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Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, otherwise the NejiTen would be canon.

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Enjoy.

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Chapter 6. Changes

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She opened her eyes and the light from the outside made her close them almost immediately, besides the logical reaction to the clarity her head started to hurt as if she was being hammered from the inside with something, she automatically took one of the blankets and covered herself completely to settle back on the pillow.

And then was when the memories assaulted her mind, that was NOT a pillow, and the headache was due to the huge amount of liquor ingested the night before and the events after being so drunk, she carefully tried to incorporate herself to check that what wasn't a pillow, was her husband's chest. With extremely slow movements she peeked out from between the blankets to find that Toshio was looking at her in a mocking way, obviously assuming the hangover she had.

She wanted to be swallowed up by the earth, but when she tried to hide in the covers again by moving so fast she originated uncontrollable nausea that made her run to the bathroom so she could vomit, omitting for a moment the fact that she was completely naked and that her head hadn't stopped hurting for a second.

That's why she didn't like to drink, beyond the fact that the amount of liquor she could tolerate was small, the hangover was always a total nightmare, but well, she had already done it and there was nothing she could do, she only had to assume the reality, she had had sex with her husband, as far as she remembered 2 times, and she didn't know now what to do. She slowly got up trying to avoid the appearance of new nauseas, she was sore and didn't know to what extent it was a result of the alcohol or as a result of the night she had had.

In the mirror she could see some almost purple marks on her body where she remembered that Toshio had held her tightly. She took one of the gowns that were in the place to cover herself, after that she rinsed her mouth, exhaled heavily the air and with a determined step she left the bathroom because sooner or later she was going to have to face the situation.

Kindly her husband offered her a glass with a strange looking drink, telling her that it was to help her overcome her hangover and without further ado he got up and asked her to hurry up because they were starting to be late for breakfast. The truth was that she was left waiting to face the situation because he didn't speak to her that day, or well he did while they were having breakfast to literally order her to eat something of what she had been served, ignoring that although she no longer had a headache, nausea was her faithful companion throughout the morning.

And so their marital situation had changed slightly, her husband still the same as ever addressing her mostly when they were in public or after intercourse, and her pretending they were a completely happy marriage, the difference being that they had been a sexually active marriage for 2 months. Wow, 4 months of marriage and every day she always wanted to hang from a tree or do something to not have to be in that routine. Is that she could even say that even sex was a routine, because only the first time she could assure that she had really enjoyed it, and that was because she had taken control of the situation in a moment to reach her climax and thus completely away from reality. But beyond saying that she had no chemistry with Toshio, it was the fact that he sought only his own pleasure without being interested in hers.

Afternoon tea with the other ladies with important husbands used to be quite boring because unlike her, they were a bunch of women bred for that role, until one day when the sky seemed to break because of the amount of rain that fell, causing some damage, so one of them proposed that they do good deeds in the village to help with the repairs.

It was a quick conversation with her husband who told her that permission was required from the feudal, but finally they were allowed to start doing activities to help some of the needy. That was how she also learned that the academy was without a weapons teacher, and the position was vacant. She had to thank the heavens that because of her position, and to some calls of attention from Toshio, she had learned to be reserved and that she had to consult everything first with him. Because she was about to offer to take the position, even without payment, just for the fact of being able to have a kunai in her hands again and to be able to train again. That same night, after having sex, she dared to ask him.

"Toshio-sama?" she mumbled without knowing how to approach the conversation.

"Tell me," he answered her while drawing figures on her naked back.

"At the academy there is a vacancy for a weapons teacher, I was wondering if..."

"No," he interrupted her sharply, "It is not appropriate for someone of your status to have such a common job."

"Bu-but Toshio-sama," she replied omitting for once the rule of not contradicting him, and getting his haughty eyes fixed on her, "Without a weapons teacher the results of the chunin exams could be affected."

"I will consult with my father," he said taking her by the chin, "but you will have to convince me," he finished and kissed her.

