"See, Neji!", she exclaimed. "It says here: love - affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests", she read with her finger on the appropriate dictionary page but Neji countered with a quizzical brow: "That is only the third entry of its first meaning. The second is 'attraction based on sexual desire'."
Tenten suppressed a sigh. "True", she conceded. "But I still don't think you are in love just because you had a dirty dream about me."
"But here it says, black on white, love - the sexual embrace, see also copulation."
Tenten rolled her eyes this time. This was definitely not what she had anticipated when Neji had asked to speak to her on a matter of grave importance concerning their professional relationship. In fact, she had been worried of being in trouble. Probably she'd invited him to one too many birthday parties, she had reasoned. This was a whole new level of ridiculousness. Everyone had random weird dreams of people in their everyday life. That doesn't mean the general population went around discussing it.
"I know what it says, Neji", she replied, the strain showing in her manner of speaking. "But you're just going to have to trust me on this. There are nine different meanings of the word love, including a British term of endearment and a score of zero in tennis, and you are not qualified at all to judge which of them applies to you." Her stern look only rendered her more authoritative.
She had a point. Neji was the first to admit that the realm of emotions was not his area of expertise.
"Okay, love", he scoffed in a British accent, which was his lame attempt at making a joke - he had been trying it out lately because his boss had said he should be more approachable as team leader. Needless to say the experiment into social customs was not going well. She gave him a pity laugh and reassured him:
"Your dream meant nothing. But I appreciate you coming to me with your issue first."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes, it is good communication practice to address problems when one faces social tension." He sounded like he had swallowed a book on human interaction. Which he probably had. For the same reason he was trying to learn how to joke.
"I'm sure it is," his partner agreed absent-mindedly. She wanted this conversation to be over.
"So, I'm not at love, then." With this phrase he was introducing his closing remarks.
"In love", she corrected. "At love means to hold one's opponent scoreless in tennis. And, no, you are most definitely not."
"Thanks for clarifying. I could've sworn it felt like love." For a second, a ghost of a frown flitted over his face, but Tenten ascribed it to her imagination. Neji wouldn't know love if it walked all over him. The idea alone was preposterous!
While Neji told her of his next job, she had to admit that this was not entirely true. He did love his family. In a very cold and distant sort of way. Then she noticed a sudden change in subject.
"... an amorous episode?"
She realized he had asked her a question and judging from his furrowed brows he did not appreciate her daydreaming while he was talking. Neji thought what he had to say was always not only relevant but interesting as well. Usually it wasn't a problem because he spoke about as much as a wooden table but his dream had quite rattled him, apparently.
"Sorry, repeat?"
"Do you think I should engage in an amorous episode?"
At first, she was confused but then the dictionary caught her eye again and she said: "Oh, a love affair! Well, I don't know. People usually only contemplate that when there's an available lover at hand." Yawning, she realized she should get more sleep. Recently she had started to bring her work home, which is something you should never ever do, because as soon as you get home you lose any motivation to do anything and spend your time doing useless things like alphabetizing your books, cleaning your washing machine or trying to count every mole on your own body. Of course this procrastination took longer than actually working would have, hence the tiredness.
"Temari has kindly made me a proposal and I only find her annoying when she opens her mouth but she promised to be quiet."
Tenten perked up. That she hadn't expected.
"Someone wants to sleep with you?", it tumbled from her lips.
His silence was confirmation enough.
"Uhm… Go for it?" She offered a half-hearted smile. She could not imagine it going well. But at least it would be very entertaining.
ttt
What Tenten hadn't known was that Neji's dream was not the only of its kind. He was having them regularly now. Usually his libido was not this much of a problem.
He sat up in bed. His hair hung in sweaty strands over his shoulders and his head hurt. It was amazing what kind of urges he had in his dreams. He poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on his bedside table.
Though it wasn't entirely incomprehensible. He usually tried to have some nice lady or other he could take out to a nice dinner and have coitus with afterwards. He quite enjoyed it. It lowered his cortisol levels and increased his dopamin. However, the last nice lady had moved away and the one before that had fallen at love. In love, he meant of course. But he wasn't quite sure about Temari.
Though willing, she was also complicated. Her status as a legal alien and as sister to Gaara was rather high-profile and he did not like to attract attention. He sighed. He would have to decline.
ttt
"Excuse me?"
Neji hadn't expected this reaction. Reluctantly he offered to repeat himself.
"I heard you alright", Temari hissed. "I just don't understand."
"What's not to understand?"
"Last week you were still 'taking my offer under consideration' and today you're all 'No, thank you, Ma'm'?"
"Yes." Her summary was perfect though a bit on the colloquial side. What in the world was there to misunderstand?
"Don't I at least get an explanation?" She batted her eyelashes a bit too much, gave him a smile and blew some of her blond curly hair out of her face.
"Engaging in intercourse with you is too troublesome."
He thought he'd done a good job. Poor Neji. All his training and he never even saw her hand coming.
ttt
"How'd your amorous episode go?"
Sitting in her room, he felt comfortable. But not as comfortable as he was used to. See, Neji was only comfortable when he felt completely and utterly in control.
"Tenten, I'm attracted to you." The words leaving his mouth were his way of regaining control of the situation. Her scoff was not the reaction he'd hoped for. Or actually not what he had expected. But then, he wasn't really sure what he had expected.
"Sweetheart,..." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She only used this word when she was annoyed. And usually only with Lee. She felt it softened the blow of what was to follow. It didn't.
"We've been over this. You are not attracted to me."
"I looked up the symptoms and I'm fairly sure that I am."
The tension was building up between them. Soon it would be thick enough to cut. And by the look of her face she was not unwilling to cut… something.
Her razorblade stare fell back on him and made it clear that her silence was not for lack of words but for fear of losing control. Not the kind of control-losing he was looking for, though.
"Now, listen, I want to be part of this sexual journey you're on - Heaven knows, it's long overdue. You know, most people go through this in puberty - but you are involving me in the wrong way."
From his place on the bed he slid closer to the edge, intending to meet her at the window ledge she was perched on, but she wouldn't have it. Her abrupt rise to a stand made that clear. Nevertheless, he matched the gesture by standing himself. His imposing stature did not intimidate her, however. Though something in the way he did it, made her stop. And watch him.
"How would this even work?" She was mocking him, he could tell.
"How do you mean?"
"Suppose, we have sex - Then what?"
"What do people usually do?"
"When friends do it, they either decide it was a mistake or they casually have sex or decide they want to try to be together."
"What's it like trying to be together?"
She sighed as if she was in a business meeting and someone had just asked her to extrapolate her data. ""That's hard to say."
Then she continued: "For us, probably not nice."
"I thought friendship was the basis of a good relationship. It seems to me, we already have half of the eligibility criteria checked."
She laughed good-heartedly. Of course he did not join in because that was not his modus operandi but he enjoyed the sound of it.
"Your analytical abilities are great, really, they are, but power relations change when you're a couple. You might have to give up control and that, my friend, is something you cannot."
