So, people... I'm back to sweep you off your feet with something new ;) Inspired by Interim's description of Neji as a regal elf. ;) This story is set in Digimon 01's Odaiba, Japan. The entire setting is pretty much done from memory and a bit of help from Google Maps. ;)

Oct 14, 2016: The cover image for this fic ("Two worlds connected") is drawn by Nairil on FFN! Thank you!

Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.

Elf Prince, Digivolve!
Chapter 1: The Prince

It is unusually misty tonight. So misty, in fact, that even the moon and stars are not visible through the layer of fog hanging around the ground level of the apartment buildings. Tenten holds her plastic carrier bags closer to herself, and prowls around the deserted playground, her gaze darting left and right, looking out for any muggers who might decide to attack her on her midnight convenience store run. It wasn't even this misty half an hour ago.

She spies the elevator lobby not too far away - just about twenty yards, maybe - and quickens her footsteps. The sooner she makes it home, the better. Her stomach rumbles.

"Halt right there," a deep voice says behind her, and Tenten gives a start, but keeps on walking. Ten yards.

"I said, halt," the voice commands, and she finds herself instantly frozen on her feet, as if some otherworldly force has seized control of her muscles.

Tenten cringes inwardly, and tries not to panic. What is going on?

Footsteps resound behind her, and someone emerges from the mist to her side, a lone figure with long, inky hair and pale skin, just inches taller than her, and eyes that seem to glow independently of the fluorescent lights from the apartment building.

She finds, suddenly, that she can move her jaw. "Who are you?" she snaps, struggling to regain control of the rest of her limbs, and the stranger steps closer, faintly illuminated. Shadows cling to most of his features.

He contemplates her silently, as if he were offended that she doesn't know his name. "I am Prince Neji of the Nymellian Forest. Who are you?"

Tenten gapes at him, and takes a closer look at his clothes - he's wearing an embroidered sapphire overcoat that falls past his waist, with a high collar, and a plain shirt under that, paired with dark pants and pointed shoes that don't seem to have come out of any regular departmental store. She feels a little under-dressed in her tank top and shorts next to him. "Um, are you a cosplayer or something?" she asks awkwardly.

He isn't amused. "Your name?" Prince Neji repeats.

"Tenten. Now would you mind letting me go home and continue life as before?" she growls - only then does he take a second look at her. Tenten notices that his facial features are fine, almost aristocratic, and there are strange markings on his forehead that seem to glow, like his eyes, only these markings are eerily green.

He glances up at the apartment buildings around them, and frowns. "Where am I?"

She's starting to get a little impatient with this weird guy. "You're in Odaiba. Tokyo. Japan. Now will you release me already?"

Tenten feels her limbs loosen abruptly, and stumbles forward, shooting a dirty look at him over her shoulder. Without another word, Tenten strides towards the elevator lobby, because she really needs to get the hell out of here before he does something bizarre again.

He follows her easily (the doors don't close quite quickly enough), and rides the elevator up with her.

"Will you quit following me?" Tenten bites, glaring at the strange man. She notices, when he almost seems to glide next to her, that the tip of his ear ends in a point.

"I am... not from this place," he tells her with some difficulty, pale skin on his forehead wrinkling in a frown. He looks at the lit buttons that indicate the floor numbers. "I need help returning to my world."

"What, are you a digimon?" she grumbles, fishing her keys out of her pocket when the elevator doors slide open. "I can assure you that I don't have a Digivice and I am not your partner."

"What is a digimon?" Neji asks next. Tenten sighs.

They pause outside her apartment, and Tenten is not happy. "Look, you are bothering me and I have no time for you. Will you please leave me alone?"

"Not unless you agree to help me," he presses, staring at her with those unnatural lilac eyes, and Tenten inhales deeply to try and reign her temper in.

"Are you a murderer?" she asks. He shakes his head. "A rapist?" Neji shakes his head again. "Do you have any ill intentions towards me or my property?" Another shake. "Fine then, come in," she grumbles, unlocking her apartment door.

"I'm willing to arrive at a compromise," Tenten finally says, when she's polished off her instant noodles, and handed Neji some green tea. (They're seated on either side of the little table in her dining room - the one-bedroom apartment is a little too small for the two of them.) "First, you can't boss me around. No more of that freezing business. Second, I am not obliged to act like you're a prince. Third, if any suspect character from your world follows you here and inflicts damage on my property, you're to get out immediately. Fourth, you're sleeping on the couch."

Neji watches as she gestures towards the door and the couch, and nods slowly. "Don't you live with anyone else?" he inquires. She heads into the cramped kitchen.

