"I don't expect you to accept this as-" And, just like that, he was silenced by her forehead pressed against his and her smile returning to her lips with more vigor than he remembered her having since the hospital when he first woke from his sleep. She finally released him from her spell and her mesmerizing touch, looking up to him with a grin that made him nearly melt.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Neji." With that, she loaded her bag onto her back and made her way towards the entrance of their old training grounds, leaving Neji to gaze at her softly. Finally, she looked back to him, grinning again. "You might want to wipe that look off your face before your friends see, you know." He recoiled slightly, pressing his fingers to his lips to find a soft smile. I must look like an idiot. Yet, that was that. Simple and undefined, all at once. I will never hear the end of any of this.

- x -

"Well, don't you look smug." His voice hummed through the summer air, droning along like the June bugs that made the forests surrounding the village their home. The faint sound of laughter carried along in the wind, the smells of delicious foods from every street vendor wafted through the air. It smelled like the home she remembered. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a long easy breath and letting a smile come over her. When she opened them, a certain Nara stood before her with his hands in his pockets and a very accusing eyebrow-raise.

"Ah, Shikamaru-chan! You scared me!" Tenten jumped a near foot at his sudden appearance, grasping at her chest as she feigned a heart attack, though she was nearly certain she may have actually had one. Shikamaru laughed as she caught her breath, shaking his head slowly and raising his hand in faux apology. She threw the middle finger at him and he laughed again, louder as he pressed his palm to his stomach.

"Training, eh?" Shikamaru pointed towards the grounds she had just stood in before placing a cigarette in his mouth and raising his lighter to the tip before glancing towards a frowning Tenten. After a moment, he sighed and slid the cigarette back into the pack, mumbling something about bossy women as his eyes rolled so hard they could have fallen from his skull.

"Yes, how'd you know?" She smiled, twirling a kunai in her hand, sarcasm taking hold of her voice. He smirked again, tossing his hand into the air towards the path before them, miming a suggestion to walk. She took less than a moment to begin her descent towards the village and he followed in his own pace.

"Your cheeks are red. One might say you look like you're blushing." Tenten pouted, placing her palms to her face and sticking out her tongue. Shikamaru heeded her no mind and looked towards the sky with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, Nara, since we're playing mind games, I heard 'Mari is coming 'round sometime this week. Are you going to escort her around the village?" Shikamaru looked at her through his peripheral, her eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunlight as she winked at him. He hadn't a hard time understanding why Neji had fallen so forcefully for her. Tenten was quite the sight, both in the way she walked, talked and smiled, but how goofy and carefree she was. He finally resigned with a smile before sighing again and raising his hands in mock defeat.

"Pfft. You're just as bad as Hyuuga."

"Did you expect anything less of teammates?"

"Teammates, hm?" He mumbled, stating more than asking, only to be met by a quick punch to the side. Tenten laughed loudly as she did so. He flinched, rubbing his sides with both a fake and a slightly truthful look of pain.

"Escort, eh?" Her look was much more accusatory than his had been, but Shikamaru supposed he had deserved that. Tenten grinned as he studied her, her emotions fluid and unconcealed. He merely shook his head and shrugged silently.

"You've got too much spunk."

"And you're lazy, what else is new?" She began pulling out her wallet, pointing to a vendor that was slowly encroaching on the horizon of their vision, but he raised a hand and shook his head before shoving his hands back into his pockets. Tenten merely shrugged, pushing her wallet back into her pack.

"Just.." He rolled the words around in his mouth, lining them along perfectly behind his teeth. "Don't hurt him, I suppose. He's not fragile or anything, don't get me wrong, but he's never let anyone in before. Especially a woman as forward and as strong as you. He cares about you as much as he cares for being a shinobi, and that's saying something." There was a long pause as they continued down the road, the village finally coming into view. He thought she hadn't heard him and thought to speak again, but held his tongue.

"I know. I know. And you don't go hurting 'Mari, either." She said finally, Shikamaru hid another smirk. She wasn't going to give him a single inch, was she?

"As if she has a heart to hurt." He stated bluntly.

"You definitely have a soft spot for the lucky lady, don't you?" Tenten reminisced to all the adventures she and the sand kunoichi had over the years, closing her eyes as she was submersed into beautiful memories. She felt the sun glimmer and wrap itself around her tanned skin, glistening against the slight sheen of sweat that had precipitated in the heat of the summer afternoon. She'll stop being stubborn sooner or later. She finally opened her eyes to see Shikamaru glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Pot calling the kettle black, Tenten. By the way, Kiba's having a thing at his apartment tonight if you wanted to swing by. He called it a not dead party, for lack of a better usual are coming along, give or take a few."

"I'll consider it." She skipped ahead a few steps before turning to stand before him, pausing him in his tracks.

"You've never been one to skip out on a drink."

"Pot calling the kettle black, Nara." She winked and grinned at the slight look that overcame his features and, just as quickly, it was gone and hidden beneath a flat and typically uninterested smirk.

"Much too spunky." He said, frowning.

