Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Tenten's past is based on a good friend's of mine idea.

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it's taken so long to get another update to this story, but thank you so much for your patience and your kind words. They really mean a lot to me. A big reason this chapter came when it did though, is actually thanks to my awesome friend and Beta Rellie. I was having a really hard time getting things to feel right and over thinking things and such and she really helped push and encourage me. So for everyone who enjoys this story, go check out her works as well and send her virtual hugs. She's a wonderful person and has helped me a ton. Now onto the story! :D Please let me know what you think, but most importantly I hope you enjoy the story, for that is why writers write.

X

If there was one thing Shino had learned from the old horror movies he used to watch, it was that teenagers locked in anywhere together for an extended period of time was just asking for trouble. However in all those films he had never seen someone dealing with what he currently was.

"Tenten…I don't think you pour in the rice after you start boiling the water. You're supposed…" he started, looking over from one of the drawers he was currently searching for a can opener.

Tenten huffed, paused mid motion in pouring in the rice as she met his eyes.

"You know I know when we got married you probably expected that I'd become a lot easier to understand, but I still bring with me cooking secrets of the ages. Now let me make dinner while you help and tell me how work was and what your new assignment is." she smiled then dumped in the rice as Shino turned his attention back to the draw, trying to keep the heat and smile from his face.

They had been playing this game for nearly twenty minutes now while they looked for anything they could borrow to eat and it still hit him whenever she talked so casually about being his partner. Maybe it was the fact that he had never played this game before growing up, or perhaps that he had never had any girl want to be more than a cautious friend, let alone this, but it was hard to keep at least a slight grin from his face. Every time he let it slip though, Tenten assumed he had thought of a joke he refused to share and would start threatening to hug him.

"You have a real aversion to those you know? I think I need to tell my dad so he can talk to yours at Christmas when the families get together." she had teased, but there was an underlining threat as well and Shino could only silently plead with his ancestors that Tenten didn't breath a word of it to her father. He doubted the fact they had been alone together at night would be a fact she mentioned, but Shino knew her father had no problem embracing people. Especially ones he thought were unhappy or discouraged in some way.

"I still don't completely understand why you insisted I apply for a position at a…ninja firm." he said raising an eyebrow to himself. The words sounded strange on his tongue. "I would think ninjas would be a bit…outdated nowadays don't you think?"

"Of course not. Being a ninja you get to travel, meet new people, there's always someone who wants a 'message' sent, and you get constant access to amazing weapons! Not to mention, I of course, can come along on any assignment I choose." the way Tenten said everything made Shino wonder if she had ever considered becoming a ninja herself or at least joining the police or military. It would make sense with how much she enjoyed martial arts, and at times seemed to look for a fight but at the same time Shino couldn't see her in those fields. Maybe it was the fact that they all involved physical and mental risks he didn't want her to take, though by now he knew enough to keep that to himself. Still, he hoped whatever path she took it would lead her somewhere safe…and foolish as it was, he hoped it was somewhere he was as well.

"So we can spend more time together?" it was more a statement than a question despite how it was phrased and he was surprised at how his insides seized up slightly. Even if it was in the context of a childish game, it still mattered to him how she responded.

"Well that would be the point! Besides…" she turned to him, suddenly serious and as Shino looked over his shoulder, part of him wondered if something wasn't truly wrong. Had she decided that this game was no longer fun? That it was more work than it was worth to pretend she was attracted to him? " I think it's time we started talking about children."

The words hit Shino like an unexpected blow and he stumbled against the open draw, nearly pulling it out and sending several pieces of silverware and utensils clattering to the floor. Heat shot to his face without control and his mouth went slightly slack before freezing as he tried to regain some sort of control. However slipping on a fallen spoon only made things worse and his legs shot out from under him, landing him hard on the ground and trying not to yelp at the sudden pain in his thigh. Looks like he'd found the can opener.

"Shino!" Tenten's eyes were wide with a mix of shock, amusement and concern as she started to come over to him.

He held up his hand, hoping desperately his brain would start to function again.

"I'm alright. But then why did I fall? There appears to be a wet spot over here where something was spilled." his words came out in a tumble and he could only hope she didn't come over to check.

"You know for a ninja you really need to work on your balance." she laughed, ignoring his attempt to keep her at bay as she came over and grabbed his arm to help him up. He tried to pull away, but there was a definite shake in his legs that her touch only amplified. He felt like an idiot. Here he was supposed to be impressing her and his brain decides to shut down on him. His father would have never have done something like that. But then again, his father's mind probably wouldn't have shut off to stop it from thinking about how children were conceived. He shook his head finally regaining his full balance and pulling away as quickly as possible, positioning himself to keep Tenten from investigating his story further as he scooped up the fallen objects.

