Contrary to popular belief, Anko wasn't a messy person. Her apartment was kept tidy and clean, something Tenten always secretly attributed to her former snake-master. Tenten dropped the box of dango and shuffled two cups of tea onto the counter before slowly making her way into Anko's bedroom.
Of course Anko's bed was devoid of sheets and blankets, and the woman could be found swathed in the bed dressings, tangled up in the center of the pile, arms and legs sticking out of various locations.
Anko mumbled a morning greeting into her pillow, trying her best at formalities even if she didn't move at all upon her arrival. Anko always did have a way of knowing her chakra signature even if she was half-asleep.
"I brought tea and dango," Tenten offered to the half-dozed kunoichi on the floor. Anko shifted and propped herself up off the floor by doing a push up. She gave a cat-like yawn and gave a sleepy smile in Tenten's direction. Tenten just shook her head. Anko could be given the most comfortable bed in the world and would still end up sleeping on the floor at some point during the night. "You remember Kurenai needs you to watch her kid while she is on a mission, right?" Anko only sat up and pointed to her alarm clock, which deftly rang out noisily as soon as she pointed to it, almost as if on command.
Anko might be a lethal and scary kunoichi, but she was nothing if but reliable when you needed her. Tenten left her to get dressing and headed into the small living area to drink her tea. She sighed when she realized that there was no team photo in her living room, but smiled when she found a few candid pictures of her latest team. There was one of the fallen Aburame and Tokuma arm wrestling. Anko had obviously taken the picture of her teammates when they both were unaware, as neither smiled and focused on taking out the other member of their team. She appreciated the bulge of muscles in Tokuma's forearms and biceps, then put the photo down to admire another one.
Anko had her arms around her two male teammates, smiling her cheeky smile, while Tokuma and Torune hugged her around her waist with one arm and gave the kunoichi a bunny ear with the other hand, both with an innocent smile on each of their faces. Tokuma's seemed to be more mischievous, there was something about the grey sparkle in his eyes that Tenten was becoming fond of while she got to know him.
She put the picture down and tried to make idle chit-chat with Anko about the little things as soon as she came to join her. Tenten reasoned that it was too early in the morning to be discussing the things that really mattered. She settled for just getting re-familiarized with her friend and what she had been up to lately.
Anko was throwing her trench coat on in a hurry, despite the fact that they had plenty of time. When Tenten pointed out that they were going to be early, Anko just gave a mischievous smile and headed out the door, stick of dango hanging out of her mouth, tugging Tenten with a free hand, cup of tea in the other.
"Where are we going?" Tenten asked as she kept up her pace with the spiky-haired kunoichi.
"Cemetery," Anko said thickly as she chewed, "Kakashi has a mission today, and I already told Kurenai that I would meet her there to pick up Asuma Jr." Kakashi could always be found leaning against the cenotaph, an orange copy of the Toad Sannin's book in hand. No doubt she had orchestrated all of this to spend more time with him before he left on his mission.
"I was hoping for a copy-nin free morning with you," Tenten frowned. Kakashi certainly had a way of taking over every spare minute Anko had to available.
"He's leaving for a month, I promised to say good-bye before he goes," she picked up the pace, forcing chakra into her feet to speed things along. Tenten followed her friend, annoyed at the loss of time with her, but certainly not blaming her for wanting to say farewell to her lover before a long mission.
Kakashi was leaning against the cenotaph as promised, his long body propped lazily against the stone with casual indifference. Tenten noticed that was true until he spotted Anko, and Kakashi, even with half his face covered, instantly perked up. It was as if all his attention was focused on the purple haired kunoichi, and that the whole world melted away. The book was tucked carefully away, and the silver haired jounin pulled himself off the stone to wrap his arms around the snake-warrior as she chatted away about something or another. Tenten was too far away to hear her voice clearly anymore.
She kept her distance to give them privacy, wondering why she had bothered to come along in the first place if all she was going to do was be in the way. She settled for paying her respects to fallen comrades, wishing she had markers for her parents in this cemetery. She was just getting up from her spot on the ground to leave, when a warm chakra signature came into focus behind her. She instantly recognized it as Tokuma's.
"Good morning," she smiled warmly as she turned to him, taking in his dark grey eyes that seemed bright against the morning sky. He had a way of making grey look bright, unlike the hollow, milky eyes of his distant cousin. He seemed so different than Neji, who put on his pristine robes like a trophy, immaculately pressing each line in the fabric before putting them on. Tokuma was more down to earth in simpler clothes. They were clean and fresh, but put on without the haughtiness or a snobbishness that Neji always seemed to exude. He smiled at her with that confident yet shy smile of his, clasping his hands behind his back in nervousness.
Was he nervous around her? Perhaps this was just a cute quirk.
"Good morning," he greeted back to her in a rich voice that Tenten somehow thought was soothing in the early hours of the peaceful morning. "I thought I felt your chakra here. Did you come with Anko? No doubt she is visiting Hitake-san this morning before he takes off to Suna."
If by 'visiting' he meant sticking her tongue all over him, then yeah, she was visiting very thoroughly with the man.
"They are over there," she pointed to the east side of the memorial, "Which way were you headed?"
Tokuma turned with a wave of his hand, leading her to the other end of the grounds away from the tongue bath that Anko no doubt was giving Kakashi.
The morning air was still crisp and chilly, and fog lingered on the low places of the memorials. Tokuma had a way of making her feel invited to be with him, like he was privileged to walk with her, instead of like an inconvenience like with Neji. He seemed to truly appreciate her, and she couldn't help but feel flattered that a Hyuga of any caliber would be willing to talk to her, or even go out of their way to find her, just to make idle chatter. He seemed almost eager to be with her, and she definitely returned the sentiment if it were true; she was more than willing to spend time with him. She tried to nudge herself as close to him as possible, strolling beside him without actually hitting him while he walked. As far as she was concerned, he was radiating body heat and she wanted in on staying warm.
