Christmas Chaos
Chapter 14: The Guests
December 26th - 1:15 AM
"Sshhhhh!" Hiashi glared at his brother who hadn't given him a moment of peace in his very important nocturnal activity.
Hizashi rolled his eyes, returning to reading the current Neruda's poems book opened on his lap.
After five minutes of Hiashi's antics, the younger twin finally sighed, resigned that he wouldn't be able to completely appreciate fine poetry as long as his brother behaved in such an unashamed way.
"Hiashi, stop it with the stethoscope on the wall." Hizashi grunted. "Trying to eavesdrop on Neji and Tenten that are merely sleeping in the next room is really a breach of their privacy."
Hiashi grimaced back in annoyance, repeating what his brother just said in a silly voice.
"Very mature." The other Hyuga gave a stern look to his brother. "Anyhow, it's not like we wouldn't be able to hear them if they were actually doing something. They're not exactly the silent type." Hizashi mumbled to himself, referring to that fateful night in Haepo.
Hiashi simply glared at the wall. "Damn those Sunan constructions and their beton soundproof walls. May they burn in h-"
"Hiashi!" HIs brother hissed. "Enough! We already came here to crash their vacations."
"We are not crashing, we have been repeatedly invited here, harassed even." Hiashi replied haughtily.
"Mikoto-san insisted twice, I barely call that harassment." Hizashi's eyes went downcast again to try and read his poem.
"Well, our relatives in Suna insisted a dozen times." Hiashi replied back.
"Of course, they did." Hiashi scoffed. "They are now convinced Neji and Tenten will be married in the next months or so, some rumours through the Hyuga whatsapp groups are even hinting at a precipitated marriage because some believe she is already with child."
Hiashi chuckled. "And you don't?"
"Believe she's with child?" The younger twin's eyebrows shot up. "Not a chance! Not with how much they hated each other upon their arrival."
"Not that part," Hiashi rolled his eyes. "The them being together part."
"Oh," Hizashi smiled. "Yes, but they'll have to figure it out on their own."
Hiashi scoffed in disagreement, and resumed his previous espionage activity.
"In any case," Hizashi called his brother back to order, away from listening to the walls again with the stethoscope he 'borrowed' from Hinata's room. "You cannot just pass on to them your boredom and frustration that Naruto's parents have invited Hinata to spend the remaining holidays at their house. We had them all for Christmas Eve and morning. You have to learn to share."
Hiashi swiftly turned around, glaring at his brother. "Says who?" He raised a defying brow.
Hizashi simply blinked at his brother, taking the surreal scene in. Hiashi Hyuga, the fearsome CEO and family head, looked utterly ridiculous with a stethoscope around his neck. Stethoscope that he used to spy on his nephew and unadmitted love interest, in the middle of the night in a town he had flown last minute to, dragging him in the process.
"Whoa, you have issues." Hizashi finally breathed out.
"I know" Hiashi spat, as if annoyed by his brother stating the obvious. "That's why I'm paying that psychotherapist a hefty price to deal with them."
"Well," Hizashi scoffed. "Clearly whatever you're paying them is not enough-" He calmly dodged the slipper his brother sent his way.
"Come on, now," Hizashi continued to reason with his brother. "Let their relationship unfold naturally. Otherwise, you know you'll just end up pushing Neji away from Tenten, if only so he won't suffer your indulgent smugness in being right."
"Fine." Hiashi gritted. "But I wiped this boy's arse when he was still a babe, I have a right to meddle a little in his life."
"Yes, yes, brother." Hizashi patted his arm when his twin went back to the bed they squeezed themselves in. "I won't interfere with your plans tomorrow."
"Good." Hiashi grunted and shut off the light.
"Hey, I was doing some reading!" Hizashi protested.
"Well now you can read the room." Hiashi snapped back.
Hizashi rolled his eyes in the dark, his brother became insufferable when things did not go his way.
December 26th - 5:31 AM
Well, Tenten would be damned.
She rubbed her eyes groggily, looking at the peaceful, restful face of Neji freaking Hyuga sleeping soundly in her queen-sized bed.
During the charades, uncle Yamato had skillfully repaired the broken joint of her bed and replaced the broken wood with a timber beam he had laying around in his office.
"Thank God for a functional bed!" Aunt Suki winked at her after having collected all her belonging from Tenten's room, pushing Kankuro out the door, saying something about using that hotel room for themselves.
Obviously, it was nowhere near plausible to imagine that Neji Hyuga, of all men, would slip in her bedroom once her uncle succumbed to slumber just so he could enjoy sleeping next to her. Even if that's what she'd secretly wish for in her wildest dreams.
