AN: Firstly, gomen to anyone who has read the more recent spoiler additions on "Belizma-Chan's Notebook". They are mostly wrong.

This is for two main reasons. The first being that I got incredibly carried away when writing the NejiTen scene (it was just supposed to be 500 words- oops); the second being that I couldn't possibly cut the sand scene anymore.

2480 words in this chapter

Unmasked

Chapter 22- The limp

Tenten woke up beside an empty bed. In her heart she was expecting it, but there was still something deep in her soul that cracked at the lack of warmth beside her. She lay still, on her side as she faced the door of her husband's room, trying to push difficult thoughts out of her mind.

Every day since they were married she had woken up alone, but this was different. Now it felt as though everything he had said the previous night, was just to get her to sleep with him, and now she was the fool once again; the fool who gave her virginity to a man who would never care…

She bit back her anger, determined not to let it slip through. She was back at the Hyuuga estate now, he had full control over her, and so getting angry would only cause her self more problems. No doubt her security would be increased now that she had tried to escape once, and he would be on the alert.

Flipping onto her stomach, she buried her head in the pillows and groaned at her own stupidity. I'm one of the best Kunoichi in Konoha, and I still fall for a cheap trick like that, in front of everyone… if only Sakura had been there, she would have warned me… I'm so pathetic…

A light breeze tickled the bare skin of her back causing her to pause in her thoughts. Something like that could only mean one of two things; either a window was open, or someone had just entered the room. Common sense easily gave her the answer.

Knowing her dignity was already forfeit, she just turned her head to face the room's new occupant, not bothering to cover up her already exposed upper torso.

She was surprised to find Hinata standing in the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest. Pulling herself upright and wrapping a blanket around her; Tenten blushed in embarrassment. "Hinata…"

Hinata walked in slowly and slid the door shut with a faint smile. "Ohayou Ten-chan, are you all right?"

"Um… I could lie…" she sighed, resting her head in her hands

"I'm not here to ask for any details, Neji just sent me up to see if you are ok, seen as it's almost midday and you weren't up yet"

Tenten was confused at the mention of his name "Neji?"

"Hai, remember your husband?" she laughed lightly "He had to go down and speak to someone a while ago; otherwise he'd be here himself. The family is having a dinner in a few hours before Taka-kun and I leave to go home, if you want to come"

"I'm sorry, I'm a little confused…"

"Hai, I can tell from your expression." She sat on the end of the bed "What's wrong?"

"Just tell me so I'm certain please, what happened last night?"

Hinata's eyes went wide "you weren't drunk, were you?"

"Not really, I mean I had a few drinks, but nothing too severe… it's not that I can't remember, I guess I just don't believe it… and waking up alone and naked in his bed doesn't bode well, so… please just tell me, if you know."

"Ok, um… Neji finally admitted that he's in love with you, then you were making out for a long time, and then there was dancing, then once he had finished all of the family responsibilities he had to take care of, the two of you just disappeared. According to Neji's tale of the story, he made love to you, and then you fell asleep together…"

Tenten nodded solemnly "Hai, that's what I thought happened. There was no way I could have been hallucinating?"

"Not unless the rest of us were too"

"Kuso…"

"What's the matter? Did you not want to make up with Neji?"

"Not really, I was really banking on a good safe divorce. Now I have to spend all day curtsying to the Hyuuga rules again, and probably will have to my entire life. I'm not sure which is worse, being wife to Neji, or the thoughts that he might have tricked me."

"When did you ever think he had tricked you?" Hinata frowned

"This morning, the dance, the weeks after our wedding, that conversation we had all that time ago…"

"You still remember that?"

She shrugged "only vaguely. I remember my complete shock when you told me he had requested me personally. I thought he was a complete hypocritical bastard for calling the marriage a 'problem' when he was the one who caused it. Then I found out that he didn't really cause it at all"

"Yes he did." She said quietly

"Nani?"

"It doesn't matter"

"No, I heard what you said Hinata, what do you mean?"

"The reason why you had to get married, it was because of Neji… he slept with someone before he married you, and some of the Hyuuga elders found out. She was… well, she was not someone they wanted him to be associated with, and they were scared that he was going to destroy the Hyuuga reputation, so they decided he should be married off as soon as possible." She fiddled with her fingers, nervously waiting for her reaction.

"Who was she?"

