"…Why?"
'So I don't get distracted by your eyes.' "Well… On a mission, it's possible that we might get caught in the darkness, and it would be good for us to adapt to it."
"Tenten, we just got back from a mission. We won't be in Konoha until tomorrow. And my Hyuga eyes can see into the dark, while yours can't."
"Are you turning a training proposal down?"
"No. Let's get on with it then."
The two dropped their traveling bags by a tree, so they would not get in the way. Neji went into his battle stance and locked his eyes on his training partner. Tenten retrieved some weapons from her holster and studied the distance between her and Neji.
They both stood, waiting for the other to make the first move. Tenten knew Neji had all the time in the world, and Neji knew Tenten was a boisterous kunoichi who liked things fast. (1)
In a flash, Tenten ran towards Neji, gripping a kunai with her right hand and holding it up near her head. With her left hand she threw four Senbon needles at Neji. Neji evaded the needles and barely escaped a slash from Tenten's kunai. He activated his Byakugan and readied himself to strike.
Tenten backed her body up in time to not be hit by Neji's fingertips. She knew that he had tried to get her with his Gentle Fist Style, (2) but she also knew he didn't go for any fatal points.
"Ah, don't play dirty," Tenten smirked as she pulled out a scroll, slapping the inscriptions to summon the weapons she needed. She threw Senbon, kunai, shuriken, Fuuma shuriken, and a smoke bomb at Neji. He dodged them all. Tenten bent over to catch her breath and took a second to wipe her brow.
Far-ranged attacks weren't working. They never seemed to. Tenten sighed, seeing as she would have to risk getting attacked by Neji's special attack. She pulled out a single Kunai and ran towards Neji. She swiped at him and avoided his hands, only managing to graze his chest slightly.
Neji grunted, seeing as he was getting nowhere, and pulled out his very own kunai. Tenten was surprised, but masked herself by striking Neji's weapon with her own. Neji pulled out another kunai with his left hand, as did Tenten.
The two teammates dashed towards the water's surface. They both gracefully ran on the water, striking and blocking the other. They only stopped to take a breath, then went back to their Traditional Japanese dance-like training. Tenten thought that that was what Neji looked like he was doing as he spun on the water, his hair whipping around. His twirling moves and perfected stances made him seem as if he rehearsed the moves, and readied himself to execute the moves before an audience.
Tenten decided to use a new tactic. She flung both kunais at Neji with a flick of her wrists, and in the time he hit the weapons away with his own, she did a summersault in the water and kicked Neji in his chest.
Neji's eyes widened as he flew over the water. His fingertips ran through the cold substance as his body was flung across it. He had just fallen down… Tenten knocked him down… It wasn't like it was impossible it's just that Tenten wasn't usually… okay, she never was able to knock him down. She took him by surprise, that's all.
Neji stood up on the water and composed himself.
"If only Lee could see me now!" Tenten grinned. Neji scoffed and crossed his arms. Tenten took it as a cute, rare, Hyuga pout.
"All you did was knock me down. Now let's continue." Neji said, resuming his position. Tenten shrugged and grabbed some more weapons. Neji came running towards her.
Tenten spaced out when Neji's form came running towards her. Even though it was dark outside, she could see Neji's figure. His face was stoic and his chest seemed stiff, as though it wasn't breathing in the oxygen his body needed. A split second before Neji's hand hit her chest, Tenten saw his round, milky and endless eyes. …And that was her downfall.
Tenten was hurled a few good yards away, coughing up blood. She heard a sharp intake of breath, and Neji was holding her slim body in his arms in a millisecond.
"Tenten, I thought you would dodge that. Are you okay?" Neji said slowly. If his face scrunched a little more, Tenten might have thought she made the Neji worried. 'Why am I asking her if she is okay? It's not like I care for her.'
"Ugh… Yeah, I got distracted. Don't worry, I'm not going into Cardiac Arrest or anything." Tenten joked, smiling up at Neji.
"Well, let's continue," Tenten said in a cheerful tone.