"Much too lazy. You should ask Temari on a date. As bossy and loud as you think she is, I know she'd say yes." She pressed a finger firmly against his chest, pushing against his flak jacket.

"I'll consider it." He began to walk past her, throwing a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it before she could protest. She smiled and shook her head, letting her bangs fall in front of her eyes for a moment before brushing them behind her ears.

"So you're saying you do have a soft spot for her?" She asked, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. He sighed loudly, crossing his arms over his chest and throwing his head back to take in the sunlight. He sat there silently for a moment and Tenten knew he was contemplating how he should handle a situation that would result in him getting into the least amount of trouble as possible. So troublesome loving someone, isn't it? I guess I would know.

"If it'll get all of you off my back." He looked back at her, his eyes had an unusual glint and Tenten couldn't help but tilt her head as she observed his reaction.

"Everyone sees it, you know." She spoke softly, this time her words filled with genuineness. As if she was speaking a matter of fact, something the whole world knew but he couldn't seem to grasp. He looked at her for a long while, furrowing his brow as he took a few strides towards her. He looked down at her roughly, but his gaze softened with a not-so-sudden realization.

"I haven't been hiding anything."

"Denying it like crazy." She shook her head again, placing her hands on her hips in a stance that reminded him too much of Temari.

"What can I say, I like the mystery. See you tonight, Tenten." He finally turned his back to her again, throwing a hand in the air to state his goodbyes that he never gave verbally, leaving Tenten to stand in the center of a suddenly busy street.

- x -

"Tenten! Right on time!" Kiba shouted, the scent of sake rolling off his tongue as sloppily as his words had. She feigned a look of disgust that he merely shook off as he waved a hand in the air. "Ladies never think I'm genuine, Ten. Never do." He took her coat from her shoulders and attempted to place it on a coat rack three or four times before he finally achieved that action.

"Of course Kiba, you're such a catch. How could any woman do without you?"

"Right?" Kiba shouted again, throwing his hands into the air and knocking a drink onto the floor. Tenten sighed and heard a few girls giggle at his outburst and, unfortunately, swoon enough to boost his ego when he winked at all of them. "Grab a drink of whatever you want. Everybody's scattered all over. Have a ball, doll." He snickered at his own rhyming, throwing a shot down his throat and humming at the warming sensation before migrating through the mass of people. Tenten sighed, bodies packed the hallways and rooms and as much as she wasn't bothered by tight spaces, this little breathing room made even her feel claustrophobic. Christ, how many people does this kid know? With a thousand 'excuse me's and a thousand more apologies when she stepped on everyone's feet in her heels that she knew she would just love wearing, she squeezed past the congregation of drunken people and made it into the freedom of the kitchen. Tenten propped herself on the island counter, taking a deep breath. It was no mystery to her as to why she was nervous, though she thoroughly hoped no one else could tell. She pressed her face into her hands, feeling her heart beat rapidly in her temples. Her hair collapsed over her shoulders as she removed them from their twisted buns, allowing them to fall into long brunette curls. He said he loved my hair down, right?

"Is the life of the party here at last?" A familiar voice rang behind her and Tenten looked up just in time to be met with groups of arms surrounding her as blonde hair clashed with pink hair. "We thought you'd never get here!"

"God, and I thought I was early!" Her words fell upon deaf ears as they handed her a shot, throwing it back as quickly as they could. She shrugged and downed it, she had a feeling she'd need to be a little more relaxed to get through the night. She pulled at the hem of her dress as she lowered herself from the countertop, hating herself for letting those two kunoichi convince her of buying such a short dress. She hated herself more for wearing it.

"Where's Lee, Ino?"

"Off somewhere, far away from alcohol. We don't want another round of the last party." She shook her head, her blonde hair flowing against her shoulders as she did so, but giggling all the same. Tenten suddenly remembered the slightly-short-of-disastrous party that Kiba had thrown a few weeks prior to them all shipping off for the war. One last hoorah, he called it, but she remembered more fondly how drunk everyone had gotten and how out of control her youthful teammate had been under the haze of just a sip of vodka.

"Better than Kiba." Sakura smirked, raising a drink to her lips and taking a long gulp.

"You're the one who swears off him every other day, yet takes care of him when his head's in a toilet." Ino stated, giving Sakura a firm look.

"I distinctly remember during the chuunin exams you thinking he was extremely cu-" Ino clamped her hand over Sakura's mouth, shrieking loudly in protest and annoyance.

"We do not ever, ever discuss those days! Ever." She hissed, her face inches from Sakura's before Tenten finally let out a long, loud laugh that forced her to grab at her sides to keep them from bursting at the seams. She wiped tears from her eyes, taking care of the make-up she rarely wore before taking another long sip of her drink.

"I can't believe you two! Never a dull moment."

"So, what about you and Hyuuga?" Ino asked, placing another shot into Tenten's hand. She shook her head vigorously. She had practiced how she'd deny any love ties to him a thousand times over, but the second she was confronted on it, she remembered that she was actually terrible liar. "Don't shake your head like you don't know that we know you've got some feelings floating in the air. And I heard there was something mutual from his end."

