Weapon of Choice
Chapter the Third:
Awakenings and Alliances
Unless I've developed amnesia and am secretly Japanese, then I don't own Naruto.
It was dawn the following morning, and the first rays of the rising sun could be seen streaming through the beige window shades. A frustrated Neji was currently pacing impatiently in front of Tenten's door, all the while moving in and out of the staggered lighting. The previous evening he had told Hanabi to inform his teammate that he needed to speak with her, but she had never showed. He would give her five more minutes, then he was going in whether she liked it or not. Four and a half minutes later he frowned, releasing a very un-Neji like sigh and rapped loudly upon the door.
"TENTEN!" he called. He flinched as a kunai speared itself through the door mere inches in front of his face. A moment later the door was flung open, showing the disheveled state of the room's occupant. Her loose hair hung down her back in a mass of wild tangled clumps. She was clad in what he suspected though couldn't prove was one of his old t-shirts. He supposed that she was wearing some other... garment... under there somewhere. He couldn't bring himself to think of them as panties because it was Tenten, his childhood teammate, and she could never posses such a blatantly feminine item.
"Mrphle" she, uh...said?
"Tenten?" Neji nearly blushed when squinting unintelligibly; she brought her face millimeters from his own.
"Coffee." she croaked.
'Only Tenten.' he thought, smirking inwardly. Neji turned on his heel and led her through the byzantine labyrinth that was the Hyuuga Complex, towards the kitchens. Breakfast was a far less formal affair than dinner. It was left to one's own discretion. As it was early, they had the quarters to themselves. He motioned her towards a nearby table and brewed her a cup of coffee. When he handed it to her, she clutched the mug and began to drink gingerly. She sighed in satisfaction and drowned the rest of the cup in one impressive gulp. Once she reached the bottom of the mug she blinked a few times and looked up, her glazed eyes brightening as if she was just now waking up.
"Morning Neji!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Hn." he replied, as he observed her from the stove.
"What's that?"
"Omelet."
"Make me one?" she asked hopefully.
He snorted. "Fine."
"Yaay! Thanks, Neji!"
He rolled his eyes at her childishness.
She got up out of her seat and made her way over towards him. She rose up on to the tips of her toes and looked over his shoulder at the meal he was so skillfully preparing. "What are we going to do today, Neji?"
He tensed slightly at the sudden closeness. He could feel her warm breath on his neck. "The same thing we do every day Tenten." he replied with a calmness he didn't really possess.
"Flirt subconsciously?" she said flashing him a sly smile.
Neji shot her an odd look. "No, train."
"Same thing." she said, still smirking, her cheeks flushing faintly.
0-0
"Tenten," he started as they began the long trek back to their rooms. "I wanted to talk to you about some of your...lifestyle choices."
"Huh?" She gave him a puzzled look.
"Your apartment..." he clarified.
"Was a dump." she admitted with a shrug. "Where are you going with this?" Her expression was uncharacteristically guarded. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with him.
"Do you take me for a fool? I know how much Chunin get paid."
"Oh." she mumbled. Her head hung down, as she refused to look him in the face.
"It was appalling to see you living in such a place. It's inappropriate for a ninja. What have you been wasting your money on? It's disappointing how poorly you've managed your finances…" he tailed off as he noticed the intensity with which she was glaring at him.
"Are you done?" she demanded, her voice was clipped with resentment.
"Hn…?" He was taken aback. He rarely saw her regard someone with such contempt, and never before had he been the victim of such a glower.
"Are you done being a condescending ass?" Her hands trembled. She looked as though she was about to hit him, but managed to restrain herself with great effort. "Have you ever, in your entire life, had to pay for your own gear? Do you have any idea how much a good kunai costs? Not those cheap mass-produced knockoffs that you and Lee use, but a really good one?" She paused and reached back into her nightclothes, producing a kunai from their depths. "Like this." She held it up to him, caressing it between her fingers in a way that Neji found disturbing yet arousing. "This is hand forged Damascus steel, made by a master craftsman, me." She held the blade up to his cheek, pressing it softly against his cheek, teasing the sensitive skin. "Feel how sharp the edge is? You could shave a gnat with this." She took one of his hands in her own and placed the weapon within them. "Hold it." she ordered. Her hand lingered, tingling the skin where they touched. She moved around so her body was pressed against his back, still cradling his hands in hers. She leaned into him, using his body for support as she went up on her toes again and bent towards the crevice of his neck. "Feel how perfectly balanced it is." she whispered into his ear. A fierce shiver snaked down his spine. She then took two careful steps back and smacked him in the back of the head.
