Now is torture time for both Neji and Tenten hehe hope y'all like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Pottery Time

As soon as Gym finished, Neji rushed into his room. Today he was showering there. His anxiety was getting worse by the time, and he didn't know why, there was two hours yet for the clay thing after all.

You're not even thinking about the clay models

Of course I am, what if I mess up a model and our grade gets affected by it

And how putting extra time in shower and more perfume will help you on this?

...

...

It just will

Sure

Groaning, Neji exited the bathroom.

"Neji! My eternal rival! What are you getting dressed for? And why so much perfume?" Lee was already in their room, making Neji curse his luck. Of course, the green beast would appear while he got ready for his thing.

"Nothing important" he said while rummaging through his shirts. Long sleeved button up? Polo? Maybe a polo with a sweater? Dang, it was hard to choose one that would be good.

"Then why are you having trouble finding a shirt?" Lee stated, seeing the rare moment. Neji Hyuga was never unsure of what to wear.

"Hn" Neji decided for a grey polo. "Don't you have training with Guy Sensei?" He asked, hoping that Lee would leave him be, he was nervous enough already, he didn't need someone asking him so many questions.

"Not today, I need to study. I was going to ask your help to study, but I see that you will be busy. I'll just ask Tenshi-kun"

"He can't make it" Neji said hurriedly, then slapped himself mentally.

"Huh? How do you know?" Lee asked him, blinking in surprise. Neji crossed his arms in front of him, closing his eyes, trying to look indifferent or annoyed. It only resulted on him looking like a nerve wreck though.

"He, well, I... we are going to continue our history project today" he informed Lee, his nervousness evident in his voice.

"That's why you put on some extra perfume and are dressing up?" Lee asked, his face blank. Neji cursed.

"I'm not dressing up, I'm just... deciding which shirt is better, because I'll probably get dirty and so on" yes, that was it, he wasn't worried about how he looked.

"So why don't you wear a plain t-shirt?" Because reasons Lee.

"Hn" deciding that the best option was to just ignore his roommate, Neji got out of the room. He would be an hour earlier there, but at least there wouldn't be anyone to ask annoying questions.

You forgot the shoes

DAMN IT

...

For Tenten, she was anxious, but for other reason.

"How the heck will I convince him on letting Naruto and Hinata hang out" she groaned while binding her chest. She had just finished shower, taking a while in there thinking on how she could do her quest.

Finishing the binding, she put a short-sleeved button up shirt and baggy cargo pants. Her hair in his usual man bun and headband, to disguise her feminine face, although it just made her look androgynous. Sighing to herself, it was time to go, and she had yet to find the answer to her problems. Hopping that the long-haired man would not be so thick headed, she went over the arts room, not really surprised with him to be there already. What did surprise her was that he looked nervous, sitting on a chair, arms crossed if front of him while his eyes were closed, and feet tapping. And he was also dressed way fancier than she expected, with black trousers and a grey polo shirt.

"Yo Neji" she greeted him, waiving her hand while smiling. He jumped at her voice. In his nervous state he didn't even hear her going inside the room, another thing that she thought strange, but let it go.

"Hn" he nodded.

"Are you ready to suffer in my hand?" She grinned at him, recalling that she would need to teach him what to do.

"Hn" for some reason, thin 'Hn' of his was higher pitched? And why was he looking at her like deer in the headlights?

"L-let's get started, right?" She was getting nervous now, with him looking at her like that. "Where's the clay in here?" She asked rhetorically while going over some cabinets.

"I think that there's some in here" he appeared by her side, startling her.

"Don't scare me like that!" She almost yelled at him, making him smirk. Her nose then got a whiff of his scent, and she couldn't help but to inch closer to have a better whiff at him. "You're smelling nice" she said without thinking, making her and his eyes bulge. Tenten failed to suppress a slight blush on her cheeks, and thanked god that he didn't look at her, as it was enough awkward already. She didn't say anything more, afraid of getting more awkward.

"Thank you" he whispered, clearing his throat afterwards. Bending down to the lower cabinet, he took a bag of clay. He was about to hand it to her, when he thought twice, "I'll carry it, it's heavy"

"Huh" she blinked, unsure of what to do, "you think I'm not strong enough?" So, she got angry.

