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: It's finally here! I've made a deal with myself to alternate between updating this story and Who You Must Protect. So far, so good! That thing I said was probably going to happen this chapter - definitely the next! I needed them to be in bed! The story sort of writes itself - I just type and the words come out. ;) Chapter dedicated to Chigiri Sasaki who is right now in love with Nejiten and AU fics.

Upload Date: 7/09/07

Recap from Chapter 4

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.

Chapter 5: Star Gazing

Still in the Past…

In the span of the time it took for Tenten to come to this realization, Ino and Sakura had convinced Naruto to have a dance with the "birthday girl". "Nobody has asked anybody out yet," Tenten reminded them as they looked at her with mischievous grins on their faces.

Ino responded confidently. "Just wait."

When the dance finished, Ino had placed a package with glittering paper, a white rosebud, and a finely tied bow on the bar counter. "Time for presents!"

Tenten shot her a suspicious look, but also placed a small gift bag on the counter followed by Sakura's present. The bartender poured ½ oz of butterscotch Schnapps, floated some Bailey's Irish cream, and then Yukon Jack. He lit the Yukon Jack on fire and sprinkled ground cinnamon onto the flame. Sparks erupted and Hinata, glowing from the after-effects of the dance with Naruto, was all too happy to blow out the "French Toast" shot that her friends had ordered for her. "Mmm… tastes almost like a cinnamon bun! My favorite!"

"Mine first!" interjected Ino pushing her gift towards Hinata. She placed the rosebud in Hinata's hair and waited attentively for her response. Once she tore off the paper, she started to grab inside the box, pulled something part of the way out, glanced at it, and quickly shoved it back inside, her cheeks covered in a dark blush. "Um… thanks for the gift, Ino-chan. I'm sure I'll… um… have use for it… some time."

Tenten had also managed to get a glance at the item and noticed it was some sort of baby blue lacy undergarment. Before Ino could expand on its wide variety of potential uses, Tenten handed Hinata her own gift. "Happy Birthday, Hinata-chan."

Hinata, learning from the past experience, opened the small box inside the bag carefully before revealing its contents to everyone. A white gold necklace with three pearls of increasing size dangling from the center sparkled in the light. "It's beautiful!" Hinata breathed as Tenten attached the clasp to the back of her neck. Sakura's gift was "The Woman's Book of Confidence: Meditations for Strength and Inspiration", which Hinata said she couldn't wait to get home to read. As Hinata and the girls started cleaning up the wrapping paper and ribbons, Naruto stopped them. "Hey wait! Hinata-chan – I know I didn't have a present, but let me make it up to you. Do you like Japanese food? I know this really good ramen place next to my workplace and… "

"Yes!" Hinata uncharacteristically exclaimed with alcohol-induced confidence.

"Great! Here's my number. Give me a call and we'll set a date, time, and place. I've got to go now... I see my business associate getting ready to leave. Nice seeing you again Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan. Nice to meet you, Ino-san, Tenten-san."

A male voice was heard next to the exit. "Naruto-baka, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

As Naruto waved a goodbye to them, he started heading towards the voice answering, "Teme, I've been in the same spot for the last half-hour! You going blind or something?"

The girls laughed. "Same old Naruto." Sakura commented with a soft smile looking somewhat nostalgic. Ino stepped in to bring back their attention. "We're definitely going to have to help you prepare for your big date, Hinata-chan! But, while we're on the subject… Tenten don't you have something you want to talk about?"

And so, she talked. No blatant lies colored her speech, and yet it wasn't exactly the whole truth either. How did they meet? Through someone at work was her answer. What did he look like? Long shiny luxurious hair that would make most women jealous, he seemed pretty fit (based on the way he had held her down), and great eyes (no need to say that they seemed to be able to see into her soul). Had they gone out? Not really… and she doubted that they ever would since he was confined to his living space. Did they kiss – was it good? Well, it was definitely something she'd never felt before. How did she feel about him? There was an adrenaline rush when she met him, sure, but she didn't know whether that was the energy that she was expending in controlling her temper at his arrogant statements or whether she felt an authentic attraction to him. Would they see each other again? Signs pointed to yes – big dollar signs, which amounted to the salary Hiashi paid her for doing her job.

Satisfied that Tenten had shared some details about her mystery man, although not completely, Ino promised to follow up at a later date. Tenten excused herself to get some much needed rest. As she drove herself home, she gazed up at the stars wondering if Hyuuga Neji was at that moment looking at the same sky.

In Hyuuga Laboratories...

Neji's mind kept on flitting to the incident that had happened earlier in the day no matter how hard he tried to clear his mind with his meditation techniques the meeting with her played over and over. There were a million unanswered questions that her arrival had sparked. And her was? What was the name that his uncle had said? Taka? Tani? It was definitely two syllables, but those didn't seem right… Tenten. That was it. Interesting. A name meaning 'here or there' or 'heaven' twice. Was that even her real name? Or was it just an identity furnished by his uncle?

What made her come here in the first place? What sort of hold did his uncle have on this woman? Was it money? Blackmail? He wouldn't put it past Hiashi to resort to such underhanded schemes. And what really was her purpose? Was it simply a test to see how he'd react being presented with an attractive member of the opposite sex? Were they trying to find a weakness they could exploit? If so, they had probably found one. He'd felt some sort of visceral attachment to the girl almost immediately upon her setting foot into his "home". Was it the way that she fought against his cool words with fire and passion? The confidence that projected itself no matter what she was doing? Was it the fact that she chose not to judge him and rather tried to understand? Or was it simply a physical response? The right mix of pheremones? The correct bodily proportions? The scent of her hair? The softness of her skin? The feel of her lips?

As his thoughts leaned toward her more attractive characteristics, Neji found his body unconsciously reacting in a way that made him curse his inability to maintain control. Finally, frustrated with himself, he took a long cold shower before going to sleep. But as he lay among the bed sheets, the faint fragrance of jasmine flowers and vanilla lingered on his pillows and he couldn't help but think about her as he stared up at the star-filled sky overhead.

Note to Readers: I was thinking about Tenten's body spray / perfume / scented moisturizer of choice and I decided upon something from the Bath and Body Works collection. They have this aromatherapy jasmine and vanilla scent for sensuality. Go in the store and sniff it if you REALLY want to get into the story. Thanks for all the readers and especially the reviews from ff . net and everyone who has put the story on alert or favorites. Thank you especially to B.Q. (2x) :D (thanks for the review!), Rindou-neesan, writingkage231, dreaming.sapphire, Moon (thank you for reviewing!), Raven2120, EshtarWind, BlooVeggieStix, animequeen100, biacebaolck, ChocolateBrownLocks, Dreaming101, piixiiestiix, Ariel32 (Chariel), and last but not least Chigiri Sasaki. Sorry if I missed anyone!