A/N: I'll update Beauty and the Not-So Beastly soon- I promise!

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Love in the Time of Kunouchi

By Amordeliroiusa

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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To be in anbu was an incredible honor. It represented strength, intellect, courage, and an astounding loyalty to your country that few possessed. It wasn't easy- only a fool would say so, but the life of a ninja was lived for one's country first, for oneself later.

They were all in their early twenties, Tenten barely turning 21 the month before, and they all lived in the country paid house given to them for their amazing achievements as respective officers of the elite force.

Life spent killing, stealing, and seducing didn't leave room for much more than one night stands and irresponsible drunken pity parties on the days between their missions. They were young and emotionally stinted, how could you not be when at age 12 you were asked to stab a knife through someone's heart?

But they didn't complain. They lived to protect Konoha and its people.

Love and life be damned.

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"Get up."

A groan and a few scattered curses resounded back towards the tall Hyuuga as he eyed the sleeping blob curled up in bed in front of him. He sighed, gripping the top of the blanket and ripping it off, tossing it towards the ground and staring expectantly at the glaring girl staring back up at him.

"I can't."

Her hair was tousled and the lack of sleep in her eyes proved his guesses correct- she had been awake for awhile now, but unwilling to get up. It was nearing sunset now and Tenten had been in bed all day, which he had permitted considering she had gotten in late last night.

But this was ridiculous.

"Everyone does a seduction mission at least once in their lifetime Tenten, get up."

To his surprise, she did. She sat up quickly, grabbing his hand at the same time and tugging. Pulling him until he was practically on top of her, she let go of his hand in favor of his face, pulling it closer to her as she kissed him softly.

They spent the next few minutes in silence, mouths moving and Neji's fingers stroking Tenten's uncovered hip. When she finally pulled away, breathless and sighing, she stared up at his wide, moonlit orbs with the look of someone whose worst fears had been confirmed.

"Yesterday, that would have meant something to me."

He rested his forehead on hers. Pecking her lips, he sat up and pulled down her shirt, which had been previously riding up to reveal her well toned abdomen and long porcelain legs. Tilting her chin up, he stared at her seriously.

"You are still the same person you were yesterday. Now get up Tenten."

She didn't move from bed, staring up at the ceiling with the lost sensation that the body she was in didn't belong to her anymore, until Neji called back from the hallway the four words that would bring her back to life.

"Sasuke brought back vodka."

Rolling out of bed, Tenten was out the door in two seconds.

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The music pounded loudly and she watched as the shot glasses in front of her seemed to move to the sound of it.

She could still feel the man's hands, groping and meaty, shuddering slightly, she filled her glass again. Downing her shot, she turned the stool to watch Sakura on their make shift dance floor.

The girl was laughing, one hand behind her wrapped around Sai's neck as she danced provocatively, sashaying with the grace of an experienced dancer. Sasuke was saying something to Naruto, but his attention instantly directed itself towards Sakura as she winked playfully at him, gesturing for him to come towards her.

Since the return and reinstatement of Uchiha Sasuke as one of Konoha's own leaf ninja, Sakura had given up on the fantasy of ever being Mrs Uchiha Sakura. In reality, she had actually given up on the idea of being Mrs. Anyone other than Haruno Sakura.

Two months ago, Sakura had slammed her glass onto the bar with a "Kunouchi aren't meant to have relationships, we're killing machines and if I can't have the whole thing, why can't I have the cheap two second version of love?"

Tenten had thought she was crazy, but chose not to comment when Sakura had led Uchiha Sasuke into her bedroom that night for what everyone knew was not an innocent conversation of his betrayal. She saw nothing wrong with Sakura wanting to be with Sasuke, that was, until she watched Sakura lead Sai into her bedroom two weeks after that.

And that was when Tenten finally began to notice that the kunouchi of her time had neither boyfriends nor husbands.

They had friends.

But what was so wrong with acting intimately with a friend? Didn't you earn that right when that same friend bathed in blood with you? Stabbed a heart with you? Watched children burn to death with you?

Wasn't that far past what boyfriend and girlfriend went through anyway?

Tenten only fuzzily understood the romantic life of the kunouchi, but after last night, she knew she understood Sakura, and Ino, and even Hinata more than she had ever before.

Reveling in the burning sensation of the vodka sliding down her throat, she slid the glass away from her with a determination and grace that most women dreamed of possessing.

Starting towards the dance floor, she stopped when a deep voice, unconsciously husky, spoke from behind her.

"I thought you didn't like dancing- something about the way random people grabbed you?"

She turned towards him, not even hiding the fact that her eyes roamed over his crossed arms, angular face, and calm eyes. He was dressed in a black button up shirt that did beautiful things with his upper body and she smiled at him appreciatively.

"Not random people, fellow ninja."

His eyebrows crinkled slightly in annoyance. "Tenten you are worth more than five minute thrills and drunken acts of pleasure."

Laughing, she gave him a thumbs up as she made her way into the sashaying crowd, calling back, "How can you tell me how much my body is worth when my country is selling it for 5,000 yen a mission?"

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Waking up with a start in the darkness, the first thing she did was access what she was currently wearing and what was currently scattered all around the floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, she thanked Kami that her undergarments were still firmly in place, if not a tiny bit jostled.

Sliding out of the bed, she collected her shorts, her silken tank top, and the ribbons that had been keeping her hair into place.

With her clothes in a bundle in her arms, she took one last look at the sleeping form of Uchiha Sasuke and made her way down the hall to the only room she could see herself sleeping in that night.

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Hyuuga Neji had been sleeping peacefully when the sound of someone slipping his door open woke him with a start. Instantly snapping his eyes open, he activitated the Byakugan-which was not the best idea considering how much Grey Goose he had practically inhaled just hours earlier.

"Shit," he muttered, body tensing in preparation for a fight when the sweetly strong scent of warm vanilla buried itself onto his bare upper body. "Tenten?"

She made some sort of confirming noise as she curled even tighter against him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "Let me sleep with you," she mumbled, feighning drowsiness when in reality she was wide awake.

He wrapped an arm around the half clothed girl, kissing the top of her head. "I'm shocked-did sleeping with Uchiha not make you feel better?"

She chose to ignore the biting sarcasm in his voice, opting not to mention that they hadn't actually slept together but instead saying the one thing that she knew for certain she felt after a very heated make out session with Sasuke.

"It made me feel in control."

He pulled her closer, tucking her head underneath his chin. "Goodnight Tenten, we have a mission tomorrow."

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A/N: This is really just experimental, I haven't actually decided what I'm going to do with this story. Maybe it'll be a drabble of all the difficulties of being a kunouchi, or maybe it'll be a multichaptered fic. I'm not really sure if I'm even going to keep it, I just want to explore the idea of soulmates and the one you're supposed to be with no matter what. I don't know-maybe. So your feedback would be greatly appreciated!