[A/N-Before I start this story, I dont really want to do the POV thing anymore. Ive only realized till now that this is more of a 3rd person omniscient then a POV story. So from now on when it switches a character I'll just draw a line letting you guys know. Back to the story!] 
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Tenten was normally a morning person. She had never quite understood why, but she loved watching the first rays of sunlight stream through the fresh morning air. There was something so peaceful about it all. Every day she woke up and watched the sun rise, she felt revitalized along with the new dawn.

This morning, however, the sun's only accomplishment was giving her a splitting headache. And for the life of her, she could not begin to understand why.

She tried to think back on what could have happened the previous night to cause the sun to be her new worst enemy, but her memories were strangely fuzzy and trying to remember only caused her head to hurt even more.

Not only did her head hurt, her muscles were sore. Every slight movement caused her to wince at the unexpected tightness.

Then she felt sticky and stinky and just plain dirty. She could smell herself in the air and if she could smell herself, it must be bad.

Really, there was only one plausible conclusion she could end up with: she had been training, which explained the sore muscles, and that had made her sweaty, which explained the smell and stickiness and whilst training she had sustained a head injury, which explained the excruciating headache and memory loss.

And she was satisfied with that conclusion until she threw back the covers.

What the hell am I wearing?

It appeared to be a little black dress. She couldn't really tell because her eyesight was blurred and the dress (if that was what it was) bunched up around her hips, crumpled from sleep.

She rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear her vision, but that only made it blurrier. It was at that point she noticed the dark smudges on her hands.

Makeup?

Now this was getting too weird. She never wore dresses and she never wore makeup like that and she certainly wouldn't train in either.

Then she turned her attention to the clock next to her bed that read past ten in the morning.

What?

Honestly, she could not remember the last time she had sleep past six.

Despite her screaming muscles, pounding head and stinging eyes, Tenten got out of bed and made her way to the shower. Showers always helped her think and she had some serious things to think about.
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Normally Neji was a morning person. He loved waking just to watch the sun's rays rising over the land. He loved basking in the perfect stillness of the morning air. At no other time was the day so quiet and peaceful. There were no emotional, physical or mental distractions. There was just tranquillity.

As he awoke that unfortunate morning, however, he felt like a hammer had slammed into the side of his head as the disturbing memories of the previous night fluttered around his mind. From the way he was feeling, anyone would have thought that he had been the one to get drunk the night before.

He wondered how Tenten was feeling. No doubt she had never experienced a hangover before.

Tenten!

Gods, how could he have forgotten about her for even an instant? After all, she was the reason he was lying shirtless on her couch.

Faintly frantic now, his eyes scanned the room for the nearest clock. He let out a curse as he noticed the time. It was late; far too late. He had been hoping to leave in the early hours of the morning, before both she and the rest of his family had awoken to notice his presence and absence, respectively. There was no doubt the rest of the Hyugas would be awake and questioning, but he could still hold out hope in regards to Tenten. She had been miserably drunk (or, perhaps, not so miserably drunk but drunk all the same) the night before. If anyone could possibly rise later than he that morning, it would be her. He could still make his escape without having to present a plausible explanation for his unseemly presence in her house, on her couch. He could not even explain it to himself.

It was just that, well, he hadn't been able to leave. It had almost been a physical restriction. He hated that he could not understand it. He needed to get away and meditate on this unlikely turn of events.

And then his worse fear at present came into being.

"Neji?"
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Unfortunately the lengthy shower did nothing to clear her head, although it had cleansed her body quite thoroughly. Her hair was no longer a bird's nest, her body was no long stinky and sweaty, the tension in her muscles at been somewhat relieved, and there was no longer smudgy black makeup circling her eyes. Even her headache had abated slightly, but still not enough for her to be able to think clearly. She needed painkillers.

She threw on the first t-shirt she came across and didn't even bother to find pants. Her briefs were enough. There was little need to be fully clothed when she was alone. Once she tied her hair in a quick bun at the back of her head so her long hair wouldn't drip on the carpet, she was satisfied and exited her room.

Everything in her apartment seemed fairly normal, giving no visual reminders of what may have happened the night before. The kitchen was normal, the living room was normal. Well, it looked normal; the back of the couch was blocking most of her view. The front door was…

Not normal.

It wasn't broken. Usually someone would worry that something wasn't normal if their door was broken, but she clearly remembered Lee kicking in that door and she clearly remembered him not fixing it because all his attempts had just made it worse.

Tenten walked over to the door with a confused frown. It simply did not make sense. Had she fixed it last night and it had escaped her memories along with everything else or, worse yet, had someone else fixed it?

What the bloody hell did I do last night?

She feared it was an answer she would not relish but hell, she hated the fact that she didn't know even more. It was the weirdest feeling, knowing you had done something, but having no idea what. She couldn't say she enjoyed the feeling and-

"Neji?"

She had turned to walk back to the kitchen, but the sight of Neji lying on her couch abruptly stopped her in her tracks.

Her mind went completely blank.

He uttered a curse word she never would have imagined would pass from his lips as he stood and raked a hand through his mussed hair.

A number of things about this picture were entirely alien to her.

