Author's Note: If Kishimoto ever asked me to pay him personally and this is affirmed by the media, I will hand him my credit card and then promptly jump off a bridge and then take myself to the nearest inpatient mental hospital. Thankfully this will never happen. But just in case, I know a few good ones. Hospitals that is.

I don't own Naruto. If I found him in another universe, he'd be mad at me. So thus... No Naruto is not my slave, neither are any of the other characters in this story. I am just the scribe who sits in a corner and writes down what's happening. Nothing more, nothing less.

A Girl Walks into A Bar

There is a pagoda that looks over a city. Not a large city, not a small city... just a city. The slopping roof of the building, hides to some extent that it is actually a multi-level shopping mall like establishment. This building, a full 15 stories tall, contains a small hospital, several governmental offices, a few small inns, a library, an art museum, a few clothing boutiques, an arcade, several restaurants, and a privately owned sports club and bar.

On the top floor of this establishment, is the Heaven Dog Sports Bar. It's a place that's been open since before the city was a city and instead was called a village. Recently it has undergone a renovation. Tonight is the first night it is to be open since the renovation. On a typical evening, the bar opens from 5pm until midnight. Due to the grand re-opening, this night the bar is intended to be open from 5pm until 3am. It is currently 3:30pm.

Stepping inside the bar, you will see rows upon rows of television screens hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling has many wires dangling around and if one were to look straight up it might resemble an exotic jungle. This is because there is a small sky-light beaming bits of sunlight down from the top. The light hitting the wires, in addition to some artfully placed decoration pieces and a rather elaborate mural of leaves and birds, has the entire ceiling resembling a tropical paradise, or the entrance of a small cave. The walls are covered with plaques and memorabilia of various sports stars, movie actors and actresses, politicians, writers, and a number of other famous people who had previously enjoyed a brief respite here during the heyday of this city. Decorative ivy and flowering wall plants grow from pots that are hung onto hooks in judiciously placed spots. The result is a draping of green interwoven between the photo frames and the plaques. On one side of the bar, there's a small fountain bubbling gently. Next to the fountain is a pool table and on the wall next to the pool table is a row of dart boards. The entire room is a shaped like a rectangle with the entrance door on the narrower part of the rectangle. The bar counter is located directly opposite of the fountain. In between the fountain and the bar counter are rows upon rows of tables and chairs.

This week is the first week after the major sporting events of the season ended. Thus, the television screens will most likely be running re-runs of the games that most of the patrons at the bar have already watched. Between the rows of tables and chairs runs a path that leads to a small stage area. Tonight is an open-mic night. Not many people usually get up and sing at first. A few drinks later, someone will eventually be standing up on that stage, and then the rest would follow that person's lead.

At the moment, the bar has not yet opened up for business. It is a quiet and rather lonely place. A young man is diligently wiping away at the counter top, and getting ready for his job as a bartender this night. His long black hair is tied back into a low pony-tail by a hair-band. He has a small green tattoo on his forehead. However, this is hidden by the black headband he is wearing. His attire is decent and respectable. His features are of an aristocratic sort. His posture even as he is polishing a wine-glass has the assured sophistication of a young man raised within a wealthy household. He appears at peace, and in the moment. He looks very relaxed.

Neji wonders how many days it has been since he's left the Hyuuga mansion and household. Despite financial pressures of living on his own, he feels that he has enjoyed the feeling of freedom and independence of this... experiment. His uncle still objects to Neji's current living arrangement. It's only a small studio apartment, nowhere befitting someone of Neji's status. This is according to his uncle. However, for Neji, despite how small it is, it is simple and efficient... much more suitable for living, in fact, than that awful and gloomy mansion. In truth, Neji's only regret in this decision is that he left behind some unresolved issues with his younger female cousins. He is entirely sure that if Hanabi discovered his whereabouts, he has no doubts that there would be hell to pay. Hinata though... she would provide an entirely different sort of hell.

