Well, I've changed the number of chapters. I reorganized them so the story will be three chapters long. I hope you all like the story so far but there is still a lot of romantic awkwardness to go! ;D
/books/buddha/buddha_
Ok the above is a link for a picture of a character that will appear in this chapter. Look at the page under the heading of volume two. His name is Bandaka and he's from an amazing manga named Buddha by Osamu Tezuka. Strangely enough I kind of think he looks like Neji but he is a bit more playful though still extremely arrogant. I don't own Bandaka or any other character in this series. Blah.
Chapter 2
She was feeling curiously jubilant this morning.
Humming a sweet melody, Tenten skillfully swirled her hair up into its customary style when there was a knock at hard knock on her front door.
"Coming!" Tenten yelled, reassuring the visitor that she was home.
She walked out of her bathroom, bare feet padding across the cool tile. She slipped her toes into her soft panda slippers. There was another knock at her door.
"Coming!" Tenten yelled, with just a hint of animosity.
This better be good,she mentally threatened, swinging open her front door.
Oh, yes, this is good.
Her green-clad crush shifted nervously on her front porch. He gave her a crooked wary smile and pushed a garland of dandelions toward her. Lee blushed a deep red and looked from bouquet to beauty. Tenten accepted the hand-picked gift as Lee said, "Youthful flowers for a youthful flower."
Tenten's face flushed the color of her shirt's maroon lining. In one liquid movement Lee stepped forward closing the distance between them. Lee's heat transferred through his bandaged hand as he cupped Tenten's already burning countenance. She searched his face for answers but instead found him asking a long-awaited question.
"Tenten, will you be my girlfriend?"
In response, her legs gave way. Had Lee not been holding her steady she would have melted at his feet. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. Tenten's mind swam in the scent of spices and grass that was Lee.
"Tenten?"
Lee's question brought Tenten back into reality. She looked up into his round button eyes. With a dotting blush and girlish smile Lee said, "Yosh, Tenten, you look really pretty when you smi-". He was interrupted by the sudden action of Tenten burying her face in the crook of his neck as she jumped and wrapped her arms and legs around Lee's trim body.
"YES, YES, YES!" she screamed and giggle in affirmation against Lee's collar, her warm breath acting as oxygen to fuel the flame of blush on his cheeks.
Tenten is the first person to initiate a hug with me—well, besides my youthful teacher Gai-sensei! Lee inwardly exclaimed as Tenten slid back down to her feet. But, lee didn't let go instead just pulling her in closer and both kunoichi and shinobi noted the perfect way their bodies fit together.
"Wow, my lotus flower! Either I must be doing a great job or you are a very good actress! I was really nervous about how I would do in this training!"
What the hell is Lee talking about? Ah, he's always talking about training. I'm just going to enjoy this moment, she thought, snuggling into Lee. Lee pulled back a bit to see why she wasn't saying anything.
"Well, my lotus flower?"
"Well what, you baka?" she asked playfully. "I'm not going to kiss you so soon, if that's what you're expecting!"
Lee's gaze unintentionally shifted down to Tenten's lips. He found himself heating up again as he took in their subtle pink color.
"Uh—ok—I will have to make note of that. Thank you for the youthful advice, Tenten," Lee stammered.
Tenten nestled her face into Lee's chest and murmured a simple, "it's ok."
"S-so I am doing a good job so far in my training?"
Tenten looked up at Lee, feeling a bit confused.
"What training, Lee?"
"Why, my youthful flower, the boyfriend training that you so kindly suggested yesterday!" Lee beamed.
Tenten gave a Lee a stare that was just as empty as her chest.
Damn, how could I forget my own stupidly selfish idea?Tenten reprimanded herself, mentally smashing her head on the concrete steps. She quickly mustered a queasy smile and fake giggle.
"Of course, Lee! I was just demonstrating how a girl would react to your proposal if she truly loved you." She quickly covered her mistake as she hid any hurt that would try to show in her brown orbs.
She sent out a special blessing to Shikamaru for helping her master the quick excuse.
