Weapon of choice
Chapter the Forth
"Hyuuga Hot Tub"
I don't own Ranma-, er, Slayers, er, Full Metal alchem-er Naruto! I don't own Naruto. Yeah...
Neji wondered how he got into this situation. Here he was wasting valuable training time following his increasingly female teammate around Konoha's shopping district. After a lengthy twenty minutes of hiding in the underbrush, Tenten had emerged from her embarrassment full of wrath and demanding that he replace her battle ax. He had reluctantly agreed, it was only fair, as he had broken it. That had been an hour ago, but now the problem was...
"Oooo, Neji, come look at these new crossbows!"
...Tenten kept getting distracted. He resisted the urge to sigh.
"Hey, Neji; Let me shoot an apple off your head."
He shot her a withering glare, which had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever
"No?" She asked with convincing innocence.
"Tenten..."
"Fine then." she pouted. "Just pay for my stuff and I'll meet you outside." She left the store in a huff.
Neji made his way to the register to pay for her things, in addition to the ax, which he noted looked far more expensive than the one he had broken, she had also picked up a half dozen packets of exploding tags, billets of various metals, and the latest issue of Weapons Weekly. He quickly paid for the items and asked for them to be delivered to the Hyuuga Compound.
Upon exiting the store he was greeted by a disturbing sight. Tenten was talking animatedly to the Inuzuka.
Neji scowled and his hands clenched in irritation. He didn't like other guys talking to Tenten, or looking at her, or being within a hundred meters of her.
As he approached them the unthinkable occurred. Tenten put her arms around the doggy bastard and kissed him on the cheek.
Neji's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger. Tenten waved at Kiba as he walked away.
"What was that about?" he asked brusquely, trying to contain his rage.
"Nothing important." she replied, with an offhanded wave of the hand.
Neji's scowl deepened. "I just remembered something I have to do. Meet me back at the training grounds in a few minutes."
Before she could answer Neji was gone.
0-0
Kiba Inuzuka was having a good day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and he had just gotten a kiss from a pretty girl. 'That Tenten is kind of hot.' It was a shame she was so hung up on that jerk Neji. Kiba was about eighty percent certain that the glossy haired Hyuuga was gay, or possibly asexual. Suddenly, as if it were in response to his thoughts, he felt the approach of a surging killing intent.
"Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!"
Kiba's day took a sharp turn south.
0-0
"Ow." winced Tenten as she limped through the maze like corridors of the Hyuuga Compound.
"Ow." For some reason, Neji had returned to the training ground in a foul mood.
"Ow." She could tell by the way he made her eat dirt for the rest of the day.
"Ow. Stupid bipolar Hyuuga." She stopped limping and looked around. None of this looked familiar. Damn it, she was lost. She had been so involved in cursing Neji that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. She gazed down the long beige hallway. Just then one of the identical white doors at her side slid open and revealed the Hyuuga heiress.
"Hinata?"
The younger girl was clad in a knee length white yukata.
"Tenten?" Hinata took in the older girl's torn clothes and pained posture. "What happened?" she asked in a soft, concerned voice.
Tenten sighed, rolling her eyes melodramatically. "Neji."
Hinata's expression grew alarmed.
Tenten jumped back, and shook her hands in front of herself in a placating gesture. "Training!" she emphasized. "He was just a little rough today. That's all." She nervously rubbed the back of her neck and tried to change the subject. "So, this is the Main House, huh?"
"No," replied Hinata, "This is the bath." She pointed to the sign that hung above her head.
"Oh." A bath sounded like a pretty good idea. The hot water would definitely soothe her aching muscles. "Is there anybody in there?"
Hinata was going to answer yes since Neji was, but something Naruto had said to her earlier flashed through her mind. 'Try to get them to see each other naked.' She nearly blushed in memory. Speaking of which, where was Naruto, he said he'd come over today.
Hinata flashed Tenten a smile. "N-n-no, g-go r-right a-ahead."
0-0
Neji sighed and sank deeper into the warm water but was unable to completely forget his troubles. 'Damn Inuzuka' he thought. Didn't Kiba know Tenten was his? His, er, teammate, yea, thats all, nothing else. Anyway, why should he even care who Tenten kissed.
