Author's note: Got this out quick because I was afraid you guys thought that was the end. Got a few loose ends to tie up first. Stay with me. I think I have one more chapter after this.

Dedicated to KeroKeroNyao- Thank you for all your comments on all of my fictions! You are awesome :)

- Chapter.

When TenTen woke up the next morning, Neji was already gone. And it was in an instant, her heart began to break. She sat up, looking around, curling her legs into her chest. The pain between her legs was barely noticeable as her chest began to cave. She could feel tears pile up in her eyes, but she flung the covers off of her, refusing to give in. She went to the bathroom and her back hit against the door.

She could do this, she repeated. It would be easy. Just pretend it never happened. Swallow the last three days into nothing. Go back in time and forget.

She took off her clothes and looked down at her body. It felt foreign to her. There were red marks in random places. Light little bruises between her thighs and faded blood. She made the shower run and watched it drain for a long time.

That's what it needed to be like. Every little memory, every little kiss, every little word, it needed to flow out of her and into the drain.

When Tenten got in to the hot, nearly boiling water she closed her eyes and took it all to the tip of her head and let it flow down her body.

Tears slipped out of her eyes but she paid them no mind as she concentrated, taking every single memory from the first time she met his eyes with desire shining in them to the very last touch of his lips and letting it slide down her stomach, down her legs, off of her toes and into the sewer.

When she got out, she felt raw. Like a open clam left on the beach for the birds to pick at. Her body was battered and bruised, her emotions torn, her heart shattered. But she had build walls around and she was prepared that when she looked in the mirror, all anyone saw was a stone-faced statue, impenetrable.

She put on her black kimono clothes, put her hair up in to her buns tightening them so hard it hurt, and when she left the room, she wasn't going to let a single thing touch her today.

Down the stairs she walked, and as Neji walked up them, she didn't see his face, she paid no notice of his eyes, she kept walking on, stiff, firm, and unbreakable.

Neji rested his foot on the step as she past, he tilted his head, following her. He almost reached out, he nearly grabbed her arm. But she kept moving, with a stance that reminded him of long ago, that day when she had broken her toe and told no one. He couldn't reveal her. He didn't have that right anymore. She smiled wide upon greeting the team at the breakfast table and she disappeared into the kitchen. He leaned against the wall.

In a moment of rare weakness, he wondered if it were possible for him to leave his clan. To throw away everything he had ever worked for and find a way to make it with her.

Neji straightened his back and stared forward.

This was a decision he had made a long time ago. He wasn't going to throw it away for a woman no matter who that woman was. Emotion had no place in a logical situation. This wasn't about love. This was about fact. They didn't belong together.

Neji took a step and then another. It would get easier. He just needed to pretend.


The team stood in a circle on the rooftop as Lee went over the plan. Naruto and TenTen were currently dressed as Rain Ninjas. The keys hung from their belt and they had the card that would get them in the door tucked safely in their pocket. They had the locations to the prisoners memorized. Sasuke, third door on the right. The two ANBU were down a hallway toward the back in a blocked room.

"I'll get Sasuke." TenTen declared.

"No, I'll get Sasuke." Naruto fought back.

"I can't carry two men by myself."

He scrunched up his nose, pouting. Sakura nudged him and he conceded. "Fine. I'll get the ANBU."

Noon was approaching. Guard change was their way in. The front doors to the underground prison open. They could see the doors from here. Naruto approached Sakura and she hugged him as he promised to return.

TenTen stood in front of her two teammates with a fierce expression and blank eyes. She was more ready for this mission than any before. In this state, she could take take a whole village without batting an eye. Lee put a hand on her shoulder, "If you need us, we'll be here. Neji will watch you the whole time." He pointed to his ear piece, "And we can hear you at any time."

"I'll be fine, Lee." She smiled warmly for him.

Neji opened his mouth to speak-

TenTen turned, "Let's go, Naruto."

Lee looked to his friend. There was disappointment in his black gaze, "A troubled friendship leads to a troubled heart. I don't understand why two have been fighting this entire time but please make it right. She needs you just as you need her." Lee took his position up on a rooftop, staring down at the doors as Naruto and TenTen began their descent.

Neji sat on the ground and folded his legs under him activating his byakugan to keep his eyes on them. Lee spoke nonsense most of his life but sometimes, his words poked holes in his stone walls.

No one paid them any mind and they paid no attention to anyone. It got darker the deeper they went, the walls themselves seemed to seep water. And though it was no longer raining, it was moldy and filled with mildew. The ground squished with each step. They came to the first security checkpoint and each swipe their card with ease, walking on. Next was the water jutsu they had to learn. For Naruto it was easy. He weaved the correct signs and slapped his hand against the wall of water in front of him. It opened and let him in, closing directly behind him.