"And Lee, you did an amazing job," she genuinely praised, looking down at the bouquet of dandelions that she had crushed in all the excitement. "You even remembered my favorite flower."
Lee looked up at Tenten and said, "I always listen when you talk, Tenten." He smiled despite the faint tickling on the interior of his stomach every time he looked into her passionate eyes. She quickly turned around as an attempt to hide her blush.
"Come on in, Lee, so we can decide what to do today." She motioned for him to step inside. He walked in and Tenten gently shut the door behind him.
If only you could read me as well as you listen to me.
~O~
Even though Tenten had so cunningly offered to help Lee with his dating skills, she was shamelessly lacking in her own. Therefore, Tenten was all too happy when Lee suggested that they train together.
Tenten gulped down the dregs of her chai tea and grabbed for the training scroll that lay at the side of her couch. She was preparing to strap it tightly onto her lithe frame when Lee offered to carry it for her. They smiled sheepishly at each other and began to the trek toward the fields.
Tenten never felt the need to fill in silence with chatter though with it wouldn't matter much because with Lee there was never any silence. As Lee rambled subconsciously kunoichi and shinobi began to move closer to each other, closing in as if being pulled by the gravity of the other's aura.
Neither noticed when the bandage on Lee's hand brushed against the cloth on Tenten's. It became a rhythm of cloth meeting bandages, seemingly coinciding with their steady breathing.
Nor Tenten or Lee said anything when their hands clasped palms and their fingers slid to fit together like lock and key because it felt so natural.
It felt so right.
Together, they involuntary strengthened their grasps on each other, the tightening causing them to look down at their external bond and blush, each thinking that the other initiated the gesture.
Lee momentarily paused in his speech to admire the coy smile Tenten flashed him before turning her gaze forward.
They had arrived at their desired destination reluctantly and broke the connection only when they truly had to do so.
~O~
Tenten fought hard to keep her raging hormones in check as she watched Lee's jumpsuit contract and expand around his body with every smooth movement he made. She unraveled a scroll and in a puff of smoke shot several kunai and senbon hurtling toward her sparring partner. Tenten watched Lee avoid her onslaught.
Kami, look at the way he moves, so fluid like a dancer…
She smiled and leaped down from the tree she was perched on. Tenten raised her hands up to confirm that she was taking a timeout.
Lee jogged up next to her and questioned, "My beautiful flower, is there something wrong?"
Tenten giggled at Lee's genuine concern and lowered her hands back down to her sides.
"Not at all, Lee! In fact, I've come up with a great idea!"
Lee began jumping up and down excitedly exclaiming, "And what is that, Tenten?"
She winked, her terra cotta eyes impishly smiling. "How about me and you check out that new club on the strip, and tear up the dance floor?"
~O~
Contrary to popular belief Lee had some groove. Sure, he could be childish and awkward, but hot damn that boy dances as smooth as melted chocolate.
The fall colored lights of the club accented Tenten's warm features. Lee enjoyed a secret smile as he noted the shimmer her eyes gave off like rain on autumn leaves. Lee always knew Tenten was beautiful, he just never noticed HOW beautiful.
It was as though his image of her was always blurred. But now that the obstacle was cleared he just couldn't get drink in her warmth fast enough.
Lee flashed Tenten a smile that was surprisingly seductive. Tenten felt herself squirm under his intense gaze when he stepped forward. Lost in his eyes, she felt rather then saw his hand grasp hers to lift it over her head. Her twirled her half way before slipping his other hand around her waist and laid his palm flat on her stomach. Lee rocked his hips in time with the music and Tenten easily followed suit. Together, they fell in time.
He twirled his arm again and Tenten completed the circle, laughing and falling into Lee's strong embrace. He gently lowered her into a dip and watched as the bangs that framed her oval face frayed upward off her forehead.
He beamed at the carefree expression Tenten had as she leaned back in his arms. He pulled her back up into his chest and they proceeded to gallivant late into the night.
~O~
After a particularly exhausting dance, Tenten huffed, "Lee, I'm going to grab a drink."
