A/N: Been working on this one for a couple weeks. I wanted to have it done and posted for the start of spring, but I'd rather have it be good than on time. :p. As always, if you enjoy this please drop me a note - I live off of your reviews. 3

Under the New Spring Moon

They moved silently through the night, using his eyes as a guide.

"Just a little further."

Tenten nodded. Her lips were drawn in a tight line of apprehension. They were both impatient and nervous. If they were unsuccessful tonight it would be another month of agony, of frustrated tears and prying questions from nosy people.

They were desperate and determined to try anything in hopes of success and Tenten was adamant that tonight was the night. Neji glanced up at the full moon and tightened his cloak to shield himself against the chill that lingered with the remaining hour of winter.

Neji had initially protested the date.

The first day of spring was so very… youthful. And Neji would sooner die than admit to anyone that there was logic and reasoning behind Guy's declaration of the importance of their "springtime of youth."

But Tenten had been insistent and he could not say no to her.

They halted on a sturdy tree branch while Neji surveyed the area to make sure they were alone.

"All clear," he confirmed and they leapt down to the clearing that Tenten had described to him just on the outskirts of Konoha.

The grass had begun to grow in small, sparse green bursts which gave way to the earthy bank of a natural hot spring.

Tenten set to work, ripping open a scroll and pressing it onto the grass, crouching over it.

Neji watched her fingers fly through the hand seals and a large basket overflowing with items materialized before her.

She pushed it aside and rolled up her scroll before digging in to the contents.

"What can I do?" Neji asked.

Tenten thought for a moment, digging to the bottom of the basket.

"Hmm. Well, you can spread out the blankets, for starters."

He met her gaze as she passed him the bundle and the weight of what they were about to do sunk in. His stomach flipped with a mixture of anxiety and excitement and he somehow knew hers had done the same.

Neji shook out the fist quilt and spread it on the grass, taking his time to ensure the wrinkles were stretched out. The other quilt he left folded nearby, in case they got cold.

Tenten sat down at the top of the blanket near a patch of dirt, a bundle of items in her arms. She spread a small cloth out over the dirt and busied herself laying out an altar. Candles, incense, crystals, and offerings of sweet cakes and rice balls for Inari - despite having visited her shrine and leaving an offering on their way to the clearing.

When he was done, he joined her at the makeshift altar and knelt down beside her.

"Are you ready?"

"Nearly," she said. She was nervous. Her hands sat on her lap twirling the gold wedding band - a newer nervous habit. Neji placed his hand over hers in an effort to calm her.

He looked over the altar, littered with crystals and cakes that Tenten had placed just so. He was skeptical, he always was when it came to some of her more unique rituals, but he pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered encouragement.

"Tonight is the night," he said, echoing her own words back to him.

He felt her smile and heard a light chuckle.

"Okay, lets start."

"Okay. What's first?"

"The spring," her voice trembled with a familiar building of anticipation that sent shivers down Neji's spine.

He rose to his feet, extending a hand to help her up. Together they walked slowly to the edge of the pool. Neji reached out to her and released the snaps on her cloak.

"Remember," she said, "slow."

He pulled the cloak off of her shoulders and dropped it to the ground. With one hand on her waist and the other cupping her face, Neji pulled her in to a kiss.

It was slow and soft and full of promise.

"I'll do my best," he whispered.

Neji felt the weight of his cloak against his neck give way and then felt the warm press of her hands on his chest.

Their hands moved automatically, tugging at all of the sashes and snaps they knew all too well.

Neji wasn't sure the ritual had started, as the altar had remained untouched by flame and incense, but he felt sparks of something under Tenten's fingers as they brushed against his skin.

He fell into a trance-like state, unable to register which pieces of her clothing he had removed between slow, deep kisses. The cool air, initially a shock on his naked skin, barely registered against the warmth that was kindling between them.

And then they stood in the clearing, stripped bare. Neji's glaze trailed down the front of Tenten's body and back up again, meeting her smile with his own as she led him in to the spring.

The water was warm and Neji sank down to his shoulders watching the wisps of steam rise between them.

"So now," she said, closing the distance between them, "we take a bath."

"Just a regular bath?"

"Mmm," she nodded, meeting his gaze with a smile. "It should be fun," she pressed her hands into his shoulders and began working out the knots. "Just not too fun."

He stood, frozen with desire as Tenten began to press out the day's tension, teasing him with occasional feather light trails down his stomach and hips.

He wanted nothing more than to grab her wrist and wrap her fingers around his cock but resisted. Instead, he returned her affections, pressing his fingers into the back of her neck. Tenten sighed and melted into his touch.

