"So you a-are not angry with me?" Lee sniffled once, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his green spandex. He stood huddled near the poorly furnished bushes that surrounded the clearing, twisting one of its rare leaves between his fingers.
"Of course not, Lee." Neji answered without preamble. "It wasn't your fault that Tenten was injured."
Which was not to say that the blame rest with Tenten, either. The accident had been exactly that—an accident.
Of course, there were dozens of alternatives he could list to degrade her innocence: her distraction had prevented her from securing her footing, she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, she shouldn't have been talking to Lee while focusing on such an innate task... All were simple to apply to the situation—even a civilian could rapidly assess such a circumstance.
And yet, Neji did not do so.
Instead, he took a deep breath, turned toward the now-sniffling Lee, and asked the one and only question that had ever managed to successfully stump the Hyuga genius:
"Lee, what's going on between you and Tenten?" (1)
When Tenten walked into the clearing, she was all smiles.
After all, why shouldn't she be? Her back was healed, her belly full... Life was good, and who in the hell cared if she had to do two hundred million tree-ups that Gai-sensei assigned for late proteges? She'd do them; she'd even do two hundred extra, just because she felt that good.
Grinning, Tenten couldn't help but chuckle as she passed through the last group of foliage that surrounded their training field.
Who knew dumplings could be such a pick-me-up?
Waving at her two teammates from across the field, Tenten picked up her speed, fully aware of the hair that had escaped her quick updo.
Who cared if her hair was falling down? It wasn't like the boys had never seen her with it down, anyway. She'd learned quickly that it wasn't easy keeping secrets from your genin squad, and she'd committed herself to showing them her long tresses within the very first week of their first assignment. Predictably, Lee and Gai-sensei exploded into a fit about her blooming youth and radiance, urging her to wear it down more frequently.
Naturally, Neji had said nothing, not even so much as giving her a backwards glance.
"Hey guys! What's... up..."
Tenten trailed off with a frown, having finally caught up to her teammates. She glanced from Lee to Neji and back again, trying to distinguish the reason for their troubled and contemplative expressions respectively."What, is there something on my face?" She unconsciously reached a hand upward, assuring that the crumbs from her quick meal left no residue.
Lee ceased her fidgeting with a tentative shake of his head.
Satisfied, Tenten grinned, dropping her hand. "Oh. Then what's up? You guys look like you've seen a—"
"Teammate who's shown up late?" Neji provided with a tilt of his head.
Tenten froze, very nearly cursing. The smirk that usually graced his features was gone. "Well, I was going to say ghost, but that works too."
Neji didn't so much as waste a chuckle. "Would it be prudent to ask for an explanation?"
Tenten's eyebrows furrowed at his tone, but she offered one nonetheless. However, not before she first chanced a glance at Lee, finding not the reassurance she'd hoped for, but yet another set of furrowed eyebrows. Seemed as if they were both in the same boat.
. . .
"I was with Tsunade-sama," Tenten answered without so much as a blink. "She needed an update on the mission; you were with Hinata-chan, and Lee was to busy with his laps. That left me." She smiled reassuringly, shutting her eyes.
Neji examined the girl before him warily, suppressing his frown.
When had Tenten taken to lying to him? He thought that she prided herself on honesty—proclaiming it to be as important in team equilibrium as the actual teamwork itself; he thought she was above keeping secrets from him; he thought she would have at least had the decency to tell him the truth.
Evidently, he thought wrong.
Sighing, Neji shook his head.
Fine. If she wanted to play that way, he'd be more than happy to coerce it out of her with his own tricks.
. . .
Holy shit... he caught my bluff; he totally caught my bluff!
Okay, Tenten, she thought to herself, the key is to remain calm. There's no telling whether or not he knows. Lee... Lee wouldn't abandon you like that, and there's no other way he could tell from anything else. Remember, you were really careful to cover your tracks? There's nothing to worry about; he's probably just being his usual doubtful self.
Yes, that must be it.
