Changes available: I worked on the interaction between the two; there are more reaction descriptions as well as more dialogue; the initial attraction is clearer; the scene at the end has been changed. The word count is almost double, so there is more of everything.

Chapter 4: „I'm sorry!"

Tenten heard the click of the lock and stood alert. She grabbed three shurikens, folded her legs under her body, and got ready to attack. Who the hell—, she tried to ask herself, but her fingers let the shurikens fly as if on their own. Right after her hand turned out empty, she remembered who that should be and why he was here. It was obviously too late to stop the weapons. In fact, the only thing that could be done right now was to warn him, hoping he would be able to dodge. Tenten was just glad she aimed for the arms and not for the heart or eyes.

"Damn it, duck!" she shouted, instantly feeling guilty she had... forgotten. She wondered how it was even possible to forget such a thing.

Kankuro pressed his right hand over the newly obtained wound and clenched his jaw. His anger was written all over his face, even with the makeup and the markings on it. He looked at the girl with an ireful flame in his very dark eyes. The sand shinobi stepped intimidatingly towards her. He was mad at her audacity - she actually dared to attack him! Kankuro opened his mouth to scold her, but she beat him to it.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" She raised her hands defensively, setting an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm Tenten."

"I know you're Tenten," he growled at her. "What I don't know is why the hell you attacked me?! Are you out of your mind?!"

She flinched, her smile fading from her lips. "I'm not used to having roommates," she said, narrowing her eyes. Her voice also changed, sounding rather annoyed.

Kankuro pressed his lips together, holding in the harsh words that were threatening to pour out on the poor kunoichi. He knew he would regret it if he let those words out of his mouth.

Blood was dripping between his fingers and flowing down onto the floor. There was already a pattern, drawn with little red droplets.

Tenten straightened her back and crossed her arms - a sign she was ready to defend herself if needed. She looked small compared to him, and though she didn't show it she was strangely intimidated. What was happening right now was a clash of wills to establish control. A battle for power, for the upper hand in this relationship, no matter if it was just imaginary: a lie.

"You shouldn't have gone out without an escort," she stated coldly.

"You should've been here when I needed an escort," he replied quietly but calmly.

"You should've waited for me to come back." She took a little step forward, lifting her chin in an unspoken challenge.

"I left you a note where I am." Tenten huffed at these words, but didn't say anything. Though 'I am out' was barely a particular location… "I was starving. The only reason I got out was because I found nothing to eat in your fridge." He kept his exasperation under control, his tone even.

Tenten bit her tongue. It was her responsibility to stock the fridge with all the necessary supplies. So technically, if hunger was what forced him out, it was because of her. She wasn't going to admit it, of course. The kunoichi was planning to go shopping tomorrow and take him out for their first meal, maybe on something like a date. It wasn't her fault he arrived hours earlier than expected.

"I was planning on taking you out for tonight," she whispered, the words almost choking her.

Kankuro's facial features started to soften right away as he felt his anger subside. He signed in an attempt to relax more.

"I'm aware I arrived much earlier than expected," he admitted, "and if I'm honest, I'm surprised there was someone waiting for me."

"Was there?" Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Kakashi-san met me a few miles into the forest, and escorted me right to Tsunade-sama's office."

"Curious," noted the young woman, then shrugged.

The sand shinobi looked at her for the first time with calm eyes. She was lithe; her arms were muscular enough to hit hard but still not too big or manly; her shoulders were straight, her neck beautifully shaped. Her face was pleasing to the eye: high cheekbones; full, pink, soft-looking lips; a small nose; her complexion was fair, though he could see it was slightly tanner than the small patch of visible skin beneath her collarbones. Anyway, what caught his attention was her warm, big, brown hazel eyes, which were looking back at him with curiosity, caution, and a tint of worry. His sight travelled up, noticing the two symmetrical buns on her head, but after that, drifted right back to her eyes.

"We should do this the right way," he mumbled.