One: Neji was shirtless. This sight hit her first and with the most impact. She had seen many shirtless guys throughout her career as a shinobi. It was impossible not to when she was surrounded by men on a daily basis. It was for that very reason she was used to seeing some very decent bodies. Being a shinobi was practically a prerequisite for having washboard abs and a toned body. However, she could never remember ever being so affected by it. Surely she must have seen Neji shirtless before, but she couldn't remember if she had. But this…well, this she knew she would never forget. In fact, she had a feeling it would be on her mind almost constantly for a number of days to come. He was, quite simply, male perfection. They were the only words with which she could think to describe the sight standing before her. He was all lean muscle and pale, alabaster skin. It made her mouth water and other parts of her body heat up in response.

Two: His hair was mussed. Neji was usually the picture of precise grooming. Even when he was spent from battle, it seemed not a hair was out of place nor an item of clothing rumpled. She had long envied him that uncanny ability. But now…now he did not look so hard and perfect. He looked human. His pants were crinkled from a night of restless slumber, his hair fell in ragged lines around his aristocratic features and he looked tired. The sight of it made him appear even more handsome and attractive than she thought possible. She felt her chest clench at the sight of him standing there in her living room looking like that, because she knew she would never be privileged enough to be the one who saw him as such on a daily basis. She didn't know why he was where he was right now, but she knew there was no possibly way it could ever happen again. He wouldn't let it. That knowledge hurt more than she cared to admit.

Three: he wasn't wearing his hitate. Tenten knew that if there was one thing in the world that could make Neji ashamed, it was the mark on his forehead. The mark symbolized servitude and a life that wasn't completely his. She could imagine how much he hated it, even though he had grown to accept his role. She knew he despised the sight of it and for that very reason did not want anyone else lying eyes upon it. But to her, it was strangely beautiful. To her, it was not a symbol of servitude and weakness, but one of defiance and strength. Neji had overcome the restrictions of his clan to become one of the most respected shinobi in the Leaf Village and possibly the most respected Hyuga alive at present. Only a strong man could have overcome such fearsome odds. And she wished he would trust her enough to let her run her hands over it, smile, look him in the eye, and tell him what it meant to her.

But once again, that was not and would never be her place.

Four: he was speechless. Never had she encountered a situation in which Neji was not in control of his surroundings, his thoughts, his emotions, his expressions, and his words. He was constantly in control of every facet of his being. It was formidable. But at this very moment, she could see him searching his brain for a reason that could possibly explain his presence and the state of it. There was a vulnerability to him that she had never seen before and at that very moment she knew that there was no getting over him. Now that she had seen the side of him she doubted anyone else had seen, there was no possible way she could move on. There was no possible way anyone else could match up.

"What happened last night?" she surprised herself by asking. Perhaps the question had stemmed from some intense need to get her mind off the fact that she was quite possibly in love with Neji.

She could see the palpable relief in Neji's eyes as she spoke - relief that he did not have to begin what could possibly be the most awkward conversation either of them had ever experienced.

Then his face hardened in anger. She could see the anger in every tense line of his body. Hell, she could practically feel it electrifying the air around them. Never had she seen him like this. What the hell had happened last night to cause it?
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Neji had never felt angrier in his entire life and it had all been sparked by an innocent question. That he would, or could, feel such unbelievable anger over something so insignificant in the grand scheme of things caused a brief spark of panic to ignite in his chest, but it was quickly squashed by the overwhelming anger. He would meditate upon it later, once he had regained control of his emotions.

What happened last night? She couldn't even remember. That was rich. She had gotten drunk, done only who knew what and couldn't even remember. Now she was facing him in her living room wearing nothing but a shirt and underwear and asking him what had happened.

And worse still, he didn't know what he was angrier about: that he didn't know half of what happened last night or that his body was reacting to Tenten's less-than-appropriate state of dress.

It was probably a mixture of both at this point.

"I think a more appropriate question would be what didn't happen last night?"

He smirked as he saw the panic creep into her expression. Her body tightened and her mouth parted in horror. He could see her mind racing for answers that it didn't have and then she became more panicked because of it. He could see the way she assumed the worst.

Good. He wanted her to be scared. He wanted her to be as afraid of the unknown as he was. It only seemed fair, after all.

He watched as her mouth opened and closed a few times as her brain struggled to connect words with lips.

"What…" she swallowed convulsively. "What do you know?"

Neji clenched his fists by his side as he answered. "I know I found you completely drunk in an alleyway. I know that you had thrown your shoes at someone and therefore had none. I know you made some surprisingly enlightening comments to me as I endeavoured to take you home. I know I found your door broken when we got here. I know I fixed that door as you retched in the toilet. What I don't know is what the hell I'm still doing here, but I suspect I shall find the answer to that question later in the day when I have ceased being so amazingly angry with you."

Oh, how he had struggled to contain his anger, but his tone had betrayed him. He knew that she could tell. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"I was drunk?"

"Quite."

She closed her eyes as she searched for purchase. "I guess that explains why I can't remember anything."

"I should imagine so."

Then a look of pure, unadulterated horror crossed her features. "What did I say?" Her voice sounded choked, like it was a struggle to get the words out of her mouth.