"No, you're in no condition," Neji said, tightening his hold on her. And it was then that she noticed how close he was to her, and that he was holding her. Neji noticed it too, and he carried her to shore before dropping her. Hard.
"Ugh, you ass…" Tenten muttered. Neji raised an eyebrow, making her grin.
"That was a… good training session." Neji said. If Tenten didn't know any better, that was the closest thing to a compliment he's ever given her.
"Thanks, it was!" She said, smiling.
The black sky began to make roaring sounds. They obviously didn't notice it earlier, as they were too busy training. Tenten's body twitched. 'I…hate…thunder…' "Don't you think we should make camp before it storms too hard? Kiba and Choji are probably already over this mountain, and sleeping soundly in a cabin." Tenten said, sporting a fake grin.
Tenten swore she saw a smirk itch at Neji's lips when he saw her body quiver. "Alright then. We'll see if we can find some kind of shelter."
The two walked away from the river and continued their journey up the mountain paths. Tenten crept closer and ever so closer to Neji every time there was a dull roar in the sky. She would frown every time Neji's ghost of a smirk would widen. 'That brat is enjoying this!'
After what seemed like hours of searching, the two teenagers found a hallow indent into the mountain. It was big enough for about five people. It seemed to be manmade, so Neji deduced that it was durable for their shelter for the night.
Tenten sighed as she leaned against the rock walls. She had thoughts about sleeping when-
"Oh damnit, we left our bags!" She said, slapping her forehead. "I guess we'll have to go get them…"
"It won't be any use." Neji said calmly.
"And why is that?" Tenten asked.
"The bags and their contents are drenched in water by now. And even if we went out there for firewood or leaves for a fire, it would be useless because they would be soaking wet. We have nothing for the night except for each other." Neji explained.
Tenten blushed. We have nothing for the night except for each other. …Just what the hell did he mean by that?
"W-What do you mean-"
"Tenten, it's storming outside. We're soaking wet. There is no source of warmth from a fire. Our only option is to give each other body heat. Don't go acting like a crazed fan girl." Neji said, closing his eyes. Tenten blushed, but nodded all the same.
Neji took his shirt off and threw it in a corner of the cave. Tenten bit her lip to stop herself from squealing in pleasure. (3)
"Y-You can't take your shirt off! What kind of warmth are you planning on giving me, you pervert? No matter how much of a hot bad-boy-bad-ass-genius you are, I am not letting you deflower me!" She said, backing up to the wall as much as she could. Neji furrowed his eyebrows in disgust. For one, because she would accuse him of such a low thing, and two, because she was beginning to sound like their old teammate and mentor.
"Tenten. You cut me earlier, remember? I'm just tending to my wound." Neji said coldly. "And you wouldn't want me getting a cold now, would you?" Tenten flushed in embarrassment. She didn't even think of that. …And she just called him Hot, a Bad Boy, and a Bad Ass. Thaaats great for her reputation, don't you think?
"I…Oh. Right." She said stupidly. 'Tenten, you idiot! He's going to think you like him!'
Tenten watched in silence as Neji cleaned up his wound with some kind of tonic he had in his hip pouch. Since any bandages he would have were probably soaking outside in his traveling pack, Neji left his wound with that. Tenten cocked her head to the side. Neji sat with his feet planted on the ground and his knees to the air, a hand resting idly on each knee, his head tilted backwards to it met the cave-like walls, and his eyes closed.
That was for the better, Tenten thought, so Neji didn't have to see her red face. He said so himself; dark places seemed lighter to his Hyuga eyes.
"Neji?" Tenten asked quietly, barely over a whisper. Neji cracked one eye open to show her he was listening. "I'm… Uh… Sorry for what I said earlier. I should have been smarted to jump to dumb conclusions like that." 'Even though I wish it was true…'
"Yeah." Was her response. Her right eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Although… She didn't really expect Neji to say it wasn't wrong for her to say that, and he was indeed looking forward to have hot, hot sex with her in the small, romantic cave as the rain fell in the background, justifying the lustful night. She sighed. Those hormones were tweaking with her brain, and imaginations like that were the last thing she wanted to have.
