A/N: Diclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Neji studies his wife as she prepares tea in the kitchen. She cuts a lithe, slender figure in her resplendent green silk kimono, red and yellow dragons curling around her legs, and her jade chandelier earrings flashing in the sun against the tan skin of her neck. Her hair, wound neatly in two buns, is a brilliant display of auburn, and her brown eyes betray flecks of gold in the light of the match she strikes for the stove. Her feet pad quietly on the wooden floor, and stillness of the morning is disturbed only by the clinking of china as she sets two mugs on a tray and waits for the tea to boil.
During these times of war, as the daughter of an imperial blacksmith, her marriage to Neji grants her complete protection in exchange for an exclusive contract between the Hyuuga family and her father's smithy.
Neji had been inwardly angry that he was being forced into marriage, an institution he had always believed to be a nuisance, but his irritation was largely soothed on the day she had been introduced to him and she eyed the sword at his hip with an eager curiosity. He had unsheathed it and handed it to her, and watched carefully as she ran her hand along the blade. He was stunned when she settled into a fighting stance and easily wielded the sword through a few maneuvers, cutting down an invisible enemy with one final confident strike. Even now, he always pauses to admire her grace as she practices with her weapons in the garden behind their home. Her swordsmanship is inarguably better than that of all the men under his command.
And Neji has found he secretly enjoys her company. Tenten is intelligent and hard working; her hands, scarred and calloused from working in the smithy that Neji had built for her as a wedding gift, are a proud testament to her industrious nature.
And yet, though he has neither the time nor the desire to be a husband, he can't help but wonder what she thinks of him.
"Tenten," he calls, pausing in hesitation as she emerges from the kitchen with their tea. A moment of silence passes between them, and Neji is suddenly embarrassed by his vanity. He traces the path of the steam curling up from the mugs on the tray until it passes before her unsmiling lips. She has painted them red today, he observes, like the dragons on her kimono.
Another moment passes before he finally asks, "What do you think of me?"
She blinks, surprised at his question, and her fingers remain curled around the handles of the tray. She waits for an explanation, but he gives none.
She stares a moment longer before she sets down the tray and settles herself across from him.
She studies the curve of his neck as it slopes into his broad shoulders, and faintly traces the muscles in his arms under the loose sleeves of his black robes. His long ebony hair, left unbound this morning, neatly frames his face.
"I think you are a very good man, a very kind man," she finally answers.
She meets his gaze briefly as she hands him his mug, and though her red lips remain unsmiling, the gold in her eyes flashes with sincerity.
Neji takes the mug, their fingers brushing, and he chides himself for even asking the question. Tenten brushes off the strangeness of his question and turns to view the birds congregating in the garden.
Yet, as they sit in companionable silence, he smirks into his tea, and she smiles into hers.
Thank you for reading and please review!
~M.I.