Summary: A Hyuuga genius he may be, but Neji was not Konoha's resident weapons mistress. Tenten has a few pointers to give him, and it may take an actual "hands-on" lesson to get it through…if the two of them can concentrate on it. (One shot)
Toboe LoneWolf: Inspired by the May theme on the tensquared community on LJ. A short little fic with Neji and Tenten; hope you like.
Disclaimer: Toboe LoneWolf does not own Naruto. LoneWolf does own a pocketknife, although it has absolutely no resemblance to a kunai, as much as LoneWolf would like to fantasize.
My Hand on Yours
"Hup!"
A decrescendo of thwocks! echoed in the forest clearing as ten kunai hit their wooden targets. Tenten didn't need to look behind her to know that she had hit them all in the bull's eye. A marksperson knew by heart. Crossing her arms as she gathered other handful of weaponry, she closed her eyes as she sensed where her next target would be.
Two seconds later, Neji was traced by a perfect outline of kunai against a tree.
Neji rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, stepping away from the Neji cut-out. "That wasn't funny, Tenten."
"Come on, you knew it was coming," Tenten laughed. "Besides, you were just standing there, watching me. You wanted my attention, you got it."
Neji smirked. "And now that both of our attentions are engaged, may we begin?"
Tenten crouched, hands hovering over her weapons pouches. "Got it."
With silent intention the two of them rushed at each other, beginning their daily spars. Tenten whipped out a string of shuriken from around her waist, leaping above Neji. Flipping her wrist she sent them spinning towards Neji's head, tiny blades slicing through the air.
A casual tilt of the head and Neji dodged half a dozen of them; a side-step and a slight duck and Neji moved just enough to thwart them all; moving with such precision to dodge her attack with the least amount of movement. Bending his hands in the well-known Juken stance, he ran towards at Tenten.
Flipping over, Tenten evaded Neji's straight-forward charge, landing on a tree branch. With a sweeping motion Tenten whipped out her beloved scrolls. She grinned as she pushed off, her hands already grasping familiar weapons.
Flashing steel and unraveling of jutsus and scrolls and hidden weapons turned the forest clearing into a miniature war zone. The hum of chakra flowing made a soft undertone to the distinct clashes of metal battering at Neji's Kaiten.
No matter how many times they sparred against each other, each one was different, each one had some new twist or attack or surprise.
And Neji certainly surprised Tenten when suddenly he swiveled, reached for a kunai, and flung it at her.
Tenten blinked twice before flipping over upside-down on the tree branch, the kunai flying over her. Neji never did that. He was practically a close-combat person only. Long-distance was her thing.
Nevertheless, Neji gamely tried throwing kunais at her. Tenten narrowed her eyes as she lightly jumped from branch to branch, avoiding Neji's attacks. Was this some new training in the Byakugan, perhaps? Long-distance application?
Well, in any case, Neji definitely needed some work on his aim.
Tenten inwardly laughed. Not that the Hyuuga genius was bad; far from it. But he was a far cry from the weapons expert of Konoha. Dashing across the tree tops, Tenten brought out another scroll. Breaking off the seal she rained down steel, easily deflecting Neji's attacks. Forced to fall back to his own strengths, Neji spun into the Kaiten.
Landing softly, the unraveled scroll trailing behind her, Tenten rested her hands on her hips as she waited for Neji to finish repelling all of her weapons. As he spun out of the Kaiten, Tenten raised one eyebrow.
"What in the name of white eyed prodigies was that?"
Neji straightened, unperturbed. "One must train in all aspects of the shinobi arts, including weapons skill and marksmanship."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Fine, but honestly speaking? That was terrible."
Neji didn't say anything, but Tenten was well-versed enough in Neji-speak to translate his body position to mean, I know but I am Not going to show it with a smidgen of I am the great Hyuuga genius, Fear Me to cover it up. In her mind, Tenten giggled; it was a bit cute to see Neji trying to keep his stoic cover.
There was silence for a while in the weapon riddled forest clearing, as Tenten amusedly stared at Neji and Neji resolutely stared at nothing.
Neji crossed his arms. "Shall we resume?"
Tenten rubbed the side of her head before walking over to Neji with firm steps. Neji tensed a little, not relaxing as Tenten grabbed his hand and placed a kunai in it.
"Look, if you're going to chuck things at me, do it right," Tenten said, exasperated.
Neji stiffened at that statement, somewhat offended. Tilting his head a bit to glare at the upstart girl, he stopped when Tenten's mouth crept up a little, in a half-smile. Tenten stepped out in front of him, still holding onto his hand.
