surpriiiiise it's a second chapter!

also i'm updating so soon after my last story! w o w

this modern au is reaching its close, btw. I think I have one(? maybe 2 i can't remember) story left that will take place before anything else in the sequence.

The first love letter arrived in April.

Neji had just arrived back at their apartment after work- he still called it 'theirs' inside his mind, even though Tenten hadn't set foot in it in almost three months- and paused to grab the mail before heading up the steps.

He set it on the table to sort through later, then brought his briefcase into their makeshift office- they'd found that the room was just barely large enough to hold two desks and still be comfortable, so Tenten had bought a desk and now she worked with him in the office instead of scattering her papers all across the dining table like she'd done in the past.

The glint of metal around his finger caught his eye as he put his briefcase on his desk, and he paused, regarding it with soft eyes. After the first day when they initially got engaged, they'd been out sightseeing together and Tenten had ducked into that same little shop where she'd gotten her necklace and had the inner band of a platinum ring engraved with 'Tenten' in a mock-up of her own handwriting.

She had done it secretly, and then presented it to him once they were back at her apartment, telling him, "There! Now I put a ring on it too."

He'd been so overcome with indescribable emotion that the only thing he could think of to do was slide the ring on and then walk into the bathroom and hide for five minutes, which fortunately had amused Tenten rather than hurting her feelings.

Neji wore the ring almost constantly now, and every so often it would catch his eye and he'd be filled with that warm, indescribable feeling again. (He never really assumed that Tenten would get him an engagement ring as well, and the fact that'd she made it so thoughtful and personal made him ache to have her at his side once more.)

After dropping off his briefcase and changing into more casual wear- which meant he took off his suit coat and loosened his tie slightly, because that was casual enough, thank you- he pulled out the newspaper he hadn't finished that morning, and settled down for a pleasant evening of tea and crosswords.

(Mostly pleasant, at least- he missed Tenten teasing him for being a crotchety old man who got grumpy if he didn't finish the crossword every day, and looking up and seeing her playing Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy- or even Minecraft, sometimes. Neji unwound with putting words in organized boxes, Tenten unwound by making characters do stupid things in video games.)

The mail sat, unopened and unread in the organizer- well, the bills and important-looking mail were opened and filed away in the proper places- until that weekend, when he finally opened the "fun" mail. Usually Tenten opened all the "fun" mail, which is why he tended to forget about it.

Most of it was trivial things, magazines or advertisements, but he got to the bottom of the stack and paused over a thicker envelope with their address hand-written on the front.

He used his letter opener- a joke, 'you're an old man' gift from Tenten that had been very useful and had backfired on her completely- to slice through the seam, and as he pulled the contents out from the envelope he caught a whiff of a pleasant, familiar scent.

How odd. He unfolded the thick, seemingly high-quality paper and his heart leapt as he recognized Tenten's chicken-scratch writing.

Hey babe!

I found this paper at a store the other day and I thought it was cute- look at the little illustrations on it! (She had drawn an arrow pointing to a illustration of a cartoon elephant, and had written a caption underneath it declaring it 'so cute!') I wanted to use it for something and I'm literally thinking about you all the time so why the hell not.

Although to be fair I tell you a lot about what's going on in my life pretty much every day over text or whatever so I'm really not sure how much information I can put on here that you don't already know.

Uhhhhhhhhhh sup bitch you're looking hawt 2day.

(He grinned and shook his head a little in fond exasperation.)

Anyway, your uncle left me a voicemail the other day- yeah, it was weird- and formally congratulated me on our engagement (! engagement!). I'm still really bad at reading his tone without seeing his facial expressions, but he seemed genuine? Probably. Anyways do you think I should call him back to thank him, or is it well enough to leave as is? It seemed like a cut-and-dry kind of deal but I don't want to be rude.

Speaking of which, fiance (here she had drawn several hearts), how do we want to go about planning this out? I'm headed back to Konoha in mid-June, so we can really start hashing it out then, but if there's anything that can be decided now we could get a head start?

Sometimes I can't believe we're actually going to get married, but I also feel like I've known it would happen ever since we moved in together. You don't do things by halves, my love.

(Neji's heart fluttered at the endearment.)

You know what I was thinking about the other day? That time we went to that beach in Suna with the rest of our friends and it was the first time you'd seen me in a bikini since we were like 17 and then you basically dragged me off to have sex in our hotel room instead of actually swimming. Ino kept making fun of me but also I got laid pretty consistently that week so I wasn't complaining.