"So like I was saying," Tenten started again and Shino felt another dose of heat rush to his face. "What do you think about children? I mean we've been married for three years and if I have to get the 'grandchildren' speech one more time I'm gonna stick my head through a wall."

Shino tried to speak, but found his mouth had tried up almost completely. Swallowing hard, he tried again.

"It is…definitely something to talk about, but…wouldn't that cause trouble for us if we were to both leave on a mission?" he said, resisting the urge to run to the bathroom and douse himself in ice water. Even if it was just a game he wondered if she knew what this was doing to him. It wasn't that he minded the idea of being that close to her. Far from it. But did she know that's where his mind went? That he was struggling to keep this game in perspective?

Tenten folded her arms in mock irritation.

"We could make it work. And it's not like we couldn't get one of our fathers to watch them. They'd love it!"

"Them?"

"Of course! We can't just have one, we'd have to have a few so they could play with each other, and always have a ready alibi and…it's more fun having two." her grin was wicked and there was a slight change in how she stood, cocking her hips slightly. "After all you expressed interest earlier while we were cleaning the closet out."

"That was an accident!" Shino blurted out before he could stop himself. "I didn't mean…" but it wasn't as if the sensation hadn't felt nice. Even if it was interrupted by her shirt, it still felt…

Once again he bit down on his cheek, wincing at the growing sore in his mouth. He really needed to come up with another way to keep his mind from completely disintegrating.

Another huff came from Tenten as she turned on her heel towards the boiling pot of rice on the stove.

"You know Shino, if I didn't know better I'd say you had commitment issues." she tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear, and shot him a dramatized glare. "I mean every time I bring up this subject suddenly you love your job and…"

"It's not that I would not want…" he tried to keep his voice even. Whatever else was happening, he had to remember this was a game. Just a game and if he made anything more out of it, then the remaining time they were stuck in here would be miserable. He could still remember the first girl he'd ever admitted to liking when he was a child. She had been a good friend up till them, but after that wouldn't even talk to him. Even if it happened years ago, it still stung and loomed over him. "It's not that I don't wish to…expand our family. It is simply that you expressed interest in wanting to come with me and once there are children it would make it harder for you."

"So you're being selfish and want me all to yourself?" she raised a teasing eyebrow.

"It appears so." Shino managed a shrug and smirk himself, trying to keep his breathing even. "But after a few missions together it is something we could talk about again." he added.

Tenten grinned and pumped her fist in victory before she started to laugh and shook her head as she adjusted the burner.

"What?"

"Just thinking is all. You know I haven't played this game in so long I forgot how much fun it could be." her grin seemed to grow brighter and the way it played in her eyes made it hard to look away.

"Well…you're very good at it. And it is more enjoyable than I thought it would be." Shino admitted, grabbing one of the cans of vegetables they had found and the can opener as he came closer to her. There were several other things in the fridge and cabinets they would have rather had, but neither felt right about taking much more than the bare minimum they needed.

"I still can't believe you never played it before. If I had you known as a kid I would have dragged you along with Neji and Lee and made you play to."

As soon as the Hyuuga's name was mentioned, Shino felt his focus sharpen and something dark twisted in his gut as the can open bit into the metal top. Stupid as it was, he wished the Hyuuga wouldn't be mentioned now. This was their time together and the last thing he needed was competition from someone who wasn't even there.

"Were you going to drag them to the party tonight as well?" the question came before he could stop it, but after everything so far it didn't sound as invasive as it would have earlier.

Tenten wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"You mean the one at Ino's? No. Lee and Neji were planning on going, but I wasn't. I like going out and being with people, but parties like that one was bound to turn into aren't my thing, you know?"

Shino gave her a blank look.

"You know the kind where suddenly everyone is pairing off and the music and food and dancing is just for show? If you're going with someone it's not much of a problem, but…" she shrugged. "I haven't been in that situation since last year and I'd rather avoid a repeat of what that was like."

For a brief moment the fun and games were put on pause as a slightly serious note tinted the mood, and Shino cocked his head a bit looking over at her. There was no sadness on her face. Not even regret. But there were memories there. Things on the surface she didn't bother hiding anymore. He considered nodding and letting it drop. After all if she didn't want to talk anymore about it on his own then who was he to pry? They had really just started talking today after all and what had happened was personal.

