Sequel to 'The Haircut', just a little bit more mindless fluff! This was brought about by some random research I did into Japanese razors... no I don't know why either! The image of Shino shaving with a traditional was just too appealing to ignore ;)
Dedicated to: IR! She is my partner-in-ShinoTen-crime ;) And she writes lovely fic for me!
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Shino carefully eased open the bathroom door and was greeted by his rather haggard-looking unshaven reflection.
He winced, but really it wasn't so suprising, he hadn't exactly gotten his normal 8 hours of sleep last night. In a good way. A really, really good way that he was already having trouble convincing himself was not some kind of hallucination.
So now Tenten was still sleeping, wrapped up in his sheets, on his bed and Shino was attempting to make himself look a little less like a prehistoric throwback before she woke up.
Quite an undertaking.
He had spent many years cursing his tendancy to grow a veritable forest of stubble overnight. It wasn't really condusive to quick starts in the mornings... instead he tended to spend rather more time than he'd like shaving in rivers in the middle of forests while on missions, with Kiba relentless taunting him.
Carefully he unfolded the material around his razor. It was an old fashioned traditional one, with a sleek steel blade and a handle inlayed with rich wooden detailing. His father had in fact given this one to him when he turned 13, stating that it had belonged to his paternal grandfather.
Lathering up the foam in it's small bowl he stared in the mirror, turning his face this way and that. He wasn't the sort of person to underestimate or overestimate himself, but with his current appearence he was having a bit of trouble seeing how Tenten was ever going to find him attractive...his hair was sticking up on end even more normal, his goggles were still...well wherever Tenten had thrown them last night, revealing eyes blurry and bloodshot from lack of sleep, and his chin was dark with stubble.
Well he had better complete this little mission to make himself look more presentable, before she awoke.
Heaving a sigh, Shino began to lather up his face. He'd have to figure out a way to keep this up if this became a long term arrangment (and he rather hoped it would be)... he wasn't sure he'd manage to wake up before Tenten every time, especially if their activities were always as...tiring as last nights had been.
Shino shook his head to dispell the images that were beginning to form, then drew the razor carefully over his cheek.
"So do you always get fully dressed to shave?"
He felt a fission of suspense work it's way up his spine and his free hand gripped the wash bowl so tightly his knuckles went white. There was the rustle of clothing as Tenten walked up behind him... good, clothing was definately good. He was utterly unsure what seeing Tenten fully unclothed in broad daylight might do to his brain but he was sure it wouldn't be good, given her general effect on his rational thought as it was...
Shino half-turned, ready to make a completely false comment about this definately being part of his daily routine. But then Tenten came fully into view and all his higher brain functions seemed to sieze up simulteanously.
Her hair was unbound, falling to her waist in messy tangled waves... and she was wearing a shirt.
His shirt.
His black shirt that he used for sleeping in normally... a rather ancient and worn piece of clothing he had never thought of as the slightest bit attractive but on Tenten it curved in and out in interesting places, barely skimming the top of her thighs, pulled taught over...
He made a slightly strangled sound in the back of his throat and the razor slipped.
"Whoah watch it, you'll take your head off if you're not careful!"
She grabbed some tissue from the side, pressing it against his cheek to stem the flow of blood from the thankfully small cut on his jaw. He raised his own hand, his fingers sliding over hers momentarily before she reliquished her hold. It was amazing how such a small touch could nearly un-do him...
"So..."
To his warring delight and horror she jumped up to perch on the edge of his sink, crossing long legs over each other in a way that caused his shirt to ride up to sanity destroying levels.
"I'm guessing you've got training this morning right?"
Shino was having a dilemma. On one hand his traditonal values and his common sense were telling him it was impolite, unromantic and slightly dangerous (not to mention rather unhygienic) to engage in sexual activity in a bathroom when he was rapidly becoming extremely late for team practise and some of his teammates (... Kiba...) had no qualms in bursting into his room unannounced. And he was half-shaved and bleeding.
On the other hand...
Tenten.
Or more specifically Tenten in a provocative position, within easy reach, her eyes burning with mischief and lust reminding him of exactly how wonderful, exciting and... amazing last night had been. Bringing up memories of her moaning his name, the taste of her lips against his, soft and gentle and urgent...
...the latter arguement seemed to be winning rather spectacularly.
"Shino?"
He blinked, snapping out his daze. Tenten was looking at him quizzically, but with a slight smirk that told him she probably knew exactly where his mind had just been.
"Yes?"
"I said, aren't you running late? If you've got training this morning?"
She leaned back a bit furthur, causing the shirt to tighten in certain interesting areas...he was now at least 90% certain she was doing this on purpose.
"Yes. Perhaps you should remove yourself from my sink so that I can finish shaving then."
Not that he really wanted her to move of course, but if he actually wanted to leave this room (and currently he was becoming rather unsure about that) he needed to shave and, more importantly, to make Tenten look at least a little less tempting.
