He's in trouble. . . I've gotten him into so much trouble. . .

I was pacing up and down the stairs of the Hokage Tower, waiting for Lady Tsunade to explode and wallop Neji into a pile of Hyuga ashes. Sure enough—

"What's this I'm hearing about you and Keiden?" she said fiercely. Her peculiar heartbeat was roaring right along with her, making it much too easy to hear her through the walls of her office. "You were given a simple, very specific mission! Have you already forgotten?"

"I remember it clearly. 'You're to keep a careful eye on this kid. Don't let her out of your sight.'" No matter how respectful that little recitation had sounded, now wasn't a good time for Neji to be playing smart-aleck.

"So where is she now?" Tsunade snapped.

Ugh— what did I just say about playing smart-aleck? I didn't need to be in the same room anymore to know how sarcastic his thoughts were becoming. "She's waiting for me on the steps outside."

"How do you know she won't just make her escape now?" Wow. This lady never missed a beat.

"If you don't mind my saying, Lady Hokage, if she wanted to make an escape, she would have tried doing so months ago." That much was true, but I had a feeling this comment wasn't doing any favors for the Hokage's blood pressure. "And if you also don't mind my saying. . ."

I mind— I MIND!

". . . I think you should call off this mission."

I froze. "W-what?" I mouthed in disbelief.

"For goodness' sake, Neji! What's gotten into you?" Tsunade said loudly. "I understand that you've recently turned nineteen, and that certain feelings are bound to come up, but now is not the time to be falling in love!"

Since she was renowned for her accurate perception, I didn't question her conclusion, no matter how mediocre it seemed.

"I'm assuming my uncle has had a word with you, concerning a certain promise?" Was he talking about— wait, Lord Hiashi was his uncle?

"As a matter of fact, he has," Tsunade replied tersely. At that moment, she sounded just as clueless as I felt. Where exactly was Neji going with this?

"I trust Keiden," he murmured. "And I'm staying by her side until the moment I kill her."

I winced at the way he'd said "kill." It hadn't been cold, or even cruel— it had been devastated, no matter how much he'd tried to make it sound otherwise. Something ripped inside my chest then, and I wasn't sure whether it had felt good or bad.

"Fine," Tsunade said, her voice low.

I held my breath, waiting for the answer that would send my sanity running amok.

"Mission terminated."

Clutching at the stairway's railing to support myself, I hunched under the weight of an entirely new burden.