Wrapped in her sweater against the cool evening breeze, Tenten walked home from the market with an armful of groceries she had picked up after leaving the tea house. The breeze was just strong enough to shake the blossoms from the cherry trees on the way to her apartment, and she thought maybe there was a slight smell of rain on the air. Turning the corner, Tenten shuffled the bags to reach into her pocket for her house key, then fumbled with it in the door before realising that it was already unlocked. Cautiously, she pushed the door open, then noticed the kitchen light on and the smells and sounds of someone preparing dinner. Shutting the door behind her, Tenten headed into the kitchen to find Neji once again wearing only his meditating pants and standing focussed in front of the stove as he stirred a pot full of something delicious smelling. He turned as she entered and set the spoon down on the kitchen counter to help her with the bags.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" she questioned while rearranging items in her kitchen cupboard.
Neji used his significant height advantage to reach above her and put things away as he spoke, "You don't have half naked men meditate in your lounge room and cook you dinner normally?"
Rolling her eyes at his pointing out that he was bare chested, Tenten wandered over to the steaming pot to taste test the meal.
"Well, there was that guy while you were away…." she grinned when he frowned and plucked the spoon from her hand, "but generally they don't cook. What are you making?"
Neji turned his back on her to continue stirring as she began to set the table, "Dinner. You remember what that is, don't you? Although, given your cooking ability I would not be surprised if you didn't."
"Haha. Very funny. We all know I can't cook that well but it's not like I've ever set anything on fire!" she retorted as she poured herself a glass of water and settled at the table.
"Hn" was his only response. Tenten was, in fact, a pretty good cook and had cooked for Neji on many an occasion. She did not enjoy it, however, whereas Neji found it to be an extremely rewarding and relaxing activity which he was generally unable to do at the Hyuuga compound and so frequently took the liberty of doing in her kitchen.
Whatever the situation, Tenten was not displeased with her lover's culinary hobby and was laying stretched out on her couch, quite happily fed about an hour later while Neji sat on the floor in front of the couch, focused intently on the mission scroll he was reviewing. Her interest peaked and she leaned over his shoulder to ask,
"So what is it you are doing again?"
Neji instantly rolled up the scroll and dropped it onto the coffee table in front of him, preventing her from catching sight of the text.
"Wow, sorry. I wasn't aware it was supposed to be a giant secret," she humpfed in response as he gathered the handful of scrolls together and turned his head side-on to gauge her expression.
"Calm down Ten, you know I am not permitted to talk about any of this. I'm not even supposed to have these here."
His face showed he really was apologetic that he couldn't share his work with her, especially since he was using her lounge room as his own personal study. There were scrolls scattered in tidy little piles around the room, some of which Tenten recognised as being mission report scrolls, as well as others she couldn't identify. Before leaving on his latest mission, Neji and Shikamaru had been tasked with some kind of special ANBU enquiry into misconduct or misinformation or something of the sort. Tenten had not really gotten much more out of him, all she knew was that only Neji, Shikamaru and the Hokage knew what they were looking for and who they were investigating. She felt his eyes on her and looked over to see his head turned toward her as he regarded her seriously,
"I would tell you if I could." He practically whispered it, then added "besides, the less you know, the safer you will be."
"How do you figure that?" she didn't like it when her family kept secrets from her, and regardless of their relationship status that was what they were - family. Neji, Lee and Gai were the most important people in her life and their team had been her only equivalent of a family for a very long time.
"This enquiry is confidential, Tenten. Shikamaru and I have been assigned to determine whether there is something untoward going on and if it turns out to be a false alarm then it is better if no one knows." He held her gaze in an attempt to communicate the importance of this statement but knew from tilt of her heard that she was disregarding this as an excuse to keep her in the dark. He was also acutely aware of how much he hoped it did turn out to be just a false alarm, and how much more unlikely that seemed with every scroll he reviewed.
"Fine, fine. Do what you want," she rose from the couch and turned toward the bedroom, almost stomping her way down the hall. Neji sighed, quickly collecting all the scrolls into his bag before following her, stopping just inside the doorway to lean against the wall.
"Don't be like that, Tenten. I know you hate secrets, but this is not me trying to keep something from you. It is an official assignment that I just can't tell you about." This was not his fault, and he could not understand why she was being so completely irrational about his part in it and required silence. He had already told her too much by explaining what he was working on in the first place, but her overactive sense of curiosity had a tendency to get the better of her. It was this curiosity that Neji was concerned might put her in danger if there turned out to be some kind of traitor as they suspected.
