The Girl With Two Buns. A NejiTen Fanfic

5

Tenten held the prince's white silk undergarments in her hands as she paced the entrance of the bath house, ignoring the inquisitive stare of the guard that stood in front of it. She was dead! It would only take a few minutes before the irritable crown Prince noticed the absence of his under garments...and a towel! How stupid could she get? She forgot to set his towel too!

"Oh what do I do? What do I do?! I can not afford to be fired! Aahh!" Tenten mumbled as she paced to and fro.

"Tenten." The silky voice of the crown Prince reached the maid's ears and she froze in place. He had discovered the absence of his much needed towel and undergarments, and worse, he had also discovered Tenten's presence. What consequences would he deliver to her? What would she do? She needed the money for Anko's antidote! "Come hither."

"Eh?" The surprised gasp slipped out of Tenten's mouth without much hesitation. What was on the Prince's mind?

"I would have you know that I do not like to repeat myself." Neji's stern voice reached her ears and she swallowed. While Tenten worked everyday with half clad men, namely Gai and Lee, she had never seen a fully unclad one before. She knew that as a maid she was bound to do this kind of work but had figured that other maids would do that, not her.

The girl bowed her head as she entered the bathhouse, making sure that her focus remained on the ground and not on anything in front of her. She closed her eyes when she was inside and bowed apologetically. "I apologize for my inconsistency your Highness, I have no excuse for my sin!"

A sigh was heard from Neji. "I had thought that a meagre task such as this would be apprehensible for your brain, it seems to me that I overestimated your cognitive abilities." Tenten bit down the nasty comeback that was fighting at the back of her throat to lash out at the haughty crown Prince and remained in her apologetic position instead.

Silence ensued for some minutes with Neji contemplating something and with Tenten planning ways to acquire an odourless and tasteless poison that would slowly kill the Prince but it came to an end when Neji spoke up. "Tenten." He called.

"Yes your Highness?"

Neji seemed to consider dismissing whatever he was thinking but decided to let it out anyway. "Could you assist me in scrubbing my back?" He asked in a strange small voice that Tenten would have found uncharacteristic if she was not so jolted by the order given to her.

Tenten's gulp was loud enough to be heard by the guard that stood outside the bath house. She would be scrubbing the Prince's back! Ino would want to be in her shoes, she knew it. "Yes." Tenten said dropping the honorifics and proceeded to strip down to her undergarments. After placing her kimono where she was sure it wouldn't get wet, she stepped into the water and waded to where Neji sat. Thankful for the loincloth around his groin, she picked the wash cloth and scented soap.

Tenten was about to tell Neji to turn around so that she could reach his back when she discovered that his long hair was unwashed so she asked if she could wash it. Neji gave her the permission needed and so she started. Tenten waded behind the Prince and scooped some water from the spring in the bath house to wet his hair with. Once it was wet, she lathered it up with soap and proceeded to wash the chocolate tresses.

Neji's hair was soft and silky which made her want to run her hands idly through it but she controlled herself. Remembering how she used to massage Anko's head when she washed her hair, Tenten began to apply pressure at certain spots on Neji's scalp causing the man to release a guttural moan. A smile made its way onto her face at the realization that he enjoyed her ministrations and so she continued.

After washing his hair Tenten proceeded to scrub Neji's back, making sure to loosen up the knots in his shoulders and mid back which the Prince highly appreciated. "You are surprisingly good at this." Neji commented.