Author's Notes: This is my absolute favourite chapter so far, and my second favourite chapter of the whole story. The past couple of chapters I've been trying to build a certain tension which can lead to greater things, trying to create a heat between Neji and Tenten… This chapter, we're seriously cranking that heat up.

This has been written since before chapter one, just waiting for me to get 10 through 13 done, which took an age and then some... I won't keep you any longer, just want to say thank you so much to all those who reviewed the last chapter, who favourited, story alerted, new readers and old, et cetera… I'd never be writing if it weren't for you. I give you chapter fourteen! Don't forget to rock my world by leaving a review, and enjoy. ;)

P.S.: This is where the regular author's notes end and the post scripts begin. ;) Just wanted to tell you guys some more stuff. This was written with a couple of songs as inspiration. First of all 'Rainbow Veins', 'Vanilla Twilight' and 'Fireflies' by Owl City - it doesn't really show, but then those songs aren't very connected to this chapter in particular, but more connected to the practice of writing in general. I always listen to Owl City when I start a chapter - it puts my mind in a sort of 'loose' state that allows the creative juices to really flow. I'm weird like that.

The songs for this chapter in particular are both by Nikki, a Dutch artist (she sings in English, don't worry). If you're interested, they're on Youtube. 'How to break a heart' and 'Bring me down' - especially the last was used for the last couple of paragraphs. Also, 'Fight For This Love' by Cheryl Cole. Awesome song. :D

*hug* Alright, go off and read, enjoy, review, fawn, you know the drill. (L) You know I love you. ;)

Disclaimer: Why, world, why? What did I ever do to not deserve owning Naruto? I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten on your bad side. Cut me some slack, will you?

***

P.P.S.: Oh yeah, and eh… Girls? Think of this while you're reading. ;) qinni(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Neji-76328526

***

Tawakemono

o14. "Do you love me?"

***

Half an hour later found them both relatively dry and warm in the comfort of her tiny kitchen. Tenten had her hair down in wet strands, cascading about her shoulders - she'd taken a quick shower. Now she sat atop her kitchen counter and clutched the most welcome mug of hot chocolate she'd ever held in her life. Neji had taken a seat at the table - his own mug stood steaming in front of him. She'd left the lights off. The full moon illuminated her kitchen well enough, casting a big silver square on the floor - it only served to remind her of Neji's eyes.

Tenten had hardly looked at him since they entered her apartment. Part of that had to do with how she remembered perfectly the promise she had made the day before - she knew he hadn't forgotten and wasn't planning on letting it slide - and part of it had to do with the fact that Neji had taken his drenched shirt off. He stood out and blended in with her kitchen in ways she felt perhaps she shouldn't dwell on too much - she'd blush if she did.

"Want me to bandage that?" she asked, motioning her head towards the spot of blood on the fabric covering his thigh.

"It's nothing."

She nodded to herself. 'Okay then.'

"Tenten?"

She blew on her drink, staring at the wall over his head without seeing anything. "Hmm?"

"It's hardly even 'tomorrow' anymore."

Tenten glanced to the side at the clock and found that he was right - midnight was less than an hour away. She took a sip of too-hot chocolate to put off answering for just another second, burning her tongue. Then she rested the mug on the counter and released it - in a way it had been the last barrier she had.

The silence hung in her small kitchen like a tangible entity, pushing against them and struggling to escape.

"Then ask," she murmured. She wrapped her arms around her knees and laced her fingers together, staring dead ahead instead of down into his eyes. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to do that again.

"Do you love me?" He spoke as he rose from his seat. It came to her mind that this was the first time in a long time - maybe ever - that he had asked her an actual question. His voice was barely a whisper, and yet the words resonated through her body and soul as though she was a chord that he had struck. The word 'love' had never sounded more beautiful than when he said it - it didn't take much imagination to conceive how it would feel if he ever confessed to her.

It was her turn to speak now, wasn't it? Somewhere in the process her kitchen had shrunk down to where it felt as though the walls were ganging up on her on three sides, causing the gap between herself and Neji shrink. Like she needed the added tension of closer physical proximity. Had she ever felt more vulnerable? She was about to get up and leave, gather her wits, but then she made the mistake of glancing up into his face, those eyes.

Tenten vividly remebered the first time she saw him by night - it was the strangest thing, and over time the impact of it had lessened none. The monochromatic colour palette of Neji was beautiful during the daytime, but when the night turned him into a dark shadow with endless moons for eyes, it was as though someone cranked up the attraction she felt for him times infinity.

"Yes." With that, she sealed her fate. She had promised. It was time for clarity, and she was anything but a coward. She held his gaze.

His brow furrowed. "Why?"

Tenten blinked at that. The unanticipated question threw her off guard, and then came the problem of what to say. Did she even know? She couldn't help but chuckle quietly, gently. "If I knew that, Neji… Look, you're an acquired taste, that's for sure, and you're not easy to be in love with." She blew some loose strands from her face, exasperation somewhat replacing the tension in her. She was good and lost now - nothing to do but go with it. "But I managed anyway."

"Tell me how long." There was a pleading undertone to his voice - it was the one question that could truly reveal the depth of her affection. Tenten was half-tempted to tell him to mind his own business, but had he done anything to deserve as much? "Tenten?"

