Spider Lie

"Tenten, hold still."

"Why Neji?" She turned her inquisitive brown eyes to him, wondering why he was reaching toward her head.

"There's a spider in your hair." He winced slightly as she screamed.

"Get it out! Neji! Get it out!"

"I will if you hold still." He pinched one of the ribbons holding her hair into buns and pulled, acting as though he was pulling an arachnid instead. "I missed. Let me try again."

Tenten was nearly shaking. She hated spiders, and she was going to lose it if Neji didn't get this one out of her hair...

"There, all gone." She opened her tightly closed eyes to see her Hyuuga friend grinning; her hair ribbons in his hand. She threw herself at him, hugging him like her life depended on it.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

He knew full well that she was deathly afraid of spiders. That didn't stop him. He barely felt any remorse. He just wanted and excuse to see her with her hair down. Getting to hold her was just a bonus.

Kiss It Better

Her blood dripped down the blade of a kunai and Neji frowned. She was the weapons mistress. She wasn't supposed to cut herself. So he immediately knew something was wrong. He just needed to figure out what.

"What's wrong, Tenten?"

"Nothing. Just got distracted."

He didn't believe her for a second, but he decided to let it go. Tenten could be very stubborn, and annoying when angered. He shrugged it off and got into position for another round of sparring, only pausing when he saw the way she was holding her weapons.

"Did it hurt?"

"What?" She looked at him, surprised, and possibly flustered that he cared. "No, I'm fine."

He gave her a look and stood from his battle stance, walking across the dirt clearing toward her. She just watched, wondering what he would do next.

He reached for her hand and inspected the small cut on her forefinger.

"Neji!" Yup, she was definitely embarrassed. He liked it. "I'm fine, really, let go!"

"It'll get infected." Slowly, he brought her finger to his mouth. Her face lit up as red as blood and he smirked, sucking the blood away for her.

Craving the Pain

He'd seen nothing but pain all his life, being ridiculed since birth. He was considered inferior by his family. He inherited all the good genes, he was strong, smart, he worked his hardest, and it still wasn't good enough. The curse mark on his forehead was proof enough of his lifelong suffering.

And here she was, giving him another kind of pain.

It hurt to look at her, watching her practice her aim, the slight bounce of her hair, the light sheen of sweat over her tanned skin. Watching her look at Tsunade, the woman she idolized, with adoring eyes, the brown orbs full of hope and determination to be like her.

It hurt to know that even though she'd had less than him all her life, though she was poor and had no family, she was still able to put on a smile everyday, proving that he wasn't good enough for her.

It hurt knowing he loved her, and it hurt even more knowing that she'd never feel the same way. So he tried to shut her out, wanting to rid himself of the pain.

But just now, as he held her pale, limp, motionless hand, he wished he could have it all back. He found himself in a new kind of pain; one he'd never experienced before, and it hurt more than anything he'd ever felt. It was numbing and cold, and it spread faster than poison through his system.

She'd died with a smile on her face, freed of her pain, and he wished he had the old kind back.

He found himself craving the pain she'd always given him, wishing that light in her face would burn his skin again, make him feel something, rather than emptiness.

Good Enough
(A companion to Craving the Pain)

It hurt to look at him, seeing how strong he was and knowing she'd never be at his level. It hurt to know that she wasn't good enough for him. It hurt to be madly, uncontrollably in love with him.

He was out of her league.

He was handsome, smart, strong, and nice, though he did have his sarcastic side, and he was arrogant at times. But there was an old saying her family used; "we like someone for their assets but love them for their flaws."

She threw him loving gazes when he wasn't looking, adored him from afar, loving his big hands, his broad shoulders, and the line of his jaw. She even loved his girlishly long hair. It was perfect.

And it hurt to know he'd never feel the same way about her.

But more than anything, it hurt to know she loved someone and she wasn't good enough.

Armed Beauty

He recalled the first day he'd ever seen her. She was practicing with her new short sword on the school grounds, and the first thing he thought about her was "tomboy." He remembered rolling his eyes as he thought that, certain that she would be someone he would grow to loathe.

But he approached her, since they were to be teammates, and introduced himself. She turned to look at him, and he was stunned. Her brown eyes, fair complexion, and the slightly damp curls of her bangs were all strangely alluring. Her smile was even more so, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He found himself immediately changing his opinion of her.

From "tomboy" to "armed beauty".

Like Silk

Tenten ran her fingers through his hair, glad that he was sleeping, or she wouldn't get the chance to do this.

"His hair," she thought, "like silk."

Neji ran his fingers over her sleeping face, the backs of his knuckles barely brushing her didn't even stir under his touch.

"So soft," he noted. "Like silk."