Also, one of the days we were there I convinced you to ditch everyone with me to go to a private beach and wear a speedo so THAT was pretty damn nice.

You make me very happy, Neji, did you know that? I hope you do; I try to make it apparent.

I know you don't think of yourself this way, but you're kind and thoughtful and sweet and have such a mean sense of humor that when you choose to use it it's positively delightful. You're so serious about everything, even little things like keeping paper clips organized. It's the most endearing thing and I adore you, Neji, I really do.

This took a sappier turn. Not what I had in mind when I first started writing this letter to you, but the idea of writing you love letters is really nice, actually.

(It's much easier to confess my deep and mushy feelings to you when we're not face-to-face, lol.)

I miss you.

I miss being with you in our apartment, and just looking up and seeing you. I miss surprising you at work with lunch. I miss cooking with you. I miss you reading over all my essays to help me edit them. I miss taking that one weekend a month and spending a whole day making love. I miss waking up with you in the mornings, and going to bed together at night.

I miss you making me feel better after a crappy day, just by letting me rant to you about it and then kissing my hand. I miss shopping for groceries with you. I miss arguing with you over whose turn it is to unclog the shower drain. I miss coming home to you.

Anyway.

I love you, Neji. Please don't ever mention to me that I wrote you a love letter because I will crumble up and die of embarrassment and then you'll be out a whole fiancee.

Love,

Tenten ️

P.S. I sprayed this paper with some of my perfume (it felt appropriate) so hopefully some of the smell is still there when you open this. If not, uhhh sorry I guess.

Neji reached the end of the letter and continued staring at it blankly, his heart thudding loudly in his chest. After a minute, he read it again, and again, and again, the smile on his face growing wider and more tender each time.

He traced his fingers over the print on the page, over the tiny doodled hearts in the margins, over the spot where she'd made a typo and crossed out the mistake a dozen times, leaving an inky blob on the page.

I miss you too, he thought across the space between them, to where he imagined Tenten gleefully studying an artifact over a desk in the National Museum of China. I love you too.

He carefully folded up the letter and tucked it away in a drawer in his desk.

The next letter came a few weeks later. Per Tenten's request, Neji hadn't brought up the letter at all to her, though he'd read it dozens of times in the weeks since he'd received it.

This time he recognized the writing on the envelope and hastened to open it, unsealing it eagerly but carefully. He unfolded the paper tucked neatly inside and a few small squares of paper contained within the letter fluttered onto the table top.

He picked one up to see what it was and sat down sharply onto the chair, his breath escaping him in a sharp exhale.

It was a picture of Tenten, but it was certainly more risque than any picture he'd seen of her. It was framed from her nose to just above her waist, with her lips- parted just the slightest amount, hinting at teeth and tongue- a painted crimson and her hair down and tumbling over her freckled shoulders and the tops of her breasts- which were very easy to see in the low cut, not-quite-sheer black lingerie she was wearing.

Neji's mouth was very dry.

He flipped to the next picture. This time it was an image of Tenten's reflection framed in the mirror, again from her lips down but this time with the rest of her body as well. She was sprawled back against red satin sheets in the bed, lying with her back arched and legs lifted sensuously in the air. She was wearing the rest of the lingerie set to match her brassiere, with silky-looking panties and stockings with bows draped over her thighs.

Her head was turned to face the mirror as she took the picture with the clunky polaroid she'd purchased for her trip, teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

(It was completely unfair that she would send these to him when they weren't due to Skype-sex for another four days.)

The final picture was a simple shot of Tenten's face, grinning at the camera and looking exuberant and triumphant. There was an almost childlike smugness to her grin, and the contradiction between her self-satisfaction and the erotic images she'd given him was Tenten to her essence.

(She also was sporting a smokey eye to go along with her ruby lips, and looked devastating.)

Neji considered the pictures for a few more minutes (about fifteen, if he were being completely honest) before finally straightening out the actual letter Tenten had sent to read it.

Hey, lover,

Guess where I shopped this weekend?

Just kidding because it was like a little stand-alone shop and doesn't have any other stores, but yeah I got so much lingerie. I'm excited for you to see me in it face-to-face.

Speaking of, I think we should schedule a trip for me to come back to Konoha for a few days, so that way I can see not only you but have a night out with some of our friends too? Lee has texted me literally every single day since I've been gone. To be fair you have too but that's different.

