Dirty Little Secret (NejiTen)

Chapter One

Neji sighed for the umpteenth time as he sat unmoving on the only portion of the couch that wasn't littered with junk. His eyes shifted to the pile of haphazardly sorted books and files on the coffee table. Several pages were nearly falling off their spines, while others had blotch marks and stains whose nature and cause he wouldn’t dare to identify.

The sofa he sat on looked like a gigantic glorified pin cushion, littered with scraps of paper, tags, and weapons of all kinds sticking out from random places. His gaze dropped to the floor, noting how the only real free space was the area he had cleared for his feet. He clicked his tongue. He could barely even make out the four corners of the living room with the amount of drawn diagrams, scrolls, torn pages and scribbles. What self-respecting adult would use the walls as a substitute for parchment?

Neji's observation was cut short when a piece of shuriken fell onto the pile of books on the table, bouncing off onto the floor, before lazily rolling under the sofa. Neji eyed the ceiling, pursing his lips at the sight of at least a hundred weapons embedded on the chipping plaster.

Neji couldn't understand how Tenten could be organized in everything other than her research. Her kitchen was spotless and systematized for efficiency. Her bathroom was flawless no matter how many random times he'd use it; and her bedroom was neat, orderly, and always smelled of lavender and chamomile.

He could not fathom how her living room, which basically served as her study, never failed to look like a storm had just passed through. Once he had offered to help her sort things out, no longer able to stand the mess. He moved to grab a book when a senbon needle nearly hit his hand before impaling itself about an inch deep into the floor. Apparently Tenten was the disorganized organized type when it came to studying. He never made any comment on her living room ever since.

Of course he was welcome to wait in her bedroom. He always was. Yet he found it inappropriate being in the premises of such a private space without Tenten in the vicinity. He glanced at his watch. He'd been waiting for about 15 minutes now. He didn’t know why she asked him to meet her here last minute, but she was rarely ever late. He hated waiting, and it seemed the longer he stayed in Tenten's chaotic living room, the greater the compulsion to tidy up gnawed at him.

Standing up, he made his way to her bedroom. The kitchen would have been fine, but it still showed him a clear view of the living room. He wanted the offending area out of his sight. Opening the door slowly, Neji felt a twinge of guilt as he invaded her personal space. He shrugged it off by thinking he would have allowed Tenten the same courtesy as well. It was a matter of trust and he knew they both trusted each other with their lives. After all, there was nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.

Neji wanted to roll his eyes at the unevenly rolled blanket chucked off to one side of the mattress. He moved to gingerly pull it up and straighten it out, when the sound of something falling to the floor with a loud thud caught his attention. He craned his neck to where he guessed the item was. A brown leather notebook lay on the floor; its tiny steel deadbolt dangling on one side undone. The fall seemed to have unlocked the strip of metal.

Neji neatly folded the blanket with ease, placing it strategically at the foot of the bed, before bending over to pick up the book. It had no title on it but it looked fairly new. It must have been a favorite of Tenten's if she kept it at her bedside with a lock.

Plucking the unfastened metal off the hook, Neji took a seat on the bed, careful not to get the sheets ruffled. He flipped through it offhandedly, hoping to get a gist of its contents. He could make out some of her writings in the first few pages, but the rest were empty.

Neji eyed the blank covers of the book once again, before heading back to the first page. It must be something new she’s investigating. He scanned it with poorly veiled curiosity. Just what was Tenten working on that required such secrecy?