She turned in the direction of the bar when Lee snaked his arm around her lower back. Tenten looked up and was greeted by round eyes crinkled around the edges with unparalleled affection.
"Yes and her youthful boyfriend will accompany her."
His statement pulled her out of the fairytale she was living in remembering why he was calling himself her boyfriend. A grimace found its way to her face, but only for a second. Lee was studying her features so intently at the moment that he noticed and reassuringly pulled her closer.
"Lee , if you really want to give your girlfriend a night to remember, then take her out dancing." He looked down at her and she smiled back, all traces of her happily ever after gone from her countenance, and she added, "You're amazing and I'll remember this for the rest of my life."
The statement was said with such affection that for the first time Lee had no idea what to say, so he settled for his never failing smile.
Upon reaching the bar, Tenten slid into the stool and Lee followed next to her. The bartender was attentive and Tenten immediately ordered herself a Tequila Sunrise and Lee an alcohol-free fruit punch.
"With a little green umbrella," she added with a wink, causing Lee to outwardly beam at her thoughtfulness.
When the beverages came up, she casually sipped her drink and Lee secretly peered over his glass at her. He admired her profile, tracing her swan neck up to the dip in her chin. He could feel himself getting hot under the collar as he began eyeing her delicate lips parted along the edge of her glass.
Tenten pulled the glass away and her small pink tongue darted out of her open mouth to lick the remaining taste of the drink off her lips. Lee subconsciously licked his own lips.
Tenten had polished off most of her Tequila Sunrise in one swing but she was a bit displeased with the low alcohol content of the girly drink. She called the bartender over again and ordered his hardest sake.
The man slid the chilly drink over and Tenten easily caught it. From a pouch on her pants she withdrew a kunai and popped the cap. Tenten gripped the bottle with her clothed hand and slowly brought the beverage to her lips. She threw her head back and marveled at the smooth icy liquid that flowed down her throat. With a very satisfied grin she slammed the bottle on the bar wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"For a girl who has such nice buns, you sure know how to chug sake."
Both Tenten and Lee looked to the right only to be met with pupiless eyes—and not the ones they had grown accustomed to. These ones were completely white, but were somehow able to convey the opening to a man that had power and confidence. She found herself marveling at the way they could look so strong, yet be trimmed with playfulness.
He tilted his head up toward her, hair pointing with his chin.
"You must be Chinese." He smiled and said, "I am too."
He then gestured to the large bun of hair that hung on the right side of his forehead over his leaf headband. The rest of his black hair cascaded down to his lower back, the ends being adorned with a slight curl upward. Tenten finally ripped her gaze away from the twin galaxies that seemed to possess a mystifying gravity and took the opportunity to observe the rest of him. It was evident that he came from a Chinese ancestry from his tan angular face.
Peeking out over his left shoulder were the tips of arrows carried in a holster that he had strapped over his chest. He flashed her an alluring smile.
"My name is Bandaka. I'm a jonin."
Recovering from her obvious gaping, Tenten introduced herself.
"Ah. A heavenly name only fit for one as beautiful as an angel." The tips of Tenten's ears were frosted in a deep red heat from the compliment. He winked and turned to the bartender.
"I'll have what she's having. You've got some good taste, plus," he said, gripping the sake bottle and throwing his head back in a manner that mimicked Tenten's, "you know how to enjoy it properly."
She giggled at his imitation. "Well being a shinobi teaches one a lot of things."
Bandaka smirked at her wit and raised his bottle to propose a toast.
"Cheers to that."
They clinked glasses and took a chug together. With the bottle was finished, Bandaka stood up and Tenten admired how long and lean his form was. He wiped the condensation from his bottle on his white pants.
Adjusting the shoulder strap and winking at Tenten one last time he said, "It was refreshing talking to you Tenten. Hey, Lloyd, whatever the lady and her friend," he said with a smirk in Lee's direction, "order, just put it on my tab."
The bartender nodded in affirmation.
"I'll see ya later." And with that, his form was lost in the cluster of sweating flesh. Tenten smiled at the place that he had vacated and proceeded to finish off the rest of her drink. She suddenly became aware of a VERY murderous aura tickling at the edges of her own.
