A lot of people have been asking for another chapter of this fic, I was surprised, happy, and confused all at once. Does that even make sense? Ah well, whatever! Here's your next part!

ME

Three days after Hinata's team returned to Konoha, two days after the entire village had been told of the upset, Neji stalked away from the Hyuuga mansion in a flurry of rage and tightly reigned tears. He'd been to Hiashi's study to request that he join the search for Hinata, and had been shot down in the first ten seconds. No matter how he argued for his qualification, no matter what he posted as his experience, no matter how badly it hurt when he pleaded, Hiashi simply refused. Neji wanted to rip out the older man's teeth, and maybe his tonsils after that!

Grinding his teeth to ignore the growing lump in his throat, he stomped past the Ichiraku Ramen stand, Not seeing Ten Ten seated on one of it's several bar stools.

"Oi Neji, are you alright?" she asked, quickly swallowing the last of her broth. She thumbed around in her pouch for money, paid the stand owner and jogged to catch up to her furious teammate. "Oi! Neji! I'm talking to you!"

Neji, never slowing his steps, turned his head slightly to the left to glare at the insistent girl. Ten Ten gasped at his blunt anger, but she was a shinobi, and was taught long ago to look for micro-emotions, the emotions hid behind another. Neji was horribly upset.

"What's wrong? What happened?" 'Is it about Hinata?' were words that hung unsaid, but Neji slowed as if he'd heard them anyway. He stopped fully after half a dozen more steps. They were now in a slightly forested walking path many of Konoha's ninja's used for early morning runs, Neji turned to Ten Ten.

"He won't let me go." Neji muttered past the knots in his throat. Ten Ten looked confused though, so he tried to explain further, though it became almost difficult to concentrate past the itching behind his eyes signaling to him that he was tearing up again. "Hinata's search party. Hiashi wont let me help look for her…He wont…let me go."

Ten Ten briefly swam out of focus as the first unexpected tears began to fall. She reached out to him, but past putting a hand on his shoulder, Ten Ten did not quite know how to handle an upset Neji Hyuuga. Had it been Lee or Gai, she would have known what to do, a girl even, she would have known. But Neji wasn't like them. He was bottled up, and was usually the cause of hurts that Ten Ten had to deal with. It was almost frightening seeing him begin to breakdown right in front of her.

Neji's breathing was beginning to go erratic, his hands coming to his face as years' worth of guilt began to settling into his stomach as a heavy weight ghosted by thousands of butterflies, and then the butterflies were swarming upward and into his mouth, and Neji cried out, grabbing Ten Ten and pulling them both down at the base of a nearby tree.

There at the bottom of a Ginkgo tree, Neji crouched, wailing excuses and apologies to someone no longer present in a hurried apostrophe, all the while clinging to a rather uncomfortable Ten Ten, as if she were a blanket to guard him from the rest of the world in his distraught state. Just to make sure she didn't squash him, Ten Ten braced her hands onto the tree trunk to either side of where his head would have been, had he not wrapped his arms around her torso and began crying into her breasts.

Unknowing of what she should do, she stayed silent until he quieted and leaned onto the tree, eyes puffy, hair messy and at odd angles, and tear tracks smeared across his face. He couldn't bring himself to look at the weapons girl in the eyes, but his gaze did not waver when he gazed across the tearstains in her shirt.

"I'm sorry." He said at last.

"It's alright," Ten Ten replied softly. "Everyone needs a good cry now and then."

"Don't make excuses for me, it was a very stupid thing for me to do. Ninjas aren't supposed to cry."

"Everyone means everyone, genius boy."

Neither talked for several more minutes, and then Ten Ten pulled out from her pouch a Hankie and small water bottle. Wetting the Hankie, she reached toward a yielding Neji and gently washed his face to erase the signs of crying. " I see that we have two options here." She stated.

Neji finally met her eyes, curious. "Either convince Hiashi to let you go, or convince Gai and Hokage-sama an extended espionage-gathering training trip is in order." Neji's white eyes widened, which Ten Ten found inwardly comical with his mussed hair.

"Yes, training trip." He repeated, the barest of grins appearing on his face.

Yes, I know, short chapter, but it was rushed and it's kind of late. I hope you don't mind so much. I really enjoyed writing it! If you have and constructive criticism I would be happy to hear it. Yes, I also know Neji is probably horribly out of character, but I've only read the first three or four manga/ watched up to episode 12, so most all the information on him I know is learned from fanfics. Forgive me, please!

ME