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Christmas Chaos

Chapter 3 : The Roadtrip

December 20th

"Ok, let's review, shall we?" Ino asked with all the seriousness in the world.

Naruto groaned for the tenth time this morning, fidgeting in his new gray trousers and black turtleneck Ino had forced him to buy during the impromptu shopping spree she dragged him on, the moment she heard he'd be going to the Hyuga Mansion for the holidays. The blond emergency doctor was more of a jeans and large t-shirts kind of guy, thus he was already starting to regret saying yes.

But who could refuse the intimidating Neji Hyuga when he took you apart and stared deep-down in your soul with his piercing icicle gaze.

"So I have this problem that can only be solved with Tenten pretending to be my girlfriend for the holidays." Neji raised his hand to stop Naruto from asking the million questions that just popped in his brains and already formed on his lips. "I don't have time to explain. In any case, she agreed to it only if you also came as Hinata's guest. Hinata-nii-san said she'd be delighted to have you over, so that's that.."

Now Naruto was too flabbergasted to say anything and before he could formulate anything, Neji had followed.

"I know I look like I'm asking, but I'm not. I'm just being polite, that's how I was raised." Well, Naruto could have been fooled. Neji looked at him as if thoroughly bored by the process of asking someone a favour.

"It is imperative you come." Neji emphasized to make it abundantly clear Naruto really had no other choice. "I'll-" He coughed. "I'll-"

Damn this was harder than Neji thought it would be. He pinched the bridge of his nose in utter annoyance of the next words that were about to come out : "I'll owe you one."

Now, how could Naruto say no to that? A few days in the idyllic landscape of Hyuuga Manor, during Christmas, with the lovely Hinata-chan and being front row to whatever disaster will come forth from Tenten and Neji pretending to date?

"S-sure." He heard himself say and almost choked when Neji's hand slapped his shoulder in an amical manner.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He mumbled before quickly turning away.

Left behind, was a Naruto who slowly came to the realization that he was going to spend a full three days with Hinata and her family.

And here he was now, being groomed, and prepped, and quizzed by two fanatics who seemed to approach this Christmas thing like the launch of NASA's new spaceship.

"Naruto, shut up." Sakura admonished her best friend who hadn't piped a thing, biting a piece of twizzler, her favourite stress-eating treat. "This is important, so concentrate."

Naruto rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time since both the blond and pink-haired women heard the news.

"Now, repeat your mission to us." Ino ordered.

The boy's shoulder slouched in despair at having to recite all over again the same directions. "One," He started, raising his first finger. "Record as much as possible every interaction between Tenten and Neji so you guys can live through me all the events while you're on call at the hospital."

Ino and Sakura nodded fervently.

"Very important." Sakura agreed, her mouth full of half-chewed twizzlers, the packet in her hands increasingly diminishing.

"Lives are also encouraged, we can make a secret group." Ino suggested.

"Great idea, Ino-pig!" Her friend exclaimed, rushing to her phone to start one.

Naruto stiffled a moan, this was getting out of hand. "Two, spend as much time with Hinata-chan as possible and make her like me."

"It won't be difficult." Ino commented.

"Yeah, she's already over the moon that you're going to meet her folks." Sakura sank her teeth again in the chewy raspberry mixture.

"Three," He raised a third finger. "And most importantly," He added when his friends' gaze intensified. "Make sure I'm liked by Hiashi-san."

"Yes, three is very, very important." Ino emphasized, dusting his shoulders off. "Remember the profile. Hiashi is a family man, he values loyalty, responsibility and duty. Show your hard working skills."

"It's just a couple days of Christmas fun, you're making it a big deal." Naruto whined.

Ino and Sakura gasped in unison and proceeded to repeat their speech on why this mattered so, so much.

When five years ago his best friend Sakura had proposed they shared a home, Naruto was thrilled to cohabit with his longtime childhood friend, even if it came at the expense of not being able to have his other childhood friend over because said dumbass friend had broken the heart of his now-roommate.

One thing Naruto had not expected was that when Sakura had offered him to co-own the house of her late great-grandmother, that conveniently happened to be a mere five-minutes walking distance of the Gen, she also meant co-owning with Ino and Tenten.

Now, Tenten was cool. If anything, she kept him sane in the synergic insanity Ino and Sakura seemed to enable in each other. She was laid-back and just like him had no opinion on whether the aesthetic of the living room should be light or dark academia.

But Ino, that was another struggle. Not that she wasn't an amazing and esteemed friend of the young man, but Ino was a whirlwind of unexpected peripeties and high-energy ideas. Not that he lacked the energy himself, but as he invested his hyperactivity in the dozens of sports he practiced, Ino invested it in high-pitch rants in the living room and an obsessive need to help him solve all his life problems.

And for the past couple of years, Ino - and now Sakura-, had one ambition and one ambition only, play matchmaker with him and one indigo-haired pediatrician.

It's not that Naruto didn't like Hinata Hyuga, it's that he loved her.

The poor blond man was left in a bubbling mass of gushing shame and uncertain awkwardness whenever she was around which prompted him to say the most stupid jokes and to interact with her ever so weirdly that it discouraged him to attempt it again. And it obviously didn't help that said woman was even more socially incapacitated than he was whenever the two ended up alone together.

Sometimes, Naruto almost envied the immature interactions of Neji and Tenten, because at least the spewed hatred came naturally and flowed fluidly between them.

But the one thing that had really stopped Naruto from asking her out during all those years, was that she was a Hyuga.

And it's not that Naruto had anything against her family, no, not at all. It's just that he knew he was far from being Hyuga material.

Even though both his parents had reputable jobs as lawyers, the Uzumaki family was nowhere near as old money as the Hyugas were. And from what he knew of his friend Konohamaru, who also came from a renowned family and had been dating the youngest Hyuga; Naruto really pained to imagine the patriarchs of the renowned family accepting him with open arms.

It was a ridiculous reason, alright.

He was very much aware of that, yet that with their incapacity to have any lasting conversation whenever they both ended up in the same room made him reconsider the viability of their relationship.

If ever there was a possibility of having one.

Because as much as anyone tried to convince him, Naruto had doubts believing someone like Hinata Hyuga really had a crush on him.

In Naruto's humble opinion, Hinata was the closest thing to royalty in Konoha. Not only because of her family name, but because of her grace, effortless poise and elegance. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman there was and he was not the only one thinking it. It came as a universal truth, like knowing the sky was blue. So whenever his unrequited feelings bubbled up, Naruto tried to squash them down to the deepest hiding place of his mind because the only ending possible to him admitting his feelings would be utter rejection and total disappointment.

So for all his doubts and insecurities he had no idea why for heaven's sake he said yes when Neji cornered him with that proposition and he had stuttered an agreement under his impatient gaze and the encouraging thumbs-up of Tenten just behind.

Ah, yes, he remembered why he said yes. It was because now he had no excuses anymore.

You see, all these years when Sakura, Ino and Tenten intervened on behalf of their friend, Naruto decided to one day cut all their endeavors short and tell them he couldn't ask Hinata out because her cousin, Neji, disapproved. Which caused an uproar from the girls, mostly Tenten, who certainly didn't need another reason to despise the man, but was glad to add it to her arsenal nonetheless.

Now, that was a blatant lie, Neji had never said anything concerning Hinata to Naruto, but he knew he was the perfect alibi for his cowardice and for the last couple of years, this had worked splendidly.

Until now.

"I'm so glad Neji has come around to Naruto and Hinata finally dating." Ino said to Sakura who nodded back energetically, munching on her twizzler like a rabid animal.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Now, now let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"No, no. This is great." Sakura said, masticating the red candy with a startling apprehension.

"Ok, Sakura, I'm all for you stress-eating twizzlers instead of your other… coping mechanisms." Ino shivered, eying the stacked 5-inches binders of over "life-planification" Sakura used to put together whenever she felt anxious. "But, girl, what's up?"