But he couldn't stop himself.

"If I may ask…what did happen?"

Several tense seconds passed as Tenten stirred the rice, scraping the spoon up and down on the inside of the pot and seemed lost in thought. Before Shino could say anything though, she spoke.

"Last year was when Neji and I started dating." she started, and Shino was grateful his glasses hid his forming glare. "It was fun at first. We had been friends for so long that that kind of progression just seemed natural. We were always together anyway along with Lee, but Lee was always like our little brother. Eventually…we thought maybe there was more and when I was six I had had a crush on him to." she laughed, but it was different than how she'd sounded before. "So we started seeing each other and…it was good for awhile. But then things started to change. The more we were together as more than friends, the more we started to realize just how different we were. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to date a carbon copy of myself, but it just seemed like we started to disagree more and more. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit stubborn and Neji is no better. So compromise was…lacking you could say." she rolled her eyes.

Shino nodded, unsure whether to say something or simply let her continue when she was ready. Before he could decide, she continued.

"So there was that along with the general awkwardness that never quite left, and it changed everything. Whenever we all hung out together we could tell Lee began to feel more and more like a third wheel. He was never sure when we were on a date or when we were just all friends and it wore on him. He didn't want to be the reason we couldn't have time alone together so for awhile we started to see less and less of him. Neither of us liked that." this time there was pain in her tone, but it wasn't for herself. The way she spoke about Lee, it sounded more like she knew how he was feeling more than anything else. Replaced. Rejected. Unsure of where he belonged after that.

He hardly knew Lee at all, but from what Shino had seen he had no trouble believing Lee would have done that. He didn't seem like the kind to put his feelings above others, even if it hurt him. In a way, he reminded Shino of Hinata and how she would react whenever Naruto put more emphasis on impressing Sakura than even acknowledging her. She'd bear it, but it still hurt.

"Didn't he feel responsible though when things ended between you two?" Shino asked.

Tenten nodded.

"He did for a bit, but there were other reasons to. Mostly it was just…the initial spark we felt died out, you know? I think we were mistaking a great friendship for something else and it seemed like everyone expected us to hook up to. We were always together and Neji was…well Neji, so of course I should be attracted to that and want nothing more than to be with him." she snorted, making Shino wonder how many times she'd been hassled about the issue. "But once we were together it seemed like most of the girls were even more interested in what we were doing."

A bit of guilt twisted in Shino's gut. It seemed like in high school everyone wanted the person they couldn't have. Either because of someone else, status or simply lack of acknowledgment by the other and even he wasn't immune. Still the guilt he felt was far outweighed by the fact that from how Tenten was talking, it seemed as if any connection between her and the Hyuuga in that way was severed.

"Then they engaged in a bit of sabotage?" he managed to keep his tone from betraying the bit of gratefulness he felt.

"They tried that's for sure. Everywhere we went at least one of them showed up. They were always trying to hang on Neji in front of me and it was a nightmare at school. I've never had that many people notice how my uniform didn't look right or hung wrong, or 'is that a scar'?" Tenten put her hand to her face, doing a high pitched voice impression before sticking her tongue with another eye roll.

"Why didn't they listen when Neji told them he wasn't interested though?" Shino fished, asking two questions in one.

"Because he didn't." Tenten sighed and Shino's hand froze mid turn. Part of him had been hoping for that answer to prove how little Neji cared for her feelings, but at the same time he hated hearing it. He hated hearing that someone hadn't stuck up for her, and forced her to be in that position. He hated hearing that Tenten had needed someone to be there for her, and the person she was counting on had let her down.

Tenten added a bit of salt to the rice with an angry movement, before pulling the pot off the burner a bit to get the boiling down.

"Of course it's not like whatever those girls were hoping for it was going to happen. Neji wasn't about to pull some stupid stunt like cheating on me with them, probably because he knows I'd have snapped him like a twig." she muttered the last bit. "But he didn't understand why I was getting upset either. He took it as me not trusting him and letting little things get to me. They were being fools and I was only feeding them by reacting. So he just brushed them off and ignored them, but…" Tenten shook her head. "He didn't understand what it felt like from my position. Suddenly I was the target of everything, he wasn't helping and…we just drifted apart."

Shino wanted to say something, but managed to keep it himself by literally biting his tongue. The words were burning to get out though. To accuse Neji of being the fool who didn't know what he had, and a burning anger started to swell in his chest. How could Neji not have said anything? How could he have let that happen? Was it that he just didn't care or was he to wrapped up in himself to really notice? Maybe he liked the attention. Maybe he liked the fact he could get whoever he wanted and wanted to rub Tenten's face in it. He had seen it before, especially with those like Neji who had the world at their fingertips. They loved flaunting it over people.

