Author's Note: I was originally trying to write something else, and this was spawned. It is my first attempt at anything Neji/Tenten. It was inspired from a 30kisses prompt. But, I didn't sign up for the Neji/Tenten pairing; I figure there are other authors with more talent that deserve to claim this couple. The requirements for the story: a kiss and something that was relevant to 'the deep end' (which fell under the water motif). Mine is a saying, not literally the deep end of a pool. I have been reading a ton of Neji/Tenten fan fiction lately, and I hope my characterizations aren't completely horrid. Any parallels with another story you find, I was definitely not aware of and did not intend.

I was partially inspired by the new Shippuuden episodes, where Tenten is exasperated with Gai and Lee's overreacting and childish behavior, and Neji tells her to "drop it" or "just let it go". You'll see the part. I would appreciate constructive criticism, reviews are nice but they are not expected.

If anyone would like to Beta this for me, it would be appreciated greatly; I can't catch all the mistakes and relying on word is just begging for trouble.

Thanks!

Also, I don't own Naruto.



Off the deep end.

It was the only plausible explanation for his abnormal behavior. What other answer could there possibly be for the shaking of his hands, and the quaking of his knees. Treacherous appendages! He violently shoved his hands into his pockets. He was never nervous! His name was Neji, and Neji was always calm, cool, and collected. Walking his teammate home had never been a problem before. Perhaps it was because Neji planned on altering this routine, in his benefit (he hoped). His hormones were severely annoying; you'd think he was 14 instead of 19. If his fellow jounin ever found out they would be calling him nervous-Neji. He narrowed his eyes burning the well trodden path with his glare. This was frustrating it wasn't anything out of routine for the rather tall man. He always walked Tenten home; it was a ritual that neither of them questioned. She'd pick up her discarded weapons; he'd silently walk her home. She'd smile and thank him, and if training went particularly well, he'd return her smile. What changed?! His white eyes narrowed minutely, what was this ridiculous reaction about?! He'd never experienced this before, and he…

Stopped dead in his tracks.

Tenten has paused and was looking at him with a confused expression.

A few nano-seconds that lacked basic intelligence, gifted to all humans, descended upon, the normally intellectually gifted, Hyuuga. An undetectable moment of a caveman-like reaction came and passed; it went by unnoticed; and wouldn't be repeated, according to his adamant refusal against the prospect of acting like a drooling primate. Even if Tenten HAD developed some sort of mind control technique, and was ordering all his attention to focus on her at the moment.

Off the deep end, indeed. It seemed he was being stopped in his tracks, quite literally, by her more often. These occurrences were a response to simple actions that hadn't affected him before. The way she gracefully picked her self up after being knocked down, or as she unleashed her deadly arsenal during battle, unfurling as she stretched her sore muscles. In this instance, it was the way the setting sun's rays stretched across her face. Her skin glowed and the sun's light colored her eyes.

"Neji?" her head tilted to the side observing him, "are you okay? You're acting… weird". He found himself in an odd position; he was unable to look away from her mouth. She toyed with the hem of her shirt, a nervous habit that she had developed recently. It was most likely a direct response to him, continuously, stepping further back on the human's evolutionary family tree. His intellectual level, at the moment, was somewhere between homo erectus and Neanderthal.

Neji swallowed thickly, tasting the crisp fall air. His face was hot, and he was sure she must have felt the waves of heat pouring off. Stupid hormones… he was better than this.

She waved a hand in front of his face, effectively breaking him out of the trance he was in.

'Damn it'

She giggled lightly, hand covering her mouth.

"I didn't knock you to the ground too hard today, did I Neji?" she teased lightly, "You seem a little spacey".

He started to choke but immediately recovered, huffily crossing his arms and looking up and away from her.

He grunted defensively instead,

"Che. You're crazy". He tensed up and started walking away.

Her brown eyes twinkled with silent laughter and mirth as she jogged to catch up. He slowed down slightly to let her draw even with him, shortening his strides to accommodate her smaller ones.

They walked in comfortable silence through town, their ninja shoes whispering along the dirt road. A cool breeze lifted and played with stray pieces of their hair, tossing them into their faces. The two leaf Nins turned down the dusty side road towards Tenten's apartment. In hindsight, his maddening descent off the deep end wasn't immediate, or fast, it was a slow tumble, that had built up momentum. It gathered up more of his logic, and emotion, mixing it all together on the ride down, so when it stopped, and he appeared to have reached level ground, he was so dizzy and disoriented in the unfamiliar territory, that when he looked back he couldn't see, even with the byakugan, where the tumble had originally started. In the end all he was left with was a firm decision, and a fluttering stomach. He was so immersed in his ponderings when he looked up he was surprised to see the worn door of Tenten's apartment. The exasperating butterflies rushed in and completely beat down the slight surprise. The pounding of his heart was thunderous. She had to be able to hear it. She just gave him a radiant smile, that stopped the racing in his mind, and she pulled out her keys and they jingled as she turned to unlocked her door. Pulling open the relatively light door, she dropped her heavy pack inside by the lamp stand.