Neji grunted and crossed his arms over his chest defensively. It wasn't like they were dating or anything. Tenten didn't have 'Property of Neji Hyuuga' tattooed on her ass. 'Not yet anyway.' He thought
His face softened. Maybe he had been a bit hard on her after that event. He tried to think of a way to apologize without actually apologizing. After a few minutes he heard someone entering the bathhouse. He frowned. What fool dared to interrupt his special Neji-time? He sat up and prepared to glare the intruder into oblivion. It goes without saying that he was caught off guard when a nude goddess walked...
"Ow."
...Er, limped into the room. As she paused at the top of the steps leading down to the steaming pool, he couldn't tear his eyes away. His gaze traveled down her long, wavy brown locks to her tone shoulders, lingered a bit over her perky chest before continuing down, to her defined abdominals and slender waist, devouring her long, lean legs before making the return journey to the mysterious goddess' face. She extended a toe to test the temperature of the water, satisfied she descended the steps and settled into the water with a slow hiss.
It was only then that she noticed his presence. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest and ducked up to her shoulders in the water. She goggled at him.
Neji was impressed, He'd never seen proper goggling before.
"NEJI??!!" she exclaimed in a startled gasp.
How did she know his name? Then something clicked together and he recognized her.
"Tenten?"
The two ninja stared at each other.
Tenten stared at Neji.
Neji stared at Tenten.
Tumbleweeds blew through the background. (it's a visual gag, work with me.)
'Awkward,' they both thought simultaneously.
Finally Tenten broke the silence. "Neji...," she said in a calm and controlled voice. "What exactly are you doing in the WOMEN'S BATH?!?!?"
Neji looked at her with a slightly glazed expression. "It's unisex."
'Hinata!' she thought accusingly.
0-0
Hinata sneezed.
0-0
"Why do the Hyuuga's have a unisex bath?!?"
"I'm not sure." answered Neji. "Heating costs?" He'd never really thought about it before and to be fair right at this moment he couldn't care less. This more than made up for all the times he had walked in on one of the elders. He suppressed a shudder; some things just couldn't be un-seen.
"Is it a problem?" he smirked coolly, seemingly completely nonchalant.
'Stupid smug bastard,' she thought "N-no." she lied. Tenten slowly began to uncover herself and tried to relax. It didn't really work. Maybe she should just leave. Yes, that would probably be for the best. Then she saw Neji, all broad shoulders and rippling muscles and she realized that this was a two-way street. He reached over to grab his shampoo, the light reflecting off his wet skin in that special way that makes it go "ting".
'He has such nice hair' she thought offhandedly 'I wonder what kind of shampoo he uses.' she had always admired his hair, so smooth and silky looking. She wondered idly what it would be like to run her fingers through it.
"Neji, can I wash your hair?" She heard a familiar voice ask. Startled, she looked around for the speaker before realizing it was her. She prepared to laugh it off and pretend she was joking, but was completely taken off guard by his answer.
"Okay."
"Wha?"
He shrugged his shoulders, rippling the water slightly, and repeated. "Okay."
She pinched herself. Ow, so this wasn't a dream. "O-okay." She made her way over to his nude form. 'Don'tfreakoutDon'tfreakoutDon'tfreakout' she recited in her head.
Her body, ignoring the orders of her brain, trembled a little in anticipation. He handed her the shampoo bottle, holding it just out of her reach, forcing her to come even closer to him. She suppressed a shiver as he (accidentally?) brushed against her. She looked up at him, her chest still obscured by the surface of the water.
Was he teasing her? She noticed his barely concealed smirk. 'Well, two can play at that game.' she thought while trying to remember half ignored lessons in seduction from the academy. He kept staring down at her as if expecting something. It was easy to tell he was waiting for her to stand up and flash him again. Uh-uh, think again.
"Turn around, Neji."
He complied reluctantly, not really sure of the rules of this new game they were playing.
