Title: Grooming

Pairing: NejiTen

Rating: T

AN: After a day of intense training, Neji is left to care for a filthy Tenten. Neji despises messes and Tenten loves to rile him up. This one-shot was inspired by a piece of fanart by papabay on tumblr. You can find it at post/123195968697/just-grooming-his-gf-after-intense-training

Tenten giggled as Neji brushed his soft fingers over her cheek and scrubbed insistently at a stubborn dirt mark. The look of concentration he had on his face was absolutely adorable and Tenten knew that she was the only one that he ever allowed to see the way he would suck on his lips and wrinkle his nose this way.

Sometimes she would catch a glimpse of that secretive expression during training when he was concentrating particularly hard on a target or technique but the second he felt her eyes examining him, it was gone and replaced with his usual cold frown.

"Gai-sensei really worked us hard today." Tenten mentioned cheerfully as Neji licked his thumb and rubbed her nose. She frowned and pursed her lips in a small pout.

"And you're as filthy as ever." He commented mildly, "You could at least take a little care to avoid the mud."

Tenten glanced down at her ruined top, realizing that perhaps she had gotten a little carried away during her spar with Lee. It had rained the previous night and the training fields were damp and soft.

Gai-sensei decided that such conditions would be perfect to test the team's limits and add a bit of a healthy challenge to their usual regiment. Neji's eye had twitched at the announcement but had somehow managed to delicately dance around the more puddles and ditches of mud while Tenten had taken childish joy in diving into them every chance she got. It didn't help that Lee so easily obliged her during their spar, sliding around with her while halfheartedly throwing punches and kicks.

Tenten giggled while offering a faux expression of remorse. "Yes, you're right. I really should take more care."

Neji's soft rubbing stopped immediately before taking on a harsher intensity. Tenten winced as he whipped a handkerchief out from his pocket and dipped it into the shallow stream beside them. He started scrubbing and her forehead.

"Why is it always you that manages to become caked in some manner of unsavory mess?" Neji mumbled.

Tenten couldn't help the blinding smiling that grew across her face. "Learn to live a little, Hyuga." She teased, pressing her finger into his stomach despite the way he tensed when she touched him. "You can't be spotless and pristine all the time as a ninja."

Neji was silent but she could tell that he let the matter drop. She also noticed the way he had paused in his diligent cleaning to stare into her eyes. He would do that sometimes too. After Gai-sensei and Lee would jog off to continue their own private training, sometimes Neji and Tenten would remain behind and spend time together. It was during those times that Neji would sometimes just stare at her as if he were studying an interesting piece of art. It made her uncomfortable, but not in bad way; more like that intense gaze would set her on edge and caused her stomach to flip.

This time, however, Tenten felt as if he were trying to distract her with his eyes. She vaguely registered his hands having abandoned her face and creep up behind her head. She could sense them searching through her tangled buns but, not having any real idea what it was they were looking for, she ignored them. Suddenly when a wealth of brown hair came tumbling down and blocked her view of Neji's gorgeous pale eyes, she instantly understood what he was going to do.

"Nooo," She whined, "I'll shower when I get home."

Neji scoffed, "You're filthy and I'm not letting you trapeze through the village looking like a vagabond." Pulling her closer, which was fairly easy considering how light she was and how little she resisted, Neji plopped Tenten down at the edge of the stream and pushed down gently on her neck. "We'll give it a quick wash. You can do a more thorough job later."

Tenten groaned but allowed him to press her head into the stream. She nearly flew backwards as the cool water touched her scalp and swept her hair up in its lazy current. Neji held firm though and kept her in place. Tenten would never admit it but his strong hold on her excited her. He was caring for her; grooming her.

"Bear with it for a few minutes." Neji said calmly, "I'll be quick."

Tenten planned to hold him to that promise as she laid on her stomach, resting her chin on her arms while he ran his fingers through her long tresses, gently removing the dried mud. It reminded Tenten very much of when she was a child and her mother would wash her hair beneath the spout of their sink. It was a fuzzy and nearly forgotten memory that suddenly surfaced as Tenten purred under Neji's kind ministrations.

Tenten didn't know how long she laid there, perfectly content, as Neji scrubbed but it certainly wasn't long enough. Far too soon was Neji prodding her to get up so he could repin her hair.

Tenten sat on her knees before him as Neji began briskly combing his fingers through her wet hair; his fingers were always gentle and precise as they scooped up mound after mound of brown hair, wrapping it into a neat ball and fastening it with pins.

Tenten decided to comment on his technique, a slight playfulness in her tone. "You're quite good at this. Do you often groom young ladies this way?"

There was a sudden sharp tug on a strand of hair but the pain was fleeting as she was overcome with laughter.

"I grew up at the sides of Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama. I was often coerced into styling their hair and watching over them as they played dress up." He explained quickly.

"Sure." Tenten thought as Neji finished pinning her second bun with a quick twist.

"This should last you until you can get home and fully cleanse yourself." Neji stood up and brushed his knees off. "I trust that you can walk yourself home?"

Tenten joined Neji in standing and grinned slyly at the clever way Neji's face was cast downward to hide the light pink blush in his cheeks. She noticed this was another thing that he did whenever he was near her in such an intimate way. He was never so bashful when they were training or when Gai-sensei and Lee were around. He only revealed this part of himself when they were alone and Tenten felt honored.

Not really sure what overcame her, Tenten leaned over quickly and, allowing no time for him to react, she planted a sweet peck on Neji's cheek. She pressed her lips firmly to his skin, her stomach practically rolling and her head feeling light as if she were soaring through the sky. She didn't really understand where the sudden need had come from, but somehow she knew that she'd wanted to do this for a long time.

Pulling away nearly as quickly as she'd swooped in, Tenten smiled and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for taking care of me, Neji." Straightening, Tenten began a light jog in the opposite direction and waved. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

When Tenten finally stepped over the threshold of her small apartment, panting from having run the entire way home, she touched her fingers gingerly to her lips. They tingled as she thought back on what had just transpired between her and her teammate. Her face heated as she recalled the thin grin that she could have sworn she saw spark across Neji's face just as she had turned to leave him. Or maybe it had just been her imagination?

Beaming from ear to ear to herself, Tenten made her way to the shower, finally tiring of the stiff feeling of dried mud on her skin.