"No, but I just feel like doing extra exercise" she gave him an odd look, which he ignored, giving her his back while walking back to a table. "So, are we going to use those?" He pointed towards a pottery wheel.

"No" she snickered, "unless you want to do a pot or something like it"

"You know how to do it?" He asked her, settling down the clay bag.

"Didn't I tell you that I do?" She chuckled, "I can show you after we are done with our work" she grinned.

"...Sure" Tenten was expecting him to decline, him accepting it gave her a surprise, not a bad one though.

"I'll warn you though, it will be messy" she grinned even wider at him.

"Don't underestimate me" he smirked at her, she rolled her eyes at him.

"I meant that you will get dirty, I already supposed that it is going to be a no brainer for you, mister I can do it all"

"Hn" his smirk grew wider, and Tenten was starting to have a hard time remembering that she was supposed to act like a man.

"Let's get started" she cleared her throat, "because you are feeling like exercising more, get two buckets of water" she smiled sheepishly at him. He rolled his eyes, but his smirk was still present on his face. She went to grab some supplies for their task, like brushes and needles, then sat down where he left the clay.

"Here are your waters, what else do you need me for?" He asked amused. She grinned at him and signaled for him to sit next to her. Trying her best to ignore his perfume, and to not inch closer to him because of it, she put all her focus on the work.

They worked for a while, it was harder to do mini statues than pots and plates, but her hands were skillful and precise. Teaching him was funny, and Tenten found herself having fun all the way. Neji too looked like he was having fun, and it was no surprise when he understood everything she explained and his hands were almost as skillful as hers, even though it was his first time doing it. Her hands were better though, at least she prided herself from that. She did two statues while he did one, the total time they spent being three hours and half, mostly because she needed to teach him, and when he finished his statue, she was still working on her second, and his gaze on her made her nervous.

"I'd say we did pretty good!" She chirped when it was all finished, washing her hands in one of the buckets.

"Yes, we did" he agreed, handing her a towel for her to dry her wet hands. She gratefully took it. "Are you going to show me about the pots now?" She froze. She had hoped that he would have forgotten about that by now.

"Uhh, sure... but before that..." she started, playing with her hands nervously, "we need to talk about something" she told him, not wanting to look at him. She heard a gulp though.

"What do you want to talk about?" His voice was a mix of surprise, and nervousness? She took a breath.

"Hinata... and Naruto" she said, peeking at him. His aura went dark instantly.

"What about them?" He practically said that through he's teeth. She winced.

"Well, you see... you need to let them alone" she said, mustering all the courage she could.

"And why should I?" His voice was angry, and his fists were clenched.

"Well, for once, for them to be able to talk more. They can't even have a five-sentence conversation before you bicker in" that or Hinata fainting.

"Tch, they don't need to talk" now he was being unreasonable.

"Why not? Are you afraid that they get together?" She asked, and she could tell that hit a nerve.

"He doesn't deserve her" he said coldly.

"What makes you think that?"

"For once, he has no maturity. Probably due to him not having had parents, he had no one to teach him some mannerism. He is too loud, and only does harm to Hinata-Sama, his obliviousness to his effects on her, even though everyone knows how she feels." Tenten didn't hear much after he mentioned Naruto orphanage.

"So what if he doesn't have parents, isn't he a good person? he isn't worthy because of that?" She was trembling with rage, what kind of asshole he needed to be to think low of someone because of that.

"No, but that only contributes to it."

"How so?" She practically screamed.

"Because" he was angry, but for his dismay she was angrier.

"Because he didn't have a father to teach him how to tie his tie?" She snarled, and his eyes grew wide, his angriness dissipated. "Well shit, how unlucky of him, guess I too am not worthy of a relationship for being an orphan. Just my luck" she hissed, trying to resist the burning sensation of her eyes that she was sure it was angry tears.

….

Neji screwed up, he knew, and he screwed it bad.

Do something you fool

But what?

