Tenten slowly made her way back to the intensive care unit with their lunch in hand. She knew he was going to be in no shape to talk about feelings- but wait, what feelings?

"This is ridiculous." she stopped in the middle of the hall. The beeping machines echoed around her. The smell of sterile bathrooms and hand sanitizer filled her being and brought her back to reality. "The last thing he needs right now is more confusion."

She heard a door shut just about 20 feet ahead of her. The herd of Hyuugas were leaving Neji's room. They seemed solemn, though, she supposed, how can you walk out of there, taking in his condition and feel anything but? She moved a few feet to the right into a small niche like hallway, so to not get in there way as they were walking by. She pressed her back up against the wall to blend in a little better. She didn't want to seem like she'd been waiting in the middle of the hallway for them all this time.

She looked down at her tray of food and watched them out of her peripheral vision, as they gracefully walked by. She was given the cold shoulder by his Uncle, yet two pitiful looks from the girls walking behind him. Yet, Hinata gave a heartfelt smile to her classmate and comrade, one that said 'thank you' obviously for keeping an eye on her cousin. Tenten gave her a quick nod as to say 'my pleasure.'

After the Hyuuga's turned the corner out of sight, Tenten once again slowly made her way to his room, hoping he wasn't in too bad of spirits after that uncomfortable visit. To her surprise, he was sitting up in bed with his feet touching the ground as if about to get up.

"Neji!" Tenten rushed to his side, placing the tray of food on a small table by the door. "What are you doing up? Can I get you something?" She instinctively grabbed his forearm with one hand and his hip in the other, trying to keep him in place.

"Bathroom." He stated through clenched teeth, working through the pain.

"Oh, um- maybe I should get your nurse to help-"

"Don't be ridiculous," He shot out at her, "help me up." His outburst really wasn't out of character, but surprising considering his condition.

With some hesitation, she wrapped his arm around her shoulder lifting him off the bed as slowly as possible. She grabbed the IV drip attached to him, and grunting, he was able to take the steps necessary to the bathroom. She walked him to the sink with a strong sturdy handle for him to latch onto. She still held onto his arm, waiting for him to pull away. To her surprise, he grabbed on a little tighter; only as tight as his bruised fingers would allow. A dark shadow covered his face. "I always wondered... what short hair would look like." He mumbled to the floor.

Here she was thinking he needed to pee. He just wanted to see his reflection. He wanted to see for himself what everyone had been seeing, why he was getting such pitiful glares and responses to his condition.

"I think it makes your eyes pop." She smiled softly at his reflection. WHATTTTT, Tenten, are you kidding yourself? What the HELL is wrong with you? She screamed inwardly. What a stupid stupid thing to say.

"Hmmph." He chuckled under his breath trying to hide a smirk, "Well as long as you think it suits me, then I guess I can tolerate the humility. At least for now." He then leaned a little more heavily onto his teammate, but for his first time mobile in about a week or so, he figured he'd reached his limit for the day.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked as she walked him back to the bed, holding his hand in the process. "I brought back some soup if you'd like some." She placed him down on the bed, helping him to lift up his legs. "Well, actually it's just broth, like the medic said you could have, but I figured I could crumble up some crackers on top to make it taste better." Tenten took a moment to fluff his pillows and recenter his blankets, to focus on anything other than the lilac eyes that seemed to be staring through her soul as she rambled. "If you don't want it that's fine, I just thought-" She was cut off by a raised hand to her cheek, warm and calloused, caressing the light bags under her eyes. Studying her face as if it was his first time seeing her in awhile.

"How long have you been here?" he brushed the fine hairs away from her face and tucked them gently behind her ear..

"It hasn't been too long, I think I came back at 2:00 PM with the soup. I can always reheat it if you'd like it warmer."

"That's not what I was talking about."

"Oh, um, well I've been taking walks, and a few breaks here and there when you've had visitors. It really hasn't been too bad for me-"

"When was the last time you slept in your own bed?" He cut her off again.

"Well-"

"Tenten-"

"Even if I had gone home, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways." she practically shouted. The room seemed so much quieter than it had before. She could hear the buzzing of the fluorescent lights, and the mumbling through the walls of the people next door. The mood changed dramatically. She sat down on the edge of his bed holding onto his hand that she moved to her lap. "I got worried when you didn't show up at my place. Although I knew a Hyuuga would always pull through."

It wasn't like Neji to accept pity from others, especially his teammates, but something kept him quieter than usual. He let her voice her inner feelings, something he usually avoids.

"I can't talk about the mission."

"I'm not asking you to. But I want you to know I'm here for you." Tenten knew he wouldn't be able to talk about the mission, even though they've broken the rules plenty of times, this instance was far different than the others. This one was Hyuuga business, it was only cleared by the Hokage after severe pressure from Hiashi. "Venting is part of the healing process too."