"No, I live alone." Tenten tosses her noodle cup into a bin, and rinses her chopsticks at the sink. She quells the urge to shrug out of her shorts - it is muggy tonight and she only pulled extra clothing on to go to the store. "Don't you feel warm wearing all those clothes?"

He looks at her when she returns to the living area, and measures his words. "It is not polite to undress in the presence of ladies."

Tenten rolls her eyes. "Suit yourself. Don't expect me to call you an ambulance if you get heatstroke."

She finds him on the couch, ten minutes later, stripped down to his pants, the discarded clothes folded in a pile beside him. (Her eyes are wandering over his chest, discreetly, and she hopes he doesn't notice.)

(Digimon aren't supposed to look this sexy.)

Tenten shuts all her blinds, just in case some enemy of Neji's happens to see him from a rooftop or something - she curses the multitude of anime she's watched, and turns to him when he's lying on the couch, one arm tucked behind his head. (Does that hair ever tangle? And can she please stop looking at the flat discs of his nipples?)

"Is someone after you?" she asks, to take her mind off him.

Neji shrugs. "Not that I know of. I was alone when I... stepped into the dimensional rift."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Did you jump through dimensions intentionally, to cause me all this trouble?"

"No." Neji narrows his eyes, and looks a little offended. "You are too far below my status for me to even consider it."

"How dare you-" Tenten snarls, and strides forward, leaning over him, digging her index finger sharply into his chest. "Don't forget, I'm the one providing you with food and board, damn it!"

"You volunteered," he tells her, and she bares her teeth at him.

"Don't make me regret this," she hisses, as if the inches between their faces would help underscore her threat.

Neji smirks then. "Will mating be a worthy compensation, then?"

Tenten gawks at him for the second time that night. "Pardon?"

"Physical intimacy," he rephrases with a hint of annoyance. "That seems to be popular where I'm from."

She bites her tongue, and refrains from saying anything (because he looks delectable and she'd be damned before he knows what she thinks of him). "I'll consider it," Tenten mutters, turning towards her bedroom. "Can you digivolv- um, fight, if your enemies happen to attack?"

Neji's lips thin, and he scans the apartment momentarily. "I use a dagger, or a bow and arrow. None of which seem to be available in this place."

Tenten sighs heavily, and goes to the kitchen, pulling out her largest knives. She sets them on the coffee table next to him. "Here, these are all the knives I've got."

He studies them from the corner of his eye.

The silver surfaces glint beneath the fluorescent lights of the apartment, and Tenten heads to her bedroom, somewhat comforted, now that he has some semblance of weapons to fend off intruders with. "Goodnight, Neji."

She awakens the next morning with Neji facing her on the bed, eyes open, and would have screamed, had he not clamped a hand over her mouth.

It takes her a while to remember him, and words are spilling from her lips before she really thinks. "I did not ask to be a digimon tamer, damn it!"

"I am not a digimon, whatever that is," Neji tells her. "And I don't need taming."

Okay, maybe he isn't, but that does not excuse him from being present right in front of her, especially when all she's wearing is a pair of panties.

"What are you even doing here?" Tenten hisses, covering her chest. (He's probably glimpsed everything to be seen anyway, with her being asleep and all.) Heat creeps up her cheeks.

Neji smirks, and glances over her body, leaving her skin tingling. "You were moaning my name last night. I came in to find you satisfying yourself, though you seemed to be asleep."

"Pervert." Tenten glares at him, and flushes further, wishing there was a hole just beneath her, that she can bury herself in. "And you stayed through the night?"

"I figured that it would be easier to defend you, should there be enemies," Neji explains, and gestures at the array of her kitchen knives by the wall.

And get a free eyeful if there aren't any intruders. Tenten rolls her eyes. "I wish you were a digimon," she tells him.

"Would that be a physical partnership?" he inquires, raising a brow. No doubt that his idea of a partnership would be of the intimate variety.

She squashes the urge to slap him. "No, digimon are digital monsters that form a bond with human partners, and the pair connect emotionally to fight their enemies."

"Is that common in this world?" Neji asks.

"No, it's fictional," Tenten mutters, feeling more than a little stupid for even bringing it up. (She notices only now that he's still wearing the pants from last night, and tries not to stare at his chest.)

"Why even mention it?" He watches her expectantly.

"It's my favorite show ever." Tenten glances away in embarrassment. She waves offhandedly towards the bedroom walls - they are plastered with posters of digimon, and various characters from the different seasons. "You know, entertainment."

"We don't have that," Neji says, looking at the variety of images on the walls.