"Eventually…we just decided being friends was easier. It was a pretty mutual decision so I wouldn't even say one of us broke up with the other one. It just ended." she shrugged. "And sometimes I wonder if everyone hadn't expected us to be together in the first place if we would have been together at all."

"And now?" he prodded gently, finally getting the can to open.

"Things are better. We didn't see each other for awhile after that and it was hard when we did, but things smoothed out eventually. Plus Lee did all he could to try and help to." she laughed, this time loud and long and it reached her eyes. "I can't even count the number of times he forced me and Neji into a group hug at random. There are still moments when things feel weird, but we're friends…just gotta roll with it."

"You're handling what happened far better than most girls would in your situation." Shino finally said, and Tenten's slight smile encouraged him on. Maybe Tenten was somewhat blind to the others sin's, but after hearing this he wasn't, and his tongue slipped. "After all it did seem truly cruel that he didn't say anything in your defense. Why? Because he should have been more honorable about it, and it amazes me you're still friends with him even after he pushed you away like that."

He expected her to agree with him. To confess that they were more friends out of habit now than anything else and it was mostly for Lee's sake. Instead he could almost feel how the mood in the room changed as she looked over at him, a glare on her face that could freeze fire. Shino swallowed hard.

"No, Shino. He didn't push me away." her voice was more of a bite and he resisted the urge to take a step back. "Neji didn't do anything wrong. Neither of us did. We went out for awhile, things happened and we realized it wasn't working like we thought it would, but it'd be stupid to end a ten year friendship over something like that. Sure it was awkward at times and I told you there are still moments when it is, but we get through it. That's what friends do." she nearly jerked the pot off the stove with how hard she had begun stirring. "And the next time you decide to talk about Neji, keep that in mind."

For a moment it felt like he had been slapped and Shino wasn't sure what to say. He'd picked up on enough of what people said about the Hyuuga, how he acted cold and above others, that he was ready for almost everything Tenten had said and more. Stories of how Neji had hurt her, was controlling, never made time for her, or worse. At first what he heard confirmed his suspicions, only for Tenten to completely pull the rug out from under them again. He felt like an idiot. Tenten had just given him a measure of trust and he'd twisted it so that it fit into what he wanted it to be based on rumors.

Looking at it logically it was high school. There were rumors about everyone, but that didn't make them true. For all the rumors he'd heard about the older boy and how he could be perceived, Shino knew there were those that thought he was just as cold. Just as strange and to 'high and mighty' to be bothered with. They weren't right, so why did he just assume any rumors or assumptions about Neji would be?

Deep down, Shino knew exactly why. They were true because he wanted them to be. He wanted Neji to be the villain of the story while he was the hero and cut off any competition or old ties he might offer. Shino wanted to forget he even had a connection to Tenten at all. That couldn't be done though. Because whatever he wished, whatever his own insecurities screamed, that wasn't fair.

Neji had been Tenten's friend long before he had even spoken to her, and it wasn't right that he try and paint it otherwise. Especially since right now all he and Tenten seemed to be were potential friends…and even that was teetering on the edge because of his big mouth.

"I…apologize. I didn't mean to offend you…" he started, his eyes focused solely on his work that had ceased as he tensed and waited for her to lay into him again.

"Forget it." Tenten dismissed with an irritated hand wave, her overall body language still telling him he was in trouble. "Whatever problems we've had, he's still my friend and I won't put up with anyone trying to make him into something he's not."

He nodded almost to himself, finally moving and pouring the vegetables into one of the bowls they had found. Great. He'd really blown it.

"Of course I guess that means now I'll have to start threatening people when they call you creepy." a slight smirk pulled at Tenten's face that she seemed to have given up restraining.

Shino's eyes widened and a flush of color touched his cheeks as he looked at her and tried to process that simple sentence. According to what she'd just said before that…that must mean that she didn't think he was creepy. She thought he was the opposite of creepy. Alright maybe it didn't go that far, but still. And it had to mean they were friends. That even if she was angry with him, she didn't hate him.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked away trying to pull his grin back.

"Nothing. Just…suddenly thought about what a classmate of mine would give for this opportunity of being in the school at night. It would be chaos before morning was halfway here."

