A knock at the door confirmed the time that flashed on her digital clock hanging on the wall. Deciding to drop the sash in her hand, Tenten rushed to answer the door, mentally slapping herself for losing track of time. Despite that one mistake, the high-ranking kunoichi was still cheerful and excited about the night’s event that was to occur. Unfortunately, all that enthusiasm flew out the window the moment she opened the door and got a look at her visitor.

“What kind of costume is that, Neji?” Tenten exclaimed upon opening her door.

“I could ask you the same thing,” said Hyuuga commented, carefully scrutinizing the incomplete custom his teammate had on.

“I’m running a little late,” Tenten explained casually, “What’s your excuse, genius?”

“You said that something with a mask would be fine,” the Hyuuga Branch member stated calmly.

Tenten paused at his comment, realizing the truth of his statement. She had said that anything with a mask would be fine when Neji had asked her advice on what would be an appropriate costume to wear to the party. Taking another look at the ANBU uniform that her teammate wore, she began to realize how practical the idea really was. But she still expected a little more effort from her hardworking comrade.

“I didn’t think you would just strap on your ANBU uniform and use that as a costume,” Tenten said, placing a hand on her hip with impatience, “Honestly, would it kill you to get into the holiday spirit?”

“It wasn’t even our custom to celebrate Halloween until last month,” Neji pointed out, “I’m starting to think the Hokage was in one of her drunken rants when she made this an official holiday.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that so that you won’t have to go to Ino and Sakura’s party?” the cheerful brunette commented with a smirk.

Her suspicions confirmed when Neji sighed at the mere mention of said party. The truth of the matter was that Neji Hyuuga was an antisocial enigma of a man and that he would always remain so despite her efforts to try and change that.

“So are you going to finish getting ready or are you just going to go like that?” Neji inquired, managing to aim the conversation away from himself.

“Why don’t you go on ahead,” Tenten replied with a shake of her head, snapping out of the trance that she often found herself in, “I’ll meet you there.”

Without saying a word, the weapon-wielding kunoichi rushed back into her room, her bedroom door closing with a soft click as she left the pale-eyed man to stand in her living room. With a shrug of indifference, Neji left the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him and headed towards the Haruno household where the party was located.

After about an hour after he arrived, the white-eyed Hyuuga spotted his female teammate walking through the front door and greeting the pink-haired hostess. Abandoning his spot in the corner, Neji slowly approached being careful as to study the costume his hazel-eyed companion wore.

“Hey Neji,” Tenten greeted cheerfully, “You having fun?”

“And who or what are you supposed to be?” Neji questioned, completely ignoring her question as his brows furrowed together in curiosity and confusion.

“Mulan,” she replied as if it was so obvious.

“But Hinata was dressed as Mulan and she looked nothing like this,” Neji said as he recalled seeing the costume his cousin wore when she arrived with Lee.

“That’s because she’s supposed to be Mulan at the end of the movie,” Tenten explained, adjusting her breastplate to a more comfortable position, “I’m Mulan when she’s a soldier.”

Neji eyed her for a moment, a brow raised cynically as he processed the information presented to him. When he was done, Neji shook his head in amusement.

“And you commented on the simplicity of my costume,” the Hyuuga prodigy stated with a smirk.

“At least I put some thought into my costume and convinced everyone else to follow the theme,” she stated, fidgeting with her gauntlets.

“I’d love to continue this conversation but I think I’ll be heading home now,” the ANBU captain said as he headed towards the door.

“But you’ve only been here for an hour and I just got here,” Tenten protested, following after him.

“I have better things to do than to indulge in some half-baked holiday,” the white-eyed Hyuuga replied.

“Fine, go,” Tenten said in defeat, “But at least take home some candy.”

Reaching out towards the tub of candy set up in the foyer, Tenten grabbed a handful of sugar-filled treats and handed them to her teammate. Neji accepted them hesitantly, scrutinizing the brightly colored wrappers before finally stuffing them in his pocket.