"Lee…?"
A glance at Lee stopped any question she was about to form short. His eyes were shadowed by his bowl cut but the scowl set on his usually upturned lips was not. He looked up, a venomous glint flashing in his round eyes.
"I did NOT like the way that man talked and looked at you even though he knew I was here the whole time," Lee hissed through his pearly gates.
Tenten was thrown off by the deadly tone he'd adopted. She sweat-dropped from nervousness.
"Er, as a boyfriend you have the right to make your presence known. To, you know, give subtle hints that your girl is taken." She tried to speak in a calming tone in the hopes that she could ease his aggravated youthfulness.
Suddenly, Lee scooted his bar stool over toward Tenten's. He placed on hand on her stomach and the other on her back. Slowly, he glided his hand across her petite frame till his fingers locked on the other side. He leaned forward, placing his strong jaw on her shoulder.
"Like this?" he questioned agonizingly close to her ear. Tenten jumped as his warm breath kissed the nerves in her cheek and neck, causing them to spring to life.
Her sudden jerk caused Tenten to spill the rest of the unfinished Tequila Sunrise. Quickly, she reached for the nearby napkins, though not fast enough to catch the small stream of liquor that landed on her pant leg.
"Damn," she muttered, feeling flustered. She sopped up the rest of the drink and rose to her feet.
"I'm heading to the bathroom to clean myself up." And collect myself, Tenten thought, practically fleeing to the bathroom.
Lee frowned and crossed his arms overt his puffed out chest and huffed.
When I see that Bandaka I will be sure to challenge him to a duel.
Lee, still feeling quite sour, grabbed a fistful of complementary fried noodles and tossed them into his mouth. He imagined Bandaka as the fried noodles and chomped down on them with such passion and vigor that crumbs shot all over his mouth. Lee, absentmindedly blinded by his rage, reached for the closest napkin and slapped it on his face. The napkin that Lee had picked up was the same napkin Tenten used to mop up her drink. Several tiny droplets of alcohol landed all on and around Lee's mouth.
Intrigued by the sweet orangey tang, he licked all of the drink off his lips.
With his obscenely low tolerance of alcohol, Lee blinked only to open his eyes in a half lidded position and a rosy blush formed on his cheeks.
Then the club came tumbling down.
~O~
After about five minutes, Tenten had successfully gathered her wits about her and stepped out of the bathroom. As she pushed open the swinging door she was met by a gust of cool fall air.
What the…
With her trained kunoichi eyes she swiftly scanned her morphed surroundings, trying to make sense of the sudden disaster.
Looks like a hurricane hit this place.
Instinctively, she began scouting the rubble for any injured personal. About thirty feet away, she spotted a man lying face down in the dirt road and he wasn't moving.
She began hastily approaching and was than able to make out another man crouched over the unconscious body.
Look at that man helping him out. What a wonderful semarti-
Tenten's mental compliment was cut short as she registered what the crouched man was actually doing.
He's rolling over that drunken defenseless man.
Now Tenten was about 92% correct in her assumption. The pick pocketer was just about to extract a sizable wallet from the seemingly unconscious man when he reached up and punched the robber square in the nose. The movement was so swift and fierce that it created the illusion that the man's face actually molded around the deadly punch.
Only one man can move that fast.
Her suspicion was confirmed as she closed the distance from the now-reversed roles of victim and assailant and the street light above illuminated the drunken man's green jumpsuit.
Tenten's pace slowed because she knew exactly what she would be dealing with when she reached intoxicated friend.
Where did he get a hold of alcohol anyway?
Lee, using his incredible upper body strength, pushed himself up off the dirt floor, brushing the dust from his vest. He looked down at the shriveled, groaning man and decided not to leave him in a pitiful heap in the middle of the road. Lee positioned his foot underneath the man's waist and with a great heave he hosted him onto the sidewalk. This movement caused Lee to lose his already swaying balance and tumble back down.
Lee looked at the ground and patted it in an affectionate manner.
"What a youthful friend you are, catching my fall like that," he cooed and hiccupped.
