---------

Remedial Infatuation

And They Start

----------

Tenten sighed silently as she led her new 'leader' for the mean time, around the hospital corridors. She could see the envy, try-to-be cute, seductive, and giddy stares of all the female nurses and patients around. They were giggling, whispering, and trying to capture the young (soon-to-be) doctor's attention, with blushes on their faces. Heck, even married and aging ones were included.

To be honest, Tenten felt ashamed for them. It was like a disgrace that this new young man was taking all the attention and distracting the fellow female species. Well, it's his fault anyway, she thought.

The young Hyuuga was closely following behind her. Her fellow female nurses were wearing the same uniform. Only Sakura and she sometimes refused to wear them; Sakura insisted it's boring wearing the same clothing, and she (Tenten) thought it's not her thing.

She had to admit though; the uniform was fairly attractive and fashionable. It was not pure white as most should be. Though, she's not going to describe it all the way. Of course it was a skirt (or dress) that reached exactly by the knees and was worn with matching nurse cap and comfortable pair of sandals.

Off topic, Tenten thought instantly.

Anyway, Tenten did not quite think that the ogling girls were a big deal. She did not need to ask why they were acting like love-struck teenagers. This was Hyuuga Neji they're talking about. No doubt he was good-looking and handsome that any girl could die having him, even she could not deny it. But of course Tenten was much better than that. Much, much more.

Out of the corner of her hazel eyes, she saw Neji trying to keep his calm out of annoyance, as they passed the squealing excited ladies. His expression, she thought, was quite cute; his eyes turned into a frown and mouth itching to grit. She muffled a giggle but ended up laughing quietly as her shoulders shook, not realizing the young Hyuuga male noticed.

"What are you doing?"

The question was unexpected to the young nurse and she automatically stopped walking, causing the Hyuuga to do so too. Tenten looked at the young man beside her and almost jumped when her hazy hazel eyes met his piercing pale white ones.

"I…um…was laughing…?" she tried, swallowing back giggles when she saw a fellow young nurse give Neji a flying kiss. She could've sworn she saw an invisible heart flutter.

"…." Was Neji's response as he began walking ahead of her, shoulder brushing hers.

That's it? So much for talkative, thought Tenten dully.

"Right," she mumbled, walking in front of the young Hyuuga, making him pause.

"I'm supposed to tour you. Sorry about earlier," Tenten spoke not bother to look at Neji, and without waiting for a response she continued.

"This is one of the patient's reception rooms. This is mostly used when the other rest are fully occupied." Tenten declared as she pointed at the said room and waved at her fellow collaborators.

Seeing Neji nod understandingly, she gave a small smile and proceeded to lead him as a tour guide should…in a gigantic hospital.

----------

The whole touring wasn't as bad as Tenten had suspected. However, it seemed to her that she was like a little fool rambling about different rooms. The Hyuuga didn't even utter a single word except for dull 'Hn's'. But Tenten got to admit ― as much as she hated to ― his whole silence nature was intriguing and comfortable.

She still couldn't believe they actually roamed the whole hospital, even the outside surroundings.

Tenten sighed tiredly as Neji and she took their time in their new private office.

Take notice of their office. Yes, since Tsunade was nice (insert sarcasm) enough, she decided (in a meeting with the other elders and revered leaders of the hospital) to have new office arrangements to all the hospital workers. Sakura was placed with Shizune, which made the pink haired maiden really grateful, but secretly hoping to be placed with her elder cousin.

I wanted to be with you too, Sakura, Tenten thought solemnly as she took a sip of her warm tea.

And much to Tenten's luck, here she was, place in the same office with none other than her new kingpin, Hyuuga Neji. It made sense since they were supposed to work together…BUT STILL. To Tenten, it was uncomfortable judging by the way she was always used to being independent and individual from other of her fellow workers (aside from Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade), and Neji was supposed to be one of them.

Also, she was definitely not used to being ordered around and will never ever be. But right now, she just broke that goal she was supposed to keep.