When Neji tired of her neck, he ran his fingers over her chest and shoulders, dipping between the valley of her breasts and swiping over pebbled nipples. Tenten's hand paused and her eyes closed. She sighed as Neji focused his attention on her nipples.

"Tell me how this works," he mumbled in her ear, tracing his fingers down her hip.

"We'll dry off and set our intention at the alter," she gasped as Neji pressed a finger between her labia and against her clitoris. She moaned lightly as he began to stroke her with small circles. "Then… we go-oh! to the… bl-blanket… mmhmm…."

"And then what?" his voice thick with desire.

Tenten wrapped her hand around him and gave a gentle tug. He moaned in appreciation.

"We take our time… building up our energy-y… and-oh-the r-release… you-you have to th-think about the… the intention." She gasped, finally finished with her sentence and able to fully engulf herself in the quickening pace of Neji's fingers.

She rested her hand on his forearm, but provided no real resistance, a half hearted attempt to push him away.

"Ne-neji…" He watched her face scrunch up in pleasure, a grin spread on his face. Tenten was easy for him to read. Her chest heaved and she arched her back. She was close. "We're su-supposed to go slooooowwmmm!"

"But we haven't even started yet," he cooed in her ear. He pressed down harder and stroked her faster, watching with pride and desire as he brought her over the edge. Her hips bucked wildly and she cried out. Neji pressed kisses to her throat and hummed against the warm, wet skin as she stroked him eagerly in post-orgasmic gratitude.

Neji focused on her hand, her snug grip that sent waves of pleasure through him, and the swipe of her thumb over the head, sending stronger jolts of pleasure.

Tenten was good with her hands, but Neji wanted more. She drew him closer and closer to the edge but it wasn't enough. Surely they didn't need all of this, baths and candles and offerings. Whether he claimed her on the blanket or in the spring made no real difference to him.

He tried to part her legs, but she would not yield to him.

"Slow, Neji," she chided, but her grip on him tightened and her hand moved faster.

He grunted and thrust his hips forward, blindly seeking the space between her legs. He found only the pull of water around her hand and her soft, smooth palm as it curved over the head of his cock. And then he came, emptying himself into her palm with a drawn out moan.

He felt drained and light headed, but returned the kiss she pressed to his lips and then felt her hands on his chest again.

They finished their bath and climbed out of the spring, wrapping each other in two large towels Tenten had packed.

Neji was much more aware of the cold, but the promise of Tenten pressed against him on the blanket made each goosebump worth it.

They shed their towels and sat across from each other beside the altar, legs folded. They each lit a candle, and from their candles a stick of incense.

"We light the third candle together," she explained as they each picked up their tapers and touched them to the wick of the third candle. She picked up half a pomegranate from the altar and passed it to Neji. He bit into the flesh, ripping away a mouthful of seeds with his teeth and passed it back to her as he chewed. The seeds made light popping sounds as they burst between his teeth, filling his mouth with tart juice.

Tenten copied him and placed the fruit back on the altar. A trail of red juice spilled from her lips and trailed down her chin and neck, making a lazy path between the valley of her breasts.

He wanted nothing more than to kiss it away, feeling the familiar tug of lust. Tenten wiped the juice from her chin and lead them through a simple prayer. It ended with a kiss. She leaned in and he followed, catching her lips, tasting the sweet mix of pomegranate on her tongue.

She rolled onto her knees and crawled to him.

And then she was on his lap. Lips against lips, pelvis against pelvis. Then, the pleasure laced gasps that accompanied initial penetration. He held her impossibly close, leaving only enough room for the delicious rise and fall of her hips.

She whimpered and moaned in time with her thrusts, arched her back and let her head fall back, leaving her neck free for kisses.

Her moans vibrated against his lips and hummed through his body when he pulled her hair.

Under the stars and moon, Tenten was something else entirely. Her skin glowed blue with moonlight and orange with candlelight. Goosebumps spread across her chilled flesh, calmed only by the pass of his warm hands.

Neji relished the woman pressed against him. She was the most incredible woman he'd ever known by day and by night... this night... under the vernal moon, she was like a mythical being. She was a rare sight - a unicorn in the woods. She moaned to the tune of a siren's song and burned like a Phoenix in his arms.

And she was his. And he was hers. And they clung to each other, giving and receiving pleasure.

And then there was the roll of her hips. She knew exactly how to move against him, to bring him closer and closer to the edge of pure ecstasy.

It was hard to remember her instructions when she moved like that and Neji wanted nothing more than to let her carry him over the edge, but they had barely just begun.

