A/N: Thank you so much for the 100+ reviews! You guys rock and I'm sincerely humbled by the response to this story – your feedback means a lot. A shorter chapter this time and more of an 'event' one as opposed to a 'thoughts and emotions' one but I hope that it's not too terrible and that you like it … Though some more questions are raised in this chapter, we do get some answers (or, well, hints at least ^^), like why Sasuke hates Neji so much and I hope that you'll enjoy it!

Warnings: Meh, do I really have to say it? All the usual warnings apply though this is not an explicit chapter in any sense

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 13

The door shut behind Sasuke and, though she knew it was impossible, Tenten could hear the slam of the lock echoing through the corridor. She stood frozen in sudden dread, eyeing the Uchiha warily and firmly tried to push the feeling of being trapped away. The wavering quality of the light from the bared bulb in the low ceiling cast period pockets of darkness across Sasuke's features and the malevolent air she'd come to associate with Sasuke being high seemed to surge all around them both.

Tenten took a deep breath, then another, steeled herself and finally spoke, "I'm not playing your games anymore. I'm done. I'm willing to repay the money I owe you but that's it. You'll just have to live with having sacrificed your time to help someone else." Having said her piece Tenten crossed her arms and waited impatiently.

Sasuke smirked and, after a moment of amused contemplation, he replied, "Sure. If that's what you want – got 20 grand?" He did not even look very surprised when Tenten– even in the poor light - paled visibly.

"T-twenty?" Tenten gasped, shaking her head in denial, "No way. There's no way…"

"That's including interest of course – my time doesn't come free," he interrupted smoothly. The amusement in his voice made her skin crawl but Tenten valiantly tried to rally her shocked thoughts.

"That's impossible. I haven't got 20 grand and you know it! You're just plucking a ridiculous figure from the air," she protested without much hope of dissuading him.

Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly as he brushed past her and began to make his way further down the hallway. "You don't have to pay me 20 grand – you've got a choice," he threw over his shoulder.

Reluctantly Tenten followed after him and, a short way down the hallway, Sasuke paused in front of a door. He opened it to reveal a small room, decorated with dusty boxes and empty crates.

"In," he ordered shortly, "we need to talk and I'd prefer to not do it in a hallway where anyone can hear."

Tenten's mouth twisted with distaste but she swept past him with her head held high. In the middle of the room she came to a halt and whirled around to glare at the raven-haired Uchiha.

"What do you mean I've got a choice?" she snapped.

His back was turned as he slowly closed the door behind them and he stood for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, before turning to face her again. He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms.

"Of course you've got a choice – don't sound so shocked, Tenten. I've never forced you to do anything why would I start now? You haven't got 20 grand, so I thought to myself, what would be a fair way for you to repay me? And, finally, it hit me: you'll pay me in exactly the same way you incurred the debt in the first place. For the next few months you'll be the one entertaining me. You'll be running around ensuring I get my highs whenever I want them. It's only fair, don't you think? Or, if that option doesn't appeal, you can always try to come up with the 20 grand – I'm not unreasonable, I'll give you a week to get the money." He shrugged carelessly as if it didn't much matter to him which option she chose.

Tenten glared at him. She'd never thought it possible to hate anyone as much as she hated Sasuke in that moment. He knew very well that it wasn't that simple – she couldn't just pluck drugs from thin air – not to mention that , in effect, she would be at his beck and call for the next few months which meant more lies…

She shook her head vigorously, "No. I won't do it." Without waiting for a reply she stalked past him to the door. She'd just turned the knob, body tensed for any sign of movement on Sasuke's part though he hadn't stirred an inch, when Sasuke's voice sounded from behind her.

"Your choice. Hyuuga's face when he finds out about your schemes should make up for quite a bit of money lost."

Tenten froze. Frantic thoughts whirled in her mind as she tried to see a way past threat implicit in his silky tone – surely he wouldn't really go that far? To simply get his way? But deep down Tenten knew that he would be exactly as bad as his word – she'd foolishly allowed herself to hope that presenting a strong denial of Sasuke's expectations would be enough to get him to back down – but, as always, she'd allowed hope to get the better of logic. Sasuke wasn't your average schoolyard bully – her attempts to stand up to him only seemed to amuse him. She jumped and couldn't suppress the small shriek that welled up from deep inside when Sasuke's warm breath suddenly brushed against the sensitive skin just behind her ear.

"I always did say that I would pay to see Hyuuga fall."

He reached past her and twisted the doorknob, propelling her forward and into the hallway with a hand at the small of her back. Tenten watched as if from far away, barely aware of Sasuke reaching around her again to pull the door closed. She shook her head to try and force the fog surrounding her mind to fade but somehow couldn't manage to make her eyes lift from where they were fixed on the floor. The skirting was peeling away from the wall, Tenten noted in detached interest.

"When you change your mind, I'll be in the next room."

Neji stared at the small glass filled with liquid oblivion that rested on the polished wood of the bar with deep concentration. He'd re-entered the club intent on waiting for Tenten by the door – she would explain herself - but the door she'd disappeared behind had still been firmly shut and there had been no sign of either her or Uchiha so he'd decided to have a drink while waiting for her to emerge.

Part of him cringed at his cowardice but, no matter how he tried to persuade himself to simply open the fucking door and step through to find Tenten, he couldn't quite manage to convince himself. Everything inside him seemed to cringe away from the prospect of coming upon Tenten in Sasuke's arms.

Drink after drink passed in front of him, despite his best efforts he seemed to be utterly unable to get drunk tonight, and the sense of betrayal slowly turned to rage. But whether he was angry at Tenten, Uchiha, or himself, he couldn't decide.