"Ten-chan, please don't…"

"Hinata, who was she?"

"Don't get mad…"

"I won't, I just want to know who it was that ruined my life" she gritted her teeth, determined not to let her frustration show. Hinata didn't seem convinced though, so she softened her voice and tried again. "Please Hinata; maybe this might stop me being so angry at him"

"It was… it was Temari" She winced in anticipation

Tenten took a deep breath and looked down, deep in thought. A few seconds later, she put on a smile for show and stood up "Thank you Hinata. I'm going to get dressed now. You can leave"

"I brought you some clothes in, seen as this isn't your room. I thought you might…"

"Did Neji tell you to?"

"No… but I thought…"

"I'll be fine thank you Hinata, I'm intending on making a point. You can leave."

She sighed deeply before standing to leave "Just don't kill him… please?"

Tenten said nothing more as Hinata left, but went over and slipped on her tight, dark blue shorts, then slipped one of Neji's Yukatas on loosely, only tying it enough to cover her modesty. With her hair loose, she admired the sight she made as she walked passed a mirror on the way out and put on her best smile.

She wandered through to where she knew Neji would be, just off the main meeting room, and smirked at the sight of him staring off out of the window blankly. Leaning against the wall next to him, she let the yukata slide just off her shoulder and smirked. "Ohayou bastard"

"Hn?" he stood back, a little alarmed at her sudden appearance, but then realized how she was dressed. "Tenten, do you have no decency?"

She laughed lightly "It's strange, I was about to ask you the same question"

"What have I done now?" he spoke quietly, not wanting to attract unwanted attention

"Like you don't know" she stood up straighter and glared at him, still eerily smiling.

"If it was sending Hinata up…"

"Obviously you don't remember. Tell me bastard, would you ever intentionally hurt me now?"

"No, never" he frowned

"That's good to know, because now… I can do this" she shrugged the yukata further up her neck line, and grabbed him by the collar to drag him out into the courtyard.

To her delight, he didn't resist, and it wasn't long before she had him pinned to the ground, straddling him to keep him still, with one knee on each hand and her hand near his neck.

"Tenten…" he gasped

"Don't worry, I have no weapons, so you won't die" she smiled "I just thought I should let you know a few of my feelings, for your own good in the long run…and just answer me this... Why the hell did you hate me so much back then? You know, before you married me?"

"Nani… I didn't hate-"

"Temari!" she punched him in the face for punctuation and his eyes shot wide "sure, that jogs your memory! Were you drunk? Or did you just get horny off the idea of pissing me off?" she punched him again, harder this time, and his nose began to bleed.

She continued, hitting him every time she finished a statement "You knew much I hated her! She was the reason we are even bloody married in the first place! You knew how much it would hurt me when I found out! How could you keep this from me, knowing that the longer it took, the angrier I would get? Like hell do you fucking love me you bastard! You don't give a shit about my feelings!"

She paused to breathe, realizing that he wasn't even resisting, despite the fact he was bleeding and bruised all over his face. She felt a tear drop down her cheek and clenched her fists in his clothing "what the hell is wrong with you…? Why aren't you trying to stop it…?" the tears fell into soft sobs as she collapsed her head into his chest and slid her knees off his hands "Why can't you just be the bastard you were…?"

She soon felt fingers weave through her hair soothingly, but he remained silent, not trusting his own voice to say the right thing.

At the gates of Konoha, a gathering of silhouettes silently waited, the sun setting behind them in a spectrum of hues many of them were too tired to even notice. One day after the epic dance, many of the Suna Nin were still nursing aching heads and damaged memories, but were mostly all on time, preparing to make their way home.

Some though, were taking their time. As much as Gaara had been calmed by the lighthearted frivolity of Sakura's actions, it didn't take much to fray his wits, and currently he was beginning to feel that dangerous nag at his temper. Distracting his attention from the horizon, he glanced over his shoulder to find his brother wandering over looking twice as frustrated as Gaara felt.

"Gaara," he called out, gritting his teeth "Usually I would relish the absence of our very own hell bitch's tales of her latest conquest, but she hasn't taken this long since the last time she managed to pin down Nara. Shouldn't we be worried?"

Gaara took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and then spoke calmly, "She has another minute. If she isn't here by then, we'll go and fetch her."

