Title: Dizzy
Rating: K
Word Count: About 520
Summary: The after-effects of Neji's first attempt at the Kaiten. Slight NejiTen, if you squint.
Warnings: A mention of vomiting and -gasp- present-tense.
Author's Note: Another old one. Sorry for the major lack of updates lately; my Naruto muse has died apparently and I haven't figured out how to revive it yet. =( Requests are still open, though.
"You ready?" she asks, frowning, and he nods curtly. They are both tense, and for good reason- attempting any new jutsu is dangerous, especially one as potentially lethal as this. Sure, Neji has seen his uncle perform the Kaiten plenty of times, and he has a fairly good idea of how it works, but should one little thing go wrong- like him releasing the wrong amount of chakra- things could get very nasty, very fast- too little, and he would have a new appreciation of how a pincushion felt, too much, and she could end up half a mile away with fifteen different types of weapons pinning her to the ground. Still, she trusts his control, and he knows she's fast enough to get out of the way if things go wrong, so it's a risk they're willing to take.
She pulls out a scroll- just one for now- and he activates his byakugan as he takes his stance, watching her intently for any sign of movement. The second she springs into the air, he begins to spin. Faster, faster, he tells himself, blocking out everything but the chakra within him and the weapons flying towards him. Tighter spin, more chakra there, a little less there, and BLOCK THAT KUNAI, YOU IDIOT! His instincts and reflexes are screaming at him, and while he's still trying to keep up, he can already tell that this isn't working. She's still throwing, though, so he has to keep spinning, even though he's never done it this long before and he's getting a little dizzy and OKAY, Tenten, that's enough with the throwing now! She finally runs out of weapons and he stops the jutsu, falling to his knees in the middle of an uneven ameoba-shaped crater. She looks as disappointed as he feels when she surveys their work; whether it's because he didn't nail it on the first try or because she still only managed to hit him a measly six times, Neji doesn't know and can't think straight enough right now to figure it out.
She doubles over, trying to catch her breath. "Well," she gasps, "it's not perfect, but it's not bad for a first try, and you still blocked most of them, so-" Neji doesn't hear the rest of her assessment; he's too busy emptying his churning stomach into a nearby clump of bushes. She notices this and comes over to rub his back as he kneels there, disoriented. She manages to turn him over and places a cooling hand on his cheek as he tries to get his bearings.
"Tenten, will you stop moving around? It's giving me a headache."
"I'm not moving, Neji."
"Whatever. And tell those trees to stop spinning, too- it's really annoying."
"…Oh, we have a lot of work to do."
"You just wait until I can stand up again."
"Yeah, yeah. Now settle down, Hyuuga, or I'll braid your hair into the bushes."