"What are you, anyway?" she probes. "An elf?"

"How did you know that?" He looks at her with renewed interest.

Tenten shrugs uncomfortably, sitting up. Neji's gaze falls immediately to her breasts. "Keep your eyes elsewhere, you damn prince!" she snaps, covering her chest again. He smirks, and looks her in the eye instead. Tenten turns away, pulls her discarded tank top back over her head. "To answer your question, there are all kinds of books and stories about elves here. Elves typically have pointed ears, and are immortal."

Neji frowns. "How did your kind know about us?"

She shrugs again. "I don't know. Maybe there are more of you guys here. Stepping into rifts and all, you know."

He falls into silence, and she takes the opportunity to leave the room, to prepare some much-needed breakfast. Tenten thinks she'll likely combust with annoyance, if desire doesn't claim her first. Both of which are unthinkable (and she wishes she were in a simpler world, with digimon, instead).

Tenten quickly discovers that Neji is a fan of herring soba, when she makes some for her breakfast, and he follows the scent into her kitchen.

"What do you eat in the... forest?" she asks. Surely elves, and especially elf princes, do not feed on raw meat and creepy crawlies.

Neji lifts an eyebrow at her. "Bread. Meat. We grow our own crops and rear livestock."

"Oh." Tenten gives a sheepish laugh. "I thought you harvested berries and ate leaves and stuff..."

"I am a prince." Neji looks archly at her, pausing in between bites of his noodles (he's taken to using a fork surprisingly quickly). "We do not eat like animals in the Nymellian Forest."

"Right," Tenten mutters. Here she thought that he'd harvest fruit like digimon did in the wild. Guess he really wasn't one. "Do you have stoves, and electricity?"

"We use fire, but do not have lights that come on just like that," Neji muses, motioning towards the ceiling lamp. Tenten nods.

"What about drinks?"

"Aside from water, we have mead." Neji pauses at her puzzled expression. "It's liquor that tastes like honey."

"Um. I have rum and Coke, wanna try that?" Tenten suggests with a wince. The rum is a bottle that her friend Lee unloaded on her due to his alcohol intolerance, and she stores soda around for guests. At Neji's nod, she fills two glasses with ice, prepares the cocktails, and hands him one.

Tenten is the first to sample the concoction - it is strong and tastes like cough syrup. "That is awful," she tells him, making a face.

Neji looks curiously at his own glass, and gives it a sip. "It tastes fine to me."

She goggles at Neji, and pushes her own glass towards him. "There, have mine as well."

He downs both glasses somehow, on top of the herring soba, and Tenten stares when he collapses onto the kitchen table, a light flush on his cheeks.

On impulse, Tenten decides to bring Neji to work with her two days later. (In between, he's learnt to use her computer, and make instant noodles for himself.)

She works at the TV station as a paper-pusher (and also because it's her dream job, to work at the setting where events from the first digimon series took place - maybe digimon are actually real and maybe she'll get to see them somehow). It pays barely enough to cover the rent for her tiny apartment and her other expenses, but she enjoys it there.

Neji is squashed against her on the train to the TV station (Tenten thinks it doesn't feel that bad at all, to be pressed up close to him). She's loaned him her baggiest shirt and pants, and a black sweatband to cover the markings on his forehead. They're going shopping later tonight for some clothes for him, she's promised. (And it'll stretch her finances, but it's not as if he can pay her back, anyway.)

Tenten gives Neji her cell phone, with her office phone set as the only number on her speed-dial list, and tells him not to wander too far away from the Kaihin Koen, a waterfront park near her workplace. (They'd spent the whole of the previous night familiarizing Neji with her phone - Tenten is mightily glad that he's learned to use it quickly - Neji was especially fascinated with the GPS and internet functions.)

"I'll come by at lunch so we can grab something to eat, okay?" she says, on a parting note. Neji nods; Tenten readjusts her purse straps on her shoulder, and walks over to her office.

And spends the next few hours worrying if he's walked onto a road and gotten himself run over by traffic.

She dials her cellphone with shaky fingers when it's lunchtime, and exhales when he answers, "Good afternoon?"

"Hey, it's Tenten - where are you?" she speaks quietly into the phone receiver, and hopes her colleagues aren't listening in on her conversation.

"I'm surrounded by trees," Neji tells her, and she winces.

"Right. Are you still at the Kaihin Koen? You know, where I left you this morning?" Tenten twirls the phone cord around her finger and bites her lip.

"I believe so. I have not left the trees - they are reminiscent of my forest, albeit much shorter," Neji comments.

