The knock at her door sounded just before ten the next morning. Tenten's heart, which was already running in overtime, kick-started at the sound. She was already so nervous for her first date with Neji and they hadn't even begun yet. She ran downstairs, wiping her sweaty palms on the end of her dress in the vain attempt at calming her nerves. Tenten took a deep breath, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering wildly, and opened the door.
The sight of the man in front of her almost took Tenten's breath away, and she had to stifle a gasp that desperately tried to escape. Neji stood there, dressed in a simple white t-shirt and ripped jeans, looking very causal and very, very sexy. Their eyes locked for a second, that infuriating smirk tugging at the corner of his lips before he made a slow, almost sensual perusal of her body, his eyes lingering on the bottom of her mid-thigh length dress.
"I see you dressed up for me, Angel." Neji's eyes flashed as his slowly made his way up her form, smirk widening into an almost predatory grin.
She had, although she wouldn't admit it out loud. Tenten squirmed under his heated stare, her toes curling. The dress—the one dress she owned after Temari had practically forced her to buy it, insisting that every girl needed at least one outfit to make a guy go crazy—made her feel uncomfortable, but she wanted to make an effort for their first date. She had tied her long hair in two braids either side of her head, coming together to meet in the middle which she had twisted into a bun, instead of her usual boring buns she usually wore for work.
"It's a shame, since you look amazing, but I do not think that is the most appropriate outfit for today's date." He sighed dramatically, looking genuinely sad at the thought of her having to change.
Curiosity piqued, Tenten asked, "Where are we going?"
"I was planning on taking you to get something to eat before we head to an archery range."
Tenten's eyes widened. "You're taking me to an archery range on our first date?"
Neji's confidence slipped and he looked unsure for the first time since she had met him. "I remember you mentioning that you enjoy archery, and I wanted to take you somewhere I know you will have fun. If you do not like the idea, we can do something else."
"No, archery is perfect!" Tenten grinned, her nerves forgotten as excitement set in. "I just figured we would be doing normal first date activities, like going to see a movie or something." She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, directing him to the couch. "Wait here while I change."
She ran up the stairs, threw her dress over her head and pulled her legs into a pair of green cargo pants and a white cropped shirt. She shoved her feet into a pair of black converse and rushed back downstairs, grinning breathlessly at Neji as she pronounced herself ready. Neji took in her new outfit, his eyes dancing brightly as a smile touched his lips.
"Get ready to lose today, Neji. You have no chance of beating me in archery." Tenten said to him in passing, her competitive side coming to the fore. She used to play professionally, back when she was in high school, and, despite cutting back the last few years, she hadn't lost her edge. She made her way to the front door and waited until he was outside before following and locking up behind her.
"Who said it was going to be a competition?" He replied, eyebrow raised in question, but his eyes told her that he would gladly test her theory.
She rolled her eyes in response. "There is no way that it is not going to be a competition, so I hope you're prepared."
"Shall we make a friendly wager, then?" He asked casually. They arrived at his car and he opened the door, closing it behind her before making his way to the driver's side.
"Okay," Tenten agreed. "How about the loser buys dinner."
He gave her a sidelong glance, starting the engine. "That's not a very fun bet."
Tenten blushed. "Yeah, but I thought you might think of something inappropriate and it was the first thing that popped into my head."
Neji laughed but didn't dispute the fact. "Fine, the loser will buy dinner." He put the car in drive and looked over at her. "Ready?"
She smiled in return, her nerves long forgotten. "Ready."
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.
.
"Why are we here?" Tenten asked, staring at Hatake's Lightning Bar with wide eyes. A blush crept onto her face as the memory of her last visit here came to the fore.
They had spent all afternoon at the archery range, conversing easily as they took turns hitting the target. Neji confessed that he had dabbled in the sport in his earlier years, but Tenten still beat him easily. Instead of appearing annoyed at having been bested by a woman, he eyed her with admiration and respect—and something much more that sent heat straight to her core. She had worried, since archery wasn't really a woman's sport—and definitely not sexy—that he would find her proficiency at it unappealing, but each time she loosed the arrow and it hit dead centre on the target almost twenty meters away, his eyes darkened. At one point he licked his lips, eyes never leaving her form, and muttered, "so hot," under his breath just loud enough for her to hear. She flushed and loosed her arrow too wide, the worst shot she had made in years, and he chuckled when she turned her glare on him.
"To eat. You must be hungry after whooping my ass today." Neji glanced at her, a knowing smirk on his lips. "Why? Were you thinking about something inappropriate?"
"No! I just… this is a bar. Why are we getting food here?" Tenten was mortified that Neji could read her so well already.
Neji shrugged and tugged at her hand, pulling her along as he entered the bar. "Kakashi is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. Before sundown this place is more of an eatery than a bar."
The area wasn't as busy as Tenten had expected it to be, and most people were sitting at tables, casually chatting with meals in front of them instead of alcohol. "Huh. What a bizarre place."
"Just wait. In an hour it will be buzzing with people in the mood for a night out." He led her through the establishment until they reached the counter of the bar, where the silver haired man from last time was standing, his back to them. He turned around when he heard them approach and grinned.
"Neji, how was your date? And this must be the lucky lady. It's nice to see you again, sweetheart."
"Kakashi, this is Tenten. Tenten, meet Kakashi Hatake; owner of Hatake's Lightning Bar." Neji said by way of introduction. He sat down and indicated for her to do the same. "We'll have two of my usuals." He told the older man.
