The Girl With Two Buns. A NejiTen Fanfic

12

This chapter is dedicated to @_iampamilerin.

~ x ~

"My younger self?" Tenten echoed. "There is nothing important about my childhood. My parents passed on when I was a child so Anko-san has been taking care of me ever since. Unfortunately, she is ill and I can not afford her medical expenses which is why I chose to work for you."

"Hmm." Neji hummed for lack of words to say. Tenten smiled and started on a topic about her friends in the village which Neji listened attentively to. He gave several hums and nods to show that he was following and laughed at every joke she made.

"And then there is my good friend Lee. He is rather...eccentric and is very boisterous but he means good and is a darling."

"Should I be jealous of this man?" Neji asked darkly. Tenten burst into melodious laughter and shook her head.

"No. He is one of the only people that appreciate my craftsmanship."

"You are one of a kind, Tenten. No other woman would love weaponry as well as you do." Neji was fascinated about Tenten's love for weapons and blacksmithing. She was indeed a peculiar woman.

"Do you have friends, Neji-sama?" Tenten asked curiously as she made Neji to sit up with his back facing her. Once he got into position, she loosened the hair tie that bounded his hair and let it blow freely in the wind. Then she got into a kneeling position and started to braid the dark brown locks.

"I do, actually." Neji responded. "They are princes much like I am."

"Why did I expect less?" Tenten asked sarcastically and Neji laughed.

"The closest to me is Prince Gaara of the Wind Kingdom. He is a good friend, soon to be king which reminds me, we shall be leaving for the Wind country to celebrate Gaara's coronation."

"Eh?! We are going to Suna?!" Tenten squealed.

"Yes we are." Amusement was in Neji's voice but he continued his description. "Then there is prince Sasuke of the Fire Kingdom. He is rather silent and monosyllabic, it is unnerving how Naruto understands his grunts but he does."

"Ooh Sasuke-sama of the land of Fire. I have heard of him from Ino. You four are rather popular among the women of the land. Whereas Naruto-sama is the sunshine and cheerful prince, Gaara-sama is silent and stoic, Sasuke-sama is cold and mysterious and you, Neji-sama, are off standing." Neji scoffed at the description. "Done! Now all I need is a wreath of flowers."

Tenten picked several wild sunflowers, daffodils, daisies, pansies and bluebells to make her wreath with. The only problem about the wreath was that she had no knowledge about how to make flower wreaths.

"Let me teach you." Neji spoke much to her surprise and started weaving the flower stalks together.

"Eh? How do you know how to do this?" Tenten asked with fascination gleaming in her dark caramel orbs.

"My mother used to weave flowers together when her spirits were down. She would crown me with flower wreaths and weave them into my hair. It was from her that I learned how to do it." Neji had a forlorn smile on his face. "Okaa-sama* passed away from an illness. She used to love tiger lilies so much." Neji whispered the last sentence with a serene smile on his face which brightened into a rare full smile as he finished making two flower wreaths.