After Hanabi had sworn a vow to tell the truth as it had been agreed upon by all of them, the group started to disperse. There were some debriefings - with as much information as could be divulged-, oaths of silence, and general feelings of accomplishment without anybody really understanding what had been accomplished. At the end of it Tenten, Neji, and Tsunade were left alone.
"So," Tsunade began, feeling as though she should take the initiative before Tenten could do it again. "The weapon. What is it? What does it do? How do we stop it?"
Without waiting for Tsunade's permission Tenten retrieved it from its hiding place and started its assembly. She stopped to look around the room, then ask:
"Got a lance? Spear?"
The Hokage appeared skeptical but went and retrieved the specified weapon. Tenten strapped the pipe to the spearhead, held the lance stable and continued to demonstrate how a tiny bit of the black pulver from the bags might be poured into the pipe without actually doing it. It did not escape the Hokage's notice how careful Tenten was with the powder.
"You aim and it kills the enemy," Tenten explained once she was done.
Tsunade and Neji both frowned.
"What exactly does it do?" Tsunade wanted to know.
"It explodes," Tenten answered.
"How?"
"The powder is ignited and whatever is at the front of the pipe - shrapnel, what have you - shoots out and, providing you have it pointed at the enemy, penetrates them."
"That would be pretty neat," Tsunade answered, still doubtful. "Show me."
"No."
"Excuse me?" Tsunade's eyes were huge from disbelief. "That was an order, Tenten."
"I'm not going to shoot a pyrotechnical device in the middle of your home," Tenten hissed back.
"I am your Ho-"
"Actually, you're not. My Hokage is definitely not you and about seven years in the future. Please, Tsunade, listen to me when I tell you I won't be firing this thing inside your home in the middle of the city, where everyone can gossip about the mysterious sound they heard in the middle of the night that only Hiashi will identify for what it really is and tip our hand."
Briefly Tenten and Tsunade were engaged in a staring match, Tenten appearing the scarier of the two as she still held the spear. Finally Tsunade swallowed hard and without breaking eye contact pronounced:
"Never tell anyone you disrespected a direct order, no matter how unwise."
"Of course not," Tenten answered, obligingly. She took the weapon apart again.
"Do not transport this anymore," she warned about the bag of pulver. "It could ignite just because of the movement."
"What?" Tsunade looked appalled. "And you let someone carry that?"
Tenten looked tongue-tied. Of course she couldn't tell Tsunade that she already knew how Neji was going to die and it was not because of spontaneous combustion.
"Fine," Tsunade dismissed them. "The fiery stick stays under lock and key. I suppose I can see why it might be considered too dangerous. I mean, explosions kill lots of people but they're rather unstable and difficult to direct. If someone were to tame them into a weapon I suppose it might be scary."
Tenten grabbed a hold of Tsunade's sleeve.
"This is serious. This thing needs to stay under lock and key. No one - and I mean no one apart from the future Hokage - ever hears about this, understood?"
Tsunade removed her sleeve snobbishly from Tenten's grip and looked as though she were about to tell the kunoichi a piece of her grown-ass Hokage mind. But something in Tenten's gaze made her change her mind. Neji had never beheld anything quite like it.
"I hope you understand that the special circumstances surrounding your being here are the only reason I tolerate such behavior."
Tenten nodded solemnly. "Of course."
Now Tsunade looked at both of them.
"Dismissed."
ttt
Konoha's streets were dark and empty. Neji was afraid to address Tenten on their way home. She had told him quite frankly that she preferred the taciturn, restrained Neji to any other version of him. She clearly didn't appreciate it when he permitted himself to be honest with her. But he figured talking about mission-relevant things was allowed.
"It was impressive how you cracked Hanabi. It would be handy to have this skill in the future. Would you share how you managed it?"
Neji was being overly formal on purpose, hoping it might prompt Tenten to respond. All she said though was:
"I just know the Hyūgas."
It was a frightening statement because it made Neji feel she might be able to break him just as easily as she had Hinata and Hanabi. He regretted being so honest with her before. It felt like he had exposed a weakness to a virtual stranger. She might even be using it against him now, knowing just the right manner of interaction to keep him at a distance.
"You really don't know how much longer you'll be here?"
She shook her head.
"Tsunade doesn't know which jutsu it is, so she can't help you get back home."
Tenten nodded. Neji felt oddly as though their roles had been reversed. What happened next, Neji should have but simply did not expect. Tenten walked around the corner and bumped into him. His Tenten. The one he spent every day with.
"What the-" she exhaled and fell on her butt. Neji caught himself just in time. He felt something next to him move and realized future Tenten had vanished into the shadows.
