Neji rose from the hospital bed, stretching. The man had been right. The pain was gone, but he did feel a little stiff still.

"Well," said Gure-taka. "Tai, you and Miss Aya may go back to your homes now. I need to file a report with Lady Tsunade."

Takai nodded, unmoving. Maimu, however, thanked their leader and left.

"Tenten, you may go if you wish. I need to speak to Neji first before he leaves."

Tenten nodded, carefully rising for her bed. Takai stepped forward to help in case she started to fall, but she did not. Slowly, she walked out of the room and Takai followed close behind, closing the door behind him. Neji caught a glimpse of Takai and glared at him jealously as he sunk back to his bed. He could not have just waited for Tenten in the same way that Neji always did. Neji wouldn't allow it if he had anything to say about it.

"I want to talk about why you fell," replied Kouji.

'Here it comes,' Neji thought.

"What about it?" he asked.

"You failed to sense an enemy until they were on you, and then you lost your footing on a tree branch. You couldn't even think enough to put chakra in your feet to at least hold your position on another tree before you fell. I realize you have feelings for Miss Tenten, but you can't let that distract you from doing your job. If you do, you could get hurt like you just did, or worse. You could even put her in danger," said Kouji.

"With all due respect, Kouji, she didn't distract me. I failed to sense the enemy because there was nothing to sense until they were right beside me. I missed the next branch because I was dodging a blow, and there was no solid tree trunk anywhere near me to hold anything to. Everything I fell through snapped easily under my weight. As for my feelings for her, that's my business alone."

Kouji didn't look completely convinced, but after a moment of silently thinking it over, he forced a smile.

"All right. You're dismissed. But, you're going to be on injury leave. So is Tenten. I suggest that you use that time to sort out your feelings for her," said Kouji.

Neji kept his mouth shut with some difficulty, deciding that replying to Kouji rudely at this point might really get him into trouble. Nodding stiffly, Kouji clapped him on the shoulder.

"See you in a week, Neji," Kouji said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Neji bent over, until his elbows were on his knees and he was staring at the ground. He felt the stress of it all building up inside him and there was nothing he could do about it. Part of him wanted to go out there and try to find Takai and take him apart limb from limb, but the calmer, more intelligent part of him knew better than to go picking a fight. And it was a fight that Neji thought, he probably wouldn't win anyway. Besides, he didn't have any proof that Takai was hitting on Tenten, did he? The fact of the matter was, he couldn't bring himself to go anywhere. He didn't want anyone asking him stupid questions on the way home.

"Why did I have to wait so long? Why can't I ever tell her?" Neji asked himself.

A single tear suddenly fell on the back of his hand. He stared at it in silence. Was he…crying? He reached up and wiped his eyes, staring at the floor.

"Neji?" called a soft voice uncertainly as the door opened behind him.

Someone was walking towards him slowly. When he looked up. Tenten was standing in front of him, looking very worried.

"Are you okay?"

Neji said nothing. Getting to his feet, he pulled her into his arms. As he stood there holding her. His breaths came short and uneven. Tenten, put her arms around him, unsure of what to think.

"Neji…are you crying?"

"I'm…fine. Just give me a minute," said Neji quietly.

Tenten gently tightened her hold around him, pulling him even closer until there seemed to be no separation between them at all. She knew that he wouldn't talk about it, so all she could do was try to offer a little comfort to whatever was turning his world upside down.

"Tenten?" Neji asked, releasing her at last.

"Yeah," she said, watching as his gaze fell to the floor.

"Why did you stay? Tai was waiting for you, wasn't he?"

Tenten chuckled, "Not my type."

Neji looked up at Tenten in disbelief, "Red-haired, bad-ass pretty boy isn't your type?"

"Not a chance," said Tenten. She leaned forward, turned her head, and kiss him on the cheek.

Neji watcher her quietly, unsure of what to say or do. Feeling his face turn red, he looked away.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. "Lets get out of here."

Neji smiled sheepishly, "All right."

With that, they were out the door of the hospital and walking down the main stone-paved street of Konoha. Even though Neji was still a little shaken, he couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness that Tenten was there beside him.

"Oy! Neji!" called Shikamaru as he came into view.

"Hey! How are you?" replied Neji.

"A little stressed. How about you?" Shikamaru was only about four feet away from them now.

"I'm on injury leave," replied Neji.

Shikamaru nodded. Neji had become a close friend to Shikamaru over the years. It was strange in a way how two people so different could so often be on the same page. Neji and Shikamaru, however, found that they were really not so different after all. They both were terrible at expressing their feelings, they both had people that they loved, and they both thought that the world had to give one way or another. The only difference was, Shikamaru expressed his dislike openly and Neji made it a point to stay pleasant and keep his mouth shut most of the time.

"How's Temari?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru suddenly looked very stressed and weary. Neji frowned, watching him quietly.

