Here's a long awaited chapter. I worked on this for a good amount of time this week. So it better be awesome!

It's probably known by now, but I usually update once a month. :)

AN: I only own the plot line and Watson :)

"Be safe," Watson warned. "Remember to eat your vitamins. Don't answer questions that you don't know the answers to. The fans come first. You only ever come first when they become overly obsessive to the point of nauseating closeness. Tenten-san: please take care of him and tone down his harshness in interviews. You know how he is. And on that note, thank you for offering to be our translator—now we can put those saved funds towards something else…Neji-san, please stop looking so displeased."

"I'm not displeased," he grumbled, but he was. Sakura wasn't coming with them, and he was stuck with Tenten for three days. After that photo shoot fiasco with Sasuke, he had reverted to his unfriendly nature.

It wasn't that he was trying to be unfriendly; it was just that he was unsure of everything now. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased when he saw their interaction at the shoot—how had Sasuke gotten away with that under his nose? Now, what bothered him even more was the fact that other men were taking notice of his manager.

And that he was noticing other men noticing Tenten.

It was all very complicated.

"Are you staring off into space again? If you are, stop it, we have no time," Tenten said hurriedly, checking her watch. Their bags were packed, and it looked like they were running a minute late. Neji rolled his eyes. The horror.

He shouldered the 2 heavier suitcases, leaving the tiny bag for her to carry. She raised an eyebrow. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm not completely weak."

"You're a girl. I was just taking that into consideration. And people in the airport will be shooting my dirty looks if they see you with the heavy stuff."

A slow smile crept across her face when she picked the backpack off the floor and slung it across her shoulder. "Well, thanks for the roundabout consideration. Bye Watson, we'd best be on our way." She gave the old man a warm hug and waved goodbye.

Neji soon followed, shaking Watson's hand. "We'll be safe. Take care of yourself."

His butler smiled back at him. "I haven't had a vacation for so long. This break is needed. Take care."

oOo

They arrived at the airport with security everywhere. This was a public place, with many people—there was no way he could have been able to fend for himself in a crowd like this. Neji had his shades on, his posture straight, his grimace stretched across his face. Tenten was looking at her clipboard, absentmindedly following him. He saw her about to potentially injure herself, so he grabbed her arm and yanked her so she was pressed against his side. She looked up at him, irritated. "What was that for?"

"You were going to walk into a pole."

Sighing at her response—she was indignant, there was no way someone as coordinated as she was would walk into a pole so clearly put in her path—he grabbed her hand and put it on the back of his leather jacket. "Keep looking at whatever dumb documents you have. Just hold on so you don't run into things, or people."

"They aren't stupid documents," she mumbled, but held on anyways.

She always assumed things were so much harder than they actually were. He had half a mind to grab all the papers in his hands and say with an indignant voice, "Why don't you let me look at them for a change?" but he bit her tongue and restrained himself. She would not enjoy his "sass", as she called it snippily whenever she was displeased. Which was a lot.

Neji sighed. Females…there was only one he could stand: his girlfriend.

He was just missing Sakura an unusual amount today.

He frequently went on trips out of the country. But now that he was thinking about it, all that time his companion had been Watson. Watson had looked after him, and now the graying man had been replaced with an obnoxious girl, so that complicated things. Mildly.

"Hurry up," said-girl muttered, steering him in the right direction.

"We have two hours."

"Well, you never know, do you? The baggage check in is right there."

"You're not going to puke on me again, are you?" Neji asked wryly. "I'll give you the seat with the sick bag if you want."

She glared. "Now you're just being mean. Last time, it was just nerves, I swear." They dumped their luggage onto the conveyor belts and then headed over to security, where Neji honestly thought the sensor went off just to piss him off so the security woman (looking at him with what she hoped was a burning, sexy look) could touch him all over.

Tenten was laughing when he was finally allowed to go. "Not funny," he said curtly, picking up his watch and belt from the pile of things. "Now which gate are we headed to again?"

"C12. I'll lead you there."

"Don't sound like it's such a difficult thing. I've been here more times than you could count—plus, there are signs everywhere."

She turned on him. "You are being unusually difficult today, aren't you? Is this about the Sasuke thing still? Because you know it wasn't my fault. And you're getting the shoot with Sakura 2 weeks from now, so what's the big deal?"

Neji sighed resignedly. He didn't know why he was in such an irritable, foul mood either. Little did he know, it was a precursor to what would happen in approximately five minutes. "Never mind. Let's get some snacks for the trip," he suggested.

