Those silly conversations we had, those nights when we stayed up late talking to each other...

(*)

"Do you believe in unicorns?"

Team Gai was on a mission, and it was now Tenten and Neji's turn to stay up and watch out for any ambushes. There was silence after Tenten's question. "... I will not ask why you just asked me that random question."

"Oh, come on. It was just a thought. I mean, you have to believe in something magical."

Neji looked sideways at Tenten. She was standing, leaning on a random tree, and looking out into the distance. She was practically fourteen going on six. "So I take it you believe in unicorns?" he replied.

"Yes!" she said without hesitation. "Horses with horns. They're not so hard not to believe in. They're just horses."

"With horns," Neji said, a wry smile on his face.

Tenten rolled her eyes.

There was another silence, and they could hear Gai-sensei's snores from inside the tent. She winced, and giggled. "You know, he's practically calling out to the forest that we're here."

Neji sighed. "It's not like we can plug his nose, or anything."

"Would you?" Tenten asked him.

"Is this 'ask weird questions' night?" Neji asked her.

"Is it a sin to ask weird questions?"

Neji was silent, and Tenten smiled, assuming that she had the last word.

"Tenten, do you believe in dragons?"

(*)

It was a late night, and Neji and Tenten were getting ramen after one of Gai-sensei's tiring trainings.

"What would it be like if Gai-sensei got married?"

Tenten's question, although it didn't show much on his face, got him thinking about a whirlwind of possibilities. "Would he find a girl that would actually marry, though?"

"Neji!" she chastised him, and laughed. "Not nice."

"Well, it's not like the girls flock to him, or anything."

She mused over that for awhile as he continued to eat his ramen. He wondered what she was thinking about. "Okay!" she said all of the sudden, making Neji look up at her as he was blowing some of the noodles from his chopsticks.

"Yes?"

"So I'm thinking. What if. What if, Gai-sensei had this... This army of females flocking around him."

It was around that time that Neji choked back a laugh, which didn't seem like a laugh at all, and Tenten narrowed her eyes at him. "Shh. Let me finish." She made sure he was done laughing, and then continued. "I don't think that Gai-sensei would pick a female from this so-called army that supposedly exists."

"And why do you say so, hm?"

"I don't know," she said with such certainty that Neji smirked. "He doesn't seem the type."

For a sixteen year old, Tenten was showing a remarkable interest in Gai-sensei's lovelife. "What type is he, then?" Neji couldn't help himself. There was something about this topic, that, no matter how weird, was appealing to him.

She smirked, seeing right through him. "You like this topic, don't you, Neji?"

"Answer the question."

"I think Gai-sensei would rather pick the, uhm, slightly quiet girl who likes him from afar. You know. Like in the movies."

"Wouldn't he pick someone 'youthful'?" he asked her, totally serious. For all his imagination, he had always thought that Gai-sensei would pick a girl with an equally loud voice, with an equally embarrassing leotard - jumpsuit thing in an obnoxious color like neon pink or neon orange, or something, with equally bushy eyebrows-

"Nah," Tenten said, waving her chopsticks in the air. "He wouldn't. He'd like someone who'd love him unconditionally, no matter how weird he is. And if she's the same as he is, then she won't fully appreciate him."

There was a silence, and Tenten slurped up the rest of her noodles.

"Someone's a bit philosophical tonight."

"Let's just say I've been thinking about this for a while."

"You obviously have." Neji finished his bowl.

"What kind of girl would you pick, Neji?"

The question bowled him over for a second.

Because there was no way that she was asking him this. She. The girl that he had tried so hard not to fall in love with.

And failed.

"I would pick... I would pick a girl."

She rolled her eyes. "No kidding, Neji. Last time I checked, you weren't gay."

"I have a feeling you probably know what kind of girl I'd pick, anyway," he said, and got up.

The way he looked at her when he said that made her insides erupt with butterflies.

"Hey... Hey, Neji! Wait up, goddamnit!"

(*)

It was on the night before Neji's eighteenth birthday that he heard rocks being thrown at his window.

He chose to ignore them.

"Neji, open the damn window or I'll haul one of these fucking boulders through it!" Tenten's harsh whisper came from outside.

That woke him up.

