Title: The Spiral Project
Author: Matahari
Rating: T

Summary: Dr. Shi Tenten gets a job at Hyuuga Laboratories after receiving her Ph.D. in biophysics. Although not very socially experienced, she quickly gains a reputation in the organization as someone who can get things done and is selected to be in charge of the mysterious "Spiral Project". What she doesn't know is that this will involve getting close to a man who was even more secluded than she was and perhaps, love.

Author's Note: This has been a long time coming, but I honestly tried to write a little every day. Those of you who are anticipating another chapter in Who You Must Protect, thanks for bearing with me. I really hope to update a chapter of that one next! I'm trying to display Hiashi's character as someone who you're not quite sure about yet - really close to how he is perceived in the anime and manga. This chapter also includes some NaruHina hintings, which may develop into a minor relationship. But remember, it's the fabulous Neji and Tenten pairing that this is being written for!

Upload Date: 5/26/07

Chapter 4: A Leave of Absence

Still in the Past…

And for a brief moment, Neji felt a burst of energy course through him, and just as instantly, it vanished. When he became aware of his surroundings, he realized that he lay on his back as she fled his vicinity entering the elevator. Her eyes locked with his as the doors closed, a look of shock, confusion, and something… more lingering in their depths.

Tenten leaned on the wall of the moving booth for support, willing herself to control the shaking of her limbs and the trembling of her lips. Her fingertips grazed her mouth gently. She still felt the tingling from when they had kissed. When she reached the top of the elevator and reached her office, she began rolling a pencil up and down a stretch of table in order to collect her thoughts. As the pencil neared the leftmost corner of the table, she noticed a small piece of paper. She glanced at it briefly before crumpling it in her hand and immediately left her office.

"This is the most I've seen you in one day since I was first hired." Tenten joked uneasily as she entered Hiashi's office.

"Would you like a drink? Water? Tea?"

"No, I'm fine." Tenten shook her head.

"Tenten – I heard from the guards that you requested they leave. Did you find their presence troubling?" Hiashi asked giving her a warm and somewhat relieved look.

"Dr. Hyuuga, please do not blame them if they disobeyed your orders. It is just that I have no need or desire to be under guard. Although, I do understand and appreciate your concern."

"I can see that." Hiashi continued with a grin. "This is the first time in a long while that there hasn't been a need to call in reinforcements when Neji had a visitor. So, how did you do it?"

"There was no need for force…" she said quietly thinking again about her recent encounter.

"Well, as much as I am intrigued about your time with my nephew, I'm sure you also are very curious about what's going on, being the brilliant researcher that I know you to be."

"Thank you for the compliment, Dr. Hyuuga. To be honest, there are a lot of questions that I have right now, just spinning around in my head. I want to ask them to you shortly, but for right now I would like to request some time off – to think things over."

Hiashi, frowned slightly, his brow furrowed. "I understand if this is overwhelming for you Tenten. I have to admit, this situation is not a walk in the park for me either. My brother and I built this place up from the ground and I never imagined that this would happen – that I would be holding his only son in some sort of captivity. It may come as a surprise, but Neji's father was the first human subject and my partner in the "Spiral Project" – in fact he inspired its creation. However, when he died several years ago, we realized that he wasn't the only one to have acquired the abilities we were looking to control and tap. My nephew inadvertently blew out the circuits of the power grid that our manor uses and even affected the backup generators. The amount of energy he released was enormous and the degree of damage that he could have inflicted if uncontained was unimaginable. It was necessary to contain him as soon as possible. Being a teenager at the time, his emotions and actions were unpredictable, especially considering he would not or could not believe that his father was not murdered. All we could do was wait. When you applied for a job, it was a godsend. I just knew that you would be the person to be able to reach him."

Tenten was focused on every word that escaped Hiashi's mouth and lowered her eyelids when he finished picturing a young Neji distraught from grief. "Thank you for your vote of confidence. However, your assessment is correct – this is a lot for me to process, even more so after what you just told me. Will you grant my request for a leave of absence?"

Placing his hands together to form a steeple, Hiashi leaned backward in his leather chair. "If I must."

"Thank you. May I take my leave?"

Hiashi rose from his seat and guided her towards the door. Before she was about to turn her back, he grabbed her hand with his in a friendly shake. "I look forward to your return, Tenten."

Her only response was a small upward turn of her lips.

She went to her new office, which by that time contained all of her things from her previous workspace. Everything was put in an intuitive location, so when she needed to gather some files and her laptop – just in case there was an emergency when she was away – they were easy to find.

When she got home to her apartment, she instantly collapsed into her bed and sighed. Even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she needed to get ready for her girl's night out in a couple of hours. It was Hinata's birthday and she had promised the young girl a night to remember.

The club was packed with young men and women – some dancing, others lining the sides in intimate conversations and still others imbibing alcoholic beverages of varying strengths in order to build up the courage to do one or the other. The girls were doing the former. When the song ended, the other girls laughed in exhilaration while Tenten just gave a wry smile. Hinata gave her a concerned glance. "Tenten-chan, is there something wrong? You seem a bit… distracted."