"Okay, well, stay there, I'll be right over," Tenten instructs, and sets her phone down, hoping that she'll be able to find him without much difficulty. She slips her work shoes back on (it's easier to move around with slippers in the office), and hurries out.

She finds him sitting beneath some trees a short while later, after desperately scanning the walkway-lined park for him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Tenten tells him, out of habit, and he tilts his head to look at her. "Are you hungry?"

"Sure." Neji nods, and gets to his feet, handing her phone back to her. Tenten checks for messages, and finds a text from Lee.

Tenten, when did you find yourself a boyfriend? I am offended that you did not notify me about it!

She snaps her head back up, and scrutinizes Neji. "Did you call anyone on the phone?"

"I might have." Neji frowns. "There was a voice coming from the phone, so I spoke to him. I thought you might have called at first."

Tenten winces. She is not fond of how easily unlocked a smartphone is at the moment. Neji probably hit 'Call' without meaning to. She types a quick message to Lee in return (No, he isn't a boyfriend, just someone new to our culture... consider it a cultural immersion program. I lent him my phone for a bit) and turns to Neji, who is looking up into the green canopy. "Come on, let's get some lunch."

They're headed back towards Tenten's apartment that night, with a couple bags of shopping for Neji (including a wakizashi, a short sword, that Tenten has always admired, and finally caved in to, when Neji pointed out that the kitchen knives do not actually serve much defensive purpose at all). The air is still - Tenten walks a little closer to Neji, certain that this part of Odaiba is safe at night, really-

A dark shadow swoops high above them, and Tenten looks up-

Its body is too wide to be an aircraft; its head tapers off into what appears to be a beak, and rich plumage feathers out at its tail end. Huge wings beat rhythmically, eerily silent.

"Oh gods!" Tenten whispers, grabbing Neji by the arm.

"Is that another feature of your world?" Neji asks, following her gaze - the shadow is out of sight soon enough, though Tenten is sure that it's real, because Neji has just seen it too.

"No, it isn't!" she mutters, pulling Neji through the last yards to the elevator lobby. The doors can't close quickly enough (again) and they're safely locked in the apartment before she attempts to calm down. Tenten checks that the blinds are all shut, and turns the TV on, switching to the news channel.

Breaking news: Large monsters spotted at the Tokyo Tower. The situation is under control. Police Chief Uchiha Itachi urges everyone to stay calm, the scrolling text across the screen reads. The news reporter gestures towards a blurry video capture of what looks like the Tokyo Tower, with a couple of large, dinosaur-like creatures scaling it, and an equally-huge bird-monster circling around them.

"That was what we saw!" Tenten gasps, pointing at the bird-monster. Neji nods in agreement.

It is, no doubt, hell at her workplace right now.

"There is a mist there, too," Neji remarks suddenly, directing her attention to the bottom edge of the video. Tenten realizes that he's right. "It reminds me of the fog that was present when we met."

The TV flashes more surveillance video footage then, closeups of the same few monsters, and a couple of kids shouting at them from the top of the tower.

"Oh gods, digimon are real!" Tenten squeals, collapsing into the couch next to Neji. She isn't able to believe it - the fictional monsters that have captivated her since high school are not that fictional, after all. And are capable of causing damage, like what she saw in the different seasons of the Digimon anime. That possibility hits hard, and Tenten turns to Neji. "Are you sure you can't digivolve? I might have a Digivice somewhere around, after all..."

Neji narrows his eyes at her. "I am an elf prince, not some fictional monster you're hung up on."

"But they're real, don't you see?" Tenten jabs wildly at the TV, and scans her apartment for anything out of the ordinary. There is none.

She checks her phone - one new message. It's from Lee, and she hurries to open it - he lives closer to the Tokyo Tower than she does.

Tenten! Did you see the news? I'm with Sakura-san at the moment, one of the monsters crashed into her apartment building and she doesn't dare to go home. Call me if you need help, I will do my best!

"Okay, what do we do?" Tenten mutters, more to herself than Neji, though he picks up on her words anyway.

"We hold our ground. Unless you know of a safer place than this," Neji reasons, pulling his sword out of the shopping bags. Tenten shakes her head. He examines the blade on the wakizashi, and speaks again, "That said, we should have some supplies packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. Do you happen to have that?"

"Sure, I can get that ready," Tenten nods, and begins to put together some food, tools and clothes, using old backpacks that she couldn't bear to throw away. "Never thought I'd be preparing for a digimon invasion."

"I never expected to come to your dimension and be required to help you survive," Neji comments dryly. "I'm a prince - I shouldn't have to be doing all this."