When she had finished climbing in, she sat, cross-legged, on his floor. "What is it, Tenten?" Neji stiffled back a yawn.

"I just wanted to spend tonight with you," she said quite calmly, as if it wasn't a big deal that she had just snuck into the Hyuga compound.

Neji sighed, exhausted, and sat down in front of her. "What is so special about tonight?"

"Well, it's your birthday."

"You haven't spent any birthdays with me like this."

"It's special."

"Why is it special?"

"Because... It's your birthday."

Neji sighed.

"I just want to, okay? And I wanted to give something to you."

He waited, and now it was her turn to sigh. "I can't give it to you now, it's not your birthday yet. We have..." she searched for a clock in Neji's room. "We have twenty minutes."

There was silence. "So.. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing quite fine, Tenten." There was a slight smile on his face. He could never say no to this girl.

"Okay... Good." She smiled at him weakly.

There was something... Off... About Tenten today. (Technically, tonight) But he couldn't quite place it. Oh well.

He glanced at the clock. Three minutes had gone by.

"Am I bugging you?" Tenten said, anxious all of the sudden. "Because if I am, I can just give this damn thing to you tomorrow-"

"No, no," he said, trying to nullify her panic. "I think you're going to give me something nice though. I can't wait."

She rolled her eyes. And then laughed nervously. Ahhhh... So that's it. She's nervous. Why on earth? "Oh, it can wait. It really can."

"So are you really going on that A-rank Gai-sensei asked you to go on?" He asked her.

Tenten frowned. "It's not like I have a choice, right? They need me." She had been asked by Gai-sensei to join him and two other jounin on an A-rank mission. Tenten was now being noted as a prime weapons master, and they needed her skills on this one. But as far as Neji knew, Tenten didn't want to go. It would be her first A rank without a teammate, and despite the fact that she had been recommended for that mission, she was still having doubts on going.

"If you don't want to go, then don't," he told her gently. She looked surprised at his answer.

"Why? I thought you believed in wanting to serve Konoha and everything."

I don't want you to go through such internal conflict, he wanted to say, but he just remained silent. Tenten shrugged off his silence, and looked at the clock.

"Ten minutes," she said softly. "Want to talk about anything else?"

Neji didn't reply, which she didn't think unusual. "Tenten, thank you," he said next. That surprised her.

"Uh... For what, Neji?"

"... For things."

She smiled at him; the moonlight caught on her skin, and almost made her glow beautifully in the moonlight. "You're welcome. For things," she added in a teasing tone.

They sat down in comfortable silence as the seconds ticked on and on.

"I think I'm going to try and ask Gai-sensei if they can ask someone else to go along with the mission," she said.

"Okay." But that didn't stop the smile from growing on his face.

She laughed all of the sudden. He gave her a questioning look. "You used to ask me the weirdest questions before," she said softly.

"Oh, really?" Neji crossed his arms. "I think that you were the one who used to talk to me about 'weird' things."

She grinned at him.

"Don't give me that look," he said stiffly. "'Neji? Do you believe in unicorns?' 'Neji? Do you trim your toenails?' 'Neji? What's the secret of your long hair?' 'Do you think Gai-sensei's going to get married?' 'What will Lee's children look like?'" He gave her a meaningful smile, and she rolled her eyes.

"Tenten, do you believe in dragons?' 'How long is your hair when it's down?' 'I wonder what it would be like to go on a mission alone.' 'Can you count the stars?' 'What if we pair Tsunade-sama with Gai-sensei-"

"I do not need to be reminded about that," Neji cut her off sternly, but with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah, like I needed to be reminded of what Lee's children will be like," she shot back, and stuck her tongue at him.

"The point is, Tenten," Neji said with such finality that she felt like she had to listen. "You are weirder than me."

At that she nearly burst out laughing, but remembered that she was smack in the middle of Hyuga territory, and hastily changed her laughs to little coughs. "We had some random talks back then, huh?" she said, after a while.

"Call them 'Our little silly talks'," Neji said, smirking.

A brief silence ensued, and both looked at the clock. To their surprise, it now read 12:08.

"Oh, damnit," Tenten cursed. She then leaned towards him and gave him a crushing hug. "HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, NEJI!"