No, it was all thanks to the Hyuga twins she found herself in this, err… predicament. Their 'surprise' late night arrival, yet well known by both her parents, helped move some of the things around. Lee hurriedly agreed to sleep downstairs with their uncles so he could offer his room to their new guests, since the multiple guest rooms were already occupied by aunt Yara and her children. This left one cunning Hiashi Hyuga smiling at the only remaining place where his nephew would be able to sleep.
"It's not like the two aren't used to sleeping together by now." Hiashi had devilishly grinned at them under the stupefied look of Tenten's mother.
Well, if truth be told, Lee had first offered to sleep with Neji in Tenten's room completely oblivious to the horrified stare his sister gave him, but quickly rescinded his offer when his father burst out laughing, clapping his son's back and forcefully gritting through his grin at the younger Maito to not be so unyouthful.
When Neji and her had finally been alone in her room, they had shuffled around Tenten's bedroom almost more awkwardly than they had done the first night they had shared Neji's bed, well, before the other events had unfolded. It was as if their mutual loathing had served as a protective barrier from the disagreeable feeling of shame and shyness that now seemed to taint all their interactions.
They stumbled and bumped and collided into each other more times than they thought possible while Neji settled his stuff in her room that was much smaller than his, and in the bed they shared, that was much too little for a row of pillows in-between them as he had offered her that first night.
And damn that gentle breeze filtering through her ajar window and damn him for smelling so good that his notes of sandalwood had haunted her well into her heavily settling sleep.
At least, the whole process was made a bit more bearable when finally, laying next to each other in the dark, they started reliving the absurdity of the past few days together, laughing at their common fate.
"It all started with you listening to Inuzuka's advice." Tenten snorted and Neji could see her twinkling maroon eyes looking at the ceiling in remembrance of the day he cornered her near the vending machines with his plan.
Neji couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips. "I think it started with you accepting my offer, if I remember correctly."
She turned her head to look at him, her eyes gleaming with delight. "If I may say so, things really started to go downhill after that Devil's Drop incident." She grinned at him, her eyes searching his features for his reaction to her pun.
He let out a laugh that he didn't have in him to suppress. "And here I thought they started to go south once we travelled to Suna." He replied with the same verve that delectably dazed her.
Tenten couldn't help but laugh back, elated he forced himself to share her same lame humour. "Or maybe even before?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "When our plan went sideways when we swerved on the sideroad."
"You're really bad at this." He shook his head, still laughing, commenting on her dad-level rubbish pleasantries.
"Bad at what?" She bit her smiling lip. "Making you laugh?"
His fingers grazed hers under the cover, so fearfully, so tenderly, Tenten wondered if she had imagined it.
"No," He whispered, his tone suddenly so soft. "That you do admirably well."
Her breath caught in her throat, unable to look away from his searching gaze, unable from stopping her smile from growing more.
Tenten finally tore her eyes from the striking features of Neji Hyuga who had no right being this frustratingly beautiful under the moonrays.
"Ready for tomorrow?" She said, instead.
"The Sand Ball?" He asked. "I came prepared for any eventuality." He smirked at her, reminding her of her poorly stuffed luggage that contained a single black dress.
"Ha. Ha." Tenten mocked-laughed. Yawning, she added : "So you brought a tux?" She raised a brow. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"It'd be a waste to not get to see you in another one of Fu's dresses, mostly that," Neji's smirk deepened. "As she put it, now that she knows what you look like, she probably, how did she phrase it? Use less fabric and show more cleavage?"
Tenten rolled her eyes at the mention of their friend in Haepo who had been avidly following the developments of their relationship through Hanabi and Hiashi's gossip and whipped up this dress the same day she heard Hiashi and Hizashi would be coming to her hometown.
She had texted Tenten to send her a picture of the dress with a kissing emoji, a smirking emoji, and for some reasons, the three droplets emoji and a tongue.
Tenten yawned again and nudged him under the covers. "Keep the sweet talk for when you'll have to convince all of Suna's crème de la crème we are madly in love with each other."
She turned her head again to give him a pointed look and found his serious stare in return.
"I will." He said solemnly and she would have probably be taken aback by the blazing certainty in his eyes had it not be for her own, closing against her volition to indulge a little bit more in this shared intimacy with him; wishing against her body urging her for rest, that she could have talked with him about nothing and everything until the wee hours of the morning.
Though here she were, almost 6 AM and she woke up by some outside noise while he lay there oblivious, couldn't help but trace the sharpness of his jaw with her lingering gaze, oddly bitter that she hadn't wound up in his arms, securingly holding her against him so she could drown herself to her heart content in the alpine smell of his cologne and fresh one of his soap.
Ah, how she hated Neji Hyuga.
December 26th - 9AM
When she woke up, the bed was empty, and Tenten had to swallow back the sour feeling she had of already missing the present.
Only two more nights.
These holidays had passed like a blur and yet, they seemed to have lasted for years. Conflicted with her emotions, Tenten shuffled through her bunny slippers, yawning the remnants of sleep away from her body as she strutted down the stairs her mother probably had polished before the holidays because she almost slipped a couple of times on them since she got home.
Tenten always found comfort in the smell of coffee and pastry in the morning. It reminded her of the days long gone when her brother and she would run down the stairs early on the week-ends, excited for the adventures they had planned ahead, their parents sipping the bittersweet beverage looking at them peculiarly amused.
It brought fond memories of the countless times Temari and she had doubled in laughter over chemistry and anatomy books cozied up in the armchairs of their favourite coffee shop's back corner. It took her back to idly strolling along stoned back alleys with Ino, Sakura and Hinata; smelling the freshly brewed espresso, gently stirring Milan out of its sleepy haze and into the dewy peach-coloured morning skies where the city came alive with bustling civilians.
All in all, Tenten loved the smell of coffee, mostly in the morning. Lost in her souvenirs the richly dark and pleasantly fuming liquid she was pouring in her favourite mug brought her, it had taken her a second to notice the odd setting of the kitchen or Neji rearranging the lights for the video her mother was shooting on how to make 'the best orange upside-down cake'.
"Oh, Little Tenten!" Her mother's eyes shone bright when she noticed the disgruntled sleepy features of her daughter.
Neji turned around to look at her and smirked at her messy bed hair, to which she replied with a glare, threatening him to further mock her if he dared.
But her hard look immediately softened when she saw how happy her mother looked, joyfully humming around her kitchen, cleaning up the remaining dishes she had used for her most recent recipe.
"Can you believe this," Her mother told her, her tone high-pitched in unrestrained merriness. "Neji has been helping me all morning with my recipes, he is so skilled."
Tenten nodded, comfortably sitting herself in the duck-eggs coloured window seat that gave on the luminous kitchen, trying to calm her heart from getting ahead of itself. "Oh, is he now?" She gave him a rueful look.
He shrugged. "Always loved dabbling in photography. Came with the hiking and the bird watching."
Tenten's eyes widened in curiosity and in surprise of the unexpected ways Neji found to still endear her after she had renounced the foolish idea that all she could bear for him was hatred and contempt.
She found it incredibly sweet how he was helping her mother with something so dear to her heart. Tenten often felt guilty how dismissive she could be of her mother's job. She was proud and supportive of course, but when her mother asked her to film her or wake up at 6AM for her "Run With Me In The Morning - 21 Days Challenge", Tenten couldn't help but groan, refuse, or do it begrudgingly. So she was oddly grateful that Neji took such care of her mother by assisting her in her passion.
"Dabbling?" Her mother huffed. "He has shown me some of his works, they are stunning!"
Neji looked back flustered at the woman wiping her hands on her apron. "I-" He scratched the back of his head. "Well, thank you."
The older woman waved his embarrassment away, taking her phone in her hands. "Your aunts went to see Madame Yang, remember her?" She asked her daughter who rolled her eyes in reminiscence of the awfully skinny seamstress down Kaigan Street who always pinched her cheek too forcefully, wore too much make-up, put on too much perfume and smoked too many cigarettes to Tenten's liking.
Though Madame Yang had been good to her, providing her and her family countless magnificent qipaos. Even if at an exorbitant price, the lavish and meticulously detailed garments were worth the price and the snarky comments of the dressmaker. Moreover, that woman had seen Tenten grow from the little toddler she was to the young adult she became before fleeing Suna. So against all the little irks she sometimes gave her, Tenten couldn't help but be very fond of the old woman who always swatted her back with her closed fan, always complaining about her posture, or lack thereof.
"Flowers don't slouch, Little Tenten, only weeds do." She'd reprimand her with that thick french accent of hers, after an hour of having to stand still so the seamstress could tailor the dress perfectly to her frame. Even though being born in China and being fluent in Mandarin, Madame Yang had been raised all throughout her childhood and young adulthood in France before coming to Suna in her late thirties. The skilled woman had made no effort in subduing the accent, extremely pleased for the air of poise and sophistication it gave her and of which her clients raved about.
"Yes, what about it?" Tenten asked back when her mother did not answer, too busy texting back her sisters.
"Your aunts are there now, they needed qipaos for Yara's youngest daughters and we decided might as well find you something at the same time…" Mikoto trailed, not wanting to replay the incident of yesterday involving a too short dress, but it was too late, the image that had seared itself in Neji's brain resurfaced much to his annoyance. "Hiashi gave us the contact info of that fashion designer in Haepo that made your dress and she gave us your measurements." Her mother finally moved her eyes from her phone.
"Well, Madame Yang is a bit upset you didn't come yourself, but she agreed to let it go since she'll be making your bridal qipao." Her mother winked at them both and Tenten looked longingly at the sea, wondering if she really needed a bathing suit to dive deep in it or if she could still swim properly enough with her bunny slippers on.
She usually preferred to come visit her parents during the less busier weeks of the seasons and she'd stay all day outside tending to her needs to reconnect with the ocean.
It was too late when she heard the click, turning her head sharply to Neji who had just snapped a picture of her.
Her mouth fell, she had never expected Neji to be the artsy type even less so to want to photograph her of all people and all things.
"Did you just take a picture of me?" Tenten asked.
Neji simply scrutinised his shot on the digital camera, slightly side-smiling at the picture of the girl that had left him breathless since he had grabbed her waist almost a week ago to impede her to be run over by a car.
Mostly, he found Tenten the most beautiful in the morning. When the early light of day hit her complexion, it gave her auburn hair copper hues and her skin shimmered like Suna's golden sand. She became simply irresistible.
She was in her cream oversized cardigan that left her shoulder exposed, only covered by the thin strap of her cami. Her toes digging in the light blue cushion of the window sill, her long tanned legs flexed so she could casually rest her fuming cup of coffee on top of her knees. Though Neji's favourite part was her flexed neck looking out the window, partially covered by the silky curls that came undone from the messy bun she sported.
Tenten looked blankly back at Neji who was so openly, unabashedly scrutinising her and she wondered if he knew.
If he knew how crushing it was to be looked at like that by him. Looked at her as if she couldn't have been painted better by the old masters themselves and she felt that desperate ache in the pit of her stomach, that dread that no one else in the world could look at her so adoringly than this man that had vowed to hate her.
"Show me." Tenten ordered, finally shaking her stupor off. She extended a hand but he mocked her with a smirk instead, shaking his head.
She put her mug of coffee down the floor and went for the camera herself, but he taunted her by raising it so high that even by tip-toeing and fully extending her arm, Tenten couldn't reach the camera Neji held well above his head.
"Neji, that's not funny, show me!" She ordered him, her scorn growing ever so impatient by the obvious enjoyment of his lopsided smile and how easily he could look down on her from the height of his tall figure.
"Neji!" She whined, leaning closer to him, until she let one of her hands fall on his shoulder to stabilise herself, not realising how much she was pressing against him and how close her lips were to his squared chin.
It's only when she heard the murmuring of her mother whispering "hashtag young love, hashtag cute couple, hashtag holidays romance, hashtag am I living my Hallmark dream movie, hashtag future-"
"MOM!" Tenten yelled out with indignation.
The older woman gave a guilty smile to her daughter. "And… send." She quickly put the phone behind her back, her thumb pressing against the screen to immediately share what she thought to be their cutest picture yet.
"We talked about this, mom." Tenten pinched the bridge of her nose. "My personal life is…" The brown-haired woman waited for her mother to finish the sentence.
"Not up for content I know, I know." Her mother gave her a pleading pout. "But I almost never see you and look at how good looking you two are together! It makes me so happy to see you being loved." Mikoto brought her hands over her heart, dreamily looking up. "It makes me so happy I want to share it with the whole world!" She squealed.
Tenten shook her head defeated, forgetting all about the photo and Neji's playfulness that had warmed her not too innocently.
Damn, could she still have angry sex with someone she wasn't necesserily mad at, but now mad for? No, that kind of questioning was definitely too early in her day and without enough coffee in her system, mostly with her loud fam-
"Wait," Tenten finally turned around. "Where is everyone?" She looked suspiciously at the quiet empty kitchen.
"Well…" Her mother trailed. "Earlier during breakfast your uncle A and Hiashi-san started an argument on who would be loved most by your future children."
Tenten's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
"Please don't tell me they're all downstairs playing slap-the-rhino over imaginary kids." She closed her eyes, her eyebrows twitching in annoyance, but unmistakable, now she was fully woken up, she could hear the faint clamour coming from her basement.
The fact that Neji's uncle, a coworker she only started tolerating this week, who was a reputable CEO of a very powerful company was in her basement, playing a silly childhood game with her uncle A, another very respected chair, concerning their non-existent children based of their ruse of a relationship… well that was simply the most ridiculous thing to come out of all these holidays and God knows this Christmas had not gone soft in terms of adventures.
