DAY ONE
The next morning, on the bus, Tenten sighed.
"Gai-sensei?" she called out. Her green spandex clad teacher turned around. "Where are we going?"
The kunoichi gestured to the various people seated around the small bus- the Rookie Nine, Team Gai and their teachers.
"We are going on a camp."
"What camp?"
"A camp during which the shinobi of Konoha will bond and live out their springtime of youth! Yosh!" Maito Gai beamed, and his teeth sparkled with a resounding 'ping'.
Tenten rolled her eyes.
"Yay. A camp." The Hyuuga prodigy, Neji, was seated beside Tenten and was extremely sarcastic, and showed no hesitation in showing the lack of his enthusiasm.
"Tenten! Neji!" their team mate, Rock Lee, was sitting in front of them, beside their teacher. "You must listen to Gai-sensei and embrace your youth –"
The pair turned away and looked out the window.
"Be grateful. Without me, you'd be stuck here on your own, going insane. So what do you really think about this camp?" Tenten, who hadn't bothered to do her hair this morning, asked, leaning past Neji to get a better look out the window.
Neji was not in the least slightly discomfited when Tenten's unbound hair brushed his mouth, bringing the memory of the night before. He broke his thoughts out of the distraction, yet couldn't help but think that his sparring partner's hair smelt pleasantly intoxicating once more. He had known the girl… woman… for more than ten years now, and…
"It seems a bit boring, I guess- it's nothing more than what we usually do- training, talking, eating, sleeping…" Neji trailed off
"Mm… sleep…" Tenten murmured and fell asleep in Neji's lap. She had been up since midnight two days ago, as certain neighbours kept her awake from their "hard core partying" and Neji had kept her out training in the long hours before and after sunset and sunrise. The summer heat had done her no good either, the kunoichi always hating the summer months due to lack of proper sleep in the hotter nights.
She promptly fell asleep, finding comfort and security at last, and did not notice when Lee turned to take happy snaps, and when Neji had to try very hard not to beat Lee to a pulp, and had to settle for swiftly using chakra strings to make a bag conveniently fall from the bag rack, onto his head.
A few hours later Neji caught a glimpse of water out the window and sensed that Tenten was waking up.
"We're going to a beach!" Tenten said sleepily. They had just started an ascent up a very steep mountain side, and the bus was steadily reaching the summit.
Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino began squealing about how the number one rookie in their year, Uchiha Sasuke, would really notice them in a bikini. Their hopes were dashed soon after.
"It is not the ocean. We are not going to the beach. We are heading up into the mountains." Hatake Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto's mentor spoke lazily and did not look up from his book- "Flirting Paradise"
Tenten and her companion both rolled their eyes. Five days with everyone here would strain their limits, both of them knew that.
"You know, I still don't get why we don't go on these weird 'bonding camps' with the other shinobi our age," Tenten grumbled sleepily. She sat up and rubbed her forehead then gave a jaw cracking yawn.
"She's definitely cuter when she's sleepy..." Neji thought to himself. He quickly gave himself a mental shake, wondering why his until recently quiet teenage hormones, which had been absent throughout his earlier teenage years, had decided to surface at a very unnecessary time.
"Neji? Are you feeling sick?" Tenten began to worry. She did not want anyone hurling on this bus trip, and Neji had been looking at her strangely recently.
"Hn? Oh no… I'm fine thanks. Really. I never get sick."
"Don't jinx yourself!" Tenten scolded and leaned on Neji's shoulder. "What else can you see?"
"Um." Neji gulped and tried not to think about the subtly perfumed hair draped across his shoulder.
"I can see… an extremely beautiful kunoi- flower."
"…"
"And it is pale pink, but very thorny."
"You mean a rose? Do they even grow in mountains?" Tenten asked, her eyes closed.
"Well, this one is rare." Neji gulped again.
"Wow. What else?"
"Lots of trees. We're driving out of the valley, but it is still very sunny, wherever you are."
The bus lurched to a stop a while later and the inhabitants of Konoha filed out of the bus- Maito Gai, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Yuuhi Kurenai, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Akamaru, Aburame Shino, Sarutobi Asuma Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji- taking their belongings with them.
Gai, Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma assembled in front of their students.