Despite her self-assurance, Tenten couldn't help but release a deep breath at Neji's answering nod. "All right, if you insist." He dropped into his stance—the jyuken, she noticed with a smirk. "I've got a technique I'd like to try, if you wouldn't mind..." he trailed off with a suggestive nod, gesturing to the area in front of him.
Tenten nodded emphatically, all too happy at the fact that she'd been successful in her lie—not lie, protection: for both me and him. She didn't even think twice as she practically hopped in front of him, willing to take one million chakra-enhanced bursts if it meant helping him improve his techniques.
It was only fair, after all. He'd helped her numerous times with her weapons, working well into the morning as she chucked kunai after kunai at his swirling spheres of chakra, only halting when one of the two collapsed from exhaustion. More often that not, it was her, but there were occasions where even the Hyuga genius crumbled from his effort.
Besides, she liked helping him. She liked knowing that she had some sort of role in his change, that she had some sort of positive involvement in his progress as a ninja. It was satisfying, and, above all, thrilling to feel his hands pressed against her, despite the pain each blow brought.
Thus, she didn't give it a second thought as his position deepened, preparing herself for the blows she'd felt one million times before, the blows she hoped to be feeling for years and years to come.
. . .
"Fuck, Neji!"
One blow.
That was all it took: one fucking blow.
Tenten hopped up and down spastically, clutching her lower back as it bubbled with the remnants of his chakra-enhanced blast. "What the fucking hell," she screeched, biting a fist to restrain the scream perched on her lips, "was that for, Neji! That was a full fucking blow!" Her hand tightened around her midsection, as if merely pressing the area would remove the tinge of the hit.
Neji merely shook his head, closing his eyes. "Actually," he informed her, not even blinking at her completely-rational anger, "that wasn't even one fourth of what you usually take. Far from a full blow, if I do say so myself."
"The hell!" She informed him in return, shouting. "There's no way it would hurt that much if—!"
Tenten trailed off with a gasp, eyes widening as Neji's hands wormed their way around her waist.
Before she even had time to blink, he'd ripped her shirt upward, turning her so that she faced Lee. Despite her anger, she couldn't suppress the blush that snaked its way onto her face as she registered how close they were, how she could feel his chest against hers, how she could smell him if she breathed deeply enough: that sweet, sweet scent of Neji.
"Perhaps it hurt so much," he began, testing the raw flesh with a finger, "because there's an underlying injury." Immediately, he pulled her shirt back down into its former position, stepping away. "That would have been interesting to note before we began, would it not? It would have been much safer knowing that the Yamanaka," the name was a hiss, "had patched you up minutes before you walked in."
Tenten froze, cursing.
He knew.
Rather than bother with an explanation, however—he already knew everything, after all; spending time trying to make up for her mistake would be of no help—Tenten turned toward Lee, livid. "You told?" The accusation in her voice was not well-disguised.
"Tenten, I did not mean to—"
"I can't believe you told! Lee, you promised!"
"Yes, Tenten, but I—"
"He didn't tell me anything," Neji interrupted, stepping between the two. He was careful not to glance at Lee longer than necessary: too much of a shared glance would tip her off. "It hurts me that you would underestimate my foresight so hastily, Tenten."
"Sarcasm." The girl in question laughed humorlessly, slapping a hand to her forehead. "I appreciate the thought, but there was no way you could have known about it. Lee had to have told you. I mean, it's not like there's any other way you could have—"
"You've changed your shirt," Neji observed immediately, interrupting her. "Earlier the shirt you were wearing had three bands; this one only has two. You never change into another outfit unless there's a specific reason to do so."
"Yeah, but that could have been—"
"Furthermore," Neji continued without pause, "Ino had four burn marks on her left hand. Nearly all rookie medical nin are susceptible to experiencing backslashes when administering care to patients, and the flesh surrounding your wound has four distinct markings of a similar shape."
Tenten's frown transformed into an all-out grimace.
Since when had Neji taken to hanging out with Ino Yamanaka? She thought he couldn't stand her; at least, that's what he'd told her, whenever she brought her up in a conversation ("The Nara's teammate? I hardly see a reason for befriending someone of such inferiority; her friendship will only hinder your progress. Trust me, it's better than you don't associate yourself with them.") Tenten inwardly fumed.
