Title: The Acts of Pretence
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Hyuuga Neji / Tenten
Rating: T
Theme: #19 - Red
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

He watched her, his opalescent eyes lingering on every slight movement of her playful pout. He didn’t care that they were undercover in Kumogakure, that they were in a restaurant with over ten Cloud-nin that could try to kill him to get the secret of the Byakugan, and that they were very likely to succeed with him in his current condition.

All he cared about was the mesmerising red of Tenten’s lips and her hand resting on his leg as they pretended to be a romantic couple.

He wondered where her sudden overwhelming confidence came from, when just before they had left for the restaurant she had been nervous about whether she could act as ‘seductive’ as Tsunade-sama wanted her to be. But she was a brilliant kunoichi that could adapt to the most challenging of missions, and the hot sultry look she sent him from under her long lashes confirmed it, causing his grip to tighten around his glass.

It’s all part of the act.

He returned her expression with a sophisticated sip from his wine. His hand steadily brought the glass closer to his mouth, despite the sudden heat he felt and the extra work his heart was doing to keep him alive.

See? All fake, nothing real about it.

Their mission was reconnaissance, but it seemed that the Raikage was a suspicious man to have an ‘innocent’ civilian couple tailed by so many of his shinobi –

The thought ended abruptly as Tenten’s hand moved further up his thigh. He narrowed his eyes at the nimble fingers that normally held kunais and shurikens – weapons of killing, not his upper leg. He shifted his gaze to the owner of the offending limb, but the lifting of those lusciously red lips into a secret smile hidden behind the glass of red wine made it hard to breath.

Was she wearing lipstick? No, as far as he was aware she had never worn the stuff before, and she wasn’t wearing it now. He leaned towards her unknowingly, eyes denying him from looking anywhere other than Tenten’s soft lips resting gently on the rim of her glass as she drank.

Had they always been that strikingly vivid that they could outshine the red of the wine?

That colour was not his favourite, it reminded him of battle and death, but on Tenten, it was so absolutely captivating. So captivating that he wanted to lean closer and closer until he could touch it with his own lips, to test if they felt as soft as they looked.

Her brown eyes sparkled with flecks of bronze when she flicked them to the door of the restaurant. A sign of danger. The action brought him back to his senses, releasing him from whatever genjutsu Tenten had somehow managed to capture him in, and reminding him just where they were. In enemy territory.

Neji drained the rest of his glass and signalled for a waiter, asking for the bill. Now, he could feel the growing tension in the air; it appeared their little act wasn’t quite as convincing as he had hoped. Not waiting for change, he intertwined his fingers with hers, leading her out of the restaurant and into the chilling, night air.

“Thank you for dinner, it was lovely,” Tenten said, smiling at him while she rubbed her arms from the cold. It was overused and overdone, but it might just trick the several, following, masked shinobi into believing that they were what they weren’t.

“That’s okay dear,” Neji replied, removing his hand from hers and placing it around her waist, moving her closer to his body, trying to ignore the tingling heat radiating from her and the shiver that shook him slightly when she slipped a hand in his pocket.

The annoying staring from their silent ‘friends’ refused to relent, and they continued to close in on them like vultures. They arrived at the hotel, but with each corner of the hallway they turned the unwanted presence was constant. Even the lift journey was watched.

Tenten paused in front of their room, leaning up to whisper in his ear that one of them was walking towards them, her bottom lip lightly brushing his jaw line as she spoke.

His body moved before his mind could stop him, he wanted to blame it on instinct. To say it was to prevent their cover from being blown, but as the caress of velvety skin touched his, all reasoning abandoned him, and all he could feel was Tenten’s lips against his, moving with consuming passion.

He was wrong; they felt much softer than they looked.

She was pressed against the door, one hand clenching the fabric of his shirt pulling him closer, while the other teased the buttons keeping him clothed. His hand fumbled for the door handle as he held her close, not wanting to break any contact but the door just wouldn’t open.

Tenten smiled into his demanding kiss, and her hand left his shirt to the handle which allowed her to open. As soon as the door closed, their lips were still locked in a passionate embrace but their role reversed and he found himself to be the one pinned against the door, while his hand wove into the wave of cascading, thick, brown hair, free from their usual two buns, as his shirt was unbuttoned and belt was removed.

As soon as it had started, it stopped. She broke the kiss, and his eyes were lifted from their blindfold. Her hair was in a messy tangle, the strap of her dress had fallen from one shoulder, and her lips seemed slightly swollen. Probably no different from how he looked.

“Neji they’re gone, you can stop pretending.” Her arms were limp by her side and she leaned away from him, stopped from moving by his strong arms wrapped around her, to look into his eyes clearly. But the heady look in his eyes made an unfamiliar heat bloom in her, much more potent than what she felt earlier.

“I’m not pretending anymore Tenten, this is all real,” he whispered, before bringing her to him and leaning down to capture those tantalising red lips again.

A/N: First theme done for 30kisses, hope you guys like it and always, thank you for reading, reviewing, alerting, faving (: