Summer Baby

Slipping her fingers into the fleece woven gloves, a hefty sigh escaped her lips. Winter was one thing she never looked forward too. The breeze was anything but refreshing, her nose became irritated easily, and she just loathed how cold her steel felt. Warmth was what she preferred, it wasn't any surprise either that Lady Tsunade would always keep her team busy during the cold months. It was "good training" according to her master, or it was "because your team is the most efficient." At these Tenten would groan as she stepped out of her house, scroll attached to her back. Reluctantly, she'd trek down to her favorite tea bar a good three hours before she had to be dispatched with her squad. There's spot was a special rendezvous point for herself and her sparring partner to mentally prepare themselves for such a mission in this weather. However, it was more of her whining and pouting that went on while her Hyuga friend would sit.

And as he sat, he'd chuckle at her grumbling while he sipped his freshly brewed tea. He himself actually preferred weather with a chill. The cold winds sent a shiver down his back, the silence of the sleeping forests gave way to a calm mind. He also did not get as easily cold as his female counterpart (although, there is a point where he too has had enough and would rather be curled in a heavy plush quilt by the fire). The Hyuga watched as she raised the ceramic tea cup to her lips and gingerly take a sip of her matcha blend. He returned her smile when she folded her legs under herself on the cushion; those long, muscular, tan legs that he had taken much pleasure in looking at whenever she wore shorts or even a bathing suit. Not to say the rest of her wasn't nice to view-he found equal pleasure in looking at her facial features as well-however, it was just something about those legs that drew his eye to them. Perhaps it was because she was uniquely proportioned to which her torso was slightly shorter and her legs were most prominent. Or perhaps it was that her height was more dependent on those long limbs than her actual spine like most. To support such legs required strong hips; her's were wide, which gave her curves that she almost never showed off. Above those hips was her tiny waist that was almost invisible under her baggy shirts. His hands fit ever so comfortably on her waist; his fingers molded around her midsection and his palm found that warm spot of her skin that just never seemed to go away.

And with such skin he knew to be very careful. It was soft, and easily bruised. Every so often when he'd go to touch her, she'd flinch and swat his hands away-a bruise or a cut had been formed in a certain spot. That's soft skin would heal a new layer, still as soft as ever. He supposed that her natural texture just materialized as such no matter how much it was roughed around. For most, the skin grows back tougher and smooth, however thick and dry.

"What's up?" She had asked him.

Neji shook his head. He was caught yet gain for gazing upon her for too long. Tenten wasn't always a fan of people staring at her. In fact, she was always able to tell when someone had their gaze glued to her which caused an alarm to go off in her head. Much to his misfortune, whenever he would admire her, whether up close or afar, he would become careless and be caught by the weapon's mistress. When he was caught, he was always presented with a concerned question as if something was wrong; specifically speaking, if he had noticed something wrong with her. And yet, the Hyuga was had found quite the opposite. Sure, she had her faults, but he never minded them. After all, perfection didn't exist. He wouldn't go far as to say he saw his teammate as the perfect partner, but she was definitely the best match for him. The complemented each other with such elegance, one would think they were, in fact, perfect. At least, that's what all of rookie nine believed. They were glued at the hip most of the time, even when they pissed each other off. More so now due to the winter season.

"Neji, look." Tenten flashed him a smile before looking out the window. "It's snowing…"

The Jonnin followed her gaze to the glass window. Leaning back in his seat, he watched as the snowflakes gently cascaded down from the overcasted clouds above. The weather phenomenon had always intrigued him. Snow was silence, it was calming. For some reason, winter was the Hyuga's favorite season, perhaps due to the fact that on days like this, the snow caused time to slow down and helped him find clarity within his conscious. Meditation within a frigid environment allowed for stillness which amplified his senses to unspeakable heights. He knew Tenten felt it too. During the winter was when they spent the most time together due to the fact that she became easily restless if she stayed in the house too long, and he enjoyed taking strolls through the snow. And then there was moments like these, where they shared a comfortable silence, that stillness that he adored so much. Tenten loved the loud, bright aesthetic of the warmer months of summer, but Neji believed that if it weren't for the windchill, she liked winter just as much.

Tenten glanced over at her teammate after a moment. An ever so soft smile had plastered itself on the Hyuga's face, a genuine smile that Tenten has only seen twice in her lifetime. She stretched her legs back you and nudged him with her foot. His eyebrows shot upward and shifted his eyes to her. He still had his face of complete contentment, she noticed. He picked up his ceramic mug and began to sip from it.

"Getting restless?" Neji hummed.

"A bit." The bun head glanced down at her empty mug. "We have to leave soon."

The Hyuga nodded and drowned the rest of his tea. They paid and stood by the door to the cafe. Tenten gave a disgruntled huff as she tightly bounded her winter traveling cloak around her and put on her gloves. Neji wrapped a blue wool scarf around his neck before adjusted his own gear. As a brick hit her square in the face, Tenten squealed as the winter air swept across her skin. Shoving her hands into her fleece lined pants, her shoulders shook. Damn, she really hated winter. Even with her long sleeved thermals and her good leggings under her pants, she was still cold. Her ninja cloak was supposed to keep in the warmth of her body, however, when the wind hit her face it travelled down her cheeks to her neck. Tenten glanced over at her male counterpart. Neji was looking upward to the clouds, watching as the snow fell around them as they walked. His ivory eyes had caught the attention of a rather large snowflake. He tracked it's slow fluttering movements and as the wind blew, the snowflake changed its direction. His eyes soon met the weapon mistress' as the snowflake landed on her nose. The kunoichi scrunched up her blush tinted nose as the snowflake made contact with her skin. Neji chuckled softly as Tenten grunted loudly. The wind blew once more and Tenten's shivers intensified. This didn't go unnoticed by the Hyuga. Sighing, he stopped in his tracks and began to unwrap his scarf. Tenten watched as he removed the garment and asked what he was doing. She looked at him wide eyed as he swiftly whipped the scarf around her head. As if it played in slow motion, the wool scarf fell to her shoulders and his eyes never left hers. Then, she blinked. Neji wrapped he scarf around her a few times and secured it.

"Better?" he rested his hands on her shoulders.

Tenten didn't realize that her mouth was hanging slightly ajar by his act of kindness. After a moment she nodded and adjusted the scarf up to her nose. As she inhaled she smiled a bit; it smelled like him. The cold had amplified his scent that consisted of some kind of mint and camomile tea.

"Thanks, you didn't have to." she stated as they continued to walk.

Neji shrugged. He had a higher tolerance and preference for the cold than she did. Besides, he didn't want to hear anymore complaining while they were traveling about for the mission. Tenten gave an exasperated gasp at his response. She groaned as he walked ahead of her. Her chocolate brown eyes glared at the back of his head. Tenten mumbled something about how she couldn't wait for winter to be over so she could run around in her shorts and a t-shirt. The comment reached his ears and caused him to smirk. His teammate was indeed a Summer baby.