Early morning rays streamed in through the window, waking Tenten from her slumber. She groaned and turned away from the light, snuggling backwards into the warmth of the blankets. As she slowly regained consciousness, the events of the previous day trickled into her memory like a stream before flooding her mind all at once. Her eyes popped open, blood rushing to her cheeks as the memories of the previous evening came back to her.

Tenten couldn't believe what she had done. She wasn't the type of person that had one-night stands with people—hell, she hadn't even had a boyfriend since college three years ago. What Tenten had done with Neji last night should never have happened. She needed to get out of here before Neji woke up.

Speaking of…

She realized with a start that the blanket she had snuggled closer to wasn't a blanket at all; it was Neji's very hard and very naked torso. She tried to wiggle away from it, but he had her locked in an embrace, his arms clamped securely around her stomach, and he easily brought her back to his side, fingers caressing the soft skin of her belly.

"Please be asleep, please be asleep." She chanted to herself. He stilled again and she breathed a sigh of relief. Carefully this time, Tenten extracted herself from his arms and slowly slid her way out of the bed. She prayed Neji wouldn't wake up while she was standing stark naked in his room, eyes frantically searching for her clothes. They were strewn everywhere.

Where the hell were her panties? Tenten didn't have time to search every corner of the room to find where they had landed, so she made the decision to leave them. She quickly scrambled into her clothes, being as quiet as she could so as not to wake Neji from his sleep. Tenten grabbed her purse from the floor, shoved her feet into her sneakers without bothering to lace them up, and all but ran out the door.

"Morning. Have a good night?" Tenten almost jumped out of her skin at the unfamiliar voice, and she spun around to see a man standing behind the bar. He wore a mask that covered half of his face, and Tenten would have thought him a criminal if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed quite comfortable in the vicinity of the bar. "Want some breakfast, sweetheart?" He sounded genuinely friendly and Tenten found that she wasn't at all offended by the sudden pet name from this stranger.

"N-no, thank you." She shook her head at his offer and stumbled backwards, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't safe yet; she needed to get as far away from here as possible in order to feel at ease. Tenten couldn't risk Neji waking up. She had no idea how she would face him or what she would say.

The man smiled kindly at her, evidenced by the way his eyes crinkled pleasantly. "No worries. Can I make you some coffee while you wait for Neji? He's a pretty heavy sleeper, so he may not wake up for a while yet."

Relief flooded her at his statement. As long as Neji didn't wake up while she was still here, Tenten would be able to escape without being more humiliated than she already was. Last night had been a mistake, made worse by the fact that she hadn't been drunk. Tenten had been completely sober the whole time—she was sober when she stepped into the bar, she was sober when she let him kiss her, and she was sober when she allowed him to carry her to his room, and she was sober when...

"I-I have to go." She apologised to the kind man, her face no doubt revealing the turn her mind had taken.

Tenten ignored the man's requests for her to wait and bolted out the door, her mind a jumbled mess of embarrassment, regret and lingering desire.

Tenten knew she would never be able to forget that night, even if she wanted to.

.

.

.

"Alright ladies, show me what you've got." Tenten called to the group of women in front of her. "Find a partner and go through the moves Lee and I just demonstrated for you. Remember that it's not about being stronger than your opponent. Rather, you're using their strength to your advantage. As always, start off slow and get a feel for the move first. Then, when you feel comfortable, let your partner come at you harder to see how you handle it. Ready, ladies?"

A chorus of "ready!" sounded in response and Tenten clapped her hands once, the sound signalling the start of practice.

Tenten slowly made her way around the room, keeping an eye on her students. She corrected their stance when needed and gave endless encouragement as the minutes progressed.

It had been two weeks since she had spent the night with Neji, fleeing in the morning like the coward she was. She had spent the next few days looking over her shoulder, somehow both hoping and dreading that he might appear suddenly. Tenten knew she would never see him again—their original meeting had been pure coincidence—but some part of her longed to spend one more night with him. To feel things she had never felt before. To allow her just one more night to forget the past—the past that constantly replayed in the darkest parts of her mind, tormenting her.

"Tenten, can I see you for a moment?" Her boss and owner of Extreme Fitness, Might Guy, called to her from the sidelines, snapping her out of thoughts.

"Okay ladies," Tenten clapped her hands again, ending the sparring session. "Let's all take a five-minute break and when we come back, I'll see for myself how far you've come with this new move." She left her students to their devices and made her way to where Guy stood, waiting. "Yes, Sensei?"

Guy grinned at her. "Well done as always, Tenten. They are really starting to come out of their shells now, with your guidance."

"Thank you. It usually takes them a few classes before they feel completely comfortable, but they are doing well. I can tell they're having fun learning the techniques." This was what Tenten wanted to do with her life; teach women how to defend themselves. Too often, women are overpowered and taken advantage of because they don't know how to protect themselves from people who are bigger, stronger and faster than they are.

Tenten had come to Guy's place of work two years ago after being declined by every other martial arts institute in the area. No one had seemed to want a woman trainer, nor did they want a class purely for women. But Guy had been different. He respected Tenten and her vision for the future, and he promised to give her a place in his dojo. It had taken a lot of work to get her self-defence class up and running, but she finally managed to gain five students. With time, her class became larger, and now, two years later, Tenten was teaching self-defence classes to groups of ten women at a time, three days a week. Tenten was proud of her achievement, small though it may seem to others, and she would forever be grateful for Guy's encouragement and help throughout the past two years.

"I've been thinking, Tenten, and I want to advertise your classes so that more women are aware of the provision we offer. Would you like that?"

"Yes, Sensei! That would mean the world to me!" The opportunity to help more women was a gift Tenten would never tire of. "Thank you so much."

Guy clasped her shoulder, giving her his trademark thumbs-up with his free hand. "I knew you would say that. I have decided to add new photos to the website, as well as in the local newspapers. Therefore, a photographer will be here starting next week to capture you and your students in action. I wanted to inform you beforehand so you can give your students a heads up, in case some are not comfortable with being photographed. I think this will go a long way in showing how fun it can be to learn self-defence, as well as showing the important role it has in helping women protect themselves."

Tenten couldn't believe it. What an opportunity this was! "Thank you, Sensei. Thank you! I'm sure my ladies will be thrilled to be a part of this." She grinned at the man who had been a father-figure to her for the past two years, once again thankful to have him in her life.

"I'm glad you are happy, Tenten." Guy didn't know the reasons behind why Tenten had approached him two years ago, but she had been haunted, almost desperate for him to accept her proposal. He had never once regretted his decision to hire her and allow her to start a women's self-defence class in what had been a man's only dojo. Because of that, he had received frowns and ridicules from his counterparts, but Guy had never backed down. In a world ruled by men, he was glad to have this chance to allow women the opportunity to learn how to defend themselves from people who wished them harm.

"I need to go tell my students." Tenten was practically bouncing on the spot, her grin threatening to split her face in two. She thanked him again before turning back to where the women were gathered, ready for the next part of their lesson.

Tenten couldn't wait for next week to arrive.

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Don't worry, there will be more NejiTen interactions coming soon.