This did make him ponder. Satisfied with his contemplative expression, she lowered herself to her former seating position and took a sip of her cup of tea.
"I was actually hoping to regain some of the control I've been lacking lately."
"Ah", the sound escaped her throat and she radiated her usual calming reassurance. "That's what this is about. You don't like these feelings, do you?"
He nodded in affirmation.
"But I don't see why a relationship would not contain the struggle. I could explore it with a partner who has my back."
"But I don't like being on my back." Her comment shot out of her like a snake's tongue but the fly was not caught. Neji frowned in confusion.
"Please elaborate", he replied. He did not mind standing, so he stayed where he was. Standing made him feel powerful.
"When you fantasize..." She began with an evil twinkle in the corner of her eye and mouth, "Who's on top?"
"I am, of course."
"Of course." She continued "When I have sex, I am too."
She gave him a hapless smile. "I think, for you, we should be looking for a nice girl with loads of patience, a rational approach to emotions, who doesn't mind having a dominant male by her side." She averted her gaze as if she was scanning files in her head for appropriate contestants.
"I could be at the bottom", he mused.
"I doubt it."
"It'd be worth a try."
"Since when are you so impulsive?" The smile was gone. He could tell she didn't like his tone. People often didn't, he'd never cared, though, and he wasn't about to start now.
"There is already a power imbalance here. I am asking you for advice and acknowledging your superiority in this field of expertise."
"Neji!" Her upper lip had broken out in sweat and her deep harrowing eyes had become an onyx abyss of anger. "You're taking this too far. I said no and I meant it." When she stood up, the tea cup fell to the floor and chipped. Hot tea spilled everywhere. It obviously scorched her toes but the passion of her anger made her oblivious. Then she moved so fast, even he was stunned, her abrupt proximity caused him little distress but the hand wrapped around his arm did.
"I want you to leave."
"Obviously I've offended you."
"Obviously."
"I understand."
"You don't understand shit, Hyuga."
"Should I have said 'please'?" When faced with a social situation in which someone was angry at him, it was usually because he should've said please. But in this case the solution seemed to be different. Perhaps, he conceded, he didn't understand. Reluctant to leave and reluctant to disobey such a direct request of one of his teammates, he moved along with where she was dragging him but tried to find a rational way to subdue the situation.
"I understand you are not attracted to me." He found, it sometimes helped to spell out facts.
"Well, you're not exactly a sex symbol."
"Does someone need to be a sexsymbol for you to be attracted to them?"
They had arrived at her room's doorway.
"No." She shoved him out the door. "I just do not enjoy being someone's experimental plaything. You are turning into a man I have trouble respecting. Now get out."
He was not sure of the meaning of the word plaything but he could sense its negative connotation.
"How about being your plaything?" Denouncing his own superiority, offering submission and now being willing to apply a derogatory term to himself - He hoped that a sexual encounter was worth the trouble. If this didn't help him focus and get his training back on track, he knew he would regret it. While in the motion of slamming shut the door, she halted.
"Kiss me here", she said, pointing to her right shoulder. It was a bony, brown lump of bone and muscle covered in her rough skin and he did as she commanded. She seemed surprised. It hadn't been more than a peck on the … well, on the shoulder. He hadn't even applied any pressure. Conveying sensuous feelings via a gesture was not exactly his strong suit.
"Thank you for the opportunity", he said. Then left of his own accord.
A perplexed Tenten was left behind. She had fully expected him to see how ridiculous the whole idea was, laugh at her request and return back to his usual brand of arrogance, the one she was able to deal with.
"For Fuck's sake!", she called out to his back disappearing down the stairs and out the door. "Grow up!"
She shook her head, wiped her shoulder, took a deep breath and went to fetch cleaning supplies for the spilled tea and broken cup.
ttt
Neji decided he was feeling unwell. He had the strange habit of deciding on feelings. He did not feel comfortable experiencing emotion without having sanctioned them off first.
He hadn't realized it at the time but he seemed to be turning into another type of jerk. His social prowess was limited to the extent that he and people in general usually kept a professional and distant working relationship. He never had trouble getting people to obey his commands in a working hierarchy and he never had any cause to ask for personal favors. There wasn't a personal problem on this planet he couldn't solve by himself. So he'd thought.
But the situation in Tenten's room put him at unease. He had never behaved like that before. Struggling with a request of being left alone was never an issue for Neji. In fact, he welcomed it. He was not an avid admirer of human interaction, so he was happy to leave any situation that required it. Being faced with the fact that he had actively tried to disregard such a request startled him.
He would make a point to issue a formal apology to Tenten. Apologies were important, his book on social etiquette said. He usually found it too troublesome but when the situation demanded it he was well equipped in eloquence to deliver a satisfactory performance that would most likely improve efficiency. And he was aware that Tenten and he were usually a very efficient duo and he liked to keep it that way.
The apology went quite well. He used the wording formula from the book his uncle had given him for his sixteenth birthday and he didn't even need to finish it before she interrupted:
"...And that's why I would like to formally apol-"
"It's ok. I remember what it was like when I first wanted to have sex. It's scary", she smiled and waved a hand. "You were being a bit of a jerk but I'm sure we can work through it."
They were on their way to practice, which she was professional enough to not have cancelled, and he thought he had the situation under control. However, he did not feel comfortable with lying by omission so blatantly to her.
"I have had sex before. I hope that does not diminish your willingness to reconcile."
"Oh", was all she said. She scratched her right shoulder and shrugged.
"I guess you've just been very bad at it?"
"Not at all, from what I've heard. But I am having trouble finding a suitable partner for that kind of outlet." They had arrived and before he commenced his training, he repeated what he had said earlier before his apology: "You seemed like a preferable choice."
For him, the conversation was over and Tenten could not have been happier. Couldn't've been happier.
ttt
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, life was normal again. Neji informed Tenten over a healthy breakfast of orange juice and oatmeal - his plain, hers with cinnamon and apple - that he had found a suitable sexual companion. They laughed over his temporary lapse in judgment and life went on. Work and training, training and work, Lee's birthday and then more work.
Lee's birthday was a grand affair - of course - because he was celebrating his youth in the most explicit way possible. The birthday boy was a dream in green and Tenten had baked a cake. Neji had grudgingly agreed to come and the young populace of their village had gathered in Lee's rather small apartment to engage in social drunken oblivion. In their line of work, people needed an outlet. It was easy to imagine every one of the young warriors as stoic and responsible in their line of duty, but this changed when they drank. Of course they drank. If you had killed as many people as they had, anyone would drink from time to time.
Except Neji of course. Killing people was not something that bothered him much. So he sat silently on the edge of the couch, one eye on the clock contemplating how to take his leave with having to say goodbye to as little people as possible. Why his comrades felt the need to hug him when they were drunk and saying goodbye was beyond him.
"Lee's in the kitchen right now", Tenten hissed from her seat on the sofa, where she was playing a card game.
"It's your best chance. If he doesn't notice and point out your departure to everyone, you'll have clear passage to the door."
He nodded and stood to leave. Then paused for one second and asked: "You want to share this opportunity?"