Tenten had had thoughts of her and Neji undergoing a perfect, rainy, lustful night such as this ever since her days as a Genin, even though she hated them. It was natural for a female teenager to think of another male teenager in hormonal ways. Over the years, she enjoyed every time she would 'accidentally' bump his shoulder as she walked by him, brushed her fingers against his own as they trained in close-range, and touched his body as she tended his wounds. Again, it was just natural.
She was just one of the luckiest kunoichi to grow up around the Hyuga Neji. He had warmed up to her, and she was not punched in the gut when she touched him. If any other person did, -like Lee perhaps,- they would find themselves in the Konoha hospital, not knowing how they got there.
Tenten frowned from her resting place. She was never noticed. No matter what she did, Neji never praised her. He never complimented her work in training. He never called her his 'beautiful flower'. All he did was… speak with his eyes. And maybe that's what made her love him.
He was so graceful with everything he did. He was more powerful than almost all of the Shinobi she knew. He showed that he could even change how he felt about something. And besides that… When out of her own character, Neji was… how would she say it… the hottest guy she had ever laid her eyes upon.
And he was sitting not four feet away from her. Tenten wished that he could be hers. She wished that she could tell her friends that the Neji accepted her for who she was, that he wanted her over all of the other preppy, stalk-ish, fan girls. She wanted to hold him every night, know that he was hers, and she was his…
"So… You think I'm a hot Badass and Bad boy?" Neji asked. Tenten blinked. She made a small squealing sound, much like one that Hinata would use make when Naruto would touch her. Luckily, Tenten didn't faint. Even though she was damn near that point. "Uhm. N-No, I-its just word going around Konoha, you know. R-rumors coming from Ino and the other girls… J-Just silly little hormonal gossip…" 'Damn, I'm even starting to sound like Hinata!'
Tenten could have sworn that she saw Neji grin. "Right. Hormonal gossip," He said. Okay, she knew that he was smirking to himself. She could hear it in his voice.
"Hyuga Neji, are you laughing at me?" Tenten asked, frowning.
"No…"
Tenten sighed. She wished Neji would push more on the subject, but he didn't. It was obvious that Neji wasn't interested in the fact that Tenten was possibly becoming one of the rather creepy fan girls.
Tenten decided that since Neji probably forgot that he needed to be holding her at that moment to help her not freeze to death, she would just have to try and fall asleep on her own warmth.
Tenten sighed exasperatedly and squirmed around. She repositioned her butt so that a different area wasn't so cold. To others, it would appear… Strange. When she opened her eyes, all the blood in her face drained.
Neji was staring right at her, one eyebrow raised in amusement. His face seemed to be shouting a message: What the hell are you doing?
"It's cold," Tenten whined.
"Yes, but dry-humping the ground isn't necessary." He told her. Tenten didn't know what to do or say. Her reaction: pulling her shirt over hr head in embarrassment. …Which caused Neji to snort.
"No use in doing that, Tenten. You're still right in front of me, and I've already witnessed your actions."
"Well, bully to you. I wasn't doing what your perverted mind thinks I was, and this will make me feel warmer… Since somebody won't give me their damn body heat." Came the muffled voice of Tenten. Neji sighed.
"Well, I guess it's only natural for you to do that after thinking about how much of a hot bad boy I am…" Neji said.
"You jerk!" Tenten huffed, removing her head from her shirt. "I don't even think you're hot! And you're not a bad boy!" She stopped for a second to think before adding, "And Sasuke is much more a bad ass hottie than you could ever be!"
Neji's smirk faltered. He was soon frowning. Tenten sighed. She knew she hit one of Neji's piss-points. That was one line where no person should ever pass.
"I'm only kidding," Tenten said warily.
"Oh really. And at which part?" Neji asked coolly. Once again, Tenten found herself blushing.
"N-None of your business…" She muttered.
"Admit it, Tenten. You think I'm hotter and more of a bad ass than Uchiha." Neji said smoothly. Tenten bit her lip.
"So what," She said, stretching her petite body on the cool floor.
