Disclaimer- Naruto, both the character and the series, do not belong to me.

There was something utterly bewitching about her at this moment, the way her chest heaved from the exertion of their struggle, the fierce defiance reflecting in her earthy brown orbs, down to the drops of sweat that rolled down her slender, swanlike neck.

She breathed his name once, like a devout prayer and lover's whisper in the dark all in one.

Like a drowning man, he embraced her roughly, taking her lips and capturing them with his own, pressing, demanding, wanting to taste her as though he would die if he wasn't pressing his tongue against hers.

She moaned against his mouth and it sent waves of shocking pleasure down his spine. Her hand was tangled in his hair, his hands, meanwhile, were busy alternately squeezing and stroking her very, very tight ass.

"Tenten," he moaned, as she removed her mouth from his grasp, and then he sucked in a hitched breath as she began licking and nipping at his earlobe, his neck, and oh dear God almighty in Heaven he wanted her, he wanted her very, very badly.

"Tenten... oh..." Her long, lovely legs, those legs his eyes had watched for so long, were wrapped around his waist, pulling her ever closer. But it wasn't enough, and she was already pulling back, ever so slightly.

"Please," she begged, brushing her lips against his gently, eyes wide, pleading, and so sexy that he could feel the blood rushing, descending through his body. "Please say my name like that Neji."

"Tenten..." he moaned again.

Tenten pulled back again, smiling this little smile that he could have sworn made his heart stop altogether. Her mouth opened, and she breathed her words in a low, sultry voice that was utterly sexy-

"Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick."

And not Tenten's at all.

Or sexy.

Or even female.

Seventeen year old Hyuuga Neji's eyes snapped open and he was faced with the very much unwelcome sight of Uzumaki Naruto, looking disgustedly amused.

That's right, Neji thought to himself. I was training by myself, and decided to take a little rest.

Which now seemed to be a very, very bad idea.

"Does Tenten know you're molesting her in your dreams?" Naruto asked, a mischievous look on his face as Neji's sallow cheeks became infused with ruby red.

"You have two choices, Naruto." Neji said slowly, glaring with venomous fury at the blonde ninja, far worse than he had seemed fighting Naruto before, or even during the vicious beating he gave Hinata.

"You can walk away and forget this ever happened."

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Don't think so."

"Or," Neji continued, as though Naruto hadn't spoken at all, "I can kill you."

It was Naruto's turn to be unaffected by the other's words. "Don't think that'll be happening either. I like option number three; tell Tenten that you've been... oh, thinking about getting in her pants for awhile now." The blonde's grin widened. "I like that one."

"Do it, and you'll die before laugh one." Neji snarled, his prized Hyuuga composure quickly falling apart. Even if Tenten didn't believe Naruto, chances were Gai and Lee would. And that alone would make life utterly unbearable.

Well, more unbearable than having to deal with Gai and Lee without the uncomfortable prospect of talking about his illicit dreams starring his female teammate.

It would be like stepping from the third circle of Hell to the ninth. Going from being punched in the arm to kicked in the nuts. From being put under genjutsu by Kurenai-sensei to being tortured by Uchiha Itachi's Tsukiyomi.

In short, Neji would rather choose to commit honorable ritual suicide using a wooden spoon.

Naruto just kept smiling. "Oh come on Neji. We've fought before." He said brightly, waving his hand in dismissal.

"And we're about to fight again. Want to see if your luck holds out?" Neji replied archly, his ever muscle tensing, his killing intent almost visible to the naked eye.

"Or... we could try dour number four." Naruto continued, in that vexing tone, his smile just as bright and annoying as ever.

The vein in Neji's temple just wouldn't stop twitching, but he bit the bullet anyway and asked the question, albeit in halting, barely controlled tones, "And what, exactly, would that be?"

"I don't tell Tenten a thing." Naruto said plainly, that damnable smile still sticking to his face.

Neji squashed the tiny feeling of relief and frowned, definitely smelling a trap. "And what's in it for you?" he asked reluctantly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Naruto's grin defied physical law. So did the fact that Neji's vein didn't pop or that he didn't have an aneurysm right then and there.

"Well, here's what I had in mind..."

---

This is crazy. This is completely, totally, utterly ludicrous.

Were his palms sweaty? Did his palms ever sweat before this?

There's no way she'll say yes.

Yeah, his palms were definitely sweating.

Oh God, why couldn't Naruto have asked me to go assassinate a member of Akatsuki or overthrow the Hidden Rock?

