Summary:
Tenten gives her future husband the last instructions before sending him to have a team evening with his temporary teammates, while Neji falls victim to Kakashi and Kankuro's mocking sides.
There are some new realisations in Tenten's head that she is not quite ready to accept yet.
As Kankuro tries to watch a movie from Kiba's couch, he's been put through a thorough interrogation.
Chapter 12: Team Event
Kankuro was getting ready for the team's movie night. Tenten still wasn't home, but she had suggested that he not wait for her anyway. That was exactly what he was going to do. Truth be told, he felt reluctant to gather in the same place as Kiba. Hinata was fine, though; surprisingly, Kurenai was fun. But Kiba was far too noisy; and nosy too, for that matter.
Tenten warned him that Kiba would try to interrogate him. For that purpose, he had created a whole list of weird drinks and cocktails, which he spiced up with truth serum or mild drugs. Those had worked in a few missions on unsuspected outsiders. And, technically, even if Kankuro were an outsider, she wouldn't let him fall for any of it.
The sand shinobi gave the event a second thought while walking to the flat. He tested a few excuses for not showing up at all, but even in his head, they didn't sound plausible. If he accepted everything that Tenten and himself were trying to imply as truth, not showing up and refusing to communicate with his temporary leaf shinobi teammates, and currently Tenten's friends, would be suspicious.
So, the smart thing to do would be to go there, chat, pretend he was having fun, and avoid the alcohol that he was going to be exposed to. His sweet fiancee had claimed — with a really serious face — that the quality and quantity of the liquids would be enough to drink half the village under the table. And, fortunately or not, Kankuro knew himself — with enough alcohol in his system, he tended to talk too much. Currently, getting drunk wasn't an option.
After taking a quick shower, he put on one of his jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and his face paint. He was cautious about letting his face be visible to his leaf team; he still didn't trust them enough.
The next thing he did was stick the three bags of chips in a larger bag with handles.
On his way out, he spotted a pen and the papers scattered on the small table — remains from his work last night. He stopped, hesitant at first. A gentle smile tugged at his lips when he made up his mind to leave a note for Tenten. The girl had earned at least that. So he grabbed the pen and scribed down a few sentences, finishing with a colon and a bracket, forming a smiley face. He nodded to himself, then headed towards the exit.
The man diligently locked the door, as Tenten had asked him to do, and quickly descended the stairs, bag in one hand. Setting foot on the street, he looked around for his escort. Instead, he spotted Tenten herself at the other end of the street — she was walking towards the flat with tired strides and a faded smile. Their eyes met briefly around the heads of the people passing between them. Her face lightened up, and she waved at him, bringing an involuntary smile to his face in return. He stood still while they were approaching. They, because Neji was accompanying her. It was most likely normal for their team dynamics.
"You ready to go?"
"Not much to prepare." He gestured, meaning his plain clothes. "I'm not going to a formal event, after all."
The sand shinobi moved his focus to nod at the other man. "Hello, Hyuuga."
"Evening," Neji replied.
She ignored the polite greeting exchange and sized Kankuro up with a critical eye before fully stopping in front of him. The woman lifted her face upward to meet his gaze.
"You look alright," she said. "But black, even though it suits you, isn't the best choice for Kibas."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"
"I don't know." She shrugged, a mean smile making its way across her face. "Black clothes, white fur..."
Kankuro huffed. "You want me to change?"
"It's your clothes." She leaned in closer so he could hear her whisper, "I don't care."
A hearty laugh shook his chest, and, just briefly, mischief flickered into the depths of his eyes. "Such a diligent fiancee you are…"
Neji let out a quiet snort, gaining glances from both Kankuro and Tenten: him smiling with a tint of challenge; her frowning at what she thought was a dismissal of their efforts.
Her face took on a serious expression when she looked back straight into Kankuro's eyes, a warning visible inside her hazel ones. "He will try to get you to drink," she reminded him.
Kankuro chuckled and carefully placed his big palm on her shoulder, assuring, "I know, don't worry."
A slight flinch at the touch, and he attempted to pull back. The initial purpose had not been met; he wasn't supposed to make her uncomfortable.
Tenten reacted immediately; she reached up and grabbed his hand with shaking fingers. Bold, was what she repeated to herself over and over again. Be bold!
He swallowed. A brief raise of his eyebrow was the only other indication of his surprise. But he pulled himself together almost instantly, giving her an encouraging squeeze. His eyes remained focused on hers.