She took a look at her cards, sighed, and excused herself to the other players by stating she was in need of the restroom. But while passing him she whispered: "Oh yeah."
Successfully accomplishing the mission of reaching the door unnoticed, Neji met up with Tenten outside.
"Why do you even come?" she asked him as they set out for home.
"Because you make me", he answered honestly, burying his hands in his pockets.
"Come on, no one could make you do anything you really couldn't stand unless it's Tsunade giving you a direct order."
He gave this some thought. "It's not without value observing one's coworkers in a different environment."
"That's the Neji I know and love", she chuckled. He glanced at her quizzically.
"It's just that you were a little weird not too long ago." She shrugged. "I guess I'm just happy I got you back."
He nodded. That was as good as a thank you from anyone else.
"So who's the new gal?"
He didn't have any reservations about telling her. He did not expect her to participate in gossip about him.
"She recently arrived. She has a record but her parole officer assured me she is stable enough to not cause any trouble for me. Her name is Konan and I think she's interesting."
Tenten almost stopped dead in her tracks. Not wanting to show her surprise at him dating a former criminal, she commented, "Interesting, huh? She must be something."
"She feels similar about social interaction. It seems she's had unpleasant experiences with it."
Tenten recalled Konan's crimes. "I bet." It would seem unpleasant trying to strike up a conversation with someone after you've decapitated them.
"Why her?"
"I worked a mission that required her cooperation. She was very willing in answering my questions on the nature of power struggle in relationships."
Honest to a fault. Tenten patted his back. The familiar gesture did not bother him.
"I did not realize that was still occupying your mind."
"Occupy is a strong word", he conceded.
"So have you explored any power imbalances recently?"
"She does have an interesting approach to sex."
Tenten rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Good for you." Exploring with Konan, who'd have thought it?
Though she was truly happy Neji had managed to return to his old self while simultaneously evolving, his progress made her feel a little stunted. Recently, she had found romantic entanglements a bit troublesome. Maybe it was time to get back into the game before Neji would be able to claim superiority in the only field that she was currently surpassing him.
"What do you think about Kiba?"
They were turning off into a dark alley that was a shortcut to Tenten's home when she asked this. She didn't even try to make it sound random.
"Good teamplayer. I'm sure he would make an acceptable partner."
"I'm thinking of asking him out."
"Isn't it supposed to work the other way around?"
"My dear Neji, you are stuck in your uncle's timeline. You should read less books on etiquette that are dated from the last decade." She mocked him in a way he could accept.
"I'll make a note of it."
"See you at practice."
They waved goodbye to one another and Tenten realized he was heading off in the wrong direction. She was about to mention it when it occurred to her, that he was probably not returning home but to his blue-haired lover.
ttt
So it came that they both started dating again. Kiba was only too happy to take her out on a date.
"I thought we had some chemistry at Lee's birthday", he opened up the conversation at the burger joint. She didn't press the point. Seeing as she only considered him after the party, the referred to chemistry was either imaginary or one-sided but she didn't want to rob him of the impression. Instead, she picked a bacon cheeseburger and a coke.
Over dinner, he smiled impishly. "Actually, I wasn't sure the chemistry was real."
"Really." Tenten tried to withhold any irony that might seep through.
"Yeah, I saw you and Neji leave … together." He shook his head. "You two are always leaving together." He laughed and shrugged. She met his gaze.
"Big deal", she replied. "We're tight. But not like that."
"Yeah, I know." He stuffed a handful of fries in his mouth. "It just seems that way sometimes. And Lee doesn't help, y'know."
He stuck two fries in his nose while she was looking at her plate, so she was compelled to burst out laughing when she looked up.
"You look so handsomely childish right now."
"I know!", Kiba replied.
"Are you going to eat those now?", she exclaimed in disbelief. Kiba didn't seem bothered.
"Of course!"
"It's got bugger all over it!"
"Like you've never eaten your own buggers before!"
"Not since I was six!", Tenten nearly fell out of their booth while gasping for air.
"Believe me, Neji does not make me laugh like this", she complimented him when she caught her breath again. "But do tell me - I don't know what Lee hasn't been helping with."
Kiba seemed surprised. He took a swig of his beer and retorted, "You're kidding, right?"
She shook her head with her burger in mouth.
"Let's put it this way, if you and Neji were Brangelina he would be following your story in the tabloids."
"That bad, huh?" she wiped some tomato off her shirt to hide her true surprise. "Think I need to have a talk with my friend."
"Hey", Kiba backpedalled. "Don't be too hard on him. He wasn't spreading rumors or anything. He just thinks if anyone can get Neji to act like a normal human being, it'd be you."
Tenten burst out laughing again. "You just make me laugh more and more."
He grinned charmingly, the ketchup on his cheek only made him more endearing.
"You people overestimate my influence." She gave him a tempting smile: "I prefer to invest my time in more worthwhile projects."
"Like on guys who stick fries up their nose?" He winked.
"Oh, I would never change that about you."
"No?" He was teasing her.
"No", she affirmed. "I would, however, endeavor to get rid of that wet dog smell you get when you're nervous."
His expression showed a mixture of surprise, amusement and embarrassment.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."
"It's easily fixed." She licked her fingers in a faintly seductive manner.
"How would you fix it?"
"I'd start with a shower."
It was obvious he liked her no-games approach.
"I could shower for you", he conceded.
"How about with me?"
"God, you move fast." She didn't react to that. He realized he had a window of opportunity here.
"Most girls are self-conscious about getting naked with someone after eating a cheeseburger."
"I'm sure they don't have to go through Neji's harsh regimen of a training every day."
He shook his head, hiding a smile behind his large hand.
"There is literally nothing I'd like more than to take a shower with you."
ttt
It was not difficult being with Kiba. Showering with him was fun. So was everything else.
When he got out of the shower that evening he shook himself like a dog, spraying her wet and making her squeal. He had refrained from touching her while she had washed every inch of his well-toned body.
"Are you experienced in washing dogs?" he asked jokingly.
"I could open a pet parlor", she replied while drying off.
"That would be the best-visited parlor in all Konoha." He threw her body an appreciative glance. "Especially if you're wearing that."
"This?" She dropped her towel and drew closer to him, touching his torso with her fingers. She could see him swallow. He did not need to answer.
"Kiss me here." She offered him her right shoulder. His kiss oozed passion and admiration. The firmness of his lips made her tingle and felt far more satisfactory than the last time someone had attempted this gesture. Her hands went from his torso straight to his excited member. His moan in her ear was thrilling.
Yep, she thought to herself, I've still got it. With that she led him into the adjoining bedroom. And threw him onto the bed.
ttt
Falling in love was not something that came natural or easy to any of them. In that respect, Neji and Tenten were more alike than they thought. She really enjoyed Kiba. His company, his looks, the way he kissed her body all over but let her take the lead when she needed to. He was the embodiment of easy-going. Just what she needed. But of course she couldn't tell Neji that. He wouldn't understand it like that. So when he asked her how she felt with him she needed to conjure more eloquent descriptions that would fit his comprehension patterns.