"Neji?" Tenten blinked, gazing at her teammate in concern. He looked unusually agitated, even twitching at some moments, rubbing his palms against his traditional Hyuuga robes at others.

This was very strange.

"I... that is..." Neji swallowed, cursing Naruto to the black, crushing oblivion of Hell for all eternity for the twenty first time. He could feel the temperature rising around him, soaring to heat rivaled only by the most powerful fire jutsu. "I..."

"Yes?" Tenten was looking quite concerned... and cute, which was not helping Neji's cause in the slightest.

"Would you... go... I mean... could I have the pleasure of..." Neji's fingers were twitching erratically, his breathing was becoming shallower and faster, and-

He blacked out.

---

He held her slender form in his arms, feeling her feminine body pressing against him. She was so beautiful.

"Oh Neji..." she breathed, cheeks stained with blush, eyes wide as loose strands of chestnut hair framed her elegantly shaped face perfectly.

"Tenten..." he murmured in response, inching closer, savoring every moment.

"Neji?"

Her tone seemed different... less sultry, more... concerned?

"Neji?"

The Hyuuga prodigy's eyes snapped open and, in an instant, he registered everything around him. The familiar walls of his room within the Hyuuga compound, as well as the equally familiar (though not in this setting) form of Tenten, kneeling next to him, eyes wide and expressive with concern.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake." Teten breathed, smiling, and Neji could have kissed her for that smile.

"I'm fine... what happened?" Neji asked weakly, his throat feeling dry as a desert in summer.

"You blacked out and hit your head. Are you sick?" Tenten asked worriedly, leaning over him.

"Probably just a bug or the heat." Neji replied evasively, feeling utterly ashamed. Generations upon generations of Hyuuga must be turning in their graves. Really, for a Hyuuga to faint at the prospect of asking a girl out on a date...

Okay, so he'd never done it before. Still, he was Hyuuga damn it!

Glancing outside his window, he noted the stars in the sky, an idea forming in his mind. "It must be late by now. Have you eaten?" Neji asked, feeling that perhaps he could still salvage something out of today's utterly humiliating events.

Tenten shook her head. "No. I'm not really looking forward to going home and making my own dinner, since my parents are out on a mission..." she continued, sighing wistfully.

"Stay here then."

Tenten's mouth opened to respond, but then closed itself quickly. It did this a few more times, before she managed a stuttering, "W-what? Eat here? At the Hyuuga compound?"

Neji nodded, picking himself up fully. "By now, the others must have already eaten. But I can probably prepare you a quick, simple meal if you like." His tone was sincere and smooth, are far cry from the nervous wreck he had been earlier.

Tenten briefly struggled with the idea of turning down the offer, but eventually decided that she might as well eat here. She'd be able to say that not only had she eaten at the Hyuuga compound, she'd even shared a meal prepared by Hyuuga Neji, with Hyuuga Neji. As in, like a date.

She squashed that last thought. After all, Neji was hardly interested in her, was he?

---

"This is really good Neji!" Tenten said appreciatively. "I never knew you could make tempura this well! And the miso was also very good!"

Neji shrugged, trying to be nonchalant and hoping there was no blood rushing to his cheeks (praise on battle ability was one thing, cooking ability another). "Tempura is not that difficult a dish. And it's Hiashi-sama's favorite, so I've cooked it before."

Tenten blinked. As much as Neji's relationship with the Main House had stabilized, she simply couldn't see the proud Hyuuga agreeing to be anyone's chef. "When did you do that?" she asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"We've trained very late some nights. I've cooked for him during those times." Neji replied calmly, shrugging again. "It's my way of thanking him for training me, regardless of clan law."

Tenten smiled softly, and Neji tried not to look surprised. "That's so nice of you Neji. You've grown so kind over the years." When Neji looked rather affronted, she giggled, and continued, "Well, sometimes. But you've definitely changed for the better, Neji. I like this new you."

Neji felt a small part of him whoop for joy and start dancing like a complete and utter moron.

The rest of his body wanted to follow suit, but orders from the ego, the reasoning center, told those parts of the body to stay as they were.

"... thank you." Neji said quietly, and allowed his lips to curl upwards, ever so slightly. But Tenten noticed, and smiled brightly in response.

They stared at each other for a brief, but lovely moment. Pearly white orbs met earthy chocolate.

Her lips... Neji wondered at those glorious, soft, pink lips. He wanted them, he wanted to capture them with his own and taste them. He started to lean forward-

And then Hiashi walked in.

