Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me

A/N: Somehow… I think a lot of you are going to be maadddd by the time you get to the end of this chapter….ahem.

Another block, another kick, and he was down. Faintly aware of the large gash in her side, Tenten sighed in relief, immediately regaining her senses, to take a look around.

"TENTEN!"

'Wha-?"

Her eyes widened at the kunai speeding her way, vaguely noticing Neji's look of urgency, Sakura's stricken face, and Kiba altogether to occupied fighting an enemy. She turned on instinct, fighting to get out of the way.

Not fast enough.

It plunged into her rib, just under her heart, and Tenten's sight started to blur, pain shooting in hot bursts that scorched her body. Shit. She winced from the pain, faintly aware of her own actions, and ripped the weapon out of her with a growl and flung it back at the chuunin. It imbedded itself in the chuunin's neck before the he even knew what was going on, and he fell down dead with shock imprinted on his face. Blood was spurting from the wound in Tenten's side, blood dripping down, and her breath was becoming slightly labored from the extreme pain. But she was still alive. And that was all that mattered.

Neji heard the small sigh of relief that came from Sakura.

"Yo! What the heck are you guys doing just standing there?" barked Kiba, who was holding off two of the enemy on his own. "Stop gawking and fight!" he bit out, struggling against the two stone jounin. Sakura quickly snapped out of it and hurried over to the dog-users help, effectively blasting one away with a perfectly executed chakra enhanced punch.

Neji himself berated himself for a split second for his foolishness before turning and facing another stone jounin, determination glinting. He cast a quick glance at Tenten, who although was incapacitated, had managed to cut down the remaining chuunin who thought that she'd be an easy picking. As expected.

----

Searing pain coursed through all of Tenten's right side, the result of the kunai. She growled, her vision slowly fading. She had killed one more, yes, but that was merely a low-level chuunin, and she knew she couldn't take on another jounin on her own. She was exhausted, on the verge of collapse, and the enormous pain inflicting her did not help a bit.

She instead retreated to behind a tree, taking care to make sure the stone ninjas did not notice her leaving. Huddled in the bushes and cradling her side, it was another 10 minutes before it seemed as though the last of the enemy was dead, as she no longer heard any more screams.

"Tenten? Where are you?"

She sighed in relief at the side of Kiba's voice, before managing to get up on her feet with the tree's support and revealing her location. " I'm here." She managed, already weakness addling her. She saw Neji make her way towards her in her warped vision, with a rather strange emotion adorning his face, one she couldn't properly identify in her current state. If she didn't know any better, she would have assumed that that was worry that was being emitted from the clear depths of the Hyuga's eyes. ' It couldn't be." Tenten dismissed.

She swayed, eyes closing, though still fighting to keep conscious. "Tenten! Are you alr-"
Neji asked, though she never got to hear the rest as she welcomed the darkness that enveloped her vision.

----

It was Kiba who caught her, rushing over to her side, slowly laying her down on a patch of ground that was not stained with blood. " Sakura, you think you can heal this?"
Sakura bit her lip. The fight had tired her, though not so much as the rest of her teammates. But healing such a deep wound while taking care of her teammates would surely bring her chakra to dangerously low levels. They all sported various gashes, burns and cuts, some shallow, some deep.

"I'll do what I can, and bandage it, but I need to heal everybody else's wounds too."

Neji scowled. "I don't need healing. Just use my portion for Tenten." Sakura raised her eyebrows. " At least let me heal your leg. We need to hurry back to Konoha so that Tenten's wound won't get any worse, and we can't do it when some of us can't run as well."

Neji gave in, turning away. " Do whatever you like."

"Fine."

They moved to a new clearing, to be away from the bloody battlefield before Sakura began to heal the wounds of her teammates. Tenten remained unconscious, her wound now a slightly bit more shallow, and bandaged with linen that was now already slightly stained with blood. Sakura bit her lip, watching the blood slowly seep back into the bandage she had used to cover the gaping wound after only ten minutes.

" It's no good. I can't use any more chakra now or I won't be able to walk, and then you'll have two unconscious bodies to deal with. The best chance is just to head back to Konoha as soon as possible so that the wound can be treated."

Kiba nodded, showing he understood, before stooping to pick up, lifting her up so that she was riding piggy-back on his back. " Let's go then."

"Neji nodded, and the three took off towards the South towards Konoha, home, and the hospital. Although one should have been remained alert, even after the battle was over, Neji found it hard to do so, with Tenten unconscious on the dog boy's back of all people.

He understood that it would be stupid for Sakura to carry Tenten back, but that didn't mean he had to like the fact that Kiba was the only one left. The idea of him carrying his former team cell partner was completely out of the question of course. There was no use brooding over it now, and instead, Neji turned his thoughts on the need to return to Konoha as quickly as possible, and just what was his feelings for a certain kunoichi, because that feeling was starting again, and he still didn't know what to do about it.