"It's nice to meet you, Kakashi. I'm sorry about last time." Tenten blushed again at the memory.
Kakashi waved her concern away. "Don't worry about it. But you should have seen Neji after he woke up. He was quite upset that just you and up and left without telling him."
"Shut it, old man. I was not upset." Tenten glanced at Neji and saw him glaring at the older gentleman, a faint blush marring his cheeks.
"Really? If I remember correctly, you—"
"Are you going to get us our food, or what?" Neji interjected, cutting off whatever Kakashi was going to say next. The silver haired man chuckled at his younger friend and left to start making them their food.
Tenten couldn't help but giggle at their interaction, and Neji glanced at her with a raised brow. "You two have such a nice relationship." She told him with a smile, slowly relaxing again.
His hand still held hers and it rested on his leg, his thumb running across her wrist absentmindedly. "Is that what you got out of our conversation?"
She smiled at him. "You must be pretty close if he's comfortable enough to tease you."
Neji grunted in affirmation. "I guess. He has helped me a lot, so I suppose we are somewhat close."
They eased into an easy conversation as they waited for their meals, Tenten asking Neji about the types of photos he prefers shooting. Time slipped by, and before long Kakashi was back with their food, breaking up their discussion with a smile and a quip that made Neji blush to the tips of his ears.
.
.
.
Dinner was amazing. Tenten was surprised to hear that Kakashi cooked all the food himself—it seemed as though he was constantly busy, and she wondered if he ever took a break. After they had finished their meals, Kakashi returned with a bottle of sake and two glasses. "On the house." He told them with an easy smile.
Tenten eyed the bottle of alcohol with apprehension. "I should probably get going now, Neji."
"Why the rush? The night is still young." Neji replied, already pouring the clear liquid into the two glasses. He passed one to her.
"That's what I'm afraid of." She mumbled, glancing around at the bar. The people who had come for a meal had disappeared and the ones ready for a night out were pouring in, some already on their second or third bottle of alcohol.
Even so, Tenten picked up the proffered glass and took a sip. The pair drank together, and Neji easily moved the conversation from topic to topic, distracting her from her thoughts of leaving. Hours passed and still they were on that same bottle of sake. Tenten was glad, because she didn't want her emotions to be inhibited by alcohol, not in the presence of this man who already had so much sway over her emotions.
Neji placed his hand on her knee and Tenten squeaked, unprepared. "Relax, Angel." He whispered, moving close to her ear. He pulled her stool closer to his, so they were inches apart, and caught the lobe in between his teeth.
Tenten jerked backwards, her cheeks flaming. "Neji! What are you doing?"
He just shrugged in response before downing his glass in one hit. "What does it look like?"
"I thought we agreed that we were going to take things slow and get to know each other first."
Tenten had brought the topic up at the archery range earlier in the day. She thought it best to take things slow, to make sure they were both on the same page before diving into a more intimate relationship. Neji had listened patiently to her reasoning, and he shrugged when she asked what he thought, but hadn't looked too keen on the idea.
Neji quirked a brow at her. "Is it possible to take things slow considering the way we started our relationship?"
"We weren't in a relationship then." Tenten wished she could get a handle on her internal heating system, because every time she thought back to that day her face caught on fire. "That was just a one-night stand."
"Does it count as a one-night stand if it leads to two people dating?" He countered.
Tenten managed to glare at him. "We said we were going to get to know each other better first." She repeated, as much a reminder for his ears as for hers.
"No, you said that. I didn't say anything. And who says we can't do both simultaneously?" He countered, moving into her personal space once again. "We spent the day getting to know each other. Besides," he added, his hand slowly moving up her leg to rest on her thigh. "There's more than one way to get to know a person."
She tried to pull back from his advances, but her resolve was quickly crumbling, especially with those intoxicating eyes of his staring into hers. "But—"
He silenced her with a kiss. "Hush, Angel. I know you want this as much as I do."
"Yeah, but—" she realized what she had admitted instantly, as did he, going by the slow grin that crossed his features at her admission. "No, I meant—"
"Stop being so stubborn, Tenten." He purred, lips pressing just below her ear, sucking lightly where he knew she was most sensitive. Her hands dug into her legs and she gasped. He pulled back, staring into her eyes. "Come upstairs with me."
When he looked at her like that, there was no way Tenten could refuse. Neji's lavender eyes smouldered, his desire evident as he kept his eyes locked on hers. It made her weak to her knees and her body tingled just thinking about the pleasures he would give her.
Neji knew exactly when her resolve crumbled, and his grin turned victorious. He took her hand and stood up, turning to face the silver haired man where he stood behind the bar. "We're leaving, Kakashi. Add the meals to my tab." Then, he manoeuvred them through the ever-growing crowds and led her upstairs.
Tenten's heart beat in overdrive the whole way, knowing what was about to happen. She couldn't deny she wanted him, but with such little experience with men—and even less with sex—she worried that she wouldn't be a good partner.
Her worries faded away when he leaned over her naked body, his eyes filled with lust and awe as he took her in. Her hand skittered up his arm by her head and he groaned at the contact, lips crushing hers as his patience snapped. He was rough but not to the point of being painful, and when they came together, her biting his shoulder to keep from screaming while he groaned into her hair, rocking into her one last time before shuddering above her, she knew that he had enjoyed himself just as much as she had.
As always, I love hearing your thoughts, so please leave a review if you enjoyed their first date. I had the second half of this chapter written weeks ago, but couldn't get the first half down, so I hope the end result is okay.