"He's very good stress-relief."
"Lowers your cortisol levels, does he?", Neji concluded. Tenten nodded.
"Yep, you got it." Struck by curiosity, she ventured further into the territory:
"What's it like with Konan?"
"The same."
She could just bite her lip before saying 'I doubt that.' but then it occurred to her that he may not be very far off base. She was a psychopath, he was one too. It could be a match made in heaven.
"Are you still interested in stable relationships?"
"Our relationship is stable."
Tenten sighed. "Not what I meant, Neji", she replied slightly exasperated. She was going to have to be careful about this.
"The kind of relationship we discussed earlier this year. You know, the one actually involving taking chances. One that is defined by more than stability."
They were involved in their favorite activity - finishing up reports - in her room. This time he sat at her window and she was sprawled across her bed.
"It seems like what I have right now is sufficient for my needs and any further engagement would not withstand a cost-benefit analysis."
"But you don't know until you've tried. At some point, your uncle is going to want you to marry a nice girl. Don't you want some practice beforehand?"
Neji thought she made a good point. His empty eyes lingered on her collarbone while contemplating it. The light was shining into her room but, blocked by him, she was drenched in semi-shadow. A dual-being of light and shadow. He shook his head, arriving at a conclusion.
"Ok." She shrugged and kept scribbling on her paper.
His gaze was averted, he had turned it towards the street filled with people. People with purpose, striving for the market or home or a mission. The world was a messy place but he did know his uncle was not content with leaving him to his professional life. It was a miracle he had not been required to engage in politics thus far. A quick calculation of the clan-elders respective ages when starting their political career made him realize that his fate could hit him anywhere between now and five or ten years. Considering his learning curve when it came to social engagements that was actually not much time.
"How would you propose to research this area more thoroughly?" he asked out of the blue. Tenten was engaged in an elasticity calculation of a new weapon's price when he spoke, so she replied with: "Research what?"
"A relationship of that sort."
"Oh, that." She put her paper aside for a minute.
"You go on dates with Konan, right?" She wanted to make sure she was not proposing something that would be completely out of order.
"Yes, dinner is part of our arrangement."
"How about a double date?", she suggested. "I'd be there to prevent any real damage and you could practice behaving in a social environment that involves more actants than you and the lady of your arrangement."
Neji cocked his head. Then nodded slowly. "I'll take it under consideration."
ttt
"So… you and Konan, huh?" Kiba obviously preferred a less formal approach to communication than Neji but in favor of this experiment the traditional Hyuga was willing to accommodate him.
"Yes."
"And me and Tenten. Funny, right?"
"Not really." Neji was quite confused by Kiba's conclusion. He failed to see the humor.
"Well, I'm just excited to be part of this..." Kiba gave up on trying to label it and ventured into a safer conversation topic.
"I don't hang out much with you and Tenten never mentioned your hobbies. So, what do you do for fun?"
"I read."
"Cool." Kiba was rocking back and forth on the balls of his heels. They were both waiting for Tenten to come down the stairs. Konan had agreed to meet them at the restaurant. It was becoming apparent to Neji that Kiba thought it weird that he had found the other waiting in the living room of his date when he had arrived to pick her up. But it had been purely instinctual for Neji to come to Tenten's house when he was about to go somewhere with her. Needless to say, the dynamics of a double date were a mystery to him. Now he was obliged to make awkward conversation with Kiba. Tenten, who was most likely struggling with the new bra she had recently bought and complained to Neji about right before Kiba's arrival, called out through the door to her bedroom:
"Talk about weapons!"
Thankful for her helpful if blunt tip, Kiba latched onto the subject and was amazed at Neji's vast knowledge on a wide repertoire of weaponry.
Kiba adamantly stuck to this topic the entire way to the restaurant. Weirdly enough, he tried to take Tenten's hand, which she found profoundly disconcerting because he was well aware that she never held hands.
"There's Konan!" Kiba yelled out in relief when he spotted the vision of a woman in black at the entrance of the restaurant. Neji acknowledged his date with a curt nod and she commented in her elegant mature way: "You look handsome today."
The same nod worked as a thank you and they went in together.
While browsing the menu of the restaurant Tenten had picked, Kiba leaned over to her and said "I guess there will be no fries up my nose in this fancy place."
Tenten chuckled. "No", she replied. "But those two are not used to informal dining."
"I get it", he replied understanding and was thankful he had remembered to pick up some extra cash earlier that day.
"That's a lovely dress, Konan." Tenten began after she had decided on a first course.
"Thank you. Your blouse is likewise."
"Thanks. I borrowed it from Hinata."
"Actually", Neji corrected. "You borrowed it from Hanabi."
Tenten laughed. "Usually it's the younger sister who steals from the elder."
"Usually the elder is more experienced", Neji replied.
Kiba looked mildly intrigued. "You exchange clothes with the Hyuga family, Tenten?"
She nodded. "Well", she conceded then. "It's less of an exchange and more of me just borrowing relentlessly. I don't see the point of buying clothes I hardly ever wear when I can just come by and pick up something from Hinata whenever I need to dress for form instead of function."
Kiba nodded. He liked Tenten's practical side.
"So what are you guys hav-" Kiba began but stopped himself when the waitress approached them. She immediately looked toward Neji, who, used to this situation, gave their orders:
"I will take the fish of the day, the ladies will have the Caesar Salad, and, Kiba, what would you like?"
"Uhh", slightly dumbfounded by the situation, he rambled something about also having the fish, although he didn't even like fish.
The waitress left and Kiba felt compelled to ask: "Do you always order for other people? Maybe Tenten didn't even want the caesar salad."
Before Neji could follow up his frown with a comment, Tenten clarified: "Oh, I'm sorry, Kiba. He knows I never know what to order at these places, so I told him this afternoon he'll have to order for me."
"And I have the caesar salad every time we're here", Konan added with a slick smile, well aware that Kiba hadn't included her in his concern.
"Oh. I guess I don't know what to order here either." He tried to defuse the atmosphere with his offhandedly charming smile but no one else seemed to feel as uncomfortable as him. Watching on, he was amazed at how easily his date conversed with Neji. The same feeling crept up on him as when he saw them sneaking out of Lee's party together. Jealousy really was a green-eyed monster and he scolded himself silently for acting the way he was.
When she had asked him whether he was up for this, she had made it clear he may not feel comfortable all the way through. He redoubled his efforts to make this a pleasant experience:
"So, I know you two come here often but have you ever been to a place like this before, Tenten?"
"Oh yeah", she picked up his topic with ease, thankful he was trying to get a conversation going. "We came here every year for Neji's birthday."
"Who's we?"
Kiba was looking at Tenten, but she imperceptibly nudged Neji under the table to let him know he was the one who should be taking advantage of this practice opportunity. Since this had been a pre-established signal he understood immediately.
"My family feels the need to celebrate my birthday and I like this place's chef."
Kiba was intrigued. He hadn't known Tenten accompanied family birthday dinners.
"I presume Lee joins as well then?"
Tenten burst out laughing suddenly.