Tenten opened her mouth, but closed it again, looking at Neji who seemed more bored than preoccupied by this whole absurdity. It almost felt like it was normal that their families were fighting as if they were actually thinking about having children together in the near future.
Then she decided she might as well ignore it, what would she do? Barge into the basement? Scream at them to stop this nonsense? Hear all the sarcastic things Hiashi would probably say followed by all the innuendos he had prepared just to make her blush? Then resign herself in a huff? Probably cause another scandal about Neji and her without wanting to?
No, better stay safe in the kitchen, like Neji probably understood too and why he was pouring himself another cup of coffee.
"Want to go on the veranda?" She smiled and he nodded back.
December 26th - 12:30 PM
Everyone was merrily chatting around the table and if Tenten had been anxious at the idea of Hiashi and Hizashi mingling with her family, her feelings have been all but quelled.
Even if Hiashi hadn't stopped arguing with A, over everything from the price of oil to the socioeconomic reasons behind the latest inflation of export costs, they did so like two old friends would, almost in a brotherly fashion.
There wasn't even a residual tension after they both won and lost to each other, two against two, during their slap-the-rhino duels. They had reasonably settled that A would be their fictional daughter's favourite uncle while Hiashi would get to be their imagined son's. Accordingly, they would switch once each of the children reached maturity, that's just how it was supposed to work and they had even shook their hands solemnly on it before turning both to glare at them.
"I hope you know that means you'll have to have both daughters and sons." Hiashi smirked.
"What he said," A agreed in a grunt.
Whereas Hiashi and A already looked like the best frenemies, Hizashi and Gai made an oddly reasonable duo. Neji's father's poetic sensibilities surprisingly fit so well with the optimistic and lyrical declaration of youth coming from her father.
And if the idea that both their families got along so well should be rejoicing her, Tenten felt instead like crying. Because all seemed too perfect for something that was all pretend and fated to end.
She wondered, her eyes darting back and forth from her plate to Neji eating and absentmindedly stroking her hand over the table, if she should try to make their situation… permanent.
The erratic feelings that flew like mad birds inside her heart gave her mixed signals. Did she desire him physically? Yes. Did she feel a sort of emotional connection to him? Yes. Could she go as far as say she cared and held affection for him? … Yes.
But behind those admissions lay the fact Tenten was scared. She had never felt what she felt for anyone like she did for Neji, not even Deidara. And if she almost lost it when Deidara and her broke up, she couldn't stand losing whatever fickle illusion she had created with Neji. Which left her weighing the pros and cons of their relationship. On one hand, if she took the risk, she'd be able to finally confront her emotions and who knows, he may have developed for her what she was growingly feeling for him.
On the other, it may end in complete disaster and nip in the bud this slowly evolving friendship that was still fragile. After all, they had never tried to be friends outside of their arranged lie and the circumstances that had pushed them together. What if this thing between them did not withstand in the real world? With no scheming relatives, no near-death experience, no boyfriend to get revenge on? What if all her feelings were simply ones of convenience out of shared, mercurial, perishable interests?
"You seem thoughtful," Neji whispered to her and she immediately turned to reassure him with a smile, trying to not look down at his hand still on hers, afraid he'd let it go if she made it evident she had noticed.
"Nothing, just thinking about tonight." She took a bite of her zoodle, because why cook normal pasta when you are Mikoto Maito and you can complicate things by preparing garlic and shrimp zucchini noodles instead?
"Deidara is going to be there so…" She let her eyes linger on him, thinking she was more stressed about their time together coming to an end, than meeting Deidara for the first time in years.
Neji nodded understandingly. "I'll be on my best behaviour." He gave her a volatile wink and her insides flipped.
He was about to retort something to tease her, when the sudden apparition of Dr Kakashi Hatake, chief of surgery at the Gen, in the Maitos' kitchen left him so speechless that he almost dropped his fork from shock.
He turned around, startled, to his fake date. "What is my boss doing here?" He gritted at Tenten.
"KAKASHI!" Gai sprung from his seat to rush and hug his oldest friend.
"He's my dad's eternal rival…" She whispered back, shaking herself from the unexpected arrival of their family friend. She was used to often seeing him visit her father, but Kakashi had not come for the holidays in years and no one informed her he would be coming.
Tenten smiled guilty at Neji's shocked expression. "They were high school friends, got recruited with Kakashi's best friend, Tobi, in the middle of the war. With uncle Yamato, they bonded even more once the war was over, war buddies, you know. They're each other's closest friend, Kakashi often comes during the holidays and the summer. Actually, he is the reason my dad agreed to let me go to Konoha."
"I see," Neji reflected thoughtfully. All this time when Kakashi teased him in the OR about Tenten, he had known all along who she was since her birth? Neji shook his head in disbelief, talk about some turns of events.