Sakura groaned, letting herself fall into the couch. "Sasuke."

Naruto sighed in relief at the welcomed distraction.

"What did teme do this time?" Naruto asked, inwardly ecstatic by this gift of heaven.

Sakura chewed compulsively the sweet stick. "He's been kind of messaging on the daily."

And no more was needed for Ino to completely redirect her attention to the pink-haired friend.

Naruto on his side stayed pensive, trying to not let this little flame inside him feed too much of hopes that maybe this Christmas was the Christmas that would change it all.

"We're lost." Tenten grumbled.

"No, we're not." Neji threw her a glare, still waiting on the phone.

"Yes," She gritted, regretting letting him convince her to drive her to the Hyugas'. "We are in the middle of nowhere, it's snowing cats and your car broke down."

Ok, fine, it didn't break down per say. They had been arguing over directions and their shouting escalated to the point they hadn't seen the truck they were driving right into and had to swerve quickly which only got them stuck in the little ditch next to the road.

"I told you we should have taken the right turn." She added.

"Tenten," He grunted her name as if using all his willpower to not gag her right here and there. "I think I know the way to my fucking home."

The twin-buns haired woman huffed, crossing her arms more forcefully over her chest to try and keep the little warmth she had left.

In all his detailed planning, it seemed Neji had forgotten to mention he lived in the middle of freaking antarctica. Not only did the Hyugas own a country manor - a country manor, who owns that!?- but their lands - lands! - were on top of a mountain north of the city.

Now Tenten wasn't even a Konoha native. She came from further south and her native Suna hometown was a glorious paradise of sunshine, golden sands and shorts all year long. The adaptation to four-seasons Konoha was already hard enough, but she was not prepared for whatever snow wonderland, polar bears sight-seeing, igloo-discovering expedition this was.

She threw another look at the man she had spent the last four hours arguing with on the road. From playlists to where to grab coffee on the road, they had found every possible way to bicker on the silliest things.

"No, Tenten, we're not playing Taylor Swift's new album."

"For fuck's sake Neji, just stop at a Starbucks so I can grab my coffee."

Fine, she was basic. But he didn't have to be an arrogant ass about it. It's not like she could even taste the difference in flavour - what had he called them? Tanins ratio?- at the quaint little coffee shop he ended up taking them anyway. But she had to admit their puffed pastries were a million times better than the half-assed Starbucks cake pops she still loved from the bottom of her basic bitch heart.

The brunette watched the tall man finish his conversation on the phone while shuffling in circles through the snow rapidly accumulating as snowflakes fell in herratic speed all around them. She was awed as his easiness to walk through the cold and warring winds as if simply enjoying a walk in the spring break, as if he was freaking Elsa and the cold never bothered him anyway.

And that was so infuriating because of course Neji freaking Hyuga wouldn't be affected by something as trivial and mundane as minus-twenty-celsius-degrees bones-cutting cold. And who gave him the right to look so dignified at all times? Like some sort of ethereal god while she looked like a pauper, shivering like a leaf, squatting down and hugging her knees trying to manifest heat out of sheer despair like the weakling she was.

"A tow-truck is coming in an hour," He couldn't suppress his smirk at her shocked gasp. "But my uncle is sending us our driver. He should be here in fifteen minutes, we're not far away."

His smirk deepened when he saw her features relax, but it quickly turned into a frown when he noticed how she was clad.

Had this stupid woman never heard of winter? Her flimsy jacket and lack of hat and mittens certainly hinted to that.

"Here," He handed her his scarf, looking away, feeling oddly embarrassed by his kindness.

Tenten eyed him weirdly. "No, thank you."

Where she got the y, she would never know.

Who, in their right fucking mind would decline a scarf when they were about to freeze to death? Stupid people, that's who. Now Tenten had her stupid moments, but this? This had got to be in her top ten.

