heartbeat: Chapter 2! Happy spring break! Enjoyy!

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


IRRATIONAL 2
He's only got his fingertips.
He's losing his grip on reality.
He's slipping a little more with every day.


"Ah, Tenten-san," Hinata called, taking quick steps in order to catch up to the brunette in front of her. "Tenten-san!"

"Hello, can I help you?" Tenten placed one hand on her hip, an involuntary but intimidating habit that she had acquired after years of dealing with supposedly-impossible people. Of course, it was late and visiting hours ended a long time ago. She sneaked a peek at the clock. Sasuke would be out of his mind with worry, that overprotective bastard.

Hinata stopped short and bowed quickly but did not straighten up. Instead, she remained doubled over, her clenched fists digging into her knees, her body racking with uncontrollable sobs.

Tenten stood there, bemused. Had she really spent so much time with psychotics that she had lost her social aptness when dealing with normal, regular people? When had the uncommon become the common – the insane become the sane? Lord help her, she had no idea what to do to console the poor girl.

Luckily, Hinata managed to compose herself enough to blink up at Tenten with teary eyes and offer an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry." She hiccupped. "I've always been…rather dramatic."

"It's…fine." Tenten's senses were alert, trained into a mistrusting habit of anticipating a violent outburst or an emotional breakdown. Hell, she didn't know how to interact with others.

Had she turned into one of the insane?

"Neji, Neji-nii-san, he's…my cousin." She hung her head in shame. "Please, help him get his life back."

He hasn't lost his life! Tenten felt like screaming. Just because he's troubled doesn't mean he doesn't have a life! Psychos are people, too!

Rather, she plastered on a fake smile. "Of course, I'll do everything in my power to help Neji-san."

"Just a word of advice," Hinata added, lowering her voice significantly, "even before the…the…the…well, you know, the incident, he was never a patient person. And he's strong." She fumbled with the sleeve of her blouse and showed Tenten a long silver scar that ran from her shoulder to her elbow. "We were twelve," Hinata explained, "and one day at the wharf, I accidentally ran into him and so he pushed me off the dock and onto the rocks below.

"In school, he'd pick fights with the upperclassmen, juniors, seniors even, when he was only a freshman. About what, I never found out and his opponents were eerily quiet after their loss. But he was good-looking, smart, and came from an honorable family so everyone overlooked his aggressive tendency." Hinata shook her head quickly and her audience – Tenten – remained silent, making mental notes about her patient's background.

"He graduated a year early and received a full ride to one of the best business schools. He was reserved, well-mannered, polite, and didn't make much of a habit out of alcoholic comfort. Right after earning his MBA, he was offered a part-time job to manage a small retail company that sold garments designed by up-and-coming designers." Here, she paused her narrative to glance around the hallway nervously. Tenten did the same, as Hinata's behavior started to scare her.

Hinata opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it, looking over Tenten's shoulder at something truly horrifying. With a squeak and a hasty apology and a good-bye jam-packed into one quick fragment, Hinata ducked her head and walked away from Tenten.

Insanely curious at this point, Tenten sighed regretfully and turned around to see what, or who, had frightened her storyteller so much.

"She ran away as if she was terrified to see me," the man joked flippantly, his loud blonde hair hurting Tenten's eyes. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way. Hinata's my…well, friend…we'd be more but her cousin kept threatening me. So, uh, how's he holding up in there?"

Tenten blinked a few times. "Diagnosing too early would cause misguided and biased judgments. But, what I can say is that he's still got some form of grip on reality."

Only his fingertips; at least he hadn't let go completely.

But…he's slipping.

"I'm Tenten, Neji's psychiatrist." She held out her hand, trying not to wince when the exuberant blonde pumped her hand up and down excitedly and massaging it behind her back once he had let go.

"I know. Hinata told me she was going to come find you and talk to you about something."

She nodded. "Yes, she was telling me about Neji's background and the events leading up to the, ah, the murder."

Naruto's eyes flashed momentarily with an unknown glint. "Did she? What did she say? Nothing incriminating, I hope?"

Tenten eyed him carefully, her trained eyes picking up behavioral signs. His forehead gleaned with a thin layer of perspiration and the fingers on his hands were twitching every now and then. He was nervous.

"Who do you think she'd implicate?"

The carefree laughter disappeared from his countenance and was replaced by irritation, annoyance, and…fear? "Never mind," he said quickly, giving her a look that quite clearly said that there would hell to pay if she ever brought the subject up again. "She made a promise and Hinata always keeps her promises."

He gave her carefree wave goodbye and walked past her. "I'll see you around, eh, Ten-chan?"

She stiffened at the use of such a familiar suffix but nodded quickly. "Certainly."

By the time she gathered all her belongings and handed over her duties to the nighttime staff – it would be her shift next week – it had already begun to thunder, droplets of rain belting against the hood of her car.

