"Tenten dear friend where have you been? We were waiting hours for you!" Neji made a sound in the back of his throat before speaking. "It was only seven minutes." Lee waved his hands in the air as if he were drowning. "Neji how could you say something like that! Any amount of time is magnified in youth!"
Tenten repeated the action of rolling her eyes and walking ahead leaving behind an exaggerated Lee, an annoyed Neji and a laughing Gai. Yep, tonight Tenten was going to have the time of her life...right.
The festival wasn't the best one Tenten's ever been too, the games were childish, the food was nasty and all this was worsened by an old Daimyo. A Daimyo who really didn't need the protection of anybody let alone skilled shinobi. Who probably deserved to be blown too smithereens.
Tenten walked casually out to a visitors sight, where a man-made railing was built, you could lean over the edge to get a better look at a waterfall. The platform was made of wood but the waterfall remained untouched, the water came from a large river ways away emptying into a pool at it's base where the current brought the water straight into a blue lagoon.
It was nice, not romantic, at least not in Tenten's opinion. Tenten was a woman but that didn't make her some fantastical dreamer of princes and princesses. She craved adventure, excitement! She craved for a man to come and--almost instantly Tenten was aware of the presence behind her.
He felt like he was a distance away but the hot breath that encompassed her ear told her otherwise.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Training herself too not turn around and stab this man, Tenten spoke as quiet as he.
"Perhaps, if I was a more romantic person I would say it was, but I'm not so it isn't." The extra puff of air had goose bumps crawling up her arms.
"Ah, so if this isn't beautiful, what is?" Tenten knew she was playing a dangerous game but she couldn't find it in her being to stop.
"The glint of the sun off metal. The freedom to do as you please. The close comfort of love, those things are beautiful." He hadn't touched her but still remained a hair's breath away behind her.
"Only a shinobi would appreciate metal." Tenten could feel her heart skip a beat and gladly jumped to take the bait.
"I collect weapons." His hands barely skimmed down her hips but the excitement spread like fire.
"Only a captive would appreciate freedom." Immediately the face of a stranger surfaced at the forefront of her mind.
"My attention has been enslaved." His fingers slid down the sides of her stomach and the effect was like a lightning bolt traveling down a metal pole in a storm.
"Only a romantic would find love beautiful." Tenten smiled to herself, her hands placed nonchalantly inside the sleeves as her fingers brushed her scroll.
"I contradict myself." Behind her she could hear him laughing quietly and silently she did the same, ignoring his body heat she focused her chakra in order to find her friends.
"If those things are beautiful to you, then what do you find distasteful?" She remained quiet and thought on the question. What did she find dis-"The ignorance of others, the weakness of fear...and love..unrequited." His hand brushed her lower back and stayed there longer than a fleeting touch.
"Ignorance is how the world grows, weakness is a part of life...and love...is a gamble either way." Her chin tilted in her defiance as she spoke to contrast him.
"Ignorance is how fools learn, weakness can be suppressed and love..." She trailed off at the end and she felt his arms encircle her waist, pressing her comfortably against his chest.
"Hmmm...what about love?" Her memories flooded with the years she tried so hard to capture, to intrigue Neji, all the times he turned her away, turned her down.
"Love is an ignorant weakness for fools." Angrily she pulled his arms from around her and stepped away turning so fast she almost fell over the railing.
There before her in the dimming light was the man from before, his eye narrowed as he watched her, scrutinized her with skill. The only thing Tenten could do was clutch the wooden rail in her hands and keep her eyes on him. It seemed to only be in seconds but he was there in front of her and she never saw him move.
He leaned over and placed his hands on either side of her own, trapping her in place. This time when he spoke she could not only feel it but she could smell the anko dumplings on his breath and the sweet sauce that went with it. "If you find those things beautiful and distasteful, then what is it that excites you?"
He moved closer, his body and hers touching, she felt his muscles soft but firm pressed against her own. The adrenaline was rushing through her veins crying out too touch him, too kiss him to bring him down to the ground and--"Look at you shaking with your own excitement. What is it that has put you into this position? Perhaps it's the cold..."
His lips were right there and Tenten knew that if she just tilted her chin a little more she could touch them with her own. As she begun to do that the stranger's voice lifted just a little, an effect of his own excitement. "Or perhaps it's me."
Bending down to accommodate the height difference he drew ever closer, obliging her with the kiss she asked for. Inches apart Tenten closed her eyes and pushed herself from the railing to be as close as possible to him.
When the scream echoed through the atmosphere Tenten jerked back in surprise as she jumped over the railing and transported herself to the fight, all the while hoping there was still something she could do.