Neji raised a dark eyebrow at the kunoichi trying to hide his grin. "You know you'd be the first person I'd concede to." He shut his eyes hoping that he would soon be met by some much needed sleep. She turned slowly in her spot, to lay in the same position as him, contorting her body around the wires attached to his wrist, she welcomed his body heat and just like that she was asleep.

After the fourth medic came into Neji's quarters, the orders were given to move Neji from the intensive care unit, to the rehabilitation center for at least two days, until the Hokage herself decided he was well enough for discharge. It was quite an exciting morning; the IV drip was taken off, and all the wires were gone, meaning he could eat real food for himself.

Tenten had shuffled home to refresh herself. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she was feeling better than she had in awhile. She felt like this was a good opportunity to show her teammate that she was more than weaponry. Foraging through her drawers, she got out her recipe for anpan, and decided to make a batch for the hospital. Knowing that Neji really never had a thing for sweets, she made a few with sweet red bean paste, and a few without.

She gathered a few things to take back with her, a book, a change of clothes, and a sweatshirt along with the fresh anpan, and she was out the door headed back to Konoha Medical Unit. Taking out one of the buns she made, she bit into it, savoring the way her teeth cut into the bread. Food is so much better right out of the oven. Then it dawned on her. This will be the first thing he has eaten since being back. She wasn't too worried, because she knew this recipe was one that couldn't compete with hospital food. Plus, he's probably also starving. Pushing a tad more chakra into her heels, she hurried along back.

Tenten made her way to the front desk of the new building he was being moved to. A larger woman with light brown skin and dark green hair was sitting behind the front desk on the phone. Other lines were calling in like crazy, with all sorts of buttons lighting up. Some of these must be room service requests she thought. This was a job Tenten was glad she didn't have, the poor lady looked stressed beyond belief, she was curious as to why she was alone in the middle of the afternoon. Taking out a napkin, she set one of her baked goods on the counter as a nod of appreciation for what she was doing for the greater good of Konoha. Ninja's weren't the only people that had tough jobs.

"Ohh!" The green haired woman exclaimed rushing to end her phone call. "Just a second." she whispered to her new friend while covering the phone. A few utterances later she hung up, ignoring the other phone calls coming in and focusing on the girl in front of her. "You're so sweet honey, I've had the worst day so far."

"Well I hope you like Anpan!" Tenten smiled

"Look at me, you know I do." She jested, "The girl I was working with is due back any minute now, and then I'm off to break. Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes, he should have been moved by now, Hyuuga Neji's room please."

"Hmm," She whipped through the paperwork on her desk, searching through three large piles, "I'm not seeing the name anywhere-" She moved her attention to her computer and started typing. "Here he is. It looks like he is still in the ICU. It says here that there has been a development in his situation."

"Wh-what?" the brunette stuttered "He was doing well a few hours ago?" She picked up her basket, and started sprinting towards his unit.

"Room 345!" The desk attendant shouted after her, feeling pitious of the current situation.

Tenten turned down a different hall of the building that he had originally been in, hoping that the woman had gotten it all wrong and was mistaken about the situation. Her worries were halted for a moment when she noticed two of her teammates standing outside his door.

"Gai Sensei, Lee-" She came to a hard stop when Tsunade came out of room 345. She knew well enough this wasn't a good situation.

"It seems he has contracted some type of fever, accompanied by fits of rage, and violence." Tsunade said matter of factly. "What his trigger was, we are not sure." Her words fell silent to horrendous screaming coming from the door behind her. It's then that Tenten noticed an unwelcome face in his room. Hyuuga Hiashi was activating Neji's curse mark.

"What is going on?! Why is Hiashi-"She was cut off by the booming voice of the Hokage.

"He is doing what he needs to do in order to wear Neji out. The idea is, his spirit and will power will be broken using this method, which will help him comply. I can assure you I like the process no more than you do." The busty blonde crossed her arms and closed her eyes, giving the impression that this method was under no discussion. Painful loud screaming continued as a few nurses ran into the room.

Tenten moved to the other side of Gai, and could see the writhing shinobi in full view. His bandages were no longer in place, and his curse mark was glowing bright blue. Clawing at his scalp, and gritting his teeth, Neji was doing all that he could to stay conscious. She was staring, and hoping that somehow he'd pull through once again.

The team attempted to wait for this ordeal to be over, they sat in the lobby for any possible developments. A few hours went by and the head of the Hyuuga clan emerged with Tsunade. Shaking his head, he muttered words to her and was off, but not before an icy glare to Tenten.

Tsunade's expression was solemn but stern. She informed the team that he will be under 24/7 watch until they can figure out what exactly went wrong and why. He is not to have any visitors until then. This news broke Tenten. Her eyes became incredibly heavy, and tears threatened to stain her cheeks. As the group walked past, she stopped before the door, peering through the small square window.

To her horror, she saw Neji past out, strapped to the hospital bed under full body restraints. His curse mark seemed to still be glowing, and the skin around it was red and blotchy. A nurse was wiping the sweat away from his face with a soaked cloth, wringing out the water in a basin next to him.

Neji...