'A daughter, a friend, never a wife. Died of cold and pettiness before angry-banging Hyuga. She will be missed.' That's probably what Ino would choose for her epitaph.

Her pride ran deeper than she thought it did, because right now she'd have sold her right kidney for a blanket and here he was offering her salvation and she was biting the hand feeding her.

"Don't be stubborn, Tenten,"

Her stomach clenched, like it did whenever he pronounced her name the way his baritone voice did.

"I'm g-good." Oh, dear Lord, she knew she sounded incredibly stupid saying that with clacking teeth.

"Goddammit, you're so troublesome when you want to." He grabbed her elbow, bringing her closer to him. "What good are you to me," He whispered an inch to her face, knotting his big fluffy scarf around her neck. "If you're in cryogenic form by the time we reach home, huh?"

He raised a brow, as if to defy her to take the scarf off and his muscles let go of their tension when he saw she made no move to throw the cloth away. Then they both realized with horror the close proximity of their faces and withdrew a meter away as if hell's door was about to open right under their feet.

"You smell… nice." She said after a moment of silence and regretted it instantly, looking up at his surprised expression. Did her brain contract frost bites from the cold?

You smell nice!? Tenten internally screamed.

"I mean… for an asshole." She winced at how she kept digging her grave deeper and deeper.

He did not have the courtesy to hide his smug smirk, but he at least allowed a small "thanks".

What the fuck just happened? Tenten didn't know. But damn, he did smell good. And it wasn't just the cologne, there was this remaining scent behind the pine and white musk notes. Almost like baby powder and fresh linens.

She side-eyed him as he looked at his car, wondering how long it would take to repair it since they had to drive back to Konoha in three days to take the first morning flight back to Suna. There their arrival was anxiously awaited by her over ecstatic parents. She hadn't brought a man home since she was eighteen and Deidara was still her boyfriend.

Neji was shivering, she noted and it annoyed her that she couldn't feel satisfaction to see a crack through his perfection, a glimpse at his humanity, for she was the reason he was shaking at the moment.

Tenten would never know what propelled her to take a step closer to him, until their coats touched.

"What are you doing?" He asked, suspicious, almost alarmed by the sudden proximity.

"You looked cold." She tried to be as nonchalant about it as possible. "I thought I'd share some warmth since you lent me your scarf."

Now Tenten was just looking everywhere else than at Neji, counting the trees on the other side of the road.

She wanted to die right here and there. Sharing her warmth!? What was she thinking? She was about to put distance between them until she heard the unexpected shuffling of Neji's feet in the snow alerting her he was also getting closer to her.

She bit down a smile. "Who knew cold-hearted Neji could shiver."

He smirked back instantly, their usual banter like a lifeline. "Who knew frigid Tenten could share some warmth."

She quickly nuzzled her face in his chunky scarf to hide her booming smile, last thing she needed was for Neji to think she thought he was funny.

"I wonder if Hinata and Naruto made it already," She reflected out loud, breaking their tense silence. She took her phone out of her pocket. "Ah, shit. I don't have any signal."

She frowned, raising her phone in the air hoping to catch a glimpse of network and when that didn't work she started walking in different directions.

"Tenten…" Neji called her out but she was too engrossed in watching the bars of the network that refused to bulge.

"Tenten…" He repeated again.

"What?" She mumbled, irritated.

"Tenten, don't be stupid. Just come back, I'll give you my phone."

She nodded, absentmindedly, at whatever he was saying. She was not paying attention while taking steps forward. She could have sworn she had seen a bar lit up, maybe a few more steps in that direction…

"TENTEN!"

Everything became a blur as it all happened so fast. There was a very loud honk, her eyes widening at two blazing headlights coming straight at her, realizing she had been walking on the road. Neji shouted her name and grabbed her arm with such force she crashed straight into his chest. His arms closed around her, firmly securing her against him as they spun on his heels to the side of the road, away from the swerving car. They stumbled down the ravine until Neji's back hit his car's conductor door.