"She's…on her way back to the desert. She's…uh…she's pregnant," said Shikamaru running his fingers through his hair in a way that symbolized his anxiety.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" exclaimed Tenten.

Neji smiled nervously, "Wow. So, you're going to be a father then? That's amazing. Congratulations!"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah. I just wish she would stay here…or at least let me go to the sand village with her. She's only about two months in, but I still wish that I could make sure that she's okay."

"She'll be fine. You know she can take care of herself," said Neji.

"Yeah, I know," said Shikamaru. "I know she can take care of herself. Its what she's carrying that I'm worried about. I mean…what if she gets in a battle, gets injured, and goes into labor?"

"She's still a long ways off from that becoming a problem. Besides, I'm sure she'll quit taking missions long before it becomes an issue," said Tenten.

Shikamaru sighed, "I hope so. Well, nice talking to you."

"Yeah," said Neji.

"See you around," said Shikamaru.

"See ya," said Neji.

With that, Shikamaru turned and continued walking past them. Neji let out a long sigh. Shikamaru was married and about to be a father, Lee was happily with Sakura, and even Naruto was happily taken. He couldn't help but feel a bout of jealousy knowing that he was so incapable of getting up the courage to tell Tenten how he felt. With everyone getting together, where did it leave him? Well, there was still Kiba to sympathize with. Still, Kiba had Akamaru, so he never quite seemed completely lonely either.

"My place…or your place?" asked Tenten.

"Mine," he said calmly. It was like a ritual they had after missions. They came home and hung out together for a few hours.

Ten minutes later, Neji's key slid into the lock of his door. He opened the door and waited for her to enter before walking inside and closing the door behind him.

"Hungry?" asked Neji as he passed her, pulling back a few wooden shades.

Sunlight streamed in revealing the details of his house. It was a small place with several pictures from his clan, a fairly recent picture of the main branch's leader with Hinata, and three pictures of him with Tenten. The first was a picture of when he was first put into Gai-sensei's team. Gai, Lee, Tenten, and Neji seemed all so young back then. The next was a picture of when he continued in Gai's group at sixteen years old, and the last was taken two years before, when he and Tenten became ANBU. With each newer photo, Neji and Tenten seemed to get closer together and Neji seemed to look happier each time. In the one that he took as a genin, he stood on the end next to Lee, looking apathetic. As a Jounin, he stood next to Tenten looking calm. And when he stood next to Tenten as an ANBU with their masks in their hands, Neji had a smile on his face and his arm was around her waist.

"No," Tenten replied. "Maybe just a drink."

"Thank you," he said, reaching his kitchen and pouring her a glass of water. She giggled in response.

Making his way back to her, he handed her the cup and immediately walked over to his bed, laying down on it when he got there. Closing his eyes, he let out a content sigh.

"Sorry," he said after a moment. "My back is still stiff."

Tenten took a sip from her cup before setting it down and laying down next to him. Her head reclined backwards until it rested on his chest.

"I know," she said.

He closed his eyes, soaking in the moment.

"Neji? When are you coming back to our team?"

Neji opened his eyes, "Maybe yesterday. Maybe a few weeks from now. Maybe next year. Maybe…as soon as I come back from this leave."

Tenten rose and looked at him. He used this opportunity to prop himself up at the head of the bed. He stared at Tenten in silence.

"What?" he asked, watching her calmly.

"It just," she said, "you really scared me when you fell. I thought you really had died or something."

He stared back at her, "You can't kill me that easily."

"Neji, I'm being serious," Tenten pleaded.

"I know. But I didn't die, so don't worry about it."

Tenten was about to say something else, but there was a knock at the door. Neji stared at the door then got to his feet. Reaching the door, he opened it revealing Lee and Sakura. Sakura smiled at the sight of him.

"Tsunade asked me to tell you that she wants you to report to the hospital for a check up as soon as you got back. You haven't been down there for three months," said Sakura.

"What? I was just there about half an hour ago," said Neji.

"Oh," said Sakura, "well, they didn't contact me."

"No. Never mind. I wasn't there for a check up. I had an injury from our last mission. In fact I'm on leave for the next week. I'll stop by tomorrow," said Neji.

"All right. I'll tell her," said Sakura.

"Nice seeing you, Neji," said Lee.

"Yes. Its always nice to see you," said Sakura.

"Bye then," said Neji.

"See ya," called Tenten.

"Bye," said Sakura and Lee simultaneously.

With that Lee and Sakura left, leaving Neji and Tenten alone once again. Neji closed the door and looked over at Tenten. He had an amused expression on his face.

"Hungry now?"

Tenten grinned, "Absolutely."

Neji nodded, walking back to his kitchen. If there was one thing that he prided himself on besides his fighting skill, it was his cooking.

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Okay. Sorry it took so long to update but my internet has been down for almost a week. Its okay though. I had to rewrite some of it anyway. But yeah. Hope you liked it. More later! Bye all!