AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Thanks for the reviews, deadgalwalking and crazy-antman! Here are my replies:

deadgalwalking: I really appreciate for you correcting me about "the Tsunade". I'll try to omit 'the' in Tsunade's name in further chapters.

Tenten's parents didn't escape with her because they knew that if they would escape with Tenten, the ninjas would kill their child and not them. But if they let Tenten go alone, the ninjas who planted the bomb will not kill her. The ninja's main target is actually their parents and Tenten's mother's jewelries. You know how terrorists work, right? Don't kill one, don't kill two, just kill as many as you can, that's how. Why didn't they go after Tenten? That's because they want her to suffer with the curse.

Yes, Neji's father died. But hey! This IS fanfiction, anything can happen!

;D (even dead girls can walk! Hehehe, peace out!)

crazy-antman: So, if ninjas use kunai in the series, could you explain why is there a construction of bridge in the early part of the series? The river dam? The water tanks in Konoha? Particularly, the series, the way I see it, is based on a modern-day setting. So you don't have to worry about the train. Oh yeah, even if it wasn't in a modern-day setting, there were trains in Japan since around 1800's or something like that. Take for example the series Rurouni Kenshin. The Oniwabanshu was a gang of ninjas (or warriors) but on that time, there was a train!

Hey, don't take it personally, okay? I'm just explaining the whole thing. But I know you get the point, right? Peace out!

Guys and girls alike, be easy on me! I'm only 13 years old… And I may not keep up:( But if you want to be hard on me, go ahead! It's YOUR review anyway, so, why should I bother, right?

Again, REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

Moving on… Here's the next chapter!

(From the last chapter…)

Tenten closed her eyes and saw a small light in the darkness of her mind, "I… I… I can see… a light… A very bright one…"

Tenten caught Neji's attention and Neji shook her shoulders violently, "Tenten, wake up!"

"What a beautiful light…" Tenten smiled.

"Don't approach it!" Neji said, "Don't!"

"But… it's so beautiful…"

"Please, no!" Neji said, his eyes welling up, "Tenten, whatever happens, even if I die, YOU'RE STILL MY FRIEND!"

Tenten said, "Thank you…"

(Chapter 4 – A Mission to Save a Beloved)

Neji opened the windows wide and told Anya, "I'll take her to the hospital-"

"To Tsunade, not the hospital. Tsunade knows about her condition, if the town finds out what's happening to Madame, everybody will panic. Remember, she didn't want anyone to worry for her." Anya interrupted.

"Understood." Neji said, lifting Tenten's pale body. With that, he leapt off the window and leapt from branches of trees to another, running above roofs of houses, and making sure that he's doing his footwork the fastest he can.

"Someone is calling me…" Tenten muttered.

"Don't listen to it." Neji replied, still leaping from tree to tree – he was near to Tsunade's place.

"A sweet voice… is calling me…" Tenten muttered.

"Listen only to me, Tenten." Neji said, "Hang on!"

And he leapt off a branch of a tree for the last time and landed safely on the ground.

A small and humble hut was in front of them. Neji approached the door and a familiar woman, named Tsunade, opened the door from the inside.

"I sensed your chakra." Tsunade said, "And my favorite student's dying chakra."

"Please, save her." Neji said, "She's losing hope."

Tsunade took Tenten and invited Neji inside.

"You do know what is happening to her, am I right?" Tsunade said, placing Tenten on a bed, wiping the blood off her pale face.

"Yes." Neji said bitterly, "But why… Why didn't she tell me!"

"She was afraid." Tsunade answered, "She wants others to think she was strong, that she had no such curse."

Neji sat down on a chair, looking at Tenten's numb body.

"She lost quite a lot of blood." Tsunade said, checking Tenten's pulse and placing an ice bag on her forehead, "Say, do me a favor, Neji."

Neji stood up and approached Tsunade who was writing something down on a piece of paper. When she was done, she slipped it in to his trench coat's pocket.

"Oh yeah…" Tsunade said, placing a necklace with a jutsu seal pendant on it, "Wear this. It will make other people think that you're a different person from their perspective because of the jutsu on that necklace. Present the paper I gave you at the receiving desk at the hospital. Hurry."

Without another word, Neji once again, leapt from tree to tree until he got to the hospital. When he got inside the hospital, he approached the nurse at the receiving desk and presented the paper.

"Wait here for a while, sir." The nurse said.

The necklace was rather effective – Neji didn't hear about the 'Neji loves Sakura' thing. The nurse returned with a medical suitcase and said, "Take care, sir!"

Neji took the suitcase and went back to Tsunade.

When Tsunade opened it, she took out the blood bags and the stand to support the blood bags. She attached the cord to Tenten's upper left arm. Tsunade sighed and said, "Leave her in this place for a while. She will be ready to go in three days."

"Is there any cure for her curse?" Neji asked, holding Tenten's right hand.

"None…" Tsunade replied. Neji looked disappointed but Tsunade added, "I mean, there is, but it is not found in this village. And else, since you're not the direct receiver for the cure, it's not easy to earn the favor of getting it from the owner."

"Where can it be found?"

"In the village of the Sand." Tsunade replied, "It will take you a day to reach that village, a day of hiking the mountain, and an uncertain number of days to face that old man."

"Who?"

"The owner of the cure for this curse only allows the direct receiver to get it from him but since you're not the direct receiver, you have to fight him in order to get the cure. Even if that old man is skinny and annoying, he is still pretty strong and wise. He is the oldest advisor of the leader of the Sand."

"I'll go tomorrow." Neji answered, "I also made her worry for me at times, she was always by my side whenever I have a family problem, she always agreed to spar with me, she cheers me up when I'm feeling blue, she… she-"

"She is the reason why you fight." Tsunade remarkably said, "Even if you try to kill her, even if you swore to a million people, even if you swore to your father, to the Hokage or to anyone else, you couldn't possibly kill her because she means a lot to you. And this is the only way you can think of to make it up to her."

Neji slightly blushed and looked at Tenten's calmed face, "True."

Tsunade took the necklace that she gave him and said, "You have to go home now. Prepare for your leave tomorrow. Do you want Uchiha to help you?"

"No."

"Even if you say so, you need to." said Tsunade, "Mark my word, I'll never allow you to leave this village without him."

"Fine!" Neji said, walking out of Tsunade's hut, "But he better not make my blood boil!"

"We'll see about that, Neji…" Tsunade thought, "Anything for the sake of Tenten, isn't it?"