The Tenten on the ground, rubbing her back side, looked up at him.
"Neji!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? At this hour. Did you know it's-"
Neji had to cut her off. He needed to get rid of her before she noticed that her time twin was close.
"Yes, I just returned from a training. You know, it's important to train at night in case you'll need to perform nocturnally."
She gave him that look she did when he was exasperating her.
"Yeah, Neji," she answered, patiently. "I know. That's actually why I am out as well."
"You are?"
"Yeah."
Her gaze was wary and perhaps as though she were suppressing rolling her eyes at him. Neji realized she probably expected more haughty remarks from him but all he could think of was that it was so freaking weird that Tenten was probably watching him from the shadows as he interacted with her younger self.
"Are you ok? You look… different."
"Hard training. Make sure you don't neglect your sleep cycle by training at night."
There was her exasperated look again. It made him want to kiss her, tell her he was sorry about everything. Everything he had ever done wrong, everything he was still doing wrong, even right now, this second.
"I almost have that complaint processed for you."
"Oh, that's so nice. I heard Tsunade was using you as an errand boy for something. I figured you'd be too busy to even remember it."
Neji bit back what he really wanted to say and just tersely replied that his memory was very adaptive.
"Course it is," Tenten murmured, tartly. "You've always got it together, I guess. Anyway, I gotta get going. Don't wanna disrupt my sleep cycle too much, right?"
He nodded and she walked past him. Neji kept walking but future Tenten stayed out of sight. It turned out she was smart to do that because Neji could tell that her younger self looked back over her shoulder at him when she was only a few feet away.
As soon as the present tense Tenten had disappeared around another corner, future Tenten appeared by his side again. He noticed immediately that her footsteps were a lot lighter and she walked with a different gait. Just another reminder how different his Tenten was to this one.
"I'd almost forgotten how painfully awkward we were," Tenten murmured next to him.
"Excuse me? That wasn't awkward. It was normal," he informed her.
"I thought so too - at the time. But now I can see … a lot more."
Neji raised one brow in response to her words. It seemed as though she had started the conversation about something personal. Something that was just between them. Testing the waters, Neji replied:
"It's the best I can manage, given the circumstances."
They were only a few feet from his home now and Neji sped up his steps because he did not want to have this conversation out in the streets. They probably should have been more careful striding home, but it was too late for that now. Thinking that made him wonder why Tenten hadn't thought about it. She was usually so careful when moving through the city, even at night. It prompted him to think she might be preoccupied as well. He tried to usher her in the door as quickly as possible but she wouldn't budge.
"Did you forget something at Tsunade's? Tenten?"
She remained still, but he noticed her fists were balled at her side.
"I'm so sorry I'm still here. I really thought I was going to … go back. I felt so drained. I definitely lost consciousness. But when I woke up I was at the same spot and I thought I was back in my timeline but then I saw the grass was flattened where you'd kneeled beside me and I knew I was still stuck here."
"I'm so sorry you feel stuck. If I could do anything to speed up your return, I would do it. I promise."
"It's not just because of me that I'm sorry. I don't think I've brought you much joy since I've arrived."
That was not entirely true. But it hardly seemed like something he could explain to her on his front door step.
"Will you just please come inside?"
Tenten swallowed hard. "Yeah, I probably should, shouldn't I? Instead of standing here and messing up time even more."
"I don't think you're messing up time."
"But you'll-"
"I'll do exactly what is required of me. I'm not going to change anything. I told you before - I don't want to mess up your future."
"But that was before-"
"So?" Neji exclaimed. He shook his head slightly. "So, I'll die. Everyone dies. It's not exactly a great revelation."
"But I shouldn't've-"
"Tell me that eventually I'll die?" Neji huffed. "I don't know what cosmic rule of time you think you broke, but you didn't really supply me with any new information. Now get yourself inside before I shut the door in your face."
Instead of glowering at him angrily, she followed his command, surprisingly obedient. It raised all kinds of internal red flags because this wasn't like future Tenten at all. Once he'd closed the door behind her, Tenten just remained standing in his hallway. He pushed past her to get to the kitchen. When in doubt, making tea was always the right move, he figured.
"So, my coming here hasn't supplied you with any awful experiences," he heard her say in a suspiciously small voice behind him, still in the hallway.
"I didn't say that."
"What are you saying?" Now she sounded exasperated. That sounded a lot more like her. It made him answer her honestly.
"I'm saying I'm not afraid of the future."
"Why the heck not?"
The tension between them was rising high now, which is why even more of the truth burst out of him.
"Because the worst has already happened!"
"I thought you just said knowing you'll die is no big deal!"
Now they were both hissing at each other.