Damn work.

Damn hospital.

Damn Sakura.

Damn Shizune.

Damn Tsunade.

Damn herself.

Damn Hyuuga Neji, her from-now-on leader (and probably the rest of her life).

Damn it ALL.

By now, the young nurse did not realize she was killing the document she was supposed to sign by stabbing her pen repeatedly and…hardly. Very hard. She did not even take notice of her fellow leader staring at her with mild interest, while taking a sip of his own mug of tea.

Tenten was practically sulking. As much as she loved the new dang huge and roomy (not to mention too spacious to be simple) office, she did not like ― hate is too strong for a word ― the fact that she needed to share a room, especially with her antisocial boss.

Slightly losing her temper, she screeched and instantly broke the poor pen in her hand to pieces. Intrigued and pretty much surprised, Neji placed his mug on the desk and stared at her weirdly.

Oh right, they were sitting across each other. Even though their wooden desk was a really expansive rectangle one, Tenten still didn't like the fact that they had to share everything. And the fact that their positions were across each other didn't help at all.

Realizing her outburst and the poor document along with the broken pen, Tenten stared back at Neji. In return she received a brow raised.

"Sorry about that," Tenten laughed nervously, "I guess I was too preoccupied."

For a moment, the said boss didn't reply but later, he inquired, "About…?"

Tenten blinked. Is it just her or is Neji trying to make a conversation?

Nah….

"Well, about how we pretty much needed to share everything with each other," Tenten said slowly.

"Your point?"

Tenten almost ripped her hair out of their scalp.

This was THE genius?

"I guess…I'm just not that used to it," she said, calming her conscience.

"Hn," replied the oh-so talkative Mr. Prodigy.

An awkward silence passed between the two and Tenten kept herself busy at the document she needed to sign (even though she was done already) since she didn't want to get scooped in the awkwardness. On the other hand, Neji found himself captivated by this personal nurse he calls. Somehow he had the feeling, from the first time he caught sight of her, that this kind of thing would happen.

And it did.

Who would doubt anyway? After all, the young nurse in front of him was different from most women he had known. She seemed to be more focused on pragmatic issues in life, he mused inwardly. Also, to him she was that of natural fair beauty of a lady.

Yes, he was still a man. A young one too.

Neji could not deny the fact that the young brunette was attractive ― too attractive, he thought, to be resistible. But heck, he still had his pride. She may not be the exotic and loveliest beauty but she was damn alluring in his opinion. Oh yes, very much alluring.

They'd only met barely three hours ago but he couldn't help but be secretly observant.

Screw the hormones.

There were times Neji hated being a man. Mainly because of getting clung by fangirls. However, this was different. Right now, he wished (for a different reason –ahem-) he was still a newborn infant.

Damn adolescence.

His thoughts were interrupted when Tenten's voice ― which he thought was blissful and melodious ― reached his ears.

"I'll go order some lunch. Would you like anything, Hyuuga-san?"

Neji wanted to glare at her so much (but he found it difficult to do so).

Hyuuga-san. It annoyed him to no end.

She was being too polite for her own good.

"Neji," he instantly blurted out, purposely ignoring her question.

Tenten blinked at him. She was trying to break the damn silence by offering him something when, all of a sudden, he blurt out his own name?

Honestly, what's with this guy?

"What?"

Neji (this time) glared at her. "Cut the formalities. It's annoying. Call me Neji. Just 'Neji'."

Oh, thought Tenten, so he wanted to be called just 'Neji'.

"Oh. Okay then…Neji," Tenten said a little skeptically.

Neji. It sounded so right when she says it. Just right and…perfect.

And Neji mentally killed himself.

Something must be wrong with him. Totally.

"Neji?" her voice again and…she said his name! Again.

Damn it, thought a pissed off Neji.

"What?" he asked not too politely.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Would you like anything?"

"…."