"I'll be fine," he said, but she heard it — the hidden promise that they would be fine.
She gave him a curt nod and released his hand; it returned beside his flank.
"Should I wait for ya?" Tenten asked in a thin voice, hesitant. She'd want to know what exactly happened at Kibas, after all.
"I don't really know how long these 'parties' last. Maybe it isn't wise to stay up and wait?"
"Hinata is responsible; she won't let them stay up too late," Neji interjected. "I'd say that he would be back before eleven."
"Sounds good," Kankuro uttered, unmoving.
"Then I'll wait," she decided, her eyes sinking into his.
Usually, Kankuro was far from shy, but at this very moment, he felt bashful under her unwavering gaze. It was as if she weren't looking at his face but rather trying to see what his soul was shaped like.
A silhouette appeared right beside Kankuro, and "Yo" rang before even the smoke had dissipated.
Tenten's eyes finally moved to the side, releasing him. Kankuro breathed out with relief.
"Good evening, Kakashi," said Neji in greeting.
"Evening all." The man smiled, then turned to the sand shinobi. "I heard you need an escort to Kiba's place."
"You heard? Interesting vision of orders you have here." The sand shinobi shot him a smile. "I'll need an escort from Kiba's place as well, though."
"I'm aware." His visible eye took the shape of a happy slit, wrinkled on the outer end.
"So you're escorting me back as well?" Kankuro tried to confirm.
"I am." Kakashi nodded. "Gonna wait until the party's over."
"Not gonna join me?"
"Oh, no." The man chuckled. "But don't you worry, I can entertain myself." He patted the pocket he once put his book in.
Kankuro shook his head, an amused smile flashing inside the thick purple line that crossed his face. Neji, on the other hand, narrowed his eyebrows in obvious disapproval. He considered Jiraya's books offensive and unsuitable for reading. Not that he had ever opened even one of them to check himself.
Tenten frowned. "I hope you won't turn him into a pervert, Kakashi-sensei."
"You can't turn someone into a pervert, Tenten. One is, or one isn't; it is as simple as that." He leaned forward, pretending he would tell her a secret. "According to my observations, all men are perverts to some degree. They're just not honest enough to state it out loud." Kakashi winked at her dumbfounded expression.
Neji shook his head fiercely while the older man patted his shoulder sympathetically.
Tenten clicked with her tongue, and an exasperated sigh left her chest. Shaking her head, she hurried to wave the men goodbye and sneak into her building entrance.
"I can't agree that we are all perverts," Neji finally said with a huff once she had hidden behind her apartment door.
Kakashi and Kankuro exchanged gazes… and smiles.
That's gonna be fun, the latter thought before diving into shameless teasing.
"Have ya ever had a dirty dream about a close woman you aren't actually dating?" The sand shinobi asked with a sly smile.
Neji turned to him with an expression that was painful to look at — surprise, fear, and anger were all twisting together on his handsome face.
"I would take that as 'yes'," Kakashi chimed in, sticking hands in his pockets. The smiley eye slit persisted on the visible part of his face.
Kankuro continued his interrogation, enjoying the awkward reactions he was getting from Tenten's stoic teammate. "Have ya ever gone to the bathroom thinking of a woman you shouldn't be thinking of while taking care of the built-up sexual tension?"
Neji's face started to turn red, his mouth agape. His genius brain wasn't working this way… He had trouble coping with the possibility that those two could talk about such matters so casually. And in the middle of the street!
Kakashi thoughtfully placed a hand over Kankuro's shoulder. "Hold on. You ain't actually doing this, right?" He asked, feigning seriousness.
"Oh?" The sand shinobi tilted his head. "Maybe." He grinned.
The old man let out a low chuckle, then turned his attention back at the fellow leaf shinobi.
"Anyway! First, we need to clarify one thing." He paused, watching Neji carefully. "You must know there's nothing shameful about liking people of the same sex as you."
Neji flinched, then just stood there, unable to react. Subconsciously, he knew Kakashi was mocking him, but he was just opening and closing his mouth with no words coming out.
"I think you broke him," whispered Kankuro, leaning forward towards his escort.
Kakashi patted the frozen Neji on the back. "I think it'll benefit you if we have a talk these days," he said. "I can even borrow you one of my books."
The young Hyuuga stepped back, frowning.
"Better go now and splash some cold water on that red face of yours," the sand shinobi said with a deliberately calm tone, firmly holding the bubbling laughter in.
If a mere glare could kill, both Kakashi and Kankuro would have been lying dead.
