AN/Sorry for any previous misspellings. Its a lot easier to proofread when its not four in the morning. ANywhooo...same disclaimer as everyone else on fanfiction.

Waking up from my proverbial perch in my office chair, I glance around the room at my new "roommates", Lee and Gai. I then thought of my other team member. I smile to myself as I remember walking TenTen back to the Hokage tower. Several friends of ours were shocked to say the least. I saw nothing wrong with what I was wearing. I decided to lend a girl my shirt and decided to forego the vest. It itched by itself. I didn't pick up on the titters from our friends until Kiba, eloquent as always, decided to send me a catcall as a joke. This prompted a few of the guys to whistle in my direction. I heard some of the females make comments. I believe it was Anko who said, "If I was only a few years younger..". I rolled my eyes and saw TenTen blush as she walked by them. Kurenai-sensei was rooting her on and saying "Next time go for the pants," which earned her a look from her husband. I opened the door and we both entered a little embarrassed by the peanut gallery. If the peanut gallery wasn't bad enough, Lee and Gai-sensei happened to wander in our direction. To say that one loud gasp and burst of outrage rang through the tower would be a mass understatement. In fact, I think the inhabitants of Suna may have heard the outraged protests from Lee.

"Neji-kun, I am calling you out." Lee declared.

"Why?" I asked, still confused by his behavior.

"Because you are tainting our delicate flower by displaying such a flagrant disregard for your appearance." His eyebrows twitched and he got in a very familiar fighting stance.

I just blinked. I was more stunned by his choice of words than anything.

"You're calling me out? Please. Don't you think this is a bit childish? Plus, she's seen me without my shirt many times while we trained."

"Still, I demand retribution for our angel. Here and now, Neji-kun."

"Fine, Lee-kun. You may have bested the Uchiha, but you will never beat a Hyuuga. I hoped it was a lesson you would've learned by now, but if I have to drill it in your head one more time, I will. Even fate won't help you."

I was about to pummel him into the ground when TenTen chimed in and put a stop to the posturing.

"Now, now boys, lets not fight. Lee-kun, as much as I appreciate the noble gesture, I can assure you I am not offended by his chest. In our world, it is a commonality that all female shinobi must endure. Plus, I've also seen you and Gai-sensei in such a similar state. I really don't mind. Neji-kun, being the mature gentleman that he is was just escorting me to the supply room. Care to join us?" She batted her eyes and he sent me a seething look and happily trotted along.

My smile that morning turned into a frown as I remembered the hours following the previous incident.

After helping her get dressed, she had asked me to take her to her apartment. Upon arriving, Lee and I weren't shocked at the destruction. We had seen the rest of the village. I shook my head, more angry at war in general, and looked in TenTen's direction. I could feel the sadness dripping off her. She grabbed on to the railing and shakily made her way up the stairs to the landing. The building had blown out windows, probably from strong Sound vibrations, and the façade was charred.

We entered her apartment after picking our way over debris. She took a sharp intake of breath and Lee and I looked at each other, both not saying anything, yet having a whole conversation with one look. Lee put his arm around her and she leaned into him. He just held her while she looked over her things. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned from him. She calmly talked to us, in a hauntingly detached voice, as she mentioned several things about her belongings. Her desk, which was her mother's, was burned and the drawers were splintered. Her kitchen had all the cabinets open as well as the drawers, and everything was scattered. Some of the appliances were knocked off, and the dining room table her father had built for her was in pieces. A frame which held a collage of personal pictures, was shattered; the pictures were torn and soggy. She picked up the frame and held it to her heart. A heaviness fell upon my shoulders. Would I ever feel like her if something as minor as a photo frame had been damaged? Probably not, because to me it was minor, but to her, it was family. I guess it is because I never knew the true meaning of family after my parents passed. I felt lonely at that moment and empty. Maybe it was the scene before me or maybe fate was giving me a sign. Either way, it was one hell of a wake up call.