At the thought of Hinata, Neji begins to feel the sensations of his chest tightening. His heart begins to pound erratically. He feels nauseous. Neji quickly sets the wine glass aside on the counter. He presses his hands onto the flat surface in front of him, steadying himself. The dizzying sensation begins, and suddenly he feels like he cannot breathe. There is the sound of a door opening, cracking the silence in the room.

'Not now. Not now!' Neji begins to feel incredibly out of control.

A young woman about his age runs into the room. She is not paying attention to him, but her focus instead is on the scene outside in the hall. She quickly moves sideways in a fashion so that she is no longer visible to people outside of the bar. Soon, a rowdy group of young males of varying sizes can be seen running along the hallway. They pass the bar without taking much of a glance. There is a huge sign that says "Closed", and beneath that, another sign that says, "Grand Re-opening from 5pm - 3am". The young woman looks visibly relieved as the sound of these ruffians fade into the distance. Now, as she begins looking around she notices Neji.

He appears visibly tense, and sweating profusely. The feelings intensify for him. Feeling incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of the spectacle he is sure he is making of himself in front of this girl, he tries to concentrate on relaxing himself and breathing. The feelings intensify even further, to the extent that he has to crouch down beneath the counter. Neji presses his forehead against the little bit of space between the counter top and the containment area for the various beverage mixes and dressings. He desperately prays inside of his head for this episode to pass quickly.

"Neji?"

The sensations fade away. He recognizes that voice.

"Tenten?"

Neji shifts from the crouch, and slowly drags himself back up to a standing position.

He sees Tenten's concerned face, staring back at him. Her hair is out of its usual buns and instead is a messy batch of tangled snarls crumbling over her left shoulder. Her make-up is smeared, with eye-shadow and mascara running down her cheeks. She is wearing a flimsy outfit that might have resembled a dress if it hadn't been so torn and wrecked.

Neji notices that she only has one earring, and then notices that her other ear is torn and bloody. There are some visible bruises on her shoulder.

Almost as though planned, both Neji and Tenten ask at the same time,

"Are you alright?"

A moment of silence passes at this. Suddenly Tenten grins and starts to giggle almost uncontrollably. Despite himself, Neji too begins to smile.

Then, he notices the other visible and blatant signs that Tenten had recently been attacked. Her dress is torn in some places that make obvious the intentions of the ones who had harmed her.

Neji's expression and tone flatten. He becomes visibly tense and angry.

"Seriously Tenten. What happened? You... Are you really alright? Did they... Who did this to you?"

Tenten doesn't say anything, and instead her face becomes devoid of expression as though her mind has been transferred elsewhere. This reaction to the question, increases Neji's anxiety concerning Tenten's safety. He places a hand on her shoulder, or rather begins to. As soon as his hand touches her, she visibly flinches away from the touch and appears visibly startled.

Looking into Neji's concerned eyes is too much for her. Slowly and awkwardly, she sits down on the bar seat next to her, twists around and then leans back against the counter in a position facing away from Neji.

"I... I don't want to talk about it. Not now... not with you. We don't have that kind of relationship anymore. You wanted to end it, and so you did. I can't talk to you like I did in the past. I'll get confused."

"I haven't seen you since high school. You didn't attend the graduation ceremony, and neither Lee nor Gai knows where you have been. Do you know how long they have been trying to find you? Now you show up here... like this."

At his tone of voice, Tenten looks visibly offended. Anger and resentment bubbles up to the surface like a volcano.

"Look Neji, I had no idea you worked here! It's only a rather odd coincidence. I certainly never planned on bothering you ever again. So, if you're trying to make me feel guilty for causing you difficulties at work, I'm sorry but I don't feel it a bit. I hate to be blunt, but after what you said to me before we broke up, you don't have any right to be so sentimental about me being hurt. You've done more damage to me than any of those men ever did."

At this, Neji cringes visibly.