"What?" she frowned, incomprehensible.

"We'll have to spend quite some time together," he sighed, speaking up, "I suggest we introduce ourselves properly for a start."

Tenten tilted her head; her gaze shifted between his painted face and the bloody wound, which he was still pressing.

"Alright," she agreed and decided to play by his rules. "I'm Tenten, and I was chosen to be your wife for the duration of this mission." Her declaration was firm as if she had recited it many times. Still, the word 'wife' left a weird taste in her mouth.

"I'm Kankuro of the Sand, Temari and Gaara's brother." He breathed in, delaying his next sentence as much as he could. "It may not look like it at the moment, but I'm grateful to you for agreeing to this mission at such short notice. I'll endeavour to make this work and make you feel as comfortable as possible in the situation." He bowed, leaving her agape. Tenten expected him to be proud, maybe rude and somehow more... fierce? But these words, spoken in the way he did, made him look almost timid and tamed.

She relaxed and untangled her arms. "Let me see your arm," Tenten requested with a sigh, taking one more little step forward.

Her gaze followed the blood that currently dripped on her carpet.

It will take ages to clean that, a little voice in the back of her head screamed. She hated cleaning bloodstains from the carpet - it required so much effort... Tenten was the teammate who took care of the initial damage in most of the bloody situations with Lee and Neji, apart from her own wounds. If they weren't in need of hospital services, both of them were always here for first aid treatment. She had become half nurse after their first year together as a team.

Kankuro, however, didn't seem willing to let her near the arm she had wounded. He attempted to sound polite, "It's fine, I can manage."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Don't behave like a child," she teased with an almost-there-smile.

"I'm not behaving like a child, woman. I'm trying to take care of my own wounds, just like an adult would do." His voice was harsher than a minute ago.

"Well, I'm perfectly capable of treating your wound. I'll do it faster and better, as I'm doing that like every other day for my teammates."

"You've done well in making the wound," he snapped, his exhaustion taking the worst of his already thin patience.

Tenten breathed out through her teeth. "I already apologised. What would you say to not going back there, eh?"

He averted his face, huffing. Maybe he should just let her clean the wound and get this over with. "Fine."

His whole body radiated unwillingness and distrust, which she deliberately ignored and gave him a stern look. "Come with me," she commanded and tilted her head to the bedroom. Then she headed there without waiting to see if he followed.

Kankuro felt a distinctive sting in his chest. Tenten's glare was almost identical to the one his sister gave him when he was hurt and she had to take care of him. What was the name of the feeling behind that glance? Was it "worry"? Or was it "annoyance"? Or both? At this moment, the young man's chest constricted painfully, pushing his breath out in the process - he might never see his sister looking at him like that ever again. His jaw clenched, mirroring the tense sensation that had pervaded his body; his eyes shut for a moment. He finally got a grip of himself and followed Tenten, still pressing the wound.

Entering the bedroom, he took his hat off and left his dishevelled hair free — it was clean now and didn't stick to his head or forehead.

Tenten turned to him and stole a glance— his hair, though it was spiky, still looked soft. She caught herself wondering what the texture would be if she touched it.

"In the bathroom," she demanded.

Kankuro gave her a narrowed-eyed glance. He looked unhappy about being ordered around, but he still followed her.

Once in the bathroom, he took the little stool from near the wall and put it beside the sink. Sighing, he sat down on it.

Tenten took the two-seconds-chance to look at him more carefully. She remembered that she saw him with no hood two years ago, when they were on a mission to save Gaara. His hair, short and spiky then, was almost down to the middle of his nape. She remembered Naruto and him taking turns carrying the Kazekage on the way back. They hadn't paid attention to anything in their surroundings. Kankuro had shown extreme loyalty during his brother's retrieval; loyalty and dedication to duty were values held in high regard by the fellow shinobi.

