Fourth chapter. Neji finds a surprise in his bed, partial nakedness occurs, an umbrella is abused. Please review.

Settling

Tenten gave Neji a brief tour while trying to hide her nervousness. She guided him through the plain living room and into the small kitchen. "Have anything you like," she told him as she put his hand on the refrigerator. "Consider this your own home. But... It's probably not a good idea for you to use the stove just yet."

He gave her a small smirk and continued to follow. She showed him the bathroom and how to work the shower. "The room across from this one is my room."

"Hn," he replied.

Finally she showed him the guest room. "And here's your room! It's fairly big, bigger than my room actually. There's a desk here filled with ink and scrolls, if you want to try writing. Also, there's a full size bed in here with a quilt. Your clothes can go in the dresser. Just tell me if you need anything else." During her explanation, she guided him to each part of the room and let him touch whatever she was talking about. She figured it was the best way for him to get adjusted.

"Tenten..." he began, sounding unsure of himself.

Neji... Unsure? I must be dreaming! She smiled as she understood his meaning. "It's okay Neji. No problem. You just owe me now!" she teased, helping him set his suitcase on his new bed. "Besides, it will probably be nice to have some company once in a while."

"I'm guessing your parents aren't good company," he commented innocently, but Tenten knew better. He was suspicious of something.

"They're hardly ever home, and when they are... they're pretty quite," she told him, hardly believing how well she could lie to him.

"Hn."

That's his answer to everything... That or something about 'fate'... She just shook her head. "I'm going to fix something to eat. Do you want me to help you unpack first?"

"No. I can handle it." He stepped carefully toward his bed and unzipped his pack.

"Okay. If you need anything, just call," she said as she went to the door.

"Sure."

Tenten made her way to the kitchen, thinking things had gone fairly well so far. I always fix too much food anyway. It will be nice to have someone to eat the rest of it for me. She allowed her mind to wander as she made their dinner.

Suddenly she heard a crash from the back part of the house. "Neji?" she called, jogging to his room. He had apparently been trying to tuck his suitcase away in a corner and had knocked over the desk chair in the process.

"Tenten, forgive me." He carefully picked the chair back up and steadied it before letting it stand on it's own.

"It's perfectly all right," she said as she approached him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes."

His tone told her otherwise. He hates clumsiness. This must be killing him on the inside.

"Are you hungry? I fixed something I guarantee you've never had before."

His eyebrows raised with interest. With a smile took his elbow and carefully led him to the small dining table. She silently directed him into a chair and went to grab the bowl.

Out of the corner of his eye she saw him casually sniff the air. A grin broke across her face. "What do you think, Neji? Smell good?"

"Yes, actually. I'm surprised you can cook," he replied, waiting patiently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked as she sat down the food.

"You're more of the tomboy type. I just figured you didn't cook."

She crossed her arms and gave him a pointless glare. "I've been cooking for myself for years now, thank you very much!"

Neji just frowned and Tenten realized her mistake. I need to watch what I say... I'll show Gai-sensei! Neji doesn't need to know!

"Anyway, my mother taught me how to make his dish when I was little! It's called Beef Chow Fun, and it's from my homeland. The recipe had been passed down through my family for generations," Tenten rambled as she spooned some of the stir-fry on his plate.

"Homeland?" he asked as he awkwardly picked up his chop sticks.

"Oh, I guess you didn't know. I'm originally from the Earth Country," she said without thinking.

His eyes widened in shock, and Tenten knew she had messed up once again. "The Fire Country and Earth Country have been enemies for generations."

She started to become incredibly uncomfortable. He's making me say things I don't want to say, damn it!

"Yes, I know that. My family came here in hopes of a better life after a devastating battle in our village," she replied as she pushed a piece of baby corn around on her plate. Tenten cursed herself when she felt her voice tremble.

"Tenten," Neji said. She noticed that he had stopped messing with his chop sticks and has his eyes pointed in her direction.

"Look, I would rather not talk about this now." She stood and retrieved two bottles of water from her refrigerator, setting one down loudly in front of Neji and taking one for herself. "Let's just eat."

Neji looked like he was about to protest, but instead started eating.

If things are going to be like this all the time, Tenten thought as she mindlessly ate, then this is going to be a long three weeks.

By the time they had finished eating, the stars were blinking brightly in the sky. Tenten sighed as she heard Neji fumbling around in her bathroom and spread herself out along the large couch in her living room. Neji's not fooling me. He isn't interested in my past. The idiot is just intentionally messing with me. Yeah, that's it.

She rolled over, nearly falling off the fluffy cushions. But... Is he really doing anything? Wasn't I the one who just started spewing out information?

"Tenten, I need another pillow," Neji said quietly from the hall way.

She immediately covered her chest, embarrassed at the skimpy tank top and shorts she wore as pajamas. Instantly she felt like a fool. What am I doing? He can't see how I'm dressed!

"Tenten, you're in here. I can hear you moving around."

"Oh! Sorry about that, Neji!" she said as she brushed by him carefully. After retrieving another pillow from her hall closet, she walked him to his room.

"Thank you," he whispered as Tenten handed it to him.

Her cheeks lit up at his tone. "Yeah... Like I said earlier, it's not a problem."

Slowly his hand reached up and found her cheek with careful fingers and slightly brushed her bangs back. Tenten was furiously hoping he couldn't feel the increasing heat of her skin. "Good night, Tenten."

"G... Good night, Neji," she mumbled as he slowly shut his door. She backed across the hall and sunk down to the hard wood floor, pressing her hands against her heart in hopes to stop it from beating so quickly.

Just a simple touch, and I melt like a snow ball in a camp fire!