Tenten turned from the closet where she had been rummaging through her clothes and passed him as she entered the bathroom. Neji remained in the doorway, knowing that moving around gave her time to consider what he was saying, and to decide whether she wanted to be angry with him. Angry Tenten was not a possibility he wanted to contemplate right now, he had too much work to do. Her voice drifted back from the bathroom, snapping Neji to attention.
"Ignorance is not going to protect me from anything, Neji."
She stepped back into the room having changed into a pair of black leggings and what looked suspiciously like one of his old shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Her hair had been released from its buns and she was currently pulling it into a single loose ponytail high on her head. He watched her tie it up before striding across the room to place both hands on her hips,
"I will tell you when I can. I promise."
Tenten sighed and nodded gently, "okay," then leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Okay."
He was about to lean in again when a sudden knock at the front door made them both jump instantly apart.
"Who could that be?" Tenten mumbled and started towards the door. After one quick look back towards Neji to make sure he had retreated to somewhere inconspicuous, she opened the door and was shocked to find a beaming Hinata standing before her.
"H-Hinata, what are you doing here? I mean - I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Is everything ok?" she stumbled over her words, feeling flustered as possible reasons to explain Neji's cousin appearing at her door late at night ran at high speed through her brain. Nothing comforting came to mind.
"Yes, everything is fine. More than fine. I know it's late and I am sorry to have disturbed you but I have something I need to tell you, and Neji." Hinata's smile did not disappear but she registered Tenten's shock at the mention of Neji's name. Tenten stood in mute shock in the middle of the doorway, she had no idea what to do. Should she play innocent and pretend she had no idea what Hinata was talking about? Or should she confess and call Neji in from the other room? Luckily, Neji saved her the trouble and appeared in the hallway behind her, shirt on, she noted thankfully.
"What is it, Hinata?" he asked as Tenten came back to herself and stepped aside to allow Hinata to enter her apartment.
She directed them to the couch and set about making tea as Neji and Hinata talked.
"Well," Hinata had finally suppressed her smile and managed to raise her meek voice loud enough for Tenten to hear in the kitchen.
"I was telling Tenten today about how Naruto had been behaving strangely for the last few weeks. He has been acting so secretively and spending a lot of time with my old teammates. I thought maybe something was going on and so I asked him about it when he took me out tonight," she paused in her explanation as if unsure how she should proceed, completely missing the twitch that ran through Neji's body at the mention of Naruto taking her anywhere. While he respected Naruto, the relationship between his cousin and Uzumaki was somewhat uncomfortable for Neji, something Tenten enjoyed taking advantage of by frequently elucidating all the things they likely got up to when out on dates, and away from Neji's overprotective streak.
Unsure how to finish, Hinata simply held out her left hand to her cousin and said "Well, this is why!"
Her excitement, and Neji's lack of response drew Tenten from the kitchen and she nearly dropped the tray and mugs of tea at the sight of the engagement ring on Hinata's finger. It took a few moments before her mind registered that a response was required and then she threw herself at the quiet girl in an enthusiastic hug.
"Oh my goodness, Hinata! It's beautiful! Congratulations! Oh, you must be so happy," she stepped back to take Hinata's hand in both of hers as she scrutinised the ring intensely, beaming from ear to ear.
"I did not expect it at all!" Hinata gushed in return, blushing profusely as she recalled the moment, "But we were having dinner and then all of a sudden….and in front of everyone! I nearly fainted, Tenten. Oh but I'm so excited!"
Tenten was still admiring the ring and smiled as Hinata explained the evening in more detail. Neji simply sat in silence at the opposite end of the couch during the exchange, only to interject at the next break in conversation.
"What did Lord Hiashi say?"
Both women looked over to him simultaneously, then Hinata straightened up a little and composed her excitement again.
"Actually Neji, he was not altogether surprised. Naruto had spoken to him about it and Father was apparently not entirely pleased at first but eventually decided that worse things might happen, and the possibility of my marrying a man who has succeeded in overcoming the doubts of so many in the village to become as successful and renowned as Naruto has, was not necessarily a bad thing."
Hiashi wasn't wrong, Tenten reasoned. Naruto had been quite inspirational to a lot of people in the village, not the least of whom were the two Hyuuga sitting in her apartment at that very moment. He and Hinata were so clearly a positive influence on each other, and the Hyuuga clan leader no doubt saw the potential for a very successful union between the two. Neji simply nodded, apparently accepting his uncle's judgement and allowing Hinata to explain her exact reason for visiting.
