Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with Naruto.

This is a three-shot – Desire, Loneliness, and Happiness.

Neji's POV - He uses a general 'we' to refer to sentiments shared by himself and Tenten, but many times falls into using 'I.'

Other couples mentioned are not the focus of this piece - besides NejiTenten, I really do not favor any particular pairing. Many of the mentioned "couples" are used for the sake of plot cohesion.

Our relationship is just that – ours.

We do not pronounce to the village our claim on each other and we do not participate in flowery displays of affection. Sakura may run herself into the ground wondering 'Does he love me? Does this mean anything?' may sulk and brood over her emotional dilemmas, and unknowingly give the entire village a constant update on the state of her love life. And she may feel completely comfortable screeching indignantly whenever Ino insinuates that her darling Kakashi-sensei could do better with a more experienced woman.

But you will never be Sakura – I cannot even imagine you being so completely open. But maybe that's my own fault.

And when Ino chooses to willingly engage in a verbal spa– shouting match with Temari, I can actually feel a flicker of sympathy for Shikamaru: to have not one but two aggressive banshe– women constantly rehashing old grievances with him and with each other is enough to give anyone a mild stroke.

But that is them: they are comfortable laying bare both their relationship and their problems.

More importantly, that is not us.

We are not loud. We are not openly affectionate. We do not wear our relationship for all to see.

We are Shinobi, and we are proud.

But we are simply carnal beings, and we have simply come to crave each other beyond all reason or protocol.

And when Tsunade slyly pairs us together for long distance missions, there is always an underlying urgency to complete the mission, to begin the trek home because it's only after the mission is complete and whoever was to die is dead, that we can wantonly indulge ourselves in each other. So we travel leisurely back during the day taking roundabout paths and ignoring the main roads, wandering "aimlessly" through the trees until we find a suitable spot to rest and catch our meal.

Then night descends.

The fire's coals illuminate our small clearing, throws flickering shadows onto your face as we begin to get ready for bed – or rather you do. Your bedroll is already laid out, ready and willingly to mold to your spine and cradle your head. But I know you always sleep against a tree, and so do you. You stretch and arch with feline grace, and I cannot help my wandering eyes from glimpsing your smooth torso nor stay my body from igniting at the sound of your small moan of content.

You lift your hands and your hair cascades and unfolds before my greedy eyes – I am the only one who has seen the woman in you, the deliciously human side you keep so securely buried.

And I am the only who will.

Mine.

The thought will always send a bolt of excitement zinging through my body, stealing my breath as my loins ignite and clench and my shoulders hunch in an effort to reign in my beast.

I will have you before the night is out.

I will devour you, thrust myself upon you being until we are so consumed with each other that I won't know where you end and where I begin, always knowing that is some way, I will always be inside of you just as you will always reside within me.

And I will wallow utterly in that delicious feeling.

So we are humans, and we crave.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Now, I'm not in the habit of saying this, but to all my readers: I spend a lot of time writing these stories, and take care in accurately portraying these characters. But I won't lie – it is disappointing to see that my work is eliciting no response from you all.

So please, do review.

Beyond simple encouragement, I need to know how my writing appears and strikes other people. I hope that you can understand the need for feedback.

On this story:

I'm sorry if some of the couple allusions were not received well – if you read my profile, you will see that I favor no specific pairings except for a few – poor Sakura is especially a victim to my many interests.

Furthermore, I wanted to write Neji's POV – many times he is simply a stoic character, with much of the feeling/torment coming from Tenten's side. I wanted to explore his character, and of course his relationship with Tenten is an integral part of his character.