"You're talking about Kiba right?" Tenten's laugh broke the remaining tension and Shino raised an eyebrow himself. "Last semester we had a co-ed game of dodge ball in gym. He was on my team, and did more harm than good. But it was pretty entertaining when he and Naruto got into it and sensei cracked them both over the head with his clipboard. Good times."

So that's why Kiba had been so excited about that day and wanted to tell him about it. He'd gotten to play on Tenten's team. He thought his friend just wanted to talk about how he'd almost snuck into the girl's locker rooms or how he was absolutely undefeatable and all the carnage he'd caused. That had been one of the few days of school Shino ever missed due to an accident with one of his experiments. One of his gloves had had a hole in it when he was handling a rather dangerous beetle and while at first the contact had gone unnoticed, the next morning he was wheezing, delirious and his hand had swollen to twice it's normal size. That was the one time Kurenai-sensei gave an extension on homework without a doctors note, since she could see the swelling when he did return and he couldn't even grip a pencil with his fingernails.

If he had known he could have been in the gym at the same time as Tenten though and maybe playing on her team, he would have crawled here. Or at least wrung all the details out of Kiba and put the fear of the school's founder into him on the off chance he tried anything.

The heat on his cheeks grew more intense as he tried to keep himself from thinking about that day and how she may have looked in her gym uniform. The tight shirt clinging to her body, her small shorts hugging her hips and…

"Shino…"

"I wasn't!" his eyes were wide as he looked at her and Tenten tilted her head.

"I was just going to ask you to hand me the lid…nice to know you weren't though."

Was there a comfortable place he could crawl into and die now?

He handed her the lid that she slid onto the rice and noticed her face screw up.

"You know I just started to think about what everyone's going to say once they find out we spent the weekend together."

"Probably nothing. It's not as if either of us will advertise it."

"It'll be pretty hard to hide it though. I'm never here before first bell and we'll be wearing the same clothes as today." she said.

Part of Shino wanted to be offended at what she was saying. That spending two nights with him would be something to be ashamed of…but he knew that wasn't true. The part that wasn't attached to his ego knew what rumors she was afraid of. For all of her nonchalance and seeming not to care what others thought, what they might say could still hurt. If they thought they were together in anyway besides a completely platonic sense, she would be demonized as an 'easy mark' and he would be glorified. He knew it. He had seen it happen before.

But that was one thing he would make sure didn't happen to her.

"They probably have spare uniforms stored somewhere, it wouldn't be hard to get one. And no one would have a hard time believing that I stayed so long I got myself locked in. They don't have to know you were ever here."

Unless of course their parents had called everyone in the city asking where they were; then it could be harder to cover their tracks. He inwardly groaned as he moved to put the bowl in the microwave. That's probably what their parents would do to. He didn't even want to think about how his father would react when he finally got home.

Tenten nodded, but there was still a bit of worry on her face. It soon smoothed though and she shrugged.

"We'll figure something out. And hey, as long as nothing else gets broken, we shouldn't get into that much trouble."

Shino opened his mouth to say something, his hand paused over the microwave buttons when there was a loud crash outside that reached kitchen and both their eyes went wide.

"What was that?" Tenten asked as they shot towards the door and peered out the small window. Neither was sure what they expected to find, but several images from horror movies reared their heads as they looked.

All they saw though was a dark empty hallway…then Shino's eyes narrowed as he caught the flicker of something.

"Wait here…" he said pushing the door open softly.

"Yeah right! If you saw something, I'm going with you." Tenten grabbed his arm, pulling him back in as she slid open one of the drawers they'd pried open and pulled out several knives and skewers. She handed a butter and steak knife to Shino, while she held the skewers like firing needles between her fingers and a carving knife.

Shino could feel his face deadpan.

"Te…"

"I know what I'm doing."

Every fiber in Shino's body doubted that, but he forced back a sigh and headed back towards the door. Though he wished she had given him one of the skewers instead of the idiotic butter knife.

Nudging their way out into the hall, they looked left and right, then right and left, and headed further into the darkness. As soon as they were completely out of the doorframe, they were back to back. Slowly turning, they made their way towards where the sound seemed to come from.

'What are you doing? You're acting like a scared little ladybug!' Shino growled at himself as they moved, and the further he went, the more he felt like kicking himself. Kiba had always loved horror movies and dragged him to them as much as he could. When he was little and had a crush on Kiba's older sister, Hana, he would watch anything as long as she was there. Looking back, they were all completely idiotic, pathetic, and the absolute perfect way to kill brain cells. And he felt exactly like one of the teenagers in the movies that he now silently hoped would die so their whining would cease.