"Goodness, no!", she giggled. "Can you imagine?"
Konan asked, "He's the guy in the green jumper, yes?"
"Oh yeah", Tenten nodded heavily. "The smaller one." She was referring to the fact that Lee and his mentor looked indistinguishable.
"He does seem rather quirky", Konan remarked humorously. "I can just see him playing with his food."
Tenten laughed some more at the image Konan was conjuring up.
"Oh, definitely!"
"I thought you enjoyed people who play with their food", Kiba interjected. Tenten was oblivious to the edge in his voice and kept smiling.
"Yes, I do! It's hilarious. I guess I never surpassed that age."
"She recently wanted me to accompany her in inserting french fries into my nostrils", Neji volunteered. He was throwing in a random comment, just like his book on small talk commanded.
"That..." Tenten began entertained. "Was actually not self-taught but came from this genius's mind." She gestured towards Kiba.
"Guilty as charged", he admitted, unsure of whether this would be received as a positive or negative thing.
"Charming", Konan had the most incandescently light laugh there was. Like church bells.
After that Kiba did not feel as uncomfortable anymore. Neji did not exactly thaw but he wasn't hostile either. In fact, he was pretty much the same as always, mostly indifferent with a touch of making a situation work out of necessity.
After the date had ended, the couples dispatched in opposite directions.
"That was not as bad as expected."
"Told you", teased Tenten.
ttt
"That was entertaining", Konan mused, having hooked herself into Neji's arm.
"By the way, have you changed?", she inquired. Neji thought about her question, then shook her head.
"No, that intangible feeling is still something I experience."
ttt
It was the sound her pen made when it hit the paper, that alerted Neji to the fact that something was wrong.
"That is an annoying sound", he mentioned. Tenten looked up from her work.
"What is?"
He imitated her absent-minded behavior by tapping his pen rapidly on his report as well.
"I'm just a little pissed because I had to break things off with Kiba."
His silence was the equivalent of a 'Sorry to hear'.
"I wish I had someone who appreciated my boundaries as well as Konan does yours."
"You do." Neji resumed his work after his last comment. Tenten was too absorbed in her personal problems to pay him any attention.
"And I really liked him too." She sighed. "It can't be helped."
Neji couldn't help but feel curious. "Did he want to be on top?"
Tenten laughed at the thought. "No, nothing like that. But he was hoping after meeting my best friend - that's you - went so well that he and I could do more than just date."
"Have one of those relationships where stability is not the only criterion?"
"You're such a quick learner, Neji", she complimented him.
"Don't you think you should try new things?"
Tenten didn't detect a smirk around his mouth but she knew he was mirroring her from last year when she had given him advice on Konan.
"I can handle these things on my own."
"Contrary to me?"
"Exactly. Face it, In this department you need a little babysitting."
He thought about acknowledging it, then decided against it.
"I don't appreciate that word."
"Call it guidance then", she corrected herself without looking up from her paper. Silently Neji moved towards her, where she was sitting on the ground at the end of her bed. Her favorite pastime, writing up reports, was to be permanently ended for the day.
He didn't sit next to her but stood. What he considered his very own power pose.
"I harbor feelings for you." It was a very matter-of-fact statement.
Tenten looked up. Then she stood up. She looked ready to drag him out of her room again. He touched her shoulder, lightly. Something he had never done before.
"First of all, no." Her voice was firm.
"Second of all, let me tell you something about the relationships you claim needing no more babysitting for - when you're in one, you don't do this-" She grabbed his hand and held it up like evidence to his immobile face.
"Konan is aware of the situation. She pretends to be you sometimes when I sleep with her in the dark."
The confession was oddly unpassionate but Tenten wasn't sure whether it added to its creepiness or not.
"Are you saying you want to be in one with me… or just-?" She asked unbelievingly, amazed that they had looped back to this incomprehensible limbo of a conversation.
"No." It sounded so final as to almost being insulting.
Instead of speaking Tenten was content on looking confused and discontent.
"You are not interested, ergo I am not interested. I am laying the groundwork for my argumentation on why I have matured beyond your advice."
Tenten, all of a sudden, liked the way in which this conversation was progressing even less.
"I appreciate control like no one else but I understand the boundary of a sensible and an unsensible pursuit." His gaze was so hard, as if he was lecturing a child at the academy on the nature of a kunai's trajectory.
"But I'm not pursuing anything."
"Exactly, Tenten." He did not say her name often. When he did, it was solely to get her attention. They were inches apart since Tenten had stood up, so she was at a loss as to what he was trying to draw her attention to.
"You enjoy Kiba. You should endeavor to … practice." The use of her own words made her angry. His arrogance was seeping through every breath, yet a part of Tenten knew this was him being a good friend. She thrust away his hand she had still been holding.
"You need a lot of guidance." She said, defying him completely.
From the movements of his mouth she could tell he was still contemplating the degree of truth her statement held.
Unexpectedly, she threw her arms around him, pulling his resisting head down towards hers, finding his lips with hers and showed him which amount of pressure was appropriate for a kiss. He was well aware what was usually expected of him in situations like this but with Tenten his hands stopped short of encircling her waist.
"What do you think you are doing?" She asked him inches away from his lips. Her question was a breathless whisper, her body had an exhilarating effect on his own. It was familiar yet unfamiliar in multiple ways. He had felt her close before, of course, because that was what close combat was all about but the context of their encounter was now quite alien to him. Her breath hit his face as she scoffed. This did not usually happen after someone kissed him.
"Are you going to awkwardly kiss my shoulder again?", she inquired. She wasn't teasing him. It sounded more like a dare. Neji had never been forced to do anything on a dare.
"Do you want me to?"
"Are you mocking me?"
"No."
Their gaze locked. When kissing him she had stepped closer, so now she could feel the bulge in his pants press against her. Apparently, he was attracted to her, after all.
"It just goes to show that you don't know what you're talking about."
"I rarely open my mouth unless I know what I'm talking about", was his retort. Smart, to the point. Just like him.
"You should run back to Konan."
"I don't run towards anyone", he clarified. How he managed to keep his voice so steady and calm while she could feel his excitement pressed against her, was a mystery to her. In fact, this entire situation was a mystery to her. She did not know why he was acting like this and much less why she was.
"But I have confided certain urges to her that interfered with my daily interactions with you."
"Interferences?" she spat out the word as if challenging him to a duel. And in a way, he supposed, she was. He was not prone to repeating himself, so he stayed calm, confident that she would realized his silence was confirmation since there was no possible way he could have misheard her with her mouth so close to his face.
"So is she your confidant now?" Her tone was reprimanding, though she had no right to be so.
"Of a sorts. Actually, I pay her well for it. She can use the extra cash for-"
"I'm really done talking about your arrangement with her." Her grip on him slacked and with it did Neji's firm posture. He had been stiff, his hands barely touching the loose folds of her sweater.
"I am attracted to you." He repeated his statement from last year.
"Neji", she sighed, her hands dropping to her sides, brushing his off in the process. "I don't understand this phase you're going through but I really don't know how to deal with it anymore. You're confusing the hell out of me."
