~Uxorial~
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Two cups of rice, two cups of water; put the rice in the cooker. Two clusters of broccoli, three hot dogs. Cut into small trees, slice into octopus wieners. A dash of a salt, a touch of pepper, a splash of oil. Two eggs, cracked over the pan smoothed over with oil and fried to a soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside kind of crisp. Shrimp, carrots, sweet potato, peas. Hand breaded with eggs and flour, covered in tempura crumbs, fried to perfection; sauce prepared the night before and placed on the side. Miso soup, stirred and hot and saliva-inducing.
Bento, placed on the counter. Rice spooned and arranged carefully in one of the compartments, sprinkled with black sesame seeds for a soft fragrance and topped off with seasoned cucumbers– no pickled plums, never pickled plums. Octopus wieners with broccoli in another compartment. Tempura placed in the largest, miso soup ladled carefully into a bowl with a lid.
Wrapped delicately in a laced napkin, two sesame dumplings rolled in white sesame seeds, tied off gently to avoid crushing of the little treat.
Cloth ready, printed with a simple yet elegant design of blue flowers. Bento lid secured tightly, soup container placed on top. Dessert dumplings next to the soup. Collapse-able chopsticks added to the neatly created pile, cloth tied in a secure, pretty bow on the very top.
Repeat the process with a cloth of black and crimson flowers.
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Tenten panted softly, giving an appraising look before collapsing ungracefully onto the ground with a sigh. "You're so serious all the time, Neji."
"Of course. Would you expect otherwise of me?"
"No," Tenten admitted to her sparring partner. "But I'm so tired today."
"Do not give excuses for your own inability to fight properly. You should have gotten enough rest the night before. A ninja – "
"Must always be prepared," Tenten finished. "Yes, I know. I will beat you tomorrow." She settled into a more comfortable position on the ground. "In the meantime, we should probably stop Gai-sensei and Lee. It's lunch time, and it's likely that they are doing some sort of insane training."
"Hn. Let's go."
The duo found the other half of their team training session scaling the Hokage monument. Tenten looked on in a mix of amazement and wry amusement, before sighing. "Whatever. They'll come down sooner or later. I'm going to go eat lunch."
"Don't be late for the mission later," Neji answered in response.
"As if," Tenten retorted, reaching for one of her scrolls. "See you."
"Hn."
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"Wow, Neji, you have such a youthful bento! Surely a person sparkling with the beautiful vehement glory from the springtime of youth made it for you."
Neji choked on his tempura. 'Why in the world am I eating with Gai-sensei and Lee again? Something must have tampered with my fate today.'
"Neji? Are you all right? Oh, perhaps the thought of your beautiful youthful blossom has sent you into the glittering reality called love."
The Hyuuga twitched. "Neji?"
"It's none of your business where I get my lunch. Eat your own, Lee."
"Neji-kun is right! Come, Lee, we must partake in the wonderful youthfulness of this curry!" Gai exclaimed to the sky.
"Hai, Gai-sensei! I will finish this in two minutes, or I will run four hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!"
"Then I will join you, Lee, and run four hundred laps to Suna on one of my hands!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Hyuuga Neji walked away. It was best that he not see the scene that was sure to follow, and he really had no intention of bringing up his lunch. He quickly ate the remainder of the bento, and sealed it back into a scroll. Now, to find some decent company that would actually prove a challenge to his training endeavors.
As he walked through the streets of Konoha, he heard a particularly loud and familiar voice coming from a ramen stand. "Teme! Give me back my ramen!"
"You've had ten bowls already. You'll be sick if you keep eating."
"Give it back!"
Neji sighed. It was a daily occurrence during noon to see Team Seven's two male teens out eating together. Just as much as it was to find Team Ten eating barbecue, and Yuuhi Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko at the dango store, and Tenten with his younger cousin – they actually got along relatively well out of the other kunoichi teens.
Finding no suitable training partner that wasn't eating, Neji headed back to the Hyuuga compound. He could always train alone for the meantime. Better than training with Lee for the moment…
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Meanwhile, Tenten was dutifully ignoring those around her. It was typical of her to eat in a comfortable silence with Hinata the days the Hyuuga wasn't with her team, but today Sakura and Ino had wished to join them as well.