"I beg your pardon?"

"What did I say to you?" she repeated, more frantic now. "You said I made some 'surprisingly enlightening comments' to you. What were they?"

Neji shrugged, slightly confused by her urgency. He would normally be proceeding carefully from this point, planning each word so that he could monitor her reactions and replies. But at present he was simply too angry to bother. He didn't know how, but sometime between last night and this morning he had lost his customary control and had no idea where it went or, more importantly, how to get it back.

"You simply commented on your fondness for the way I smell, the softness of my hair, and the favourable state of my appearance. Then you questioned my romantic status."

"And that's all?"

"I believe so."

Her relief was palpable and he was filled with an insatiable curiosity as to why. What had she thought she had said that she did not want him to know? He would have thought she would be embarrassed by what she had said to him, but apparently that was of little consequence compared to what she could have revealed.

"What is it that you want to hide, Tenten?"

She ignored his question and replied with one of her own. "Are you sure there's nothing else you know from last night?"

Under normal circumstances he would have persisted with his inquiries, but he feared his emotional equilibrium was still too unbalanced for him to affectively pursue the topic. As it was, he simply catalogued the question in his mind to peruse and pursue at a later time, preferably when she was caught unaware and had no time to think of a defence.

"No. What is your last memory?"

For now it was more prudent that he gain knowledge of what he currently did not know of Tenten's experiences last night. He feared his mind would know no peace if he did not.

Tenten squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think. "My head hurts too much for me to be able to think properly. I need food and painkillers."

Neji nodded in understanding, "Then we will continue this conversation over breakfast."

Suddenly Tenten's cheeks flushed. "Um…is it okay if I…uh…put something more on first?"

Once again Neji's attention was directed to Tenten's current state of undress and he figured his day must be getting better because somehow he schooled his features into a perfect mask of indifference.

"Of course."

Then her cheeks flushed even darker.

"And…um…you may want to put a shirt on."

It was only then that Neji realized he was shirtless. His mind had been too occupied to notice earlier. How intriguing.

Even more intriguing was Tenten's obvious reaction to his undress. Her female appreciation of his body pleased him for some unknown reason. He usually did not care to indulge in that form of vanity. He took care of his physicality simply because his profession required it of him. Now he was suddenly grateful for such vigilance in the area because of the way Tenten's eyes ran over him. It was ridiculous. He shouldn't care what she thought of his physical appearance. He should actually scorn at such obvious appreciation.

But he liked it.

And if she didn't leave soon, his body would start reacting to her appraisal in an embarrassing manner which he certainly did not care for her to witness. Ever.

"I believe you wanted to change."

Tenten gasped with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. "Oh – oh! Yes, of course!" Then she practically ran to her bedroom, leaving Neji smirking and frowning at the same time - a most curious expression indeed.
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She could not believe she'd been drunk! What had she been thinking? Well, she hadn't been thinking, obviously, because if she had there was no way she would have touched any sort of liquor!

The fact remained that she had, indeed, gotten drunk and could not remember a bit of what she had done during that tumultuous period of time. And with the gods as her witnesses, she would not rest until she found out.

Neji had already enlightened her with a few unsettling details. It was bad enough that he had witnessed her hour(s) of shame at all and she knew that if she stopped to think on it for even a moment her mind would surely cease to function correctly.

This day had wrought far too many surprises for her to be able to cope. First, Neji had been asleep on her couch and still had not clarified why. A part of her suspected he did not quite know why himself, which only produced more questions. Then she'd found out she had been blindingly drunk the previous night. Then she had discovered that she did not know what the hell she had done and, judging by the embarrassing state Neji had found her in, she dreaded the answers to an indescribable degree. Then it seemed she had said some things to Neji in her less-than-dignified state that she certainly would have preferred not to have said. Then she figured she had practically just fallen in love with him, or something similar. Now he was waiting for her in her kitchen, eliciting a strange mix of apprehension and excitement in her.

She was alone with Neji in her apartment. He had been a few times before, but never alone; always in the company of either Lee or Gai or both. He had never had any reason to be here alone, before now. He had spent the night, even. And though she was utterly mortified that he had witnessed at least some of the implausible events of the previous night, she was also strangely giddy and satisfied that now she and Neji had their own little secret. For she knew he would not even dream of telling anyone of what he'd seen, if not for loyalty then for self-preservation. He had been at her apartment all night. Now it almost felt like the bond between her and Neji had become just that bit deeper, simply because of a shared experience that no one else was aware of.

Unfortunately, Tenten didn't know what most of that shared experience had entailed. She needed to wring out every last detail from Neji and then devote the rest of her day in pursuit of much-needed answers.
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By the time Tenten re-emerged from her room, Neji had regained almost complete control over his mental and emotional bearings. He had put on his shirt, re-tied his hitate (only faintly mortified that Tenten had seen him without it because it was not as though she had never seen the mark before) and corrected his dishevelled appearance as well as he could manage under the circumstances.

It was as though his familiar control walked hand-in-hand with his familiar appearance. It probably was not such a far-fetched sentiment. He certainly felt a lot more like his usual self now and was ever-grateful for it. He would need all the patience and control he possessed to deal with this situation appropriately.