"Two years. And a half," she replied truthfully. It was rather impossible to lie to him when he was looking into her soul like that - and besides, secrecy had rather lost its appeal by now. They both knew that. She considered for a moment and then specified her confession. "Well, that's when I started to understand. So in reality it's probably been a bit longer than that."

If she hadn't been frozen from head to toe by her own stupidity in being so horribly candid, she would've hit herself. Or perhaps pinched her arm to see if maybe, just maybe, she would get lucky and wake up and this would turn out to be just a really bad dream and not the end of the world.

There was something akin to anger in his eyes. He was angry at himself, she was amazed to find out as realization dawned. Angry that he had not seen.

"That's insane."

Did he just insult her feelings? She raised her eyebrows in surprise, hopping down from the counter and crossing her arms across her chest. "Well, thanks. It's not a choice, Neji," she huffed.

The silence wrung itself back into the room.

Yes, she felt cornered and exposed and uncomfortable, but at least she had known just what was coming for a long time now. Neji on the other hand looked as though he'd had absolutely no idea of the scope of things. At least from now on she could truthfully say she'd seen Hyuuga Neji at a loss for words - had made him be at a loss.

She wasn't sure what to say as well.

"Look, two things." Tenten struggled for a moment under his heavy gaze, shifting the words around until they sounded right. These were after all the most important things she'd ever asked him. The moonlight peaking through her windows hit his face in a gorgeous way and made it hard to look at him, but she pushed through. Somehow these were things that needed to be said eye-to-eye.

"Only difference is that now two out of two know. This doesn't change anything, unless you want it to. It's up to you. The cards are all in your hands now." There, she'd said it. Now he could deal with the worrying about what to do - friendships, relationships, risks, et cetera. She'd beaten herself up over that quite enough.

The second item on her quickly compiled mental list was something a lot more personal, and something she would never have been willing to admit she needed if not for the intimacy that hung in the room like a shroud, the link of feeling that seemed to have formed between their minds and the haze of twilight outside .

"Just… So that I have something in case you decide that nothing has to change, that you don't want it to… Could you kiss me?"

She had never felt more vulnerable than when she answered his first question with yes, until now. She refused to stoop so low as to say please, but the word was spelled out in her eyes and they both knew it. Tenten could've cut slices out of the air with a kunai.

She would never know what caused him to make up his mind and why, but she could pinpoint the exact moment he made his decision. His eyes changed, darkened that instant, his gaze morphed into that wonderful look that had started the whole entire thing weeks ago, the one that told her that exactly the same thing was on both their minds and they both wanted it. Suddenly he was closer than he'd been all night - she stepped back in surprise.

Tenten gasped from the shock of cold that coursed through her when her back hit the fridge. It conflicted strangely but rather wonderfully with the heat pooling in her stomach.

She laid her head back against the cool surface of the fridge and one of his hands followed as though it was meant to, settling around the curve of her jaw like the mold to the casting. Neji's other hand braced against the fridge, fingers taut as he took another step towards her, their chests brushing. His eyes were the most beautiful she'd ever seen them, disks of moonlight framed by the narrow shadows trapped between them. Tenten was absolutely sure he could hear her heart hammering an erratic staccato, frantic with emotions sizzling every which way.

He held back less than an inch from her lips, giving her mind time to perform thirty backflips in a third of a second in an attempt to wrap her thoughts around the fact that this was really happening. She smiled at him in encouragement and inhaled deeply to calm her nerves, nodded almost imperceptibly.

The moment between not-kissing and kissing froze in time, and then the world fast forwarded until she could feel his mouth on hers and realised her hands were slipping up from his biceps to curl in his endless hair desperately. As he fused their lips together, gently but firmly with a hint of urgency, she lost it. Somewhere she was aware that she was clutching him to her like a madwoman, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her thoughts went straight into repeat, like a broken record, and then crashed entirely as he went deeper.

She marvelled at the feel of him, his broad shoulders, the way his lips and their actions had short circuited her thoughts. Neji's dark hair draped over his shoulders and brushed across the edge of her cami as he loomed over her - she couldn't suppress the shivers. His fingertips burned scars into her cheek, his lips branded hers.

It felt as though she was drowning, flying and burning to ashes at the same time. She wasn't sure if her imagination was just lacking or if he was simply that good, but either way it was nothing like what she'd imagined for over two years.

It was better.

Much better.

And it slipped through her fingers far too fast - a knock to her door cut clean and straight through their shared atmosphere and brought her crashing painfully fast back down to earth, heart skipping.

Neji ripped his lips from hers at the sound and dropped his forehead against the fridge, so close to her she felt his warm pants on her ear as he made an effort to regain his breath. The separation almost hurt physically, her chest tightening. She turned her face towards him and quietly took in his closed eyes, his pale cheeks with just the slightest flush and his bare chest, settling down gradually.

Then he was gone, into the hallway, and she heard the crack of the door as he answered it.

Tenten breathed in deep - one of the first breaths in what seemed like forever that she hadn't shared with Neji, bracing a hand against the wall - the first surface she had touched in what seemed like forever that wasn't Neji. She tuned out the muted voices in the hallway, clenched her eyes shut and shoved her knuckles into her mouth, biting down.

What silly, completely deluded part of her had thought this would give her any type of closure?

***

Why yes, I am the devil.

Don't that warrant a review? ;D Love you guys!