"It's not my death that's the worst that'll ever happen. I told you - I'm terrified of losing control around you. Now it's finally happened. That ...incident, the one that hurt you and made you retreat, that's the worst that's ever happened. Me thinking you'd want to be kissed and getting it all wrong. There's really no excuse for it."
"That isn't the worst-"
"It is for me. I'm always so tightly wound and now I know I'm a failure."
"You are not a failure. Never say that again!"
"I can't promise to do that."
Their feelings had exploded in the other's face and their voices were a bit more mindful of Neji's neighbors now.
"Why not?" she asked, quietly.
"I never say never," he responded in a level voice.
"That's weirdly optimistic for you."
As he prepared their tea, their conversation felt more natural again.
"No, I just don't like the inaccuracy of it. You can't say never until you've absolutely excluded the possibility of it happening. And that's only possible after you've determined the time frame. Take your lifetime for example. 'I'll never eat pumpkin' - That's just not a statement you can make. You can say 'I hate pumpkin, therefore it's improbable I'll ever eat it' but you don't know what situations you might find yourself in and you may eat it."
He gave her a tiny little smile.
"And I don't like being inaccurate," he explained as though it needed explaining. Then his brows drew together pensively and he set down the tea-making utensils.
"But I guess now I should start saying 'never' seeing as I have more knowledge about my timeframe now."
He couldn't see Tenten directly but he felt a nervous intensity radiate off her again. He went for it anyway. Turning around, he asked:
"Like, I'll never… live in Suna-Gakure. Right?"
"Not to my knowledge", Tenten admitted.
"Or I'll never be clan leader. Hm?"
"Neji, this is a depressing game. Can we please not-"
"Or I'll never kiss you. Again."
"Neji, you ...- wait, what now?" Her eyes were huge and scared once more. Then she croaked "Again?"
"Unless you let me", he added. Tenten didn't know what to say. He made his way toward her.
"Yesterday I got it wrong. I hate that I did that. But there is something that your arrival has changed. I know now that I'm never going to figure out a way to be with you in the way I want. I'm never going to have a relationship with you. We're never going to get married or have children or grow old together."
He swallowed hard, before he continued.
"But for an instant yesterday and on other occasions you've seemed as though you might like to kiss me."
He leaned closer into her and there was a definite tension between them. It felt as though they could both feel the spark even though they weren't even touching.
"So, if I am correct and you would welcome a kiss, please tell me that that's one 'never' I won't have to make peace with. May I please kiss you, Tenten, - regardless of how old you are or whether that's something we usually don't do. If you can figure out a way to be comfortable with it, I would really love the chance to-"
"Yeah," she breathed and then closed the distance between them herself. Neji couldn't make it further into his hallway because Tenten crushed into him, her lips ravaging his mouth. The sensation of her demanding lips, her teeth tugging at his lower lip, and her tongue stroking his insides was so overwhelming that all Neji could do was hold onto the doorframe and not tumble over. Then Neji crushed his lips into hers too. Cupping her head in his large hands and enjoying the delicious pull her actions were creating in his groin.
"Your stupid ass is the sexiest thing I've ever seen," she murmured against his mouth and grabbed his butt to thrust him against his kitchen table. Neji grabbed hers in response and indicated what he wanted. Tenten nodded and he lifted her onto his lap right there on his kitchen table. Her legs encased him and he felt like never leaving.
"Do you know how infuriatingly fuckable you are?" she asked him.
He had to admit he had no idea. But there was something incredibly sexy about hearing her talk dirty. Sexy and surreal. Exactly the right words to describe this situation. When he'd asked for a kiss, this was certainly not what he'd been expecting.
She yanked his hair back so she could kiss a line down his throat.
This time Neji melted. He heard moans coming deep from his own chest. He'd never made such a sound in his life. He definitely didn't feel like he was taking advantage of her anymore. It was strange, feeling helpless.
When he had the opportunity to right his head and look her in the eyes again, her gaze was dangerous and determined. But as she looked at him, something changed. Neji saw the moment it clicked for her and her gaze went back to scared. Terrified in fact.
So, as quick as it had begun, it ended.
Tenten scrambled off his lap, awkwardly untangling her legs from his arms and finding her way back to firm ground. Neji didn't feel like his legs could hold him yet, so he just stayed seated on his kitchen table.
"Sorry," Tenten huffed out. She looked devastated. "Couldn't help that."
He wanted to tell her there was no need to be sorry.
The way he'd looked at her scared the hell out of her. She'd seen more than just want in his eyes. There'd been trust. She'd seen something that connected them in a profound way, in a way that made her heart beat up into her throat and lose her breath. She'd seen a connection that she couldn't live without.
