I present another scene in the series that's rated M for sexual situations.. Readers, kindly exercise discretion.

It feels as if this storyline thing (or lack thereof) is starting to drag along.. Been reading a bunch of excellent fics by excellent writers, and these pale in comparison. Sorry about that. :P I do not have the time, commitment, or ideas for a multi-chaptered fic though. :(

As usual, Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.


Leap of Faith

"These are delicious!" It was a pork dumpling that Tenten munched on this time, as they wove through the evening crowd back to her apartment. "Thank you again, Neji."

He shrugged, as he was wont to do, preferring silence to the redundancy of conversation. One of the best things about Tenten was that she hardly required him to talk. Instead, he watched her from the corner of his gaze, tracing the curves of her rosy cheeks and the slope of her nose. And that mouth - Tenten's mouth - was luscious. Had he really kissed her last night? Touched her in the most intimate of places?

She had felt exquisite beneath his fingers, silky, wet... Heat unfurled within him as the memory flitted across his fingers. Stiff flesh, that sent her arching against him when he touched it, her mouth hot against his. Neji curled his fists, nails biting into his skin. He had to stop revisiting those moments, at least in her presence. They'd haunted him to no end through their journey back to Konoha.

"I can't believe Gai-sensei ran off. The nerve of that scoundrel!" She angled a furious stare at him, jabbing her bamboo skewer pointedly. "I was just going to forgive him after we spent the whole day chasing him down, and he had the nerve to remind us about p-pr-protection?"

A smile quirked his lips when Tenten sputtered, realizing that she'd ranted out loud. Crimson flooded her face. A string of ungainly curses flew from her mouth. Neji lengthened his stride when she increased her pace, eager to place distance between herself and the staring civilians. A sudden thought crossed his mind. "Was it worthy of the lectures?" he murmured quietly.

"I-" Tenten sent him a quick look, the color on her cheeks turning a vivid red. Suddenly, her gaze was on everything but him. "Um, yes," she mumbled, before her tone sharpened defensively. "What's it to you, anyway?"

"Everything." Neji smirked, a stab of masculine pride roaring within his chest. It was easier coming to terms with his emotions now that she knew, and he couldn't help hoping for just another scent of her skin, another taste of her lips.

Quiet descended over them, only lifting when they reached her apartment door. Tenten fished for her keys. "Would you, um, like to come in for a while?"

He nodded, watching as she unlocked the door and deactivated the traps behind it. A whisper of anticipation slipped into his veins. All he was going to do was just kiss her and go home. Really. The clan was expecting him to be present for dinner.

Tenten closed the door behind them after they'd entered, gesturing towards the couch. "Um, make yourself comfortable," she mumbled, her gaze landing on, and skittering away from him. "I'll-I'll go make some tea."

He spared the tidy furniture a glance, catching her wrist before she fled the room. "Tenten."

"Neji?" she whispered breathlessly, turning to look at him. He took a step closer, eliminating the space between them. The rise and fall of her chest was quick, but slight, divulging her nervousness. "What-"

Her lips were every bit as tender as he remembered. Tenten stiffened at first, unresponsive, until he persuaded her to relax with his mouth, sliding over her lips and awkwardly cradling her face. With a soft moan, she opened her mouth to his, touching his tongue with hers. He tasted pork dumpling and Tenten, and dipped further into her mouth. It filled him with hunger, the way her body pressed into his, the way her tongue made love with him, suggesting endless possibilities that they spend nights exploring. The light clatter of her dumpling skewer hitting the floor sounded far away in the background.

He drew away from her when she began pulling his hips closer, her fingers pressing indents in his rear. "Tenten."

"Hmm?" She stared at him, her gaze hazy with lust, a sheen of moisture on her lips. Neji repeated her name, resisting the urge to sample them again. It took seconds for her to regain her senses, upon which her eyes widened with shock. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Why are you nervous?" He frowned, watching her. "Is something the matter?"

Tenten blinked, parting her lips, but no words fell from them. She swallowed, looked around the room, then back at him. Heaved a sigh. "I guess I'm just not used to this. I- Last night was- I've been distracted the whole day, Neji. It's as if I'm losing control around you. Maybe this is all happening too quickly."