Hard.
"Ow." he winced, rubbing where she had hit him, giving her a look of disbelief.
"As a Weapons Mistress, my life depends on the quality of my weapons. Anything less than the best could get me killed." She scowled. "And remember Neji that not everybody is lucky enough to have a big fancy clan at their back." she sniffed derisivly and snatched back her kunai. "Now wait here while I change." And with that she went into her room, leaving Neji standing there alone, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, pondering over what just happened.
0-0
That afternoon they departed the compound for their daily training session. As always they started with dynamic stretches. Tenten was doing ballet stances, moving with awe-inspiring fluidity. She was absurdly flexible, even for a kunoichi. Neji watched her undetectably, using his Byakugan. Watching his female teammate stretch one of his secret guilty pleasures, like the Icha-Icha novels that were hidden beneath his floorboards. He briefly wondered if he could train his Byakugan to see through clothes.
"You ready to start?" she asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. He nodded and rose to his feet, assuming his jyuken stance. Tenten made her way over to him, stopping a safe distance away. Never taking her eyes off of him she summoned a double bladed Viking war ax and got into her own stance.
Neji raised an eyebrow at the oversized weapon. "Can you even lift that?"
She scowled at him, and whipped the ax around her head several times to answer his question.
An ax is not a subtle weapon, and was rarely appropriate for a ninja. It was neither elegant nor precise though it did have in it's favor overwhelming power. When someone is hit with an ax it tends to be something of a life altering experience, whether the result is an agonizing and bloody death or simply having to adjust to the nickname 'lefty' tends to be a matter of aim. These thoughts shot through Neji's head as he saw his teammate charge at him, swinging ruthlessly. He expertly sidestepped, dodging her fierce attack, before only narrowly evading another swipe aimed at his head.
He withheld the urge to sigh. She must still be mad at him.
It was unusual for her to be so aggressive this early in the match. Normally she would hang back, keeping out of range of his jyuken and snipe at him from a distance in order to wear down his defenses.
He ducked under another swipe and struck upward at the weapon's wooden handle, severing it, sending the blade whirring off into the woods, where it very nearly bisected a passing squirrel. Without missing a beat she caught him off guard and connected a grazing blow to his shoulder with the splintered remains of the ax handle, before leaping backwards, and firing off a few kunai to give her the time to regroup. She summoned a katana and short sword for either hand before charging back into the fray.
Neji drew two of his own kunai, blocking each of her slashes. The field rang with the sound of clashing steel as the two ninja exchanged blows.
The spar drew on. The dance between the two teammates became heated, each refusing to give the other an inch. Soon their breathing was becoming labored. Neji knew he was in trouble. The wound in his shoulder was limiting his movements, and as Tenten's attacks became more and more vicious he was given no time to reassemble his strategy. Her anger was making her better, and her speed and precision were remarkable. He grimaced. He knew that he could finish this quickly if he used his bloodline ability but he shouldn't have to. He couldn't deny that she was improving but she still wasn't enough to challenge him. With a low growl he finally gave in, he would use his jyuken. He dropped his weapons and streamed his hands with chakra. With her next strike, he caught the blade of the katana within his hands, and torqued it out of hers. She swore at him and went to stab at him with her other blade. He sidestepped her and grabbed her wrist, twisting it behind her back, forcing her to drop the weapon. He smirked slightly as she slew together some more choice words. He stuck out his leg, tripping her forward. She fell, hitting the ground hard on her stomach with Neji tightly on her back, his weight knocking the wind out of her.
Before she had the chance to recover, he grabbed her other wrist and forced it behind her back alongside the other. Neji pinned her down with his weight as he straddled her hips. He managed to restrain her with great difficulty as she struggled violently beneath him. He tried to tame the pleasurable sensations that were surging through his lower regions. He took both her wrists in one hand and placed the newly freed palm against the back of her head, forcing her into submission.
"Yield!" he commanded. She redoubled her efforts, grinding her firm backside into his groin. Neji felt ashamed of himself for relishing in the feeling of her struggling form beneath him. If he didn't know better he would think she was doing it on purpose. He paused, did he know better?
"Tenten, what are you doing?"
She growled back at him in anger. "I'M TRYING TO GET YOU OFF!!!"