That explains why he has no memory of me. Her lips tugged in an unmerry smile as a quiet voice laughed in the back of her head — of course he wouldn't remember her. That voice often spoke up when she was in dire need of encouragement, but instead of providing support, it sent her down the spiral of doubt. She hated it — a feeling of deep and honest loathing. And as it turned out, the voice wasn't over with its 'encouragements': It's not because of his brother, it's just because you are nothing special to lay his eyes on. She clenched her jaw and began a losing battle with an invading blush. Inwardly she harshly hushed that voice.

As he was sitting, his eyes were at the same level as her collarbones. He didn't look up, though, but chose to turn his head aside.

Tenten bit her lower lip as she reached for his arm. She carefully brushed his right hand away and placed her fingers gently on both sides of the wound. Slowly, she tugged the cloth to the sides to examine the wound edges.

"It's a clean, narrow cut. No stitches are needed," she stated.

He turned and faced her, his gaze directly staring at her orbs. Tenten's movements froze; she held her breath, without realising what she did. His eyes were like midnight lakes — dark, bottomless, and mysterious. A quite-not-unpleasant shiver ran down her spine before she snapped out of the momentary trance.

His whispered breath caressed her face as he spoke, "That's good."

The whole setting had become too intimate. She pulled back with a single step and hurried to busy herself with taking the first aid kit from the cabinet above the sink. But Tenten was certain he felt it too, and was grateful he didn't make any comments.

Kankuro smiled at her rushed reaction. He wasn't a complete stranger with the body pull one can sometimes feel towards a complete stranger. Honestly, it had been a long time since the last time when he felt such a strong physical, mutual reaction. To say it was exciting was just an understatement. But he didn't expect it now, with the kunoichi he was supposed to spend a year with. In this case, it could cause more trouble than pleasure.

Tenten didn't look at him while taking what she needed to fix the wound. Before she dared to approach him, she needed to get herself together, which she did. Only then she reached for his arm. Her movement stilled with her hands hovering over his arm. Even if she was able to clean the scratch through the gash in his cloth, she wouldn't be able to bandage it.

Her eyes averted towards the floor; she whispered, "Would you mind taking your top off, so I could clean and bandage your arm?"

He kept his face serious when he nodded. Now, that was a bad idea. The woman's proximity would affect him more if more layers of clothes were removed between them. Refusing her, might cause even more tension in their communication. On the other hand, complying might lead to an awkward situation if she noticed how much his body exactly was affected by her — an erection was hardly the icebreaker he needed in this case.

Kankuro didn't realise he stood still. She had asked him to undress his upper clothes; he had agreed, yet he wasn't doing anything.

"Are you alright?" she asked, suspicion audible in her voice.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I just spaced out for a bit. Pushing limits comes at a cost; I'm still exhausted." He apologised, not completely lying.

"Let me fix your wound and you can rest afterwards," she offered.

Kankuro tugged at the edge of his black top, lifting it smoothly over his head. He placed the cloth in his lap right away, just in case she looked down, then relaxed his arm — the bleeding had already stopped.

Tenten tried hard not to look at his nude upper body as she focused on his arm. The skin, surrounding the wound, was smooth, pleasantly tanned, and covered tough-looking muscles. If she could just trace her fingertips over... She furiously shook her head, repeating inwardly how inappropriate those thoughts were. What if he could sense it somehow? She would definitely die of embarrassment.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, pulling her out of her shameful thoughts.

"Ah, no!" She smiled as a first reaction, glancing at him.

"I can still take over here and fix the wound on my own," he reminded her, smiling distantly.

Tenten was tempted to accept his offer. But then, she would appear weak, and weak she was not. The kunoichi pulled herself together, and without saying anything, cleaned the blood from his skin, poured some iodine, and skillfully applied a bandage over it.

He flexed the arm to check the bandage wasn't too tight. It was well done, so a polite thanks was in order.

Tenten moved back to a comfortable distance. "You can feel free to rest now."

"Right." Kankuro looked around as if he were looking for something, which he couldn't find. "Have you seen my travelling clothes?"

