Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

It was snowing that evening. It was heavenly; pure, white, and innocent-not yet exposed to the horrors of the world.

It was snowing lightly, covering the park bench in a thin layer of white. Sighing lightly and sniffling audibly, she wiped the cold, wet, dust off of the end of the bench and sat down. Why she even wanted to come out here in this horrid weather was unknown to her. But alas, here she was shivering outrageously and wiping her already red nose with a soaked through, mitten covered hand.

She scoffed to herself. Sensitive to cold temperatures-some kunoichi she was. She had endured much worse (and some worse than she) but this stupid weather was bring her down. She hated feeling weak.

Eventually, she brought her feet onto the bench, tucking her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She shivered again and her teeth began to chatter.

"Damn this weather..." She muttered, pulling her coat tighter around her body. She huffed and sniffled.

"If it bothers you so much, why haven't you gone home?" A familiar voice called to her. The sound came from her left, she knew. She was a kunoichi after all (though right now she felt like quite the pathetic one). The tone of voice the man had used was slightly amused. Tenten grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"What was that, Tenten? I'm afraid I couldn't hear you." The man smirked. She could hear it in his voice. Tenten really didn't have the time to deal with her stuck up Hyuuga teammate's stupid comments. If only she could come up with a witty comeback.

"What do you want, Hyuuga?" Tenten snapped. The cold was making her irritable Cold weather always made her cranky. A known fact. Was Neji trying to piss her off?

"I saw you passing by the Hyuuga household earlier. I was going to ask you what in the world possessed you to come out here in the first place." Straight to the point. Typical Neji.

"I didn't know you gave a damn, Neji." She replied grumpily. Despite her mood, she felt quite proud of herself for what she had just said. She adjusted her jacket again with a small sense of pride.

"You know very well that I 'give a damn'." Okay. She did know that. Great, now the stupid weather was making her think illogically. She felt pretty dumb, now.

"Okay, fine. I did know that. But what makes you think I give a damn about you giving a damn?" Ha! Take that, Hyuuga!

"Body language." Tenten's triumphant smirk (or so she thought, it was really a soft, happy smile) vanished, replace by a scowl as she thought up a storm of curses at herself. Neji chuckled, stepping the remaining steps forward and wiping snow off of the seat beside her.

Tenten's mental rant ceased when she felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her into a his warm chest. She snuggled closer and relished the feel of his body heat.

"You know," She began, stuffing her head into his jacket and rubbing her cold nose against the warm cotton of his shirt. She inhaled, breathing in the scent that was just so Neji. "If I didn't love you so much, I would have killed you a long time ago." Neji chuckled again. She always seemed to amuse him. He almost always putting on a figurative mask, letting no one see how he felt.

"I know." He replied, rubbing soft circles on her back. Her head came out of his jacket immediately. She glared up him playfully.

"Is that why you try to piss me off so often then? Huh? HUH?" He snorted slightly, letting out a breath that was visible for mere seconds before it floated away in the wind.

"Only because I can get away with it." Tenten pulled back and crossed her arms.

"The Inuzuka brat deserved it! I don't care if he thinks 'angry women are hot'!"

"Naruto can get away with it." He pointed out.

"Only because he's like the little brother I've never had!" It was silent for a couple of minutes, the two of them just staring up (and down) at each other. Then he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers.

"I love you." He breathed. Tenten giggled.

"Love you, too." She whispered back. Then closed the remaining distance between them and captured her lips in his. It was a soft, sweet kiss. It was in these times that his mask was taken off and thrown halfway across the world, never to be seen or heard from again.

they pulled apart and Neji's hand subconsciously slipped into the pocket of his coat. His thumb ran over the engraving on one of the beads. He started to debate whether or not he should take it out of his pocket or not.

Finally coming to a decision, he pulled the piece of jewelery from his pocket.

"Neji, what's that?" Tenten looked down at the necklace that was resting in the Hyuuga man's palm.

"An engagement necklace." He replied. Again, straight to the point. Tenten was silent. "Tenten, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Silence reigned for three seconds (not that he was counting or anything) before he was toppled to the crunchy, white ground.

"Yes! Yes! A million times yes!" Tenten exclaimed in excitement. She laughed as she straddled him by the waist and kissing him on the lips. Her irritated mood was all but forgotten. Neji clasped the cold necklace around Tenten's warm neck and ran his fingertips over the beads.

He got up first, offering his hand to her and she took it with a giggle. It was then that he realized that she wore a mask, too. She was never so girly before but around him she came out of her shell and her mask was lying on the ground right next to his.

They walked hand and hand down the road-each with a smile on their faces. And if they heard the villagers whispering about them, they "didn't give a damn".