“Don’t stay out too late,” he called over his shoulder, “I still expect you to be at practice tomorrow morning.”

“Party pooper,” Tenten mumbled as she turned around to rejoin the party.

Glancing around the house, Tenten was pleased to see a good majority of her friends had stuck to the Mulan theme they had all agreed to. Hinata was looking especially nice dawning the Chinese dress Mulan wore at the end of the movie. She smirked at seeing familiar looking necklace hanging around her neck, posing as the medallion the Emperor gave to Mulan as a symbol of the heroic deeds the girl did for her country.

“Looks like our little Hyuuga heir had a little help getting ready from Naruto,” Tenten said to herself, “Lee’s not going to like that.”

As she continued to walk about the house, the samurai-clad kunoichi walked pass the opened doors of the balcony, catching a brief glimpse at a shadowy form sitting alone in the moonlight. Refusing to let anyone seek solitude from such an amazing party, Tenten decided to join the lonely figure. She wasn’t all that surprised to find Sasuke sitting quietly on the railing of the small terrace.

“Greetings Captain,” Tenten said cheerfully. Then eyeing the ANBU captain’s uniform, she added with a chuckle, “I guess you and Neji had the same idea.”

“Nothing wrong with being practical,” the Uchiha heir commented with a shrug.

“Maybe,” the Mulan soldier agreed absentmindedly, leaning her back against the railing as she folded her arms over her chest, “But was it really too much to ask for you to dress up as the leader of the Hun army?”

“Yes,” was the raven-haired shinobi’s blunt response.

“You’re right,” Tenten chuckled, turning around so that she could rest her arms on the handrail, “I should‘ve known better.”

Silence followed soon after her laughter faded. Both leaf-nin seemed comfortable sitting quietly under the light of the crescent moon as the noise of the party drifted out to them.

Over the years, both had found comfort in each other’s presence. Tenten was able to give Sasuke the friendship that he lacked after being shunned by almost the entire village after he left to join Orochimaru and was abruptly brought back by a team lead by Naruto. In return, Sasuke had agreed to train Tenten, the kunoichi having found herself short one sparring partner for most of the week when Neji was assigned to an ANBU squad [Sasuke was allowed to set his own schedule since only a select few were willing to work with him]. From their strange arrangement, an unexpected friendship had formed.

And possibly something more? Tenten pondered as she continued to stare at the stars twinkling in the night’s sky.

“Did anyone even see you come in?” the kunoichi finally asked, breaking the silence that lingered between them.

“I doubt it,” was Sasuke’s response.

“So, no one would notice if you left?” she questioned nonchalantly.

“No one but you,” the dark-eyed shinobi replied, earning a nod from the older girl next to him.

“Well,” Tenten said with an amused sigh, sliding in a small chuckle, “At least you stayed longer than Neji.”

“Just couldn‘t take all the attention could he?” the ANBU captain commented with one of his trademark smirks.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Tenten playfully retorted, “After all, I did find you sitting out here all alone.”

“That’s because I don’t see the point of this whole thing,” the brooding Uchiha said, casually glancing at his comrade.

“This is a Halloween party,” Tenten replied, meeting his gaze with her own, “The point is to celebrate the holiday.”

“Christmas is a holiday,” Sasuke snorted in response, “This is just some stupid excuse for candy companies to make money off of sugar high little kids dressed up in silly costumes.”

“That didn’t stop you from dressing up, did it?” the kunoichi knowingly pointed out.

Sasuke opened his mouth as if to say something, but abruptly closed it when he could find no retort. Despite his feelings about the newly adapted holiday of Halloween and his reluctance to make a complete fool of himself by dressing up in a ridiculous costume, the Uchiha heir still made an attempt to join in the celebration.

But why? he inquired, hoping to find the answer.

“Will wonders never cease?” Tenten teased, placing her hands victoriously on her hips, “I actually stumped Sasuke Uchiha.”

“In your dreams doughnut head,” Sasuke snapped, holding no true malice behind the statement.

Was it because she asked me to? the ANBU captain mused.

