Casually been like four years since I posted last...

I'm paying homage to my personal favorite pairing (let's not even get started on his death, okay? I will be 80 and still be salty about it).

100 days of Nejiten, daily shorts from yours truly! Rated M for the future. Exploring tons of mini plots as well as general ridiculous fluffiness. So brace yourselves!

R&R!

Day One Hundred– 12 November 2017

Prompt – Relaxation

Summary – Everyone's tired and maybe it's the exhaustion that causes the shift. Whatever happens, there's no taking it back.

Notes – Set after the Chunin Exams, before the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. I always imagined the characters to be 15 or 16 at this time because it's a little strange to be sending such young kids into certain death, isn't it? At that age, it's a little more realistic to me. They're a little more grown up than 12 or 13.

Word Count – 1326

Relaxation

He lived for days like this.

Copper and red leaves above their heads rustled ever so slightly in the breeze, shifting the lazy rays of sunshine which filtered down from above. Light and shadow danced across her skin where she lay in the grass, breathing even and deep, sleeping after training with him.

They'd been on missions non-stop for the last three weeks, and even though they were exhausted and sore they met on the training grounds the next morning, as was their custom. Initially Lee and Gai Sensei had also been there, but when their two teammates had shown signs of fatigue much earlier than usual, they'd taken off in a wild frenzy of green spandex to do who knows what. Probably racing each other around the village on their hands, no doubt.

That left him and Tenten here by themselves. She had summoned hot tea for two from one of her scrolls and – wordlessly – they watched the forest in quiet companionship. The gentle white noise of the forest soon lulled them into a comforting stupor, and he hadn't objected when she'd asked if she could sleep. He would watch over her, always.

He didn't blame her for taking a nap here; the village was abuzz as they prepared for one of many fall festivals. Even if one locked their doors and windows it would be difficult to find rest there today. The gentle breeze and quiet chirping of birds in the trees was much more welcome to both.

He turned on his side and rested on his elbow as he watched her, a gentle smile slowly making its way across his lips. She looked much different when she was asleep, younger and more innocent. He would never dare look at her like this when she was awake, so openly. He considered it to be rather brazen on his part, but as long as she stayed asleep he was safe.

A more forceful gust of wind pulled several maple leaves off of the branches overhead and they drifted downwards in a lilting dance, flashing red and brown as they flipped and turned. They settled gently on the grass around them. One settled on his shoulder and another perched in her hair, softly brushing her cheek as it did so.

He mildly envied the leaf, how it could openly touch her just as he wished to. Oh how he wished…

His fingers plucked at strands of grass next to his body, mind a tangle of thoughts. She always did this to him, confused him and tossed his calm, ordered inner mind into chaos. He thought he was always in control of himself, mind and body, but she disrupted that control nearly every time she touched him or spoke to him or even looked at him, at this point. And with every interaction it became harder and harder to deny his affection for her.

Of course, he would never admit it to her. He was too proud, to stubborn, and – though he would never admit it to himself – too afraid of what could happen should he decide to bare his soul to her. What would happen if she rejected him? Pain and subsequent awkwardness with his team, as a start he thought sourly. Could he even risk that sort of disruption when Team Gai already worked flawlessly with each other?

And what did he know of being with a woman? He couldn't begin to think of himself with another person, but hell, what did he know at sixteen? He wasn't so naïve to pretend he knew what he wanted in every facet of his life. She could be all wrong for him in terms of marriage and a future.

But try as he might to push it away, he felt deep within his gut that he knew one thing: he wanted her. Not just for her body (he reddened at the thought of them together like that at this point), but for her personality and her charm, her wit and sense of humor, her talent with near every weapon known to a shinobi. So far, she was the only one he considered worthy of his time and efforts, and he'd had plenty of other suitors to choose from.

He sighed and shook his head, brushing away those thoughts. They always seemed to cloud his mind when he should just sit and admire her. So he let those things wash through his being and flow away, as if he were meditating, and focused on her skin and her eyelashes and the way her mouth curled ever so slightly when she was asleep.

The leaf was still in her hair, swaying in the breeze, brushing lightly against her temple. Her brow creased as it touched her, disturbing her sleep. The crease deepened with each pass of the leaf across her skin, and with a start he realized that if the leaf wasn't removed she would wake and he wouldn't be able to watch her any more.

Slowly, as if moving too quickly would startle her out of her slumber, he reached across the distance between them and plucked the offender out of her hair. To his dismay the action brought a section of her locks down onto her cheek, and she huffed in her sleep.

Have courage, he thought to himself, even as his heart fluttered madly within his chest. The leaf was tossed aside as he bit his lip to silence his quivering breath. How can one person unsettle me like this?

Gently, uncertainly, he brought his fingertip along her cheekbone, gathering her hair to push it back into place above her headband. Where their skin met, his tingled as if with an electric shock. Her skin was cool beneath his fingers, soft and smooth and everything he had hoped. She was perfect, and he fervently hoped that maybe he could draw this moment out to savor this new sensation as long as possible.

Just as he was about to tuck the errant strands back into place, her eyelids fluttered, then opened. He froze as his stomach dropped and turned to ice, and he was awash with sudden, inexplicable fear. She was going to ask questions, she was going to hate him, she was-

"Neji?" She asked softly, and he swallowed hard even as the sound of his name on her lips thrilled him. A hundred excuses whirled through his mind but none of them came out of his throat. All of them were lies.

She looked into his eyes then, and they seemed to stay like that forever, with him captured within her gaze. She wasn't angry or suspicious, he could tell. Curious, maybe. Confused, definitely. But her calmness soothed his own surge of terror. Neither of them moved, save for him slowly withdrawing his hand from her skin.

He released a breath that he didn't realize he was holding, and it shook ever so slightly on its escape. He had to be honest with her, at least with why he had been touching her.

"I'm sorry," he finally breathed, still holding her gaze. He blinked. "Your hair fell into your eyes and it was disturbing you…"

She reached out then, just as slowly as he had withdrawn, and took his hand in her own, even as her eyelids drooped back downwards. "Don't be sorry," she whispered. "I rather liked it."

She pressed his palm to her cheek then as she lay back down, and he couldn't say anything around the knot of absolute disbelief in his throat. She liked it?

He gently began bringing his thumb back and forth over her cheekbone, marveling at the pull of his skin over hers, the warmth he felt behind her ear and down her throat, and she closed her eyes. Her breath washed over his wrist and her lashes brushed the inside of his thumb, and he decided as he smiled to himself that he rather liked it too.

Again, please R&R! More coming! :)