"Mikoto, Gai." Kakashi smiled amiably, once catching his breath from the ferocious embrace of his friend who was now wiping an emotional tear away. "Thank you for the invitation, I'm sorry for being late-"
"We invited you for Christmas supper," Mikoto gave him a derisive look. "You're two days late." She nonetheless smiled warmly at their old family friend.
"Sorry," He laughed sheepishly, scratching his head. "Got lost in the way of life."
"Did the way of life include too many martinis at the airport bar and a flight attendant named Heather?" Mikoto smiled knowingly at the doctor.
"Not this time." Kakashi smirked.
Gai laughed heartily. "MY ETERNAL RIVAL, you are always welcome, no matter how unyouthfully late! Please have a seat!"
Gai turned to his wife with a mischievous smile that Tenten did not miss because it seldom graced her father's lips unless it meant he had acted on a very, very bad idea.
She also heard her mother whisper to him "I told you he'd end up coming today!", poking her husband's arm while Kakashi comfortably sat down, oblivious to the scheming of her not-so-subtle parents.
Tenten's eyebrows drew together at the sly smiles and wiggling eyebrows her parents exchanged. Partially relieved because it didn't seem to involve her, but rightfully worried because whenever Gai and Mikoto Maito plotted together, it seldom ended in something other than a cataclysmic disaster. Yet, that did not explain the hurried looks they were both giving each other, her mother's phone lighting up with a series of text.
"Oh! Neji, Tenten." Kakashi waved pleasantly at them. "Happy to see you two finally coming together. Tsunade has lost quite a sum of money over the years betting on the two of you." He grinned, raising his fork at them. "I personally bet the two of you would get together these holidays. Won the lotto!" He winked.
Neji's eyes narrowed in sudden comprehension. "It was you." He said and Kakashi grinned more innocently. "You talked to Kiba that evening, didn't you?"
Kakashi didn't shy away from his triumphant smile as he took his first bite of pasta. "It's funny all the things someone can hear in a locker room, isn't it? And the nurses, when one knows how to talk to them…" He winked at the boy who was suddenly remembering how he had confided in his holidays date problem to Kiba in the surgeons' changing room and then again near the nurses station at the ER. "Paid my first class plane ticket to Suna with the jackpot."
"I don't get any of what silver boy is saying over there." A grunted. "And I don't like not understanding."
Hiashi merely smirked, raising his glass to the newly arrived surgeon, in appraisal of his work.
Tenten shook her head in disbelief, as if Dr Hatake needed more money with the obscene salary he already had.
"Oh!" Mikoto feigned surprise. "Would you look at that, my friend also just arrived." She said in a rehearsed voice, high-pitched in the way someone would while lying.
"Your friend?" Tenten asked suspiciously. Not that she was unused to the plethora of friends her mother usually invited on a daily basis, but she thought it odd that she had failed to mention the presence of a guest whereas normally she'd talk Tenten's ear off about it.
"Yes, yes, a friend." Her mother said dismissively which increased Tenten's sense of dread. "I met her during a yoga retreat in the fall that was held in Oto." She waved her daughter's wary eyes away, getting up to answer the door.
"Anko!" Her mother exclaimed as the guest entered the living room.
Neji spat the cranberry ice tea he had indulged in and Tenten almost choked on the garlic shrimp she was masticating. While the rest of the table continued to happily chat, Neji and Tenten knew better than anyone what kind of apocalypse awaited them upon the reunion of their respective bosses who had hated each other as religiously as Neji and Tenten had at The Gen.
"You're early, I thought you were only coming this afternoon." Tenten could hear her mother's nervousness as if her plan was starting to derail from her initial calculations.
"You know what I say," The commanding voice of Anko boomed in the living room, giving chills to Tenten, who was suddenly high-alert and feeling like she should busy herself by reading a chart or something.
"What do you usually say?" Her mother asked, confused.
"Thirty minutes early is two hours late!" The emergency doctor shouted with determination. "Well," Anko's tone was softer. "Thank you again for inviting me Mikoto, I cannot wait to try out that Yoga studio you've been raving about for months and another retreat with you on the gorgeous beaches of Suna?" She gagged in excitement. "The dream."
Tenten heard the unmistakable sound of luggage rolling then stopping.
"Let's get you settled upstairs so you can have dinner with us!" Mikoto squealed and they could hear both women excitedly chatting up the stairs.
Now, if Neji and Tenten looked horrified at each other, knowing full well what reuniting both Kakashi and Anko could cause in the nuclear-type kind of reaction, it was nothing compared to the fear Kakashi's eyes held.
