This is kind of sad, so be warned.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Characters/places are Kishimoto-san's.


Death.

TenTen just wanted him to touch her.

They'd been sitting in this damn cell for two straight days without practically any conversation.

And TenTen was tired of it.

"Neji," she said, voice hoarse from not being used in a while.

From across the cell, Neji's eyes slowly slid open to look at her.

TenTen faltered for a moment, transfixed by the unusual dullness of Neji's eyes.

"What do you think?" she inquired.

Neji blinked a few times, seeming confused.

TenTen wondered if his disorientation was due to hunger. They hadn't been fed in a couple of days.

"I think that if we are not rescued, we will die."

Well, that was depressing.

TenTen scooted closer to him, feeling the heaviness of her limbs and the exhaustion that pressed down on her.

"They'll come for us. They have to know we're missing." She leaned against the wall, only inches from him as she viewed his face. "Can you use your Byakugan or is your Chakra shot?"

It seemed to take Neji a lifetime to gather enough strength to activate his kekkei genkai. Even when it was accomplished, he did not look long.

"I see no one but guards."

TenTen sighed, feeling her eyelids droopy.

"Can I tell you something?" she said sleepily, delirious.

"Yes," Neji answered. He coughed, his throat dry.

TenTen only gave the words half the consideration they required before she let them leave her lips.

"I figure, since we're going to die anyway, that I should tell you. I'm sure you noticed I've admired you for a long time. I remember the day I actually realized I loved you. It was on that mission in Stone, where I fractured my ankle. You cared for me and carried me all the way back to Konoha. You eased my pain. It was the gentlest I'd ever seen you, and I knew then that I would never love anyone as much as I loved you."

TenTen's eyes remained closed. She did not want to see his reaction to her confession.

"Anyway, I would be furious with myself if I died without telling you."

Neji glanced at his weak teammate, collapsed next to him.

His hand found hers.

"I've always wanted you," he murmured to her. "I just knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ruined our friendship."

TenTen's lids opened. Neji gazed into her brown eyes for a long time before leaning forward just enough to graze his lips against hers.

TenTen moved, closing the space between them as she kissed him, focusing the last remnants of her energy.

After a few moments she pulled away, resting against the wall.

"Do you think two souls can find each other in the afterlife?" she asked him tiredly.

Neji mulled it over.

"The world would be too cruel if it kept us apart," he answered.

TenTen smiled a little and let Neji wrap his arms around her.

"I'll find you," he promised before she fell asleep.


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