"Yosh! Welcome to camp! You are here on a mission to bond and strengthen team work!" Gai spoke with much noted enthusiasm.
"Here are maps and timetables. Over the next five days, you will stay in a cabin in your teams, but we will all do activities together." Kakashi explained
"We won't be doing anything for the rest of today, but we will leave you to settle in. try and keep your timetables and maps with you at all times so that you remember where you should be." Kurenai said, as the shinobi examined the various sheets.
"Remember, the main theme of this camp is bonding, team work and harmony," Asuma said, reading off his palm as the cigarette continued to burn.
"Yosh! Go find your rooms! Live out the springtime of your youth! AND REMEMBER- CAMP IS FUN!" Gai yelled. The students, except for Lee, hastily scurried away. Ino and Sakura both had two large suitcases each, although they carried several smaller bags. The male members of the shinobi present along with Hinata and Tenten all had relatively smaller luggage than the two girls, who managed to get one other male member of their team to carry the larger bags.
Tenten followed Neji to their allocated cabin. It was small, neat and cosy, with a bunk bed and a single bed. The walls were a summer sea blue, the curtains the colour of sunshine and the wooden floors stained honey.
"This is more like a cottage than a cabin," Tenten commented as she slipped off her shoes and slid her bag onto the top bunk. Neji soon placed his bag on the bed beneath hers, leaving the single bed on the other side of the room for Lee.
"I forgot he was a horrible sleeper- I need some sleep tonight, or I will kill someone. I have been kept up all night for the past few days, by some people who always seem to start their party just as I am drifting off or getting to sleep, and then there was you last night…" Tenten stopped and blushed.
Neji smirked and began to unpack.
"So what are you doing for the rest of today?" he asked a while later, watching as his sparring partner stretched out on the bed.
"I don't know. I guess I'll try and catch up on much needed sleep- but I can't sleep during the day." Tenten yawned.
"Well you did fall asleep before." Neji continued unpacking.
"Yeah… that was good. Thanks for not pushing me off." Tenten drifted off into a slumber and dreamed about things that made her seem like another one of Neji's pathetic and annoying fan girls.
"Tenten!" Lee shouted.
"Lee..?" Tenten was still groggy from sleep.
"Tenten? Are you okay?" Lee asked.
"What? I've been sleeping! Leave me alone!" the kunoichi rolled over and tried to fall asleep, when she caught a glimpse of the light out the window.
"Lee? I'm sorry I snapped at you… eh what time is it?"
"It is a few hours yet until dinnertime. Gai-sensei sent me to check on you and Neji because he hadn't seen you all day… where is Neji?" Lee turned around and looked in the bathroom, and under Tenten's blanket as if he'd be there. Tenten's toes curled up and she clutched the blanket closer to her, wishing to keep warm.
"I don't know… hey Lee… did you just get in?" the sudden question just popped into her head.
"Yes. I have been down at the river with the others, but I hadn't seen you all day, so I thought to find you two… but Neji is not here…" shaking his head, Lee walked out of the room.
Tenten flipped off the bed, noting the fact that Neji's bag was gone, along with swimmers and a water bottle. He had left most of his weapons behind, taking only a few shuriken with him.
Tenten stared at the map, soon finding her destination. Neji was not one for swimming in public, so he had instead walked the fifteen minute uphill hike to the water hole.
Tenten quickly dressed in swimmers and took her towel and dry clothes to change back into later. She slipped into her shoes and jogged up to the water hole.
Neji, meanwhile, was floating around on his back in the icy cold water. It was refreshing and he had scouted the area for a few hours before remembering the waterhole on the map, at the other side of the property.
"You know, I think it would be a bit rude to just sneak up on you, but I guess you already knew…" Tenten said from the edge of the water.
She liked the way the large boulders encircled the area, with a space wide enough for three people to fit left as an entrance.
"Hello Tenten," Neji replied. "How was your nap?"
"Pretty good." The weapons expert replied, stripping briskly and sliding into the water. She balanced on the rocks beneath the surface, feeling her way gingerly around with her feet.
"It's okay. The rocks aren't that sharp, but they can be slippery." Neji cautioned.
"Thanks." Tenten soon gave up trying to walk and swam slowly to where her partner was floating blissfully contemplating one thing or another.
