I'm back with more prompts.. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing them :) One of my favourite things about these drabble-sentences is that they actually are related sometimes! (And sometimes they're related to the previous 20.) Prompts are from LJ community 1sentence.

Again, Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.

#21 - Life

Neji stays at the bar late into the night, ordering more drinks from the bartender who is steadily avoiding him (does she think he'd believe that their past is dead now?) until she ends her shift and he follows her into the back alley, holding his position when she whirls on him like a savage cat, her eyes flashing in the dim lamplight ("What do you want?") and it hurts to see the fury and distrust in her glare; he stares her down and murmurs, "How do I bring Tenten back to life?"

#22 - Jealousy

"I don't know who Tenten is," she snarls at him, and for a moment, he wonders if this woman in front of him (with her dark hair twisted into a single loose knot and her tan skin triggering recollections of stolen nights during his college days) is really the wrong person instead, but he remembers her earlier words and catches her wrist (warm, so warm), allowing words to rise to his tongue, "I asked Lee, he told me you were here-" -and she screeches in fury, flinging his grip off ("How dare he?" she seethes and spins away), and Neji is unable to contain the question that has been burning within him, "Are you seeing another man?"

#23 - Hands

"I have space for no man in my life," she bites, stalking deeper into the alley before she allows the memories of Neji's hands to tip her balance, "Leave me alone-" -and strong arms wrap suddenly around her waist - she kicks and struggles and threatens to scream, but Neji turns her around and presses her back into the brick wall, holding her still with the weight of his body, his fingers rubbing circles in her palms.

#24 - Taste

"I'm sorry, Tenten," he whispers, and Tenten feels her bearings scatter, even as he tips his face down towards hers and his breath falls upon her lips (it has been too long since she's touched him and she knows the pleasure he has to give- but he is also the reason her heart is broken and she dares not offer it again), her pulse beats a quick staccato, and then Neji's mouth is on hers and she tries her best to resist him, trapped between him and the alley wall; he trails his kisses to her jaw briefly and she gasps, heat searing straight into her middle, and Neji snatches that opportunity to return to her lips, urging her mouth to open to his; he tastes of whiskey and rum and Neji; a moan escapes her throat, unbidden, and Tenten knows she is on the verge of caving in to him.

#25 - Devotion

"Princess Tenten," Sir Hyuuga Neji salutes as he kneels before her, shining armor clinking on cobblestone, "I hereby promise my everlasting devotion and service to you; your wish is my command-" -she rests a hand on his shoulder, a grin tugging on her lips, hazel eyes sparkling; the new liege of Fire is every bit of sunshine and cheer he is not, and he sees why her father has chosen the very best to be the guards by her side.

#26 - Forever

They find themselves in her chamber months later (a room fit for the ruler of a kingdom, with a majestic ebony four-poster bed and high windows draped with luxurious curtains, embroidered carpets covering every inch of the floor), and Tenten bids him remove his armor (he looks to her in question; she smiles), so he does as she says, slowly, and when he is in his shirt and breeches, he kneels before her again, taking her fingers in his hand, and vows, "I am forever your loyal servant, Princess Tenten-" -she stops him with a finger to his lips, and corrects him, "I am Tenten to you," and with that, he looks up at her, allowing his masks to fall; Tenten smiles again, and leans down to meet his lips with hers.

#27 - Blood

There are specks of crimson on the pristine sheets when they leave the bed (Princess Tenten has been chaste until now, after all), and guilt rises in Neij's chest, that he has ruined her (even if he is glad that she feels for him as he does her), and he does not regret having been tangled with her between the sheets, having their skins meet and tasting her most intimately (she had moaned and clutched his head to her); Tenten promises that it will be fine, and he slips from one of the secret passages in her room, thinking, knowing that little will stop him from visiting her every night henceforth.

#28 - Sickness

There is a rumor astir in the castle that the Princess is ill, and Neji is one of the first to discover that the physician has pronounced the Princess with child; like a cannonball to his gut, he feels sick to his stomach that he is the cause of it, that he should have been more careful, that Tenten will have to face the repercussions of their trysts; yet at the same time, he is oddly affected, that Tenten is now bearing their child in her belly, and he hopes it will be a fine, strong son they'll be proud of.

#29 - Melody

Christmas jingles are blaring all over in the mall, spurring Tenten's cheer to new heights; she drags Neji along with her excitedly, in one store and out another (except the clothes shops, she knows he has no patience for those), and from the corner of her eye, she notices that the ornamental weapons store has a new, shiny display; without tugging on Neji's arm this time, she rushes ahead and presses her nose against the glass, hazel eyes glued to the intricate carving of a dragon on a spear (she swallows hard when she glimpses the figures on the price tag), and sighs, seasonal music (and Neji's approaching footsteps) falling deaf on her ears - this was one weapon they really could not afford.

#30 - Star

When Tenten opens the plain, heavy box that Neji hands her, she feels her heart thump, and thump again when she parts the thin paper tissues loosely wrapped around a burnished metal dagger, a familiar dragon carving extending from the hilt of its gleaming blade; she picks it up with disbelieving fingers, and finds a slender ring beneath; her gaze flies to Neji's; he smirks, and Tenten thinks she might have wished on a reliable shooting star for once.

