I Am You?! (NejiTen)

18- Really, this is nothing but a short filler chapter.

Neji sat patiently at a classy restaurant awaiting Sasame's arrival. She did arrive a few minutes after the set time. Neji stood to greet her. She did not change much from when last he saw her.

Sasame had long ginger locks with brown eyes. She carried herself with grace and mannerism, much unlike Tenten but that was the charm about his girlfriend. She found a way to make mundane things graceful somehow.

"Fuuma-san." Neji greeted.

"Hyuga-san, it is a pleasure to meet you again." Sasame greeted politely and sat gently on the chair that was pulled back for her by Neji.

They started small talk during which a waiter came to take their orders. Sasame was pleasant to talk to but her mannerisms always seemed forced in a way Neji could not pin point. An example was in the way she laughed. Like a proper lady, she laughed behind her palm but it sounded more like huffing than giggling.

One way or the other, their conversation steered towards Neji's line of work and Tenten.

"That's right, how is your best friend doing?" Sasame asked. "The one that liked to tie her hair into space buns, Tenten was it?"

"Oh she's great. She is finally my girlfriend now and we're acting a drama together." Neji answered chipper. To others his cool countenance had not changed but there was a very slight raise in his pitch and brows. If you blink, you'd miss it. Tenten could read him like a book though.

"Oh...wow." Sasame smiled. "Congratulations to you."

"Thank you." Neji appreciated. That was his subtle way of telling Sasame that he was taken and would definitely not accept the engagement between them. He knew that she got her message because her smile was a bit strained.

-

The drama they were acting was almost over. It had been a fun time acting out the humorous story between a college boy and a girl that hates his guts. Although it took several attempts to get Sai's smile right, the movie ended up good. Only a few more acts were left and the whole drama was over save for poster picture capturing.

"Where were you on Saturday?" Tenten asked on their way to her car. It has now become a common thing to see Neji and Tenten cooperating outside the filmset so the staff were not surprised that Neji was seeing Tenten to her car.

"Hn." Neji grunted. "Family issues." It wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't the truth either.

"Oh." Tenten nodded in understanding. "Let's have a movie night tonight!" She announced.

"Hmm okay I guess. What are we watching?" Neji asked.

"I dunno. I have some Marvel and DC movies and maybe Disney and other animations. We could also watch some cheesy Netflix drama." Tenten rambled. Neji just nodded his head to everything she said.

In the end they decided to watch their first ever drama appearance which Kakashi directed. It was so funny seeing their younger faces and obvious mistakes and amateurishness that they would never do in their present selves. Their appearances were cameo though so they got only about five minutes screen time each before leaving the whole movie.

"You're distracted." Tenten's random words pulled Neji out of his absent minded staring contest with the panda above Tenten's TV.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly.

Tenten turned so that she was facing him and not turning her neck to look at him. "You have been distracted all day and seemingly over the week end. What's up?" She was more observant than he gave her credit for, Neji thought.

Truthfully, the thought of his (forced) engagement had been on his mind. Yes, despite his protest Hiashi and Fuuma-san placed both he and Sasame in an engagement contract so it was clear why he was distracted. He was angry but at the same time trying to be levelheaded.

Neji thought he could hide his mixed emotions from Tenten but his girlfriend had read him like an exam cheat paper. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just..." He bit his lip.

"Just?" Tenten was getting anxious now. Neji never bit his lip even if he was in the deepest of thoughts. This meant that what he was about to announce was a news she would not like one bit.

"My uncle...he wants to place me in an engagement with one of his business partners." Neji finally let out the news he had been holding in for a week now. He left out the fact that he was already practically engaged though. He would resolve that issue without worrying Tenten's pretty head about it.

"An engagement?" Tenten's scowl was something akin to the angry face on his emoji options but Neji decided not to say that loud.

Tenten was right. She hated this bit of information a lot.

"Of course I am not going to accept it but it would be a challenge changing uncle's mind and yeah, that's why I was not around on Saturday and why I have been so distracted." Neji confessed in one breath.

"Do you need me to kill him? Or the woman they're trying to pair you up with?" Tenten grumbled to which Neji smiled. She took the news better than he expected which was a good thing.

"No silly." Neji bopped her nose with a finger and a chuckle. "Thank you for understanding." He was sincere in his appreciation. He had expected her to maybe get angry and lash out or at worst break up with him (such a scary thought) but was very relieved to see how much she trusted him.

"Thank you too for telling me about it." Tenten smiled and snuggled close to him. "Bad tasting news aside, let's watch something else other than this boring movie." She gestured to the movie that was still playing.

"Yes ma'am." Neji mock saluted and moved to change the movie.

***

Sorry for such a short chapter. The next would be lengthier, I promise.

Please vote and review.

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Till next chapter.

-Star.