Together, they walked into a nearby shop, where many miscellaneous items were on display. From the corner of his eye, Neji spotted a magazine that had many copies and occupied many shelves. It was, he surprisingly thought, the magazine that Tenten's photos were to be in. Sneaking behind her back (she was too immersed in the pineapple slices), he grabbed the thick booklet and looked it once over. It was a nice magazine, and he was mildly disappointed that the pictures from the shoot weren't on the cover. But then he started flipping through the pages anyways, eyes open for his manager and his enemy.

And then he flipped shit.

Despite her protests and struggle to get out of his iron grip, he walked his manager over to his spot, grabbed the magazine and turned angrily to page 23. "This," he hissed, "Care to explain to me when this happened?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Oh. That."

In the glossy, two-page spread was an atrocious picture of Sasuke and Tenten locking lips in a green field that was beautiful, airy, and Neji felt like ripping it out of the magazine and burning it because it hurt so much to look at all the happiness infused there. The photography was well done, no doubt, but the subject matter was hideous. Just so…wrong to see the two together. And there were more—when had they gotten so close even under his supervision? The editor of the magazine had written something along the lines of "a beautiful work expressing the enjoyment of young love—" Neji retched "—within the boundaries of a clothing line. Though this is considered advertising, the sheer amount of effort and placement and the clear passion between the two models is to be respected and—"

"I can explain," Tenten burst out, quickly shutting the magazine and putting it back on the shelf.

"What?" Neji nearly yelled, but toning his voice down since it was a public area, "How you completely defied my wishes and kissed him?"

"It wasn't my fault," she insisted, equally flamed, "He pretty much just tossed me in the field and did that. And it's just a picture—you kiss girls all the time in your photo shoots! And I bet you pose naked or without your shirt on with girls in lingerie too! Flaunting your muscles and stuff with—with—no sense of decency, so don't you get all uptight with me—"

She was becoming inarticulate which meant she was being more worked up.

All the better for him.

"Bet you would have liked doing that with me during our photo shoot, huh? Seeing my body like that? Replacement model?" Now Neji was just being mean, but he couldn't help it. It was a low dig at her, but seeing her face flushed made a little satisfactory feeling in his gut…an unpleasant one at seeing her so worked up, and a nasty relaxation that he got under her skin so well.

"Well, yes," she hissed in a moment of anger, face beetroot red, fire swallowing her eyes, "Yes, I would have."

Neji blinked.

The fire blinked out as if someone had taken an extinguisher to it.

Tenten's mouth dropped a few centimeters, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said, and then she shook her head and picked up the suitcase nearby, refusing to look at him.

"Repeat that."

"I'm not going to, forget I said it, it was dumb. Honestly. Forget I said it. It was a joke. A joke. You like jokes, right? Easy to understand? That was one of them."

She wanted to…? With…him?

His nerves seemed to remember the ghost of their shoot quite well, though his mind tried to push the memories away. Her fingers on his scalp, breath on his flesh, skin against skin near his waistline where she tantalizingly lifted the hem of his shirt with no abandon. There, he reminded himself, she wasn't in her right mind.

There was no way she was in her right mind when she did that.

So that was what she was going for..?

Tenten groaned. "Oh, now you're not going to stop thinking about it…here. An explanation. Sound good? This is how it works. You're extremely attractive. All women, including me, cannot deny that. End of story."

"You like me for my looks?" the voice that uttered that was extremely confused and surprised.

She sighed, and then smiled. "You're not a bad guy, Neji. I like you for more than your looks. Your asshole-like personality, for one, is extremely amusing to me. I'm sorry about the Sasuke thing, that I didn't tell you—but I knew you would react like this. Just think of it as a sacrifice on my part so you could be with Sakura for the upcoming model shoot, okay? Now let's get going, since we still haven't found our gate yet, and please—" she thrust a plastic package at him, they were pineapple slices—"Pay for that."

Well, that was dumb. One of the things she definitely was not planning on saying anytime soon, and in fact, not at all. What strange disease had come over her that made her somehow think that saying "Well, yes. Yes, I would have" was a good idea?

Tenten was still mentally slapping herself for that relapse.

They finally arrived at the gate with no other mishaps (thank god) and she quickly tore open the pack of pineapples and chewed a piece with frustration once she sat down. So Neji was a fine example of a really attractive male specimen. But she had to remember two key facts: one, he was her boss, and two, he was a bit of a jerk. Or a lot of a jerk, whatever—she totally inflated his ego with that one statement and put their relationship in jeopardy. She had been working with him for a decent amount of time now, and she honestly felt that they were getting better. At not ripping each other's heads off.