Tenten fumbled with the key and started the engine, snapping on the headlights only to see a figure standing in front of her car, the lights giving his features a satanic look.

She screamed.


Naruto's eyes scared her. Blue as they were, they no longer reminded her of warm, summer skies and cool, ocean water. Instead, they were like icicles, daggers of ice, cold, unmoving, relentless.

She shivered despite her warm coat.

He would not unlock the car and let her out. She looked out the window desperately at her home, a mere few steps up the driveway, the porch lights twinkling invitingly through the rain-splattered glass. She knew what was coming.

"What did you tell her?" Naruto's voice was low, an attempt to sound stoic but she could hear his voice trembling.

"N-nothing." Hinata looked away.

"You'd better be right."

She licked her dry lips. "I am."

A whisper.

"You know what would happen if you told her," he went on to say.

She nodded, feeling faint.

"You have nothing to fear," Naruto reassured her kindly, "as long as you keep your mouth shut. I'd rather die than see you get hurt."

"H-Hai."

He sighed and unlocked the door, passing over an umbrella. "You can go. I'll pick you up for work tomorrow at seven."

"Bye, Naruto," she murmured, accepting the umbrella and stepping out into the freezing rain.


Ino stood in the subway station, holding onto her little boy's hand, checking the clock frequently.

11:32

The clock was wrong. It had to be. It had been 11:32 for at least five minutes al-

Oh.

11:33

She sighed and smiled fondly down at her son, with his big dark eyes and spiky hair that just wouldn't, couldn't, be tamed. Many a brave brush and comb had snapped in half, lost bristles, or simply given up when it came to tackling his hair. She knew he had inherited it from his father.

She was secretly glad that her son had gotten his father's good looks. Even when they weren't dating, she'd always admired his casual aloofness and offbeat charisma from afar. Thank god that was the extent of their likeness, though.

"Tetsu," she cooed, "are you happy to finally meet Daddy?"

His dark, dark hair was gelled up into little points and his smile looked better on him than on his father – not that his father smiled much. "Daddy?" he repeated quizzically, cocking his head.

As always, Ino withdrew a photograph of her child's father whenever he was brought up as a sort of visual aid for Tetsu. It was taken five years ago, a month before she had realized she had gotten pregnant. She could be defiant as she wanted to be, but she could see in his eyes that he was already planning on leaving her. Having a lifelong fear of rejection, Ino had left him before he could leave her.

"Oh," Tetsu breathed quietly, reaching out to take the photograph from his mother's hand and stroke his father's pictorial hair.

Ino looked around the station for a while. "It's the first time he'll get to see you," she said quietly.

He doesn't even know you exist. He thinks…I got rid of you, years ago.

The last thing he had said to her was that it would make her life easier if she just got an abortion. Ino had been horrified by his cruelty and immediately decided that she would have his child, just to spite him for wanting to leave her.

"Lazy ass," she muttered quietly so her son wouldn't hear.

As the doors to the subway opened as the train slowed to a stop, Ino grabbed onto her son's hand and their suitcase before strolling into the almost empty car. In a little over twenty-four hours, Tetsu would celebrate his fourth birthday and finally get to meet his father, no matter how reluctant he might be.


Tenten tried to calm her racing heart but adrenaline was coursing through her veins.

Who's standing in front of my car?

Slowly, she reached into her purse and latched onto the small pocket-knife that she carried around for safety measures, watching the figure as it took slow, unsure steps around to the driver's side of the car. Tenten eyes widened, though, when she recognized who it was.

"Neji!"

Tenten unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door into the freezing rain, thoroughly unnerved by the Hyuuga's cool expression and blank white eyes, his whole body soaked.

"Holy…how the hell did you get out here?" she demanded, steering him back into the psychiatric hospital, going through all the possibilities in her head. Fugouri Psychiatrics was a high-facility hospital. It was near impossible to sneak out without being stopped by a guard or staff.

Suddenly, she blanched.

He was in here because of a murder. What if…?

"Hey, hurry up, Hyuuga," Tenten snapped, opening the door to the waiting room.

They tracked in bucketfuls of water and the receptionist looked up suddenly. "Tenten? What the hell?"

"I could ask you the same question, Hisoka!" She eased Neji into a plush armchair and gave him a warning glare, spinning around to chew out the receptionist. "Are your eyes working properly? Your ears? Are you stupid enough to have a resident sneak past you and not notice? Especially one who is injured and requires a long stay in the infirmary! Hisoka! What is your damn problem?"

Hisoka's eyes grew wide as they landed on Neji, his soaked hair hanging limply around his face and droplets of water running down his neck. His cuts would have to be redressed to avoid infection. "Is he, is he, a resident?"

Tenten narrowed her eyes dangerously. "No shit. Do you what could've happened if I hadn't found him?"

Crimes.

Murders.

Lawsuits.

The closing of Fugouri.

