Disclaimer : Naruto © Kishimoto
Genre : Humor/Fluff
Pairings : Nejiten
Word Count : 1256
A/N : 2nd of my 2-parter. See! I CAN write! Lol... I was beginning to doubt myself with the less than spectacular drabbles I've been putting out for the last few days... this one, however, is more like me. XD

So Warm and Fluffy

While it was widely known that shopping was amongst the least favorite pass times of a certain bun-haired kunoichi, there was in fact a little known exception to the rule. And that exception was Christmas. Now, it wasn't that Tenten suddenly liked shopping, but rather, she enjoyed spending as much time as possible surrounded by the merriment and excitement of the holiday. And though the over-commercialization of the holidays, especially within shopping centers, was highly debated and often frowned upon, to Tenten it didn't matter. She loved the environment, loved the colorful decorations, loved the twinkling lights, loved the Santas and reindeers and candycanes and snowmen. She didn't even mind that the holiday was all about money and profit and gifts to a large portion of the population. It didn't ruin her Christmas at all. And it never would.

For Tenten, who had grown up with nearly nothing and thus had never quite bought into the economics and greed of the holidays, the fact that others did, never infringed upon her right and desire to enjoy the season as she saw it in her heart. It was a season of love and friendship and joy and laughter. A time when the whole of the world changed and slept, preparing itself for the coming spring by covering itself in a cold white blanket. She loved the crisp clean smell that covered the land, disturbed only by the faint smells of sweets and festive goodies that people liked to cook to keep warm. She loved the chilly feeling in her body that paled her skin and reddened the tip of her nose and cheeks. Best of all, though, Tenten loved the love. She loved that this was a time of year when people smiled the most, when people hugged the most, when people loved the most. It was the best part of the season. The love, and the warmth of the human heart.

It was thus for this very reason that Tenten enjoyed spending time out of her house surrounded by all the pretty reminders of the loveliness that was Christmas. And it was on one such night, after a long day of training, that the bun-haired kunoichi had been wandering the colorfully lit streets of Konoha that she happened to spot an unusual sight.

"Neji?" the weapon's mistress surprisingly called out before jogging the short distance over to her white-eyed boyfriend who she was quite astonished to see out and about at this late hour.

It wasn't that Neji didn't come out at night. Far from it, Neji enjoyed the night as much as she did. But that truth usually pertained to the Spring and Summer months, not Winter. The thing was, Neji was a bit cold-blooded. Not in a cruel or reptilian way, more in the 'can't handle the cold' sort of way. He didn't like being out when it was chilly, preferring to stay in doors with either a blanket or a heater on. So it was of immense surprise to the bun-haired girl to see her boyfriend out braving the cold when he quite obviously had wanted to be indoors only an hour earlier, when team Gai was still out training.

"What are you doing out in this weather?" Tenten asked the pale faced man, noticing the discrete shivering Neji was trying to hide as he stood directly in front of her.

Through slightly chattering teeth, the white-eyed man greeted the girl, smiling and said "I was looking for you."

"For me?" she asked, curious as to why that would be, especially given that they had parted ways only an hour earlier. What could possibly have changed in that short amount of time that the Hyuga couldn't wait until morning, when it was warmer, to come find her?

"mhm," Neji nodded, not daring to speak, as he hardly trusted his voice to not break into a teeth-chattering mess.

Tenten wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she couldn't imagine it would be anything serious given the man's body language. She had to admit, though, seeing him there, trying so hard not to tremble in his robes, and what appeared to be two additional layers to shield him from the cold, the weapons mistress couldn't help but think he looked absolutely adorable. As such, the bun-haired girl just couldn't stop herself from walking up and wrapping her arms around her Hyuga boyfriend.

"Ten?" the white-eyed prodigy gasped in surprise, but didn't pull away. Instead, the Hyuga smiled that soft special smile he only used when around the beautiful brown-eyed girl, and carefully wrapped his arms around her.

And though the streets were busy and noisy with the rushing crowds of last minute shoppers and noisy shopkeepers yelling out to attract people to their establishments, for the two young lovers, time seemed to stop in that moment, blocking out all distractions and noise. For Neji and Tenten, the world disappeared completely, and all that existed in that tiny bubble of space was the two of them. It was a peaceful, beautiful moment shared between the boyfriend and girlfriend, and no one else. And then, completely out of the blue, Tenten felt a strange little wiggling against her chest as she leaned into the white-eyed man.

Before she had time to figure out what it was, out poked a fluffy little white ball of fur of the man's thick robes and an "Arf!"

For an instant Tenten didn't quite know what to make of it. The tiny little creature staring up at her from between the Hyuga's robes was very clearly a kitten. And if seeing the prodigy with a little animal in his robes wasn't strange enough, the kitten had just made a strange sound. "Did he just bark at me? She asked, turning curiously up to her boyfriend, ignoring for the moment that it was strange for Neji to have a cat in his coat in the first place.

"Yeah... it does that." Neji shrugged, not caring to explain why it was he had a cat in his coat; not that Tenten had expected him to. After an extended pause, as the two sparring partners stared down at the ball of white fluff, who was curiously spinning around in the Hyuga's robes as if trying to make itself comfortable, thinking it perfectly natural to be carried inside of a man's coat, Neji cleared his throat and said, "I believe it thinks its a dog."

Tenten giggled softly at his response and smiled down at the adorable little kitty whose pure white fur reminded the girl of her boyfriend's beautiful white eyes. "hehe, he's cute," she laughed, turning back up to look into those white-eyes she loved so much.

"He's yours," the Hyuga replied, smiling down lovingly at his beloved girlfriend as he took the reluctant little kitten out of his robes and handed it to the brown-eyed girl. "Merry Christmas Tenten."

Smiling from ear to ear as a warm, cheerful joy that was exactly the warmth of Christmas that the bun-haired girl loved so much, filled her insides, Tenten gladly accepted the kitten. She cuddled the small little dear against her face, where it quickly nuzzled itself against her cheek. And as she giggled softly from the tickling feeling of the kitty squirming against her neck, Tenten pushed up on her tiptoes and tenderly placed a soft sweet kiss on the Hyuga's shivering lips. "Merry Christmas, I love you Neji."

A/N : As to why the kitty barks, it's because he thinks he's a dog.
I love it when animals think they're something else... i've had cats that think they're dogs, dogs that think they're birds... animals are crazy