A/N: Tenten and Neji are at an inn while away on a mission. Lee and Gai are sleeping in a different room. It gets a bit cheesy toward the end, but you have been warned.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…..

Tenten let out a soft sigh, and shifted her head on her pillow. She had been lying in bed for nearly four hours, and now, at three in the morning, her eyelids finally began to droop. But her mind remained restless, and as her thoughts tossed and turned, she did as well. She fidgeted, kicking the blankets so they fell from her shoulders. A hand reached out and caught them, however, and pulled them up over her body once again, tucking them firmly under her chin. "You'll catch a cold," a masculine voice murmured through the darkness.

Tenten jumped slightly having forgotten that Neji had been sleeping beside her. She felt him now, his warm arm gently draped over her abdomen, and the curve of his stomach against her back. She was so used to having him near, it felt as if he were just an extension of her body, that they were one and the same. The tips of her fingers brushed his knuckles, a small tingle working its way up and down her spine. "Sorry, Neji," she whispered, her ears burning from embarrassment. Her teammate merely grunted, his voice weighed with drowsiness. But Tenten was sure he was still awake.

The female lay like a statue, letting Neji's warmth soothe her. Neji, in her mind, was equivalent to safety. He would protect her, scold her, take care of her, no matter how many times she irritated him. He was watching her, peering at her with such intensity, she felt the urge to make sure there weren't holes in her skull. "What is bothering you?" he asked after careful observance no doubt.

Tenten remained silent and she reached down to tug at the hem of her shirt. But Neji curved his fingers around hers, catching her hand, forcing her to pay attention to him. "Tenten," he spoke sternly now, knowing she would not argue with him if he showed any signs of annoyance. She mumbled something incoherent, and it was not so much the words he couldn't hear, but the dejected tone in which they were voiced, that peaked his concern.

"I'm fine, Neji. Don't worry about me," she insisted when the truth of the matter was balancing precariously on the tip of her tongue. Tenten knew Neji would push her till it slipped, but hopefully, she'd be asleep by then.

She felt the muscles in the Hyuuga's arm contract as he tightened his hold on her. "Tenten, if I thought you were fine, I wouldn't be wasting my breath right now."

His female teammate sighed and shifted restlessly. Part of her urged her to tell him, ask him the very question that was bothering her. But the other part of her, the winning half, adamantly refused to give in to his pestering out of fear- fear of not hearing what she wanted. In truth, what was bothering her was rather silly (she even admitted it to herself), yet still very important self-esteem wise.

"Neji, do you think…" she trailed off, unable to go on. It had all stemmed from just a simple action, a single moment of helplessness earlier in the day. Team Gai had been ambushed by a group of rouge shinobi on their way to the Tea Country. Tenten had been doing fine until a well-aimed kick brought her to her knees. And then the telltale shadow of an ax flying through the air, speeding towards her head caused her to let a out a yelp. Immediately, she was surrounded in a whirl of blue chakra and the threat deflected by her white-eyed teammate. Tenten bit her lips at the memory.

"Do I think what?" Neji asked, his smooth velvet voice bringing her back to her current predicament.

"Do you think I'm… weak?" she whispered so not even the walls could hear. Silence followed and Tenten held her breath, listening to the old clock on the bedside table tick away. Neji's grip on her had slackened and she prayed to kami above that he had fallen asleep.

"Tenten." Her hopes were effectively dashed.

"Yeah?" came her breathy, nervous reply. More silence, then:

"You are incredibly childish. You are irritating with your long rants about weapons. You are terrible at making jokes. You are bossy. You are reckless. You are a horrendous cook. In short, you're a complete idiot."

Tenten could feel tears building at the corners of her eyes. She wanted to bolt, but Neji had resorted back to his iron grip and forced her to stay down and listen. "You are a lot of things, Tenten, but you are not weak. "

Tenten didn't know whether to hurt him for insulting her or thank him for the compliment. She ended up doing a mix of both as she squirmed and twisted and threw herself on top of him in an awkward hug. Neji froze for a moment before slowly encircling his arms around her waist and tucking her under his chin.

"Is that understood?" he asked using his battlefield commando voice.

"Yes sir."

He smiled, satisfied. He could feel her grin against his neck.

"Neji?"

"Hm?"

"You are anti-social. You are a jerk. You are cold. You are calculating. You are the biggest nerd in the history of the universe. You are not good at telling jokes or cooking either. In short, you're a bastard."

"And?"

"I love you anyway."

…..

A/N: This was one of the many stories that have been sitting on my computer half-completed. I've been trying to finish these before typing anything completely new.

Thank you for reading and please review!

~M.I.