And the fact that Tenten was now fully-clothed helped matters a great deal.

"Okay, now I need to know everything you know, right down to the last detail," she said as soon as she reached the kitchen.

She was all business now. She was once again the Tenten he was so familiar with, which was quite an admirable feat. He doubted many women would have such a strong mental, emotional, and physical constitution after finding out they'd been utterly intoxicated the night before.

He related every detail from the time he had first seen her, taking a perverse pleasure in the way her cheeks heightened in colour even though she fought embarrassment with every word he spoke. Perhaps if she got embarrassed enough by this unfortunate experience she would never touch liquor again and he would never find himself in such a ridiculous situation.

When he had finished, Tenten took a few deep breaths, trying to focus her thoughts. It was a ritual he had seen her execute too many times to count.

"Well, all I remember from last night is that I had been training with Ino and she wanted me to find someone to test all my new knowledge on. So I went into this club, met a guy whose name I can't remember now, and everything from there is kind of blurry. Like I have fragments of memory, but they don't connect properly."

Neji barely listened. He was seeing red again.

Ino. He should have known. The only reason Tenten would do something as ludicrous as entering a club and getting drunk was if Ino put her up to it.

Yes, he was certainly going to have a little chat with Ino later. He had a feeling he would enjoy it immensely.

And who in the hell was this mystery guy she'd been talking to? And, more importantly, what had he done to her? Hopefully he discovered this man's name over the course of the day so he could pay him a friendly visit also.

"So I'm thinking I'll just trace my steps back to this club and ask questions there," Tenten continued, effectively bringing his thoughts back to present.

"I'm coming with you," he stated in no uncertain terms.

Tenten's face was completely void of all colours. "What?"

"I'm coming with you," Neji repeated, trying to keep the smile off his blank features. He didn't know why he was taking such pleasure in Tenten's discomfort, but he was certainly going to keep the fact that he did to himself.
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Trying to persuade Neji to change his mind was like trying to persuade a fish to live out of the water.

Totally impossible.

So that was how Tenten had found herself being accompanied by Neji on her quest for information. She had tried to pretend that he wasn't there. He had certainly been helping, remaining deadly silent and all, but trying to ignore Neji's presence was as impossible as trying to persuade him - at least for her. She could feel him there; that raw power. It was heady and intoxicating and she didn't like it because she'd been intoxicated enough for one lifetime.

No, enough for two lifetimes, judging from what she had done the night before.

She felt sick. That was the only way she could describe this dread. It rolled around in her stomach, threatening to spill out any moment. She refused to let it. No need to make matters worse by throwing up on Neji's shoes.

If only he would say something. He hadn't said anything since the bartender had told the tale of Tenten's Night Out. Neji didn't need to say anything. She could feel the disapproval practically seeping from his skin. At least if he said something she'd know what he was thinking.

She desperately needed something to distract her from her own thoughts of horror and shame. She was only able to dwell on the bartender's words.

Unfortunately he hadn't been able to paint a crystal clear picture (he had been tending the bar, after all), but he'd seen enough to give them the general details.

She had gotten drunk. This was already common knowledge. She had talked with the guy – Kim, she believed his name was now – until she had declared him a bore and walked to the dance floor. Then she had proceeded to dance.

At this point in time, Neji had stiffened noticeably and bit out "What kind of dancing?" and Tenten found new definition for the word humiliation. It was bad enough that she had to hear of her drunken antics, but Neji?

Apparently she had danced like a maniac and no one wanted to get close to her. She wasn't surprised by the knowledge she couldn't dance, but was strangely disappointed. She supposed she had been subconsciously hoping that she had dirty danced with some hottie because who only knew when, if ever, she'd work up the courage to do it again. She supposed it was fortunate that she hadn't, because if she ever worked up enough courage to do that (through alcohol or no), she sure as hell wanted to remember it the next day.

Then it seems a random girl had had enough of Tenten's 'attention-seeking' and had told her to, please, piss off. Tenten had ignored her, which had resulted in the girl bitch-slapping her and walking away. Tenten, not one to take such an insult in her drunken stupor, had thrown her shoes at the girl, knocked her out, and was thrown out of the club, thus leading to Neji's discovery of her in the alleyway.

And Neji still hadn't said anything. He'd just sat there, not saying anything. And now he was walking alongside her, still not saying anything.

Was this some reverse-psychology crap he was trying to work on her? Remaining silent to the point she would no longer be able to stand the silence and would just start speaking of her own accord with no verbal provocation whatsoever? Well, if that was what he was trying to do, it wasn't working. It wouldn't work. Stuff like that never-

"Okay, can you just say something?"

Neji turned to her with a brow raised arrogantly. "And what is it that you would like me to say?" he replied coolly, no hint of concern or amusement or emotion; just that suffocating arrogance that he pulled off oh-so-well.

But she was far too distressed to act normally, because normally she wouldn't be bothered by his high-handedness, since she admired him so much, and she certainly wouldn't be annoyed by it. She would respond calmly and rationally and logically because that's the kind of person she was - calm, rational, logical.

But not this week. Not today.