Anyway, I never send you intimate photos because I guess the concept of having those on your phone makes you uncomfortable (I think? You never really explained that to me) but I really, really wanted to this time around. Then I remembered that I write love letters to you now (apparently) and I figured I could just throw them in with that.

Cyber sex isn't doing it for me anymore, babe. I want your hands on me, working me over the edge. I want you tasting my skin. I want my hair wrapped around your fist as you pound into me from behind. I want you to fuck me until the only name I can remember is yours.

I love you and I love your penis ️3

Yours forever, Tenten

Neji's cheeks burned, and he had to take a minute to compose himself. This letter was certainly… different from the first one Tenten had sent.

He read through it once more, glancing between the pictures and the letter. Each look at the pictures- especially the one of Tenten draped suggestively across the bed- made his blush burn ever darker.

After a few more minutes spent sitting and staring and blushing and looking away, then staring again and starting the whole process over, Neji brought the letter into the office to out it away with the first one, then- after a moment of hesitation- tucked the pictures discreetly between the sheets of paper and out of sight- but far from out of mind.

More letters came eventually, but not before a surprise visit from Tenten herself. They had been coordinating plans for her to come back for a few days to visit both Neji and their friends, but nothing had been set in stone yet.

Which is why it was such a shock on a random Thursday evening in May, after Neji had spent the day blearily working from home with a bad cold, when the front door busted open and Tenten all but fell into his arms.

He barely managed to catch her, both from the shock of seeing her there and from his general illness-based fatigue. "...Tenten?"

"I hate it when you're sick," she muttered into his shoulder, cuddling so hard into his chest it almost hurt. "You deserve to feel healthy and good and not crappy forever."

"How… what..." Neji could hardly even think- and he had already been feeling that way before Tenten's arrival, when he was just struggling through a cold. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh- um, right." Her awkward reaction made a spark of anticipation- dulled from his cold- slowly creep down his spine from the base of his neck to the small of his back. Tenten only ever reacted that way when she'd done something that she thought of as embarrassingly sappy and sentimental, which he himself inevitably found crushingly romantic and wonderful.

Tenten remained hopefully quiet for a few moments, seemingly waiting to see if he'd let her out of answering the question, then groaned and pressed her face flat against his chest. "You texted me yesterday and mentioned you weren't feeling great, then when you called your voice was kind of hoarse, and then you texted this morning and said you were working from home with a bad cold, and I really hated the idea of you just wallowing around all day by yourself while you're sick- so I'm here till Sunday."

Neji felt his heart rate pick up. "If I wasn't so sick, I'd kiss you for an hour straight." He mumbled into her hair.

"Thanks, love. If you weren't so sick I'd let you." They paused for a moment and held each other.

Neji ruined the moment by turning away and coughing hoarsely into the crook of his arm, then standing rigidly still with his eyes clenched shut as a wave of pain shot through his chest.

Instantly, Tenten went from tender lover to panicking fiancee. "Neji! Oh my god!"

He paused in his coughing fit for a few moments and said hoarsely, "I'm fine."

"No, I am not accepting that as an answer. Go lie down, I bet you've been working all day…" She hustled him into their bedroom and onto the bed, fussing over him a little as he settled down.

She had never done anything quite like this before when he was sick, and he had to admit he found it… nice. (He felt important and pampered, and that coupled with the fact that he hadn't actually seen Tenten in a month made it all the more significant).

Tenten briskly closed the curtains, pressed several kisses to his forehead- which made him fight back both an eye roll and a smile- then marched out the door into the hallway, shutting off the lights behind her.

Neji could hear her soft steps heading towards the kitchen and idly wondered what she was up to as he drifted off.

He awoke an insurmountable amount of time later to what may have been a delicious smell (his sinuses were pretty much useless) and the sound of Tenten softly clanking away in the kitchen, sometimes singing along with the radio.

He didn't make any efforts to get up, instead laying stock-still and listening to her. Her sudden presence was finally starting to sink in. She had dropped absolutely everything- work, her classes, her plans for the weekend- and took a six-hour long trip just to come take care of him while he was sick.

She must really love me, he thought sleepily to himself. The thought made happiness bubble up inside him, and he closed his eyes to savor the feeling.

Tenten gently woke him what felt like seconds later, cupping his jaw in her hand and running her thumb over his cheekbone. He blinked up at her, slightly disoriented, and she gave him a soft smile and leaned down to press a tender, lingering kiss to his other cheek.