"Huh? Oh… I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan. You shouldn't be worrying about me. You should be enjoying your special day!"

"Tenten-chan! " Hinata berated her, "What makes the day special is that I'm spending the night with all of my dearest friends. The only thing that's going to make it less special is if they aren't happy."

"Yeah, Tenten-chan" agreed Sakura. "You've turned down all the guys who wanted to dance with you. Usually, you'll at least give a few of them a chance. What gives?"

Tenten searched her thoughts. What was the reason why she was acting so differently, today? It couldn't possibly have to do with what happened earlier, right? Hyuuga Neji couldn't have had that much of an effect on her. She'd only really spent at most a few hours with him. And yet, all she could see when she closed her eyes was the way his had looked into hers and all she could feel was his lips – warm, soft, and desperate for a connection. And that spark she had felt… was it just her imagination?

When she finished her reverie, she found Ino waving one of her hands back and forth across her face. "Yep. Definitely distracted." She put a finger to her chin as if in thought, and smiled mischievously. "Now doctor, you wouldn't be hiding anything from us would you? Let's say, a crush, love interest, object of affection?"

"No!" Tenten denied a little too loudly. A few bystanders sent some glances her way as she continued in a quieter tone, "Of course not. It's just that… Hinata should find a guy before I do tonight. I mean, it's her birthday!"

"So, does that mean if Hinata finds a guy tonight to go out with, you'll let us set you up with someone or at least tell us know something about the person who seems to be garnering so much of your attention?" Ino wheedled.

"Sure." Tenten said confidently. In all the times they had been to the club, Hinata had NEVER hooked up with anyone. She preferred to find her men in libraries, bookstores, supermarkets, and coffee shops based on past experience. No sooner had she agreed to Ino's deal, however, she saw Sakura's eyes gleam in recognition and start beckoning someone to come over.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" a tall blonde with striking blue eyes exclaimed. "Who are all your friends?" he asked, eyes wandering over all the girls.

"Naruto! It's been so long since I've last seen you." Sakura cried accepting a hug. "Everyone, this is Naruto. He was my lab partner for most of my undergraduate chemistry and bio classes. He always made class interesting. These are my girls, Ino-chan, Tenten-chan, and Hinata-chan." Sakura pointed to each girl in turn and saw the young Hyuuga girl blush. "It's Hinata-chan's birthday today and we're celebrating."

"Hinata-chan? Is that you?" Naruto asked sidling up to Hinata as she simultaneously tried to disappear into a corner. "H-hai... Naruto-kun." She blushed a deep red as he affectionately ruffled the top of her head.
"Do you two already know each other?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Of course! Me and Hinata-chan go way back, don't we Hinata-chan?" Naruto put his arm over Hinata's shoulder in a familiar gesture.

Hinata gave a small nod and bent down her head trying to hide her intense blush.

"We first met when I hurt myself working out. Hinata-chan was a volunteer at the health center and nursed me back to health. The next time was at the library, because I had to cram to make up for the time when I was absent so that I could pass all of my classes that semester. Hinata-chan offered to help me study and we've been friends ever since!"

"What a small world." Ino commented with an impish grin on her face.

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto…" Tenten remembered that name from somewhere, but she just couldn't place it. Suddenly, it came back to her.

Flashback…

"Have you ever really liked someone, Tenten, but were afraid to tell them?" Hinata asked her new friend.

"Why do you ask, Hinata?"

"Well, I'm going to be graduating soon and there's this guy – his name is Naruto – I've been crushing on him for a long time. I've never told him anything about my feelings and I'm afraid that we'll never see each other again."

"I don't think I'm the best person to give you advice on this, but if you think he's worth it give it a shot. You shouldn't have any regrets. Even if it doesn't work out this time, you still might have another chance. If it's meant to be it's meant to be."

End Flashback…

The last update she'd had from Hinata was that when she had asked the guy out, he had misinterpreted it as a friendly date instead of a romantic one. Having already used up her limited supply of courage, Hinata had resolved to simply hope for the best and repeated Tenten's last piece of advice as a mantra "If it's meant to be it's meant to be."

So, he was that Naruto. Tenten held her face in her hands. This did not bode well.

Note to Readers: Yes, yes... I know that Naruto should have said "Hinata-chan and I", but I just thought that speaking in grammatically correct terms didn't fit for the way I wanted to portray the situation or his character. Anyway, I have a whole thing planned for this night and in my head it was supposed to come out in this chapter, but it didn't. Should make an interesting chapter 5 though! Thanks for all the readers and especially the reviews from ff . net and the NejixTenten FC. Thank you especially to Dreaming101 (3x), Ariel32 (Chariel), tenten kunoichi, Blossoms of Spring, kyakya991, NotJustAnotherHuman, NessieGG (winner of the AU contest for her Where Death Is King -bows to greatness- Read it if you haven't already!), Whipped Coffee, iheartyu.xD(3x), AngeChen, EshtarWind (check out her Beast of Souls), biacebaolck, openwindow4, Raven2120, tarzi-kins, newt-ish, Chigiri Sasaki, ChocolateBrownLocks, and piixiiestiix. Sorry if I missed anyone!