Nejiten ficlet entry for Ten_squared's theme of the month: Unlike a river, but similar to a marsh.
I'm still not used to writing fluff, and I've realized that whenever I try to it all reads pretty much the same, like, I always somehow manage to end with smut but oh well. This was fun. XD
Theme of the month: Unlike a river, but similar to a marsh.
Chocolate
“Hn. Tell me why you have to do this again?”
Tenten rolled her eyes. “Stop it, Neji. You know very well what this cake is for.”
Neji merely scowled and she bit back an amused smile, turning back to put the finishing touches on the huge, glorious cake sprawled in the middle of her kitchen table. It was an extraordinarily elaborate affair: a thick, rectangular slab of coffee mousse and soft cake served as the base, scattered with thin, delicate wisps of chocolate flake, curled lightly to resemble autumn leaves. A massive tree made of sculpted dark chocolate was planted at one corner, below which little candy chairs and a small picnic table were painstakingly arranged just so. The whole thing was supposed to resemble a specific corner of Konoha Central Park, and Neji had to admit that it looked pretty amazing. That, and the fact that it was covered in chocolate. Neji had a soft-spot for chocolate. (Not that he would ever admit it, of course.) But right now, he was getting hungry and he wanted to take Tenten out to dinner, if only she wasn’t still bustling about, completely immersed in her work.
“Are you done yet?”
“No.”
“Hn.” An irritated snort. Tenten carried on working, humming happily to herself. Then:
“Are you done now?”
“No, Neji.”
“.........Why is it taking so long?”
“Oh for God’s sake, stop whining!” Tenten scolded him, throwing a half-hearted glare over her shoulder. “I want to make it perfect for Gai-sensei.”
“Hyuugas don’t whine,” Neji informed her pointedly. Tenten shrugged, too busy to argue further. Gai-sensei’s wedding was tomorrow, and she was rushing to finish the cake so she could cool it in the fridge overnight. Contrary to popular belief, Tenten was a proficient cook; in particular, her natural precision and attention to detail made her intricate desserts rather famous around Konoha. That, and the fact that she carved the most amazing edible sculptures in all of Leaf country, thanks to her handiness with little sharp objects. Thus it was natural that Gai-sensei had asked her to whip up the wedding cake for his upcoming nuptials with Tsume, Kiba’s single mother (Tenten still found it difficult not to giggle whenever she remembered how a sobbing Lee had broken the news to the rest of his teammates. The vaguely horrified expression on Neji’s face had been priceless). Tenten had agreed, of course, and was now planning to surprise the happy pair with a cake that showed their favourite place in Konoha.
She bent down and slid open her oven, pulling out a pitcher of melted chocolate. Neji tilted his head to the side, unexpectedly finding himself rather fascinated by the whole process (though that could have stemmed from the fact that Tenten was doing it. Neji always found Tenten inexplicably fascinating).
“What are you doing?” He stepped forwards, peering over her shoulder to where she was currently carefully pouring the dark liquid onto the cake.
“This is supposed to be the river,” Tenten explained, nose scrunching up in concentration as she trailed the gloopy chocolate in a smooth s-shape, carefully cutting around the roots of the tree.
“I see.” Neji nodded seriously.
“And these - ” Tenten grabbed a handful of tiny marshmallows from a bowl by her side, arranging them carefully in the ‘river’; “-Are the stepping stones. There, now don’t you think it looks exactly like where they first met?” She smiled up at him, delighted by her own work.
Neji blinked. “Hn,” he grunted non-committally.
Tenten twitched and huffed irritably before turning back to the cake, muttering foully under her breath. Neji pretended not to notice when he caught a few words :“Jerk............sensitivity of a brick.......hn? HN?’
“It needs more chocolate.”
Tenten started and glared up at the Hyuuga. “What?”
“You need to put on more chocolate.”
“Neji, it’s half drowning in the stuff. Are you trying to make the whole congregation diabetic?”
“No. It needs more chocolate.” Neji shook his head decisively. “..........Chocolate is good.”
She looked at him strangely. “Neji......”
He shifted deftly, gently nudging her out of the way before picking up the pitcher. Tenten’s eyes widened in horror.
“Wait! No, Neji, wait - ”
But he had already begun pouring the thick, sweet liquid generously over the original curve of the edible river, the chocolate spilling over and momentarily piling in waves before spreading out over the original boundaries.
…….Hn………..
Too late, Neji realized that with his distinct lack of culinary prowess, he really should have refrained from interfering. Now the chocolate no longer resembled the pretty little length of river running through the park; the marshmallows currently looked like small pieces of land in the otherwise soggy, sticky mess, and the chocolate flakes bore a disturbing resemblance to clumps of weeds sprouting randomly across a stretch of wasteland. Tenten stared at the ruined cake, horrified.
