Chapter 2 Paranoia

Hinata lay on bed completely naked with only white sheets to cover her lower body.

She had her head rested on red pillows while her back face her beloved. She felt warm when he moved closer to brush her long dark blue hair to her front, giving him a good view of the curves of her upper body.

While breathing at her nape, he set his hand at her back, tracing his fingers from her neck down her spine. She gasped feeling the tingling sensation induce from his touch. She turned around to face him and deliberately slid her arms around his neck as she playfully curled his short blonde hair between her fingers. She pulled him closer and met his blue eyes. Their lips almost touching, he teased, slowly kissing her collarbone up to her neck and graze her earlobe, causing her to moan his name.

"Neji…"

That's odd. She should have mentioned Naruto's name instead of his.

"Neji!"

This time, her voice was noticeably different. It was neither soft nor gentle. It was strong and commanding. It took a few seconds when he realized that the voice was not from the heiress.

Tenten had been snapping her fingers in front of his face. He had his eyes glued on his bento, lost in his thoughts, before shifting his gaze to his teammate.

"You're spacing out. Are you okay?"

He was day dreaming. He blushed when he realized this.

"I'm fine." He replied coldly, maintaining his poise and pride.

"Then don't stare at your food, eat." Tenten shrugged, rolling her eyes from him.

Neji sighed, grabbing the chopsticks at his side and selected the soba herring prepared by heiress. It was delicious. Hinata is a perfect cook in spite of her poor strength as a kunoichi. He was proud of her skills, he'd sometimes boast to his team having bento packed for lunch. It was unusual for him to do that, but he consciously does it to show that they were good terms. However, he was acting differently that day. His moves were off and had his defense down during training. He needed a break and having lunch was supposed to energize him.

"You look worried." Tenten stated after a careful observation of her teammate's behavior.

"I am." He emphasized as he eyed the couple who were few meters away from their table. Love birds and their public display of affection made him twitched. He would have described their actions as lewd and improper.

"Do you think it was the right thing to do?" he asked hesitantly before tasting another sashimi from his bento. He kept his eye on the couple. A civilian guy had his arms wrapped around a blonde girl wearing a skimpy dress. His face was close to her and they were creating sharp funny sounds that annoyed him, delaying his lunch. Neji ignorantly mumbled to Tenten hearing something about sexy nights and end up asking why they are so excited.

Tenten laughed at Neji who was eagerly eavesdropping. You can't blame him; he wasn't very familiar with these relationships. He was a workaholic since child. He didn't have time to fool around, no vices and never had the time to flirt with girls. He was strict and kept his moral standards high.

When Tenten realized what Neji was thinking, she energetically stated, "C'mon, don't be so paranoid! Naruto isn't a sex maniac. They won't do it on their first date." She tries to assure him by patting his shoulder; nonetheless, it wouldn't be so bad if... "Maybe on their second night," she teased him.

Neji frowns at her, it wasn't funny. Tenten giggled

When the couple left, Neji thought about what she said. Maybe she was right; maybe he was just being paranoid. From all his friends, Tenten is closer to him; they got along well, shared some philosophies within their team and had built strong friendship. She knew him well.

"It was really nice of you to help her out." She reminded him, as if to imply that he shouldn't have, "We all know she's been in love with him since we were kids."

"It was nothing." He responded monotonously. Neji wasn't sure if what he did was admirable.

"Why?" Tenten asked, sipping her tea. "She's been spacing out during training." He reasoned out.

"Like you?" Tenten added with a sly smile.

Neji paled.

"Wha-what?" a stammer, surprisingly, like Hinata's.

"It's natural to constantly think of someone when you're in love." She looked at him observantly, moving her face close to his. He moved back in response and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying I'm in love with someone?" hypothetically, yes.

"Probably!" she cheerfully replied with a shrug.

"Ridiculous." He blushed, "Maybe you are, you seem to know a lot."

Tenten sweat. He took a sip of his tea before finally standing up. He can no longer take her observing stare under her eyes.

"I'm leaving." He stated.

She sighed watching him leave.

o0o

That night, he pinched the bridge his nose as he pondered his behavior earlier that day. Tenten was right, he is in love and he was worried, too worried actually… but he couldn't let anyone know, not even Hinata.

A/N: It's amazing you read the 2nd chapter. Review, why not?