Tenten sighed, remembering his discovery of the magazine. That hadn't been pleasant to deal with.

"Stop eating those pineapples like they're the only things we've got to eat here. Thought you were ladylike with your manners," Neji snorted, and Tenten swore she could see his eyes rolling in "embarrassment" behind his shades. She sucked in her breath and glared, slowly nibbling on the treats anyways.

He always had a problem with everything. But at least he seemed to have forgiven her quite quickly about the…regrettable "incident."

"Now boarding," the stewardess called, and Tenten reluctantly got up from her seat, gently tugging Neji's jacket to get his attention. "Come on, we're up."

They got on the plane, complete with their business-class seats which were so nice (it had been a while since Tenten had been exposed to luxurious items), and she sat into the leather seating with a contented sigh.

"Don't forget the sick bag," her boss mocked, quickly dialing up Watson to let him know they had boarded.

"Shut up," she retorted, not having the energy to reply in any other manner. "I'm probably going to sleep the entire way anyways."

But a shadow of doubt was creeping on her—maybe she shouldn't have taken the trip to China. What if her family found her? They must have been worried sick for a while, and she knew they were the type to not give up on her. A while back, she had sent them a letter letting them know she was alright—of course, with no return address so they couldn't track her. But one could never be too careful. She needed to build up her financial security before she could return for real.

All she had to do was make sure she never showed up on TV when Neji went on for interviews and whatnot. And why would she need to? She was a translator. They could deal with having her on the side.

A pretty stewardess (damn, why was every stewardess in Asia beautiful? Was it a requirement or something?) walked up to them, her red lipstick contrasting against her white teeth. "Hello," she said. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink on this flight?"

Being the frugal one, Tenten politely declined, while Neji, being the obnoxious one, said: "Your finest white wine. Just a bit though."

Tenten frowned once the woman left. "Why are you getting wine from an airline?"

He shrugged. "Thought you wouldn't like to spend money. Just wanted to piss you off."

She gnashed her teeth together and looked out the small window. "Well, congratulations, as usual, your every-day actions have managed to piss me off quite well. I'm going to sleep now."

"Thanks for the warning. Another thanks for facing near the window, that way when you puke you'll only get it on the walls and on yourself."

…Maybe she should have stayed home.

oOo

She did not throw up on the plane, which was fantastic. And of course, Neji was mildly disappointed but he would live with it. Once arriving at the very expensive and extremely perfumed hotel in China, she threw down the bags and slumped onto the bed, relishing in its fluffy glory. "So nice," she mumbled into the covers. "Sleep now."

"I need a bath," Neji declared, immediately stripping himself of his suit jacket and tie.

"Draw your own stupid bath. I'm exhausted. Give me a break."

They had only been on the plane for a few hours. There was no way he needed to be washed now, of all times—especially because her body was pretty much telling her to rest.

There was a pause.

"You're fired."

Tenten rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of her comfortable haven to face her favorite demon. "Fine, fine."

"That's what I thought."

She sluggishly walked to the bathroom and tested the water before filling it up to the brim. Then, she unpacked the suitcase she had meticulously put together (so that was why Neji made her do it as her first trial task…), and pulled out all his shampoos and conditioners (okay, only two, but sometimes it seemed like a lot). "I'm done," she called out wearily, before slumping onto the floor.

"Blindfold," Neji called back, opening the door to throw the familiar black strip of cloth at her. She tried to refrain from groaning and looking at the ceiling. "You serious?" she yelled. Her exasperated voice echoed in the marble bathroom, reminding her of how little she wanted to do this.

But, it was her job, so she tied the black band around her head and sat near the edge of the tub. "Come in and hurry up because I want to sleep." Maybe he was working her to death for revenge…for that kissing-Sasuke-thing. Which was ironic because her intentions weren't bad at all—she had been doing it for him. maybe she would have been better off not thinking selflessly for once, because look where that got her.

The door opened, and she heard him get into the tub. Good grief, she thought, as she did each time she was forced to help him wash, he is a grown man. He should be able to take care of himself by now…what will he do when Watson and i leave? Honestly…

She fumbled around for a while, trying to remember where his shampoo was. Seeing as the bathroom was not the usual bathroom, it was proving a bit more difficult than usual. With some struggle, she finally found the bottle and squeezed a generous amount on her hand.