They stopped at where a second cenotaph stood, tall against the other monuments in the morning light, casting shadows on them as Tokuma fingered his fallen comrade's name.
Tenten had nearly lost her own sensei in the war, she couldn't imagine how much it would hurt if she lost Neji or Lee. Even if Neji was the less than ideal teammate, she still considered him a brother, same as Lee.
"I've seen a lot of pictures of you and him at Anko's." They were family, Anko had said as much. They were a pretty tight-knit team.
Tokuma just nodded, stoically focused on the memorial in front of him, then he fingered a few Hyuga names, Tenten was certain his father to be among the names that he filtered through.
"There is too much death," Tokuma spoke with an even voice, "not to think about living life to the fullest." He turned his head to focus his gaze on her, the undivided attention from the grey-eyed man was breath-taking, and heart-stopping. His ruggedly handsome looks were amplified by the conviction in his eyes, a determination that was exposed and real and raw. She wanted to hug him….a very team Gai thing to do, and the better part of her thought that it was an excellent idea and folded her arms around him.
She didn't give him the bone-crushing hug that Gai normally used on her, the kind that made her think she was going to suffer from internal injuries afterwards. Her hug was a meant to comfort, the kind that was warm and inviting and tender, and Tokuma gladly wrapped his arms around her. She got lost in how clean he smelled; that wonderful fresh laundry scent mixed with a masculine aroma that she never wanted to leave.
"Tenten," he could hear him speak into her hair, she noted the way she could her name rumble inside his chest. She returned the favor speaking his name.
"Tokuma," she didn't bother breaking the hug to look at him.
Then a third party entered the hug, pressing her body against Tokuma's and wrapping her arms around Tenten.
"Good morning, Anko," they spoke in unison. Nothing like getting interrupted by another stealthy ninja to ruin the moment. Kurenai must have been running late and Kakashi had probably just left. Anko's stealth was legendary. She was certain that even Gai wouldn't have interrupted the moment with a hug. Leave it to Anko.
"Team Gai isn't the only touchy-feely squad out there ya know," she squeezed them tightly before she let go. Tenten and Tokuma parted, albeit reluctantly, and listened to Anko chatter a bit before running out to meet Kurenai, who was still a ways off on the north end of the cemetery.
"Tenten," Tokuma refocused his attention on her, something she was becoming more accustomed to, and not only that, but liking the undivided attention from the handsome Hyuga. She smiled for him instead of speaking, it seemed like the moments between them were so fragile she didn't want to break them with words. "Have you ever been to the Hyuga gardens?"
The Hyuga estate was quite large. She was only aware of the greenery around the front gates. She wasn't sure if that was what he was talking about.
"Anything west of the private training grounds I haven't seen," she hoped that cleared that up for him. He smiled for her, a charming smile that had her heart swelling in her chest. How did he manage to remain professional, friendly, adorable, and sexy all at the same time? His enthusiasm must have been contagious, which, being on Team Gai she figured she was immune to any and all by now, because she was smiling back at him, probably like a big idiot.
"My father tended to a large garden on the estate that since his passing I have taken up to keeping as a hobby. If you do not have plans this evening, I would love to show it to you."
"I would love to," she said almost breathlessly as he approached her like he had the night before, but this time he only hesitated slightly when he brushed part of her bangs away from her eyes.
Wide-eyed, she stared into the large expanse of the Hyuga eyes that Tenten could only describe as dreamy. He was close enough that she could feel him tug slightly on one of the errant strand of hair on the nape of her neck with tender affection. The action sent a happy shiver down her spine, and tingled every time the tip of his fingers dared touch her skin.
They were soon interrupted with a small boy grasping Tokuma's leg and they had to separate from each other as Tokuma lifted the child on his shoulders. Tenten loved the affection between the young boy and the ruggedly handsome Hyuga. She could tell that Asuma Jr. had spent a good amount of time with Tokuma and was eagerly asking the grey-eyed nin when his next fighting lesson was going to be and if he could see the cool tattoo under his bandana just one more time.
Anko so lovingly ripped the bandana off his head, and Tokuma only gave a half-hearted attempt at a look of reproval. He looked highly unamused, but continued the conversation with the young ninja-to-be as little fingers reached out to gently trace the edges of the ink that marred his forehead and even tried to smooth his hair back down where Anko had ripped it the cloth off.
Somehow Anko ended up with the little tike on her shoulders, both eager to find the boy's father's name on the cenotaph.
They were close enough to see, yet far away that Tenten thought their conversation was private.
"Can you meet me an hour before sunset at the Hyuga gates?" He asked in that almost shy, yet confident way that had Tenten thinking of how wonderful that deep masculine voice sounded whenever he said anything. She remembered nodding yes at some point, still distracted with the appreciative view of Tokuma to form sentences. The way that he held his hands behind his back in nervousness she also considered a cute quirk, one that was born of ridged politeness and trying his best to be a gentleman. He was wholly appealing to her, and she admired the way he warmed up to her again, daring his arms finally at his sides to reach out and take one of her hands, "May I?" he asked before he embraced it with his own, another polite request that seemed almost out of place, yet Tenten found it oddly flattering that he would ask permission before touching her like she was royalty, even though he had fingered her hair only moments before.
She reached out her hand towards him as she nodded again, eager to receive the Hyuga's warm hands in the chilly morning air.
He bowed over holding her hers almost delicately inside his and placed a kiss on its dorsal side, "Until tonight."
Tenten watched the Hyuga walk away and give a farewell greeting to Anko and Asuma Jr. before he departed out of the cemetery.
Tenten smiled, looking forward to visiting the gardens with him that evening.