"I didn't_"

"And besides, who are you to talk!? You are certainly no better than me when it comes to leaving the ones you care about behind. Remember that party? Hinata nearly died that night because of those bastards you invited! And_"

Neji closes his eyes. There are many things in the past he would rather not remember. It seems like some sort of divine notion of a joke, that just as he is beginning to feel some sort of peace in his life, this sort of event happens that drags back all of the things he'd rather just forget. He wonders if maybe his previous panic attack was a forewarning of some sort, or an omen. He hadn't had one of those in years.

Tenten stops ranting. She looks up and sees Neji with that expression on his face. She knows this expression. She's seen it sometimes in the night when Neji used to wake up with those horrible nightmares.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Neji. I didn't mean to bring that up... I might kind of hate your guts right now. But, I know that you're not really a bad guy. You saved Hinata in the end after all. It wasn't you who... You've come such a long way since when we were kids. And I know that, it's just... I guess I just wish I had been someone who could keep you happy."

Neji glances at the clock on the ball behind him. It says 4:00.

"Look Tenten. We can talk about this later. Right now, I need to get to work. If you want you can fix yourself up in the bathroom. Don't take too long though, because the customers will be arriving soon. And... here."

He steps over, opens a cabinet, and grabs a rather fashionable looking backpack. He unzips the bag, and takes out a nicely folded and expensive looking jacket.

He hands the jacket to her.

"I know you might not like me very much right now... but. Your dress... it's distracting. You should wear this."

"I don't want anything from you."

"Just take it."

A silent staring contest ensues. Finally, Tenten gives in.

"I can never win in these sorts of arguments with you. Fine, I'll wear the jacket. I'll give it back."

"You don't need to do that Tenten. I have plenty of jackets."

"No. I can't owe you anything. You might call me a whore who's only interested in your jackets. I don't know how you think of me now... but, I'd rather have at least a little more dignity than that."

"Tenten..."

"It's okay. I can forgive you for the past. Thank you for the jacket. I'm sorry I bothered you at work. Excuse me."

Slowly she gets off the bar seat. She looks to be in obvious pain. As she walks quietly walks away from the bar counter, she turns around and asks Neji for the location of the restroom.

He tells her.

As she moves towards the restroom, Neji notices that her gait is awkward. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. Why was it that every time he ever felt happy, something always happened to take it all away? Opening his eyes, he stares at the back of the girl whom he had previously loved and lost.

'Or maybe it is actually impossible for me to love another person.'

This was true, for a long time he had never felt particularly guilty when he hurt another person. He hurt everyone, and to some extent it helped the pain he felt inside, the loneliness and paranoia which had plagued his life for so long. It was never until Tenten that he ever felt regret for the loss of a relationship that had been the only important thing to him since his father and mother both died so long ago on that awful night.

'I need to get to work.'

The clock turns 5. Neji wonders how he is going to manage. Another 15 minutes pass, and the bar room is packed. The night has just arrived.

He looks around for Tenten, and notices her sitting quietly in a corner by the dart-boards. She is twirling a few darts. How she had acquired them, he does not know. Then he realizes that she must have picked the locked compartment that held the darts.

'I always did admire her skills in that area.'

Drink after drink is poured. Neji manages this very well considering none of the other bartenders have shown up today. It is already almost 7 o'clock. Another hour ticks by, and Neji receives a phone call via his cell phone. Quickly he answers the call. The manager is telling him that apparently two of the bar's employees were out joyriding and were involved in a drunk driving accident and he would have to cover for the night. The manager asks Neji if he has seen the bouncers. Neji replies that he has not. The manager sounds visibly angry over the phone, and appears to be complaining about getting good help in this economy and how no one wants to work at bars in the city. As this news is delivered, one of the patrons waiting for a drink begins to become angry.

"Where's my drink! You stinking Jap, stop yapping on the phone and get to work!"