Apologizing would be a good start, but do it fast

Tenshi was already getting up to leave, but Neji's quick thinking stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Let go" Tenshi snapped, making Neji wince.

"I'm sorry, I..." he started, not sure how he could fix it.

"Sorry for what? Being a total ass?"

"Yes!" He practically shouted, surprising Tenshi. God, why was he so desperate to fix things? "Look, I didn't mean to sound it like that... I was, am, I get angry when thinking of someone hurting Hinata-sama and say things that I don't mean, I..." he was unsure of what to say, or think.

"Why? Because you think she can't defend herself? Or do you want her for yourself?" His eyes widened.

"No, hell no. That would be disgusting. And of course I think she is capable of defending herself" he defended himself.

"Then why?" Tenshi glare made him sweat cold.

"Because... I'm an overprotective idiot... " he admitted, hopping that it would calm the raging boy in front of him. Tenshi's glare softened a little.

"Good to know that you acknowledge that" he said sarcastically. Neji's head slumped in defeat.

"Please, I'm sorry." He was pleading already. Tenshi seemed to consider him for a while.

"Let go, please" he told him, calmer, and Neji did what he was told, letting go of Tenshi's wrist. "You wanted to know about the pottery wheel right, let's go" he said, some anger still present in his voice, but at least he wasn't leaving. Neji quietly followed, troubled by how much that boy affected him, and how this boy being mad at him made him hurt, so much that he even begged forgiveness.

Tenshi started the wheel, talking about how to model the clay, but Neji's mind was still thinking about their little discussion and how that made him feel.

You enjoy spending time with him

Yeah

You were afraid of losing this

...yeah

Now the question is why, right?

Yes

You know the answer?

Before Neji could continue his little inner chat, he felt something smack him in the face. Blinking rapidly, he noticed that it was something wet. Hearing snickering, he looked at Tenshi, who had a smug smile on his lips.

"That's what you get for being an ass... and for spacing out while I explain you something." He said, still giving him that smug smile. Neji frowned, reaching a hand to where his face was hit. Looking at his hand, he noticed that it was dirty with clay. Looking back at Tenshi, the man grinned at him. Neji didn't know what to feel, but he was relieved that Tenshi was ok enough to grin at him again. He chuckled.

"I guess I deserved it" he said honestly, surprising Tenshi. "I was thinking about what you said before... I'll back off... I won't meddle between Naruto and Hinata" he didn't actually think about it, but he knew that it was what the boy wanted to hear. And he was right, Tenshi's expression went from shocked to extreme happiness.

"You meant that?" He asked, face brightened. Neji nodded, glad that he wasn't mad at him anymore apparently. Neji wasn't looking at him, so when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, he was dumbfounded. Tenshi was hugging him, making his mind short circuit. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I never thought you would let them alone!" He exclaimed, hot breath tickling Neji's neck, sending him all kinds of sensations.

"I, well, yeah" Neji couldn't form a coherent sentence, his mind blacked out and his heart almost jumping from his chest. He thought he noticed Tenshi's voice more girly than before, and the boys scent resembled nothing of a man, but he dismissed it thinking it was his shocked state. "Hn"

...

Tenten screwed up. She was acting like a girl, throwing herself and hugging him, forgetting about controlling her voice. But she was so darn happy. Their discussion before made her feel so angry and sad that she just wanted to go to her room and cry. When he apologized and practically begged her heart warmed up, and it felt like hope? Hope for what though? She didn't know what was exactly happening with her today, so, she tried to occupy them with the pottery. But when she saw that he was spacing out, she didn't resist and threw some wet clay at his face, hitting right on his left cheek. His face was priceless, and when he told her that he would yield, she didn't resist anymore and hugged him, his perfume and the warmth of his body intoxicating her. As soon as she realized her mistake though, she let go at the speed of light.

"Uh, sorry about that" she blurted, failing to conceal her blush. If she wasn't so embarrassed, she would have laughed at his face. He was so shocked.

"Hn" he just grunted. She, for once, was glad to hear just that. She took this opportunity to go back at her work, finishing it quickly. The faster she could get out of there, the better.