"And where on Earth did you hear that?" Tenten asked, her voice mixing between genuine interest and avoidance of all things Hyuuga.

"Own up before he gets here so we can wing-woman for you, girl!" Sakura said, throwing an arm around Tenten's waist. The weapons mistress merely sighed, drowning her stomach with another shot before attempting to explain what had transpired between them for the past several months, between their long missions along together, his amnesia, to just that morning. She avoided most of the sordid details, giving them only what was necessary and would leave most of their questions open ended, but answer them enough that they wouldn't question her further.

"Well, fuck." Ino said, staring into her drink before finishing it. "God, Tenten."

"What, no love advice from miss marriage material over here?"

"I never said I could help! I just asked because I was curious." The blonde stated, tossing her head to the side in her own defense.

"And you?" Tenten glanced over to Sakura, her eyes nearly pleading for the slightest bit of advice. She was, more or less, completely loss when it came to relationships, seeing as she never had one before, let alone how guys like Neji work.

"I'm too relationship challenged to help you, honestly. Besides, no one knows him better than you do at this stage in the game and he's an enigma even I can't solve."

"I don't think the Hyuuga genius can solve the Hyuuga genius." The women erupted into laughter, tears brimming their lashes as they clinked their glasses together and toasted to their terribly confusing love lives, the end of the great ninja war, and many adventures to come.

"Speak of the Devil." Sakura pointed towards the door as she finished her drink and grabbing another one to take with her. "You're on your own now!" Tenten looked up to see the face she had been both excited and terrified to see at the door with his cousin and Naruto. She felt butterflies threaten to explode from her stomach at any given moment and so she found herself cradling her lips with her fingertips.

"Wait, what? You can't just.." Tenten started, looking behind her to see an empty room. "Leave me. Great." She sighed, trying to muster the courage to approach him first, but found it more appropriate to let him find her in the crowd. If he wants to see me, he'll find me, right? No thinking, no questioning, she submersed herself into the crowd that separated she and him, delving head first into the heart of the party.

- x -

"Hey guys, come on in. Kiba's upstairs. Potentially throwing up. Potentially fucking. We're at a loss, but I've been designated bouncer and I'm taking my position incredibly seriously." Shikamaru shrugged, smirking ever so slightly as he made jokes in Kiba's expense.

"Ah, man, are you gunna have to frisk us? I don't know if I'm prepared for that next step in our relationship." Naruto chided, nudging the Nara in the ribs with an elbow before raising his hands above his head, grinning fully with a laughing Hinata at his side tugging at the sleeve of his shirt as she shook her head. Neji rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If you're asking me to feel you up, you'll need to pour me a few drinks first." Shikamaru laughed, passing Naruto and Hinata a drink as they walked through the foyer and towards the mass of bodies and thumping the bass line of music. They meshed in quickly, his last view of them was Naruto waving at them with Hinata leading him by hand, along with him yelling to find them later to catch up.

"My man, you up for tonight?" Shikamaru looked to Neji, grasping the man's hand in his and pulling him in to pat him on the back. He pulled back to look at the Hyuuga, a man who never appeared to fear anything, throwing himself quite literally into Death's arms to save his friends, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Terrified, for lack of a more severe term. "You look like-"

"Like I need a drink? I do." Neji interrupted quickly, his voice low enough that it was nearly lost amongst the shouts of people and the flow of music through the hallway.

"You don't even drink." Shikamaru said, handing him one regardless. "Liquid courage, I suppose." He watched as Neji downed one in a single gulp and frowning slightly at the taste. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at his sudden affinity for alcohol but paid it no mind as he handed him another one.

"I need more than a little courage, I suppose."

"I talked to her earlier today, you know." Shikamaru spoke, looking to Neji as the Nara poured himself another drink.

"And?" Neji tried fervently to avoid sounding too interested, as if it were just passing conversation or the time of day, but Shikamaru could feel him hanging on his every syllable.

"Getting anything out of her was like pulling teeth. She's a lot like you. Secretive, dodgy. It's hard to admit feelings."

"You act like you've never met a woman like you before." Neji joked, smiling for the first time that night before grasping the Nara's shoulder firmly.

"If I met a woman like me I'd be happily married by now. Kids, even." Shikamaru joked, looking down into his own reflection in his dark drink and falling silent. He finally glanced back up to Neji who held a guise of concern behind a simple raised eyebrow. Shikamaru cleared his throat, introducing a new thread of conversation. "But come on, you've got your love interest to find and I've got to check on Kiba. Don't want a dead shinobi on our hands. Tsunade'd have my head."

"I'll help you hide the body." Neji said and the two men laughed, Kiba had always been the butt of every possible joke.

"I'll hold you to that." Shikamaru grasped his friend's shoulder, looking him in the eye for just a second before turning to walk up the stairs. He paused, knowing Neji would stay in the foyer for a few more minutes before he'd find the courage to throw himself out there. Into the crowd and into something as confusing as Tenten. "Take a deep breath, Hyuuga. You've got this."

"Hn. Right."