Instead of moving however she simply reached up, audibly rasping her fingers against the growth of stubble on his chin.
"You shave everyday?"
Shino nodded, swallowing hard at the feeling of her fingers gently exploring his face. This... was not exactly what he needed right now. What he needed was to finish shaving and then have a cold shower. An arctically cold shower.
"Hm," she tilted her head, "You know, I think you're the only guy I know that does. Lee only grows this really wispy stuff and it takes weeks... you should've seen the time he tried to grow a moustache. And Neji can't even get that... it really annoys him."
Shino felt a momentary feeling of smugness settle over him at this comment.
"It is genetic, I believe. My father, as you may have observed, elected to grow his into a beard as shaving became a chore. It seems I have inherited his... abundant facial hair."
"I'll say."
Gently, she traced a path above his upper lip then down to his chin. Her fingers lingered for a moment over his self-inflicted cut before she sighed and held out her hand, motioning towards herself.
"Give me the razor."
Shino blinked. Tenten repeated the beckoning gesture.
"Razor. Now."
After a moment's hesitation he reluctantly handed it over, rather suspecting that if he didn't she would take it by force.
"I am perfectly capable of shaving myself... I have been doing it every day since I was 13..."
"Yes, perfectly capable, as you proved by taking a chunk out of the side of your face."
He opened his mouth to protest that it was hardly a scratch (not to mention in actuality her fault) but Tenten pressed a finger to his lips.
"No arguements Aburame, I'm shaving you."
She started lathering up the foam in his bowl again and, as she began to apply it to his face, he asked,
"I have to enquire as to what your fascination with my personal grooming is. Considering that our first romantic entanglement occured while you were cutting my hair."
Instead of answering Tenten tilted her head to one side, pursing her lips and frowning somewhat theatrically as if considering something of great consequence.
"You know, I'm going to get shaving foam all over your nice clean jacket..."
Without furthur preamble she began in rather buisness-like manner to snap open the clasps that held it together. Before he could even react he was left gaping and shirtless, watching as Tenten flung his under-jacket carelessly onto the wet floor in clear contradiction to her previous statement about keeping it clean.
He felt exposed, standing in front of her in the daylight like this. It really didn't help that she was observing him in the same manner a person might look at a paticularly tasty treat. Not that he would paticularly mind being devoured by Tenten it was just.. just...
"This is an old razor right?"
Shino, grateful of the distraction, started to nod then thought better of it as she pressed the blade to the base of his throat and began to carefully slide it upwards.
"Yes, it belonged to my grandfather. An antique."
"Well it's obviously designed to be used by someone else... like a barber. It's asymetrical, see?" she pointed out, running a finger across it's surface. Shino had to bite back the urge to tell her to be careful... he knew it would only be met by a look of derisive scorn, considering she spent nearly all day handling weapons far more dangerous than this.
"So really," she continued, getting back to the task at hand " it's not designed to be used for personal use. Probably explains why you cut yourself."
Shino raised an incredulous eyebrow, wondering if she actually believed that for a single moment. Probably not... she had that innocent look that she only put on when she was attempting not to appear guilty.
"I am totally buying you a new razor...you can hide it when your dad comes up here if he's fussed about it. Because if this keeps up you're going to decide growing a beard is easier and no offense but while the stubble is kinda sexy, if you grow a beard I'm just going to start mistaking you for your dad. Which could get awkward."
Her fingertips traced lightly down his throat, over his Adam's apple before she lightly scraped her fingernails across his collarbone. Obviously she had remembered that paticular weak-spot of his from last night and, in true shinobi style, was utilising it to her advantage.
It was clearly an underhanded ploy on her part to prevent him ever leaving his sleeping quaters, via such machinations as extremely indecent clothing, seductive looks and seemingly innocent touches.
It was working extremely well.
He cleared his throat, moving a hand up to catch hers and move it away from that paticular spot. Almost immeadiately she turned his move around using his hold on her to pull him closer so he was leaning over the basin.
It was like sparring, he thought foggily, each of them battling for control, for the move that would give them the upper hand. Except unlike when they were sparring he seemed to be completely and utterly outmatched at every turn by this wonderfully evil female.
"Tenten...what are you doing?"
She leaned up so her lips hovered tantalisingly near his, so near in fact that when she replied he could feel her breath brush over his skin. Her eyes were half lidded and he could see her lips slowly curling into a sultry smirk.
"I'm helping you, of course."
What she was really doing was very obvious, and in other circumstances he most certainly would've surrendered willing, pride be damned, to her rather alluring attempts at seduction but right now he had to get shaved because he was already going to be late for training and-
Her foot brushed up the back of his leg and his train of thought swiftly derailed.
"I think your 'help' is counter-productive to my aim of getting to training on time..."