Unfortunately for the vascular surgeon who had tried to jolt to the patio door, to his salvation and freedom, Gai had got up just in time and had both his hands on his shoulders, effectively pinning him down on his chair.
"Let me go, Gai." Kakashi gritted to his best friend. "You don't know her! That woman is psychotic, she'll kill me and you know how Mikoto gets when we stain her white floors with blood."
Neji's eyes widened at the casual remark, as if staining floors with blood was a common occurrence when the two friends met.
Gai only chuckled in response. "It's time you and Anko mend whatever caused your rupture."
"How did Mikoto even come to know her? I never brought her to Suna." Kakashi glared back at his smiling friend.
"They both met at a yoga retreat back in october." Gai grinned. "She didn't recognize her at first but the name is so unusual then she presented herself as a doctor where you work. Mikoto connected the dots and we started planning as soon as she got home. We were very ecstatic at the idea! What an amazing woman I married!" Gai explained, ecstatically.
"You've been preparing this for months?" Kakashi's usual bored eyes showed shock and betrayal.
"Yes!" Gai was jubilant. "My youthful wife even accounted for how you are usually late. 'We'll tell him to be there for Christmas' Eve so he'll be just in time for the 26th'. Isn't she wonderful?" Gai's eyes gleamed with pride.
"Oh yes," Kakashi rolled his eyes, his tone sarcastic. "Just God sent."
"Right!" Gai was completely unaware of his friend's distress who desperately looked at the door a couple metres away, in agony over his situation. "It was a sign of destiny, how could we not? This feud of yours has lasted long enough, you almost got married for youth's sake! You were so happy with her, it breaks my heart how you both lost each other! What happened? You never want to talk about it!" Gai gave a reproachful glance at his friend.
"Gai," Kakashi grunted, unsuccessful in trying to free himself from Gai's iron-like hold. "I swear you need to let me go. One does not simply reason with Anko. She is not well adjusted, some missing screws if you know what I mean." Kakashi gave his friend a pleading look, but the black-haired man simply waved it away with a thundering laugh.
"Gai, I'm serious." Kakashi heaved. "She will positively dismember me then juice me up with Mikoto's Vitamix and use me as her New Year's detox smoothie."
Gai doubled over in laughter at what he considered a crude exaggeration from his jesting friend, but a few seats away, Neji's frightened look could only believe all too well his mentor.
"Gai-san," Neji tried to come to his superior's defense. After all, witnessing his chief of surgery's murder was very bad form for the holidays and his young career. "I really think-"
"Kakashi."
Oh, well, too late. Kakashi and the newly arrived Anko locked eyes and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
"Anko." Kakashi replied just as disinterestedly.
Gai finally let go of his friend's shoulder who got up to come face to face with the much more little, yet terrifying, Anko.
And suddenly, Neji could finally see why everyone thought Tenten and he were the new Kakashi and Anko. But did they look as blind as Kakashi and Anko did to their own situation, ignoring the obvious feelings they held for each other?
Neji would say no. Tenten and he did not have that much tension that could instantly erupt in savage sex-
Oh. Yes, yes they did.
Tenten was having a similar reflection, looking worried at the way Anko and Kakashi walked in a circle, each appraising the other, like two tigers ready to pounce. Now she understood better why Ino came at her so frequently with her obsessive talks of angry sex. Watching the pair, it felt like sexual tension was oozing out of them.
"Isn't that your boss, Little Tenten?" A asked, pointing his fork towards the seemingly calm woman. "I don't know why you're so scared of that little-"
A's words were cut short when the table erupted in a loud gasp when, in a fraction of second, Anko fist aimed for Kakashi's jaw, landing on his face in a blunt, unmistakable violent sound.
December 26th - 1:01 PM
"YES, YOU DID YOU LYING SWINE!" Anko shouted at the grey-haired man, yet again finding the nearest mug she could, hurling it at the dodging man.
"Anko, please, listen to me!" Kakashi desperately waved his hands in front of him before dodging another projectile.
Tenten winced at the shattered plate against the wall that Anko threw after the mug. She shared a worried look with Neji, their fight had been going on for the last fifteen minutes straight, and knowing the two, it wasn't about to stop.
"YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH THAT CHEAP WHORE." The emergency doctor yelled. "THE DAY BEFORE OUR WEDDING."
Kakashi ducked just in time to avoid the wooden spatula his ex-fiancé had found laying on the countertop.
"First, she really was not cheap." Kakashi recalled the hefty price of that strip club Asuma had taken him to for his bachelor party. "Two, I didn't cheat on you!"
"THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL HER STRADDLING YOU AND KISSING YOU?" She heaved, in her blind anger she searched in haste anything else within her reach to throw at his stupid, stupid face.