This patron appears obviously intoxicated. Considering his use of the term, Neji comes to the conclusion that this man is obviously a foreigner. Foreigners are traditionally known for being rude and arrogant.

'Although, they typically hold their drink better. How many glasses has this man had?'

"Sir, you are obviously intoxicated. Are you sure you would like another drink."

"I'm not drunk! You just want to screw me out of my money! I paid a big tip! See?"

He promptly begins waving one of his hands while folding the tips of his fingers together tightly.

Neji observes this behavior, and then takes a closer look at the man's eyes. His pupils are severely dilated and his movements contain visible tremors. He is sweating profusely as well.

There is no money in his hand.

'This is bad,' thinks Neji. 'I can't manage a guy on drugs just by myself. Plus I can't tell if he has been taking anything else. This could become a liability issue... I can't let him drink anymore.

"I'm sorry sir, but you are clearly intoxicated. I am not allowed to serve you any drinks at this time. You need to go home. Do you need me to call you a taxi?"

"I don't need no taxi! You bar folks are all in leagues with the taxi companies to TAKE MY MONEY! You should all just go to hell!"

'I'm already there.' Neji mentally replies. However, not wanting to provoke a customer who is not sober, he keeps this comment to himself and remains silent. Neji begins serving a drink for another customer.

"There you go. Pour me a drink good lad. Pour me a drink like a good servant. Hahaha..."

The man's slobbering head hits the counter top with a thud. Neji considers checking for a pulse but then decides to observe this man for a while before committing to any unnecessary actions.

Neji finishes making 3 drinks and begins walking over to the group of young men who ordered the drinks. This group of customers are sitting at a table near the dart boards.

Before he reaches the table however, the intoxicated man suddenly sits up.

"HEY! Where are you going with my drink!? Come back here!"

Neji ignores him.

"Come back here! You hear me you fucking homo! Else I'm going to have your ass! Come back here!"

Neji continues to ignore him, walking towards the other end of the room.

A blanket of silence steadily falls upon the bar. People watch the exchange in curiosity.

This curiosity soon turns into abject horror.

The intoxicated man pulls out a gun, and proceeds to point it at Neji.

"Ima shoot you in the ass you gay! Come back here!"

A shot rings out... Screams start erupting, and chaos ensues.

In the panic, many people start rushing towards the door. Tables get knocked over, and glass breaks on the floor. Since the room isn't overly large, despite the scrambling, it doesn't take long for a majority of the bar's customers to leave the room.

The intoxicated man had fired into the ceiling, disconnecting some wires and causing sparks to fly in the air. A few of the screens blink, a few flicker and die. A few are left, with shots of green golf courses and fan stadiums containing people wearing vibrant red.

As the customers rush out the door, Neji quickly places his tray on the nearest table and bends down behind it. Slowly he proceeds back towards the bar counter with the intention of wrestling the man to the floor. Before he gets there however, he hears a scream coming from the intoxicated foreigner.

Neji looks up from behind a table and sees that the man has been struck in the hand by three darts. Unfortunately however, this man does not drop the gun but merely shakes his hands free of the darts. Blood runs down in rivulets from his hand, but the man appears not to feel the pain at all. Instead, he peers around with eyes narrowed.

"Who threw that? Someone dare mess with Captain Jack huh? I'll shoot YOU and make you an example to all of these other folks in here. Who threw that? I'll murder you!"

Neji knows exactly who threw those darts. He frantically looks over to where he had seen Tenten earlier, but realizes that she is not there.

Suddenly, the gunman is knocked down from behind by a girl wielding a pool stick.

'So that's where she was... When did she_?'

Bang!

Neji suddenly realizes just how dangerous of a position Tenten has put herself in.

The intoxicated man was apparently knocked over, but not knocked out. Neji sees Tenten's body on top of the man. Neji then realizes that she is using a grappling move to hold the man still. Seconds pass by like hours.

Despite his frantic struggles, Tenten's fingers encounter the trigger of the gun. She presses the trigger.

