A/N: And after an emotional last couple of chapter, we're back for some fun!

Be warned, there are some OCs in this chapter. They are, however, plot devices only. So just, tolerate them.

View the Puppet Master
By: Reggie

Chapter 12

It was a little known fact that the Hyuuga's had their own hot spring on compound property, and they worked very hard to keep it that way. Hyuugas, by nature, were very private individuals.

Neji had found that soaking in the springs usually allowed him to think more clearly. He needed that now more than ever. The day had left him feeling emotionally drained and confused, two things Neji did not enjoy.

His reactions around TenTen today had been completely illogical. The sudden warmth that would wash over him every time he looked at her, when their eyes met, when she smiled…When she'd smiled at him for attempting to compliment her hair and having it come out all jumbled, and sounding like he didn't want it normally, he'd thought for a few seconds that his heart had stopped.

That was NOT normal. People didn't feel like that around others, what was wrong with him?

No answer was forthcoming from the steam, and Neji sank lower into the warm water with a sigh.

His peace, such as it was, was shattered by two loud voices coming from the bath house, and Neji couldn't help snorting through his nose. Twins ran in the Hyuuga family, like the two branch-family boys he could hear now. A part of him wondered if his father and uncle had ever been like them, but the thought was immediately dismissed as impossible.

"Daiki, you go out there first. The older of the twins, Kin, growled. He probably thought he was being quiet.

"No way. Neji will eat me. You go first." This was followed by the sounds of scuffling, in what Neji could only assume was a struggle for one to push the other out the door first.

It was difficult to believe those two were three years older than he was.

Neji closed his eyes, trying to regain his focus. Something was wrong with him, he was sure of it, because what he was experiencing was not normal. It was unsettling. Not that it was unpleasant, but that didn't mean it wasn't wrong to feel such things for his teammate.

"Go on, Dai, it's just a little closer to the edge. I've got your back."

Because he was feeling things. Lots of things, which he couldn't name. TenTen trusted him not to complicate things with inexplicable and uncategorized feelings, and he was letting her down.

"It's not the back part I'm worried about. It's the front bit."

He was a Hyuuga and as such should have perfect control over himself. No, he wasn't just a Hyuuga. He was called the Hyuuga genius, and was supposed to be the ideal. The standard that others looked to when they wanted to see how a Hyuuga behaved.

"Why? There isn't much there anyway." Followed by an indignant yell of rage and more scuffling.

He couldn't simply fall apart because a girl—because TenTen—was…was what? Was controlling him body, mind, and soul as easily as if she had them attached to chakra wire?

Double yelps and a pair of splashes caught derailed Neji's train of thought, forcing him to open his eyes. Daiki and Kin were both now in the water, splashing and spluttering, with their short dark hair hanging in their eyes, and Hotaru laughing behind them.

Hotaru was Neji's great Uncle, a member of the main house. He had been the heir before Hiashi-sama, but had declined the position on the grounds that he just didn't have the right disposition for it. The clan Elders had probably agreed.

Even during Neji's worst days he'd found it hard to hate Hotaru with the rest. His great-uncle had a quick sense of humor, a kind smile, and had always gone out of his way to be nice to Neji. It's difficult to hate someone like that.

The older man put on his most solemn face as he spoke. "Sorry to disturb your solitude, Neji-kun, but these two were going to break down the compound the way they were going at it."

The twins got angrily to their feet, their arguments drowning each other out and making an unintelligible mess.

Neji chose to say nothing as Hotaru lowered himself into the water as well, kicking the twins in the shins and sending them back into the water as he did so. They came up spluttering, to busy coughing up water to continue their incessant chatter.

After a moment of this, Hotaru tilted his head to regard Neji with his pale eyes, and smiled. "You look love-sick, Neji-kun."

He gaped. Love sick? Setting aside the fact that, for the last time, he was NOT in love, how does one even go about distinguishing love sick from a bunch of other emotions? Or other types of sickness?

Unfortunately, the twins must have taken his silence for agreement. They appeared on either side of him, their grins predatory enough to compete with Naruto on a bad day.

"Aw, is ickle baby Neji finally growing into a man?" Kin dodged his elbow easily, which annoyed Neji to no end, while slinging an arm over Neji's shoulder at the same time. "Tell your favorite cousins who she is. To capture your interest, she must be a real looker."

He felt his breath freeze in his chest. How dare Kin talk about TenTen like that! Like she was a piece of art instead of a human being.

"More than a looker. She'd have to be hottest babe ever to grace the planet. I'd like a piece of that." Daiki said.

Neji saw red. It was one thing to tease him, and quite another to insult TenTen in the process. He lashed out unthinkingly, tackling Daiki into the water. It was probably one of the most undignified things Neji had ever done, but he could just add it on to his list of embarrassing things that had happened that day.

"Don't you dare." Neji growled, trying to hold his cousin underwater even as Kin tried to pull him off. "Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

A pair of strong arms wrapped around Neji's middle and lifted him off, pulling him across the bath. Neji only struggled for a few more seconds before giving in. The twins looked terrified, so apparently his message had gotten across.

Once he stopped trying to reach the pair, Hotaru let him go with a laugh. "It appears love sick isn't quite the right word. Looks like 'in love' is more like it."

Neji folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the wall. "I'm not in love."

"You so are," Kin said. "You tried to kill Daiki for a joke."

He shot one of his best glares across at both of them, and the pair fell silent again, except for Daiki's whisper of, "I told you he'd try and kill me."

Hotaru laughed again, reaching out a hand to ruffle Neji's hair. If there was one fault his great-uncle had, it was that he felt the need to that. Neji hated it when his hair was mussed in such a familiar way. It made him feel like a patronized child.

"Part of being in love, Neji," his great-uncle explained between chuckles, "is not realizing you're in it. I remember when your father first noticed your mother. Everyone could see the signs except him. They way he always wanted to spend time with her, over anyone else. How angry he'd get if any other member of the male species so much as looked twice. The way his body," and here Hotaru gave a deep belly laugh, "would react to hers."

Neji's mind returned, unbidden, to the image of TenTen without her shirt—her flat, well toned stomach, smooth skin, and the surprisingly feminine curve of her figure. He sank just a little lower in the water, causing Hotaru to laugh more and the twins to just stare.

"Starting to sound familiar, isn't it?" His great uncle said. Neji didn't respond, but he then he didn't think he had to. Hotaru lightly bumped his arm with an elbow. "Don't look so down about it, Neji-kun. It's not a bad thing to be in love. It happens to the best of us eventually. Even Hiashi-sama fell under its spell once."

"I am not, nor have I ever been, in love," Hiashi-sama's deep, dead-pan voice caused them all to jump. Except for Hotaru who, Neji realized bitterly, had probably known his uncle was approaching all along.

Hiashi-sama settled himself into the water on Neji's other side, as the twins made a beeline for the spot furthest away from him as possible. Hiashi-sama just stared after them looking almost, dare he say it, amused, before turning his piercing gaze onto Neji. "What's this about you being in love? Just the other day you assured me there was no girl with a special place in your heart."

Hotaru chuckled again, reclining against the wall. "Don't feel bad, Hiashi-sama. I don't think Neji even realized it until just now."

"I'm not in love," Neji protested again, feeling his face heat up. He was blushing. He was blushing as bad as Hinata-sama. In front of Hiashi-sama, who was now staring at him with great interest. It was officially time to go to bed and put this whole miserable day behind him.

His great uncle shook his head, grinning upward. "Sure you're not, Neji-kun. Whatever you say."