For the millionth time since the last seven years of their break-up, Kakashi cursed the guys in his bachelor party who thought it wise to post videos of the night on their Instagram stories.
Fine, Kakashi would also admit that he shouldn't have lied to his fiancé and told her he was staying for poker with the boys for his bachelor. To his defence he hadn't been told of the whole plan either, and he didn't want to upset Anko with that discussion knowing how fiery she could get.
Her hand grabbed without thinking one of the precious porcelain cups neatly placed on a tray for the tea of the afternoon Mikoto had planned thinking their plan would be a success. The hopelessly romantic Maito couple had been so sure that upon seeing each other, both Kakashi and Ako would reconcile quickly, and they would be able to enjoy an exquisite tea time with the new couple. Now Mikoto could clearly see the errors of her way.
Tenten's eyes widened and she shot up from her seat as if it had been lit on fire. Together with her mother, they abruptly exclaimed, "NOT THE CHINA!"
Gai, Lee and their brash uncles had already broken one too many fragile cups from the only gift and souvenir Mikoto had of her biological mother, a gift she had fully intended to gift her daughter with as soon as she married as per the tradition of her long lost family in China. Which was all the more precious for Tenten who didn't know much of her roots and thus clang to the symbolic reminder that the dishes gave her that she did belong to something. But that could only happen if Anko didn't break what was left of it.
Now, of all the things Neji could imagine Tenten being indignated over, a piece of China just was not one of them. It simply didn't suit her simple taste to be so outraged about delicate dishes.
"Anko, stop!" Kakashi rushed to take her wrist in his hand to stop her from shooting the tiny cup she was holding over her head. "I messed up, I know." He admitted, digging his eyes in her own.
Tenten's eyes widened at the slight waver in her mentor's demeanour who suddenly seemed to rethink everything. Every second of the last years she spent apart from the man she had loved most, that she still craved immeasurably.
She watched a woman who had run so far away from someone that hurt her so deeply that she ended up running right back to him in a way that shook her, in a forbidden sense she couldn't allow herself to want him again.
Anko opened her mouth and closed it multiple times, looking at Kakashi's frozen face between sincere regret and painful yearning.
Tenten was shocked at the tender features of her mentor who suddenly looked so frail and torn, which was extremely unusual for the steeled woman who had shaped her into the hardworking emergency doc she was.
Seizing the opportunity when he saw the hesitation in her eyes, and ignoring the pang in his own chest at those eyes he had gazed at adoringly so many times, Kakashi smiled tentatively, "Let's talk about it." He spoke softly, adding, "In private."
Anko swallowed hard and brought the cup back down, to the utmost relief of Mikoto and her daughter.
Tenten's insides suddenly twisted in a foreboding sense of dread. She gave a quick look at Neji who had been equally focused on their superiors' dispute. She took in the outline of his perfectly designed features, the strong yet refined curves of his bones.
So utterly flawless.
Then she reluctantly teared her eyes away from the man who sent her in a frenzy of indescribable emotions to the shattered couple in front of them. If anything, the margin of the broken dishes on the floor held nothing in cutting sharpness when compared to the fractured minds heartbreak had caused for both Kakashi and Anko.
Seated next to Neji whose knees brushed her inconspicuously, Tenten had chills. Looking at the recently reunited old fiances felt like a cruel intervention from fate, a reminder of all she stood to lose, all that could break within her if she wasn't careful enough.
She stole another glance at Neji who had turned around, laying his relentless scrutinising gaze on her and she wondered when did too late become unsalvageable when it came to falling in love?
Because as far as she was concerned, she might as well just have doomed herself to wander, adrift, in his eggshell eyes reminiscent of snow-capped mountains she remembered just all too well. As her stomach seemed to be shaking in a microscopic vibration of trepidation, Tenten suddenly came to a still foggy sort of comprehension of her newfound circumstances and sentiments.
For all purpose and matter, Neji Hyuga may very well be the real devil's drop she had carelessly traipsed into and had no intention of surviving.
A/N: Long time no see! I shall one day end this fic one way or another! There are only a couple of chapters left which is very exciting for me because the next chapter is my favourite and I think the ending of this chapter gives a preludes that we are switching from the fluffy funny story to its more intense part of yearning in this what I deem to be a slow burn! Kakashi and Anko felt essential as a way to spur Tenten's reflection on the "what happens next" so the last moments they have together are going to be more meaningful now they have to navigate the new place they hold in each other's thoughts.
Hopefully, one day, I'll sit down and take more time to edit all the frustrating little mistakes but as of now, just bear with me a little longer. Next chapter is already well under way, so I hope to upload more quickly than for chapter 14! Wish me luck!