Tenten made her way out of the Hokage office, humming happily to herself. She'd just come back from a solo mission, which went not as hard as she'd thought at first, and she'd completed it successfully. Now, after reporting the details to the Hokage, she was going home. Get a nice shower, prepare a quick dinner, and oh, she had ice cream as the dessert.

Tenten smiled to herself. Unlike other civilian women, she didn't have to limit her food intake. Being a kunoichi forced her to burn her calories everyday. If not a mission, hours of training with Team Gai or a sparring session with Neji would surely have its positive effect. Moreover, it was well-known that kunoichi's strenuous training always resulted in a well-shaped body.

Aside from well-shaped or not, Tenten was sure Neji liked her the way she was. He, in fact, always scolded her if she skipped lunch or dinner, even breakfast. He always refused to train with her if she hadn't eaten anything beforehand.

"Tenten-san!"

Tenten turned around to find a blue haired woman fiddle with her fingers. Smiling at the younger kunoichi, she greeted her. "Good evening, Hinata! What are you doing here?"

"Um, Neji-nii… Neji-nii-san… He is…"

The Weapon Mistress raised her eyebrows. She remembered that Neji had been injured in a tough ANBU mission a few days ago, and although his injury hadn't been that bad, Sakura had forced him to stay at the hospital for a while. "What happened, Hinata? He was released from the hospital two days ago, right?"

"Y-yes. But he had to go back there…"

"What? I thought Hokage-sama gave him a week of rest?"

"He's not… he's not injured because of a mission," Hinata explained in her usual way. "You should go and see him."

"Oh," Tenten frowned, wondering what had happened to Neji. "Alright, I'm going to see him. Thank you, Hinata. Is his condition very bad?"

The shy Hyuuga heiress bit her lips, looking like she was unsure herself. "I-I couldn't tell. I'm sorry, Tenten-san. I'm really sorry."

After that, she bowed and left. The brunette could only stare at her in utter confusion. What had she apologized for?

Something told her that she had to see Neji, soon.


Neji was sitting on the hospital bed when she arrived. Her eyes immediately examined him, making sure that he wasn't injured as badly as when he'd come back from fighting Kidomaru years ago.

"Neji? What happened?"

The Hyuuga prodigy stared at her with wide pale eyes, as if he hadn't expected her to come. His eyes turned to the window, avoiding hers. "You're back."

Tenten frowned. "You were released two days ago, weren't you? What happened?"

"Who told you where to find me?" Neji's irrelevant reply came.

Tenten narrowed her eyes. "Why? Am I not allowed to see you? Hinata told me you were here."

"Hinata?" Neji's sharp gaze turned to her, and she was glad those eyes had never made her scared. "She has no right."

"What has gotten into you? Will you just tell me what's wrong?"

"It's better if you don't know." Neji once again looked away, locking his gaze with the sky outside the window.

Tenten took a deep breath. She knew Neji was very difficult to handle, even by her who had known him since almost ten years ago, but this time she'd really lost her patience. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why, do you think I will freak out?" He didn't answer, angering her even more. "Answer me, Neji!"

Neji finally glanced at her, his eyes filled with something strange. "Yes. And I want you to be safe."

The brunette kunoichi stunned, not getting what he meant. Then, with lower voice she spoke again. "I will be fine, I promise. It's you I'm worried about."

Neji gazed at her for a few seconds, before closing his eyes. Tenten had made sure she'd showed determination in her face, that she wouldn't leave before hearing the matter. If Neji always got things to go his way, she could be like that, too. Who said she wasn't as stubborn as he was?

"The Elders activated my curse mark."

Tenten's expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief. She knew they had never done it to him before. "Where were Hinata and her father? They should've stopped them!"

"They weren't at home when it happened. No one had the right to stop them."

The bun haired girl looked horrified, imagining Neji with his curse mark activated. She could picture him writhe on the ground, scream in agony while clutching his forehead…

"It's over, though." Neji, in contrast from what was in her brain, looked calm as ever. "The doctor said I would be released tomorrow. You-"

"You're not fine!" Tenten cut him off harshly. "If you're in the hospital now, then the effect of your activated curse mark is pretty bad! Why did they do this to you?"

"I refused to do what they wanted me to do," Neji simply replied.