But she would be going back to a reality where there was no Neji. No connection. So, if she already felt like she couldn't live with it now, that didn't bode well for her return. She didn't want to return to the place she belonged just to find she didn't feel as though she belonged anymore.
"That was way more than I'd asked for. Thank you." He sounded stilted. "Definitely wouldn't have wanted to miss out on that."
There he went again, saying things her Neji never would have uttered. Her Neji was the distanced, aloof guy who'd been outside on the street, admonishing Tenten simultaneously for both not training more often at night and not getting enough sleep. Tenten could really do without someone talking about 'missing out' right now.
She could feel his gaze burning on her skin. In fact, she felt like her whole body was on fire. Then she thought about going back to a world without Neji and she felt almost nauseous.
"You look really pale," Neji remarked. He was still just sitting on the damn kitchen table, looking at her as though she hadn't just insensitively mauled him.
First she flirted with him, then she told him he was going to die, then almost let him kiss her, then ignored his soulful looks, and now she'd just devoured him. This was beyond unprofessional. She needed to stop.
"Am I making your stomach churn again?" he wondered. Tenten wasn't sure whether he was. Technically, he wasn't confronting her with truths about she wasn't prepared to hear. But something was making it churn. Maybe her own actions.
"How about we go back to light-hearted flirtiness," he suggested with dry humor. "I could-" but she didn't let him finish.
"I'm so sorry," she just croaked out again. "That was a really stupid thing to do."
"I've been waiting for an opportunity to do something a little stupid," he confessed.
Another thing her Neji would never say. But then again, she never would have kissed her Neji the way she'd kissed this one. Talked to him the way she'd talked to this one. And a few days ago she could have sworn that her Neji would never have kissed her back the way this one had. But now she wasn't so sure anymore. She was so confused, her head hurt like when she'd just arrived in this timeline.
"If you don't mind, I need a cold shower," she confessed and fled into the bedroom with the attached bathroom.
As she stood under the cold shower spray, she was thankful she hadn't had to travel back to a point in time without running water. The cold liquid felt so good all over her body. She opened her mouth and let it be filled with water, then she let the water run down her front and back. She contemplated letting her hand slide between her legs, but she didn't when she heard a noise.
A door creaking.
She looked over to where the door was opened a crack. Neji was leaning there, but had his eyes covered.
"Can I come in?"
She didn't answer him, so he continued.
"So, you couldn't help that, huh?"
The water pouring was the only sound they heard.
"That didn't come out of nowhere, did it, Tenten? I feel like we're at the cusp of some kind of climax."
The water just kept pouring and Tenten put her face under the stream, so she wouldn't have to hear more. But she did.
"Just make a decision, Tenten. Any decision."
"It's too much pressure."
They weren't just two people with a conflicted history. They were two people from two different times - their conflicting history wasn't just personal, it was everyone's history that conflicted with what was going on right now.
"You want me to wait?"
"Yes?"
"Should I stay standing here or do you want me to wait in general?"
Tenten took a deep breath, then spoke:
"Stand there. But keep your eyes closed."
Neji complied. Tenten had never had anyone wait for her like this, especially not if that person was aware of how time was running out for them. It took her a long time to get clean enough to feel like she was ready for a decision. When it hit her though she felt so rocked, she couldn't even turn off the water. She just grabbed a towel and held it up in front of her while it got wetter and wetter.
"Ok," she heard herself say.
Neji took her ok to mean he was allowed to come in and look at her. When he took his hand away from his eyes, Neji looked incredibly tired. The sound of running water was the only thing they could hear. He came a step closer and just mouthed 'please'.
"Please what?" Tenten demanded to know.
"Please. I can't…" He didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he started anew: "Please... just make a decision. Any is fine with me."
She knew what decision he wanted her to make. But she just couldn't. She couldn't fathom what she would do if she gave in with him now and then went back and would never feel that way again.
Then an even scarier thought hit her. How would she feel if she went home knowing she had forever missed her chance to experience something… special.
"I'm scared to death," she confessed.
"I'm the one who'll be dying," he joked but his eyes held hers.
"Whenever I start thinking about it, it just hurts."
"Then stop thinking."
She could feel his fingers gently trace over the towel.
"I can't touch you unless you give me permission. My fingers itch. Please, just make a decision. You can even change your mind later on but just-"
"Is this really what you want?"
"Never wanted anything more."
Their gaze had been locked the whole time and Tenten finally decided she was going to follow his advice. The mission, the past, the future. They all faded into the back. She stopped thinking. And started kissing. The towel dropped to the floor as she let want and desperate passion wash over both of them. They exploded like a firearm.