"Okay, first off you were gripping the kunai like this, when it should be like this." Tenten demonstrated by rearranging Neji's fingers ever so slightly. Neji's eyes widened a bit as Tenten brazenly nudged his fingers in the "correct" position.
"See, and your thumb should be right here, because then you get just a little bit more snap in your throw…" Tenten poked the mentioned finger, ignoring the slight tingling feeling as she placed her hands all over Neji's stiff ones.
"Hey, don't grip it so tight!"
Well, maybe he wouldn't if she wouldn't, wouldn't…fondle his hand like that! Neji thought indignantly. Neji tried thinking objectively, tried concentrating on what Tenten was saying, but it was hard with Tenten bending over, giving ample room for him to stare at her chest, and she was playing around with his fingers, not to mention other parts of his body as she minutely corrected his foot position, his arm angle, or his shoulder alignment He may be a Hyuuga, but he was also a male, dangnabbit! And Hyuuga Neji did not need to lectured on how to throw a kunai, of all things!
Tenten slapped his chest, furtively trying to hide her light blush as Neji tried to tug out of her grip. "Pay attention!"
He was definitely paying attention. Too much attention.
"And look, when you throw, throw it with this," Tenten poked Neji in the chest, right above his heart, "and not just this," she pointed at his eyes. "You want to throw it so you know in your gut that you're going to hit your target. It's got to be instinct, not calculation."
Neji was grateful that Tenten hadn't also poked him in the stomach. His pride had already dropped enough. Tenten huffed, the little puff of air lifting her bangs for a moment. Turning around she looked at Neji over her shoulder. "Like this, okay?"
Tenten's hand shot out, and a kunai quivered in the center of a tree trunk across the clearing. Placing her hands on her hips again, she looked at Neji. "You try it."
…The way she said it reminded him of his Academy days. Dangnabbit, he was the top of the class, and she was trying to teach him?
With a grunt Neji flung the kunai.
It thudded squarely in the same tree trunk…a palm's width to the right.
Tenten turned and gave him a Look. Neji forced down the urge to shrug. Instead, he stared back at Tenten. In response, Tenten rolled her eyes. She marched right behind Neji, placing another kunai in his hand. Neji suppressed a twitch as she placed her hand over his, standing right behind him.
She pressed lightly against his back, her mouth incredibly close to his ear. The two of them ignored the beating of their hearts, the slightly elevated rate in breathing.
"You still rely too much on your eyes," she whispered into his ear. Her hand covering his, she raised their hands, readying in the familiar throwing position.
Neji was intimately aware of all the places where Tenten was touching him, from his shoulder blades to the hand at resting at his side to her smaller hand cupping over his, grasping the kunai handle together.
Her hand wasn't soft, or supple, or any number of romantic adjectives used to describe a woman's hands; he could feel the calluses of her hand, rubbing against his. But her hand was firm and confident, steady and calm as they touched the touch-sensitive Hyuuga genius.
He shoved away thoughts that said that he liked it.
She had no idea of how they'd come to this. Well, technically she did, but she'd never thought that she would be so close to Neji, or that she'd be instructing him on how to throw a weapon, or that he'd let her. And she never thought his hand would be so fascinating, even with the bandages wrapped over it. Strong and determined and well-defined; a definite masculine hand that Tenten had to tell herself not to squeeze Neji's hand in response. This was no time to fall into fangirlism.
They both ignored their respective traitorous thoughts, even as they were wholly focused on where they touched each other. This was strictly instructional, the tingling feeling and flushed faces saying otherwise.
"You have to see it with your heart," Tenten said, as they pulled back their arms. "Cheesy as it may be. By now you should know. In that moment right before letting go….there!"
Flinging their arms forward, Neji automatically releasing as Tenten opened her hand, the two of them watched the kunai fly true and wedge itself a hair width above Tenten's first kunai, dead-center of the same tree trunk.
Tenten stepped back, fighting the urge to pull her right hand close and rub her palm where it had touched Neji. Neji turned to face her, a slight smile on his face. He'd felt it, in that moment. A moment of absolute clarity, simply knowing that it would go the right away. They said nothing for a while, before the two of them pulled away and took their battle stances again, wordlessly understanding each other.
By heart and not by sight, Neji remembered. His eyes flickered to meet with Tenten's. His right hand, the hand that Tenten had held, clenched into a fist. Stepping back and breaking eye contact, he released his fist, settling into his battle stance once more as Tenten bent her knees, getting ready. Perhaps one day, he'd be able to see. Involuntarily his fingers rubbed against each other before opening again, remembering Tenten's hand on his.