He opened a single eyelid. It was morning, and he had slept quite soundly the last night, knowing he wasn't alone in his apartment. Looking up, he didn't find the girl he expects to be lying on his bed.
Sitting up, he abruptly searched the room for any sign of her. "Tenten?" he whispered, crawling around and lifting objects like papers or blankets, looking for where she could be hiding.
He crawled over to the bathroom, and stood, brushing himself off, then scanning the room for any sign of her.
Neji shrugged, then turned around only to be met by a pair of brown eyes. "Morning!" she chirped. Shuffling out of the washroom clad in only a towel, she shoved the shocked Neji out of the way and headed for her pack. "Don't worry, I didn't use up all the hot water."
Staring at this girl, his friend, his WIFE, clad in only this single white cloth was doing some real damage to his psyche. She bent over her small suitcase on the bed, poring over the contents. Just barely, could Neji squeak out, "where are y-your clothes?"
She looked at him peculiarly. "Um, in here, duh. I just forgot to get them when I showered." Her face showed no sign of embarrassment, only a slight flush from having to heave the suitcase up.
Neji on the other hand, turned beet red, his expression one of pure unadulterated discomfort. "Can you hurry?"
Tenten frowned at him, "Neji, Neji, Neji. You gotta understand. I have to find some clean panties. It's gonna take a while."
His face heated up even more, ears burning with color. "I'm going to, uh, look away."
Realising what've meant and how he felt, she stopped and looked at how he travelled to and stared at the corner of the room like a misbehaving little boy out in timeout by a caregiver. Tenten laughed out loud, saying, "Neji, we're married now. Even if this is temporary, you've gotta get used to all this."
The man only loosened up slightly, trying his best to ignore the image he was met with earlier. "No."
She scoffed. "No," walking towards him in that towel, and still in only that towel, she whispered to him, "why no?" When she reached him, her hands found his shoulders and he stiffened once again. Pressing her front into his back, and worming her hands to his chest, she was causing him to feel REALLY uncomfortable. "You like this?"
He couldn't even answer her question. He was that caught up in how her... Er... Curves were pressing against his back. "Tenten, um, could you..."
She broke away, and grabbed her outfit of the day. After she was finally in the washroom with a click of the lock, he sighed in half relief. Then, looking down, he swore at his pants. "Fuck no, not now."
...
After hiding under his comforter until Tenten left for work a half hour later, Neji emerged from his room. Finding a bagel for him on the table, he nibbled on it and walked to the living room. His 'situation' went down, and he was back to normal.
Flipping to the news, he checked the time on his wall clock. 9:24 AM. He didn't have work until 11, he had some time. There on the screen was a face that he wasn't expecting to see.
"What? Get away from me!" the woman pushed the paparazzi away from we as they swarmed her with questions.
"What were you doing in there?"
"Is it a one night stand?"
"Are you and Hyuuga Neji together?"
It was Tenten.
...
Rushing out to catch the bus to her job as a cashier at Forever 21, she was caught by a swarm of people wielding cameras, microphones, recorders, etc.
"So, are you the famous Hyuuga prodigy's new girlfriend?"
"Are you just using him?"
"What cologne does he use?"
She was absolutely flabbergasted. "Get away from me! First of all, you have no right to know anything about my personal life! Second, if I was just using him, why would I even tell you? And no, I'm not, by the way. And finally, Neji probably wouldn't like it if I told you his cologne brand."
They hushed slightly, and a young reporter raised her hand. "Um, what's your name?"
She scowled at the cameras. "T-"
All of a sudden, a boy yelled out from outside the crowds, "Yo, Tenten!"
The brunette boy with the red marks on his face cut through the crowd, a small white dog in tow. "Hey! Are these people bothering you?"
"Nah, they were just leaving. Right?" An aura of pure killing intent surrounded Tenten and left the puppy cowering.
"H-hai, Tenten-san."
And as soon as they arrived, the party of paparazzi left. Tenten turned to her male friend, saying, "Hi Kiba. What brings you here?"
The boy held up a newspaper. "You're on the front page. Everyone's raving about the mysterious girl who wound her way into Hyuuga Neji's apartment. They think you two had S-E-X."
Tenten's face was pure red, as she read the headline, 'Hyuuga's forbidden fling!'.
Suddenly, Neji ran out from the building, clad in his sweatpants and a thin jacket. "Ten!"
"Whoa," Kiba smirked at his longtime friend, "already got nicknames?"
The girl only stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey," Tenten said, walking up to Neji, "What's wrong?"
"I saw you on TV," he panted. It seemed as if he ran all the way down from the seventh floor. When he regained his breath, he saw Kiba. "Hey man. What are you do-" Tenten cut his sentence off by showing the headline for The Konoha Sun. "Oh, fuck."
Kiba nodded. "Wanted to check up on you two. Did you at least use protection?"
Their faces were a matching shade of cherry red. "No, Kiba, me and Tenten did not have sex."
"Not yet," the Inuzuka whispered, earning a punch in the shoulder from Tenten. "So Tenten, mind tellin' me about this whole shebang over the bus ride to the mall?"
Neji and Tenten exchanged a look. "Excuse us for a moment, Inu," Tenten smiled. They headed a couple metres away, watching the dog boy play with Akakmaru, as the white dog yapped. "Should I tell him?"
Neji looked him up and down. "Inu?" he asked, changing te subject.
Tenten rolled her eyes. "It means dog, genius. So should I tell him or not?"