It was a terse moment. Tenten's cheeks were burning a furious cherubic red. Neji, on the other hand, felt a familiar rage toward Hiashi, but this one burned even fiercer, with all the fury of a man cheated out of getting some.

"Oh. Well Neji, I didn't know you had a guest." Hiashi said smoothly, trying to cover up the amazing awkwardness of the moment. "I'll just be going now."

"We weren't doing anything!" Tenten blurted out, before she could stop herself.

Hiashi chuckled, amused, his eyebrow arched in the classic pose of "I don't believe you". "Of course not, my dear." And with that, he left the room, with Neji still seething in his wake.

An older Hyuuga, Hiashi's second cousin, started toward the door of the dining room, but Hiashi held out a palm. "No one goes in. Neji has a girl in there." Hiashi said quickly, the command in his voice crystal clear.

The Hyuuga's eyes widened, and fairly soon, the whole compound was ablaze with a single phrase.

"Neji has a girl in the dining room!"

Hinata was said to have nearly fainted from the shock.

That she didn't was a great relief. Several other Hyuuga's already had, or had heart attacks and had to be sent to the hospital.

Tsunade would later be quoted with saying about this night, "Holy shit! Neji actually did a girl? No wonder these old guys had a heart attack."

---

"Thank you for dinner, and for walking me home." Tenten said quietly, smiling. "I hope I haven't been too much trouble."

"It was no problem." Neji replied calmly, gazing forward, trying his best not to notice the fact that Tenten looked utterly gorgeous in the dark light of the stars and moon.

He was failing miserably.

They stood at her doorstep, Tenten smiling, while Neji allowed his face to soften (hey, he had already smiled during dinner. That was his smiling quota for the month) as he gazed at her.

"Well, good night. Thanks again for the dinner." Tenten murmured softly, her eyes bright and warm.

Neji shifted his weight, feeling that strange heat surrounding him again. "It was no problem." He said slowly. "Good nigh-" he stopped dead as Tenten, quickly and smoothly, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"That's for the nice night tonight," Tenten smiled widely, her cheeks faintly red. "We should do it again sometime."

And with that, she was inside the house and out of his sight, but not out of mind.

Neji stood there in shock, surrounded by beams of moonlight, shaking as he pressed a trembling hand to his cheek.

Neji decided that he could start upping the quota for smiles, especially if Tenten meant what she said about "do it again sometime".

---

Naruto sniggered, watching the stoic Hyuuga Neji stand in front of Tenten's doorstep, hand on his cheek and smiling like an idiot.

"Not bad for just a dinner date between two friends." The man who got him roped into this commented, looking rather amused.

"Are we done now, ero-sennin? You got to see Tenten and Neji out on a date, are you happy now?" Naruto asked, yawning, looking bored as Neji began to walk away. "What was the big deal with me having me force Neji to take Tenten on a date anyway?"

The great Jiraiya the Toad Hermit responded with an offended look. "Naruto my boy, an artist needs inspiration! And for my newest novel, a romance between a cold hearted shinobi and the kunoichi who tamed his heart, I must have visual inspiration!" Jiraiya's tone was filled with fiery passion as he posed.

As an afterthought, he added, "And you said you didn't want to set Sasuke and Sakura up, so they were the next best choice."

Naruto scowled darkly, showing what he thought of setting Sasuke and Sakura up on a date himself. "Yeah, well, it's over now. And you promise never to tell old lady Tsunade it was me who destroyed that shipment of sake, right?" he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at his mentor.

"You wound me, Naruto." Jiraiya replied, feigning hurt. "A deal is a deal."

Naruto yawned again. "Then I'm going home. I need some sleep."

Jiraiya waved his student away, already focusing on the paper in front of him. He began to write the climactic scene of the novel, the passionate moment shared between the shinobi and kunoichi.

There was something utterly bewitching about her at this moment, the way her chest heaved from the exertion of their struggle, the fierce defiance reflecting in her earthy brown orbs, down to the drops of sweat that rolled down her slender, swanlike neck...

Jiraiya frowned. That sounded a little corny, even for him.

After a moment's thought, he tore up the passage and tossed it away into the bushes. "That was a horribly written passage." Jiraiya muttered, rubbing his forehead irritably. "God, what kind of crappy ass writer am I? I sound like I'm some stupid teenager without a clue how to write a romantic story. Let's try that again..."