A couple of warnings: This story was not proofread because I’m a freaking lazy person. Don’t point out grammar mistakes unless you can’t figure out what I’m trying to say at all.
There is a random Tenten pairing. I used Kiba because I can. Feel free to replace him with whoever you want, as long as it is not Neji.
Otherwise, please enjoy this fanfic.

* * *

“Hey Tenten!” Neji called after the retreating back.  The girl with buns turned wearing a look of exasperation on her face.

“What?” she asked, more snidely that she originally intended.  In the last few days, the amount Neji had been complaining had been driving her crazy.  It was all she could do to prevent herself from ripping his head off.

“I’m getting married tomorrow—“

“So I’ve been told.”

He frowned at her for cutting him off.  “And I’d like to spend the day with you if that’s alright.”

Tenten’s brow wrinkled in frustration.  “Neji, if you’re trying to ask me out on a date, it’s way too late.  I’m not going to go out with a decidedly betrothed person who obviously has no way out.  You’re lucky I’ve come to terms with this and am even speaking to you at all.”

“Aww… But you could be my not so secret lover.  I don’t think Kotone would mind.  She’d probably be ecstatic that I’m leaving her alone.”

“Of course, she’d mind.  She’s going to be your wife.”  Neji closed his eyes, completely frustrated with how obstinate Tenten was being.  If she knew anything about Kotone, she’d have immediately known that he wasn’t joking about her not minding if he had an affair or two.  Tenten then added, “Besides, I’m pretty sure that within the next two days I’ll be dating Kiba.  You’re out of luck, Neji.”

With a growl, Neji wheeled around and stomped away leaving Tenten standing by herself in the middle of the training grounds.

* * *

It was the day that Kotone had been dreading.

Her hair was done.  Her kimono was on.  She was wearing the most atrociously painful pair of shoes imaginable.  Hinata had held her down and removed the bandage covering her cursed seal.  Even though Hinata had also applied given her a make-over, it didn’t help cover the seal.  She could feel it there and it was burning a hole into her forehead.  She was going to be forced to walk out in front of the entire clan and most of the village, ridiculously garbed with her cursed seal staring everyone in the face.  She would be the center of attention, as position that she hated more than anything else.

She asked for a bar of chocolate, hoping that she could eat it and relieve some of the anxiety, but Auntie grabbed her hand instead and started dragging her along.  Kotone was lost and confused.  Her mind was in overload and, it granted her a small bit of reprieve by shutting down.  She wished she could just disappear.  

Everyone watched her enter.  A massive crowd of people had gathered to see Neji get married and it was to Kotone’s great fortune that she was in mental lockdown.  Auntie dragged her to the platform and stopped her directly in front of the table placed there.  Lying on the table was the official marriage scroll.  Hiashi held a pen in his hand and proceeded to give it to his nephew.  Neji eyed Kotone with a look of dejection, glared at his uncle and then reluctantly signed the paper.  He gave the pen back to Hiashi, who then turned to hold the writing utensil out to Kotone.   She was still quite zoned out so Auntie had to elbow her rather hard to get her to snap out of her reverie and take the pen.  

Kotone stared at the object in her hand.  Terror was brewing in the pit of her stomach.  It had been there before but now it was eating the entirety of her being.  She considered stabbing herself and ending her life now, just to save everyone else from the trouble.  But that thought quickly receded when she realized that no one would miss her. Not even Auntie.  She was just a burden on everyone. So she proceeded, feeling more depressed than she had at any other point in her life, to sign the document, sealing her fate to be miserable and bound to the Hyuuga clan for the rest of her life.

Hiashi rolled up the scroll and tied it neatly.  He set it back down on the table.  He then grabbed one of Kotone’s hands and one of Neji’s and placed them together on the table.  He gave a long speech about the duties of the husband and wife in the Hyuuga clan and when he finished he asked them if they understood that they were now bound to each other and the clan, and it would never be undone until one of them died.  Neji bowed his head, keeping it lowered so that the expression on his face couldn’t be read.  A nudge from Auntie forced Kotone to nod her head slightly in acknowledgement.

* * *

It was a done deal then.  The two of them were married.  Cheers flew from the mouths of the gathered assembly, and Hiashi and Auntie exchanged a look something like joy or relief that they had managed to make it work.  Kotone and Neji stood hand in hand, looking absolutely miserable.  Auntie and Hiashi ushered them out of the room, to the party that had been prepared for the guests.  Neji walked around, getting congratulated by everyone he knew.  He mutely nodded and continued on his trip around the room.  He was drinking anything alcoholic he could find, and it wasn’t long before he was completely drunk.
Kotone on the other hand was hiding the corner.  People were looking for her to give her advice and well wishes.  She didn’t want any of that.  The only time she was forced to socialize was when Auntie discovered her and forced her to.

The time passed with everyone full of happiness except for Kotone and Neji.  It got late and people left to go home.  Against what either of them would have wished, they were forced to spend the night in the same house.  Neji marveled at how all of his stuff had been moved to the room (which was rather more like an apartment) he and Kotone would be living in.  He also noticed that Kotone’s stuff had been moved but she seemed to have locked herself in the bathroom.  Neji let out an agitated groan.  The rest of the night was not going to be fun with her bitching.  To make matters worse, his uncle had had the foresight to have the lock placed on the outside of the door.  So he and Kotone were stuck until someone let them out in the morning.

He stretched out the single bed, and plotted how he could maybe make his life less awful.  Maybe if he was really super nice to his wife she’d eventually come to stop pitying her state in life. And if there was a chance she’d pity herself less and stop angsting for a little it wouldn’t be such a dreadful situation.  He guessed he’d start by giving her the bed to herself.  There was a small couch he’d noticed on the way in.  He’d survive sleeping there for the time being.

* * *

When Kotone walked out of the bathroom, she was extremely grateful that Neji wasn’t in the bedroom.  She rooted through the clothes that had been left for her and found one of her favorite T-shirts, a very old, worn out and soft shirt with an Uchiha crest on the front that she’d stolen from the Hyuuga laundry room before she could remember having done so.  She also grabbed a pair of sweatpants.  

She headed back into the bathroom to take off her kimono, which she left in an unceremonious heap on the bathroom floor.  She pulled on the shirt and stared at her shoes in consternation.  They were going to be difficult to remove.  They had caused her feet a considerable amount of pain and resulted in swelling that was keeping the shoes tightly on her foot.  Her feet were also going to have giant blisters on them.  She struggled for several minutes trying to pull them off, but it was to no avail.  She considered asking Neji for help, but quickly dismissed the idea because she knew that he’d make fun of her endlessly for it.

So Kotone, angry about her shoes, moping about the prospects of her future, and drained from a stressful day, went to bed in her Uchiha t-shirt and a pair of killer high heels.