"What?" Tenten clenched her fist as if she wanted desperately to punch something, if not the damned Hyuuga Elders she'd grown to hate since she'd known Neji. "What did they want you to do?"

"It's a clan matter," Neji responded, only provoking her anger even more.

"They've never activated your curse mark before, Neji! You've also never argued with them. If you refused to do as what you were told, it must've been something bad!"

"Tenten," Neji called her, unaffected by her words. "Calm down. I can handle this by my own. They won't hurt me again."

"How do you know?" Tenten demanded. "Please, Neji, tell me what's really going on!"

"I can't!" Neji stated firmly, his tone of voice told her that he was angry himself. "As what I've told you, I just want you to be safe! I don't want to drag you into this. This is my clan matter."

"They can't hurt me, Neji! I'm not a Hyuuga! And I promise you, I won't confront them or something like that. Just tell me what the problem is!"

Neji's knuckles whitened. "You won't understand it, Tenten."

"I will!" Tenten nearly shouted. "I've been with you for years, Neji! And I know you, perhaps more than you know yourself!"

"You're an orphan and you don't even have a family! How could you possibly understand what I've been through?"

Silence.

Tenten stiffened, widening her chocolate eyes in shock. It was like her heart stabbed by a kunai made from ice. She froze on her spot, unable to move or speak.

Neji had never really hurt her before. Never once he'd implied that her status as a nameless orphan had bothered him; a prodigy from one of the respected, skilled, wealthy clans in Konoha. He'd always treated her well, perhaps better than he'd treated anybody else, never underestimating her like that.

Tenten felt her eyes grow wet, and it took all of her strength to hold back tears that threatened to fall. Neji's eyes were as wide as hers, and Tenten couldn't help knowing that he immediately regretted what he'd just said.

It was too late, though. She turned around to leave before slamming the door.


Avoiding Neji was harder than what she'd thought.

It had been three days since she'd met him that night. Neji also hadn't made a move to visit her and apologize since he'd left the hospital the following day. It broke her heart too, knowing that he didn't care.

She wondered if their relationship would still be the same.

It was their first big fight ever. Ever since their Genin days, they'd never fought this way. Only little fights in several moments, mainly because their personalities were different in any way. He was cold, she was warm. He was the brain, she was the heart. He was the sky, she was the earth. However, she knew that way they could complete each other in a way none other couple could. Behind Neji's cold aura, he'd always treated her gentlemanly, he'd never talked to her in a harsh way.

Tenten shut her eyes to prevent tears to fall. She wanted to cry not only because what Neji had said to her, but also because she was really worried about him. What had his clan wanted from Neji? Why had he disobeyed them? What if they would hurt him again? She had no power to stop them, while Neji didn't want to drag her into his clan's problem.

She shook her head, trying to throw Neji out of her head. It was late at night and she'd just come back from a mission with Lee. It had been a simple one with satisfying result, but she'd gotten a cut on her forearm. Lee had told her to go to the hospital to get her arm treated and that he would go report the mission alone.

She had only thanked Lee, while in fact she'd made her way towards home instead. She hadn't intended to go to hospital, at least not tonight. Besides, her wound wasn't that severe. She had a bottle of special ointment for healing wounds, made by Sakura. Now, the only thing she wanted was a deep sleep to forget about Neji and…

"Tenten."

Tenten froze, her hand was still holding the key to her apartment. She mentally cursed herself – and cursed him – for not sensing his chakra. She stood still, unsure of what to do.

"I need to talk to you."

This was it. She hadn't prepared anything to talk to him right now. Not in her condition now, after coming back from a long day mission.

She unlocked the door, opened it, and stepped inside. Before Neji had a chance to walk in, she quickly tried to shut it. Neji was faster though, he held the doorknob strongly with one hand while the other gripped Tenten's uninjured arm.

"Let me in." He said softly, not in a commanding way.

Tenten looked away, not wanting to look at him in the eyes. She could still feel her heart ache painfully at what he had said that night.

Neji would apologize, and Tenten would forgive him. Then they would continue as a couple, forgetting what they had fought about. He didn't need to do anything other than saying sorry, because Tenten knew, she always loved him whatever he had done and said. There would always be forgiveness for him, whether he deserved it or not.