Stupid slut.
Kami, did she have to whore it out to all of the guys?
Tenten threw a hand to her mouth as she registered the words that had just coursed through her mind.
What the... I like Ino! She's always been nice to me; hell, she even insisted on wasting her time patching me up this afternoon! She's never done anything wrong, and while she can sometimes be a bit annoying, she's never tried to purposefully sabotage me... Why—no, how could I even think something like that about her? What is wrong with me?
"Finally," Neji finished, "you have two fibers of cloth hanging from the edge of your shirt, both of which are purple." Tenten, stunted from her inner-berating, glanced down quickly, astonished to be met with the unmistakeable violet threads of Ino's uniform. "It was quite obvious from the start that you were lying."
Tenten was speechless: whether at having been proven wrong or her negative thoughts about her friend, she wasn't sure.
She couldn't remember a time when their training field had been so quiet. Well, not when Lee was present, anyway. Usually, it was filled with the rambunctious shouts of glee and youth that he and her sensei so often preached about, disturbing any peace that had managed to manifest with their absence. Glancing to her left, Tenten examined the terror-stricken boy carefully.
Before she even had a chance to ask about just why he was looking at her with such a fearful look, he bounded forward gasping. "Tenten, my flowering blossom, your back...!"
"You're bleeding," Neji observed quietly, finishing Lee's statement.
"What? That's preposterous, how could I—"
Tenten glanced down.
"Oh... you're right. I am bleeding..." It took her a minute to register that the sticky red fluid soaking through her shirt was, indeed, blood, at which point she gasped in shock. "But that makes absolutely no sense! Ino used her medical ninjutsu on it just fifteen minutes ago; how can it still be bleeding... She couldn't have messed up, could she?"
Neji's eyes widened, and Tenten, realizing that it wasn't Ino's flawed medical ninjutsu that had encouraged the bleeding, but his own technique, winced. "Neji, I don't—"
He cut her off with a hand, turning sharply toward Lee. His face was a mask, his eyes penetrating in their glare. More surprisingly, however, were his hands, tensed and balled together into fists. "Lee," he addressed, tone carefully regulated, "I left my bandages at the Hyuga compound. Could you..."
Lee didn't even have to wait for him to finish the sentence. He nodded, jumping into the nearest tree.
The understood, please hurry, and do yourself a favor and don't get caught, wafted in the air between them.
Once Lee had disappeared amongst the trees, Neji busied himself with assessing the damage, tearing a strip of fabric from her shirt. He glanced up at her: a quick apology for having ruined her blouse. Without so much as waiting for her responding glance, he wrapped his arms around her waist, proceeding to secure the wound.
Tenten wanted to hit herself for her stupidity. Honestly, she should have thought about what she was saying! She knew Neji would automatically blame himself! How could she have been so thoughtless? "Neji, it isn't your fault. I should have told you about the injury; if anyone's to blame, it's me. Please," she placed her hands on top of his, halting his movements, "don't worry about it. I'm fine."
Neji paused, taking a deep breath. After seconds of silence, his eyes met hers. Tenten felt her heart jump. "It isn't your fault, Tenten. I should not have taken it to such an extremity. I... I did this—" He gestured to her wound. "I did this to you."
Tenten shook her head emphatically, ignoring the hair that settled across her face. With an impatient stomp of her foot, she took a step closer to him, placing a hand on her hip. "No, Neji, you didn't! I did this to myself. Please, don't blame yourself... I should have been paying better attention; this has nothing to do with you. Honestly." She attempted a smile to accentuate the point.
This time, Neji said nothing.
He didn't need to; his silence spoke for him.
"Come on," Tenten suggested, sighing, "let's just get this fixed up and—"
Her statement was cut off as Neji's hand grazed past her cheek, brushing back the hair that had since escaped her twin buns. Gently, he tucked it behind her ear, hand lingering for a moment too long against her reddening cheeks.
. . .
Staring into the face of his teammate, Neji's eyebrows furrowed.
Her eyes... had they always been that light?