She hooked her feet around the back of his thighs, pulling him in so he was as close to her as they could get in this position. He gasped, hands gripping the basin tightly as their hips ground together... because if he touched her with his hands just now he was certain all his hard gained self-control was going to disappear. Then, reaching up, she drew the blade across his cheek again flicking the foam away when she was finished.
"Really? You don't seem to be making a whole lot of effort to resist. And you call yourself a ninja, Aburame...really, I'm shocked. "
Currently he was having a difficult time remember exactly why he was supposed to be resisting. With a smile Tenten smoothed her thumb across his cheek, getting rid of the excess foam, her fingers lingering against his newly shaved skin when she was done.
"You, Aburame Shino, are too cute."
He raised an eyebrow at her, which she mimicked with almost disturbing accuracy.
"Even when I am currently in state of partial undress and flecked in the shaving foam you seem to be incapable of directing at my face?"
"Especially when you're half-naked and covered in shaving foam, yes."
He looked down at his chest... covered was definately the right word, perhaps he should get a towel before Tenten got any ideas about starting to shave his chest hair. However as he reached for the towel, he was beaten to it.
"Uh,uh... I said I was doing the shaving. That means the clean-up too."
Bunching the towel up, Tenten began to industriously clean away the shaving foam. The fabric of the towel felt very scratchy to his oversensitised skin. Especially when she gradually started to sweep it lower...and lower...
"I do not think any shaving foam got that far down," he tried to sound chastising but the audible break in his voice rather spoiled the effect.
"Just trying to be thorough."
How could she look so innocent and so utterly devillish at the same time? It should have been impossible but somehow she managed it. Transferring the towel to her other hand, she glanced up at him as her fingertips swept teasingly across his lower stomach. His hips jerked involuntarily, trying to increase her touch before he made a half-hearted attempt to remove her hands.
She was having none of that it seemed, pulling her hands away from his again.
"You know since we've got shaving foam this far down... maybe we should take these off too...you know, just as a precaution?"
He should protest. If he lost any more clothes, there was no way he was leaving this room... but his vocal chords didn't seem to want to co-operate. Tenten wasn't waiting for a reply anyway, snapping open the button in a buisness-like way and starting on the zip.
Shino let his head roll back, taking a quick gasp of air. He was pretty sure he'd lost whatever game they'd been playing but he wasn't going to complain... not when Tenten's hands were so close...
"Hey SH... Oh hell!"
Kiba stood in the doorway a look of utter horror on his face. He dramatically slammed a hand over his eyes liked they'd just been burned and flailed the other wildly in their general direction.
"Jeez, get a room you two!"
Tenten glared at the intruder, while Shino moved slightly in front of her... then looked down and grabbed the discarded towel to hold in front of himself. She tried to push him out the way, obviously determind to get over there and smack Kiba round the head.
"We have one! You just came barging into it!"
Kiba stormed back to the door and grabbed the handle, pushing it back and forth in emphasis so that it squeaked enthusiastically.
"This thing locks! If you're going to sex each other up at least lock it and spare my sanity! Jeez what if Hinata had walked in on this, her innocence would've been ruined forever by you sex-crazed perverts!"
"We are not sex-crazed perverts."
Shino was aware his arguement was slightly undermined by the fact he was even now struggling to do up his trousers while holding the towel strategically in front of himsef. Tenten rolled her eyes, grabbing the towel off of him and pitching it at Kiba with her usual accuracy- it smacked him dead in the face and he scrabbled to get it off, obviously disgusted.
"Argh! I don't want to know what you've been using this towel for!"
Shino strode forward and pushed Kiba firmly out of the bathroom then equally as firmly slammed the door in his face, audibly clicking the lock into place.
"Well... that kind of killed the mood."
Tenten slid off the basin, a slightly petulant look on her face. Shino had to remind his libido now was not an appropriate time to notice how that action pulled the hem of the shirt she was wearing up to interesting new heights.
"Yes."
Already Shino was hoping that training would provide several chances of inflicting revenge on Kiba for 'ruining the moment'... he could still hear him on the other side of the door, muttering about mental scarring and brain bleach.
"I suppose I should go to training, he won't leave until I do."
"You might want to...finish up first."
At her gesture Shino glanced in the mirror... and saw that while half his face was now clean shaven the other half...wasn't.
With a sigh he picked up his razor again.
"Oh yes and I suppose you need to shave too..."
Shino knew his jaw had dropped, and felt he should have been a least a little ashamed of that. He was pretty sure he was blushing as well.
Obviously noticing his reaction, Tenten smirked, and then winked...maybe Kiba hadn't been so far off the mark with his pervert comment.
"And if you need any help... with anything... I'll be outside."
She unlocked the door and flung it open, nearly hitting Kiba in the face and Shino watched her go with that dumbfounded look still on his face.
Dating Tenten was definately going to be a frustrating experience... yet he was positive he wasn't going to mind it one bit.