The long-haired man jumped over the roofs and dashed in the direction of the compound.
"He's a brilliant shinobi, you should know," said the older one while looking after Neji. It sounded like an apology.
"I figured." Kankuro also watched the rapidly receding figure. "He's just too uptight with sexual matters."
Kakashi nodded.
"Maybe you pushed him a bit too far?" the younger one suggested. Had he been given a chance, he'd have pushed him even further.
"Maybe…"
They didn't talk about Neji or any sexual-related matters anymore. Instead, Kakashi, too, gave out some tips and warnings about the cocktails Kiba would make for unsuspicious visitors. He also gave him a heads-up about Kurenai's alcohol tolerance; in no way should Kankuro rely on her for good measure. When they reached Kiba's place, the leaf shinobi waved and disappeared with a 'poof.'
'Chin up, Ten; you will get him. Good job flirting with me, btw.
P.S.: You can pick the movie for Sunday evening. :)'
Tenten snorted at the nickname, which he promised not to use. Even though it aggravated her, a smile crept onto her lips as she read the note one more time before folding it. She contemplated what to do with it. She was certain Kankuro wouldn't mind if she just threw it away once it had been read. But she couldn't bring herself to part with the little token of encouragement, no matter how much she disliked the "Ten"-name. So she headed to her room and put it in her memory box. Tenten didn't have many things in there, but this note was something she felt like keeping. It was praise from a foreign shinobi and warmed her heart both because of the concise but meaningful words and because Kankuro actually went out of his way to regard her efforts. Frankly, it was flattering. Well, it was kind too, even if she didn't want to admit it.
Her heart was heavy when she walked beside Neji earlier. After reading the note, she felt lighter. She felt like her attempt, even though it failed, mattered. Her mood lifted so much that she decided to do something for her looks and paint her toenails — something she did so rarely and usually under the persuasion of her friends.
Tenten, of course, knew that Kankuro was doing this to establish friendly ground between them. She was grateful for his efforts. Also, she had started to understand why her friends would make such a fuss about male attention. It was definitely pleasant when directed well.
She searched for her nail polish, and after checking up on a few possible locations, she found it. She didn't expect that it would be completely dry, though. Well, Tenten hasn't used it for, how much was it, a year? She wasn't surprised per se, but she was dissatisfied. The moment when she wanted to use it had finally come, and here it was, totally unusable.
When her idea turned out to be inapplicable, she quickly redirected her attention to the fridge and its contents. There was no point in wallowing over a nail polish, after all. The first thing drawing her attention was the box of remaining rice and meat that Kankuro had cooked for them. It was good no one could see her right now because she actually felt the first signs of drooling. She wiped her mouth and took the box out, intending to finish the meal off in front of her favourite TV show, which was indeed today.
Tenten heated the meat and the rice, put them on a plate, and headed to the couch. Settling herself comfortably between the cushions, she sensed the hint of Kankuro's smell. It was still the same as the first time she met it: sand, heat, a hint of hinge lube, and mostly wood varnish. However, her reaction to it was slightly different from back then. Her body found the scent not only exciting but also calming and comforting.
A slight blush covered her cheeks. She felt the heat and hid her face in one of the smaller pillows. It wasn't possible she liked him that much in such a short time.
For fuck's sake, he has been here for less than a week! I can't fall for him, no way.
"Probably it is just that new type of attention. I'm not accustomed to it," she tried to reason aloud. "Yeah, that should be it," Tenten concluded.
And, anyway, her feelings for Neji rooted much deeper and couldn't possibly be wiped away so easily. Neji couldn't be replaced by someone like Kankuro, after all.
Tenten switched on the TV and mindlessly hugged the pillow, burrowing her nose in it. In the next moment, she realised what she was doing and set the pillow aside. The kunoichi picked up her plate and started to eat while chuckling at the actors' play.
Inuzuka's house was a one-story, large establishment with a big fenced yard, on which a lot of dog toys were rolling around unattended. Kankuro could spot a few dog houses here and there, but they seemed empty.
"It's for the men," Kiba laughed, following Kankuro's gaze. "Inuzuka women would never kick out the dogs... But they do kick out their men, or sons, or brothers..."
The sand shinobi gave him a cheeky smile. "Smart," he commented.
Kurenai and Hinata giggled behind them. Kiba only grinned, though his expression wasn't particularly happy or content.