Tenten's heart was beating wildly against his chest but it was nothing when compared to his own racing one. He was certain this, right here and there, could be the death of him.

What was wrong with that woman? Had she no sense of self-preservation?

In all his years of life, Neji could safely say he had never experienced as much tumultuous events as he did whenever he was with that crazy. In his thirty years of existence, he could proudly proclaim to having had a perfectly arranged, harmoniously coordinated life. Or at least he could until that savage waltzed in seven years ago and now he indulged in childish spats in public spaces, silly competitions and had even, for the first time ever, crashed his car on the side road.

Really, that woman could only be qualified as…

"A menace to society," He breathed out, still on the adrenaline of what happened. "That's what you are, Tenten Maito. A threat to my very own existence."

As the woman looked up, prepared to argue this veiled insult, that's when their compromising proximity hit them both. His arms still wrapped tightly around her waist, her hands resting on his torso, her whole body pressed against him in their inclined position, resting on his car. With their lips less than an inch apart and the stupor in which both their eyes were locked on one another, anyone passing by would bashfully assume they had walked on two people about to be very intimate.

In a split second they had separated, each at the opposite side of the car. Neji was near the trunk coughing the awkwardness away and Tenten was stretching near the front, pretending nothing had happened and manifesting herself a five-minutes amnesia of past events.

Angry sex.

Ino's words still resonate in Tenten's mind like a hypnotic spell while she tried her hardest to ignore how her body yearned to be entrapped in Neji-freaking-Hyuga's vice-like embrace again.

Neji breathed out heavily, walking back and forth and shaking off the blood that pooled dangerously low, aroused by the mere lingering feeling of her body against him.

"You know what make-up sex is the best?" Kiba had once told him. "It's all that pent-up rage finding release in the most animalistic and satisfying way possible." He winked at him. "Maybe you try it out with Maito."

The young man was troubled to say, the idea did spark a little flame in his mind before he quickly blew it out, stepped on any residual thoughts, and buried them all six feet under all his pragmatism.

No. Never. Not in a million years. Out of question.

Entertaining this idea of passionate sex with Tenten Maito was like thinking one could raised a tiger in their house. Sure, some people were crazy enough to try, but Neji would never be one of the foolish lot. Even if said savage beast had the most entrancing eyes he had ever been hypnotized by and her lips looked softer than flower petals.

What the fuck.

The exact same thought ran in Tenten mind as she mentally beat herself up for even having a fragment of consideration towards the idea of fucking Hyuga. Surely, she couldn't be that desperate. Sure, she wasn't as active as her other friends, but it certainly was not because of a lack of offers.

Maybe she should just find a random man during the holiday to satisfy her craving and finally get that infuriating man out of her head and of her lady's parts' mind.

No. This was becoming ridiculous.

Both Tenten and Neji shook their heads violently to put an immediate stop to their train of thoughts, and then quickly gave a look in each other's direction before turning their heads away so swiftly they both could have suffered a whiplash from it.

"Don't let this give you any ideas, Hyuga." Tenten grunted to mask her own wavering voice.

"Not in my wildest nightmares, Maito." He mumbled back, still shaking off the thought that sweet hell was probably Tenten screaming his name.

A/N : So I'm trying this new thing where I don't wait to finish things before posting them. This is a bit new for me, because normally I'll write a ten thousand words chapter and post it in separate part once it's done, but I thought I may be more motivated to be quick in my writing by uploading the chapters as I go and have your very much appreciated feedback on it.

I'm so glad to hear some of you liked the story, I think it's only going to get more fun from now. And yes Aritee, I'm also in the process of applying! This is so exciting and I had so much fun giving them their specialty. I may explain why in an another author's note but I think so far they are perfectly suited, haha!

I'm also super excited for next chapter because I'll dive deeper in the naruhina dynamic and I'm really interested in seeing how their cute love story will superpose with the chaotic one of Neji and Tenten.

See you all soon, hopefully!