He found this puzzling. She seemed to know what she was doing when she had pressed her mouth onto his. Neither took a step back though their embrace had been terminated.
"I have been very consistent", he brought up to his defense.
"Consistent in being bat-crap crazy."
"Is it so inconceivable that a friend would become attracted to another?", he wondered aloud. She could tell it was just a rhetorical device he had picked up from a book. He was going to answer the question himself, and so he did:
"It is not. Articles on social psychology have supported the claim that familiarity and similarity increase liking. In conclusion, a person who you spend a lot of time with or see on a regular basis has potential to become attractive, especially if he or she is similar to you."
Tenten could hardly stand to listen to him talk as if he was directly citing a research paper. She lifted her hand to her forehead and turned slightly away from him.
"Oh my God!", she exclaimed. "I cannot believe we are discussing this."
"You are being highly irrational-", Neji began.
"Neji!", she yelled and pierced him with her eyes. "Stop talking like you're a vulcan on that stupid science-fiction show!"
She took some heavy breaths, then raised her fingers to her temples and began massaging them. He did not understand her reaction. She loved Star Trek and he did not understand why she had kissed him. He was vaguely aware she was trying to prove some kind of point to him but her actions were making it increasingly difficult for him to think straight.
He had been relieved when she released him, hoping his erection would subside but so far this had not occurred and it was starting to make him very uncomfortable. Exposed somehow. It was a new but not very welcome sensation for him.
Seeing her endeavoring to counteract the effects of an oncoming headache made him wonder what she felt when she was this close to him. Despite his usual indifference towards people's feelings, he did not wish to cause her pain, but he felt unable to withdraw from her presence.
"Don't you understand that I don't want to indulge you in your most recent quest for superiority because ..." She had lowered her hands and was searching for words. She did this sometimes when she thought he would not grasp her original phrasing.
"You don't want to be a plaything", he offered. His memory was impeccable.
"Yes, very perceptive", she made a mock-admission that was bursting with sarcasm at its seams. She patted him absent-mindedly on the shoulder and he found himself oddly wishing she would keep her hand there.
"Ok, remember what I said about power imbalances?"
Of course, he thought irritated and refrained from answering such a stupid question.
"What if that imbalance lasts but the relationship doesn't?" Now it was she speaking to him like to a child.
"We couldn't go back to being just us after sharing something that intimate."
"Are you and Kiba going to remain friends?"
Tenten was caught off-guard by the mention of that name.
"Yes, of course", popped out of her mouth, then she regretted it. How could someone with an IQ as high as his be so incredibly daft, she wondered, not for the first time.
"But that's different. I couldn't do that with you."
"Why not?"
"Because I feel closer to you than to Kiba. To translate that closeness into a romantic setting would result in a different type of relationship than I shared with Kiba."
As if suddenly realizing she had been standing torturously close to him, she took a step back, obviously forgetting the bed in the back of her knees, because then she fell awkwardly on it and regained her composure by just staying put there and crossing her arms. He noticed her gaze's forceful aversion to his groin area.
"That makes sense." It did. He didn't understand why she hadn't just laid this out for him before. He sat down on the bed next to her.
"Next time, I hope you can be this clear a lot earlier on." He was mildly annoyed with her, which Tenten perceived as incredibly unfair.
"So… that's it?" In addition to her arms she also crossed her legs. "No more unnatural proposals?"
"No, of course not."
"Good." Although she was happy to have fled a most unfortunate situation, she could not help but probe deeper. This was a new side of Neji she had never encountered. He had never talked about having feelings for anything. Perhaps she owed it to them to try and understand them.
"You don't have any feelings towards me anymore?"
"Of course I do."
"But you just said-" She gave up and felt like throwing a couple of weapons his way. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until the next day. Their training session for today was already concluded.
"Just because I understand that I need to deal with these annoyances in a different manner does not mean they disappear." That was incredibly insightful for the human block of ice occupying the space next to her but that didn't mean it was flattering.
"I'm an annoyance?", she demanded to know, her voice crisp as ice. He was oblivious to her mood.
"You were not the subject of that sentence."
"I'm familiar with syntax, I'm just not happy about your word choice."
He turned towards her passively aggressive figure. Though her body seemed slouched on first glance, his perceptive eyes detected the tension building in her arms.
"No need for concern. I do not let my feelings cloud my judgment or guide my actions."
"Of course not", she muttered.
He could not think of an appropriate response to this, so they just sat in tensed silence while the sun outside drew longer shadows on both their faces.
ttt
She had been more exhausted from their fight than she would have anticipated. She didn't fight with Neji often, so she sometimes forgot how draining it was. Whether this was due to the fact that it was always frustrating to argue with someone who was so good at it or that it was naturally taxing to be in disagreement with someone who was so entwined into her daily routine was difficult to say. She opened her crusted eyelids and her heart fell when she realized it was pitch-dark. She had fallen asleep. More importantly, Neji had never left.
She remembered now how she had tried to relax by letting herself fall backwards onto her bed.
"Let's take a break from this for now", she had insisted, almost pleadingly. She on her side and he on his back, hands folded over his chest, had they fallen asleep. A quick glance towards the clock confirmed her fears. It was 3 freaking am. She moaned. Neji's finely attuned ears made him wake up, of course.
"My mouth feels disgusting", she complained. Of course his stoicism forbid him from making any such comment but she knew he hated sleeping without brushing his teeth. Breaking his routine in any way put him in a bad mood. They both squeezed into her tiny bathroom and started brushing their teeth. Neji used the toothbrush he kept stashed here for emergencies.
Watching him standing in her bathroom, not an unfamiliar sight, she remembered some of the emergencies: Having the house repainted or exterminated, returning late from a mission, once there was even a huge fight with his uncle. He was not usually one to disregard authority figures but, like she had said before, if it wasn't work you could not make this stubborn man bend to your will if he could not see your point. There had not been much tension between them then. He slept on the couch or in her bed, it didn't make much difference. Whatever was more convenient.
When she recalled the well stashed away memories of him saying tension-laden unusual things such as "I'm attracted to you" or "I harbor feelings towards you", it seemed like a weird dream she could've had after drinking too much. They seemed so unreal that she could not combine them with the man standing in front of her.
There was this whole side of him she could not grasp. She hadn't known he was even sexually active and then she was supposed to concede to the idea that he might be interested in her. It didn't make sense.
While she was watching, he nonchalantly reached out one hand towards her, never halting in his brushing efforts with the other. For some strange reason she backed away. They stared at each other for a split second before he lowered his arm and took the brush out of his mouth.
"You're dripping", he informed her and she realized she'd been sunk in thought and her toothpaste had dripped down her neck and was heading straight for the sweaty folds of her cleavage. She used her wide sweater to wipe it off and finished brushing. Before the toothpaste interlude, it had seemed like the most natural thing to just go back to bed but Tenten felt that was inappropriate now.
"I think you should go n-"
"Tenten", he interrupted. "Give me permission to kiss you again." As an afterthought he added "please" to his imperative demand.