"Here it is" She showed him the small pot she made, "Just let it dry for some time, then come back and get it" She was in a rush, washing herself while she talked to him.

"Ok" He said monotonously, his face still had some clay on it.

"You will want to clean that up" She informed him, indicating the clay on his face. He frowned, lifting his hand to his cheek, then realization hit him and he went for a clean rag, wetting it and cleaning himself.

"I'll better be going now, it is way too late" It was almost eleven pm, and at midnight they had curfew time. She rushed past him, but he grabbed her wrist, again, making her yelp.

"I didn't know about your parents" He confessed, and she could sense guilt in his voice. She sighed.

"It's ok, It's not like I go around telling people that anyway…" She turned and gave him a reassuring smile.

"You are not mad at me?" He asked. She wanted to laugh, if someone else saw this guy right now, they wouldn't believe that this was the icy cold Hyuga Neji.

"No, I'm not, we're cool man" She told him, and thankfully he let go of her wrist.

"Ok… By the way, you have dirt in here" He said while he lifted the cloth and brushed her cheek, cleaning it. She tensed, making he realize what he was doing, retreating his hand in a hurry.

"I really need to go, bye!" She was blushing, madly. She thought she saw him blush too, but she just rushed out of there that she didn't look to confirm it.

Getting into her room as fast as she could, she locked herself in there, a hand resting on her chest, where her heart was beating erratically. She cursed herself, she had a plan to accomplish, she needed to control herself better. Those damn hormones, just because the guy was smoking handsome, smart, athletic, was being way too nice and kind to her, made her enjoy his company, even want to get closer to him, she couldn't let herself be foiled by these. It was just hormones, a cold shower would ease her tension, she hoped.

…..

Neji made it to his room still in a daze of everything that happened. Their discussion, his hug, him cleaning the guy's face. Everything felt so strange, but not bad.

Lee was thankfully still sleeping when he got there, so Neji made it quietly to the bathroom for another shower, he needed it to see if he could clear his mind of whatever was happening to him.

He enjoyed Tenshi's company, and although he was a man, he didn't act like one completely, nor looked like one. But he was still a man, and Neji didn't know how to feel. He got desperate when he hurt Tenshi, hurting him back, and when the guy told him he was forgiven and everything was ok, he felt so relieved, so happy.

There were the touches too, and Neji found himself longing for more, the hug was the catalyst. Was it really a crush? If it was, how should he procced, not only with Tenshi, but his family too. The Hyugas were very traditional, and he wasn't sure they would be very happy with him telling them that he liked another man.

He wanted to deny that he was liking the boy, but every time he thought about the boy's eyes, blush, hug, smiles, the way he felt when they talked or just hanged out, he was having a hard time denying that he didn't want to spend more and more time with the guy.

"What should I do" He groaned in the shower, hands on his hair, confused with all the confused emotions he felt.

What do you want to do?

I don't know

Then let time decide

… Ok

For once, his inner was the one to help him calm down.

….

"Naruto" Neji called the blonde, and Tenten's ear peaked up. She had tried to avoid him as much as possible without making it obvious. She was getting melted just by looking at him, so she needed to keep her distance, until her hormones settled down…

"I swear I didn't bother Hinata-chan today!" Naruto automatically went into defensive mode.

"About that…" She peeked at the two boys, curious, "Don't worry about it, I was actually going to say that you have my support if you want… with Hinata I mean" Neji said, kind of forcefully, but it was a start. She grinned to herself, walking away.

"Neji, are you sick? Really? That's awesome man! Thank you!" She could hear Naruto's excitement in the distance. She was proud of Neji, even though he did it more because of her, he was finally letting his cousin be happy.

"Senpai!" She heard Kanji call for her. Stopping, she turned to see said man dashing towards her, "Senpai! I did it!" She blinked.

"huh?"

"The sewing thing, it took some time for the materials to get her, but I made it! Look what I made" He grinned proudly, showing her a plushie bear with a hat that the Naoto girl is usually wearing.

"That's very cute! I'm sure she'll love it" She said while examining the plushie.

"I hope so… And this is for you senpai, for helping me out" He blushed slightly, giving her a plushie keychain of a volleyball ball. She took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Kanji" She said while examining it, "You really have a talent for this stuff."