She was the Konoha Weapon Mistress, a fiery kunoichi with steel determination. Yet, she couldn't help but stupidly, helplessly fall for the great Hyuuga Neji.

Neji had managed to walk in and close the door. She could feel his eyes on her arm, and could tell without seeing that he narrowed them. "Where are your bandages?"

It was a rhetorical question because he knew her apartment so well like it was his too, so Tenten didn't answer. Neji walked to the kitchen where she kept all of her medicines. She followed him, knowing that she had no other options.

A few seconds later, she was sitting in a chair as Neji knelt before her, changing her dirty bandages with the fresh one. She remained silent, not intending to say something first.

Uncharacteristically, it was Neji who broke the silence first. "I've waited for you since this morning."

She couldn't help but let out a sarcastic laugh. "I've waited for you to come since that night, and you've never come."

Neji who had finished bandaging her arm grasped her hand. "Before I explain everything, Tenten… I'm really sorry about what I've said to you. But believe me, I regretted that as soon as the words came out of my mouth."

Tenten stared at the wall to avoid his eyes. "Well, what you've said is true, though. I'm an orphan and I don't have a family. I will never understand what you've been through."

"No," Neji squeezed her hand tightly. "I was… I was very frustrated that night, that I said something I didn't want to say. I know how angry and disappointed you are. Please forgive me."

The word "please" wasn't something you could hear very often from Hyuuga Neji. But that wasn't what Tenten was focusing of. She knew Neji loved her and hadn't intended to hurt her. She knew he hadn't meant the words that night, that he'd regretted it. Before fighting Naruto years ago, he'd indeed had a sharp tongue and had often underestimated powerless people. But he'd never done that again since that battle, especially to her – she always thought he spoke to her in a way softer than to anyone he'd ever spoken to.

"I'm very sorry that I didn't tell you what had happened. Because the problem is… related to you."

For the first time Tenten looked at him in shock, noticing how serious he was. "What do you mean?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I had just left the hospital that day," he started. "And the Elders held a meeting, which I had to attend. They brought a shocking announcement for me… that I had to marry soon. As you know, Hinata married Naruto five months ago. Now they wanted me to find a wife."

Tenten's eyes widened, but Neji gave her hand a small squeeze again. "They wanted me to marry someone from our clan that they'd prepared."

"Neji-"

"And I refused. I was unlucky that Hinata and Hiashi-sama weren't there to stop the Elders from activating my curse mark. In normal condition, I would be fine after they used it on me. But apparently I was still in a fever because earlier injuries – which was why I had been told to rest for a few days – and collapsed after that. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. Again."

Tenten bit her lips, imagining his pain. "What did you say to them in refusal?"

"I told them that I already had someone; I would never marry anyone else." He linked his fingers with hers. "That night, I didn't want you to be sad about this. That's why I kept this from you. I've waited these past three days until they finally gave up and allowed me to marry you."

She froze.

"So, marry me. Tenten."

Tenten couldn't breathe when Neji reached into his pocket, before holding a simple, yet beautiful silver ring between his thumb and forefinger.

Neji was different than any other man. He proposed to her in her apartment, which hadn't been cleaned since two days ago, not in a restaurant where there were candles and flowers. He proposed when she was wearing her dirty Jounin vest, her hair looked like a mess and her arm bandaged, not when she was in a beautiful dress or kimono. And he proposed when their relationship was in a conflict, not when their feelings were blooming, or in Lee and Gai-sensei's language, in the springtime of love.

He looked at her expectantly, confidently, in Hyuuga Neji way – without fear or doubt like other men. She knew he knew the answer, so her lips curved upwards and formed a gentlest smile. "Yes."

As a single tear rolled down her cheek, she threw herself into his arms until his back was on the floor and she straddled him, leaning down to kiss him passionately even before he had a chance to slip the ring on her finger. She didn't want the ring; she wanted him, he was all she needed to have.


Very late update! I feel so guilty for not posting anything in a long time. July was pretty hard for me; I barely had time even to use my laptop.

After writing fluffy, cheesy plots in three previous chapters, I wanted to create more dramatic one. Guess I'm more skilled at writing meaningless fluffs, but I hope it's worth it. Please leave me a review.