"Say that this doesn't bother you. Say that it doesn't matter that I've acted like a complete idiot this past week. Say that it won't change anything. Say that everything will go back to normal after this stupid mission is finally over. Say that I'll do fine and I won't stuff it up." By this point she had tears in her eyes and she hated them and hated herself for being so vulnerable in front of Neji - Man of No Weaknesses - but gods damn it, she couldn't help it.

Then Neji did the one thing she never thought he would.

He stopped walking, put his hands on her shoulders, bent down, looked deep into her eyes and said:

"This doesn't bother me. It doesn't matter if you've acted like a complete idiot this past week. It won't change anything. Everything will go back to normal after this stupid mission is finally over. You'll do fine and you won't stuff it up."

It didn't make it all better like she'd hoped, but his words bought warmth that eased the chill of her regret and embarrassment.
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Neji didn't know when it had started happening, but sometime over the course of the last 24 hours he had begun to care about Tenten's feelings.

Sure, he had always cared for her wellbeing. He'd always watched out for her in battle and always wished for her general health of form and spirit. But this was different.

Deeper.

He didn't just care if she was okay, he wanted to fix it. He wanted to make everything better because now when she started hurting, he started hurting for her. He liked the fact that she wasn't always as collected as she seemed because then that meant that maybe she would have to rely on him just that bit more. He wanted to take care of her, protect her.

It went beyond mere teammate comradeship and it scared the hell out of him.

He needed to get away from her and think clearly. There had to be a logical way to sort through this. If he just meditated on it, it would all make sense and he would able to be able to deal with it accordingly.

He straightened from his current position of looking deeply into her too-large brown eyes and cleared his throat awkwardly.

Awkward. Hm. He couldn't remember ever feeling awkward in his life, with the exception of last night and this morning, of course. Never mind, he could meditate upon that unforeseen occurrence as well.

"Calm yourself, Tenten. Have faith in your abilities as I have faith in your abilities," he made the mistake of looking down at her again and regretted it immediately because she was wiping her eyes dry. The sight of it gave him the strangest urge to pull her into his arms and never let her go. That was odd because he didn't do that. Ever.

"I will see you at the appointed meeting place tomorrow morning." With a stiff nod of acknowledgement, he transported himself the hell out of there.
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It was weird, Tenten decided. The whole previous week she had been stressing and distressing and re-stressing about this mission, acting like anyone but her usual, familiar self. Then all it took was a few words from Neji and her precious emotional equilibrium returned.

She felt that because Neji believed in her, she could believe in herself.

…

And he had also said he didn't care about the drunken thing. That definitely helped.

So when she arrived at the designated meeting spot, she was feeling calm, rational and logical. Just like normal.

Phew.

And then she laid eyes on Neji and her heart started beating erratically, her palms started to sweat and her tongue suddenly felt really thick and heavy and she couldn't think of a thing to say for the life of her.

Damn it.

It seemed that all was not as it should be after all, because if things were as they should be, she would walk up casually, greet Neji, Gai and Lee casually, and then they would casually set off on the mission. Either Lee or Gai or both would say something asinine, she and Neji would look on in disbelief, and then they would look at each other in mock horror, and her heart wouldn't be hammering against her ribcage while they did so.

But it didn't happen like that.

Tenten all but shuffled towards the group, barely noticing that she was the last one to arrive because she was so distracted by Neji.

He was leaning against the gate, arms crossed, expression unreadable (as per usual), head tilted towards the morning sun. His silky hair cascaded over one shoulder, his biceps flexed under his shirt and suddenly Tenten got a mental image of him standing shirtless in her living room. She started to heat up despite the crisp morning air.

And she was so distracted by this that she failed to notice Lee bounding towards her. A lung-crushing hug followed.

"Tenten! You are finally here! I thought I would die of impatience for I am so excited to be embarking on this most honourable of missions with you as your youth finally blossoms!"

All this said in the space of five seconds, a most remarkable feat.

"Can't…breathe…" Tenten gasped as she tried (and failed) to extricate herself from Lee's super-human grasp.

"Ah, I see! You are so excited that you can't breathe! I understand the feeling! I am also very excited!"

Neji was suddenly there and he was saying, "No, she can't breathe because you are holding her too tightly. Get off."

Air rushed into her lungs as Tenten put her hands on her knees and gulped it in like she'd gulp water after living in the desert for three years.

"I am most sorry, Tenten! Are you alright?" Lee asked as he peered into her face.

"I'm fine," Tenten rasped back as she lifted her face to look for Neji, but he had already moved from her line of sight.

He was acting strange. At first it seemed as though he was ignoring her, but then he unexpectedly came to her rescue. Then he went back to ignoring her.

Gai sauntered over with his characteristic grin plastered on his face. "Ah, Tenten. I see you have arrived."

All Tenten managed was a small smile in response.

"Well, if everyone is sure they remembered everything, let's be off!"

Lee jumped up and down in excitement. "I will run for ten hours straight and, if I do not complete that, then I will complete five thousand push ups in one hour!"

Gai turned his blinding grin onto Lee. "Ah, Lee, so full of youth. You remind me of the time when I was your age, but we must remember that this is Tenten's mission so she will be setting the pace." He then turned to Tenten. "So, Tenten? Are you ready to blossom into your youth?"