She made her way though what was left of her living room. She ran her hands over the rents in the couch and something struck me funny. It wasn't just burned and ruined, her place had been ransacked. The enemy had been looking for weapons information. It wasn't a far stretch for me to put two and two together.

"Hey TenTen-chan, did you have any blue prints laying around? If so, I will need to know what. The enemy did a fair job ransacking this place." After the words escaped my mouth, I could've slapped myself. Insensitive Jerk of the Year award was mentally awarded to me, I thought sardonically. I saw for the first time her weariness and the internal struggle. Exhaustion, sadness, and hopelessness were prevalent in her demeanor. After listening to her gather herself,

" No, there was nothing of supreme importance here. Maybe a few sketches but that is it. Everything else is kept in Ibiki-san's office." She entered her room after that and the tears fell. I walked in after her and saw that she was holding a picture album. I recognized the book, for Lee had given it to her on her sixteenth birthday. It held everything from pictures of her training days to family pictures. I had, to that day, only seen several pages of it, for she was still going through pictures when the Sound attacked.

"It's ruined. The kunai went clear through the cover. The water destroyed pretty much everything else. Everything I held dear was in here. This was supposed to be the story of Team Gai's lives. Mine, yours, and Lee's as well as Gai's-sensei's. I had a bunch of stuff in here. I was making one for each of us so that we would always remember the good times. I had so many pictures of us. Sorry for the tears, but this attack was personal to me. I can't stand the thought that someone would bastardize such a thing as a simple photo album. They were looking for information weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were. But diligent as you are, you left nothing for them to find, so they deliberately ruined this place. There is no time for tears. We can replace the photos, we can start over again."

"Can we? Are we able to regain what we've lost?"

She pulled the kunai out of the cover and opened the album and I saw the first page. It was a picture of us when we were still genin. The knife had slashed across it. She turned her tear stained face towards me and I reached out for her. She fell into my arms and fell apart.

"TenTen-chan, it's ok." Somewhere the wall I built around me started to crumble. I was never one for emotion, and I never really knew how to handle it, so I blocked the thought out completely until now.

"I know how much your mother meant to you and how you hold a special place for her, and I know how much we mean to you. But we are still here and OK. It's ok to let the emotion go." I guess a part of me was telling me it was ok to let go as well. I may have subconsciously tightened my hold on her and I may have brushed my hand over her hair to try to soothe her. We stood there for a few minutes while she regained her composure.

"Thanks. I guess I needed that. This medication is really getting to me." She wiped her eyes, straightened up and plastered a smile on her face. Amazing. Really. It was a little eerie that she could do that so well. The ninja was back, and I thought to myself that it would probably be a long time before I saw the vulnerable female side of her again.

"No problem. Now, lets figure out a place to get you situated. Grab what you need and we'll figure out where you can stay." I leave her to gather her things and yell for Lee.

It's been two weeks since the scene at her place. Today was the day when Inari was supposed to make an appearance. He was bringing a contingent of workers with him. We sent out missives informing him of his escort, and he should be arriving within the hour. I drag myself out of my office and grab a cup of coffee. After checking with TenTen and the rest of my staff, I headed to the main gates. As I approached, I heard my name called.

"Neji-kun!"

I turned and saw Naruto-sama running up to me. However, as I looked up, I saw a sight that I had never seen before. Behind him was the Hokage mountain. I looked at the Fourth and looked at Naruto. Then I did it again. He looks like a relative of some sort of the Fourth. Same hair, same height, same bone structure…ok, I am crazy. I've only had one cup of coffee and it is 7:00 in the morning. But something in the back of my mind clicked. Something was not right about Naruto's history. I had a nagging suspicion that Naruto found out who his parents were. He may have been an orphan and we would have never have picked up on the resemblance when we were kids, but now that I am really looking at him, I see the Fourth in him. Plus, he was trained under sensei's who were taught by Hokage's and Legendary Sanins. That is not coincidence. That is planned. Same with Saura-chan and Sasuske-kun. All three trained by the best. Maybe the Third knew the truth, and if so, why did he hide it? Why did our parents hate Naruto-sama when we were kids? One of these days I will have all the answers.

"Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"I wanted to walk with you. I was just wondering how things were going. We haven't been in contact for a couple of days."

"Things are fine. My jounin instructors are really pitching in with their genin cells. We also deployed sever ANBU Squads to Suna for additional resources and as personal escorts for Gaara-sama's workers. Plus, I have a few tracker teams deployed in order to finish administering to the fallen bodies so that no information gets leaked. The refugees are settling nicely, although we will need some more foodstuffs within the next couple of weeks, at least until the farmers get their fields functional again. Other than official stuff, I can't spend another night in my office. Since Lee-kun and Gai-sensei have no where to stay as of the moment, we are camping in my office."

"Sucks to be you, having to sleep with fuzzy brows and fuzzy brows jr. If it makes you feel better, I get the pleasure of sharing the compound with Hiashi-sama. I'll gladly trade."

We both laughed.

"I would like to place a formal request if I may?"

"Sure, what?" He turned his blue eyes towards me.

" See if you can find a job for TenTen-chan to do, as long as there is no lifting ,bending, or physical involved. She's been through hell like the rest of us, but worse. She's also getting restless and that is putting a huge demand on my time keeping her from over exerting herself. But, if she is preoccupied…"

"I get where you are going with this. I know Iruka-sensei is looking for someone to help out with the kids and the reunions. I'll assign her there. That should keep her occupied. Ahh, there is Inari-kun now."

Naruto-sama breaks away from me and heads towards the kid.

Inari-san was a couple of years younger than Konohamaru-kun. He had a mop of black hair and stood a few inches shorter than me.

"Inari-kun! How goes it?" Naruto-sama slaps him on the back and Inari slaps him back.

"Not bad. Looks like I arrived just in the nick of time, huh? Well, by looking around, it shouldn't take us anymore than a few months to get your village back up to snuff."

"Great. Well, I have a couple of temporary shelters set up for your workers and you. Of course, you are welcome to stay with me and my wife."

"Thanks, but I will stay with the workers. Plus, Konohamaru-san said he'd show me the ropes. Hey, who's idea for the escort? All they did was bicker. Especially that Kiba guy. Though I appreciate the gesture, I have a headache. I almost didn't recognize Sasuske-san. I guess that's what happens when you don't see someone for years. But all in all the trip was uneventful. As far as my family goes, mom says hi and granddad finally retired. He also said that if you needed anything, just ask. Well, I am tired. Hopefully you have some food around here."

"Follow me. While we hunt down some ramen, I'll fill you in on a few key players that you will be acquainted with. Neji-kun, Sasuke-kun, Shino-kun, follow me. Konohamaru, go find Sakura-chan. I need to speak with her. Also, Kiba-kun, pass word along that I want any available jounin present at the tower for instructions regarding the reconstruction."

As we headed for the tower I noticed many ninja were helping in the clean up as we walked by. When we entered the lobby a part of me twitched. The part of my day I hate is waiting for the elevator. The lights on the up and down buttons are always burned out and the stupid thing takes forever. Plus, they smell weird inside. But, as Fate would have it, every time I head for the emergency stairs, the elevator makes it to my floor, opens, and then by time I get back to the elevator, it shuts and I end up waiting again. There is no way to win. Man's modern invention is a total pain. I turn towards the stairs and Naruto-sama looks at me funny.

"Where are you going, Neji-kun?"

"OH, taking the stairs, I hate the elevator, it takes forever."

"Not with me it doesn't." He takes a key from his pocket and inserts it in the "emergency" slot. All five of us look at him in disbelief. The elevator pinged open and we got in. Sasuske-kun hit the stop button and the machine ground to a halt.

"OK, loser, what did you do? The elevator is never that quick."

"Well, my key overrides any command. So any floor that I am on, if I insert the key, it skips any preceding floors that were pushed and comes directly to me." We all look at each other then at him, and roll our eyes at the disgusting abuse of power.

"Ok, so the title comes with perks. Believe it."