It would have been rude to refuse, and Hinata would have been mortified at anything rude, so Tenten gritted her teeth and tolerated the gossip and chatting that was floating around her. When she unwrapped her bento, she grinned at her two sesame dumplings – her favorite. Ignoring the urge to consume the treats immediately, she carefully opened her bento, putting her chopsticks together.
It wasn't until she took a couple bites of her food that she realized that Sakura and Ino were staring at her. "What?" Tenten asked, swallowing a mouthful of rice.
"That's such a pretty bento! Did you make it for yourself?"
"Ha?"
"Ano…I-I made it for her," Hinata said quietly, knowing that Tenten wouldn't be comfortable answering the question the other two kunoichi had asked.
"It looks brilliant," Sakura commented, Ino nodding.
Tenten sighed softly, putting her head down and continuing to eat. But it really did taste quite good. Quickly consuming the rest of her lunch, she jumped up, wishing to get away from the prying eyes of the pinkette and blonde.
"I'm going to go train. Bye Hinata, Sakura, Ino." She jogged off at a quick pace, wanting to get away from the pressure.
Tenten wondered if they should stop that arrangement. It was making others suspicious.
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"And you know, my blossom, Neji had the most beautiful bento today! Perhaps he is opening up to the world and accepting his youthful side!" Lee commented to Sakura.
The pinkette blinked. It was unlikely that Hyuuga Neji of all people would be willing to accept his 'youthful side'. "Wait, did you say beautiful bento?"
"Yes! Tempura and sesame dumplings and everything! So youthful!"
Sakura ignored the latter comment. 'Wait, didn't Tenten have tempura and sesame dumplings today too? And…Hinata was eating yakisoba…is that a coincidence?'
"Shall we go watch the youthful sunset and bask in its rays?" Lee broke through her thoughts.
"Err…how about we just go watch the sunset…normally?"
Lee nodded, willing to accept that. "Let us go then!"
Still, Sakura wondered…
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"Neh, Neji, maybe we should stop with the bentos. It's making the others suspicious, and I thought that you wanted to keep this –" a gesture, " – a secret for the time being."
"I am not letting you go back to eating yakisoba bread for lunch, and yakisoba for dinner. It's almost as unhealthy as Naruto's ramen for every single meal. It's a wonder he hasn't died of salt poisoning."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with yakisoba."
"How about the amount of sodium in it? The fact that it was no balanced nutritional value and only covers three areas of the food pyramid?"
Tenten had no reply to that. It was true after all. "But that's all I know how to make!"
"Which is why I am making your lunches at the very least," Neji sighed. He had been mortified when he finally noticed that Tenten had yakisoba bread, yakisoba, or cup ramen for lunch most days. It seemed that it was all she could make, and the budget of an average chunin was rather tight.
"It's kind of weird though," Tenten admitted, averting her eyes. "It's usually the girl making the bento, isn't it?"
"You can burn anything."
"Hey! How do I make perfect yakisoba if I burn everything like you say!" Tenten protested, indignant at the false claim. She could easily admit that she wasn't perfect at the culinary arts, but it didn't mean that she could ruin everything she cooked.
"Your yakisoba consists of pre-prepared noodles and ready-to-use sauce. The only thing you have to do is boil water, cook the noodles, and mix. Really no better than cup ramen." Neji drawled.
Tenten glared. "Fine!"
Neji smirked, something Tenten recognized now as his version of a smile. "I knew that you would see It my way sooner or later. I am satisfied that it is sooner, for it has saved us both much time and energy."
Tenten rolled her eyes at his arrogance. "Whatever you say. But…thanks."
Neji didn't respond for a moment, and Tenten flushed lightly, looking away. "Of course."
The kunoichi gathered her composure. "Hinata had to cover for you," she commented, grinning.
"It could be worse. And It was. I believe Lee called me – indirectly – 'a person sparkling with the beautiful vehement glory from the springtime of youth'."
Tenten almost died laughing that day. During noon the next day, she realized that her rice was sprinkled liberally with pickled plums.
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Uxorial means relating to, involving, or characteristic of a wife. A.K.A. Neji in this particular snippet – it is a scene I often see in anime, the girl giving the guy she likes a homemade bento. I thought it would be fun to switch it around.
It is recorded on Narutopedia that Tenten's favorite food is sesame dumplings, and she dislikes pickled plums.
Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment if you have the time; I would appreciate it.