In Gai-talk this sentence was his way of saying "Are you ready to go?"

"Um…yeah."

But even as the words left her mouth and her feet left the ground, Tenten couldn't help but feel that she had left something behind.
-------Team Gai was getting ready to set up camp for the night-------------------------

"Shit, where's my sleeping bag!"

"Tenten, such un-youthful language!" Gai admonished.

Tenten didn't listen. She was too busy trying to keep the tears of frustration from spilling over and betraying her true feelings.

She hadn't even started the real mission and she was already failing. She'd never forgotten anything on a mission. Never. She was always completely immaculate. Always.

This unwanted mission and these unwanted feelings for Neji were bringing out a side of her she didn't quite like; a side of her she couldn't control.

And perhaps that was the worst of it. Until recently, she had been familiar with every facet of her character and she was content with what that character was. She was strong, reliable, not given to fleeting emotions and whims, dedicated, and logical. Some may call it boring, but she was all she'd ever wanted to be: a good kunoichi.

Because she knew who she was, why she did what she did, and what made her tick, she was in control of her emotions and she liked it that way. She liked knowing what to expect and she liked knowing that other people knew what to expect.

Now her emotions and thoughts were going wild and it wasn't just because this mission had awaken a side of her she didn't even know existed; a side of her that wanted to experience more, to feel more . It was also because of Neji.

Just when she had thought that she knew all there was to know about Neji, she found something else and she liked it. A vulnerability that she hadn't known existed; side of him that made him human - reachable and relatable. And when he was like he was usually was, hard and unrelenting, she yearned to see the part of him that no one else knew about. The intensity of these feelings always caught her unaware and completely unprepared, so she was thrust into a chasm of turbulent emotions with no foreseeable escape.

"Does Tenten want to use my sleeping bag?"

Tenten pulled herself out of her thoughts to regard Lee. Despite his boundless energy (that never failed to tire her out after five minutes) and his childlike mannerisms, a great heart and strength resided within him that she couldn't help but admire. Just the thought that he was willing to give up his comfort for her stupidness attested to it.

"Thanks, Lee, but I'll be alright. Consider it training, or punishment for not remembering. After tonight I'll definitely make sure I remember it in the future."

"But-"

"Leave it, Lee," Gai interrupted. "She is doing the mature thing by accepting responsibility for her actions. It shows that her youthfulness is blossoming!"

"Really?" Lee replied hopefully. No doubt Gai was just trying to assuage Lee of feeling any guilt for not helping, but Tenten didn't care. She'd do the same thing.

"It was her fault for forgetting," Neji cut in unexpectedly with a voice colder than ice. "Therefore they are her consequences to bear." He turned his icy gaze onto Lee. "Leave it be and go to sleep."

Tenten didn't know why she would expect anything else from Neji - Master of No Breaks - but it hurt more than she would ever care to admit to anyone.
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Despite what he had said about Tenten bearing the consequences of her own actions, Neji couldn't sleep because every time he closed his eyes to try, he thought of how cold she must be. Hell, he could feel the chill and he was in a sleeping bag. She had nothing but the clothes on her back to protect her from it.

Unable to stand the thought, he activated his Byakugan to check her vitals. Surely upon ascertaining reassurance that, no matter the discomfort level, no harm would come to her he would be able to finally fall asleep.

But that just made it worse. With his Byakugan activated, he noticed every last detail of her body language. She was curled in the fetal position as tightly as she possibly could, yet she was still shivering uncontrollably. She wasn't awake, but she was caught in a state of semi-subconsciousness. He could tell that she was only in that state because her mind had needed some escape from the torture of being so cold. Therefore, she was only half feeling the cold, but her body was suffering all the side-effects from it.

I mustn't do anything. I can't.

Upon returning to his residence yesterday, he had meditated for a good three hours, sorting through the alien feelings that had assaulted him recently and with alarming intensity. Yet even after all these hours of meditation, he couldn't quite figure out why those emotions existed. He had a few unformed theories, but they were so ridiculous he dismissed them upon immediate thought.

He had eventually come up with a solution, of sorts. Because these feelings seemed to be centred on his proximity to Tenten, all he had to do was remain distant from her both physically and emotionally. It was quite simple in theory, but much harder to execute than he had first surmised.

For example, when Lee had enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug this morning, instead of feeling sympathy for her unfortunately plight, he had felt anger. It was totally irrational, but it seemed the only way it would decrease was if Lee stopped touching her so intimately and inappropriately. So he stopped him.

And throughout the day he had felt the strangest urge to seek her out for the simple reason of just being with her, around her. He felt the strangest urge to hear her speak, it didn't matter what about.

But he had resisted the temptation and maintained his distance.

As he would now.
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Tenten awoke to bright skies, a cool breeze and, most surprisingly, warmth and comfort. She couldn't see the bright skies, but was fairly certain it must be bright because she could feel the glare behind her eyelids.

She hoped it was a bright day. It would match her bright spirits. She'd had the best dream.

Well, at first it hadn't been so good. She couldn't quite remember the details, but she didn't remember a black chasm of nothingness and bone-chilling coldness.