Bang!

The shot whizzes by Neji's head. Neji ducks under the table and then proceeds to get out from behind it, and runs towards the place where the gunman and Tenten are wrestling over the gun.

Bang!

Another shot is fired. This shot almost hits Neji's shoulder.

Bang!

This shot grazes Neji in the leg. His leg begins to bleed from the wound.

Bang!

'How many shots are in that thing!?' Neji wonders.

Bang!

'Tenten!'

Bang!

'No! Oh please God no! Please...'

Finally, Neji arrives and throws a strong kick into the man's head. The man loosens his grip on the gun.

Bang!

Neji realizes that Tenten had been the one who had been firing off the shots. He breathes a sigh of relief... until he notices the pool of blood on the floor.

"Tenten... Tenten?"

'Oh please God... no, no, no... why the hell.'

Tenten shifts a bit, and then proceeds to get up off the floor. She checks for the pulse of the gunman with one hand, the other arm wrapping around herself, keeping her jacket in place. She looks visibly relieved.

"He's dead."

Neji looks at the gunman's body and realizes that apparently quite a few of the shots had hit the gunman during the process of the wrestling match.

Tenten asks Neji for a cellphone.

"I lost mine in that fight earlier."

Neji grabs his cellphone from out of his pocket and hands it to Tenten.

She proceeds to dial 911.

Neji wonders how she has gotten so good at handling herself in the past few years that she is able to handle such a chaotic situation in such a matter of fact fashion.

"Hello. 911, how can I help you?"

"I have a dead man in front of me, and another one wounded. Please dispatch an ambulance and police vehicles immediately to the following location."

Tenten provides a highly detailed address of their location to the person on the other end.

"Madame, are you are a professional of some sort?"

"Not really."

"Then you are one brave girl."

"Not really."

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know."

Neji checks the perimeters and finds that no customers were shot or harmed. He feels rather thankful for that. Then he proceeds to take the phone from Tenten. She doesn't resist this.

"Hello, Neji speaking, I'm the bartender... here at the bar. I was the only one working here tonight."

"No, no there are no other casualties. Yes, there is significant damage to the property. I'm not sure."

Tenten visibly sways in place. She topples over into Neji, unconscious.

"Neji...?"

Neji is too frightened to speak. He feels a dampening from where Tenten's lower body is touching his. He realizes that Tenten may have also been shot. He frantically opens up the jacket, trying to see where she might be bleeding from. Her arm won't budge.

"Neji...?"

"Tenten, let go. I want to check if you're hurt anywhere."

"I'm sorry Neji..."

"I... I think I might have messed up your jacket."

She finally lets go.

There's a large gash on her side, slowly dripping onto the floor. She had been shot, possibly badly.

"Oh God no! Tenten!"

Neji becomes frantic. Placing pressure on the wound, he yells into the phone. She's fainted! Yes. Yes. My girlfriend's been shot... Please, please hurry. Please."

Neji hangs up the phone. He places it back into his pocket. His entire body begins to feel numb. He places his arms around Tenten, and holds her tightly. Sirens are heard in the distance.

The clock turns 3am.

The next day at the hospital. Neji wakes up. There's a knock on the door. Shikamaru walks in, along with Hinata, Kiba and Gai sensei.

Neji sits up quickly, and winces.

Hinata quickly rushes towards him.

"Neji. No, don't do that so quickly. You're still hurt."

Neji ignores Hinata, but instead concentrates his gaze on Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Is she still alive? Please. Tell me the truth. Is Tenten alive?"

Shikamaru hesitates and looks visibly uncomfortable.

Kiba looks very angry, like he's about to break something.

"No... She's not. Is she... Did she...? Please tell me. I NEED to know."

Kiba finally speaks up.

"She's not dead." Neji looks visibly relieved to hear this.

Shikamaru then adds an additional piece to this rejoinder.

"...yet."

Neji begins to look worried.