Now where was the tub again?

Her feet shuffled slowly across the tile, being careful. Neji's voice echoed from her left. "Hurry up. You're usually faster than this."

Instead of making excuses, she bit her tongue and turned towards what she hoped was his direction.

"There are some steps," her boss drawled, seeming to enjoy seeing her in an inadequate state.

Hm, she did recall a series of thin, flat-wanna-be stairs before the tub when she first filled up the bath...knowing he wasn't lying, she walked forwards slowly. Her foot felt for the ledge (number one, she thought dryly), and she successfully climbed the first step. Her foot then hit the second step—and she crawled over that hurdle too.

There was no way there were 3 steps, right? But Tenten wanted to be cautious, so she felt around anyways. Her feet didn't hit anything. Still holding the shampoo in her hands, she ventured onwards...

What she did not expect was a sudden drop—surprise, it seemed there were steps going down as well.

Hell, she drew the bath! She should have remembered something like that—but instead, her foot bent in an extremely uncomfortable, and actually kind of painful, way. She struggled to keep her balance in the pain of things, but she failed.

So Tenten stumbled forwards, banging her knee on the marble basin that was the tub.

And then she fell in.

And then she was wet. Soaking.

And she ached from hitting the tub with her elbows and shoulders and hips. There were going to be bruises in the morning.

And she really hoped that she didn't crush Neji…but somehow, the tub seemed a bit empty.

And then the blindfold was slipping down—

Neji knew she was stupid, but not that stupid.

Yet, apparently she was that stupid.

He had been watching from a chair nearby, snickering under his breath as she wandered around aimlessly, shampoo cupped in her hands. Ah, the power of a blindfold.

He took pity on her and guided her towards the bath with his voice, but that didn't mean he was letting her off the hook. For some reason, he was being particularly bullish, lounging back in only his slacks.

He wasn't in the tub this time. He just wanted to make her suffer a bit—wanted to make her walk in circles around the tub, feeling around for his body, but never able to find it. Sure, he would have gone in sooner or later, but until then…

It would have been so funny.

And when she had followed his voice, he warned her too—there were steps. Not: a step. Steps. This meant more than one, which meant he wasn't mean enough to say "step" just to see her trip forward.

He didn't want her to get hurt at the expense of his amusement.

And Neji had to admit, his heart nearly stopped when she stumbled. She tripped? Of course she would trip down steps a couple of inches high. Just how dumb was she, really?

He had quickly gotten up from his chair and rushed forwards, running to catch her while she was still trying to retain her balance. But he didn't reach her in time, and could only watch as she stumbled forwards into the tub. He heard a loud bang when she smacked into the object's side, and winced—damn—and then she displaced water which splashed out and trickled onto the floor. Neji hoped she didn't hit her head or neck on the ledge and rushed to the water's side. She resurfaced, spluttering and spitting water, eyes closed as the black blindfold slipped to the bridge of her nose.

Her hair was in rattails and she was coughing out water.

"You okay?" Neji winced, feeling the guilt rising.

"Yeah," she snorted, rubbing her eyes after rinsing the shampoo off in the tub.

She clearly didn't know her state of…

Of…

He wasn't trying to, but Neji's eyes flickered across her body. She had been wearing a white dress shirt, so the clothing item clung to her sides, revealing a figure that was not at all displeasing. And water droplets were sliding down her face, as if caressing her cheeks, the slope of her hose, hovering upon her eyelashes.

Damn.

She opened her eyes, about to say something it seemed—but Neji just looked at her and unconsciously licked his lips. And then she was silent.

There was just the drip-drip-drip of water still leaking from the bathtub.

The blindfold fluttered down unnoticed, making no splash when it hit the water.

It appeared as if time decided to stop at that that moment, because all Neji could focus on was how nice she looked the way she was, how the water almost sparkled in the warm bathroom lighting, and how he shouldn't be feeling like that because he was supposed to be in love with his girlfriend. Sakura.

And it wasn't like he was the only one doing the looking.

Her eyes were scanning across his chest; up his face, to his nose, to his mouth, down, down, down—and her gaze was appreciative (she was trying hard not to look that way, he could tell) and he felt his male ego inflate a bit. And every inch of his exposed skin was feeling hothothot.

Her tan skin was showing through her shirt.

And all thoughts of rationality just flew out the window.

Shitshitshit.

It was like his heart was beating so loudly that the sound waves were ricocheting in his ears.

Please.