The noise brought his awareness back. She was looking at him again; her body rotated and she was facing him. Her eyebrow lifted cutely, and a playful smile spread across her face, her eyes glinted inquisitively.

"Neji?" she cooed with an undertone of deceptive harmlessness. Neji wasn't fooled, he could at least boast that much. Her playful act halted at the intense gaze he leveled at her. Her heart fluttered wildly as she was drawn into his gaze. She had chunks of chestnut hair, falling loose from her buns thanks to the earlier training session.

Drawing upon the innate Hyuuga-courage he shifted closer to her, and cut the distance separating them in half. The air around them heated, and she could feel his body-heat being emitted in waves. Her smile faltered as she took a step back, the door shutting sounded more like a sonic boom, than the soft thud it was in reality. But reality seemed so far away in that moment. Unsure, she pressed her back against the cool wooden door. Her breathes were coming out in quiet, shallow, puffs of air. Her sun-kissed arms rested down by her sides, her palms pressed lightly against the door.

His eyes, normally cool and calm, glued her to her spot, the message in them made her knees weak. His close proximity wasn't helping matters, and the jerk had to go and make it worse by stepping even closer. Neji and Tenten's nerve endings were hyper-sensitive; and both the shinobi were well aware of one another's warmth. Their normally smooth clothing felt abrasive and scratchy, and it impeded their desire for the smooth sensation of skin brushing skin.

Neji's right hand rose of its own violation, and made itself comfortable by the side of Tenten's head. He looked at her with half-lidded eyes.

"N...e" she said voice wavering, mouth dry unable to form two syllables; let alone a coherent sentence. Her heart beating erratically as she felt his hot breathe ghost across her face. He said nothing, just swallowed thickly, and Tenten's eyes followed the bob of his Adams apple. Neji's heart was pounding in his chest, and his body instinctually pressed in closer to the woman's in front of him. His resolve was set in stone. He raised his other hand lifted and gently cupped her cheek; a calloused hand met smooth skin. His thumb tenderly brushed her cheek. A fuzzy thought drifted thorough Tenten's mind, before she succumbed to the pleasant sensation and closed her eyes, leaning into his palm, 'could this really be Neji?'

His hand slid sinuously down from her cheek to curl around the graceful curve of her neck. His fingers curled around the back of her neck, playing with the short, silky, wisps of hair. With a shaky inhale, Neji took the last step, as he teetered on the edge of the last remaining precipice. He tilted his head and angled her face up towards his, firmly pressing his lips to her soft ones.

Simultaneously, all coherent thought fled them. The meeting of their lips was soft, and ungainly at first, the warmth of it slowly pushed them further down; in their mutual descent to madness.

He was everywhere, his warmth at her front, his hand at her neck, the knee-buckling sensation of his lips against hers. He made the last bold step forward and connected the length of their bodies; she could feel the lean angles of his body, and he the toned curves of hers. Their mouths warmly slid against one another, only parting to inhale and exhale tremulously. She slid her hands up his chest, one stopping at his shoulder, the other continuing upwards to tangle in the silky hair at the back of his head. They parted softly drawing in shallow breathes. He rested his forehead against hers, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"…Tenten…" he murmured still slightly breathless. He was drawing back into himself to think, he was staring intensely off to the side again. Tenten replayed the recent developments in her head, trying to divulge the reason for the sudden shift in acceptable interactions.

"What… was..." she questioned softly her voice slowly returning to normal. Without her permission, her fingers lightly touched her lips, eyes rising to meet Neji's slightly unfocused white eyes.

'Off the deep end…'

He stepped back, gave her a slight twitch at the corner of his lips.

"Training is an hour early tomorrow" he stated, as almost an after though he lightly touched his lips to her forehead. He pivoted smoothly, hair swishing, as he confidently walked down the stairs. Still rooted to the spot, her brain allowed some intelligent thought to trickle sluggishly through her brain.

"What … Hey, wait!" she call out, slightly miffed. He turned and glanced at her over his shoulder.

She grabbed the railing along the porch, and shouted after him.

"You can walk away all 'cool' like that, without explaining yourself, Hyuuga Neji!" Tenten declared indignantly.

The corners of his mouth twitched and pulled up slightly. She was not amused, but he clearly was.

He turned and continued his journey home, casually calling over his shoulder,

"Just drop it, Tenten" the rich timbre of his voice has an affectionate tone as it rolled over the syllables of her name. She groaned, and stormed back into her house, thinking something along the lines of 'Hyuuga Neji was beyond insufferable'.

Striding down the street his mind wandered back to the previous event, he would have snorted but that would have been undignified; and subsequently un-Neji like. Although there were times when he was forced into situations that completely ripped away his dignity; unfortunately they seemed to be happening more frequently, and usually involved his female teammate.

He again his mind was pulled back to the event that shifted their relationship.

'Off the deep end... that was indisputable'