He was not stupid, so he was not too blind to see that his feelings for Tenten had already reached a level beyond friendship. But just how far it had gone was the question, and somehow, Neji was deathly afraid at what the final answer would be. He recognized the fact that seeing Tenten with Kiba the other day made him jealous, and that when Tenten had made her confession, his heart had momentarily risen to fill his chest, though he hastily pushed it back down again.

Neji picked up his pace, now at his place at the front, as was customary of the Team Captain. They needed to get to Konoha soon. Then Tenten could get treated.

But surely, that didn't mean that he loved her in any way. It wasn't possible. But the feeling seemed more and more plausible over the minutes, though he racked his brain for different answers. But in the end, for God's sake, he just wanted his heart to stop his heart from thudding so heavily whenever he thought of her dying because he couldn't make it in time.

He disgusted himself. This behavior was so far from what he usually acted that it made him nervous. What was even scarier was that he wasn't sure whether he wanted to go back to his normal stoic cover. But then again, a part of him did. It was a confusing jumbled mess, one that he just wanted to disappear.

The journey, in their currently weakened state since Sakura couldn't fully heal everyone took half a day, and a half a day longer than Neji would have liked.

" I'll go report to Tsunade-sama." Said Sakura, once they were safely back within Konoha's gates. Kiba was carrying Tenten and Neji would probably want to stay with his teammate, so the two were the obvious choice. " You two go on ahead, I'll meet up with you guys later."

The two men nodded in affirmation, before turning and leaping onto the closest building and disappearing in the direction of the hospital. Sakura then turned in the direction of the Hokage tower and hurried off report. She hoped Tenten would be ok.

------

Twenty minutes later, and Tenten was at the moment being treated for her wounds in one of the emergency rooms; she had lost quite a bit of blood. Neji just couldn't stand it anymore, standing out there in the hall wondering what had happened to her. He felt urgency, and his body refused to let him rest and sit down. He let out a noise of frustration, before informing Kiba that he would return tomorrow before turning to stride off.

He just needed to get away from it for a while. So he did what he normally did when he had to calm down. Exiting the hospital through the open window in the next hall, and leaping down into the courtyard, he made his way through the town towards the forests on the western edge of Konoha, where he and Tenten usually sparred. He settled himself on top of a rock in the middle of a clearing, and meditated, taking on his stance, sitting down with his legs crossed. His eyes closed, he cut himself off from rest of the world, losing himself in thoughts and memories that really made no sense at all.

He neither moved nor twitched, his breathing rhythmic and solid.

What did he think of Tenten?

A good sparring partner. Somebody to depend on. Was there anything else?

Was there the possibility of something more?

It was nightfall when he opened his eyes, the stars having come out a short while before. His thoughts were clear now, though by no means was it at ease. And as for Tenten, they needed to talk. She was causing him to lose concentration, and it was something he couldn't afford. But to lose Tenten instead? Out of the question. He realized that now.

He would talk to Tenten tomorrow.

-----

Tenten woke to blinding sunshine streaming through the drab, curtain-less hospital windows. She rubbed her eyes groggily, vaguely aware of the slight throb in her right side, though it was only noticed if she looked for it. As the mission came back to her, she checked herself for and scars or bruises, to find that most of her cuts and gashes had been healed, though the kunai wound now had a black and blue bruise that hurt whenever she twisted her body. ' It's better than I thought.' She said to herself, inspecting the wound before propping her pillows up so that she could sit without having the bedposts digging into her back. She noticed that somebody had left flowers- yarrow, representing healing. She smiled at the gesture, wondering who brought it.

A nurse than knocked and walked in at the sound of Tenten's 'Come in.' " How are you feeling?" the nurse asked as she set Tenten's lunch down on the small bedside table.

" Just fine thanks." Replied Tenten with a smile. " Just wondering, who brought flowers?"

"I think it was Haruno-san, she said something about getting her friend Yamanaka-san to help her pick out flowers. She brought it by here early this morning, but you weren't awake yet. It's around 12:30 now."

"Oh. Ok." Answered Tenten, feeling slightly disappointed at the response, though it was nice of Sakura to bring her flowers. She supposed a part of her had wanted for it to be Neji who had gone to the trouble of getting her flowers, though thinking it over now, the idea of it seemed absurd. Flowers and Hyuga Neji simply didn't mix, and since when did Hyuga have the thoughtfulness for flowers anyways? Actually, since when would he take the time to learn the meanings of flowers?

" I'll leave you with your lunch now." Said the nurse as she checked marked something on the clipboard that hung at the foot of her bed. " You should probably be able to leave later today, your wounds aren't that bad."

Tenten smiled at that. Good. She could leave the hospital soon. She watched as the nurse leave but not before Tenten requested for her to leave the door open, before carefully lifting up the tray of food onto her lap and starting to drink her soup. With the door closed, the room was too empty, too lonely, and too bare, and it just didn't feel right. Looking back on her bedside table after she was done lunch, she realized somebody had left a book on weapons there for her. 'Why not.' Thought Tenten as she picked up the book and flipped to the first page. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do.