Tenten swore if she had no manners, she would have whacked the Hyuuga with no mercy. Instead, she bit back insults and presented him a couple of menus.

"Here are some lists you can look at. Tell me what you'd like and I'll order them," she stated as Neji took the menus.

Sensing his silence, Tenten continued. "Don't worry. They're not the usual horrific hospital foods you give for patients. Actually, they're totally different. I kind of like 'em. They come from different kinds of restaurants associated with the hospital."

Neji glanced at her with half-lidded eyes and nodded, turning his attention back on the menus. "What do you prefer?"

Slightly surprised, Tenten raised a brow but replied anyway. "Oh, well I like most of the Italian and Mexican menus actually…."

Neji nodded, "And what do you recommend?"

Tenten shrugged, "Lasagna, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Carbonara, blah, blah. And maybe some pizzas too. Believe it or not, I never really liked pastas until I tried some."

"Really," Neji mused. "What will you get?"

"Carbonara, quesadillas, some plain crepes, and water. Why?" Tenten answered casually.

"I'll get those too," Neji said as he handed the menus back to Tenten.

"O…kay," she said as she hid the menus back to their places. She reached for the room's interphone and proceeded to call for lunch.

----------

"Ah, that was delicious!" Tenten chanted as she wiped her mouth with a table cloth. She reached for her glass of water and slowly gulped it down. After doing so, she glanced at the young Hyuuga across her, who (she realized) finished his meal too.

"So…how was it?" she asked.

Neji placed his water back on the desk and looked at Tenten, "It was fine."

"Meh," the young maiden replied, "I thought so too."

"Hn."

"You're not very talkative, are you?"

"You're very talkative, are you?"

"…damn you."

A satisfied smirked crossed its way onto the Hyuuga's lips as he placed his chin on his hands.

This young maiden in front of him amused him very much. In a good way. It wasn't until after a minute he already liked her…no not that way; in a way he enjoyed her company. That is all. Nothing very romantic to hear.

"You know what?" Tenten's voice reached his ears, "This is getting boring. I mean all we're doing is waiting for some work to be given to us. Why don't we just do something…fun?"

A brow raised was only the response she got.

Tenten sighed, "Alright. I know it's childish but sometimes it's good for your health. Why don't we give introductions to each other?"

"…."

"C'mon. It won't hurt to try."

"…."

"I don't like it too but we both know we need to do it anytime soon now."

"No."

"C'mon. The sooner the better."

"No."

"We're supposed to work together and getting to know each other will help very much."

"No. It won't."

"Yes, it would!"

"Tenten."

At this point, Tenten somewhat felt nice hearing him say her name. But that doesn't stop her from anything.

"Neji."

"…."

"To be honest, I don't like you at all, Neji. I really, really don't."

Neji raised a brow at the sudden change of subject.

"I think you're just a stuck-up, inconsiderate, poker-faced, arrogant asshole. And I thought this whole 'boss and personal nurse' thing is ridiculous. And I still do. But I'm only doing my job and what I need to do. It's not like I wanted this to happen!" Tenten bluntly declared she gave her young boss a slight glare.

Neji stared at her for a moment and responded, "That's very noble of you, Tenten." His voice resembled nothing but sarcasm.

Even though she was fully aware of his sarcasm, Tenten only shrugged. "I know it is. But I'm just telling the truth."

"Ever know of sarcasm?" Neji muttered.

"Yeah," Tenten responded nonetheless. "Anyways, to make it easier, I'm going to ask you some questions and you're gonna answer them whether you like it or not."

"…."

"So…how old are you?"

"…17."

"Cool. I'm 17 too. Anyway, what's your favorite color?"

"This is stupid―"

"Just answer it."

"Black."

"Oh…how frightening. Mine's white. Coincidence much? We're contrast! I like pale pink too and maybe some red won't hurt…."

"…."

"Right. So anyway, you're pretty lucky since I can't really think of anything else right now. Mind me asking why you chose to go here, at KNH?"

