8: Kisses

Neji remembers, somewhere lost in memories of business parties and partners, his first encounter of the Shiranui kind, how alcohol affects the human mind, and pick-up lines. It is Genma, eldest son and heir of his family's toothpick fortune – there is one in his mouth at all times – who is drunk when he pecks family doctor Shizune on the cheek and asks her whether it hurt when she fell from heaven. Her answer is, in his and everyone else's opinion, a rather violent one (though you couldn't blame her, for she was intoxicated as well); Neji witnesses a drop-kick executed perfectly on the groin at the tender age of six. When Hizashi, back then still alive, ambles over to ask what the matter was, his son's response is a firm one.

"Father, I shall never marry."

"Why ever not, Neji?"

He points at the writhing form of Shiranui Genma on the floor.

Of course, that is more than a decade ago, back then Tenten's lithe, slim body wasn't slinking down towards him; Neji finds it hard to breathe, let alone think about petty things like toothpick man and his agonies. She sits beside him, folding her wings and opening her bow lips, perfect for kisses. Her eyes are so beautiful, her voice so captivating, an angel……

"And so the orphanage sent me here – "

Why has she stopped? The angel has stopped singing, and Neji franticly wipes a dribble of saliva threatening to trickle out his mouth. Tenten continues, no less impassioned.

"Because they thought I was going to kill myself! Stupid of what? My babies would never hurt me!"

She strokes her newly carved wooden kunai-knife, caressing it as a mother would with a child; Neji looks away, almost turning his back to her as he tries to regain whatever dignity he has left. How can she do this to him? They have only met twice after all! He barely knows her name! A little voice in his head says otherwise: she does this because she fascinates you, like she did before; she is your most loyal companion and she follows you always; she is called Tenten, double heaven, a perfect angel. Neji shakes his head a few times to clear unwanted thoughts.

The new kid is shaking his head. What in the world? Acting like a dog is Kiba forte, and cannot be easily imitated. Tenten, as she herself knows, may not understand much about boys, but Hyuga Neji completely confuses her. First he drools at me, and then acts like a sissy stuck up pansy ass just 'cause he can? Jerk. Hearing Inuzuka animatedly describing his 'best friend' Akamaru always makes her smile though, the dog might be imaginary, but Kiba makes it sound like it's actually in the room; Tenten actually growls when she sees Neji discard the idea with a wave of the hand and an arrogant sneer. Acting like he's better than everyone doesn't put him one her friends list and she wonders how the seven hells Sakura and Ino could have ever thought they would make a good match. She is suddenly greeted with a white gaze; how were his eyes white in the first place? Was that even possible?

"They tell me we are partners. Your company will be – "

He stops for a second, thinking of what to say.

"Extremely beneficial to a speedy mental recovery."

Gai and Lee. There is no surprise the poor boy is half-mad already. She understands better than anyone, having being stuck the greenies (her personal, private nicknames for them, though there are stories of a new kid who called Gai a plant to his face before, resulting in tears and cardboard sunset scenes) ever since her first day.

"Your eyes. Why are they white?"

The second the sentence escapes, her hands fly to her mouth; Neji can see she regrets asking. His answer is automatic and ritualistic. This isn't the first time he's been asked, and he is used to it.

"Hereditary. Somewhere along the line of our clan's history we acquired these eyes for special fighting purposes, though the secrets of this technique are all but lost to us now."

"Fighting?"

Her voice lilts at the end like a question, though he can hear traces of sarcasm in the word. She seems interested enough for Neji explain further.

"The Hyuga was once a revered shinobi clan. Our doujutsu, named Byukugan in the ancient scrolls, was famous country-wide."

There's a look in Tenten's eyes that he just can't seem to place.

"Oh, my youthful students!"

The spandex wearer's voice surpasses any other sound in the room, although that is be expected by his protégé and unwilling patients. Having entered the small room with a very – in his own words – 'dynamic' method, Neji sports a bleeding nose and a shoe-mark around his eye as Gai places the DVD into the player. The screen buzzes to life in a flash of light.

"My poor students, I am sure you are deprived of love in this place, and I will not tolerate seeing little children suffer!"

Gai shrieks the word 'love' louder than usual, and Lee jumps into his arms as both of weep of the 'cruelty of this world! – Oh the cruelty!' Tenten and Neji can only stare as a picture of a couple kissing appears on the television.

"Enjoy the movie!"

"What the –?"

A handsome man sticking his tongue down a voluptuous woman's throat is all the sight enough to silence them.

"Your qualifications are?"

Tsunade faces the new nurses in front of her, both pretty young things, one with short black hair and another's a strange shade of violet. Those eyes. I've seen them somewhere. White like falling snow, they are. And her name is familiar too. She takes a huge gulp of sake as one stutters out a reason.

"I-I j-just w-want to be w-with my n-n-nii-san……"

Ahh, so that is where the resemblance is from. The head doctor nods in approval.

"I'll try you out first. And you?"

The brunette is definitely older, and seems to have experience in medicine: 8 years in medical school and 3 years as family doctor to the Shiranui Household. She had resigned barely a month ago. Why? Had something gone wrong?

"Fired?" That must have the reason the she left.

"Oh no!"

The girl blushes and removes a picture of a strange picture of a man with a toothpick in his mouth. Gingerly, she places it on the table, shying herself away from a prying potential employer.

"The heir just proposed, and I just accepted."