The third part to my War Story series... Hope you enjoy it :)

All is quiet. I lay watching my boyfriend of four years sleep beside me. He breathes slow and I watch as the muscles tighten and relax, watch, as his chest rises and falls. His hair is loose and I finger one of the dark brown strands slowly, then twirl it around my finger. For a moment, I smile, taking in the peaceful look on his face. He could never look so at ease when awake, he always had his guard up. He was always trying to be strong.

I look at his face once more and frown finding the mark that makes him so mad. The sign of a caged bird. The sign of a lost soul that longs to be found.

Minutes pass and I am curled by his side, my head resting on his strong shoulder, falling into the darkness of sleep. Within seconds of my eyes closing, there is a boom outside of the window and he is bolting upright in the bed beside me. "Tenten, stay here a minute," he says and walks to the glass that holds the outside world. Booms, continuous booms sound off from outside. With them comes light as if from fireworks, but it isn't holiday. There are no people dressed in beautiful delicate costumes outside. There are no rice cakes, no lanterns, no festivities. But there is something terribly wrong judging by the panicked look on Neji's face.

"Whats wrong," I ask quietly," what's happening?"

"Tenten,"he says. His voice is hard as stone, its rough. "Tenten, pack."He moves to the closet to retrieve mission bags.

"Pack? Why?For how long? Neji whats happening?"

"The war, its started. Pack one with at least a month of your necessities and the other with any kind of weapon you can find, your scrolls."

"What about you?"

"I'll pack you a bag of medicines."

"No. I mean, aren't you coming with me?"

His pearl eyes searched my face for a moment before he replied with a stern,"No."

"Then I'm staying with you! I can fight."

"Tenten I want you out of here and heading into the Rain Village within the next fifteen minutes."

"No. I refuse to leave you here!"

"Tenten! Please. Just do as I ask. Just leave, and don't worry about me."

"I can't do that and you know it." I reached out to him and touched his cheek.

"And I can't let you fight."

"So you expect me to just sit out and run away like a coward while you play the hero?"

"You aren't being a coward. You're listening to the decision of your commanding officer."

He had me. I officially had no choice but to run and I knew it.

"You aren't strong enough for this."

"Where do you get off saying that Hyugga?"

"You just got out of the hospital from serious injury on our last mission."

"That means nothing."

"You need to rest!"

"I need you!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed his words instead. His eyes filled with pain as he walked towards me, held me.

"And I will come for you after the initial shock of this is over. I promise."

My head buried itself into his chest,"Neji, I love you."

"And I love you. " He kissed my head and began to prepare. The black pants and shirt covered by the gray armor. The white porcelain mask to hide his face. The man I love walking into battle fearlessly while I ran away, because those were my orders. Because he loves me.

If you are interested in this story...try also :

War Story: Downfall

War Story: Loyalty

They are the two that come before this. More stories to come.