Chapter 20:

Tenten returned later that evening carrying a shopping bag in one hand, holding the door open with the other. "I'm back!" she called into the apartment. "Neji? Sasuke?... Anyone?"

She received no answer. Curious, she closed the door and made her way inside. She looked around but could find no one. Maybe they had gone out? She poked her head into the bedroom and found an adorable sight. Sasuke and Neji were fast asleep on Naruto's bed, huddled together for warmth.

"Aw, that's adorable!" she whispered to herself.

Neji scratched his head in his sleep and went back to cuddling Sasuke. Sasuke stretched and draped an arm over Neji's back with a soft purr.

Oh, my God, if I had a camera...! Tenten could hardly contain herself. They were being too cute. But she had other things to do at the moment. So, she left them and went into the kitchen. She emptied her shopping bag and took out a pot. "Ok, let's get started."

A tasty aroma filled the air. It wafted into the bedroom. Sasuke's nose twitched. It smelled wonderful. He started to drool in his sleep. His saliva dripped onto Neji's face causing him to jolt awake. He sat straight up and wiped the slobber off his face. He looked at the one responsible and slapped him upside the head.

Sasuke woke with a start and sat up holding the side of his head. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You spat on me!"

"I did not!"

"Then what do you call this?" He held up his hand, showing him the drool.

Sasuke turned up his nose defiantly. "Hmph! It might be yours, ever think of that?"

"Since when do people drool on their forehead?!" Neji paused and sniffed the air. "Hey, something smells good."

Sasuke licked his lips. "I wonder who's cooking."

Together, they crept out of the bedroom and down the narrow hall into the kitchen. They peered around the corner and saw a large pot in the middle of the table. The table was set for two and two tall glasses of milk had been poured and set next to the plates. Tenten turned and started to pile the plates up with food, cutting, trimming and dashing here and there. The smell was mouth-watering and they were so hungry. They had slept through lunch and were starving because of it.

She looked up. "Hi, guys."

They hid, not wanting to be discovered.

"Don't be shy. Come in! It's all ready."

She sounded like a mother. Curiosity and hunger got the best of them and they each took a seat at the table. Tenten handed them each a plate filled with food. They looked down at the plate of chicken, rice and vegetables.

"What is it?"

"Tenten Surprise!" she declared proudly.

Neji raised a brow at her. "I didn't take you as the type of person to name a dish after yourself in such a way."

"There's a story behind that. You see, all the women in my family make this dish and each time it turns out a little different depending on the one who makes it. So, we decided to name it after whoever prepared it. In this case, it's Tenten Surprise because I made it."

"I just hope you're a better cook than Naruto." Sasuke picked up his chopsticks.

Neji sniffed the food set before him. "What's in it?"

"Chicken and rice and veggies."

"I can see that, but…" Neji frowned at the plate, unsure.

"Don't worry. I know how you have a low tolerance for spicy things. There's nothing spicy in it. I've made it for my family. I've never made it for anyone else, though. I hope you like it."

Neji picked up his chopsticks. It looked good, it smelled good. He just hoped that it tasted as good as it looked and smelled.

Having her eyes upon them, Neji and Sasuke both took a piece of food in their chopsticks and took a bite. Tenten watched them with mild excitement. She had always wanted to cook for her team before, just to see what they thought. Her family told her that she was a pretty good cook, but they were family. She wanted the opinion of someone outside her family who would be completely honest with her. Neji would tell her the truth.

She waited, anticipating their input. "Well? What do you think?"

They hung their heads so that she couldn't see their faces. The smile started to leave her face when she noticed them shivering. Were they shuddering in disgust? Was it really that horrible?

"Guys?"

They said nothing and continued to hide their faces, hanging them low over their plates.

"It's horrible, isn't it? I tried my best." This was so disappointing for her. "You hate it, don't you? I'm sorry. I tried, but… I guess you guys only like fish…"

Suddenly, Sasuke threw his chopsticks to the floor and started to devour his meal with his hands.

"Huh?" Tenten blinked, watching him with surprise. He was chewing noisily, gulping it all down as fast as he could. "So… So, then you...?"

Neji took his chopsticks and began shoveling the food into his waiting mouth.

The smile she had lost found its way back to her face. "So, then you like it? Is it good?"

Neji nodded while shoving as much of it as he could into his mouth. "It's really, really good! It's delicious!"