Fifteen minutes later, and she was still on the first page.

The use of weapons is a subtle art, one that many do not take the time to appreciate for lack of its flashiness and all around power.

She blinked, realizing she'd been reading the same line over and over for the past 10 minutes. It wasn't that the book was boring, though she supposed that had something to do with it too.

Hyuga Karu, being the first to- hmm… the Hyuga's? Neji? Wait.

She groaned. So it all came back to him huh? She threw the book across the room, flopping back into a sleeping position and closing her eyes. How do I forget thee? Let me count the ways…

----

Neji made his way along the halls in the hospital towards Tenten's hospital room, guided by a nurse who said that she was on her way there anyways to inform Tenten that she could leave. He had debated with himself all day on whether to come to the hospital or not, finally giving in when he realized it was nearly 3:00. It was perfect timing, actually, for him to be here the nurse had remarked.

As he got closer towards an open door to a room that he supposed was Tenten's, he noticed two guys around his age hanging around, clearly not ninja with their lazy stances and carefree smiles, and caught a bit of their conversation.

"Wonder what that chick is here for." Said one boy as he gazed into the room.

"Dunno. But she's hot. Maybe…" The other boy answered, though at that point Neji just shut out the vulgar conversation he was listening to, disgusted by the two boys. Seriously. They were twenty; you'd think that by then that the hormonal phase would have moved on already.

One of the two approached them, stopping in front of the nurse. " Excuse me, I was wondering what that girl in that room-" he pointed at Tenten's open door " was in for. She doesn't seem to be the type to get herself hurt."

The nurse frowned. " I'm not supposed to be giving out that kind of information to people-"

" Please?" the boy urged again. Neji was disgusted by now, that such idiotic boys would think that they could ever have a chance with to somebody like Tenten, especially when they weren't even ninja. It was obvious they wanted to be some sort of relief or help to a hurt girl in a hospital. He scowled, before cutting his way into their conversation."

"She got hurt on a mission. Now move." stated Neji coldly.

"Dude, it's not like you own this hallway. I don't have to move if I don't want to." The boy said carelessly. "And what do you mean mission? It's not like-"

" Excuse me, Hyuga-san, we aren't supposed to be giving out patient information!" protested the nurse, interrupting the boy. "I'm sorry." Neji just answered calmly, smugly noticing that the two boys had realized that the man before them was of the Hyuga clan, and was really quite influential around Konoha.

"H-h-ey-y.. sorry man, you know, just want to help… you know…"

The nurse huffed indignantly before continuing into Tenten's door. Neji followed, stopping to give the two boys around a glare that clearly meant 'get lost', of which the two boys willingly complied and ran off down the hall.

Wimps.

He went into Tenten's room, and watched as the nurse informed the girl that she could leave now, and that she was perfectly ok. Tenten thanked her, before getting out of bed and noticing that Neji was there.

Tenten stiffened, before getting out a "Hey Neji." She quickly recomposed herself, saying bye to the nurse who was leaving and proceeding to gather her clothes and Konoha headband. "Um… Neji, if you want to wait, I'll be right back, I just need to change." Neji nodded, before seating himself in a conveniently placed chair beside the door to wait.

In the attached bathroom, Tenten was getting nervous. It was only natural for a one to be visiting a hurt teammate, and Neji probably treated this visit as one. But she had just spent a quarter of an hour fighting her feelings again and succeeding somewhat, and she was slightly hoping that her resolve would last longer than a week. Neji really wasn't making this easier. Changing quickly, she walked back into the hospital room, recomposing her face into one of calm indifference. She was just about to ask Neji how Kiba and Sakura had fared when the Hyuga beat her into speaking.

"We need to talk."

Tenten lost her mask for a fraction of a second, dreading what was to come. She had a bad feeling about this. "Sure." She answered stiffly.

"Not here." Neji said. " In the forest."

"Fine."

The walk there was awkward. They looked at everything except each other, a space left in between them wide enough for another person to cut through. And in fact, many did. It seemed that a million years had passed before they had finally arrived at the clearing that they usually sparred at.

Neji had never really known how to convey feelings, and the act of subtlety really wasn't his specialty, and right now, he was feeling rather nervous, not that there was any indication on the outside of course. He decided instead once they had both sat upon the grass to just come out with it, because the faster this happened, the faster it was over.

"Do you like me?" He needed to make sure, to understand.

It was silent for a moment. And Tenten wondered in shock if he had lost his mind. But how did she feel? The feelings hadn't subsided fully, and she knew that if she allowed herself, the feelings would come back full force. But why was Neji asking? She wasn't going to be humiliated and hurt again. She bit her lip. She had to say something soon; the silence had already been too long. The internal answer was yes, but she knew she would die before she said that.

" I don't know."

…reviews? They'll bring out the next chapter faster?

I think I have a fetish with cliffhangers. I'm sorry...

and btw, the next chapter is the LAST chapter. Yes, it's a short story. So review.