TenTen weaved her signs and slapped her hand against the wall. When it didn't move, nervousness began to set in. A soldier behind her shifted with confusion.

She quickly performed the jutsu again and slapped her hand against the wall, smiling with a shrug as it opened that time. She stepped through it, sheepishly eyeing Naruto.

Inside the water prison was something they were unprepared for. It was row after row, level after level of jail cells. They could fit a thousand people easily. Soldiers roamed the isles freely, and from a swift count there was only ten about.

TenTen and Naruto approached the security guard at the main gate. He looked at them in confusion. "I thought there was only ten today?"

Naruto shrugged. "Following orders."

He glanced at his computer screen. "They didn't need anyone else up there for the celebration?"

"I don't question. Just do what I'm told."

TenTen pushed forward, "Can we go, we're late as is."

He scratched his brusy gray brow. "Step forward."

Naruto past through the metal detector with ease.

The security guard handed him a kunai and a walkie talkie. "Cell block C can always use extra eyes."

While the guard was dealing with Naruto, Tenten had already rolled her bag of scrolls behind his back before standing in front of the metal detector.

Naruto nodded and as the man turned to talk to TenTen, Naruto picked it up and hid it.

TenTen came through and received the same items. "Row F is the female wing."

They each swipe their card to get inside the prison.

Naruto handed her back the bag. "See ya back up top."

"Yep." She watched him drop round the corner heading for Cell block C. She climbed the ladder to the next floor up. A guard past by her, eyeing her but saying nothing as he continued walking.

She went down the hall, till she found the man she was looking for.

Sasuke sat on the bunk bed, wrapped in chains. A blindfold covered his eyes. There were bruises and blood on his skin. He looked like he'd been beaten for days.

She looked around her, and though they were exposed no one seemed to be paying attention. She carefully took her keys out. His head snapped up. "Hey." She whispered.

"Finally." He remarked.

The beaten body on the cot popped from existence and Sasuke dropped from the ceiling. He was in perfect shape without a scratch on him.

She stuttered for a minute but then began hurrying, plugging in a key and unlocking the cell.

"Wait, I need to take you out in cuffs."

"No you don't." He replied stepping out of the prison boldly.

She looked out to the prison and caught each guard, waiting for them to turn their head to witness Sasuke but they continued on like nothing out of the ordinary had changed.

"You...You...hypnotized them...all?"

"We have to hurry. I'm almost out of chakra."

TenTen took the lead jumping over the railing. Sasuke dropped behind her and nearly fell over landing on his feet. She wrapped his arm over her shoulders. "Why didn't you escape yourself?"

"I couldn't get the ANBU. Naruto, is he?"
"Yes. He should be following us."

"I have to keep them…" Sasuke groaned, holding his eye. "I'm losing it."

A guard in front of them turned around, his brows knit, "What the? What's going on?"

TenTen threw the kunai at his chest and dropped to the floor. They stepped over him to get to the gate.

Naruto came barreling through then with two ANBU on his inflamed shoulders. "Run!" He screamed, diving ahead of them, busting the doors open.

The security guard there screamed and reached for the alarm but TenTen grabbed a scroll and whipped out a chin before he could touch anything and wrapped it around his neck, dropping him to the floor. Sasuke used the wall as a clutch following Naruto up the path.

There were shouts behind them, "Prisoners escaped! Press the button! Prisoners escaped!"

Naruto performed the water jutsu opening the wall and jumping through it. He screamed into it after it closed, "Come on, let's go!"

Sasuke nearly collapsed as he got to it. Ten Rain Ninjas were coming up the tunnel screaming as they approached. TenTen performed the water jutsu only for it to fail.

"Hurry up." Sasuke growled.

She took a breath and tried it again, slamming her hand against the wall and it finally opened. She picked Sasuke up and pushed him through it but the wall slapped closed immediately after, trapping her. "TenTen!" Sasuke shouted through it.

"Go!" She yelled back. Sirens echoed the rocky fortress and the lights illuminating the path turned red. She smashed her fist against the wall.

Sasuke cursed under his breath, his fingers digging into the ground trying to find a secret entrance.

TenTen had her back against it. "Get out of here, Sasuke." She pulled out her scrolls, spreading them through her fingers as she faced the coming soldiers. She smiled, welcoming the challenge. Today of all days, she was ready for it. There was nothing worse she could go through. She was made for today.

Naruto made it back to the group with his two ANBU and laid them down next to Sakura. She immediately got to work healing their broken bodies, hoping beyond hope they could be saved. He looked back at Neji, "What's happening?"

