Only Training

Her eyes stared into the dark, taking in the little shadows that flickered away from the candle on her desk. A single page rested on the smooth surface, covered in sketches. Little snips of fantasy marched along the white page: legs interwoven, lips meeting, hands in hair. Tenten pushed her most recent memories away, focusing on why she was here.

“Have you had any experience as a servant?” Tsunade asked casually, preparing their mission scroll. Tenten meekly shook her head. The fifth frowned. “Neji. Give her training. You have one week.”
Neji frowned to himself, but agreed.

“Understand that anything I have you do is to broaden your horizons. You must be prepared, Tenten,” he warned her on the walk to Hyuuga compound.

“What exactly am I learning?” she asked him. He closed his eyes.
“Polite manner and a few extra experiences to get you accustomed to your work.”

‘Extra experiences?’ she wondered presently. Tenten knew what this mission required from her in a seductive manner, but how far would she have to go to get her target? How much would Neji train her?

She fell asleep before more thoughts could pervade her mind.


The alarm clock hummed softly in the waxing dawn, silvery surface gleaming with new light. Tenten turned to face it, blinking slowly. A note covered the ivory face.

-Bring me my lunch from the kitchen. I’ll be in the branch gardens at eleven.

With clumsy hands, she peeled the yellow sheet away, setting it on the dresser as she rose from the bed. The page on her desk was askew. A jolt of panic and embarrassment shot through her. Hands flew to her face in mortification. She groaned, falling back to the bed.

Sparing a glance at the clock face through her fingers, she realized that Neji had given her three hours to get ready. It took one to bathe and dress in a fresh kimono. This one did hold a pattern in the clean white fabric: a swan in the reeds. Tenten felt a brief recognition, but couldn’t place where she had seen it before. Pulling on a new pair of socks, and taking a pair of sandals with her, Tenten cautiously slid her shoji door open, and stepped into the cool morning air. There was a soft whisk of fabric on polished wood as she glided along the raised walk, bypassing the training grounds and counting doors. One of the eggshell ink patterns caught her eye. A swan floated at the bottom, coyly preening behind leaning cattails and lotus flowers. Without a glance at her kimono, Tenten found the connection.

“Do you like this one?” a voice queried softly. She whirled around, meeting a familiar pair of silver eyes. Hinata smiled softly at her surprise. “Neji-nii-chan thought you might.”

“Hinata-sama. Good Afternoon,” she said respectfully, sure to sound more reverent for the heir of the clan. Her low bow drew gentle laughter from the girl.

“I had quite forgotten the true reason for you presence,” she giggled. “You may treat me as an equal here, Tenten-chan.”

Though Hinata and Tenten rarely conversed, she could see the clear improvement in the younger girl’s confidence. Not one stammer in her speech, or a fidget of the fingers. Hinata gave her a polite smile and excused herself.

Tenten continued along the wooden walkway, noting the brighter mid-morning sky above the compound. Ivory doors skimmed past her peripheral vision until the sweeping strokes of creamy ink that formed stalks of bamboo caught her eye. Her hand pushed the light wooden frame away from the adjacent wall, allowing a brief glimpse of the alarm clock on her bureau. The shorter hand sat stubbornly between 10 and 11 as the narrower counterpart ticked once, dropping fully to the bottom of the clock. She resisted the urge to rush to the kitchens.

Neji sat, prim and straight, on his family’s garden bench. Clean white stone stood unyielding beneath his legs, carved and weathered into intricate decorative surfaces. His closed eyes turned up smoothly as a woman approached. Tenten smiled softly, gliding along the cobbled stone with the same grace as the swan on her kimono. Neji observed her appreciatively. On one strong and slender palm rested a tray of food. He let a small smile rise to his lips.

“Good afternoon, Neji-sama. I’ve brought your lunch,” she stated softly, bowing with the tray. The food remained level throughout her motion. Neji nodded to himself.

“Set it there,” he commanded gently, nodding towards the end of the bench, “and set yourself here.”

She placed the tray down, circling to sit beside him.

“Are you going to eat Neji-sama?” she inquired gently. He didn’t respond.

“We must bring a few things to light first,” he explained. “I assure you our privacy here.”

A pause passed between them as she waited for him to continue.

“You’ve never been with a man,” he stated, gazing thoughtfully into the trim flowers by his feet. Tenten stiffened with embarrassment.

“That’s correct, Neji-sama,” she replied, willing the heat on her cheeks to cool.

“You’ve never seen a man,”

“True,”

“You’ve never kissed a man?” he finished, finally meeting her mortified expression.

“True.”

He scoffed briefly.

“I assume that you would not appreciate your target stealing these things from you?” Neji asked gently, eyes probing for an answer. She nodded dumbly, unable to pry herself from his mesmerizing stare. “Do you trust me?”

“I—,” she began, though the words were impossible. Did she really want to lose her innocence to Neji? They had known each other for so long, but the tainted childhood had long passed. Five long years since the formation of her team, and five long years by his side had gone by. She trusted him as naturally she trusted her lungs to breathe as she slept. They had murdered together, so what was sex? Despite the fact that her sexual inhibitions were holding her back, Tenten was somewhat reluctant to lose what remaining innocence she had. “I trust you, Neji. But—“

“That’s all I needed to hear. Don’t think anymore,” he said as gently as his nature permitted him, “My chambers tonight. If you’re up to it.”

She was relieved that he was providing her with a choice, but the question remained. Did she have the courage to lose herself to him?