"I made chicken herbal soup," she told him quietly. Neji wound his arm around her waist and tugged her a little closer, pressing his forehead against her cheek for a few moments before starting to get out of bed.

She shoved one hand against his chest and easily brought him back down. "No, I set up a tray so you can eat in here." His gaze drifted past her shoulder at the two trays balanced on the bedside table, presumably one for both of them.

He tried to sit up, but Tenten scowled at him and pressed down even harder. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Can I sit up to eat it?"

Rather than admitting her mistake, she sniffed haughtily and said, "I suppose."

Neji sat up and she settled the tray over him. She'd prepared him a simple meal of soup and water then fixed the same for herself, along with some bread and a beer (because of course.)

"You want any bread?" She asked him, settling down on her side of the bed with her tray.

(Seeing her there again, after so long without her sleeping at his side, brought together something inside Neji that had been dulled and empty.)

"No thank you," he murmured to her inquiry, picking up his spoon and slowly beginning to eat. She mirrored him, and they were quiet for a few moments as they ate together.

"How is it?" Tenten asked, tearing off a chunk of bread and popping it into her mouth.

"Excellent, I assume," he told her. "I can't taste very well right now."

She snorted. "Well then, please imagine the taste."

"Of course, dearest."

Tenten hid her smile at the endearment with a sip of beer.

Once Neji had woken up a little more they started actually talking, filling in the empty spaces in their connection that the distance between them had created.

It was so easy, slipping back into the quiet back-and-forth that they shared, sometimes teasing, sometimes serious, sometimes inconsequential. (Sometimes almost menial- not to them, never between the two of them- but to vocal onlookers such as Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki, the two of them had the most boring, un-romantic, not couple-y conversations ever, pretty much all the time.)

After they'd eaten dinner (and Tenten had brought in some more tissues for Neji's runny sinuses) they put on one of their TV shows and cuddled up with one another against the headboard, with Neji sinking farther and farther against the warm slope of Tenten's shoulder. Eventually she moved so she was fully behind him, his back against her front and his head resting on her collarbone.

Perhaps if he had been feeling healthier he may have indulged in the soft press of her breasts against his shoulder blades, but as he was now he simply registered the sensation before resting his head back and focusing once more on the television.

It wasn't long before he had fallen asleep once more.

Tenten gently stroked her fingers through Neji's hair, starting at his temple and working her way through the silken strands- even while he was sick, it was soft and pleasant. Every few minutes she would drop a kiss to his head, feeling almost unbearably tender at his weakened state.

(It had surprised her a little, that unsupressable urge she had felt to rush to his side to take care of him the second she realized he was sick. It was probably encouraged on by the fact that she hadn't seen him for a month and was missing him dearly- so she'd made something up to her colleagues about an issue with her temporary replacement at Konoha's museum and hopped on the soonest flight back home.)

Neji had been sleeping for almost half an hour against her, and she'd since switched to watching one of her favorite K-dramas as she gave him a soft head rub. She knew he'd had a headache- there was tension in the corners of his eyes and his jaw had been clenched as he did his best to ignore it- but it seemed to have abated after his nap.

That didn't stop her from alternating between stroking his temples and massaging at his neck muscles with her thumb while he slept.

She ducked her head again and pressed her lips to the barely-there wrinkles lining the sides of his eyes, lingering there for a while before pulling away just a little and pressing another kiss to his hairline.

Neji stirred slightly at the contact, rolling a little on his side and in the process moving his head from the right side of her collarbone to more aligned in the center.

Really, it was prime head-kissing position, so Tenten immediately put three more kisses along the part of his hair. (She could tell that he had showered before she arrived- at least if the pleasant scent of his shampoo was any indication.) After a moment, she raised the leg that Neji was no longer laying on and bent it so it was behind his back and he was half-pressed against it, then wrapped both her arms around Neji's torso so she was full-on cuddling him.

(It also inadvertently pushed her cleavage together and now Neji was definitely using her boobs as his pillow, but whatever.)

She watched her K-drama for a few more minutes, dropping kisses to the crown of Neji's head in between her incredulous gasping. (Yes, she'd seen this particular one before, but it got her every time.)

Her episode was coming to a close- on a cliffhanger, of course- when Neji stirred against her. She watched his profile as his eyes fluttered open and he slowly woke up, then suddenly frowned and made to sit up.

Confused, she let him break through her arms and sit up with surprising swiftness considering how sick he was, jerking his head around to look at her.