She forced herself to regain her composure and massaged her temples, smoke drifting out of her ears every so often. "Hisoka, just get him back into the infirmary." Tenten watched as Hisoka moved unsurely towards Neji, who glared at her.

Suddenly fearing for her colleague's safety, Tenten stepped in between them and frowned. "Never mind, you've done enough today," she said coldly, trying to hide her concern so as not to alarm both Hisoka and Neji. "I'll take him back to the infirmary."

Tenten closed her hand around Neji's upper arm, ignoring his obvious flinch, and took him through the door that led to the facilities hidden from the public eye for the residents' privacies.

"I'm normal," he informed her suddenly.

"No, you're not." Bluntness was second nature for her.

"She thought I was normal," Neji insisted.

"Hisoka?" Tenten shook her head.

He nodded and scowled. "She thought I was a visitor and told me that my visits greatly boost the residents' morale."

"Well, she's an idiot."

She flicked on the light in Neji's infirmary room and instructed him to lie down. He did after a moment's hesitation and he watched her as she called a nurse into his room to redress his wounds. When she was done, Tenten rounded on her patient, her hands on her hips, and gave him the most intimidating look she could muster.

"Now, mister, do you want to tell me why the hell you followed me outside?"

He blinked. "I don't like it here."

"It doesn't matter. You have to stay here. Here is better than jail," she added quietly.

"I think jail might be better." Neji closed his eyes. "Or Hell."

"It doesn't matter," she repeated. "You are going to stay here because the government demands it."

At that moment, Sakura entered with a roll of fresh gauze and stared awestruck at Neji's wet body. "How the hell did you get so wet?"

"The rain," Tenten answered flatly, shooting down any further inquiries from Sakura with a look in her eyes. "There's no need for any other explanation."

Adopting a professional air, Sakura began undoing the bandages on Neji's forearm and glared at him when he glared at her. "You have no say in this, Hyuuga-san. What you did was incredibly stupid. Not only did you risk infection, you also ventured outside the hospital walls, a clear violation of protocol. If an officer had found you, they would have never allowed you back inside Fugouri."

"Save the lecture. I don't need to put up with anymore shit right now." Neji closed his eyes.

Pursing her lips unappreciatively, Sakura clucked with her tongue and finished wrapping his wounds with fresh bandages. "I think you'll be able to return to solitary confinement tomorrow and I think the straitjacket should fit over the bandages quite nicely, don't you think, Neji-san?"

After Sakura had left, Neji turned to Tenten, who was standing in the corner with her arms crossed, and smirked. "Damn, she's a bitch."

"It's part of the job requirements. You have to be a bitch or a jackass or a douche to work here." She strode across the room and flicked off the lights. "I'll see you tomorrow, Neji-san." Tenten locked the door behind her.


Sasuke looked up when he heard the apartment door unlock and slowly swing open. He had been sitting in the dark for at least an hour, wearing only a pair of striped pajama pants, and the bright fluorescents from the hallway blinded him momentarily.

And then Tenten's figure blocked the light as she crept in carefully, thinking that he was already in bed and asleep. Her eyes widened when he turned the lights on suddenly and she smiled innocently.

"Hey," she whispered, setting her bag on the table and leaning down to give him a demure kiss on the cheek. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"What time is it?" he asked gruffly.

"Ah…" Tenten glanced at the analog clock hanging over the stove. "It is…a quarter to one."

"You're late."

"I know."

She took the seat beside him at the table and waited patiently as he searched for the right words. She hoped he wouldn't scream or yell or overreact; her job supplied her with plenty of that.

"Tenten, do you know…what Neji's crime was?" Sasuke finally asked.

"Murder," she answered immediately, "I'm only assigned to the hardcore cases."

"Any details?"

"The Director wasn't too clear, but that's a good thing," Tenten argued. "A good helper is an unbiased one, one who doesn't judge and only thinks of bettering the patient's future."

Sasuke rubbed his temples, thinking, not for the first time, that his girlfriend had chosen the most insane job there was. Her life was at risk daily, what with her dealings with serial killers and severely depressed suicide attempters and irrational drug addicts. But he knew she loved the rush and would not give up her job even if it meant saving her own life.

"He…killed his girlfriend, Tenten."

She was silent. "Ex-girlfriend, I think, is the proper label."

"It's not funny," Sasuke snapped when her eyes twinkled with laughter.

"Nor is it something you should worry about," Tenten countered. "It's not like I'm his girlfriend."

Sasuke didn't say anything but she understood.

"You're jealous," she laughed. "You're jealous of a convict! Don't be ridiculous, Sasuke."

He did not take kindly to ridicule and headed for the bedroom abruptly, throwing one last morsel of advice over his shoulder. "And you, Tenten, don't get killed."


heartbeat: More drama as the plot thickens!

What did Hinata promise Naruto?

Ino has a son? I put lots of clues in there to help you all figure out who it is. ^^

Please REVIEW if you want a Chapter 3! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!