He breathed out gently. "Just... Don't tell him about us being married. He might say something to Hinata, or even uncle. Say that... Say we're just going out. Ino put us together. At least uncle would be able to... Accept that."
Tenten nodded, and took a step towards the Inuzuka. "So, should I g-"
He latched his hand onto her wrist. "Where do you know Kiba from?"
She paused. "He's my old friend. We used to be neighbours in middle school."
Neji nodded. "We should act like we're dating too."
Tenten stared into his endless white eyes. "O-okay, so, what should we-"
He awkwardly pressed his lips against hers. Both of them were still for a moment. Tenten's right eye was open, while the other was closed, her face was red. Neji didn't look at her, cheeks burning.
During that moment, Kiba stopped and stared at them, smiling at Akamaru. He proceeded to wolf whistle.
It was a chaste kiss, just a peck on the lips, but when the two broke away it was as if they were both pressed face first into a vat of ketchup.
Tenten was frazzled, and her cheeks were bright tomato red. "Uh, ok. I, I, we..." She took a breath. "Okay. See ya later, Neji-kun."
"H-hn."
They stood in silence.
Kiba called from behind them. "Um, work?"
Tenten's eyes widened. "Oh shit!" She ran to the boy and the dog. "Bye!"
Neji waved them off and headed back upstairs. Whew. Awkward.
...
"So what's it with Hyuuga Lover boy?" Kiba asked, climbing onto the bus, but not before tucking the puppy into his jacket.
"Oh? Well actually it all started with Ino," Tenten started.
"Ino?"
"Blind date. Well, he actually has 20/20 vision, which is weird but," she cut her thought off when Kiba looked at her oddly. "Ahem, well she set us up. And then there was this spark and we're dating."
"Really, it wasn't just a fling?"
"Nope."
"Are you-"
"Nope."
Kiba smirked. She could never hide anything from him. "Tell me."
She looked at him with worried eyes. "No!"
He raised a brow, then pressed on. "Tell me!"
"No!" she insisted.
"You're pregnant aren't you?" he joked.
Tenten's face went cherry red again, and she shoved the brunette boy. "No!"
He only smirked and pressed himself against her, whining like a four year old. "Teeelllllll meeee!"
"I have nothing to say."
"No, you do, I know you better than that."
"No, no, and no. It's not a big deal, anyways, we're going out!"
"And that's a big deal! You're making it a big deal! Just tell me already!"
"Tell you what, Kiba? What would you like to know? That we went out for a date at the museum? That we got legally married, without knowing it? Or you want me to tell you that I'm in a situation where I need a lawyer and Hyuuga's hiding this all from the press by pretending that we're just dating?"
Kiba was shocked by the answer, and by the time she'd said it, she groaned, her face burning.
His eyes bore into her for a moment, then he laughed anxiously. "Haha, that's funny, Ten, I thought that you actually meant it!"
Tenten looked at him, expression twisted.
He frowned, and his voice faltered as he said, "You're actually..."
She nodded and his eyes softened. "Please say nothing to anyone, especially Hiashi Hyuuga."
He nodded, and the bus stopped by the mall. "We should get going."
She nodded.
...
When it came time to go to work, Neji had the place spick and span, clean as a whistle, and he was showered, ready to go. Ish. Well, there was the small situation of what exactly to do with all the sticky backed strips of cotton on his bathroom counter. "Do girls usually just leave their pads lying around like this?"
After searching for a place to put them, he decided on placing it in the cuboard at the bottom of the counter. "In here, I don't have to look at them," he had reasoned, closing the small white cabinet doors.
Pulling at the cuffs of his suit, he looked at himself in the mirror triumphantly, smiling. "Well then, lets go."
...
"Tenten," Ino screeched, "I don't know what the hell I'm going to do! Shikamaru doesn't cook, doesn't clean, doesn't put the seat down, doesn't wash laundry and my mother is enjoying my suffering!"
"So, to recap," Tenten looked at her, perplexed, "your family thought of this as a new opportunity to conjoin the Yamanaka and Nara businesses and are currently backing the marriage by giving you two your own place?"
She nodded. "And no MAID! What am I going to do?"
Tenten raised a brow, then turned to look at the wall behind her, grumbling, "no good rich people," and then turned back with a smile. "Tip; don't make your mother think that she's won. Act like you're having the time of your life, brag about your sex and all that bad stuff mothers hate to hear."
Ino looked at her, impressed. "Since when did you make good evil plans?"
"Since I got married to Hyuuga Neji."
"But wait, how will it effect my mom?"
"She'll think he isn't good for you, and find a lawyer to break you guys up, and poof! You're single again!"
Ino thought for a moment. "But what if I don't want to be single?"
"Find a new boyfriend."
"But what about Shikamaru?"
Tenten looked at her with analytical eyes. "Do you love him?"
The blonde turned strawberry red. "Pshht! What to the ever, Tenten, you don't actually think that!" Ino turned and stomped right out of the store.
"Hmm," the brunette pondered, "I wonder..."
...
Once Tenten arrived back at the Hyuuga condo several hours later, Neji hadn't arrived yet. But somebody else had.
"Hello Tenten."
...
A/N: THE SHUSHPENSH! Who do you think it is? (SORRY FOR THE SUCKISH CHAPTER AND CLIFFY) So Kiba knows! Will Tenten tell Neji about it? I'm thinking of putting some Shikaino in the next chapter... Herrmmm...
And please check my profile for the new UPDATING SCHEDULE! I have Do The Egyptian slotted in for every 14th of the month.
See you on May 14th! Hasta la Vista!