There was an image in her mind that never failed to bug her every night, as if demanding to be drawn on the last blank canvas she had in her studio. On the fifth night that she imagined this vivid face, she finally picked up her brushes and tubs of paint, albeit clad in her pyjamas, determined to make this as one of the best portraits ever painted by the rising artist known as Tenten.
To her surprise, her work process had been quicker and smoother than the way she used to work on any piece. Her brush glided all across the canvas. And in every stroke, a chunk of her heart was reflected on the previously blank space. There's this bursting excitement inside her to see the outcome of her work, like that thrill of fetching someone at the airport after a long time of being apart.
Tenten was weirded out for she never felt this way about any of her old works. Yet as she painted the final strokes of browns and whites on the now colorful canvas, she felt some sense of release.
After three days and a half, Tenten finally put her paintbrush down and gazed at the fruit of her labor. A gasp escaped her lips while she faced a man with long brown hair, defined jawline, grecian nose, and pearl white eyes – now vivid right in front of her in the same way she saw him in her mind.
You're...beautiful, she couldn't help but think as her fingers traced the strokes her paintbrush had taken to paint his face. Something about the way the man looked back at her made her feel as if he was tugging at her heart. And if she would be honest, it felt surreal for her to be able to create an art that looked so alive.
It was her best work, so she knew she had to sell it to a museum because a painting as dashing as this would cost much and captivate the hearts of art enthusiasts. The next thing she knew, her heart became sullen and her studio felt dull without the canvas of this beautiful man.
She felt a yearning for something – someone – that has never been hers. Tears trickled down her face as she took a sip of her dinner coffee. And for the first time since she thought of that man’s face, she wondered if there was actually someone who looked like him. She wondered if he wasn’t just an OC or “own character” as artists call it. And she wondered, weirdly, if there was a lifetime waiting for them in a world where she was his.
Tenten placed her coffee mug on the table and wiped her tears with the back of her other hand, chuckling to herself at the realization that she has been invested in the subject of her painting more than she should have been. She brushed it off thinking that it was merely because of her longing to eventually find a lover. Yet even as she tried to sleep that night, his face still bombarded her mind as if he had been residing there for quite a long time.
“I’m Tenten. The main artist from the exhibit the other day,” was what she said when she visited the art museum a few blocks from her house first thing in the morning.
The security guard stared at her in awe and simply gave her a free pass, causing her to release a sigh of relief. And so she ambled the hallways that led to the man that didn’t make her sleep.
She found him at the center of the Jounin Hall, standing out amidst the sea of dark and colorful paintings. She stared at him as if the time stood still. Fresh tears brimmed her eyes as she traced the lines of his long tresses.
“I missed you.” Then, she chortled to herself. “Never mind, you were never mine. Why am I even missing a drawing? You’re making me feel weird things, you know? ”
Tenten let her hand fall to her side before deciding to sit across the painting and stay with it for a bit longer.
Until everything around her changed…
Right in front of her now was the man from the portrait, clad in a suit with his hand offered to her. Her cheeks felt warm as she stared at his hand then up at his pearl white eyes.
The man smiled, making her heart skip a beat. “Can I have this dance?” His baritone voice was music to her ears.
Tenten smiled back and placed her hand above his. Then they began to move around the dancefloor with ease, slowly dancing to a music that calmed her nerves in front of the guy she has been thinking about for weeks. And then he twirled him around, her steps gliding against the marble floor away from him and back.
The moment she returned to his arms, he was smiling again, as if welcoming her home after a long journey away from him. He then said, “I have something to tell you.”
She shivered, and she chuckled while glancing at her feet because why in the world did she have to shiver at a moment like this? Yet in an instant, the man led them to stop dancing so he could place his coat around her shoulders.
Tenten bit her lip in wonder if he could hear the gallop of her heart against her ribcage. A small gasp escaped her lips when he held her hand and began leading her somewhere else.
“I...do you mind?”
She glanced at their hands, before letting her gaze fixate on his eyes. “No. Not at all.”
The man responded with a small smile as he continued to saunter with her following suit. To Tenten’s surprise, the door that he opened led them to a familiar hall filled with paintings.
With confusion written all over her face, she turned to him, whose lips were now curved into a frown. “W-why are we at Jounin Hall? Is the celebration over?”
He shook his head.
“Then I still want to dance with y—!”
“I’ll miss you, Tenten. I’m sorry, I have to let you go.”
And then he was gone.
Tenten woke up with a gasp, chest rising and falling as she looked around and realized that she had fallen asleep at Jounin Hall. Her eyes landed on familiar pearls with tears now rolling down her cheeks. “Glimpse of me and you...oh, you were a good dream.”
And then she left the museum.
“H-hello?” Tenten placed her palm on the phone’s mouthpiece when she suddenly yawned. “Good morning, Lee. What’s with the sudden call?”
“A youthful day to you, Tenten! I have some great news!”
She tilted her head to one side as if the curator would see her response. Upon realizing her mistake, she cleared her throat. “Uhm, what is it about?”
“It’s about your recent well-loved portrait! Someone offered to purchase it for a good amount of money so he could display it in their office in the US! Imagine that? Your work travelling all the way to the US? That’s amazing, Tenten!”
All of a sudden, she felt like there was a lump in her throat. It was a good offer, of course, but she suddenly felt as if she had to let go of someone if she sold it to another person and let it be brought to a different country. “C-can I think about this first, Lee?”
“Definitely! But Tenten, that’s not the only news I have for you.”
Tenten remained silent on the other end of the line, still thinking of the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to see her painting face to face ever again.
“You have been offered to paint individual portraits of their entire family, said it’s to be displayed in their company building. That’s great, don’t you think?”
She gasped. Portraits of an entire family? She has never done that before.
“The person who reached out to me was astounded with how you drew this white-eyed man when he saw its photo on our website. I’m proud of you and our museum, Tenten! This is a youthful opportunity if ever you would accept it!”
Tenten was at a loss for words while mixed emotions bubbled inside her chest. No one has ever praised her craft that way, to the point of trusting her with portraits of themselves. She didn’t want to be called a crybaby, but this milestone in her career made her tear up while she was on the phone. “L-lee, could you tell me the name of this person? Is it possible that I could talk with him about all of these first? I want to thank him personally for seeing my work that way.”
“Ah. I forgot to tell you. Actually, he said he wants to meet with you to discuss some things too. He’s currently in Japan!” The curator chuckled. “And for his name? Wait a sec...oh, here! His name is Neji Hyuuga.”
At the end of the call, Tenten spent a few minutes deep in thought while staring at the ceiling because for some weird reason, that unfamiliar name sounded like home to her.