“It looks like a marsh,” she whispered woefully.
“..............Yes, it does.” Neji agreed, trying and failing to keep the sheepish tone out of his voice. There was a brief silence when they both watched the superfluous chocolate spill over the edges of the cake, pooling onto the porcelain plate below.
Neji kicked himself internally. Great. Now Tenten would be mad at him. Way to go, Hyuuga.
“Chocolate?” he offered glumly, handing Tenten the pitcher. She sighed and pushed it away, leaving the poor man standing forlornly with chocolate dripping onto the kitchen floor from the container as she moved away, flinging open drawers.
“Where’s the ladle?” she muttered to herself tiredly. “ Ladle…ladle…ladle…dammit….where had I put the stupid ladle ?”
“BYAKUGAN!” The veins throbbed around his eyes as Neji tried to redeem himself. “ It’s there, next to the-”
“Found it!” Tenten announced triumphantly, seconds before Neji managed to point out the ladle tucked away inside the dishwasher (why it was there, she had no idea). She grabbed it, marched hurriedly back to the cake and began to smooth the excess liquid over the entire surface with the back of the dipper. Neji stepped discreetly out of the way, feeling uncommonly useless.
By the time Tenten had finished, each face of the cake was covered in sticky, fluid globs of melted chocolate.
Neji frowned. “It still looks like a marsh,” he pointed out, immediately biting his tongue afterwards. That was not the best way to get back in Tenten’s good graces .
“Of course,” she replied coolly. Neji blinked at her, surprised, when she took out two enormous blocks of chocolate from the fridge. Dipping the tip of a knife into a bowl of warm water, she leaned against the counter and proceeded to carve into one of the frozen brown blocks, tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.
Neji watched her for a while, perplexed, before sidling a little closer. “Tenten…what are you doing?”
“Carving.”
Neji winced internally at her cold, clipped tone, but bravely forged on. “Carving what?”
“A marsh turtle.”
“Hn.” Neji nodded, finally understanding. “But Gai-sensei’s symbol is a tortoise, not a turtle.”
“Turtle, tortoise. Whatever.” She shrugged. Neji raised an eyebrow but decided not to push it further.
“That’s a nice carving,” he told her quietly, trying to appease her ruffled temper. Tenten did not respond and Neji decided to try again.
“What about that?” He gestured to the second block waiting on the kitchen counter.
“Dog.”
“Ah. I see.” Neji swallowed uncomfortably.
Silence, broken only by the dull sounds of metal hacking into chocolate.
“Um…….Tenten…..I’m sorry,” he mumbled quietly.
Not a word from Tenten. Neji felt his heart sink.
“………..Hn.”
He blinked, glancing down at the weapons mistress by his side. “What did you say?” he asked, surprised.
“Hn.”
Was that a beginning of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips? Neji smiled despite himself and he shifted closer to her side, arms brushing against her shoulders.
“So am I forgiven?”
“……..Hn.”
Now she was definitely smirking.
--------------
The finished cake stood proudly on the table, showing a pretty marshland scene. The candy table and chairs were gone, but a dog reclined against the roots of the gigantic tree and a marsh turtle waded through thick puddles of chocolate. Tenten wiped her brow tiredly, smiling softly at her masterpiece.
“Now, it looks alright, doesn’t it?” she murmured, dabbing some final drips of chocolate from the pitcher onto the turtle with the tip of her ladle.
“Its beautiful,” Neji told her truthfully, stepping up behind her and sliding his arms around her waist. Tenten grinned and spun around to look up at him.
“Thank you.” She waved the ladle in front of his face. “Just promise me you’ll never touch my work again.”
“I promise,” Neji agreed sullenly. “Can we go eat dinner now?”
Tenten glanced at the clock, starting. “Oh, my. It’s one in the morning already, Neji. I’m afraid all the restaurants will be closed.”
Neji groaned. He was hungry, dammit; a man like him needed proper food. Tenten watched him amusedly.
“Poor thing,” she murmured sympathetically, tapping him lightly on the nose with the back of her ladle.
Neji narrowed his eyes, feeling the warm chocolate stick to his skin. Tenten giggled, and Neji decided it was alright after all when she leaned up, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the tip of his nose.
“Mmmmmm……...chocolate.” She smiled mischievously up at him, batting her lashes.
Neji blinked again when she dipped a finger into the pitcher before tracing it seductively down her neck, past her collarbone…….He swallowed, unable to tear his eyes away from the glistening trail on her skin leading tantalizingly downwards. Suddenly he wasn’t so hungry anymore.
Tenten smirked up at him playfully. “Do you like chocolate, Neji?”
A strained chuckle, and Neji was already leaning down, voice husky and muffled against the base of her throat as he began the pleasant task of ‘cleaning Tenten up’.
“……Definitely.”