Gai sees this, and despite himself he feels sort of happy. 'I never thought I'd see the day Neji became this worried over anyone. It's just too bad that this sort of thing had to happen for him to realize the importance of the people he cares about.'

Sakura enters the room. She's wearing a nurse uniform and has a clipboard.

Kakashi enters the room next. He is wearing the Konoha police uniform.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this time Neji, but I need to ask you some questions regarding the shooting last night at the bar."

Neji looks at Kakashi. He realizes that this might be a good person to ask about what's happened to Tenten.

A few questions about address, time of day, dress and attire, physical description of all of the people he could remember serving at the bar, and a few questions about his family and personal legal history and whereabouts prior to when the shooting occurred and any credible witnesses who might be willing to testify in court later and... Kakashi asks a question that shocks Neji to the core.

"I may get in trouble for telling you this Neji, but I feel that you have a right to know. Tenten's injuries are mostly internal. The shot on her side was a fairly minor graze. The most extensive damage comes from..."

A large and awkward silence follows.

"What? What was the damage from? Was she shot in the lungs, the heart... where...?"

"She was gang raped Neji. She was raped fairly brutally. We're not sure of the details yet, but it's been confirmed that there may have been at least 3 men."

Neji suddenly recalls their conversation prior to the bar officially opening up. He remembers what she said, and the way she behaved when he tried to touch her shoulder.

"Now, as a suspect in this, you understand that there will be a lot of questions asked. Personally I think that you had nothing to do with this particular incident, but due to your previous history it is likely that the jury will view you as the most likely suspect for all of this. We are hoping that after Tenten wakes up, she can testify that you were not among the perpetrators. However, we'd like for you to be cooperative in finding out more information on what happened. Would that be okay with you?"

Neji doesn't answer.

"Neji..."

He still doesn't answer.

Sakura touches Kakashi's soldier.

"I'm sorry officer. I'm afraid you will have to leave. The patient needs his rest."

Kakashi sighs. It may be that being only in his 20's he has not had enough experience dealing with these kinds of cases. He realizes now that perhaps it would have been better to question the suspect at a later date.

'Poor kid. I guess I'll come back. I hope this didn't cause him more pain than necessary. The paperwork is due next week though... Damn this world is hell on the young. And too darn miserable for the old. I think maybe I'm not cut out for this line of work. Go back home and think about it later.'

When Kakashi returned home, the television screen is on.

It is playing the same old re-run of the games from the night before.

The stadium is full of people, wearing that vibrant red.

Kakashi curses, more wasted energy and more bills to pay.

Kakashi vows to never support another team that wears so much red.

For some people in this line of duty, even seeing the color is too much.

In some countries, soldiers don't wear vibrant colors. For red is the color of blood.

Author's Note: I purposefully wrote this so that a person reading it (ideally) will not be able to tell exactly what country the scene takes place. Neji is identified as being "Asian", the gunman is considered a 'foreigner' by Neji. However, culturally all Asians consider people who do not look Asian foreigners and this definition changes depending on what part of Asia you are in. However, bars are a common scene all around the world. Unfortunately, so is rape and tragedy.

I actually utilized my DSM-IV for this piece. Neji suffered from Conduct Disorder in the past but since then due to proper treatment and good prognosis, mostly resolved it. However, he still has residual panic attacks. He has Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia.

Tenten suffers from a host of Disorders as well including a personality disorder.

I've learned how to study Psychology in a funner way. I'm still in the process of writing a fake Hyuuga Neji treatment plan written from the perspective of his high school period. Hopefully I'll be done with this one soon. It shouldn't be illegal for me to post it online considering I made up the character.

Still, tell me if this feels realistic to you. I need to know because I want to make sure that a person reading it gets the impression that the characters are 'like real'. I only looked at symptoms from DSM-IV criteria while writing this, kind of like making up my own fake case study.

Your reviews might help me in my future as a counseling therapist. *bows* Arigatougusaimasu