"Anyway, since we are now officially engaged, Naruto and I have decided we want to throw an engagement party next week to celebrate with all our friends. We would love for both of you to be there," she finished looking between them as she spoke.
"That sounds lovely Hinata, I can't wait," Tenten answered before Neji could interject anything negative. He was looking clearly disturbed that his cousin had known to find them both at Tenten's apartment and had invited them to a party as though they were a couple.
Hinata seemed to read his mind, "I know you can't officially come together," she gestured between them, "but you are so important to me and I wanted to at least be able to invite you both and share the news with you first."
"You mean you haven't told Ino or Sakura yet?" exclaimed Tenten as she got up from her place kneeling beside Hinata and sat down on the couch between the cousins, picking up her tea as she did so.
"No, not yet."
"I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they find out I knew before them. They will absolutely die!" she grinned wickedly and took a sip from her mug. Hinata picked up her own mug and attempted to suppress her slight smile at the thought of her two most social girlfriends not being the first people in the village to know such a huge piece of news.
"How did you know I would be here?" came Neji's deep voice from over Tenten's shoulder. They had almost forgotten he was sitting there and it took Hinata a moment to understand his sudden realisation.
"Aren't you always here when you are not at the compound?" she questioned quietly.
"Yes, but how would you know that?" Neji was clearly suspicious, and concerned that their secret was blown and the Elders would come beating on the door any minute now to punish him for his shameful indiscretion.
"Do not worry, Neji. I have known for some time that there was something going on between the two of you. Although, I wasn't entirely sure until you were hospitalised after that A rank mission went so horribly wrong."
Hinata glanced at Tenten, then with a sympathetic expression explained, "She was very worried about you. More so than I had ever seen before, and when I came to visit and saw her sitting next to your bed holding your hand, I realised what was going on."
Tenten was shocked but noticed no such response from Neji, who had clearly suspected his cousin's knowledge but trusted her loyalty in keeping their secret. Hinata knew better than most what would happen to them if the clan Elders ever discovered their lie of omission.
"Aside from you, who else knows?" Neji remained stock still but Tenten could almost hear his brain rapidly analysing possible scenarios and assessing solutions.
"No one, that I know of. Despite the fact that you spend so much time here, you have done rather an impressive job of keeping it quiet. If I didn't know you both as well as I do, I probably would never have picked it up either," Hinata shook her head as she confirmed that both the Elders and her father remained blissfully ignorant on that account.
Tenten and Hinata continued to talk quietly for a few minutes, and when the tea was finished Neji stood and walked with Hinata to the front door.
"I will return tomorrow morning for our training session, Hinata." He looked pointedly at Tenten before continuing, "Following that, I will spend the remainder of the week at the compound, just in case anyone has been overly observant of my absences."
In an uncharacteristic demonstration of great affection for Hinata, Neji then proceeded to press his hands gently to her shoulders and drop a quick kiss on her forehead, "Congratulations on your engagement. I am very happy for you both."
He stepped quickly back as Hinata blushed and mumbled thanks, then embraced Tenten and opened the door, moving quickly out into the approaching storm. The rumble of thunder punctuated the silence as Tenten closed the door and locked up, moving to tidy the apartment as she prepared to turn in for the night.
"Well I'm glad Hinata is happy," she commented on her way into the kitchen, "her and Naruto both deserve it."
Neji nodded in mute agreement but Tenten could see his mind was elsewhere. Stifling a yawn, she crossed the room to check the window was closed and then turned back to him.
"Well I think I might go to bed, are you coming?" she questioned, knowing full-well that the answer would likely be no, since his mind was now turning and he tended to work best late at night.
"No. I think I will stay out here and work for a while, I won't be long." He brushed her bangs back from her face and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before moving back to his bag full of scrolls and settling down to work again.
Tenten sighed and retreated to her bedroom alone, shivering at the rapid drop in temperature and wishing she could afford effective heating as she climbed into bed and watched the lightning flash, rain beginning to beat gently against the window.
Despite being tired sleep was not forthcoming, and Tenten watched for a long time as the storm grew stronger and the rain more insistent, before feeling the shift of her mattress as Neji's weight finally lowered beside her. She was still shivering slightly with the cold, and after a few minutes Neji's hand slipped up beneath her shirt to move slowly over her cold skin. Magic hands, she called them. She smiled sleepily as she felt his chakra infused palm warming everywhere it touched, and snuggled closer to his body as he pressed his lips firmly against the back of her covered shoulder and whispered a goodnight.