Had she pissed him off somehow with overly kiss-filled cuddling? "Neji?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, no expression whatsoever on his face, before he muttered, "Tenten," and slumped back against her. He grabbed her hand in front of him and twined their fingers together as if hadn't just woken up from a nap and gone temporarily murderous.

Tenten stared down at his head, incredulous. "Excuse you, what was that all about?"

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. "I woke up after four months of my fiancee being gone pressed against someone's breasts in our apartment."

She gaped down at him. "What, you forgot it was me?"

"I suppose so. Very relieving to see you here," he muttered, then burrowed his head a little further into said breasts.

Tenten squeaked in startlement. It was very unlike him to be so… fond of her attributes in such a obvious manner.

He continued nuzzling against her, and his face dipped ever so slightly into the prominent cleavage exposed by her tank top. It proved to be too much for her, and she shoved him out with a slightly nervous giggle. "OH-kayyyy, get out of there."

"You drive a hard bargain," Neji sat up and moved to sit next to her, draping his arm over her shoulders and guiding her in close to kiss her forehead.

"Are you even up for sex?" She asked him curiously, snuggling into the warm skin on his neck and playing with the fingers on his free hand.

"Probably nothing complicated," he admitted. Abruptly he caught her hand in his and held it up a little higher, slowly rotating her wrist so her ring caught the low light and shone. He considered it for a moment before twining their fingers back together so their rings met with a little clink.

"But if you wear some of that new lingerie, I might be able to summon up some more energy," he continued. Tenten flushed crimson.

By Friday night, Neji was feeling much better, so Tenten didn't feel guilty about getting together with Ino, Sakura and Hinata for a "I'm here for one weekend only let's go tear it up" night out.

If her texts from the end of the evening were any indication, she'd had a great time.

'Heyyyyyy babyyyyy'

'Hello Tenten.'

'hahahjjhh'

'I take it girls' night is going well.'

'Omg yessssss sakra had a beer chugigng contest w some frat boys and she kickkd their asses'

'Good for her.'

'Yheah omg neji guess what'

'What?'

'you'll neverrr guess'

'So just tell me.'

'Okokok fine r you ready?'

'Yes.'

'I love you! 😘'

'I could have guessed that.'

"UR SUPPOWSED TO SAY YOU LOVE ME TOOOO'

'I love you too, dearest.'

'Ahahah i like it when yoiu call me thattttt'

'Is that so.'

'Yeahaha but you onyl ever call me that when im annoiying youu and youree trying to'

'whats the word'

'Placate me.'

'Do you want me to call you that more often?'

'Noooo i dont really mind i just like ut when you sya it.'

'Also i liik it when you call me tenne'

'tenne'

'tennie'

'I like it when you call me 'my love'.'

'AWWWWW nejiiiiiiii i lkke that you ARE nmy love! ❤️💗💖💘💞💝💓'

'Ilove you neji'

'I love you too, Tenten. Get back to your friends and tell Hinata not to drink too much wine because it makes her cry; I'll see you when Ino drops you off.'

'Yeah baby then we,ll have SEX!'

(And they did.)

Tenten groaned against the soft, pleasant-smelling fabric of Neji's sweater. "I don't wanna leave you agaaaaiin. Can't you just come with me as my carry-on?"

He kissed the part of her bangs. "I wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment."

"Damn, I guess that's the only fault in my logic." She kissed him briefly. "See you- when did we decide? Beginning of June?"

"Yes."

"Ugh. Okay, see you in stupid June, fiance."

"And on Skype every Friday. See you then, dearest."

She tittered. "Um, yeah. Love you, babe."

"I love you too. Have a nice flight and text me when you can."

One last kiss, and they parted ways.

The letters continued in Tenten's absence, arriving about once a week and always brightening Neji's day. Their contents varied- sometimes just random scribbled thoughts, sometimes anecdotes about her day, sometimes stories about work, about friends, about coworkers; sometimes pictures of artifacts and sometimes pictures of Tenten; sometimes risque and sometimes romantic.

Neji kept them all, carefully stowing them in a binder and organizing them by date received. Every so often he would page through it and read over some of them again. (Sometimes he had some sake to go with his reading. These nights often resulted in him calling Tenten and the two of them making sappy confessions to each other until one of them needed to go to bed.)

The end of Tenten's work-study abroad in July brought an end to the letters- but with Tenten settling back into life in Konoha, Neji didn't miss them.

They had a wedding to plan, after all.