She waved her hand at the air around them. He knew what she meant, knew she liked being in control of herself, and the multitude of weapons she wielded. The urges to recreate what they'd experienced last night had eaten at him the entire day, and he'd discovered his loss of focus on more than one occasion.

"You're not the only one losing control," he muttered, licking his lips. Her gaze fell, noticeably, to his mouth. If she knew how hard that kiss had made him-

"I don't know about this," she confessed on an exhalation, pulling away and dropping heavily on the couch. Her fingers flew over the straps binding her scrolls to her person, releasing her of their weight. She placed them on the table. Neji joined her, sitting close enough that their arms barely touched. When she looked at him again, there was a hint of vulnerability in her brown eyes. "Are we moving forward too soon?"

His eyebrows lifted. Where had she got that notion from? "Do you believe in such a thing?" Gingerly, Neji took her hand. Her calloused fingers closed around his. "Shinobi like us are not promised forever."

Tenten blinked. She stared at him, quiet for a long moment. Neji was content to wait. After all, they'd waited for years - what were a few minutes or days compared to that?

At length, Tenten exhaled deeply, her troubled gaze clearing. "You're right, Neji. I've waited for you for forever."

He was surprised when she grinned suddenly, squeezing his hand.

"So... Like you said, we can only move on. You never told me if you enjoyed last night," Tenten began mischievously. She leaned into him, her arm warm against his. He blinked at the sudden proximity of their faces. "Or if you liked what you felt. I wonder what you taste like, Neji."

"You don't mean..." he trailed off, unable to complete the rest of his utterance. But he was painfully aware of her insinuation, and his mind was flung into the gutter for it. His cheeks burned, at the same time blood pooled in his loins. Neji could well imagine her tongue stroking along him, leaving a coat of wetness-

"I do mean it," she murmured, pressing closer to seal the distance between their mouths.

It was as if a fire had flared to life when they met; her lips parted immediately against his, inviting his tongue to dance with hers in the wet heat of her mouth. He acquiesced, sliding heavily against her flesh, wondering if the silken heat between her legs would taste any different. Tenten's hands had gone straight to his clothes, skimming across his chest, then down between his legs.

He groaned into her mouth at her touch, angling his body towards her, spreading his thighs to allow her better access. She gripped him through his clothes, whispered his name when her mouth slid free of his. Pleasure fluttered in his groin. He pressed kisses along her jaw and down her throat, reaching into her shirt. The chest bindings seemed to be endless; he growled and struggled with them blindly, until she released him to unravel the bandages.

Tenten's breasts, he decided, were most beautiful when free of their trappings. He pressed her down onto the couch, gathering her shirt upwards to expose those full mounds, keenly aware of her gaze on him. "Beautiful," he murmured, tracing their undersides with the backs of his fingers, before caressing her pink nipples with his thumbs, and taking one dusky crest into his mouth. She gasped his name, arched when he flicked a tongue against her nipple, his blood coursing at the way it hardened in reaction. Tenten wove fingers into his hair, quivered, pushed her breasts into his face. They were so soft, and impeccably smooth. He pulled her deeper into his mouth; she cried out, clutched at his head.

The pressure at his loins increased at the thought that he was bringing her such pleasure. Neji turned his attention to her other breast, sampling it like he did the other, tugging on it gently, until Tenten's breathing turned uneven, and she pushed lightly on him, guiding him further down. Neji swallowed, trailed his lips down her midriff and belly, pausing at her hips, where she was already unfastening her trousers, her body writhing. "Please, Neji," she gasped, staring beseechingly at him, strands of chocolate hair coming loose from her buns.

Tenten kicked her slippers off. He needed no further instruction, easing both her pants and underwear off and tossing them to a side. Burgundy had fanned across her cheeks; nevertheless, she parted her legs, watching him expectantly. He lowered his gaze to her swollen nether lips, to the dark thatch of hair, and the engorged flesh that begged for his touch. Wetness gleamed along her folds. His erection throbbed.