#31 - Home

The small apartment Tenten resides in, that Neji moves into, is a far cry from his room in the Hyuuga compounds; here, he does not sense eyes constantly on his every movement; neither does the relative mess of Tenten's scrolls and belongings irk him (in fact, he finds objects of note amongst them sometimes, like one of the adult novels Kakashi is always reading, and a lace thong he never knew she possessed); but there's something to be said for his favourite part about living with Tenten - being able to catch her expressions as they cycle through their days, and curling up together in bed, just inhaling her scent; this is where Neji finally feels at home.

#32 - Confusion

Gai and Lee are visibly upset and bewildered when they show up the next day for training ("Where did you go after my youthful lesson on Sex?" Gai howls, just as Lee explains, "We looked everywhere for you, Gai-sensei said you mustn't miss out on the most important part!"), and Tenten shares an awkward look with Neji, trying very hard not to recall the texture of his skin on hers, and just how intimately she'd learned Neji's body (but some semblance of the truth must have slipped from the heat on her face, because Gai is staring hard at them, and Lee is more confused than ever).

#33 - Fear

He kisses her and winds his fingers in her hair, afraid that if he lets Tenten go this time, it's the last time he'll see her (and he is sure she is Tenten, not Tian) - which is why Neji doesn't release her from the brick wall of the alley, and instead kindles her need the only way he knows how; he suckles on her ear, then her neck, stroking her hip slowly, smoothing over the underside of her breast with his thumb, until she arches against him and gasps his name, "Neji!"

#34 - Lightning/Thunder

There is a downpour outside when they finally stumble into Tenten's apartment, lips locked and hands clawing at each other's clothes; the apartment is lit for moments by consecutive flashes of lighting; Neji kicks the door shut and maneuvers them to the nearest couch (Tenten has given up on unbuttoning his shirt and is reaching for the bulge in his pants; he grunts, thrusts at her, busying himself with unknotting her hair and yanking her shirt up (her nipples are stiff and she writhes when he strokes them); thunder crashes, and neither of them pays it any heed.

#35 - Bonds

The ties to reality lie in their clothes - Neji's in his lawyer's suit, and Tenten's in her bartender outfit - so he does his best to remove every single item on them (his breath catches at the exquisiteness of her bare form) and carries her to her bed (thankfully a queen); Tenten welcomes him with parted thighs the moment he crawls over to her, her eyes hazy with desire, and he catches her lips once more; the bond he does forge between them is one of flesh, when he reaches between them and presses a finger into her slick core.

#36 - Market

Nothing seems amiss on Lord Hyuuga Neji's usual morning ride through the villages, until a small riot breaks out in one market as he passes through, and a dagger is flung straight at him - before he can draw his sword, an apple collides with the dagger, knocking it completely off-course, and the onlookers are stunned into silence (he turns and looks at where the apple came from, only to meet the fierce hazel gaze of a girl at the fruit stall, her hair oddly shaped into twin buns atop her head).

#37 - Technology

The advent of the internet and chatrooms has brought countless of strangers together, not in the least a certain PrincessPanda and HProdigy in the Konoha portal (FoxBoy and Fangz love discussing pranks publicly; TaijutsuForever is always shouting about YOUTH with GreenBeastofSpring); the board gets so full of chatter that PrincessPanda sends HProdigy messages in private, to continue their discussions on battle history and personal training (she does not deny the thrill of excitement that makes her sit straighter whenever he logs into the chatroom).

#38 - Gift

It is to PrincessPanda's great surprise when HProdigy suggests they meet in person just before Christmas - they arrange to rendezvous at the Golden Arches in a mall between their homes (he lives unexpectedly close to her); she wears her hair in their usual twin buns and almost falls from her seat when HProdigy ("I have long hair and white eyes," he tells her before the meeting) takes his place across the table (he's the Hyuuga Neji?!), looking nothing like she imagined (much more regal and handsome, in fact) and places an elegant gift bag in front of her, murmuring, "Thought I'd get you something for Christmas, PrincessPanda."

#39 - Smile

Neji tries not to smirk at PrincessPanda's surprise; she stares mutely at the bag he's just placed on the table, before she gives a start and grins sheepishly at him, grabbing a plainly-wrapped box from her bag ("Here, Merry Christmas, HProdigy," she returns); he accepts it with quiet thanks ("Are you going to open yours?" he inquires, and nods when she lifts her eyebrows in question); the huge smile that lights her face when her gaze lands on the polished kunai makes Neji want to know her better, even if she is only PrincessPanda to him now.

#40 - Innocence

The seeming innocence of PrincessPanda (or rather, Tenten) strikes Neji most acutely in the way she does not attempt to get in his good graces, and instead treats him as an equal; they pick up on the military strategy discussion in their private messages, proceeding to ancient weapons (during which Tenten's excitement gets the better of her), and it is dusk when either of them thinks about leaving, that Tenten finally asks about his personal life, like she doesn't already know who he is (and he is very grateful for that).