Her thoughts were broken when a very unmanly squeak came from Neji's room. She immediately got up and charged inside. "Neji? What's wrong?"

If she wasn't worried and still burning from Neji's touch, the kunoichi would have died from laughter right there in the guest room.

The proud Hyuuga genius was curled up in a little ball near the foot of the bed, hugging the pillow she had just handed him moments ago with a death grip. Near his other pillow was a brown and black mass of fur, looking at the trembling young man with a bored expression.

"Ah, I see you've met my pet cat, Sachi," she said with a grin as she scooped up the large feline and sat him near Neji. "Are you afraid of cats, or something?"

He glared at the bed and a scowl crossed his pale face. "Absolutely not! The thing attacked my head!"

She rubbed Sachi's ears and he purred in response. "Aw, come on! He just wanted to get to know you!"

Neji just crossed his arms. "A pet. You neglected to tell me you had a pet."

"Sachi just wanders in and out as he pleases. I feed him and stuff, but he's not here all the time. Sorry, he must have slipped my mind." She started walking toward the door, the fluff ball still bundled in her arms. "I'll take him away if you like."

"I really couldn't care less," he said stubbornly.

In other words, he wants Sachi in the room.

"Well, he does normally sleep in here," she told Neji as she sat the large cat in front of him.

His hand went toward the cat, and Tenten guided it so he wouldn't poke the animal in it's sleepy green eyes. Neji petted Sachi softly, causing the cat's purrs to become louder.

"Ah, it looks like he likes you quite a bit!" Tenten commented as she scooted toward the door. "Well, good night you two!"

She was answered with a "Hn," and a meow. The girl couldn't help but grin as she walked into her room and released her chocolate colored hair from it's normal buns, allowing the silky tresses to fall down her back gracefully. I think both Sachi and I will be okay with this arrangement for a while.

The next morning, Tenten rose at sunrise. "Today I'll start training Neji," she told herself as she scurried across the hall to the bathroom. She turned on the cold water and hopped in the shower, shivering slightly when goose bumps appeared up her arms and legs. "At noon we have to meet Lee for some taijutsu practice. I think I'll go shopping while they train."

After quickly washing her hair with her favorite lavender shampoo, she got out and wrapped a fluffy blue towel around her body and quickly dried her hair. Within minutes she had her normal buns in place and exited the bathroom, only to run into something in the hallway.

"Neji?" she squeaked, backing into the bathroom door.

"Tenten. I smelled something nice, so I followed it... Were you doing something?"

He doesn't realize I'm half naked! Thank the heavens! Her grip tightened on her towel as she responded. "Nope! Just roaming around! Why don't you go wait in the living room while I make breakfast? I'll be there in a minute!"

His eyebrow raised, but he didn't question her further. "Sure." As he made his way down the hall, Tenten bolted into her room. She sighed and fell on top of her bed, cheeks flaming red.

Tenten didn't consider her room beautiful. The only 'girly' things she had were stuffed animals and a couple traditional kimonos for festivals. Other than that, the room was quite plain, decorated with charts and weapons scattered around randomly. Her bed was covered with a large lilac colored quilt. The quilt itself was large and had little shuriken shaped felt pieces sewn randomly along the warm fabric. Tenten adored it and sometimes found sleep hard to come by on missions without the small comfort it offered her.

Heh. I could probably walk around naked and Neji wouldn't even notice! She contemplated that for another three seconds before blushing and quickly dressing herself.

When she entered the living room, she found Neji sitting on her large sofa, Sachi curled up lightly in his lap.

"I see you've become quick friends," she said with a smile.

He looked slightly startled, but it passed so quickly that she thought she imagined it. "Hn."

"Whatever. I'm going to fix something quick. Is toast okay?"

"Yes." He starred absently at the honey colored paint on the wall, and Tenten wondered how it felt for him to not see anything. Instead of dwelling on that, she just shook her head and made her way into the kitchen.

"Okay!" she said as she and Neji stood in her living room an hour later. "Now we'll start with something incredibly useful - Walking!"

He just rolled his eyes as she pushed an umbrella into his hands. He realized what it was after a moment and raised an eyebrow. "You're going to help me walk with an umbrella."

"Yep! I can't find a stick the right length, but this should do fine." She pulled out the pamphlet that Sakura had given her the previous day. Have your friend tap the ground in front of them while they walk, helping them be more alert to obstacles. She mentally read the sentence and nodded. "Okay! All you have to do is keep that in front of you while you walk to make sure you don't run into anything."

He blinked and adjusted the umbrella handle. "That's all?"

"Sure! See, it's not difficult!"

"I probably look ridiculous."

She grinned. Okay, with the umbrella, just slightly. "Aw, who cares? It's just you and me."

Neji grunted in reply and took a cautious step forward, swinging the umbrella in a semi-circle and smacking Tenten in the kneecap.

"Arg!" she exclaimed as she backed away.

His head rotated around, as if trying to find any danger. She just sighed and told him to keep the umbrella closer to the ground.

He tapped around her house while she watched him carefully, making sure he didn't break anything. He's oddly cooperative, she thought as he made his way into the back yard. I wonder if he's feeling all right?

"Neji, that's enough for now," she told him. "Was that at all helpful? Be honest, because I don't want to waste your time."

"Actually, hearing the sound of the umbrella against the surfaces of your home made it much easier to have a mental picture," he told her as they went back inside. "It was a good training exercise," he nodded.

She rolled her eyes. He's already so independent. He gets up and gets dressed by himself, and tons of other stuff. It's just the fighting I'm mainly concerned about. "Come on. We need to meet Lee at the training grounds in forty minutes."

Tenten grabbed his elbow, causing the umbrella to clatter to the ground as she hurried him out the door.