Neji couldn't speak as he watched TenTen. Her battle was intensely frightening as every move she made could be her last. Indoors was not her primary battle location. She needed room to activate her biggest jutsus. She needed flexibility to jump and relocate. Her whole tactic is trick of the eye. She cannot work properly trapped in a corner. The statistics of her winning were less than five percent.

But there was no assisting her. She was in a place that required more than what he was capable.

He was helpless.

Was he going to have to sit here and watch her die? Is that where the choices in his life had brought him? He thought everything he was doing was for the best. From the clan to his own personal life, every action he took, he did to excel. It was only with her, did he ever put someone before himself. She deserved a better life than what he could offer her.

So how did it come to this?

Sasuke came up over the roof and collapsed. "She needs...help."

"Sasuke!" Naruto ran to him, lifting an arm over his shoulder and bringing him to Sakura. He rested the man on his knees.

"TenTen. She's trapped."

Naruto ran, without looking back.

Neji moved his gaze toward Sakura and Sasuke. He watched them as they silently spoke. They're eyes connecting, saying whatever they needed to say in the long absence. Sakura kept her green chakra growing, her hands above the injured ANBU and yet somehow, her chakra began to grow, slipping over to him and lighting him. He looked at his hands, surprised as he felt his chakra reserves begin to build. They strengthened each other. How TenTen strengthened him.

Behind his eyes, he could see TenTen falling. She had been cut and her chakra was sinking. She got up on her feet. Lee was talking, "Keep fighting, TenTen. Don't give up."

"Is everyone safe? Get out of here."

"We're waiting for you."

"Don't. Get out while you can."

Neji closed his eyes, "She's right." He got to his feet, "We need to leave. They're sending reinforcements." TenTen got struck again and he could almost see her blood draining from the deep cut.

Sakura shot him a glare, "We're not leaving her."

"Lee." Neji turned to him, "Make a decision."

Lee struggled, stuttering, searching for an answer. "Let's go." He decided loosely. He jumped down and lifted the an unconscious ANBU on his back while Sasuke picked up the other. They jumped down, running.

Sakura stood there in the violent rain staring across the rooftop at Neji. He could see her even with his back turned and his eyes closed. She removed her earpiece before she spoke, "Is that how Hyuugas work? Throw out the trash in the morning?"

Neji took out his microphone, crushing it in a fist. "Your ignorance is as grand as your strength." A ninja had TenTen by the arms and was punching her in the stomach. He could hear her in his head.

"Tell me you don't love her!"

Neji spun on his foot, "Do you know the only difference between Sasuke and me?"

"I can think of plenty."

"I assure you there are not that many. His clan is dead. He can make his own choices. The rest of us have responsibility, obligations, and a loyalty that you can never-" He turned toward the prison. Naruto had broken through. He watched as the beast took over, knocking out TenTen's captives and grabbing ahold of her nearly unconscious form. "She's safe." He could feel his heart beat again. Relief like never before dropped into his stomach. He nearly lost feeling in his knees.

Sakura approached and caught his eyes. "That's love, Neji-san." She smiled warmly. "Your clan can't stop you from feeling." She turned and followed the others.

Neji stared up at the rain as he replaced the microphone. Sakura acted like it was easy. But she was clanless and had always been so. She had no loyalty to anyone but herself. Her words went on deaf ears.

Lee spoke into the earpiece, "Naruto, we are at Grandma's house. We'll regroup and leave at dawn."

"And the three added bodies?" Sakura added.

"We'll keep them in the basement."

"Good idea, Lee."

Naruto jumped up on the roof ready to run until he saw Neji there. "Neji? What are you doing, we have to go."

TenTen laid in his arms, barely awake. Blood dripped from her arm and leg, she was black and blue and she held her stomach barely able to breath without a moan. Naruto let his inflamed body return to normal as he approached.

"I'll take her."

Awkwardly, Naruto passed her over. "We got to go before someone see us."

TenTen refused to look up, turning her head away but she had no choice but to rest against him. He held her tight, hoping she knew he had stayed behind simply for a chance to touch her again.

They ran jumping down into the alleyway. Neji kept watched, pushing Naruto back when a band of ninja went running by. They had to do several different routes, making different stops, hindered by the increase of security. An announcement was made over an intercom that the day's parade was going to be canceled and that a curfew was going to be put in place until the prisoners were found. Flyers were spread along the streets of Sasuke and the ANBU with the words EXTREMELY DANGEROUS written underneath.

It took two hours to get home without being caught and by the time they got there, there was already a police car driving the road yelling through a microphone about the missing criminals.

