The weapon specialist had a hurt expression on her face. She whispered, "Don't you...even care?"

Seeing that the Hyuuga wouldn't respond to any of her remarks, she gave up and wriggled out of his grip. She slipped out of his arms in an instant and landed on her feet, if not only for a moment, before collapsing on her knees. Her body felt limp and powerless, she had no control over any part of her body, just her mind, her mouth, and the continuous tears that flowed out of her eyes.

The Hyuuga emotionlessly stepped forward and reached in her direction to pick her up again. The kunoichi refused and rolled a bit in the opposite direction.

She yelled at him, "Don't touch me!"

Neji blankly responded, "It's my job to bring you to the hospital."

She refused again, "I can go there myself!"

He scowled, "You're in no condition to do that. That man drained you of nearly all your chakra...not that you had much. Most of it was contaminated with alcohol."

Tenten shot him another hurt look, "Since when did you care about me?"

Neji's scowl grew deeper, showing his clear disapproval of her misbehavior.

"You never thought about me...or Team Gai for that matter! You could only think about yourself gaining power while the rest of us actually tried to look out for each other!" Tenten raised her voice.

She looked at the ground and said in a softer tone, "We all cared about you…and you left us…"

Neji furrowed his brow, "It was expected that I would become an ANBU. It was your blindness that led you to disappointment."

Tenten didn't know how to respond. His reasoning always had a point. It was true, even in the Hokage's office that day, she knew Neji was going to be ANBU. Everyone in the Konoha 11 knew the Hyuuga was best suited for the position in the whole group. Many also knew Shikamaru was the second best suited, with his amazing strategic ability. Geniuses like those two would inevitably have futures such as the situation they are in now. Shino was just chosen because they needed a third person and he was the most calm-headed and he was strong. This made an easy to train shinobi.

Tenten took a good look at this ANBU. Under his high-status black stealthy ANBU uniform was the same heartless, arrogant man she had known since she was a Genin. The same Hyuuga she had fought with side by side for years. The same prodigy she used to be teammates with. The same Neji...that she was still in love with.

She was not about to show the Hyuuga that she had grown weaker in the years that he left her.

The kunoichi said in a sharp voice, "I don't need your help."

Neji took a deep sigh, not exactly sure of what he was supposed to do. From the ANBU headquarters however, Shino and Shikamaru were thoroughly amused at watching the Hyuuga struggle with his love life. Shino's eyes were clued to the monitor while Shikamaru smirked, trying to guess at how the Hyuuga would take care of this situation. For a moment, Shino and Shikamaru were not ANBU, they were cheerful, mischievous Genin again.

Neji took a look at his situation for a moment and finally seemed to hesitantly give in. He knelt down by the girl's side and reached out for Tenten's shirt.

She pulled back quickly, yelling loudly, "What are you doing?"

Neji snapped back at her in a calmer manner, "Since you won't let me take you to the hospital, I'm gonna…"

Tenten cut the Hyuuga off, "Since when did you become a medical ninja?"

The arrogant ANBU was taken aback by this rather abrupt question. In his small moment of shock, he blankly stared at the bruised up kunoichi and didn't give her an answer.

Tenten didn't really want to know the answer to the question she just asked. She feared a possible response coming out of his mouth. She thought she had a hunch of where he had learned to heal wounds.

Neji's face gave a small twitch before saying hesitantly, "ANBU had a required medical course."

The kunoichi furrowed her brow and looked hurt at Neji's words. She knew he was lying. Over the years she had spent with him, she could easily read his emotions. "How could you just lie to me like that? You think I can't tell, after all these years, when you're telling the truth and when you're not?"

The Hyuuga was not expecting that she could read his body language so well. He, again, did not respond. He instead looked away.

Tenten's eyes watered up. Did this mean what she thought it meant? Had he learned how to heal wounds and bruises from her pink haired friend? There was no other way. They hadn't learned any medical knowledge when they were in the Academy before they were Genin, only basic attack and defense techniques.

Tenten tried to calm herself down. She tried to console herself by repeating pointlessly in her mind, she was just teaching him. There was no special meaning to it. There was no special emotion behind it.

But as much as she tried to get rid of the thought, she couldn't. The information that she pieced together was all to fact-like. Her head spun with mixed emotions. Emotions of sadness and bitter jealousy. She knew that Sakura, for a few brief days, had confessed to Tenten that she missed her Uchiha and sometimes she felt all too comfortable around Neji – after all, they're background and character were nearly identical. Tenten couldn't dream of showing anger to this innocent girl, but she was always uncomfortable whenever Sakura and Neji were within a few yards from each other.

Neji had not told Tenten the truth in the first place, in fear she might misunderstand like she was doing now. Tenten always got the impression that Neji might've had some hidden feeling for the medical ninja since he never showed any sort of emotion towards Tenten. Plus the girl found every reason to like Sakura – she was beautiful, smart, and strong.

Tenten's eyes welled up and she found herself looking away from Neji. She forced a small smile and said softly, "So…you've been seeing Sakura?"

The Hyuuga was not one to lie. He had been seeing the Haruno girl for many weeks now for medical training. After all, he was one of the top ANBU members. To not be able to perform some simple healing techniques at his level was something to laugh at. And he also must admit, Sakura did also confess to him the same thing she had confessed to Sakura. That Neji did remind her a lot of Sasuke. That she might eventually start having some feelings for Neji if she spent too much time with him.

But Sakura was not one to play around with men. She knew all too well how much Tenten needed Neji, as she needed Sasuke. She had clearly told Neji that she would only see him for a month to teach him everything she knew, and then she would stop seeing him to resist any form of temptation.

Tenten, at the moment, was misunderstanding the current situation and coming to conclusions too soon.

"I've only been seeing her for medical training. She will only teach me for one more week," the Hyuuga explained briefly. He now understood that Tenten got the complete wrong impression.

"I don't like her," he added seriously.

Tenten took a deep breath. She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to believe this statement or not.

Neji, choosing to ignore her lack of trust, continued with his duties and reached out for her shirt again. Tenten, struck with confusion, let the Hyuuga take off her shirt quickly, leaving her top almost naked. The Hyuuga's brow furrowed as he looked at Tenten's upper body. It was covered with deep cuts and large bruises. The man did a hasty job extracting chakra from Tenten's body.

Neji laid his hand on Tenten's upper abdomen. A flash of heat and pain surged throughout Tenten's body. The kunoichi screamed loudly while the Hyuuga just kept doing his job.

A/N: Well, it's the start of another NejiTen :D Yay! Of course this story is going to be continued. Sorry for the sucky ending to this chapter…hehe. Please review! I'd appreciate it a lot! Also, if any of you who are reading this like SasuSaku, I am starting another fanfiction later for a request I got. It's gonna be AU SasuSaku. So I am going to be dealing with 2 fanfictions at the same time. You can read both if you want, or if you don't like SasuSaku, you can just read this one :D Pretty straight forward. Love you guys! Thanks, in advance, to those who review!