Her smile spread. "Then you like it, too, right?" She looked over at Sasuke.

"Can't talk. Eating." Sasuke finished off the food and licked his plate clean. He took his plate in both hands and thrust it at her chest. "More."

She took his plate and piled it up with more food. "I take it that you like it, huh?"

He took the plate back and wolfed it all down. "I'm starving. I'd eat anything at this point."

She put her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I like it fine." Sasuke grabbed his glass and drained it. "I'll need more." He handed her the cup.

She took it from him and filled it with more milk. "I guess I'm never going to get an 'it was delicious, Tenten, good job' from you, am I?"

"My way of saying that is eating it as quickly as I am." He lapped up the last bit of rice. "Happy now?"

Before she could answer, Neji had shoved his plate over to her as well. "More please," he said through a mouthful of food. He was still chewing. She took it and gave him seconds.

Within the hour, the two of them had both devoured a total of four helpings of her cooking. There was hardly any left for the others. It was a shame that they wouldn't get a taste, but knowing Naruto, he'd be just as happy with a bowl of ramen. Tenten had just finished cleaning all the pans and utensils she had used while cooking and now all she needed was the pot and their plates then her work would be done. When she returned to the table to see if they were finished, she found both Sasuke and Neji nodding off over their empty plates. Neji's head was bobbing up and down and Sasuke had collapsed on top of the table, head resting on his forearm.

She came over and gave Neji a little shake. "You ok?"

He looked at her drowsily. "I'm so full."

"You guys really stuffed yourselves, didn't you?"

"Yeah… Ate too much…"

"At least you aren't sick. The food coma's just setting in." She helped Neji to his feet. "Come on, let's get you guys back to bed."

Too tired to complain, Neji allowed himself to be pulled up out of his seat and pushed towards the bedroom. Tenten went back to shake Sasuke awake, but he wouldn't budge. She literally had to carry him to the next room. She wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him over to the bed, letting his feet drag on the floor.

Neji followed after them, trying to keep his eyes open for just a little bit longer. "He's out cold, isn't he?" he mumbled, seeing how Sasuke hadn't so much as stirred this entire time.

"Like I said, food coma's setting in." Tenten tossed Sasuke onto the bed where he nearly bounced right off. He hadn't woken up once! "Your turn." She pointed to the bed, indicating Neji to join Sasuke.

He didn't put up a struggle. He crawled right into bed and laid down next to Sasuke. Before he could even tell her thanks or wish her good-night, he was out like a light. Tenten pulled the covers over them and left the room.

It was another two hours before Naruto and Lee returned. They had been out training together on the training grounds. Tenten didn't complain. She had actually had a nice time taking care of the two 'cats'. Before she left for home, she informed Naruto of what had happened.

"Oh, cool! So, you fed them and washed dishes. Thanks!" This was turning out to be a really good day after all. "So where are they now?"

"On your bed sleeping it off."

Naruto frowned. "Get them off of there! I don't want them on my bed! Where am I going to sleep?"

"You have a futon, don't you? Use that."

"But they use it!" he whined.

"Don't whine so loud, you'll wake them up."

"Good! Then they can get off my bed!"

Tenten put a figure to her lips and shushed him. "Shh! Be quiet!"

There came a clatter from the bedroom followed by Sasuke screaming his head off. "Dog! DOG!"

"What in the...?"

Sasuke came running out of the bedroom on all fours and jumped on Naruto's head. There was another crash as Neji came running out of the room as fast as he could on all fours as well. He was too busy looking over his shoulder to watch where he was going and ran straight into Lee. He bounced back and clung to Lee's leg like a small child.

"What's going on?"

"Dog!"

"Dog? Where?"

Sasuke pointed to the bedroom. Tenten went to investigate, but all she found was an empty room. "There's nothing in here."

"Impossible! I saw it! I saw the damn thing!"

"What about you, Neji?" Lee asked.

"Well, I didn't see it, but Sasuke's screaming woke me up and I ran out here."

Tenten scratched her head. "So where exactly did you see this dog? What did it look like?"

"It was huge!" Sasuke threw his arms up in the air, describing the beast. "It was big and scary-looking! It had these teeth that were like…" He depicted the large fangs by sticking his fingers out of his mouth. "They were like this big. It was huge! It was like this big." He measured it by sticking his arm straight up over his head and standing on his tiptoes. "And it had these hugs paws with sharp claws. It was barking and growling so loud it shook the ground and then it chased me and…"

Sasuke stopped, realizing that he was actually describing a dream he had been having.