They were standing in the doorway between bedroom and bathroom, when this exchange took place. He had never put it quite like that.
"Ok", she heard herself say, so he did. His hands didn't touch her, only the wooden beam above her head as he leaned in to kiss her. She had never been kissed like this before. That didn't mean that it was the best kiss of her life, more likely the most intimidating one. All he did was press his mouth onto hers, so much it hurt. Their teeth touched, the back of her head was uncomfortably pressed against the hard wood of the doorframe and she could feel an uneasy heat emanating from both their bodies. She felt fully aware of his heavy breathing and was surprised it was matched by her own ragged breath, trying to inhale oxygen through her nose. When she opened her eyes slightly, she could tell his eyelids were pressed shut. Subsequently, she opened her mouth just a tiny bit, - whether out of habit or something more was impossible to tell,- which prompted him to finally turn his head sideways, draw closer to her and turn the kiss into something almost tender. She could hear the wooden beam creak within his strong grasp. Despite his harshness, the softness of his lips was alarming to her. Neji had been a lot of things over the years, but never soft. He hung at her lips as if he didn't know how to proceed and not how to stop, tentatively testing the taste of her outer and inner lip, ever avoiding her tongue.
Gently her body slid, away from the wood and towards him. He backed away.
He'd never seen a mouth reddened from pressure. He had never kissed anyone like this before. Come to think of it, he didn't really enjoy kissing with anyone. Even with Tenten it wasn't exactly enjoyment. It physically hurt him, just not around his mouth.
He understood her gestures earlier better now because he was developing a headache increasingly quickly now. The light from the bedroom seemed too bright for his eyes to stand, so he switched it off. That's when he felt her hands on his chest. He had never moaned in his life but he did now. Her fingers were cold to the touch, even through his shirt he could feel it. His penis was just too happy to throw more confusing sensations into the mix. He had a new appreciation for the term 'bittersweet'. Formerly completely paradoxical to him, he could now sense its deeper appeal for situations not better described.
Finally, he searched for her gaze in the darkness. Her dark eyes were no longer impenetrable, they were wide open.
He wasn't even aware he was able to utter these words in this distinct sequence until they had firmly and calmly left his lips: "I'm frightened."
He wasn't quite sure of what. All these months this had seemed like a good idea. He had wanted to relieve his sexual tension with Tenten, because she was the one who occupied his dreams, but her words about closeness haunted him. He was finally able to reach a conclusion on the degree of truth they contained. They were unwittingly, unmitigatingly true. He wasn't sure he could stand that much proximity to another human being.
"I can see that." She tried to hold his gaze for as long as she could but it was difficult. In the darkness their body heat was almost tangible.
"I'm beginning to feel more impulsive by the second", she admitted. "I'm not sure I'm superior in this area anymore", she warned him.
Neji didn't think he cared. In fact, he was having a tough time concentrating. His groin didn't even feel this bad when he woke up in the middle of the night plagued by a dream in which he fucked her. He was not usually a proponent of strong language but he did suspect that the actions center-stage in his dream deserved this description.
Her cold hands wandered down without averting her gaze, all the way to his pants. Then one hand slid in. The sensation brought tears to his eyes but his stoic face stayed immobile. In a swift slow motion she pulled down his shorts with the other hand while lowering herself to her knees. Then she looked up. He usually towered over her anyway and she didn't feel intimidated by him then, so she felt no need to feel so now. Usually she disliked taking a man's sexual organ into her mouth but this time she didn't. There was no shred of dominance from his side when he couldn't stifle a moan as her tongue, then her lips engulfed his cock. Instead, he held onto the doorframe and made good use of his meditation technique by taking long deep breaths. She had never done this in his dreams. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him that this was something Tenten did.
He couldn't describe the feeling. It was very good and yet very bad simultaneously.
ttt
When she could feel his scrotum tensing, she released him and asked: "Why did you ask to kiss me?"
The mist in his mind cleared and he answered just as calmly as she had asked: "Obviously, our dynamics had already changed." What he meant was he was trying to regain control of the situation. In addition, Tenten thought, he had nothing to lose anymore. She pulled the sweater over her head, exposing her bare torso.
"Were you trying to get rid of the annoyances in our dynamic?"
He nodded, his piercing stare unhindered by the lack of light. She stood up again.
"This has been pretty weird, hasn't it?"
He nodded, mouth unmoving.
"All I want to do right now is take you to bed", she confessed.
"Likewise", he assured.
"Should we just do that and deal with the repercussions later?"
Again, he nodded. Not knowing if this was what he really wanted while simultaneously wanting nothing more made his step heavy as he followed her to the bed. He remembered the intensity he felt when he had kissed her. Then he remembered the burning her touch had left when she had patted his shoulder that afternoon. His sex drive knew where it wanted to go and he had finally received her permission to indulge in this experience. Once his head had decided on expressing these feelings, his demeanor changed. As mentioned before, he was capable of any action once he had set his mind to it and, ironically, he was only able to feel once he had set his mind to it as well.
The grip he consequently held her with was so forceful, Tenten had to counteract it by digging her fingers into his sides. Together they fell onto the bed, one messy pile of sweaty entangled limbs wrestling for the upper hand. They were oblivious to their clothes tearing, their skin being scratched, streaked with red. Neji's rough calluses went unnoticed as much as Tenten's did. They were equal in strength in this position, so neither managed to get on top. Instead their hands roamed roughly, agonizingly hard over each other's bodies.
Neji's fingers found her breast and gripped it so hard, pain zigzagged all throughout her body. In response, she bit his lip and drew blood. Neither one had ever heard the kind of sounds drawn from the other's throat. Neji's upper leg was forcefully pressed against her vagina once he managed to get it between her legs and she pulled his hair until he managed to kiss her. This time his kiss hardly resembled the last one. His large tongue explored the cavern of her wet mouth with as much ferocity as he pressed his groin against her body. His breath felt unnatural on her face, her fingernails scratched across his cheeks as he sucked on her lips. Then she abruptly boxed him in the side. A gasp escaping his lips, he was surprised enough to give her the opportunity to tighten her muscular legs around him and straddle him. Arrested by her agility, she grabbed his member in front of her and inserted him. He couldn't decide between watching or pressing his eyes shut, so he kept them open with painful effort. He reached out for her because he felt he needed to hold on to something when she began riding him but she acquired his hands and laid them around her bedposts. Oddly helpless to her actions, he remained in the position she had put him. His legs twitched uncontrollably as he felt himself nearing the apex of their encounter. Her hips slowed to a seductive drawl and his mind regained consciousness long enough for him to realize he did not want this to end yet.