Neji rolled onto his knees and laid Tenten down, back pressing in to the blanket. With great reluctance he withdrew from her and laid down at her side.

"Too much for you?" Tenten giggled.

"With you? Always." Neji covered her face and neck in kisses and traced his hand down the contours of her body. He let his hand rise and fall over the peaks of her breasts, trail down her flat stomach and trace over hip bones.

"Mmm."

With her encouraging hum, Neji's fingers made their way further south, feeling curls and warm, wet skin. His fingers earned an appreciative gasp for their efforts as Neji began to explore every slick inch of Tenten.

She moaned when he slipped inside of her and thrusted her hips forward when he stroked her clit. Tenten rubbed herself against his fingers and Neji watched, fascinated, as she tuned inwards, focusing on the feel of his hand against her.

Neji pulled her bottom against his hips and entered her again, relishing in the waves of pleasure that followed.

His free hand found a breast and he leaned over her shoulder, watching her come undone before him. She was panting and cursing and desperate.

He moved faster, trying to push her over the edge, nearly succeeding before she stopped his hand.

"N-not... yet..."

She looked back to him, her palm warm on his cheek. She kissed him and slowed their pace. They traded moans and Neji remembered what had brought them to the hot spring at midnight - love. Love and utter devotion.

Then something changed. They weren't just having sex, they were making love. With Tenten, Neji had always thought they were one in the same, but there was a strange new energy between them, a spark he had never felt before.

Perhaps it was the pace she set, or the way they held each other in the chill of night, or, perhaps, it was the energy and pull of the moon.

Whatever it was, Neji, at first skeptical of their ritual, now felt the love that they were conjuring.

And maybe, just maybe, magic was real.

They moaned and sighed and rolled all over the blanket, moving from position to position. He was on top, then she was, and then he was on top of her again, legs slung over his arms. Neji could reach deeper inside of her and he had a spectacular view of her, breasts bouncing in time with thrusts, her fingers circling wildly over her clit. He could feel the swipe of her fingers and light scrape of her nails between thrusts.

And then time froze. The wind stopped blowing and the leaves stopped rustling.

Tenten was mumbling something under her breath in time with the increasing pace of her hand.

"Baby... baby... baby... Oh Inari a baby!"

And then Tenten went rigid, her back arched off the blanket and she cried out. Completely alone in the woods, she let felt no need to be quiet and her moan rang loudly in Neji's ears.

Something changed. Neji wasn't sure exactly what, but it was as if something else had been released with Tenten's orgasm. Perhaps it had been her plea, perhaps it was something else, but Neji felt suddenly very sure of their goal.

He released her legs and lowered himself over her, feeling on the edge of something magical.

His words felt foreign on his lips, but he knew them at once to be true.

"Now," he whispered in her ear. "Now we will conceive."

And he found the deepest part of her and came.

He imagined her body accepting his seed, finally. After months of negative tests and false hopes. Months of bitter disappointment and tears. It all ended tonight. He poured his intention in to his orgasm, as she had instructed, and kissed her as the last few waves of pleasure washed over him.

They whispered their love to each other and Neji propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Well?" She asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"That was... certainly something else."

Tenten chuckled and then her hand was in his hair, pushing it back over his shoulder.

Neji kissed her palm as it passed by and sighed, utterly content. They stayed curled together for a while, trading kisses and caresses.

But the still of their bodies made Neji aware of the chill in the air. Tenten's hands traced the muscles of his back, chasing away the chill as best she could. However, tucked between her knees, Neji had other ideas of how she could keep him warm.

He looked down. Her eyes were half-lidded, her breathing slow and shallow. She was on the verge of sleep. Neji brushed his nose up against hers and she opened her eyes with a smile.

"Do we have to do anything else?"

She shook her head.

"Just give thanks and clean up."

"Do we have to do that right away?" He pressed his hips forward, reminding her that they were still joined as one.

The initial thrill of desire stirred in his groin and Tenten gasped. Neji rolled his hips again with more purpose and watched her eyes roll back as he set a rhythm for her body to follow.

When they were done, they curled under the blankets and dozed in each other's arms. They woke a few hours later and coupled a third time (Tenten liked the number three).

Just before sunrise they thanked Inari and warmed themselves in the spring before dressing.

Neji watched her move around their makeshift campground, gathering supplies and sealing them back in her scroll. She was humming a tune with a grin on her face and a bounce in her step. She glowed in the early dawn light.

He smiled, unable to take his eyes off of her while he worked.

Of course, it was far to early to tell, but she looked different.

Tenten met his gaze and smiled and Neji imagined their children at her side, their family.