The room they entered was spacious, with two couches in front of a relatively new TV. The couches were covered in various blankets in an unsuccessful attempt to protect them from the dogs' hair and saliva. Kankuro understood right away what Tenten meant earlier and felt sorry he didn't actually go back and change. He could already imagine his black top coated with white hair from Akamaru's fur.
Hinata and Kurenai sat on one of the couches, grabbing two prepared cocktails from the small table in front of the TV. They ignored the men while they chatted happily about who knows what. In the meantime, Kankuro was supposed to dodge Kiba's attempts to interrogate him.
He shook his head, refusing the offered cocktail. It was tauntingly bluish and smelled wonderful. Still, the sand shinobi knew that its content wasn't safe for him.
"Abstainer?" The other man asked with a wide grin and sipped from the glass.
"Sometimes," he answered as vaguely as he could.
"So, what are we watching tonight?" Hinata asked suddenly.
Kiba grinned and jumped to his feet, grabbing a tape. "The Great Shinobi From The Second River" was its title.
"Again?" Kurenai interjected.
"It's a great movie," the man said seriously.
"I agree, but we're watching it for the fifth time. In a row," their senior retorted.
Kiba pouted. "Kankuro hadn't watched it." Then turned to the man. "Right?"
The sand shinobi exchanged gazes with the women and shrugged apologetically before he spoke, "Nope, I haven't watched it."
"Cool!" Kiba didn't wait for another comment and pushed the tape into the video player.
Hinata sighed and hugged her bent knees. Kurenai whispered something to her, and she answered in whispers again. Kankuro suspected the two women were going to chat more than actually watch, especially if they faced the alternative of suffering through the same thing for the fifth time.
"So…" Kiba spoke drawlingly and offered a bottle to Kankuro. "Beer?"
"Yeah, I can have one." Sealed beer was definitely safer than anything poured by someone else in an open glass.
He took the bottle and opened it with ease, using the key to Tenten's flat. That earned him a surprised face and a raised eyebrow from his new teammate.
"Cool trick," he commented; Kankuro only shrugged in answer.
The movie started, so the sand shinobi tried to look entangled in the story line. Unfortunately for him, that didn't work.
"So, how's living with Tenten?" Kiba asked.
Kankuro inwardly cursed but kept his cool and took a sip of his beer. He didn't rush into answering right away.
"It's been good."
As nothing followed, Kiba frowned and leaned in a bit. "That's it? Just good?" Disappointment sipped in his pitched voice. Hinata was looking at him disapprovingly.
The sand shinobi sighed. "What do you want me to say, exactly?"
"How does she behave? Is she so vicious at home, like she's out there? Does she boss you around? Is she messy? Can she cook? How is she in the bed?"
"Kiba-kun!" Hinata scolded him, spilling her drink in the process. "This is highly inappropriate! You can't ask such things!" she said firmly.
Kiba seemed absolutely unaffected by her outburst. "No, Hinata, you can't ask such things. I, on the other hand, lack morals enough to stick my nose in gossip and our common friends' personal lives."
"You never cease to amaze me, Kiba," Kurenai interjected.
Hinata's pale face burned with discomfort and, most probably, anger, while the sensei was just watching with mild curiosity.
Kankuro took a drink, contemplating. The best tactic was to tell half-truths, avoiding plain lies. So far, it has been the best choice, no matter the situation. It should work now; he was sure of it.
"She's nice to me. But that may not be personal treatment, because she's generally a kind person."
Kiba huffed in disbelief while Hinata's eyes opened wide.
"We talk a lot, and I have fun during our discussions." He glanced at the other man. "She doesn't boss me around; she is caring. I haven't abdicated from the chores, though; we share them."
Kurenai chuckled but tried to hide it behind the rim of her glass. The younger woman's blush persisted, though now it looked different.
"About cooking…" Kankuro smiled. "I haven't eaten more delicious cheese toast in my life." And that was close to the truth.
Hinata put her hands on her ears, preparing for the answer to Kiba's next question if Kankuro gave any.
"Regarding your last inquiry, I must agree with Hinata-sama." He nodded towards her. "I'm not the type to kiss and tell. Whatever intimate things I do with my partner, it stays between us."
"Pffft, boring!" Kiba scrunched his nose in contempt and grabbed his glass for a big gulp.
Kurenai had nodded in approval at Kankuro's last words, so Hinata put her hands away and silently asked for information with a pleading look.
"He's decent, Hinata," the older woman whispered. "Don't worry. Tenten is in good hands."
Thank you, mfw_no_gf!