Please—don't let Sasuke ever see this. Please let this be for my eyes only—

He just wanted to absorb that instant, let the image of her like that, so vulnerable, so unlike her sink into his skin. It was like he had unveiled a part of her she wanted to keep hidden, and desired to take a snapshot and keep it in his pocket for all eternity.

He wondered: why had he never had a moment like that before with Sakura?

And why was the girl who made his life hell the one making him rethink everything?

oOo

When he finally gained the sense to talk, his voice came out in a croak. "Are you okay?"

She blinked. Her mind looked like it was processing what he said longer than usual. When it finally registered, she gave a shaky half-smile. "Yeah, I think I'm all right—my ankle hurts a ton though."

And then the fact of what had happened hit her full force.

He saw the recognition dawn on her face.

Her eyes rechecked the proof he knew she was discovering now—dry skin, pants, and non-wet hair—

"...You jerk wad. You weren't in the tub. You weren't in the tub."

Oh, now the guilt was piling on.

"I just wanted to trick you for a second—"

"Well, congratulations! You've tricked me!" she screeched, pushing herself up so she was face to face with him at the tub's edge. How suddenly the mood had changed...peace, then volcanic destruction in the form of Tenten. Neji looked at her, trying not to waver. She was just mildly furious…understandable. "You knocked my ankle out, good job; my sides hurt like hell thanks to your little stunt, and I'm soaking wet!"

"I did warn you about the steps—"

"How about this, Mr. Hyuuga." Her voice got dangerously low. "This wouldn't have happened if I wasn't wearing a blindfold. I wouldn't be wearing a blindfold if I didn't have to bathe you. So here's a thought—bathe your own body."

Now here he was putting his foot down.

"I'm doing nothing of the sort. I employ you. Who gave you the right to—"

"You would think that if your methods got people hurt, there's an issue!" she yelled, wringing out the corners of her shirt.

"I will pay for your medical bills. But you are not getting out of this job. I put too much investment in your human capital to give up on that, and besides; I solemnly swear that I will not pull an immature action like that again. Okay?"

"So you admit you were wrong."

"Yes," he forced out, "I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Well," she grumbled. "As long as you realize that." And then with no warning, she grabbed him by the shoulders with inhuman strength and dragged him into the water. Neji felt the bathwater seep into his slacks and run against his face and hair. For a second, all there was in his line of sight were bubbles and cloudy aqua. Then he was breathing again and feeling pissed.

He wiped his eyes, about to give Tenten a stern lecture, ready with a lit fuse. But she was laughing—"Revenge," she said—and for good measure, splashing him in the face again.

"You," he growled, shoving her tiny frame underwater and letting go. She spluttered when she came up again and the fire was in her eyes once more—this was no longer fun and games, this was war—and leapt to splash him again. Her body hit his with a subdued "thump", and before he knew it they were kicking and pushing in the confined bathtub, splashing water everywhere, yelling explicatives:

"You asshole! You little—"

"Bitch, stop pulling at my hair, yours is as ugly as—"

"A pile of shit, that's what you are, I hate you hate you hate you—"

"Why did I hire such a good for nothing—"

"Idiot! You never know how to do anything—"

"Why don't you run to Sasuke then? Get hired by that—"

"Damn fool! My shirt's going to rip—"

"At least I'm better looking than you—"

And at the same time, they were both out of breath, wet, and the water in the bath was near half gone. Neji was glaring at her angrily, and she too, was not letting up.

It was a staring contest now, a battle of will.

Their breaths echoed loud and harsh, and he quickly swiped a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes. He was wet, and irritable, and it was all her fault.

She smirked and crossed her arms, eyes still ready for the fight, taunting him—she was not going to blink. And just like that, they stared, still caught up in their competitive auras.

Then out of the blue, reality hit.

Neji had a déjà vu moment.

Because all at once the motion stopped, the water was trickling alone, and he was just looking at her again. And somehow she seemed more appealing than before because she was flushed, still silently fuming, and not pristine—she was real. She was the Tenten he knew.

His breathing got shallow.

Her pace went to match his.

And realization of the situation seemed to finally get to her too, because she wasn't staring anymore. She was looking.

And she was herself. He decided he liked her best that way.

So when he reached slowly across the air to touch her face, she didn't flinch.

When he rubbed his thumb across her cheek, her eyes stayed trained on him the entire time, breathing in sync with his lungs.

And when he moved in to kiss her—

OK there you go goodbye

I'm so good at cliffhangers right?

Suggestions, comments, complaints, happiness; all welcomed. :)

R&R :D