What is he doing?
"Lee, are you ok?" Tenten asked, getting down on one knee to observe her friend.
He looked at her through his semi-circles. She noted the light dusting of blush on his tan cheeks.
Hn, not the usual deep red so he must have only consumed a small amount. He should be sobering up soon.
He flashed her a sultry version of his Good Guy pose along with a mastered wink.
"Ah, speaking of youthfulness, here is the most radiant of all."
Tenten couldn't help but flush at the accidentally seductive smile and compliment. She quickly regained her senses and stood up, offering her hand.
"Come on, Lee, I'll take you to my house so you can sober up."
He accepted her gesture and she hoisted him up. He tried in vain to steady himself but instead wobbled like a newborn horse. Tenten frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
How can he fight so amazing but barely walk? At this rate we'll be here all night.
"Hey, Lee, why don't you hop on my back and I'll give you a piggy-back home."
Lee's lidded eyes widened in excitement for half a second as he grinned like a child.
He quickly hopped onto her back, his weight knocking her off balance before she found her center. Using all her strength, she cupped the underside of his thighs and hoisted him up so that his strong legs were wrapped around the beginnings of her curvy hips.
Tenten hadn't walked twenty three steps when Lee began to fidget.
What's he doing back the-
"OUCH!" Tenten growled into the night air several times. Lee was not-so-gently-what-so-ever ripping out her left hair tie. With a mighty tug and sharp yelp of pain, Lee yanked out Tenten's hair tie. The brown locks fell all over the place. Lee laughed and started rubbing the hair between his hands making cooing noises of affection.
That might actually have been romantic if it didn't hurt so damn much. She thought as she worried she'd be missing chunks of hair in the morning.
Her momentary musings were cut short as Lee buried his face into Tenten's neck. Her breath hitched and her knees almost gave way.
Lee let out whisperings of warm air as he giggled at the way Tenten's chestnut tresses tickled his face.
"Tenten's hair is so soft."
Lee muzzled his nose and mouth through the curtain of curls unknowingly kissing her neck.
Kami, if he doesn't stop that I'm going to faint from this heat!
"L-Lee..."
"Mhh, my beautiful Tenten?" he questioned as the vibrations of his voice box sent electrical pulses through her body.
"Can you please sit up and hold on?" she managed to choke out.
"Oh! I am so sorry; I did not mean to make this hard for you. For that I will do a million push-ups with my elbow!"
That doesn't even make sense,Tenten thought, shaking her head at his still-drunk statement.
She felt rather than saw Lee puff out his chest in a determined manner. He began to readjust himself for the small remainder if the ride by tightening his thighs around Tenten's hips, which caused her to accidentally observe, and appreciate, just how much of a man Konoha's green beast was.
Oh my.
Lee nonchalantly moved his hands out of Tenten's hair and slid them under her armpits.
Wait. What's he doing…?
He continued his venture frontward till his hands rested on her chest.
"Yosh, Tenten, I knew that you had blossomed beautifully but I did not know the full extent of your youth!"
Oh, Kami…
Tenten's legs buckled and they both began to sway back and forth. Lee gripped harder which caused Tenten to yelp and drop to the floor. She clutched at her heart, willing it to slow down along with her heavy rapid breathing.
She slowly rose from her position on all fours and sighed. Thank goodness her front door was but a few steps away. She looked down and saw Lee wrapped up in his long limps breathing steadily.
Is that baka sleeping!? I go through all this- this- whatever! And he just curls up and falls asleep!
Tenten stomped over to his sleeping form and gripped his shoulder hard, preparing to shake him to consciousness, when she looked at his face.
The rosy blush had disappeared, a peaceful look now slumbering on his features. She didn't have the heat to wake up the sleeping beauty, instead opting to pick him up and carry him into her home.
That night Tenten pulled the covers high over her head in an attempt to trap her spiraling thoughts, along with the memories of a spring escapade.
YEAH! Another chapter complete! :D This story is a thrill to write. One more long chapter to go! Tell me how I'm doing so far and thanks for reading!