"I'm taking my hands off", he warned, then encircled her waist and scooted off the bed. Tenten had no trouble keeping herself wrapped around him. He kissed her lips, her ear, her neck and the roots of her hair until he hit the wall with her. Then he fucked her against it, not unlike in his dreams. He was aware that he, though usually taciturn, was muttering an unintelligible string of words into her hair as he increased speed. He was barely aware that she was doing the same though the sound of her distant voice was very assuring. When she came she bit into his shoulder. The sharp pain did not diminish his own orgasm in any way. While shaking with the waves as aftermath of their sexual experience, they slid to the floor in a heap of sweat, bones and skin. Holding on to each other as if for dear life, they could barely breathe and continued to catch their breath long after they had stopped caressing each other. Their sharp intakes penetrated the air like dagger stabs, hacking away at the integrity of their universe, making the silence appear as loud as an ocean crashing against a cliff.
ttt
Anyone who encountered them the next morning replied with one version or another of "You should really go easy on each other in the practice fights. You guys are too serious", either jokingly or earnestly concerned. They did look as if they had been in combat. Neji had repaired the large tear in his shirt and pants and also had an impressive display of bite and scratch marks as much as bruises. His lip was swollen, too. Tenten did not look better. They were cleaned up now and had hidden their bite marks, so anyone seeing them assumed they had been practicing in the top of the trees, like they were prone to doing, and had taken a few nasty falls through the branches.
This morning when cleaning their wounds with iodine, they had had a small talk. Tenten had been applying gauze on an especially deep scratch on Neji's back that looked jagged and broad and it just escaped her lips like a confession:
"God, we can't ever do this again."
"Agreed." He didn't even hesitate an instance. The intensity of the experience and its repercussions unsettled him. His nightly behavior was alien to him and as rewarding as the experience had been during its commencement, so terrifying did it feel now.
"I am sorry", Tenten finally admitted when she handed him the iodine to apply it to the front of his body.
Their mixed feelings about the intercourse had not hindered them from showering together. In a quick and proficient manner. Handing each other shampoo and soap as needed. They had never done this before and didn't plan on doing it again but they couldn't deny that it was a beautiful action in its efficiency alone.
"Likewise", he mentioned without looking at her bathrobed body. He was sitting on her toilet with a towel over his lap. A most unusual sight.
ttt
Back at the training grounds, Kiba could not keep from taking a stab at him:
"Got beaten up pretty badly by your female teammate, huh?"
"Yes", he replied. "That was the point of the exercise", he added feeling as if he wasn't completely lying. He felt no residual feelings towards Kiba. Konan had been quite surprised by his lack of jealousy towards this man.
"Don't you feel anything towards him?", she had asked.
"I feel very comfortable with their arrangement", had been his response. Tenten was a grown woman who could choose to engage in relationships of any nature however she liked. He didn't see how that was linked to him. He had felt secure in his knowledge she was adamant on not pursuing anything of that nature with him and even if she had he did not understand the concept of rivalry anywhere else than on the battlefield. Tenten's decision towards him would in no way be affected by his behavior towards Kiba, he reasoned.
What exactly had changed Tenten's mind, he did not know and felt little compelled to ask.
ttt
The party was loud. Lee was of course enjoying his birthday this year as much as last year. Tenten's cake was even more decorative than before but apart from that not much had changed. They sat perched on his couch squeezed in between Ino and Kiba, engaged in a boring card game that Neji was winning with ease because he was counting cards.
"You're cheating", Tenten whispered in his direction. She knew him too well.
"It seems unlikely to be cheating if it's this easy."
He knew she was rolling her eyes at him. Their proximity was that of comfortable familiarity. They hadn't spoken much about their passionate outburst. He still dreamt about her. Once or twice he even wondered casually whether she dreamt about him or fantasized or even just remembered their coitus. But in general he was just happy to have released some tension between them and experienced the bliss of having her warning words not come true. They had been able to return to their former selves quite easily. In fact, they were closer than ever. They had talked about moving in together as platonic friends because Neji had been put under more pressure than usual from his uncle to take up more social engagements and they had already seen each other naked, so there was no unease about sharing a bathroom. He did not feel obsessed with her anymore nor did he need the assistance of Konan.
"I would like to terminate our arrangement", he had told her a little while after the occurrences of earlier that year.
"Good for you", she congratulated. He had transferred her last paycheck and her promise of silence seemed to be worth gold so far. Every once in a while he and she met for lunch. Tenten had mentioned she considered that healthy and an appropriate broadening of his social circle. He did not mind. Konan made good or no conversation and posed little complications.
"Neji, you really need to stop doing this", Tenten hissed to his left.
"I am hardly doing anything", he assured her.
"Okay, I'm out", she said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm going to go see what's keeping Lee in the kitchen."
She sure-footedly made her way over everyone's legs and managed to escape the couch prison. Neji was less lucky. He was now firmly placed between Kiba and Ino.
"I see you two are still as thick as syrup", Kiba nudged him in his side. A gesture Neji inherently disliked. Since he did not think this obvious statement required any confirmation on his part he continued with his winning streak.
"You think I have another chance with her?", he asked out of the blue.
"I have no idea", Neji answered honestly.
"Come on, man", Kiba urged. "You gotta know something, right?"
"Indeed, you are mistaken", was Neji's cold reply. Who was more perceptible to Kiba's plight was Ino on his right.
"Oh, Kiba, are you still upset about y'all's break-up?"
Kiba shrugged. "Upset is a bit of an overstatement. But I definitely miss that period of my life."
Ino reached over Neji to pat her friend on the shoulder. Much to Neji's annoyance. He glanced at the clock. Nine o'clock, she had said. It was 9:30pm now. His stoic personality made him refrain from sighing but he couldn't say he was enjoying himself.
"Neji!", Tenten called from the kitchen. He looked up but only saw her backside disappearing into the adjacent room again. He didn't bother muttering an 'excuse me' as he pushed past Ino, who was now in a deep conversation with Kiba on something he was most likely uninterested in.
He could guess the problem the moment he stuck his head in. Lee was sobbing on the floor.
"I do not believe I am the correct choice for whatever this task entails", he informed his caller.
"Shut up, Neji. I need you to run to the supermarket and get some strong coffee."
Tenten was patting Lee on the shoulder who had taken to crying on her shoulder moaning something about Sakura. Neji did as he was bid. By the time he got back the scenery hadn't changed much. Except Lee was a bit more coherent now:
"... and now she's kissing him in the bathroom."
"I'm sorry, honey", Tenten consoled while Neji moved to the counter to prepare a strong pot of coffee.
"Are you sure you want to give him caffeine?", he inquired.
"Just do it", Tenten snapped. She had no patience for him tonight, he realized, so he just continued his task silently.
"...not just…. But fully making out...", he heard Lee stutter. Tenten kept rubbing his shoulder.
"How do you endure pain like this?", Lee whined. "I mean, I have all the youthful power I could hope for and still I'm at a loss..." He tried clearing his nostrils on Tenten's shirt. "On my birthday!", he moaned.
"It's not that hard", Neji muttered under his breath but Lee heard it anyway: "Oh, yes, it is! You wouldn't know!"
Neji brought him his coffee to help him sober up and gave Tenten a quick glance.
"No, I wouldn't."
Lee wept into the loud silence of the kitchen, while a party was raging on outside of their little enclave of stillness, demanding fairness in the realm of being in love, oblivious to the fact that such a thing did not exist.
The End.