The next morning, Tenten woke up, got ready, and went to her kitchen to fix herself a bite to eat. She couldn't help but remember Neji's situation and began brainstorming ideas, 'He could always live with me, but he will never agree to it. I wonder if Naruto would let him stay at his house. Neji wouldn't stay there anyway. Who else can stand Neji? Can I persuade Sasuke to take him in? No, that would result in the destruction of the village. Those two will never get along. Why is it so impossible for Neji to live with someone else? He's not that bad, but he is just suborn.'

Her thoughts came to a halt when she heard her grandmother's voice, "Tennie, where are you?"

"In the kitchen grandmother."

"Can you bring me my purse? "

"Sure", she picked up her grandmother's purse and handed it to her, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes dear, I need to speak with someone."

"Do you need me to help you there?"

"No, I think I can manage." she said with a reassuring smile

"Ok, if you need me, call me."

"I'll be fine sweetie." she said then rolled her wheelchair out the door. She kept going until she reached her destination. The building was magnificent to her, she had never seen something so huge. She shook her thoughts away and rolled inside. Immediately, she saw the person she wanted to talk to.

"May I ask what you are doing here? I have never seen you around."

"Sorry, my name is Tomomi. I wish to speak to you about your nephew, Neji." she said to none other than Hiashi Hyuga

"He is not my nephew; he lost that title when he made to many mistakes. Why do you ask about him?"

"You seem like a very strict man. Why is that?"

"I do not need to answer such a question. Who do you think you are talking to?"

"I'm just a curious old lady I guess. When did he say he was moving out?"

"How do you know about that? I haven't told you anything about that."

"You didn't answer my question."

He glared at her, "Get out of my home"

"I haven't done anything wrong. Surely you wouldn't throw out an old lady. You are much to kind for that."

"Tell me who you are."

"I told you, I am Tomomi."

"You know that's not what I mean. How do you know about Neji?"

"Why would I tell you? I want to know if there is any way he can stay here."

"He has disobeyed me time after time. I will not deal with him any longer. He will be out of this house as soon as possible."

"That is not fair. You would throw a boy out on the streets because he didn't obey you a few times? He is a human being, not an animal; more importantly he is your brother's child. What would he say to you if he was still here?"

"How do you know about Hizashi?" he demanded

"You don't need to know that right now. You need to listen to me, and listen well. There is no reason he should be thrown out because he won't marry the person you want him to. The boy has a right to who he does and does not love. You, nor anyone else can make him love someone he cannot. I don't know everything about you, but I know that you are still hurting because of your brother's death. You live with that every day of your life. Guess what, Neji has a similar problem. He has to live by himself thinking you people to kill him. He cannot trust anyone because of what happened that day."

"You don't understand. I have tried to reach out to him. All he did was push me away, so I eventually gave up. He has always acted cold and distant to me. I learned to live with it. Now he receives punishments for his actions. All children need direction, he is impossible to direct. He doesn't need anyone ... especially me."

"I know it's hard sometimes, but you have to love your family. Your brother entrusted his son to you. Neji needed love, and you never gave it to him-"

"How dare you say that! I love that child. He is the only thing I have left of my brother." he snapped

"He doesn't know you love him. Have you ever seen him smile?"

He looked away, "I saw him smile every time his father came home from a mission. He would go to him as fast as he could. Ever since Hizashi died, I haven't seen any emotion leave him."

"I have seen him smile, laugh, and get angry."

"How?"

"I am his girlfriend's grandmother."

"So you have seen him laugh? What made him do that?"

"My granddaughter did it. I don't know what she did, but I heard him laugh."

"Who is your granddaughter? I need to know."

"His former teammate, Tenten. He has been coming to my house for years. She was the only person he trusted back then."

He was silent for a while the spoke up, "I will let him stay here and continue seeing Tenten. All I want is for him to be happy. I won't punish him so harshly next time."

"Thank you. If you told him what you told me, you two would get along much better."

"There's no need for him to tell me", Neji said walking down the stairs

"Neji? Did you hear everything?" Hiashi asked

"Yes I did. I saw Tomomi through my bedroom window and wanted to know what she was doing here."

Hiashi walked closer to Neji, "I didn't know how much happiness that girl brought to you. I apologize for acting so harshly toward you."

He didn't know what came over him, but Neji flung his arms forward and hugged his uncle for the first time in recent memory, "Did you mean it ... when you said you loved me?"

He had waited for almost 17 years to receive any form of compassion or love from his uncle. He had never known he was suffering the same amount he was.

"Of course. I am sorry that I never told you that."

"I only needed to hear it once." he said then pulled away from the hug

After an hour of convincing the elders to let Neji marry whomever he liked, they finally gave in. Neji couldn't wait, he had to tell Tenten. He ran to her house, went to her room, and kissed her.

"Neji, what's wrong with you. You scared me half to death."

"We can be together without any interference from my clan. I get to stay at my house. And you won't believe what happened before that."

"Calm down. I've never seen you so excited. What happened before that?"

"Your grandmother got my uncle to say that he loves me."

"What? Since when does he care about you? He's hated you all your life."

"I don't know, but he finally said it. I have to thank your grandmother for all she has done for me."

She smiled at how happy he looked. She had never seen him like this before. It made her so happy to see his life take a turn for the better for once.