Then the dream had suddenly turned around in the best way possible. Why? Because Neji came. Suddenly all she saw was white and all she felt was warmth and now, as she opened her eyes, she could swear that even more whiteness clouded her vision.

The bright sunlight, probably.

Tenten shut her eyes again and nuzzled her face against the firm body that-

Wait!

Her eyes shot open, blinked once, twice. White still permeated every facet of her vision and the firmness was still there under the weight of her body.

Tenten shut her eyes and let out a soft curse, her first thought being that Lee's guilt had overwhelmed him and he had come to give her warmth during some course of the evening. Now she had to wake up with this awkward situation.

Once she thought about it, it explained the reason she was so warm and the firmness and the fact that a sleeping bag was covering her and-

No, it didn't explain the whiteness.

But what…?

One second passed. Two and three and…

NO!

Battling denial, Tenten attempted to sit upright only to find she couldn't because a heavy arm was draped around her waist, preventing any movement. She looked up to face the impossible…

Neji.

Tenten clamped her eyes shut and sank back down onto the torso she was trapped against.

This has to be a dream. There is no way Neji would ever…

But the steady rise and fall of the chest beneath her proved otherwise. This wasn't a dream and Neji wasn't a figment of her desperate imagination. He was there and she was on top of him, which meant he had done what she had thought Lee had done.

She was assaulted by a myriad of conflicting emotions that she couldn't control and all she could do was lay there, enveloped by his warmth.

She should move. She should. As far as she could tell, he was still asleep, and if she moved now she would prevent an awkward moment, possibly the most awkward moment to ever take place between a man and a woman. Surely that was a noble pursuit.

But she wanted to stay. Gods, how she wanted to stay. This was Neji and he was holding her and she could feel him breathe and his arm was around her waist and her legs were tangled with his and...

Oh gods, her legs were tangled with his? This situation was just getting better and worse with every moment that passed!

Maybe if she just stayed a little longer nothing would happen. Maybe if she just relished this moment, he wouldn't wake up. Nothing like this would ever happen again so why shouldn't she take advantage of the one impossible time it actually did? She'd never been this close to him before and she'd probably never be this close to him again. Not like this.

So that settled it. Just five more minutes then she would leave and wake up Gai and Lee so they could get started.

Wait.

Gai and Lee!

How could she have forgotten their existence? Well, that was quite easy, actually, but now that she thought about it, they could wake up at any moment, if they hadn't woken up already, and see them in this position.

Oh dear gods, she'd never hear the end of it and Neji would probably never look at her again.

And that absolutely could not happen.

Tenten cautiously raised herself and tried to slide sideways out of Neji's grasp, but this did nothing but turn her on because she was now pressed even more intimately against Neji's gorgeous body.

Okay, settle down, Tenten. Try again.

This time she tried pushing Neji's arm up, but the consequences were even worse because he reacted by tightening his hold and pulling her more firmly against him. In any other instance, she wouldn't complain but right now, she really needed to move.

It seemed the only option left was to wake him. Though she did not look forward to this occurrence, it was certainly better than having either Gai or Lee finding them in this position.

Tenten raised her free arm and tapped Neji on the shoulder.

No reaction.

She tapped again, harder this time.

"Neji!"

This time she got a reaction.

Neji inhaled deeply as he opened his eyes and blinked to focus them. Then he looked around as if trying to find his bearings. She couldn't help but think she'd never seen a more appealing sight than that of Neji waking up.

He looked lost and confused and disoriented and utterly adorable.

When his eyes finally focused on her, they widened in surprise.

"Tenten?"

All Tenten could do was smile brightly and utter, "Good morning!"

He looked completely embarrassed. "I…I'm sorry…" he begun to say, his voice still hoarse from waking up. It did funny things to her insides.

But she had other things to worry about.

"Later," she whispered. "Right now you just need to leave because-"

"Tenten? Neji?"

A heartfelt groan escaped Tenten's lips as she heard that which she feared most.

Lee.

"Because of that."
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He had given into his base instincts and now he had to face the consequences. So be it. He could stand it. It was worth waking up as he had. He couldn't remember ever waking up feeling so utterly content and, honestly, that scared him, but he would meditate upon it later once he had faced his current predicament.

He had been prepared to face Tenten upon waking up and trying to explain himself to her, but he hadn't been prepared to face Lee and, gods above help him, Gai.

Lee he could dismiss easily. He was like any small animal or child. Ignore it and it will go away.

But Gai? Gai was no small animal or child. He was…Gai. He was Neji's worse nightmare, especially in situations like this: careful situations that needed to be handled with dignity and tact. Gai possessed not one of those qualities but he did possess the singular ability to mortify Neji. A rare talent, to be sure, and Neji didn't know whether or not he did it to rouse him purposefully. He wouldn't put it past the man.

Gai would not let this go.

So when Gai sauntered over to where he, Lee and Tenten were, Neji closed his eyes, groaned and prayed for patience the likes of which he had never before needed to possess.

"And what do we have here?" Gai boomed.

Lee looked at him with wide, confused eyes. "Gai-sensei! I'm afraid I do not understand! Why are Neji and Tenten sleeping like that?"