He fell asleep after that second time, while she was turning the matter over in her head, she wished with all her soul to be able to take the place in the academy but she knew she couldn't press the issue, maybe they were afraid that because she was from another village she wouldn't train the students properly, but she really wanted to be able to do something more than just being a trophy wife.

And because she was awake meditating that she felt it, from the very second Neji set foot on the roof of the mansion she was able to identify that chakra she knew almost as her own. She could perceive how he was watching, almost stalking and she wondered what would be the reason that would lead him to do that. But then she understood, he still didn't trust her, he was there to make sure she hadn't ruined anything, she almost wanted to go and yell at him that there was no problem. But she would wait a bit before doing so.

Two more days passed, her request was still unanswered. When it was time for the tea meeting, she made a kage bunshin and left it clear instructions, when the meeting was over and it was sure no one noticed it was to go to the room and wait for her in the bathroom. She would take the opportunity to go up to the roof and talk to the Hyūga, despite everything she couldn't deny she was dying to see him.

"What are you doing here?" was his greeting.

"That's what I should ask. What are you doing watching over my life Neji?" She couldn't help but let the anger show in her voice and her gaze.

"I'm making sure you don't ruin your mission."

"That's absurd Neji, my mission was to get married and I already did it."

"There are reasons why a marriage can be annulled," he answered her.

"Is the village worried about my marriage being annulled?" she answered completely incredulous, "well, go back to the village and tell them that there is no problem, the only reason," she emphasized the word only, "for which my marriage could be annulled has already been done.

"What exactly do you mean?" he asked in an annoyed tone that she had heard on rare occasions and never directed at her.

"That there is no turning back now," she answered hiding her gaze from the inquisitive white eyes. "Go back to the village and tell them that my mission was satisfactorily accomplished."

She went down from the roof without waiting for an answer from him, she was angry that they doubted her. She headed to her bedroom waiting for her kage bunshin to return. She felt Neji leave the property. About an hour later her kage bunshin returned to the room and among its memories she could see that they were starting to talk about the approaching chunin exams.

They were having dinner with the feudal, her husband and a person she couldn't recognize, because yes, she had had to improve her ability to remember faces and names with the amount of people she had to relate to.

"Tenten," Toshio spoke to her, looking at her in a haughty way, "let me introduce you to Haruo, he is the new weapons teacher of the academy."

"It's a pleasure," she answered while inside she cursed, it was the direct denial to her request, "People are starting to talk that soon will be the chunin exams."

"That's right, Tenten-senpai," she felt strange at the use of that suffix, "it is a great challenge at this time to level the students to be ready," the man paused and looked at the feudal, who nodded, "Yoshida-sama told me that you are an expert in the use of most of the weapons, it would be an honor if you would help me to establish the advisories for the students that will be presented."

"I..." she started the sentence and looked for Toshio's eyes, "If the feudal and my husband consider that it is beneficial for the village, I will do it."

"Perfect Tenten-senpai, I will stop by tomorrow to finalize the details."

After some more conversation, tea and lemon pie, the dinner was over, and she and her husband headed back to their bedroom.

"I told you I would talk to my father," Toshio told her while he started to undress.

"Thank you very much, Toshio-sama," she answered with a smile, "I will do my best to help the students."

"You will not teach the classes, it wouldn't be proper," he clarified and she nodded, "but you will be able to support Haruo sensei, and look for the immediate aspects to improve in the students."

"Of course, Toshio-sama."

It was about to dawn when she felt him again, Neji had returned to the roof. What was happening now?

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Hi there!

Long week, I joined the #NejiTenWeek2022 challenge and my little free time was to make the oneshots for that week. The event was in Spanish, but I hope to be bringing you the translation of those stories soon.

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PS: No, I'm not going to update on Thursdays... it's just that today I had time to upload the chapter I skipped on Saturday.

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All corrections and comments are always well received, they help me improve a lot.

Hope you like it!

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Regards, Sally K.