Tenten began to work the shampoo into his hair She made small talk and stood painfully close, teasing him, staying just out of reach as her warm breath caressed his neck
"You were kind of rough today Neji." she whispered in his ear, tantalizingly near. "I'm soooo sore." she stops for a moment and rinses his hair. "Not just my back, but my legs too...I think you owe me a massage."
Neji quietly decided that this was officially the best day ever.
After soaping and rinsing his hair for a second time she rose from the water and made her way over to the tiled area in the front of the bathhouse. He turned and watched as she seductively ascended the steps and and snatched her towel from where it lay and wrapped it around herself.
"Well?" she sent Neji a challenging look.
He resisted the urge to bolt across the room at top speed. Rather he took his time, giving her a good long look at his unclothed form.
Tenten gulped, taking it in and perhaps losing some of her nerve. She quickly shoved that feeling back down and lay down of the floor pillowing her head on her forearms.
Neji approached cautiously, pausing briefly to grab a towel and wrap it around his waist.
Tenten let loose a faint gasp as Neji grasped her foot and tested its range of motion, It seemed unharmed. He moved to the other foot.
"Uh!" she grunted.
"Does that hurt?"
"Not really, it's just a little sore."
"Hn." Neji activated his Byakugan. He opened a few tenketsu to increase chakra flow to the affected area. Now with the therapeutic portion over Neji could proceed with the fun part, which he thought was also therapeutic, but in a different, more pleasing way . He wanted to try something new.
In his near obsession to master all forms of jyuken he had come across an ancient scroll detailing a chakra massage technique. He had memorized it as a matter of course but until now he had not had the opportunity to try it. Tenten would be an excellent test subject. After being jyukened by Neji more than anyone still alive he knew her chakra almost better than his own.
Tenten gasped in pain as Neji kneaded his way up her leg with his chakra charged hands.
At feeling her tense beneath him, Neji frowned and attempted to adjust what he was doing. She moaned as the pain she was feeling became mixed with pleasure. Neji smirked. He decided he liked that noise. As he continued moving up her athletic legs she made a sort of purring noise. Neji liked that one too.
After a bit of trial and error he found he was able to elicit all sorts of delightful noises. He amused himself for some time, playing his teammate's body like a sort of twisted ninja xylophone. Then suddenly after a particularly spirited moan was followed by a low whimper Neji decided that no one but him should ever hear this kunoichi make those kinds of noises ever again.
0-0
Tenten was in heaven. Whatever Neji was doing was like being dipped in liquid bliss. It felt gooood! She just floated along in a euphoric daze until she eventually became aware of some mysterious object poking her in the back. She rose up on her arms and turned toward her teammate.
"Neji, what's that-MMPH!" Her trusted friend and comrade Neji was trying to EAT HER!?! She fought valiantly for several seconds to escape the clutches of this recently revealed cannibal when it dawned on her that she was not being eaten but in fact, was being kissed, rather forcefully, by Neji. With this startling revelation and she in her dazed state instinctively started kissing back. Encouraged by this he broke the kiss, grasped her shoulder and roughly flipped her over so they were facing one another before devouring her lips, leaving a scorching sensation that seared down her spine and made her toes curl.
"OH MY GOD!!!!" screamed a voice. Both ninja turned toward the entrance to behold Hiashi and Hanabi.
Hiashi was gazing at them with a smug look and Hanabi had her hands in front of her eyes, the younger of the two fled to the safety of the compound, while the clan head regarded them with amused eyes.
Hiashi smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"MY EYES, THEY BURN!!!" screeched Hanabi as she tore through the bathhouse doors.
Hiashi turned regaly and exited the room.
The two ninja stared blankly at the vacated entrance. After a long uncomfortable silence Tenten spoke.
"Um, Neji?"
"Yes?"
"Could you get off of me?"
No, he thought. but acceeded to her request.
"Uh, um, well-" she dithered. "SorryNejigottagobye." she spasmed and fled with impressive speed.
Neji sighed.
(Yay! They kissed. The question is "Now what?" I'm kind of leaning toward them being really embarrassed and pretending like it didn't happen, but I'm certainly open to suggestions
and as allways I thank my beta Temarixshikimaruluva no preview this time as I have yet to write anything, so be sure to leave a review, they increase output by twenty percent!