At that, a slight glint made its way into Neji's pale orbs. "No particular reason."

Though Tenten did not really buy it, she said, "Oh really…."

"What about you?" asked Neji.

"Me? What about me?" Tenten blinked.

"KNH?"

"Oh. Well truthfully, nursing's not really my thing. At least I thought it wasn't until I got an offer. And since I had the great opportunity, I decided to try it and voila! Here I am, working for a year already." Tenten laughed lightly at her own response, "Besides, my godmother's here to help me and some others too."

A slight smirk twitched on the Hyuuga's lips. "I see."

"Yeah."

Silence passed the two occupants but thankfully a knock on the door broke it. As Tenten begun to stand, Neji did too. They both looked at each other for a moment until Tenten held up a hand.

"I'll get it," she said, walking over to the door while Neji sat back down.

"Shizune-san!" he heard Tenten's voice called out. From the corner of his eyes, he could see her talking to Shizune and some other old man (who he guessed was a cook). The old man went inside and greeted him with a goofy smile before taking the lunch Tenten and he had eaten, and walking off passed Tenten and Shizune.

"Good luck, Hyuuga-kun!"

With that, he looked fully towards Tenten to Shizune, who gave him a reassuring smile. Even though he had no idea why, he just bowed in acknowledgement. He saw Tenten take papers and some new documents in hand and bid goodbye to Shizune.

"What was that?" he asked as Tenten closed the door behind her and sat across him.

She sighed and looked at him, placing the documents on the desk. "These are all yours."

Neji glanced at the mountain-pack of documents. "…."

"Well, okay. I have some too but they're mostly yours. I suppose they're actually for the both of us since Shizune-san said we need to cooperate with these files," Tenten said.

"When do we start?" asked Neji as he took one of the files from Tenten.

"As soon as we can. We could start now, if you want," Tenten said as she read another document. "Oh look. It's an exam."

Neji glanced at her.

"I guess they're for you. Since you are still in training, I'm sure this is to test your doctorate degree," Tenten alleged. "I still have my nursing degree tests too. Tsunade-sama said they could be very useful once we get into university."

"Ah," Neji mused silently. "I see what you mean."

"Actually, I'm taking Doctorate in Nursing. So basically, it's still in doctorate degree. Oh well," Tenten shrugged. "Hmm? What is this…Guides for Doctors and Nurses in Cooperation?"

Neji raised a brow at her and Tenten blinked at him.

"I have no idea whatever the heck this is," she proclaimed, eyes frowning slightly.

"I suppose it's for us," Neji stated as he slowly took the document Tenten was currently reading, and skimmed through it.

It was then Tenten's turn to raise a brow when she saw his eyes twitching…madly. "Are you alright?"

Neji grunted in response as he placed the file back on the desk. It was thick no doubt but the contents inside it were…complicated. "They're definitely for us," he muttered but audibly enough.

"Oh. What's in it?"

"The title says it all."

Tenten read the file again and snickered, once she understood. "Crud. I get your point."

"Right."

Tenten bit back her giggles and gave a genuine smile ― for the first time that day ― to the young Hyuuga man in front of her. "I guess we don't have a choice. The sooner we do this, the sooner we get over it," she laughed, "Shall we start?"

Neji, slightly startled at the sudden mood change, blinked. Registering what the young woman in front of him said, he could only give his trademark smirk ― that could make anyone swoon…except (and he wondered why) Tenten. He closed his eyes but opened one as he begun hearing the brunette maiden ramble in front of him, himself barely listening as he watched her.

Interesting, indeed.

Maybe this whole 'doctor and personal nurse' thing was not as bad as both of them had believed ― at least that's what he thinks.

But still…it was just the beginning. Who knows? Surely, only God knows what will happen.

----------

Next Chapter: Havoc in the Corner

Note that the title had changed and some changes had been made. Chapter One was edited and it might be possible that more future editing will be made. Excuse spelling and grammar mistakes. Please accept the late update :) .