"And thanks for the blanket." Tenten added a few minutes later while she treaded water. The small lake was extremely cold and Tenten enjoyed the way it had shocked the sleepiness out of her.
"It's okay." Neji replied.
"So what did you do today while I was sleeping?"
"Nothing really.. Just scouting… and swimming for the past hour."
"Really? Is that all you did?"
"Yeah, compared to you sleeping, I think I did a whole lot more."
"Well I would've slept longer but Lee woke me up."
"Why?"
"Oh he hadn't seen us for the entire day today, and everyone was apparently getting worried." Tenten was adjusting to the temperature of the water.
"Hey Neji?" she asked. There were many questions lingering in her mind, mainly ones concerning the kiss from last night. Her sparring partner turned to face her, the green seal across his forehead for once not hidden by the forehead protector, and was met by a wave of the water. He coughed and spluttered for a few moments and then glared at Tenten who was on the other side of the pool.
"Oh I'm so scared!" Tenten began to shiver. Neji retaliated by simply causing another wave to course through the water and drench his friend even more.
This went on for another few minutes, and Tenten crawled out of the water, leaving Neji as the victor of the match.
Her stomach rumbled and she glanced at Neji who, too, was leaving the water. His sleek hair was even shinier in the light, and…
"Neji?" Tenten had to do this before she panicked and backed out. "Um… about last night…" at this, Neji looked up and began walking over to her. Tenten froze.
"Go on…" Neji searched her eyes for the question which she could not ask.
"Um… well that kiss?…" Tenten hated her voice in that moment. It was more of a squeak and it made her sound like those much despised girls.
"Hmm..?" Neji found the question she had wanted to ask the moment she began to kiss him.
Tenten was relieved after a few moments. He had not pushed her away and he had not killed her. That was a good sign.
"Tenten? Are you up here?"
Sakura entered the small encircled area. Tenten and Neji had quickly stopped their kiss but hadn't had time to pull on clothes, and Sakura jumped to conclusions.
"Oh. My. God. You guys are like meant to be together!" she squealed and grabbed Tenten's arms and pulled her out of the clearing and down the hill.
"Details. I need them. What happened last night?" she squealed.
"Well you heard… he asked me to come on the camp and then he kissed me and did this really awesomely sexy growl thingy.. .And there were those stupid fan girls." Tenten explained in a rush. She waited a few moments for the other girl to absorb this.
"He growled at you? And kissed you?"
"Well yeah…. Okay and it was in that order. I'm a bit muddled right now.. Because I just kissed him… yeah I think that's the reason why…"
"So what, are you together?"
"Uh… I don't know. I mean id like to be and… shoot! I forgot my stuff!" Tenten turned around.
"Gai sensei's been looking for you. You go back to camp and I'll go get your stuff. Oh and I'll have to get Neji to come too."
"Okay thanks! See you later!"
The other kunoichi turned and ran back up the hill and into the enclosed area.
Neji had finished drying himself and was about to put on a shirt. He quickly turned at the sound of footsteps.
"Tenten? You forgot your stuff." He called out.
"Yeah thanks." The woman in question replied. She did not move from the gap in the rocks. Her face changed as if she were thinking about something.
"Hey Neji?"
"Yeah?" he turned around, still shirtless, and Tenten quickly kissed him.
It was more of a pleasant surprise and he quickly recovered and responded. He breathed in the scent of her lightly fragranced hair and she pushed him towards the wall.
Neji growled in frustration and pinned the other shinobi to the wall.
"Who are you?" he asked in a low deadly voice. Tenten smiled sweetly.
"Neji? It's me! What are you talking about?"
A shuriken implanted itself in her shoulder, several others cut her other arms and hips.
"It's rude to not answer questions, Sakura." Tenten glared down at her best friend?
There was a bang and Tenten changed to Temari.
"Temari?" Tenten whispered. She held no grudges to that chuunin match five years ago, but this was definitely the sand kunoichi just causing trouble. Tenten vowed she would not rise to the bait.
"Hey. Nice to see you too." Temari pulled the weapon out of her shoulder, along with the others on the rock. Neji said nothing, only gazed at her with glazed eyes.
"Why are you here?" Tenten demanded.
"Well… its obvious now… isn't it?" Temari stroked Neji's smooth white cheek.