Slowly, as if she would be scared off if he moved any quicker, he placed his hands on her inner thighs, and lowered his head to her groin, tentatively licking at her quivering flesh. His name tore from her throat, high and wavering. Her scent carried musky notes, and that was nearly his undoing. His body tautened. Neji took her clit into his mouth, licking it like he'd heard about. She cried out, tremors rippling through her frame. Her chest heaved; she watched him with half-shuttered eyes, breathing raggedly through parted lips. Unable to help himself, Neji brought his hand down and teased her opening, wetness catching on his fingertips. She was so wet, and he wanted to be in her, to feel her lips part around his length just as they were around his index finger, slick and hot. His manhood hummed with sheer need.

Neji sucked on her swollen flesh just as she tensed around him and his finger curled in her, and a scream ripped from her throat. Tenten clenched around him hard, her back lifting clean off the couch, her thighs quaking on either side of his face.

He stifled a groan, reaching down to touch his shaft through his clothes, desperately needing release. Pleasuring Tenten and watching her climax on his finger had made him painfully hard, and his boxers uncomfortably wet. Moisture gleamed on his finger when he withdrew from her. Unthinking, he brought it to his lips, tasting the wetness from her very core. She was delicious, musky; he licked his finger clean.

It was a minute before Tenten had recovered enough to prop herself up on her elbow, and she spotted his sifting fingers just as it occurred to him to stop. Neji had the decency to blush, then she was upon him, a grin spreading across her lips. He throbbed with anticipation, allowed her to push his hand away.

Tenten found his source of discomfort easily, stroking along his length once, her touch tantalizing. He moaned, thrust into her hand. Her lips quirked; she reached up and grabbed the tops of his pants and boxers, divesting him of them as he'd done her. He lifted his hips to aid her efforts, though his erection caught on the hem of his boxers, earning him another grin. "Trying to stop me, Neji?"

He glared at her (it was difficult to in his state of arousal), but remained silent until his garments were on the floor, and his length strained between them, betraying his need.

Tenten's gaze dropped to him, and she exhaled with a shaky breath, flicking her tongue over her lower lip. If she licked him right there- Neji bit another groan down, but she caught the action anyway, smiling at him. With all the patience in the world, Tenten closed her fingers around the base of his shaft, stroking him steadily like he'd taught her. Pleasure feathered through his flesh. A moan tore from his lips. Her grip was heaven- then her breath fell on his heated skin, and he had a moment to anticipate what was coming.

Her mouth closed around him, hot and wet, and a growl burst from his throat. It was insane, the sensations her mouth wreaked upon him, and he thrust up at her, needing more, so much more.

With a low chuckle, her lips wrapped around his tip (and she looked gorgeous doing so), Tenten began sliding him deeper into his mouth, surrounding him with silken heat that had him yielding more moisture to her. Her tongue danced against his skin; she began to suck, as if pulling his very essence from him, and he knew he was gone, her name grating past his lips, at the same time pleasure exploded in his body. The intensity of his climax darkened his vision, made his ears ring.

Vaguely, he was aware of himself spilling into her mouth, though he regained his senses just as Tenten wiped her lips daintily with a paper towel, tossing it into a bin with the same accuracy she had with her weapons.

"Now, you can't say you didn't enjoy that." She grinned at him, glancing pointedly down at his crotch. Neji flushed.

Slowly, he got to his feet, looking regretfully at the clock on the wall. "I have to leave. The clan is expecting me to be present at dinner today."

Tenten smiled and shrugged, picking his clothes off the couch. He took them from her outstretched hand with a murmur of thanks, dressing himself. Together, they made their way to the door, though not before Tenten exclaimed softly and grabbed something off a shelf. She pressed it into his hand.

Neji glanced down at the tome. Icha Icha Paradise. The adult book Kakashi was always reading? He looked back at her in question, meeting her grin. "I think you'll enjoy it," Tenten murmured. "Like I did."

"Oh?" He raised his brow, leaving the conversation at that to brush a lingering kiss across her lips. "Training as usual tomorrow. I'll meet you at the grounds."

"Right. See you then, Neji." Tenten grinned, and he smiled, wondering just how much their lives were going to change from now on.