"Well, you're stuck with me until you find your way home," Tenten tells him impishly, and grins. "It sure would help if you could digivolve, though."

"What does 'digivolve' imply?" Neji lifts his brows, before wandering into the kitchen and helping himself to some water. Tenten follows him in, and prepares cup noodles for them both.

"Well, in the digimon world, the monsters are able to evolve to become bigger, more powerful creatures, that can defeat enemies their previous versions would not have been able to cope with," Tenten explains. "After that's done, they revert to their original forms."

Neji inclines his head. The pointed ears peek through his hair, and Tenten reaches over to touch one of them, grinning when he pulls away from her. Neji stares at her, lilac eyes wary. "Refrain from touching my ears."

"Why?" she grins at him, and reaches for his ear again. He catches her wrist.

"They are sensitive," Neji tells her, stepping closer, so inches remain between their faces. Tenten gulps, but she isn't able to look away from his eyes, how they have flecks of deep purple in them, and his lips- "Ears are touched only during moments of intimacy."

It takes a while for his words to sink in, and heat rises to Tenten's cheeks when she finally grasps the weight of what he's saying. "I, um, I see," she stutters, and turns away when he releases her, checking the wall clock to see if the instant noodles are done. "I, um, didn't mean to suggest anything like that."

Neji doesn't reply, and Tenten pulls utensils out for the two of them - a fork for him, and chopsticks for herself. They eat in silence at the little dining table; the news plays softly in the background, now airing witness recounts of the Tokyo Tower incident.

"I wonder if Lee is okay," Tenten muses, swirling her noodles around with her chopsticks. Steam from the soup rises into the air between them. "I mean, no one really gets hurt in the Digimon shows, but they've invaded reality and this is- well, no one can say for sure what the future brings."

"Is Lee your... 'boy friend'?" Neji asks, frowning. "He mentioned it during the call and I don't know what that means."

Tenten winces. "No, Lee is a good friend of mine, but I am not dating him, and we do not have any intimate physical relationship."

Neji is solemn as he digests the new information. "What is 'dating'?"

"It means 'to have a romantic relationship with someone', I guess," Tenten elaborates. "Basically, to 'date' is to court someone. How do elves court, anyway?"

"My kind are immortal - we place emphasis on slow courtships, and marriages based on love," Neji informs her.

Tenten chews slowly on her noodles, and drinks a little of the seasoning-laden soup (it is unhealthy, but so addictive). Finally, she dares to ask, "Is your wife or betrothed waiting for you back home, then?"

Neji considers her for a moment, before answering, "I have neither."

"Why?" Tenten looks expectantly at him. (And Neji being single just makes him all the more attractive.)

"I haven't met anyone that matches my preferences yet," he tells her, and finishes the rest of his soup. (Tenten winces at the sheer amount of MSG he's just consumed - she should really cut down on all this instant noodle stuff.)

"A shortage of beauties in your forest, huh?" she teases, and collects his empty disposable cup, tossing it into the bin together with hers. She rinses the cutlery at the sink.

"No. Too many, if you will." Neji follows her to the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorjamb. "I grew bored trying to decide between them."

"Surely you'd be able to find someone, you're a prince," Tenten responds, smiling lightly. She tries not to think about him being intimate with her, and fails. (It is too easy to imagine those fingers on her, those lips-) Tenten heads out of the kitchen, to put some distance between them. (He radiates warmth when she brushes past him.)

"It appears that the female species in this dimension is more attractive," Neji admits, and she turns to look at him, shocked, tripping and falling ungracefully onto the floor in a heap.

"Ow," Tenten moans, sitting up and massaging her knees. "This is your fault."

"My fault?" Neji echos with a frown. He trails after her into the living area and crouches down beside her, looking over her limbs.

"Yeah, if you didn't surprise me like that, I wouldn't have tripped," Tenten grouses, looking sourly at him.

"I didn't say you were attractive, specifically," Neji tells her, and Tenten feels the familiar slow burn creeping up her neck.

"Well, I didn't think you meant that," she mutters, trying futilely to quell the sense of disappointment roiling in her stomach. She's just plain old Tenten, the first person Neji saw and asked for help to get back to his world - nothing more than that. They haven't even known each other for that long, anyway. "I'm going to bed."

Neji is still looking at her when she closes the bedroom door upon herself. She heaves a sigh, and crawls beneath the covers.

Yes... Chapters are a little longer and more action-packed than my usual. Was kinda rushing this story in my haste to get started on the Spaceship Story, aka Complexities of Blackmail. ;)