"Neji? You're here for Neji?"
"Well no, not originally. But now… I guess I've forgotten the reason why I was here- what with a boy… man…. Who isn't afraid to kiss his girlfriend in public and can growl like anything…" Temari winked at Tenten and began to kiss Neji again, this time making marks along his neck.
"Hey Temari?" Tenten called out. "Step back."
"Why? I'm having fun.." she purred and did not notice the Hyuuga's anger radiating off him.
Seconds later, Temari was flung to the other side of the pool, into which she fell.
Neji was shaking with anger, his hand still up in the air. He shook his hair so it fell across his neck, covering the small marks which Temari had created.
Tenten used chakra strings to pull the other shinobi back to dry land and picked her up, and then carried her back to the camp, leaving a still furious Neji to carry her bags along with his own.
Tenten walked swiftly towards the medical centre, a small house near the kitchens.
"Sakura? Need a little help!" she called out and laid her out on the bed.
Sakura walked in, her short hair stiff with salt from the river.
"What happened?" she asked, taking the role of healer quite quickly.
"Well we were swimming…"
"What the three of you?" Sakura glanced sharply at Neji, knowing he knew exactly what happened.
"No. but anyway. She got hit, in the chest."
"Hyuuga, what have you done this time?" Shikamaru's voice drifted in from the open doorway. He saw Temari and groaned.
Sakura bent over her patient and placed a glowing green hand on her chest. Minutes later, Temari sat up and coughed up some blood before settling back down, her dark eyes scanning the room.
"You have got yourself quite a charming boyfriend, Tenten," she said.
Tenten blushed and Sakura quickly cut in.
"Breathe. Does it hurt any where?"
"No. I just remember him fully pushing me." Temari's eyes welled up.
"I bet he had a reason to. You must have done a fair bit to make him hit you. Sit up.. Easy now.." Sakura helped Temari off the sopping wet bed and led her outside.
"Okay.. You can stay in the cabin next to the teachers'- its empty, and has only one bed. You need to rest, and you can share your important news tomorrow." Sakura let Shikamaru help the girl and waved Tenten and Neji away.
"Go away, have a shower, whatever… don't go do anything like that again Hyuuga, not in a place like this. Not to her. Tenten keep an eye on him." The pair turned and walked away, leaving Sakura to grumble about males and arrogance.
Tenten was confused.
"Tenten... I ..." Neji began. It was after dinner, and the kunoichi had remained silent all evening, the awkwardness of the events that had happened that day strained by the fact that Temari had been seated at their table.
"Tenten... say something please?"
Tenten was on her bed, Lee fast asleep on his. Neji was standing on the side of the bunk, near Tenten's head, but she had turned to face the wall.
"What did I do wrong?" Neji asked. He hated and loved this weakness of his- Tenten.
Neji was begging for an explanation.
"I don't know, do I?" Tenten said, suddenly. She flipped off the bed and sat outside on the small porch. Her cheeks were damp and had been for the past hour. Neji had seen, but he had not said a thing.
"Tenten. Please... tell me?" Neji whispered in her ear, sending a shiver through her body. Neji gently pulled her into the curve of his body, wrapping his arms protectively around her waist.
"I don't know. Last night is now clarified ..I mean I think it is.. I like you. A lot. I think I like you more than just liking you...I don't even know if you..." Tenten sniffed and hated herself for crying. Showing weakness was not good, especially in front of the Hyuuga Neji.
"Tenten. I do like you. I think I like you a whole lot more than you realize." Neji's voice became husky and deep. This time, Tenten surrendered to its seductiveness and leaned into him.
Neji gently kissed her forehead and gently tugged her hair out of its hair bands. He gently and slowly kissed the tear tracks down her face, hating the fact that they were there, hating that fact that it was him that had caused the salt. A final kiss was planted on the weapons expert's mouth, and Neji carried her into the room, both falling asleep listening to the other's heartbeat, and loving the other because it was there.
Okay… for those who are confused… Temari arrives at the camp and (for some reason, I don't know… I think it's because she's bored) she turns into Sakura and goes to see Tenten and Neji, and after talking to Tenten, then goes back to Neji disguised as Tenten to do whatever… confusing? Sorry- didn't mean to make it that confusing but it made sense to me when I wrote it!