Grandma was sitting on the porch smoking a cigarette when they approached. Naruto went on ahead distracting her as Neji went around the side of the house and up through the open window. He called for assistance and Lee and Sakura came in. They laid towels on the bed before he set her down. She was soaked and bleeding. Sakura got on her knees beside her, her hands waving over the injuries. "I'm nearly out of chakra," She murmured. "I won't be able to heal her all the way until tomorrow but" She leaned up and met TenTen's eyes. "You're awake?" She warmly smiled. "Three things I got to do. Close up these two lashes and straighten your broken ribs. You're going to be in pain for awhile but give me an hour and I'll come back and heal you some more."

"I'm okay." She breathed heavy.

Lee was leaning over with anxious worry. Sakura asked for towels to staunch the blood flow and he ran and jumped back before she could finish her sentence.

A half hour of work, and Sakura stood on shaking legs. Lee jumped off the bed and helped her to her bedroom. Neji went into the bathroom and grabbed a few items before meeting Lee back at the door. He whispered something to him before the man nodded and went downstairs. Neji shut the door behind him.

He approached with a bowl full of water and washcloth. TenTen was asleep and didn't wake again. He removed her clothes one item at a time, slowly so as not to wake her or hurt her. There were bruises and scratches everywhere. He wrung out the washcloth rubbing it over each individual body part, cleaning away all the dirt and grime.

It was inevitable however that she would wake. Especially when he got to her feet. She giggled, pulling it away. She moaned, barely capable of opening her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Do you expect me to sleep beside such filth?"

"This is beneath you. Where's a servant when you need one?"

"I've been asking that this entire time."

She giggled but stopped to groan holding her rib.

Neji reached the nightstand and grabbed the pills Sakura left behind. He assisted, helping her take them.

Her eyes remained shut and her body shivered. "I'm cold."

"It's the blood loss."

"Or i'm naked and wet."

Neji smirked reaching over and pulling the blanket on her, "Or that." He sat beside her, simply staring at her face. He wanted to say something but what could he say? They already had their goodbye. There was nothing left to do but walk away. So why was he still here?

"Neji?" She whispered tiredly and she appeared nearly asleep.

Would she be so against it if he kissed her once more?

"Could you leave...please?" A tear building up in the recess of her eye and fell off her nose.

Guilt made him stand. He took the bowl and blood soaked cloth back to the bathroom, leaving their contents in the sink. He placed a hand on the bedroom door knob, looking in on her one last time. Her shoulders shook, but he knew it wasn't from the temperature. He was foolish to think he was suffering alone and he was even crueler than he thought he could be by making it harder for her. Perhaps he wasn't entirely thinking of her as much as he thought he was. And though he knew now that she was in pain, did she know he was? She wasn't alone. How could he make her know that and somehow keep his dignity?

Downstairs was thankfully a different world that he could occupy his mind. Naruto and Lee were currently having a very serious discussion in the center of the living room. The little tidbits he gathered made him uninterested and he moved on to the kitchen only to stall.

Grandma was tied up to a chair in the kitchen with a piece of tape over her mouth and cloth over her eyes. Sasuke leaned against the counter, popping a grape into his mouth. So much for secrecy.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the basement?"

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Neji turned around, "Lee."

"It will be fine." Naruto claimed. "We're leaving in the morning."

Lee went on about how this was against Konoha honor and policy. It was annoying to listen to but one that Neji agreed with as he returned to the living room, attempting to provide more space between himself and the Uchiha.

"How are we supposed to get out? Sasuke distracted them for our way in, how do we get out?"

Sasuke came into the room, "Their underground sewers that leads into the river. The river leads into an ocean. We take that."

Neji turned to him, "You seemed to know a suspicious amount of information."

"Yet its information that will keep you alive."

"Sacrificing the lives of innocence isn't exactly how I plan to stay alive. Though you seem to have knack at using others."

Sasuke narrowed his black eyes. He uncrossed his arms, taking a step forward. "Are you insinuating something?"

Neji met him a step, "Perhaps you are actually feeling guilty for something."

Naruto and Lee took to their teammates, forcing them apart. "Sakura and TenTen are asleep upstairs and if you two wake them, I'll kick your asses myself."

The two dominant males kept their vigilant glare for a few more seconds but at the same moment backed down, swinging around. Sasuke returned to the kitchen to finish his sandwich and Neji went to the window to silently seethe.

Naruto nudged Lee to Neji and he drifted over to Sasuke, they would have to do damage control.

Lee shuffled over slightly unsure. TenTen was the one that always dealt with his temper. Then he mused, perhaps that's why they were always fighting. "You don't think he left her behind."

"It is not an unusual characteristic."

"He just spent a week in prison for our mission."

"Among friends, I'm sure." Neji went to the foyer slipping on his boots and grabbing his coat, "We should be keeping an eye on Rain. I will take first watch." He flipped up his hood and dipped out the doorway.