Suddenly it was all too much. Far too much. And he was damned if he'd sit here like the wronged husband while Sasuke stole Tenten away simply for the fun of it. Why do you even care? She's just a girl, like any other, he tried again to convince himself that it didn't matter who Tenten took up with. It had nothing to do with him – but, as all the times before, he failed miserably in the attempt.

It did matter. It mattered because when he touched her, when she touched him, the world righted itself. The first time he'd kissed her the conviction that they'd been made to do this with each other had been overwhelming. And, finally, Neji could admit that he'd been running scared from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her. Some part of him – some deep and hidden part that he could only acknowledge when all his barriers were down – had always know that she belonged to him, as he did to her.

The decision was made and the stage was set and if Neji was completely honest with himself he had always known that it would one day come to this – Uchiha would never forgive him for Sakura.

But Sasuke had overplayed his hand this time. Neji grimly downed the shot in front of him before pushing away from the bar. For Tenten … he would fight. And win.

The door creaked slightly but Neji knew that it was only his own heightened senses that could detect the sound over the pounding beat from the main room. He quickly slipped inside, half expecting Suigetsu or one of Sasuke's other shadows to be waiting for him, but the corridor was deserted. For a moment he stood, trying to discern any sound, any little hint, of where Tenten was.

Slowly he started down the corridor, stopping at every door to try and listen for sounds that would indicate it was occupied. Halfway down the hallway he finally heard voices – a low murmuring like a far-off brook running over stones worn smooth by time – and Neji pressed his ear against the door straining his hearing to try and make out what was being said. All his muscles tensed when suddenly Tenten's voice broke through the babble, clear as a bell.

"Sasuke, please! I'll pay you back in installments or something –"

For a moment Neji was so transfixed by her words – the pleading in her tone, she sounded close to tears – that he didn't register the hissing quality of her voice. Sasuke's low voice sounded and Neji realized that they'd moved away from the other voices and must be standing right on the other side of the door.

"No," the Uchiha's voice was calm – amused even, and Neji's eyes narrowed dangerously but he stilled the rage boiling through him to listen carefully to the words the other boy spoke, "you don't have 20 grand and you're not going to get it any time soon. These are my terms, take it or leave it – if you want Hyuuga-"

Neji's eyes widened in surprise. What did he have to do with all of this? But Tenten had interrupted Sasuke again.

"Please. I'll get the money."

She sounded desperate and with a quick shake of his head Neji focused on the present and decided to worry about why his name had cropped up in their low-voiced conversation later. Frowning he tried to orient himself, it appeared as if Tenten owed Sasuke money – a lot of money.

Neji stepped away from the door, staring at the wood in confusion. This was not what he'd expected to find at all – and for a moment he stood indecisively. Then, as if his brain had already wrapped itself around the new information without any input from him at all, Neji reached for the doorknob, decision made.

Nothing mattered more than getting Tenten away from the Uchiha and since the hold he had on her seemed to involve money … well, that was something Neji could change.

The cold metal turned smoothly in his hand and Neji took a deep breath as he pushed the door inward.

Tenten couldn't help the squeak of surprise that escaped when the door suddenly opened in front of her. Her eyes widened, her legs began to shake and her thoughts seemed to get stuck in one circuitous pattern. Oh, god, not Neji – please no. Why is he here?

To her left Sasuke seemed to have recovered from his surprise and he crossed his arms casually. "Private party, Hyuuga. You've heard of the concept?" He smirked at Neji but from the corner of her eye Tenten could see the way Sasuke's fist clenched under the cover of his crossed arm. Why does he hate Neji so much? She wondered despairingly for the millionth time.

Neji grimaced at Sasuke as his eyes quickly swept around the room. Taking in the dingy light, the sagging, dirty couches, the boxes stacked haphazardly – and finally, the threatening air of the people gathered there. From his expression – the grim set of his mouth – Tenten knew that he recognized most of the people present for what they were and that he was not impressed by the company she'd suddenly decided to keep. She had the hysterical urge to burst out laughing – Neji wouldn't honestly think that she wanted to be here, surrounded by drug-lords and their followers, would he?

She turned fearful eyes up to Neji's pearlescent ones already cringing from the condemnation she was sure would be there but, to her surprise, his eyes were very nearly blank. And far colder than any of the dangerous men's eyes that were currently watching the spectacle in front of them with wary curiosity.

Another small shriek escaped when Tenten felt a hand clamp firmly around her upper arm but she relaxed slightly and bit her lip to keep from protesting when she recognized Neji's touch. She was utterly unable to look at him, unable to even begin formulating explanations that he was sure to want, but all other thoughts flew from her mind when a wad of bills hit Sasuke firmly in the chest. She turned warily to Neji, not really sure that it had been him throwing money around.

Sasuke made no move to pick up the money lying at his feet, only arched an eyebrow at Neji. The latter glared at the Uchiha – the fire the gesture should've contained instead covered in hundreds of layers of ice, somehow making it all the more threatening.

"Five thousand," Neji hissed, hostility surrounding him like a dark cloud, "you'll get the rest tomorrow." Without another word or glance Neji yanked Tenten around and pushed her out the door, careful to position his body so he stood between her and Sasuke and the rest of the room. At the door he paused and spoke carefully over his shoulder.

"It's done – we're even. Let it rest."

The door closed on Sasuke's expressionless face and instinctively Tenten turned to Neji – the million questions in her mind shimmering in her eyes – but he held up a warning hand.

"You owe me an explanation – but not here."

He turned and walked away, leaving Tenten with no choice but to follow meekly after him, through the throngs of people and out into the blessedly clean and clear night air.

A/N: As you've noticed this story will be multi-climactic and we're heading into Neji's secrets next … I really hope that I'm not boring anyone! How was it? Interesting? What do you think Neji did to Sakura that makes Sasuke hate him? I can't wait to hear your thoughts so please leave me a review and let me know what you think =D