Surely they hadn't been—they couldn't be. These could not be the eyes of the twelve-year-old girl he'd spent his adolescent years taunting, the little girl he'd trained with day in and day out. These eyes, branded with amber and green flecks he'd never seen before, never cared to notice, were not those of the little kunoichi promising to achieve the highest of standards, to be even greater than the Godaime herself. They were not full of the sharp indignation he so often spotted when he observed her.
These eyes were softer, more feminine.
These eyes were smoldering.
Neji allowed his gaze to travel downward, examining the plain, cut features of her face, the light pink that dusted her cheeks, the cluster of freckles that speckled oddly across her tanned nose, and the scar above her left temple, a souvenir from one of their many shared missions, in which she'd narrowly dodged a kunai to the head when she'd interceded to block an attack mounted from his blind spot. How had he never noticed these things before; these things that screamed Tenten to him? Had they always been here?
He could feel her chest pressed against his—a chest not at all like the little kunoichi he'd shared his life with—and with each breath, it pressed intimately against his own. With each inhale, each exhale, he could feel her leaning toward him, her entire body pressed against his.
And then there was the issue of her lips...
He was suddenly very aware of his hands, which were still encircled around her, resting comfortably across the small of her back. The bleeding had long since stopped, and yet, he had not moved them. "Tenten... I—"
"I am back, and I have brought the bandages!"
Tenten sat patiently as Neji wound the bandages around her waist, all the while holding back her outbursts of vexation: why, why did Kami have to be so mean to her!
They had been so close... so painstakinglyclose!
She couldn't ever remember a time in which she was so close to him...
Well, perhaps that wasn't necessarily true. There was that one time that she had been injured on a mission, but that didn't count, because he'd spent no more than one minute addressing her wound before sending her back off to the battlefield to get another one.
Kinda like he was doing now.
Sighing, Tenten allowed her shoulders to slump, nodding disinterestedly as Lee fired off yet another question about her health. No matter how many I'm fines she offered, he just didn't seem to get the point that she really was fine.
But that was Lee.
Tenten stiffened as she felt Neji's hand brush against the bare skin of her stomach, her breath catching in her throat. He, however, did not so much as falter in his movement, resuming his quick bandaging of her wound. Silently, she smacked her head against the tree she leaned against, chastising herself for her stupidity.
She'd thought this time was different.
No, she knew this time was different.
Hell, he had touched her face... with his hand! And then he was looking at her, really looking at her with those damned addictive white eyes of his. Honestly, she couldn't have felt more exposed if he'd torn off her entire shirt and ravaged her right then and there, which might or might not have been appreciated, given the circumstances...
Oh hell, who was she kidding; it sure as hell would have been appreciated!
But then Lee—kami, why did he have to be so fast—was back, and with him the stoic Neji she was so accustomed to, who tended to her injuries with no more than a subtle touch. Despite that, she felt herself shiver every time the cold, unwrapped flesh of his fingers so much as grazed her skin, and she gradually caught onto the fact that, with each shiver, the speed with which he worked increased. In but three minutes, he had finished wrapping her lower back completely.
Tenten fingered the bloody fabric of her shirt, sighing.
Watching as Neji packed up the remains of his complicated array of medical supplies—you could never be too careful, he insisted when she'd teased him about it—she wasn't even sure if it had actually happened.
"... are you sure you will be all right, my flowering blossom?"
"She'll be just—"
"For the last time, I'm fine, Lee!" Tenten threw a quick glance to Neji, a silent apology for her interruption. His nod of acceptance was curt, at best. "I just need to ice it when I get home and I'll be good as new." She grinned brightly, pretending for all she had in the world that the throbbing of her back wasn't bothering her in the slightest. "Don't even worry about it; I'm great."
Lee hung his head in shame. "This is all my fault. If I had not stopped so shortly..."
Three feet away, Neji, too, dropped his head."No, Lee. It isn't. It's my fault."
"No!" Both of the men turned to stare at their teammate, shocked by her outburst. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Tenten jumped to her feet, punching Lee squarely in his shoulder. Immediately, she spun, placing her finger firmly across Neji's chest. "This is neither of your faults, and I swear to Kami, if you say one more word about it, I'll... I'll..."