Neji's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Tenten felt her face blush crimson in embarrassment. "...of me." she added weakly.
A thick awkward silence fell between them, only heavy breathing, and the far-off sounds of wildlife could be heard.
"Um, Neji..."
"Break?" he suggested.
"Please."
Neji nodded. He reluctantly got up, immediately missing the feeling of closeness.
She slowly rose to her feet, her eyes cast downward, and her face was still red as a tomato. "Um, I'll just be..." she nodded towards a small grouping of cherry trees on the opposite side of the grounds. "Over there…cooling down….for a while."
"Hn."
0-0
Hinata was stressing again. Well, not 'again' exactly since she had never stopped from the previous day, though she had changed locations. The white eyed girl had left the Hyuuga compound and made her way downtown to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. She had started eating her lunch there while Naruto was away on his missions and lengthy training expeditions. She found the place comforting, always reminding her of him. Often she came when feeling strained and afterwards she always felt better.
"Miso ramen, please." she ordered in her soft voice, flashing Teuchi and Ayame with a kind hearted smile. She sighed in contentment, finally feeling herself calm slightly. So occupied was she with her thoughts that she never noticed someone sitting down in the stool next to her.
"Hey Ayame! I'll have my usual." She nearly jumped out of her seat. She knew that voice. Her breath catching in the back of her throat as she saw who it was.
"N-n-naruto?" she stammered.
"Oi, Hinata!" greeted the blond enthusiastically "I didn't know you liked ramen!"
"Oh yeah, she does," Interrupted the waitress playfully. "She's in here almost as much as you are, I'm surprised you hadn't noticed." Hinata blushed at the unexpected recognition.
Naruto eyed Hinata skeptically for a moment and then, as if a light had been switched on, he suddenly viewed her in an entirely new way.
How had he missed this before?
Hinata LIKED ramen!
He looked again.
And, damn, she was HOT!
After a few seconds he got a hold of himself and realized he was gawking, he should probably say something.
"You look hot!" Okay, something other than that.
Hinata looked at him strangely as if she had imagined the words that had just erupted from his mouth.
"Um, well...'cuz, 'cuz of your jacket." He breathed a sigh of relief. 'Nice save' he congratulated himself not noticing the girl's slight frown of disappointment. He should probably try to talk to her. "So, anything new with you?"
Hinata lowered her eyes to the floor and twiddled her fingers. "I-I have this assignment f-from m-my f-f-father."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. He knew full well of the pale eyed ninja's strained relationship with her family, her father in particular. "Oh yeah, what's the old man got you doing now?"
"Sorry-y, I-I'm not sure if I should say. I-t's a family m-matter."
"Oh, alright." He frowned, what was that damned man asking her to do? He supposed that he could probe it out of her later. He scowled, he better not be trying to get her to marry Neji again. He racked his brain for another topic.
"So, how's Tenten settling in? That was pretty slick of Neji, getting his girlfriend to move in with him. Ha ha. Never knew he had it in him. So are they keeping everybody awake?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Hinata blushed scarlet. "Um, well…they're n-not a-actually together like that."
"What?! You're kiddin', right?" He paused in thought. "Hinata, is Neji gay?"
She looked up in shock, why did people keep asking her that? "N-no."
"Then what's wrong with him? Any idiot can tell that she's totally in love with the guy!" he declared.
"Um..." she mumbled. She wondered if the universe really did run on irony.
"Hinata?"
"Y-y-yes?"
Naruto stood up suddenly, his eyes burning with determination. He grasped Hinata about her torso and pulled her towards him so they were shoulder to shoulder.
"Eeep!"
"It's our duty as their friends to get them together! Believe it!!"
"Okay one miso ramen for the lady and one of everything for Naruto." interrupted Ayame.
"Right after Lunch!"
A/N: nothing to say this month except thanx to my betas clancrusher and temarixshikimaruluva
Next time.
Neji wondered how he had gotten into this situation. He was following his increasingly female teammate.They were currently scouring Konoha's shopping district, using up valuable training time. After their embarrassing exchange Tenten had spent a good twenty minutes hiding in the underbrush, before emerging from her embarrassment, full of wrath, demanding that he replace her battle ax. He reluctantly agreed, he had broken it after all, it was only fair.
"Ooo, Neji, look at the new crossbows!"
The only problem was that Tenten kept getting distracted.
"Hey Neji, let me shoot an apple off your head."