A/N: How long has it been? I don't know. A lot has happened and I've been so busy being an adult or whatever. I wrote this piece a LONG time ago and I don't know why I didn't post it. If anyone is a fan of Papabay on Tumblr then you'll know what art strip inspired this.

If you have not seen the art strip, look for it. It's basically Neji and Tenten at hot springs and she's glancing over at his scars and these girls think she's checking him out.

30. Scars

He'd caught her - she could feel it. Her muscles tensed and her face burned with every glance from across the dinner table. The weight of the afternoon at the hot springs sat heavy over the two of them and not even Lee and Gai's usual animated chatter seemed enough to fill the expanse of awkward silence that spanned across plates and cups and utensils.

Those stupid girls, thought Tenten bitterly. If they hadn't called her out, accused her of ogling him... But they didn't see what she saw. Behind lean muscle and pink scars (and an admittedly thin towel) lay a wasteland of emotional trauma.

She could push it deep, deep down most of the time, only letting the pain surface for the briefest moments. A flash of a memory and an ache in her chest, that's all she would allow before shaking her head as if the gesture itself could detach the memory from her brain.

But a sense of shame had latched itself on to the image of Neji's torso. It made her stomach lurch and her chest ache. Under the socially acceptable guise of dinner, Tenten sought to numb the memory with a stiff drink.

It may have worked if he hadn't kept catching her eye. She flicked her gaze away as quickly as she could but Neji could read her like an open book. And it wasn't long after dinner that she heard the long expected knock on her door.

Tenten wanted to act like everything was normal, that his awareness of any issue she might have was purely his imagination. But when she beckoned him in to her room her voice cracked and stuck in her throat.

Neji let himself in and closed the door with a soft click.

Tenten, too ashamed to meet his gaze, let her eyes drop to his chest where she could perfectly recall the raw, pink scars that bloomed under his shirt.

"Tenten, are you alright?"

Her eyes closed. Neji spoke her name with such gentle concern. The low, sweet sound caressed her ears, twinged in her chest and coiled low in her belly.

Her voice was tight in her throat and it took all she had to just nod.

Neji stepped closer to her. His body shifted awkwardly in her peripheral vision as her brain tried to piece together the movement, sluggishly coming to the conclusion that he was pulling his shirt off.

Now when she looked at him the scars were no longer imaginary. She gasped involuntary as images of his near death assaulted her.

He was closer now and his hand was warm around hers, quelling trembling fingers.

He drew her hand to his chest, to the scar just above his heart. Tenten's fingers brushed over smooth ivory muscle and caught on the pink ridges of the scar. The scar itself was smooth with dips and crevasses and underneath it was his even and steady heartbeat.

Then the whole thing went blurry, a mash of pink and white before she was pulled into a warm embrace. It was then that she realized what had caused the change in her vision.

A shiver and a choked sob - then the tears. Neji held her tighter, rocked her gently and stroked her hair.

He whispered comforting words to her. Had he been talking the whole time? She couldn't remember.

Between her own whimpers and sniffles the low rumble of his voice in her hair began to take on familiar patterns and settle into words.

"It's okay," he murmured and under her fingers, under the texture of the scar was his heartbeat again.

Neji was solid and warm and very much alive. She then found her voice. It was small and muffled by his neck, his hair and her tears - no louder than a sigh.

"Oh Neji..."

He held her tighter and rubbed her back.

"I thought I'd lost you."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head that any other day would have her reeling and speculating, but now it was just more comfort. "I'm sorry," he whispered before another kiss.

She felt his hand over her own, pressing her palm flat over his chest. Tenten emerged from the crook of his neck and let her forehead rest against his.

"I'm still here." His breath was warm against her cheek and his chest hummed with his voice and his heart continued to thumb out a strong, familiar rhythm.

Finally, Tenten allowed her eyes to meet his. Her heart soared and a smile tugged at her lips. Neji's eyes crinkled with his own smile and Tenten realized it would be far too easy to kiss him.

This time, the heat in her face was not the work of shame, but the familiar burn of embarrassed infatuation.

She was either going to kiss him or...

"Neji Hyuuga, if you ever try and do something like that again I'll kill you myself."

He chuckled, the tension successfully broken.

"Believe me, I'm very much aware that you would revive me yourself to do just that."

"That's right - don't forget it."

And then he kissed her. With her threats still warm on her lips Neji had leaned in and kissed her. Instead of harsh words conjured in fear, her drew sighs of contentment from her mouth. He nibbled on her lips and slipped his tongue in to her mouth.

Tenten kissed him back as best she could, but her head was heavy and sluggish from crying and his tongue made her knees buckle, so she mostly allowed herself to be kissed, reveling in the taste of his mouth.

Neji kissed her across the room and to her bed. He kissed her laying down, under the blankets and in the dark. She traced the ridges of his scar aware of the increase of his heartbeat. Very much alive she thought and sighed from under him.

He could have done more, here in her bed, she wouldn't have stopped him. But Tenten was just as content to let Neji kiss her until she fell asleep and when morning came he would wake her with his lips, drawing sleepy sighs from her and reminding her of his presence.

In the middle of the night, somewhere between kisses and sleep he had promised her he would never leave her, and the morning proved him a man of his word.

She still felt the ache, the heavy pang of knowledge and suffering when she drew her fingers across Neji's chest. One night of kissing would never fix that. For each physical scar lay a dozen emotional spread across each member of Team Gai.

Healing took time, but Neji had reminded her that it was not a path she needed to walk alone. He would hold her hand and she would curl up in his embrace. And when they drew back the sheets and left her room at the inn, they would have Lee and Gai at their sides too.

A/N: Let me know if you enjoyed this! I promise I'll try to write more. I truly miss it and think about it all the time.