Haha, I said the next chapter would be up really soon. I really meant in like the next 30 mins. And once again, this chapter was a collab effort between myself and my bestie and it came about the same way chapter three did, through texting each other bits of the story and carrying on from where the other had left off. Anyways back to the story.

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 4: Only with You

They had made it back to Tenten's place, dripping wet from being caught in the rain. The two of them walked inside, Tenten to the kitchen to make tea while Neji went straight to her bedroom and went to the shower. She didn't mind letting him go first since she took considerably longer to shower than he did. She took her time filling the kettle and preparing his cup. As soon as she'd finished making him tea, he was already finished and walking into the living room. He said thanks as she made her way to her bedroom and went to shower herself. She sighed in relief when the hot water sprayed against her cold body, warming her up immediately. Once finished washing her body she took her favourite shampoo and lathered her hair.

She walked out of the shower to the steam filled bathroom and wrapped a towel around her hair and got into one of her night gowns. She walked into the living room and found him sitting on the couch with his cup of tea in hand. Tenten's was on the table waiting for her—he'd made it just how she liked it.

She sat comfortably next to him and took a few sips, warming her on the inside before setting her mug down then took the hair ties out of her pocket. Neji silently turned his back to her and she began brushing his hair.

He leaned into her touch, feeling at peace in Tenten's presence. She was the only one he allowed himself to be like this around, completely unguarded. Only with her could he feel like this. Not to mention the only person he allowed to touch and style his hair. She was more than a teammate, yes, but he couldn't find the words exactly to describe her.

Neji was very particular about his hair, in a way it had to do with how open he was willing to be and so far she was the only one he let his hair down around, literally. No one was allowed to touch, so why her? Why was she allowed to touch his long, soft hair and style it as she pleased?

Tenten had always wondered why she was awarded such a privilege. There was something about these moments with him that just felt so right. She'd thought about asking him on multiple occasions but in every moment thought better of it. Did there really need to be a reason? As far as she could tell, this moment, this intimate ritual of theirs was something they didn't want to end, even if they never openly expressed it.

Even though they sat in complete silence, Tenten felt like he was letting her in, and she was doing the same with him. You needed to have a lot of trust in a person to let them do your hair in the way you wanted it.

She let out a short content sigh.

"What's the matter?" he asked

"Oh nothing, it's just, I really like seeing you so relaxed." She smiled to herself as she just finished tying his hair with the black hair tie. Neji liked his hair like this, only she could style it so perfectly. He turned around to face her, "Your turn now." She smiled and was about to turn around but he held on to her shoulder.

"What?" she asked a little confused

"I just wanted to get one last look." He answered genuinely. He'd never forget the first time he saw her with her hair down. They'd come back from a successful mission and decided to visit the hot springs. Lee and Guy sensei were already soaking, Neji and Tenten were still putting away their belongings. Tenten, dressed in a white robe had walked in the room to put her clothes away, Neji was about to head out when he saw her with her hair down. It was longer than he thought, her brown slightly wavy locks fell gracefully over her shoulders and framed her face in a way he'd never seen before. He was so used to her twin buns which he already thought made her look beautiful but at that moment he stood on the spot as if frozen in time, speechless at how different and even more radiant, gorgeous even, she appeared. To put it quite plainly he'd been staring and at some point she'd noticed.

"Something wrong, Neji?" she looked at him and tucked some of her hair behind her ear

"I've just never seen you with your hair down. It looks… you look amazing." He'd really meant to say breath-taking

"Thank you." She shyly smiled

When they were done for the day and they'd come to get their things Tenten had already tied her hair back up again. It made Neji wonder if she'd specifically undid her hair for only him to see.

"You look even more beautiful with your hair down." He would never get tired of seeing her hair loose and the way she'd smile whenever he complimented her. It was enough to make his heart skip a beat.

"Don't say that." She said with a giggle before she turned around, waiting for him to do her hair and she leaned into his touch.

He was always so gentle when he did her hair as if she was fragile. Of course she was anything but and he knew that all too well. He was constantly on the receiving end of her precise attacks during their sparring sessions. Tenten was a born fighter and that's what he loved about her.

Wait…did he say love?

He paused momentarily, halfway through tying her first bun. The thought crossed his mind so simply. Her strength, her ability to push him to absolute limits and the way she was always there for him. She never doubted him even when he doubted himself. The way she got under his skin when she'd tease him and the many times he'd allowed her to. She was also someone he could trust completely and just about the only person he'd been able to open up to about his 'fate' and his life in general. He pondered over all this one more time. He was completely in love with her.

"Neji, you stopped. Something wrong?" she looked up at him. Her chocolate brown eyes looking up into his and for a moment he just took in this wonderful woman he'd come to care for so deeply. A small smile graced his face.

"I just realised that your hair has gotten longer." He resumed tying it

"It has…?" she reached for her hair that was still loose and stretched it out. "Woah you're right. Watch out Neji I might just become competition for you for best hair." She couldn't help but laugh at her own silliness. It was quite obvious that it would take a while for her hair to reach his hair's length. Just hearing her laugh made something in him stir. What he felt for her was genuine.

Yup.

He was totally in love with her.

This might just be my fave chpater, unless I think of another short moment for them that I enjoy more than I did writing this, we'll see I guess. In fact the ideas for ch3 and this ch4 happened on the same night and it's not like we said okay let's write a NejiTen fic, we'd just be talking about them then talk about sumn else then talk about them again but anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Well that's it from me-

Until the chapter:

Ketsui Tasogare :-)