Something had fallen over. That was it. However they tried to dress it up, this school was still over a hundred years old. Things fell. Floors cracked. Roofs leaked, and just today an entire set of lockers at fallen away from the wall, even if there had been something odd about it, it couldn't be anything more than general wear.

There was no need for them to be walking around with…

"There!" Tenten roared and before Shino could blink she had launched the skewers at a shadow and jumped forward, the carving knife held high and catching a faint glint of light from outside.

Shino was right behind her. Adjusting the butter knife so he could use it more like a dissecting blade as he raised the other in front of him as they turned the corner…

And saw a very terrified looking family of rodents huddling near the wall.

"Rats." Shino stated, straightening up.

Tenten's face went slightly red as a sheepish grin crossed her face.

"Well…at least my aim's good."

"And that you missed by a few inches. Otherwise…"

Tenten nodded. That was a mess neither of them wanted to envision, much less clean up.

"Let's get back. There isn't a need to…Tenten?"

She was staring at the family and then slowly moved to pick up the skewers.

"Are you alright?" bugs might not scare her, but maybe rats did.

"I'm fine. Something just…whatever that crash was, I don't think it was the rats. It sounded farther away and…I mean look at them! They're hardly bigger than your hand…"

"But even a fly too many can break a weak spider web. They must have run into something that was already breaking down and then run away." as soon as the words left his mouth, he wasn't sure what sounded more insane. The idea that what he was saying could be true, or that someone or something was in here with them. His mind kept going back to the lockers upstairs and as much as he wanted to attribute their breaking to termites, and rationalize it, he couldn't forget the marks.

"Well lets just hope these really are flies and not spiders in disguise." Tenten said almost to herself as she held the skewers in a clump like a stake and gripped the knife hilt tightly.

Shino nodded, surprised at the analogy she'd made from his, as well as half worried about what she was thinking and half irritated about the chill that was running up his back.

'She's just being paranoid. Don't let her get to you.' he thought.

"Do you want to see if we can find the source of the crash?" he asked.

Tenten bit her lip looking further down the hall, then finally shook her head.

"It's probably just something else like with the lockers. We can investigate later, but I left the burner on. We should probably head back." she said, but she moved slowly as if expecting an attack before turning and walking at an even pace with Shino.

Neither said anything else as they headed back to the kitchen, and their footsteps echoed softly off the peeling walls and the linoleum floor as they walked. Something wasn't right. Something Shino didn't understand, and something that made his heart pound. He wasn't sure if he was just letting the adrenaline get to him, or if the fear of being somewhere he wasn't supposed to be and the consequences were starting to loom over him…or if it was something else. If it was something worse.

He shook his head as his gut twisted. Whatever he was feeling was nothing more than excess hormones and fight or flight instincts.

Several minutes later, he was breathing calmer as he focused on how impossible the situation was, and who he was with. As soon as they approached the kitchen door however, there was a strong odor and once they entered the kitchen, all his survival instincts came flooding back.

"GET DOWN!" Shino grabbed onto the back of Tenten's shirt, jerking her to the floor as the rice pot rattled and the lid shot off, crashing into the light up ahead as he brought his arms up to try and shield her from the glass only to find she was trying to help him as well.

"Under here!" she grabbed onto his shirt and tried scooting backwards towards a moveable counter top that when up acted as a small alcove.

Glass rained down on them. Lights flickered. The hissing of steam could be heard as the water boiled over and looking at the pot, Shino felt his jaw drop.

"How high did you have it?"

"I left it just as high as I did when I first started making it."

"You're supposed to boil it then let it go to a simmer." he hissed. "That's why you put the rice and water in together."

"Well forgive me Oh Rice Master, I didn't know!" Tenten snapped.

"It's common sense."

"It wasn't on the directions."

"But you didn't read the directions. You…" his lecture was cut off as clumps of white along with water spilled over the sides and hit the side of the stove with a sizzling sickening sound.

"Let me guess, you used the entire bag didn't you?"

"Rice is little!" Tenten growled. "I didn't know it'd make this much!"

More clumps of slushy rice rose over the side, sliding underneath the pot, down into the burner, and a minute later, just like in chemistry, flames burst into existence.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Someone should just stop letting these two near anything with potential to cause a fire. But hey, it's fun for us! I hope you guys like it. Please let me know what you think, and rest assured the next chapter will be up very, very soon. It's is pretty much totally written and I just have to go over a few things.

Have a great day

Be blessed

your friend

innocent-rebel