Tenten blinked rapidly. "Your what?"

"I may have… left them somewhere on the floor over here," he mumbled under his breath.

"Oh," — she laughed, the sound making him flinch and instantly think of hundreds of little wind bells — "you mean the stinky black cloth, piled like trash in the corner?"

He shrugged. "I guess that's the one." His eyes darted to the corner, where he found nothing. "Where are they?"

The confidence that came with the larger distance between them let her feel calmer. "I washed them."

"You washed it?" he echoed.

"I did." She pointed to the washing machine. "They're still there. I'm going to take the laundry out when we sort out the couch."

"To sort out the couch?" He narrowed his eyes, helplessly repeating her words.

"You don't expect to sleep in my bed, do you?" She smiled a bit cheekily. That was the moment he noticed the little dimple on her left cheek.

"I presume that would be a bit of a bold wish for the moment." He shrugged, but the tips of his lips lifted in a hint of a mischievous smile.

"Anyway," she continued, pretending she didn't see the smile or understand the hint, for that matter. "You should know I don't iron, so if you want your clothes unwrinkled, you should do it yourself."

"What should I do myself?" He asked mockingly, raising his eyebrows.

"Iron!" She hissed.

"Because you don't iron?" His voice held a tint of sarcasm now.

"No, I don't. Are you going to repeat everything I say?" Tenten's exasperation was close to bursting out, her eyes flashed dangerously.

"I just need some... time to fully comprehend the information you present me with." The sarcasm was already digging in his words.

"It is not difficult, you know." She crossed her arms, seeking some kind of support in the gesture. The fact that he was still topless didn't help at all. "Just pay more attention to my words."

"I'm paying attention, all right." He chuckled, then sighed tiredly. "Ok, Tenten, let's get to the basics." He slowly got up, and the kunoichi felt small again. "You'd wash my clothes... But you won't iron them, correct?"

"Correct. But only if you'd be so kind as to place them into the laundry basket over there."

Kankuro followed her look and nodded, breathing out a barely audible "right". Then he spoke again, "You won't let me sleep in your bed, with or without you in it?" His smile was wide and challenging, causing her to huff and frown in embarrassment.

"You can bet I won't," she said through her teeth.

He was obviously amused when he bowed to her. "Ok, your home, your rules. I can take that."

It was a bit hard to tell through the paint and markings, as his facial expressions were dimmed, but she realised he was mocking her for some time now. Instead of feeling insulted, she chose to look at the amusing side and let it all slide.

"I can repair the hole for you." Tenten tilted her chin towards the top he was still holding.

"I can do that myself, thank you."

She shrugged. "As you wish."

He exited the bathroom and entered her bedroom. Without words, he snatched his bag from the floor. Then they both headed to the living room, where he helped her set up the couch for sleep.

He felt tired again and leaned on the kitchen door frame. Kankuro knew why this was happening: the adrenaline that put him through the time Temari got hurt until the current moment had run out, leaving him with all the consequences. He would get better, of course. For this purpose, he needed to get the proper amount of rest and food to fill him up and recover the spent energy. Also, the fact that he was truly, unrestrictedly attracted to that leaf kunoichi added greatly to his emotional load... and made everything more complicated. His highest hopes for her were to be sane and easy-going enough so he could successfully pretend to be attracted to her, care for her, and want her in his life. Or at least to look like he accepted her being an arranged part of his life from now on. It turned out he wouldn't need to pretend, at least for the first part. That was both scary and a relief, mostly scary.

"Tenten," he called her, struggling to keep his eyes open; his voice fading.

"Yes?" She turned.

"I'm holding you to your word. I expect you to take me out for a meal tomorrow."

She didn't answer but smiled. "Goodnight."

"Night," he mumbled.

Kankuro sat and then laid down on the fresh sheets, burrowing his face into the pillow. He touched around, searching for the blanket and when he found it, pulled it up.

