Heyy! :) I'm back with a new story with the pairings of Tenten and Neji. I love them and I have a wee bit of writer's block on my other story... _ Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Tenten staggered to her feet, wondering where the hell her teammates Neji and Lee could be. She knew she didn't have much fighting left in her. The Akatsuki member, Kisame Hoshigaki, was tough. He had an immense amount of chakra left and she was almost out. The tall man with shark-like features stood on a rock jutting out of the water about 20 feet away from her. He had a sick smirk plastered on his blue face.
Anger coursed through Tenten as she threw down a scroll and launched a huge shuriken at him. He chuckled and deflected it with ease, only to see it transform into three kunai with explosive tags attached to them. His smirk was instantly gone as the tags exploded, leaving him clutching his now bloodied arm.
"Oh ho! I see. I underestimated this little brat. Hmm Now let's see if you can live through this!" He disappeared in a splash of water. Tenten swiveled around in search of the missing nin, but didn't find him anywhere. Fear began to creep in her stomach as she realized to late where he was.
"I'm right here!" Kisame sprung out of the water behind her and raised his samehada. It connected with her right side, slicing it pretty deep. Blood began to steadily seep out of the wound and Tenten clasped her side as she dropped to her knees. The pain was overwhelming while she tried to fight the black that tried to control her vision.
"Hehe. It's not over yet." She heard him snicker darkly. Tenten tried to breathe normally. Despite the pain, she rose to her feet and retrieved her final scroll. She was not going to lose to this cocky bastard and this is her last chance. She bit her thumb and activated the scroll, making numerous weapons levitate in a circle above her head.
She flung them towards the baffled Akatsuki member and watched as he disappeared in a fog of smoke. Once it cleared, a small satisfied smile set on her lips as she stared at the disfigured body of the former Phantom of the Mist in a strange cloud cloak.
"Heh. Pin-cushion."
Just then a very pissed off looking Jonin appeared in the clearing, barely scathed from his battle with Hidan. He immediately saw the body with various weapons protruding out of his body and looked at Tenten.
Teten's time was up. She felt a new wave of pain and collapsed on her knees, gasping as she held her side. Neji was at her side in an instant and caught her before she face-planted or fell in the river. He noticed her wound immediately. It wasn't that hard considering all the blood staining the entire fron of her shirt.
"Hold on Tenten." He said in a calm, cool voice. He stood up and took off his white shirt to stop the bleeding. Then he gently picked her up bridal style and sped back towards Konoha.
"Neji,"She whispered weakly. One of Tenten's hands was clenched around his bicep and the other grasping his shirt to her wound. The last thing she saw was the smooth, warm, muscled chest while Neji carried her home.
Tenten breathed in and out evenly as she awoke from what seemed like a long nap. Without opening her eyes, she noticed straight away the familiar smell of antiseptic of the hospital. Memories of Kisame and the fight flooded her brain as she remembered why she was there. Next, she recognized Tsunade's stern voice talking quietly to someone out in the hall. Tenten, not wanting them to know she was awake quite yet, kept silent.
"She has been unconcious for three days now. I healed and stablized her. The abdomen wound was pretty bad, but I don't know why she's recovering so slowly."
"Hn. Okay. I'll come back tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll have to get some one else to carry out that mission." Tenten's heart sped up at the known voice. Neji Hyuuga. The steady beeps of the monitor started beeping frantically along with her heart.
"Yes, I don't want her going on missions for a whi-." Tenten stopped breathing when she heard the pause. Dammit. She was discovered.
Tsunade burst through the door with Neji behind her. She rushed towards the monitor and checked the history. Tenten opened her eyes slowly and blinked at the slight pain from the brightness of the lights. She found Tsunade's staring at her intently.
"Well, nice to see you alive and responding Tenten." Tsunade smiled. Neji stayed silent but continued to gaze at her with his milky eyes. Tenten blushed under his stare and tried to cover it by sitting up. Bad idea.
"Ouch." She grimaced at the throbbing pain in her side, but gradually reached a sitting position at the end of her bed.
"Tenten, I want you to rest for a week. Considering your current state, it would be unwise to send you home alone, so I'm assigning Neji here to stay with you." Tenten's eyes bugged out and looked back and forth between the two. She hadn't seen Neji in so long. He was very muscular now and his black hair was longer.
"Doesn't he have missions? He can't just leave, he is a captain of ANBU!" She sputtered. Neji raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
"It's already been worked out. He is on his vacation now anyway." Tenten sighed.
"Okay. Fine. Can I go home now?" Tenten asked, irritated, as she slid off the bed to stand. Instead, she stumbled and Neji's hand shot out and grabbed her arm to steady her. Tenten gasped and took a tiny step forward, ignoring Neji's help.
"See, you can't even walk properly. You need Neji." Tsunade spoke matter-of-factly and strode out the door to get her usual glass of sake.
"Um, can you teleport us to my apartment?I don't have any chakra so..." Before she could finish her sentence, the pair ended up on her doorstep. Tenten swayed unsteadily. Neji placed a firm hand on her waist, making her cheeks flush a bright pink.
"Hmph. It's all that damn morphine they gave me." She mumbled as she fumbled for the key. Neji grabbed the key out of her hand and swiftly unlocked the door. Tenten was really starting to feel woozy. Her feet felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each.