"Thanks senpai" He scratched the back of his head shyly. His face became startled suddenly, "I need to go now, bye!" He dashed away, leaving a surprised Tenten behind.

"Tenshi" She almost jumped when she heard Neji's voice behind her. So that's why the guy just made a run for his life.

"N-Neji!" She choked, turning around to face him. He was still glaring at the direction to where Kanji ran off, but as soon as his eyes landed on her, they softened.

"What Tatsumi wanted?" he inquired.

"He, well, showed me a gift he made for his crush" She confessed, wanting nothing more than to just finish this conversation and get the hell away from there. Her heart was already beating irradicably again. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"He has a crush?" He asked curiously.

"I shouldn't really tell you, but yeah, the Naoto girl" She commented, and he made a face of relief? She wondered why.

"Hn, I see…" She was almost turning around to leave when he talked again, "Did you read the book? By the way…" He asked, and she wanted to smack herself, she completely forgot about it.

"Well" She chuckled nervously, "I happen to not understand much of it, so I wanted to ask you were exactly I needed to read, but kind of forgot, and just now you reminded me, so…. No" She finished, slumping her head in embarrassment, waiting for a reprisal. For her surprise, he chuckled. Looking up, she saw that he didn't look like he was mad at her, but rather amused.

"It is an old book, and old books are not very easy to read" He reassured her, "The part were you need to read is The Maiden-Trinities, I don't recall which chapter it is in though" He told her, a small smile in his lips, and she swore that he was doing it on purpose just to make her lose control again.

"The Maiden-Trinities? Ok, I'll read it sometime" She grinned at him, her nerves wanting to show but she controlled them.

"When you want to do the paper? We have the spring tournament in two weeks, so it would be better to do it before it… I can always do it alone, you made two of the models and the paper is quite easy to do." He offered, and she was glad.

"Are you sure? I can read the book and help you with it…" Yet, she still felt guilty on leaving all the work to him.

"Don't worry, you should study for the other disciplines, we have tests next week" He assured her, a gentle look on his face, making her melt even more. When did this guy became this charming?

"I'll owe you one, even though the paper will probably be nothing for you" She joked lightly. He chuckled.

"It will be like a breeze. I'll see you around then" He bid his goodbye, and she felt disappointed that he was leaving, even though she wanted to run away from there in the first place.

"Ah, yeah, see you around Neji" She said, waiving a hand while he made his exit. She sighed, and groaned, she was in deep shit.

…..

Neji was happy, confused, but happy. First, he called Naruto and told him he had his support to chase his cousin. He noticed Tenshi peeking on them and later grinning to himself while walking away, he smirked proud of himself. Then he got somewhat angry, Tatsumi was blushing while talking to Tenshi, and he felt a pang in his chest, what it was he didn't know…

It was jealousy, you dumbass

Shut up

Anyway, as he felt the pang that he didn't knew what it was, he felt the need to glare and Tatsumi, who wisely choose to retreat upon seeing him. Ten he discovered that it was because they were talking about Tatsumi's crush and Neji felt relieved for some reason. Then they chatted, and he guessed he didn't say anything dumb, or did anything dumb again, like cleaning the guys cheek making him run away, because Tenshi looked pleased with him, even joked around.

He was still confused by all this that he felt, since he never really had a crush before. He was unsure too if it was a good thing to have, as he could easily hurt himself with it. What if he did something dumb and scared Tenshi away, after all, they were men, and he didn't know if it was ok for Tenshi. There was his family too, he dreaded of having to talk with Hiashi-sama about this.

Right now, however, he was happy with just being able to hang out and talk with the boy, so he will leave it at that. No point in rushing things to just screw it up. As long as he could, he would leave it like that.

You will have to control your jealousness though, or you'll glare everyone at school

I don't feel jealousness

Yeah right, and I'm Santa Claus

Of course you aren't

Exactly

One more chapter done! Next one is about the spring tournament hehe Hope you all liked this one, leave your review and let me know your thoughts!

Be well, and see you in the next chapter!