Reminded of his current position, Neji abruptly released all hold on Tenten and stood up, leaving her sprawling on the ground with a mixed expression of annoyance and mortification.

Gai stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, Lee, there is no simple way to explain the art of a man and a woman blossoming in youth together, but as your sensei I shall have to try my best!"

Neji shut his eyes and suppressed a groan. This was not good.

"You see, Lee. A man has certain needs that he himself cannot fulfil. Only a woman can fulfil such youthfully strong needs." Gai looked down at Lee and smiled at the distressed expression on his face, "Now, Lee, don't look like that! These youthful needs are perfectly natural."

"But Gai-sensei! I have not experienced such needs!"

And may the gods help them all the day he did. He really needed to end this conversation.

Gai patted Lee on the head affectionately. "Not to worry, Lee. You will understand the day your youth blossoms the way that Neji's has for our dear teammate Tenten."

"I do not understand, Gai-sensei!"

For once in his life, Neji was grateful for Lee's naivety. But alas, Gai would have none of it.

"Sorry, Lee. I'm getting ahead of myself. You see, when a man had these youthful needs that can only be fulfilled by a woman, such a Tenten, a man performs a certain youthful ritual that-"

"Oh my god," he heard Tenten whisper in humiliation from below him.

That was it.

"Gai, shut up," Neji bit out as he levelled Gai with the hardest glare possible.

But Gai was not to be fazed. He simply laughed.

"Now, Neji, don't be so upset! I myself am quite pleased at this unexpected turn of events," he sighed dramatically. "You see, Neji, all this time I thought your youthful needs could not be satisfied by a woman. I thought they would only be satisfied by another man."

Lee blinked.

Tenten gasped.

Neji saw red.

"Gai-sensei, I don't under-"

"You thought…I was gay?"
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Tenten had thought she'd seen a pissed off Neji. Well, she was wrong.

This was a pissed off Neji.

He wasn't yelling and his face wasn't red or anything like that, but she could still tell he was unbelievably angry. His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white, tendons were standing out in his neck, as though he were barely controlling himself, and his voice was low and hard and nothing like she had ever heard. Even she was scared.

But she couldn't blame him. No, not one bit. Hell, she thought she'd been embarrassed. At least Gai didn't think she was a gay. Then again, she was about as sexually active as Neji so she wouldn't be surprised if he did.

That was something to think about.

Lee, still not comprehending, answered, "Well, I don't know why Gai-sensei would think that because he never looks very happy and-"

"Lee?" Tenten interrupted, "I don't think you should speak right now."

Gai, not comprehending the extent of Neji's anger, laughed. "Ah, don't look like that, Neji! It was an honest mistake! But after this morning my doubts are cleared. It seems that your youthful lusts do indeed burn for-"

"Stop talking," Neji interrupted in a low, cold voice that chilled Tenten all over. "I woke up with Tenten this morning because I had been keeping her warm during the night. Do not read into it, do not look into it, just forget about it. It was one teammate helping out another. That is all."

Tenten swore she could feel her chest caving in. She checked just in case it actually was. It should when it hurt so much.

She hadn't actually read into Neji's actions. She'd been too surprised to do so and even if she had, she wouldn't have dared believe it meant something, because this was Neji and she was just a teammate to him. There was no way she could be anything more. His words just reiterated that fact.

But it still hurt. It hurt more than anything she'd ever experienced. Pure rejection.

"Well, Neji, you have disappointed me once again," Gai sighed dramatically, but there was something in his eyes that intrigued Tenten, something knowing, and in a very uncharacteristic move, he dropped the issue entirely and started packing up his sleeping bag. Tenten couldn't help but wonder why, but there was no way she'd ask him.

Lee walked up to Neji with wide, hopeful eyes. "Neji, that was a very generous thing you did for our Tenten!" Neji just looked at Lee blankly, but of course that didn't faze him at all. "I was wondering that if I were ever in Tenten's situation, would Neji keep me warm too?"

A giggle escaped Tenten's throat as Neji's eyes widened in horror.

"No. Hell no."

"But-"

Neji ignored him and walked over to his sleeping bag, which Tenten realized she was still sitting on.

She quickly got up and handed it to him. When he took it he looked up at her with fierce determination.

"Tenten, I…"

"Don't worry about it, Neji!" Tenten said with a brightness she didn't feel. "You don't need to explain anything. Or apologize. Actually, I should thank you, right? I mean, I would have frozen if it weren't for you! So thanks. And don't worry, I won't mention it again!"

And hopefully she wouldn't think on it again because if she did, she would be filled with a bittersweet longing that would just make everything just that much worse.
---------------------------------------------------------
Neji didn't know what kind of reaction he'd been expecting from Tenten. He had no reason to think that she'd react at all, but that carefree response still took him by surprise. He had expected her to be more…embarrassed maybe? He wasn't sure.

Her reaction was exactly what he should have expected. Apparently she just wanted to forget about it as much as he did.

Well, as much as he said he did, anyway. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't deny that the feeling of Tenten in his arms still lingered in his memory and he was unwilling to let it go.

And he was unwilling to consider exactly what that meant.