"Why are you allowing yourself to spend your vacation taking care of a broken old teammate?" She drawled as they barely made it through the front door. Tenten's steps got slower and her knees buckled. She felt the air rushing around her but she didn't fell the expected pain of the hard floor. Instead, for the second time in a week, she was in Neji's arms. She felt like a big baby, the way she kept relying on him to help her.
"It doesn't really matter. I was going to just train anyway. When you get better, I figured we'd train like we used to back in the day." Tenten smiled at the thought and put forth a lot of effort to keep her head up. Neji guided her to the couch and laid her down gently.
"I know...but...still..." She murmered softly, frowning. She didn't like to bother people. He sat on the floor in front of her and started meditating. He listened to her breaths get lighter and longer.
"Sorry...for ruining your...vacation." She murmered before falling into a deep slumber. Neji's mouth curved slightly upward at the corners and let out a breath. That's definitely the old Tenten. Behind that tough facade, she still didn't want to hinder anyone.
Tenten woke up to the smell of cooking drafting from her kitchen. She felt much better, but her chakra was only half replinished. She slowly got to her feet and winced, then trudged towards the moth-watering bacon. She smiled, happy he remembered her favorite food. Bacon. Neji was at the stove, monitering the sizzling bacon. He looked the same, with his ninja clothes on and his smooth black hair neatly combed. It was a strange sight to Tenten to see the Jounin, usually in a bloody battle, looking so...domestic. She laughed lightly at the thought and sat down at her table.
"What are you laughing at? I have to eat too you know?" He inquired, not turning around.
"I've just never seen you outside of missions like this and stuff. Some of that better be for me." He turned off the stove and brought the steaming plate of bacon towards her. He set it down on the table and took his seat across from her. Tenten's eyes glazed over while her mouth started watering profusely.
"Wow, you really haven't changed since we were younger." He stated and grabbed a couple pieces of the bacon.
"Hey!I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything in three days! You are supposed to feed me." She growled and snatched the plate and pulled it closer to her, a protective glint in her eyes.
"I'm the one who made it, so I should get some too. I'm just here to make sure you don't accidentally kill yourself." He retorted as he reached over and grabbed another piece, despite the scowl on her face as she hovered over the plate. Tenten sighed and let him grab some.
"Hm. Fine." They ate in silence until both of their stomachs were satisfied.
"Ughh. I feel like shit,"She sighed. She then stood up to stretch, only to feel the searing pain in her lower abdomen.
"Well, you did take a normally fatal blow to your side. You will be better in a couple of days. I see your chakra is already halfway recovered." He spoke confidently, which made her feel much better already. That was one of Neji's traits.
"I still can't believe we are both Jonin and a part of ANBU. Time has really flown by."She said.
"Yes. We have both excelled as shinobi. I always thought we would, even back when we were genin." Tenten turned so he couldn't see her blush at his compliment.
"Well, I need to go change my bandages." She limped out the door, only to trip and go sprawling through the air. Once again, Neji caught her. He was really becoming handy. He chuckled as she tried again, unsuccessfully, to regain her balance, but ended up sighing in defeat leaning on Neji.
"I guess I can't do that."
"Tenten. That's what I'm here for. I'll change them. Sheesh, if I wasn't here you'd probably be in worse shape than before." She silently agreed but still pouted.
"Okay. Damn. This is gonna suck." He led her to the couch where he set her down on her left side. She pulled up her shirt until she stopped below her breasts. Blood rushed to her face when she realized that she would have to take it off entirely and hesitated.
"Just take it off. I'm here to help you, not rape you,"he said sternly.
"Shut up. I know that." she snapped. Frustrated, she ripped off her top, leaving her cleavage clearly visible. Little did she know, Neji secretly did wanted to molest her. She had definitely grown up and had curves. He'd never thought he would be thinking of his old teammate like this. He shook the perverted thoughts out of his head and focused on the task at hand. He carefully peeled the somewhat bloody bandages to reveal a ghastly, stitched wound running from under her right breast to her hip.
A wave of anger passed through him as he imagined the pain she must be suffering. He wished he could bring the bastard back to life, only to kill him again. Slowly. Tenten winced when he gingerly wiped the wound clean.
"Relax, you're starting to turn blue." He said not looking at her. She opened her eyes and met his white eyes as she let out the air she didn't realize she was holding.
"For such a strong kunoichi, you don't tolerate pain very well." He teased, smoothing the last bandage, accidentally brushed her toned stomach. Her breathe hitched. Neji felt blood rushing to the exact place he hoped it wouldn't.
"You'd be surprised. I almost cried when I got my ANBU tattoo. Gai had to hold my hand through the whole thing and Tsunade gave me sake, so I was a little loopy." She muttered and sat up stiffly to put back on her shirt. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She felt the cushion next to her dip with new weight.
She turned her head to see Neji following her example except his hands were clasped together behind his head. Tenten was already feeling sleepy again as she let her eyelids droop and finally the blackness took over.
Well I intended this to be a one shot, but I've decided against it. :) So there will be some more Tenten and Neji lovliness. I really like this pairing and I wish it was like this in the series. There aren't enough stories with them. :( Anyways, I plan on writing a couple more chapters, lemons and love included. ;) I hope you like it, REVIEW so I know to continue it. :D
-causticcally 3