“But really though, there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little insanity once in a while,” the weapon loving girl said in a more serious tone, “It keeps your mind off of the chaos surrounding your life.”

“Is there something you‘re not telling me?” the Sharingan user questioned suspiciously.

There was a slight pause in Tenten’s actions, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the heir of the Uchiha clan. She let out a soft sigh as she moved to sit beside Sasuke on the handrail. Their shoulders continuously brushed against each other as the kunoichi placed her hands on the railing to support herself.

“It’s nothing of real importance,” Tenten finally replied, “Don’t worry about it.”

“You know, if you ever needed to talk to anyone, you can talk to me,” the usually cold Uchiha said, a hint of worry escaping in his tone. Uncharacteristically with uncertainty, he added, “Right?”

“Yeah, I know,” the older girl replied in a soft whisper, staring into the Uchiha‘s dark eyes, “Thanks.”

Without warning, Tenten leaned in and quickly gave Sasuke a kiss on the cheek in appreciation. But though she had shown such friendly affection towards other comrades, there was something unusual about this one.

“You’re sweet,” she added, hoping to blow past the awkward moment.

But when she moved to look back at the stars, Sasuke reached out his hand lightly take hold of her chin. A bit startled at the contact, the kunoichi allowed the younger boy’s hand to guide her face back towards its owner, lifting her chin up so that their eyes met under the dim light of the moon. Slowly sliding his hand up from where it was on her chin to cup her cheek, the Sharingan user leaned in to lightly brush his lips against hers.

Pulling back, the youngest Uchiha looked at the quiet kunoichi to see her reaction. Her small smile was a good sign, and there was no denying the slight blush that was forming on her cheek as she nervously looked down at her lap. The smile was still there when Tenten looked back up into the eyes of Sasuke, affectionately reaching up and cupping his cheek before pulling him in for another chaste kiss.

Standing at the door of the balcony, hiding behind a huge potted plant, two figures watched with interest at the events that were unfolding out on the balcony. One was dressed as a convincing Yao while the other was barely pulling off his Captain Shang costume.

“It’s about time Neji made his move,” Naruto whispered to Kiba, rubbing at the itchy purple markings around his eye.

“I didn’t know the Hyuuga had it in him,” Kiba chuckled, trying hard to avoid having anyone else step on his cape.

“Come on, let’s go tell the others,” Naruto said excitedly as he rushed off towards the living room, Kiba not too far behind.

Back on the balcony, Tenten had unconsciously rested her head on Sasuke’s shoulder as he placed an arm protectively around her small form.

“So where do we go from here?” Tenten asked softly, enjoying the warmth of the young man next to her.

“I think that I should leave now before anyone spots me,” Sasuke replied mischievously, “And I think that you should leave five minutes later and meet me at the park.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the kunoichi agreed, pulling away from the young Uchiha.

“See you in a few minutes,” Sasuke said with a genuine smile before he leaned down to kiss her one last time.

Without a word being said, the ANBU captain disappeared into the night, leaving the smiling weapon-wielding kunoichi alone on the terrace to muse over what had happened that night. Unconsciously, she began to giggle in amusement at the unexpected turn of events.

“Happy Halloween, Sasuke,” she whispered to the winds before she left, telling the hostess that she had an early practice in the morning with Neji.



Explanation: confused? Everyone saw Neji at the party sitting in the corner but no one saw him leave. No one saw Sasuke arrive at the party either. And both Neji and Sasuke were wearing their ANBU uniforms. You get it now? Good!

Oh, and here are the people who participated in the Mulan theme suggested by Tenten (in no particular order): Naruto Uzumaki as Yao; Sasuke Uchiha as (supposedly) Shan Yu; TenTen as Mulan (soldier); Rock Lee as Ling; Shikamaru Nara as The Emperor of China; Chouji Akimichi as Chien Po; Hinata Hyuuga as Mulan (normal girl); Kiba Inuzuka as Captain Shang; and Shino Aburame as Cri-Kee.