A/N: Just a Pre-Shippuuden (post-Part One) quickie. For future reference, "Michi" is a female Japanese name meaning "righteous." A thousand thanks to my chou-fantastic (and super-speedy) beta, Lotos-Eater. I hope I made you proud, senpai – Enjoy!
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Mistress
The word 'mistress' had always bothered Neji.
Being from a strict and therefore conservative clan, whenever he had heard that word as a child, it had always been followed by disdainful looks and scornful comments. A mistress was someone without scruples, without morals. A mistress was a person used to satisfy a whim, the purveyor of chaos, and a source of shame for all parties involved.
Indeed, when Neji's aunt, Michi (although that had yet to be determined), was caught sleeping with another woman's husband, the woman had been branded his mistress, and promptly removed to the Hyuuga winter quarters. Neji's family kept another compound in the North, supposedly to increase the security of Ho no Kuni's border. In truth, the Northern compound was simply the location where the family sent unofficially disowned members that, by right of bloodline limit, needed to remain in Fire Country.
So when Konoha dubbed Tenten its "Weapons Mistress," it was much to Neji's chagrin. He could not, in good conscience, agree to that title, however much Tenten herself enjoyed it. Because, by Hyuuga definition, a mistress was feeble, susceptible to the call of the flesh, weak-willed, and most of all – powerless.
And that was NOT how Neji thought of Tenten.
How could he? How could anyone even think of stigmatizing her with such a horrible, unsuitable nickname? Did they not know who she was? Had they not seen her the way he had? Most decidedly not.
Anyone who had seen her the way he had would have noticed the way Tenten controlled a fight, as if its tempo was set strictly to her preference, and heaven help the person who tried to break its rhythm. They would have seen they way her steel did exactly as she wished, following her momentum like a wave follows the shoreline, finding her mark – every time. They would understand the strength used to summon countless weapons from the endless scroll she diligently carried. Or how her kodachi obeyed her, its wake forming an arc around her body in midair, as she whirled to bring it crashing down between the ears of the nearest fool who thought himself worthy of defying her. They would have acknowledged the fact that she summoned dragons who did her bidding and dictated who should live and who should die.
They would have also noticed the way Neji's eyes rolled back into his head when she ran her fingers through his hair, sending chills up his spine and down his legs. They would have seen the way his eyes – and hands – obediently followed the curve of her spine and around her waist, down to her exquisite hips, ending in the dip between her legs, if and only if she wanted them to. Or the way his body answered hers when she pressed against him, awaiting her command. They would have noted how he stayed out of her way during one of her rages, coming into view only when he wanted a quick glimpse of his Valkyrie – and only when she paused long enough to let him look at her. They would have observed the arch in his back when she ran her tongue across his chest and down his quivering stomach, eliciting delicious moans of agony from someone who would have never agonized otherwise.
No, those who had named her did not know Tenten the way Neji did, and so did not understand how inappropriate – how inferior – the nickname "Weapons Mistress" really was.
Mistress? Neji thought. No way. She was his fucking master.
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Author's Note: I'm exercising my "sexy" writing skills. How are they developing?
