Trouble on the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in air, never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master
..o..
..o..
On the first day of spring, he said no to her.
Later, he thought that maybe he shouldn't have done that, maybe, just maybe he could have said yes, or tried to deliver the blow in a more careful way. But he knew her too well to shame her with careful words and gentle actions. So he didn't.
Clean and simple no was all he took, but she knew him even better and read what was underneath. That night she stole his first kiss from him (she doesn't count it as her first kiss, because it wasn't stolen - it was given), and left with it as the most precious thing in her possession.
And here they are now. Three years later, with new possibilities in front of them, with new life choices and paths laid out but still in choosing which one to take, afraid of them being dead end's or wrong ones. She's nervous and standing two steps from him, but to him it feels as if each of them was on the other side of the world.
There is a wide, screaming gap between them, ever since that day he refused her love with one word and one stolen kiss (he convinces himself it wasn't stolen from him - rather he gave it away as a parting gift), and with each new breath she takes he can see the gap growing even wider.
He can't stand it, because with his bloodline sight he knows there is more then just a gap between - there is sorrow, sorrow, sorrow and tiny bits of misplaced love in the cracks and it takes all his will-power not to clench his fists or hiss in anger. When did they grow so far away from each other?
Was it all because of that kiss? Stolen? Given? Whatever it was?
He doesn't know. Her breath hitches in her throat, as the needle moves away from her arm and he turns to look at her. Unshed tears are resting in the corners of her big brown eyes, and she's eating away her bottom lip. A frown mares his face while he observes her front teeth catching the raw flesh over and over again and the narrowing of his eyes warn her of what she's doing.
There's a quick flicker of shame in her gaze, but she shakes her head and brings her arm to her lips. There is a trickle of blood around the new tattoo and with sadistic smile she licks it off, slowly. Good, he thinks and knows that now things have shifted for the last time, they are set in a place they needed so long to find.
It is a cold winter's night, and with blood on her lips and secrets in her eyes Tenten for the second time steals a kiss from Neji. This time, he gives into accepting that it was stolen, and just lets it be.