Kankuro lifted his face up to catch the warmth from the last few rays of the setting sun "I wonder who she had hold of this time"

"So long as it isn't Inuzuka, I couldn't care less"

He laughed lightly in reply "Yeah, like that would happen. He's got Sakura. You'd have to be an idiot to trade that"

"Right, of course" he smirked internally and returned his gaze to the trees in the distance.

He obviously picked up on the hint of sarcasm. "Yeah, so he is an idiot, but he still wouldn't, and Temari definitely wouldn't. Not until he begs like a dog, excuse the pun. Speaking of which…" His volume build up to deafening levels, enough to break the tranquil evening atmosphere like a hammer "Temari! It's about time… dear Kami; you look like a building collapsed on you!"

Gaara turned and followed his brother to where she was strolling over with a limp and a dazed look in the eyes. Her hair was more of a mess than they had ever seen it, even in fights, and she looked generally wiped of everything she had, her head hanging low.

Gaara crossed his arms over his chest "What happened?"

She glared up at him, a slight smile on her lips, and breathed out heavily "Stamina"

The temptation to roll his eyes was overwhelming. For a while then, he almost thought she had been hurt or something, but instead, she had just outdone herself with another Konoha Nin.

Kankuro found it incredibly amusing, and was chuckling to himself over her disarrayed appearance. "Whoever he was, he must be a genius"

"Not at all" she sighed with an exasperated shake of her head "Biggest idiot I have ever met"

Gaara easily put two and two together and frowned at her "You didn't"

She shrugged "I did. Kinda wish I hadn't so much, cos running home's gonna be one big fucking torture session, but I did"

Kankuro couldn't quite make the connection "what? Who are you talking about?"

Gaara ignored him "What are you going to do once he becomes Hokage? It's going to be impossible to maintain dignified inter-country relations if you are making eyes at him the entire time."

"Chill out Gaara, I'm not going to marry him" she limped off towards the gate, then stopped to look over her shoulder with a smirk "Put it this way though, Nara can go screw himself for all I care"

Kankuro finally caught on and followed after her "Uzumaki?! Temari, you're the idiot"

"Do you realize that if you play games with this one, you'll have the Hyuuga's and the Hatake's to deal with?" Gaara pointed out sternly

"Hai, and Sakura" Kankuro added

Gaara stopped still, deciding that with no Konoha Nin in presence, it would be all right to mention it "You mean Hatake Sakura?"

Both of his siblings stopped and turned to face him at once, gasping in unison "What?!"

He ignored them and raised his voice to the rest of the group "We're moving out. I'll call for a debriefing meeting once we return to Suna, you know your teams."

The gathering dispersed fairly quickly, heading in small groups towards different directions so they wouldn't be such a large target.

"You are joking right?" Kankuro insisted as he walked beside Gaara, determined not to change the subject.

"No, they were married last night"

"How the hell do you know this?" Temari demanded, regaining some of her energy.

"Don't listen to him Temari" Kankuro told her "They can't have been. Sakura is dating Kiba"

"Not anymore obviously" she retorted "why would he lie?"

"He's obviously bitter because he's had a crush on her for longer than he'll admit and would rather see her married to her sensei than settling for Kiba"

"It's none of our business" stated Gaara sharply; eager to end the conversation "I was just making a point to Temari. If you aren't planning to get serious, don't even bother trying a repeat performance. He gets too easily attached."

"Don't worry about that. I don't think I'd survive another repeat performance for a long time" She blushed and began to limp a little faster.

AN: Originally this was just pure filler, but I kinda got carried away, so it may end up in plot development land after all. I don't know, one sentence worth of angst is enough to add 10 chapters sometimes. I really must put my creative license in a box and get myself some self control.

Never mind, I hope I at least gave Naruto a bit of dignity (despite my intense dislike for him) and I feel that Temari got exactly what was coming to her, even if it wasn't Shikamaru doing the giving.

Well I was pleased with myself.

I started another story aswell, but it's purely drawing board atm, and NO pairings have been announced thus far (Basically, because I haven't decided what to do with the idea- but I only really write romance, so it'll get there eventually). I am going to post the basic idea on my website, which you should all know the address to off by heart by now.

I have also introduced to my website, a mailing list, where if you send me your email, I will email you to inform you of any last minute changes to future chapters and things, before they are released, along with little spoilers and things.

Stay shiny and show the luff

Xx Belizma-chan xX