"Hn." Neji replied. He closed his eyes and smirked to himself. Despite herself, Tenten blinked. Neji, her crush for so many years, now knew a secret she had kept to herself. She hadn't even noticed what she had said until a few seconds had passed. Her eyes darted around, trying to find something more fascinating at that moment than Hyuga Neji's eyes.
"So damn cold…" Tenten muttered to herself. She curled herself into a ball and snuggled into her chest. She wished Neji would hold her like Naruto would hold Hinata. With young love, innocent shyness, and the arms of a protector.
But… yet again, reality was a bitch. She was on the opposite side of the cave, her ass was freezing cold, and she was definitely not getting held!
Tenten sighed for the umpteenth time that night. She had just realized something. If Neji ever truly liked her, he would have made one single move on her, right? Out of all the missions they had as a Genin and now Chunin, they had been alone a considerable amount of times.
Its obvious noone else liked her… She didn't have any fan boys like Sakura and Ino did. … Suddenly, Tenten was hit by a thought. If she did have any fan boys or admirers, then maybe…
"It's your fault!" Tenten dryly said.
"Hm?" Neji asked, again cracking an eye open. Tenten shifted her position once again so she could stare right at Neji.
"No boys ever ogle over me or ask me out on dates! And it's your fault!"
"How so?" Neji asked, his face contorting into an amused expression.
"Well, I've been around you for half my life! You intimidate the other boys so much that they don't want to come near me! They think I'm yours! They all think that if they go near me, you'll kick their ass! Or am I just not as pretty as Sakura or Ino?" Tenten scoffed. Neji sighed and sat up straight.
"Tenten, none of that is true." Neji said curtly. Tenten pelt a pang of hurt sweep over her body. She didn't know whether he just insulted her or not. Either way, she laid down on the ground, her front body opposite of Neji. She was a strong girl, but her eyes began to sting.
Unbeknownst to her, Tenten let out a small sniffle of breath. She heard a sigh, but did not turn her head.
"Tenten, you misunderstood what I said. People don't think you're mine. You just don't put yourself out there like Sakura and Ino do to impress a male. And… Of course you're prettier than them." Tenten's body shot up. Pause, Rewind, Play. 'And… Of course you're prettier than them.'
Tenten stared in awe. That was so Un-Neji-like. He would never say a thing like that.
"I don't put myself out there? What a way to boost my ego," Tenten joked nervously. She heard another sigh.
"So I compliment you, and what do I get? Shaky jokes that aren't funny." Neji said slowly. Tenten snorted. Neji's way of cracking a joke… was funny in itself.
"Yeah, I guess…" Tenten said quietly.
The cave-like room was getting dark. If Tenten squinted, she could see Neji's form and some rough details. When it thundered outside their shelter, she could see him perfectly. His hair was draped along his back- Somehow the ribbon had come out -,but Tenten didn't complain- and his midsection hung over in an almost bored fashion. Almost.
Tenten shivered slightly and raked her fingernails on her bare flesh to try and keep warm. So much for getting a good night's sleep… All she wanted was to have a successful mission, sleep with warmth, and return home with a smile on her face. Was it too much to ask for?
"Tenten." Tenten snapped her head so she could see Neji's outline.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Stop shivering. You're making me cold."
"I can't help it! I'm cold, Neji!"
"Come here, then."
Tenten blinked. "'Here, as in… There?" She asked.
"Yes," Neji said. Tenten looked at the gap between Neji's legs and swallowed. Hard. This seemed like an S-Class mission to her.
"When you say there…"
"Tenten." Tenten sighed and picked herself up to her knees. She scrawled over to Neji and slowly say in between his knees. …She never imagined how comfortable Neji's chest could be, despite the cold weather. Warmth seemed to flood through her system like a tsunami.
Neji's chin rested on Tenten's left shoulder, and his hot breath tickled the back of her ears. She quivered as her body functioned to the newfound warmth and comfort. Her jaw remained locked as she sat; she was afraid that she would burst out in giddy giggles and squeals.
Tenten bit her tongue when Neji's arms wrapped around her. She turned her head, questioning, only to see that his eyes were closed. A small smile sprouted on her lips. Neji had she seen Neji look so angelic...