He struggled to hug her back, failed, and they both fell with a thump on his bedroom floor. Neji waited for a second to see if anyone had noticed the sound and then turned his head to the beautiful kunoichi that was on top of his chest. Struggling to keep composure, he grunted out, "Why are you greeting me a belated happy birthday?"

"Well. Uh... I guess it's really only your birthday the minute you get right out of your mom," she said, after a while. "It's stupid, but that's what I believe in."

Neji was silent, thinking this over. He did tell Tenten that his mom gave birth to him at exactly twelve midnight. He smirked at her. "It's not stupid, it's weird."

At that, she hit him playfully in the shoulder.

Suddenly, both were aware that they were very close to each other. "So." He looked up at her. "What did you want to give to me?"

"Oh, that." She mumbled something incoherently. "You know what, never mind... I mean, it's stupid anyway, and-"

He silenced her with a look. "You came here at twelve midnight. You threatened to throw a boulder through my window. You made me stay up until you could give me this 'present' of yours. You have tackled me, and now you are practically sitting on top of my chest. The least you could do is-"

Tenten suddenly leaned forward, and gave him a quick, chaste, peck on the lips. He hadn't even begun to close his eyes when she leaned away. "There, that was my birthday pre-mmph!"

Neji brought both of his hands up to her face and pulled her back down to claim her lips again. This time, the kiss went deeper, and made Tenten's insides clench inside of herself. She leaned into him, tangling her fingers in his long hair, while his hands slipped from her face, down to her shoulders, then to her waist. After awhile, the kisses suddenly became less hungry, and they gradually stopped. Her brain was feeling a little bit fuzzy, and he was a little short of breath.

"Er... Neji..." she had planned on giving him a little peck, confessing her love, and then leaving in some discreet manner after he had turned her down. "Did you just... Did I... Er... Did we just-?"

"Again with the weird questions," he mumbled, and pulled her down for another kiss.

(*)

The two of them were walking through the forest.

It was the day before both of them would be sent out into their different groups to fight in the Ninja War. Both of them were nervous, but trying not to let the other know it.

"After this, we're going to go out. Like, all the best dates in the world mixed into one," Tenten said, trying to cheer up Neji. "You can buy me dinner, and sing to me, and we'll watch a movie and stuff. And maybe we can invite Lee somewhere. You know. The old gang. Together."

He tried to smile at her, but he failed. So many questions were giving him inner turmoil; he didn't know what would happen. It was one of those times when he felt that he couldn't control what was going to happen.

"Neji..." she said softly, and reached for his hand. "I know you're scared."

He stiffened. "Tenten."

"You're going to be fine," she murmured, and leaned into his side. "This isn't so different from our normal missions."

"It's not that," he said abruptly.

"What is it, then?" she asked him, brows creasing.

He mumbled something under his breath, something she didn't quite catch. "Neji, just open your mouth, I can handle whatever you have to say."

"I can't die. And you can't die. I..." his voice faltered, and her heart melted.

She hugged him, snuggling against his chest. "Neji. You are the Hyuga prodigy."

A smile flitted across his face. "And you're the weapons mistress."

"We'll make it out fine," she assured him, and smiled up at him. She stood up on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips. She giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"This is just another one of our silly little talks, Neji." She said, her brown eyes twinkling up at him. "More weird, impossible things."

Although he wasn't assured, he just smiled slightly back at her.

"I love you, Tenten," he said softly.

Stunned by the sudden declaration, Tenten blushed. "I... I love you too, Neji," she said, almost shyly. Then she beamed up at him. "You know what? Don't worry. You won't lose me. You won't. I'll be here. For you. Always. And I won't die." Tenten said. "I promise."

(*)

As Tenten fell asleep the night after the war was over, she felt the hot tears trickling down her face. Neji. She shook her head. She couldn't think about this again. She couldn't. She could not.

Neji...

(*)

Those silly conversations we had, those nights when we stayed up late talking to each other...

I'll miss them.

(*)

Another production of angst by me. Woo-hoo. :D

I think this is sort of crappy. I dunno. It started out cute and funny and then it turned into this angsty mess. Another woo-hoo.

R&R, lovelies. Thanks so much for the click. Xoxo. (Lame.)