"I'll make you my personal targets for the next year. And trust me, I'm not afraid to aim low."
For several seconds, neither boy spoke.
Tenten, satisfied, grinned. "Now, if you don't mind, I really need to start training. It's been far too long since I've really been able to let loose, and I've really been looking forward to testing my new technique on you two. As long as, you know, you're not too scared..." She let her comment hang in the air.
She couldn't help but smile when Lee immediately took the bait.
"Yosh, of course I am not afraid, my flowering blossom! I would love to see your spiraling techniques of youth and vigor! The youth with which you preform them astounds me; I would be honored to be witness to such an astounding flourish of techniques and power!"
"That's the Lee I like to hear," Tenten laughed, stretching. "Just give me a minute to warm up and I'll be—"
Neji shook his head, interrupting her with a step. "No, Tenten," he advised "That's not a good idea."
"But why not," Tenten whined, grunting. "It's not like I'm going to overwork or anything, and besides, Lee's really eager to train." She gestured toward the green beast, who was currently running around the training field, shouting things about youth and vigor. "I promise I'll be careful. There's nothing to worry about." She set him with a small smile.
Neji, again, shook his head. "I have something I need to tell you two."
Tenten waved it off with a roll of her eyes. "Whatever it is, Neji, I'm sure it can wait until—"
"It's about Gai-sensei."
"So... you didn't know, huh?"
Neji rolled his eyes, allowing the chakra he'd filtered through the ground to fizzle to an abrupt and painless death.
He'd actually never even considered using Tenten's old, buried chakra strings as a weapon in battle—but now, debating the idea, it sounded like an incredibly reasonable strategy; using chakra underneath an opponent's feet would allow him to discreetly withdraw the power in their positioning without their realization. By the time they noticed his progress, it would be far too late to have any effect. It could definitely prove to be useful in both his spars and any future battles he may encounter.
He almost wanted to thank the Yamanaka for the idea.
Well, if he wasn't so pissed off at her, that is...
And if he wasn't Neji Hyuga..
"You're going to have to be a bit more specific if you want this conversation to last, Nara."
"Tsk, always so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But what can you do?" He took a few steps forward, relaxing against the nearest tree. Neji did not reciprocate his movement, preferring to stand stiffly off to the side. "I was talking about Gai-sensei's note."
Neji's face was a mask of indifference, but Shikamaru was almost positive he caught a small twitch of the mouth at the mention: just the kind of hint he'd been pining for.
"I'm afraid we all aren't as close with the Hokage as you are," Neji answered simply, allowing no unnecessary emotion to leak into his tone. Shikamaru did not let this slip past his notice. "Regardless, receiving a cyphered code from jounin level shinobi is hardly uncommon. I would expect you to know that, Nara." Neji chuckled humorlessly, pushing a strand of hair from his pale eyes. "Then again, informing me of a simple standardized note isn't your intention, is it?"
Shikamaru smirked.
He'd figured it out already. No surprise there.
"I'd expect nothing less of you, Neji, but did you have to take all of the fun out of it?"
Neji shrugged off the compliment with a scoff, rolling his eyes. "That doesn't sound very much like you, Nara. The Yamanaka rubbing off on you so soon?" For a man that complained about troublesome women so frequently, he sure did look like the type to go looking for the trouble.
Shikamaru simply shrugged, ignoring the jibe. "And didn't sound much like yourself earlier, either," he countered, smirking. "It's troublesome, but it seems we all get a bit different when women are involved."
His insinuation couldn't be more clear.
Neji glared, but said nothing about the matter. Instead, he turned, striding toward the tree Tenten and Lee so often deemed as his thinking spot. "Please tell the Hokage that my team and I will meet for a conference in her office immediately to discuss the issue of Gai-sensei's late return, as direction." It was quite obviously a dismissal.
But Shikamaru, idiotic genius that he was, wasn't quite ready to be dismissed. "Actually," he interrupted, giving a curt laugh, "she already called you in to her office about an hour ago. I probably would have told you sooner, but you know how it is with troublesome women..." He trailed off with an uncomfortable shrug.