"I'll bring the laundry here, ok?" Tenten wasn't asking but more of informing him, though she felt it was right to add an "okay?" to the statement.

"Sure," his voice came from within the pillow.

She pulled the portable cloth dryer rack out and set it down between the kitchen door and the small table. Tenten took out the laundry and put it out to dry, as she'd said she would. After that it was finally time to go to sleep. It was an emotional day after all.

Tenten quietly shut the bedroom door and changed into her pyjamas — loose shorts and a sleeveless top. As she sat down on the bed, she tried to ease her breathing that was still a bit laboured, and relax her tense body. That wasn't the real problem — it was actually her curiosity. The way Kankuro dared to mock her stuck into her brain. He turned out to be a more interesting individual than she thought he would be. When she was told who he was and when she pulled the pieces of her memory together, she created an image of him. It was something different - a dry personality; cruel humour, as if at all; full of himself and maybe too arrogant; terrible attitude toward children. The list went on.

All of that was without even mentioning the strong physical attraction — for an unknown reason she felt guilt because of that strong pull towards him. She shouldn't feel such an attraction and she refused to admit it... What she did admit was his pleasant sense of humour. He certainly had that, alright.

Tenten was sure he was too tired to sense her if she peeked in. And in case he did, she could just come up with an excuse, right? I'm gonna check up on him, she convinced herself, I just want to make sure he's still breathing. She got up and took a few steps towards the door. Still hesitant, she halted, wondering which feeling was stronger: her curiosity or her common sense. "Curiosity killed the cat," they say. But she was not a cat, was she? Tenten pressed the door handle down, gathering all the courage she possessed. Entering quietly, she made a quick assessment — Kankuro was sleeping flat on his stomach, his left leg dangling from the side of the couch. That was the moment a wise person would turn away and go back to her room. However, she did not. Tenten approached carefully, as she didn't exclude the possibility of being attacked — he was a shinobi, after all. As she closed in and no attacks were launched her way, she slowly bent down, intending to listen for his breathing. The air intake was there, causing her to smile under her breath. She hoped he wouldn't sense her, but didn't believe it for real. So maybe his shinobi instincts weren't as sharp as they should be… or he was a scarily good performer… or he was just deadly exhausted.

Kankuro was on high alert from the moment he heard the quiet clicking of the opening door. He half-opened one eye to check what was going on. Seeing Tenten's shadow crawling on the floor, forced his body to ready itself for a defence, in case she tried to hurt him. It was a subconscious reaction, even though he doubted she would attack. He barely held his laughter when she leaned in close to his face — she was obviously checking on him. It was sweet, actually, and somehow kind, apart from being creepy, that was.. He did his best to remain unmoving and keep his breathing even like a sleeping person, but she kept standing there. He felt her eyes wandering over him as if she were looking for something or assessing him, maybe. Kankuro should have felt embarrassed, except he didn't — he felt amused and excited by the thought of her liking what she saw. He could boldly make a conclusion that she was here because she was somehow curious about him. And he knew he looked good; that wasn't some sort of secret. In Suna, and not only there, he was a well-liked man.

Kankuro decided he might as well mock her a bit more. He turned slowly, the gentleman he was, giving her time to flee in case she wanted to do that. He opened his dark eyes and gave her a warm smile, with a hint of mischief she failed to ignore.

"Don't just stand there," he whispered. His voice sounded way huskier than expected. "Come, join me. I don't mind sharing the couch with you."

Her face paled at first, then started to madly heat up. Tenten lost her ability to speak. She spun on her heel and stormed out, shutting the bedroom door with a thud. She leaned heavily on the wall beside it, panting, eyes closed. He caught her staring at him! She felt so ashamed that she couldn't imagine how she'd look him in the eye tomorrow. Shivering, she sneaked under her sheets and squeezed her eyes tight.

I don't want to be here tomorrow, was the last thought in her head. It repeated itself over and over again, until she surrendered and fell asleep.

Thank you, mfw_no_gf!