"So let me get this straight…" Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "You started screaming and running around like a maniac all because you were having a bad dream?"

Sasuke's face burned red and he hung his head downward, embarrassed.

"You're such a baby!"

"Shut up! It really freaked me out and it was so real!"

Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or yell at him for being so loud and nearly wrecking his house. Either way, Sasuke was still shaking, both from embarrassment and shock. There was no way he was going to calm down enough to go back to sleep.

"Just take some deep breaths, ok?" Tenten patted his back.

Sasuke pushed her hand away. "Leave me alone! There's no way I'll ever get back to sleep now. I'm too worked up."

"Then breathe into this." Naruto handed him a paper bag. "It works for the hiccups, too."

"Do I look like I have the hiccups?!"

"If you do not calm down, you will," Lee told him.

Sasuke snatched the bag from his hand. "Gimme that." He wrapped the opening around his mouth and started to take slow deep breaths, making the bag expand and deflate rhythmically.

"There, he'll be calm in no time."

Tenten gathered her things. "Good. So, I guess you guys won't need me anymore tonight, huh?"

"Nah." Naruto jerked a thumb over at Sasuke. "We've got him covered. Breathing into that paper bag will calm him down, no problem."

"That's go…" Tenten looked over at the bag. "AHH! NO! Get it away from him!"

Naruto and the other two flinched. "What? Why? What are you getting so upset about? What's wrong?"

"That's the bag I put the catnip in!"

"NO!"

Neji covered his nose and ran into the next room, trying to save himself from its effects. Meanwhile, Naruto and Lee pulled the bag out of Sasuke's hands and threw it behind the couch.

"Hey, maybe it won't have any effect on him," Naruto said hopefully. "I mean, it was just over his mouth, not his nose. He just needs to smell it, right? Not breathe it in… It doesn't work if you just inhale it, right? Please tell me I'm right."

It was wishful thinking. Sasuke wasn't hyper, but he was in a woozy haze. He didn't get the full effect, but it was already messing with his head.

"Sasuke?" Lee asked. "Are you ok? How do you feel?"

"Weird," he slurred. "I feel really weird. Kinda funny, but not ha-ha funny. I'm a little dizzy, too."

"Just take it easy. We will help you over to the couch so that you can lay down."

Sasuke fell onto his back and didn't move. "Nah, I don't really feel like it. I don't wanna move."

"Naruto, grab his arm."

"Uh, ok."

They started to drag him across the floor, but Sasuke made himself heavy and started to whine like a bratty child.

"No! No..! I don't wanna! I like it on the floor! Put me down!"

"Stop kicking! We're trying to help you!"

"No..!"

"Stop whining!"

"No..! No..! Nooooo...!"

"Sasuke!"

"Pfft!" Sasuke stuck out his tongue.

"Ragh! You're such a little brat!"

"You're mean!"

Tenten sighed and put her stuff back down. "It looks like you guys need me after all. I guess I'll just come home late, that's all."

It took an hour to calm him down. Neji didn't come out of hiding during that entire time. But once Sasuke was calm enough to call Tenten an idiot for putting the catnip in a bag in the first place, Neji came out to defend her. After all, there was no way she could know that Naruto was going to do that. The bag was the safest place for it at the time.

At last, everything was calm. Sasuke laid on his side on the couch, catnip free and not talking to anyone. But, as usual, Naruto had to make things so much worse. He poked Sasuke's stomach and said two words that were guaranteed to get a rise out of him.

"You're fat."

Giving him a death glare, Sasuke slapped his hand away. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"You're plumper than before. You've become so fat and lazy, you're putting on the pounds."

"I am not!" Sasuke rolled onto his other side, hiding his gut. He put a hand over his round belly and realized that he had put on a couple of pounds. "I just ate a big meal, Naruto. I haven't had a chance to work it off, yet."

"You won't anyway. You're too lazy."

"Come here and say that!"

Tenten shook her head. Sasuke needed to work on his temper and Naruto needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut. "Just how much longer is this going to go on?"

Poor guys... Little do they know that Kakashi's waiting for them in the next chapter.

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