Neji merely sighed. "Of course."
For several moments, neither man said anything.
After about twenty seconds of this, Shikamaru lifted himself from the tree, sighing. The issue of Gai's late return had not been the only topic he had intended to bring up, after all. There was also the matter of what had transpired earlier to discuss.
You're a smart man, Hyuga," he began, yawning. "Surely you understand the implications and complications that came with the way you behaved. Ino is the future head of the Yamanaka clan, after all." Shikamaru raised one eyebrow consideringly. "Ties among clans are imperative to the foundation of the village, and the Yamanaka have grown considerably from what the used to be."
Neji's glare narrowed.
Despite himself, his voice was a hiss: "I understand, Nara," Neji bit back, effectively interrupting whatever else the lazy genius had intended to say. "I also understand that the issue is none of your concern. I did nothing to injure your teammate, and even if I had, she would have made the initial move. I am not to be blamed for her impertinence" He glared at the man, taking a curt step forward to accentuate his point. "As it is, I would advise leaving well enough alone, lest the misfortune of such a discussion turn into a detriment on your behalf. I am sure your teammates would not forgive me so easily for injuring you."
Translation: I could care less about our clans. (2)
This time, Neji did not smirk as he faced the second member of the reputable team ten he'd insulted so blatantly that day. Similarly, his threat hung dry in the air, tensing the air between them.
For several minutes, neither man spoke.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of tension, Shikamaru sighed, scratching his head. "Fighting you is too troublesome," he disclosed suppressing yet another yawn. "Just do us all a favor and watch out for yourself, Hyuga. I don't want to be the one stuck getting you out of trouble in the future."
A sudden flash of his previous conversation with the Inuzuka flashed to the forefront of his mind, and he couldn't help but smile a bit at the irony.
Tenten certainly was playing quite the game with the unfortunate Hyuga's mind.
"My team and I will depart the moment they arrive," he answered without a second thought, turning away. "Thank you for informing us."
Shikamaru's smirk grew more profound. Again, it did not escape his notice that the Hyuga had done nothing to deny his rather obvious insinuation. This Tenten girl was certainly more troublesome than he'd presumed, if she could get Neji to such a state.
"That's what I like to hear."
AN: Two updates in one week? I'm getting quite good at this :)
This update is primarily for HaveSumCake and Mizily. Both of you provided a considerable amount of criticism, and it had me thinking on the progress of the fic thus far. I feel like I've done a terrible job, and I'm going to try pretty damned hard to make up for it. After the fic has officially been completed. I'm going to go back and make sure I've established their relationship more clearly. Thank you oh so much for your comments, you guys. Your criticism has been duly noted and applied.
(1) When Tenten's involved, I say anything goes.
(2) Let me explain. Recently, I've been trying this new "flashback mode" throughout the story. You might notice that I did it with Shikamaru. Remember how Shikamaru and Neji had a little "chat" last chapter? Yeah, well, I decided to elaborate on what that chat included in this chapter through "flashback mode." I shall be doing that with this little tidbit in the near future as well, so keep your eyes peeled for it.
I know this authors note is super long, but I have one more thing to say (plus a response to HaveSumCake's review! :D) Thank you guys oh so much for reviewing. You make me smile endlessly, and I couldn't love you more for it. Also, can you believe I got one hundred reviews! :O I'm so excited! :D :D :D Thank you oh so much! :D :D :D
Dear HaveSumCake,
1) At first, a bit. However, I feel like it's going by far too slow for my liking, so I've tried to step it up a notch with this chapter. I'm just terrible at romance (unfortunately), and I've been too focused on establishing the relationships between characters to dwell on it. Hopefully this was better? :) 2) Haha, great idea! I'm totally doing that! :D Thank you so much for the wonderful thought! 3) Sure thing, boss ;D 4) I made a ShikaTema fan laugh at the ShikaIno? Chyeah :D I'll be sure to keep her in, don't you worry! 5) Thank Kami for your review, you mean! I look forward to your future reviews, and thank you so, so much for your inspiration! :D
Terribly long authors note: over.