…And Never had she been this close to his face.
Tenten's cheek brushed against his own, and she realized how cold his body really was. He was suffering more than she was, with a wet, shirtless chest! Tenten grabbed hold of his well-developed forearms and pulled them closely to her. If he was asleep, then where was the harm in pretending he was holding her?
'…I'm being held by Neji. I'm in Neji's arms. Neji is holding me. I am being held by Neji. Any way I say it, it just doesn't seem real…' Tenten thought.
"Tenten…"
All breath in Tenten's throat was choked down. Her eyes widened out of her sockets. Her ears seemed wet with Neji's warm breath, and her body shuddered in embarrassment. Her slim fingers let go of Neji's arms slowly and carefully. To her utter shock, Neji just pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her neck.
"You're so warm…" Neji muttered. Blink. Blink blink.
"N-Neji…"
"Hm?" Neji crocked. Tenten laughed softly; Neji's hair was tickling her neck, and his hold on her was strangely relaxing.
"S-stop, you're tickling me…"
"So.?" Neji said stubbornly. Again, Neji's actions caused Tenten to blink. Neji was acting like an obnoxious little boy in a candy shop who demanded a lollypop, or else he would not move.
Tenten snorted, failing to hold up a strong barrier against Neji's antics. "Fine… Snuggly away, Chuzley-wuzley." Neji stopped.
"Chuzley-wuzley…" He murmured.
"Yeah. It's your new nickname. You snuggle up to me just like my kitten." Tenten said, a tint of crimson rising in her cheeks.
Neji frowned. He turned his body and rolled on his right, so that Tenten was all that occupied the space between him and the cave-like wall. Tenten's face was inches from his, and he noted her face was redder that it was minutes ago.
"I don't like nicknames like that," Neji said slowly. Tenten's bottom lip whipped into her mouth, and she bit on it. Neji seemed to be throwing his mopey but I'm-Hyuga-Neji-and-this-pout-is-more-bad-ass-than-you-could-ever-be pout.
"Well… Oh well…" Tenten said in a breathless tone. Neji sighed and once again buried his face in the crook of Tenten's neck.
The two laid in silence. Tenten grew drowsy upon hearing Neji's constant breathing at her ear, and feeling her neck sweat because of his warmth. She found herself also burying into Neji's neck, breathing in his scent and sighing every once and a while in contentment.
Tenten jerked awake when she heard Neji mumble something. It sounded so innocent- So pure. And she cursed herself for missing what he had said. Her curses suddenly turned towards Neji when he bit down on her neck.
"Eep! Neji, are you biting me?" Tenten squealed.
"So warm…" Neji muttered as an excuse. Tenten could still not believe what had happened. She told herself this over and over- but nothing seemed real.
Tenten pulled herself from Neji's neck and sniffed as the cold air hit her nose.
"Mm… Neji?" Tenten asked inaudibly. Neji turned from his warm getaway and stared at Tenten, waiting for her to speak again. But nothing came from her mouth. Well… Not exactly.
Tenten's pink lips caught Neji's in a chaste kiss. It didn't last long, but Tenten didn't care. Neji didn't retract from her lusciousness. No, he ushered her on, and his face even showed disappointment when she pulled away.
Tenten studied Neji's face with a small smile gracing her lips. Yeah… That was everything she dreamed it would be. She hugged Neji tightly and snuggled into his chest.
And Neji smiled down at his little flower.
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And that's it… It was really OOC, so please forgive me. I think it had a sweet ending, even though the characters were extremely OOC and it's simple. Please tell me what you liked and disliked about it.
I even accept flames. But if they're just wasting space in the commenting section, then I have every right to outright laugh at you. I do, however, appreciate constructive criticism.
As you can tell, this is set later, and Neji has probably gotten very warm to Tenten. There were small hints of a Hinata and Naruto couple.
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(1) : Neji blushed.
(2) : Special thanks to Sexy Sapphire Princess for telling me the name.
(3) : Imagine what a few years of training like Neji does would do to a young man's stomach. Yeah; not so cocky now, are you?
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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That includes my beloved Neji.
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A.A.