A/N: Ok, I know, I know, please don't yell at me… It is way past the time I said this chapter would be out but I have a good reason for not releasing it for so long. I reworked the hospital scene which I left all of you hanging on last time so many times. The first time I wrote it, it wasn't believable; Neji was too OOC for me and Tenten seemed like Sakura, not Tenten… This chapter is much shorter than the others for a few reasons. It's the second to last chapter in this fic, thus it is short to keep the last chapter very interesting. I swear to you the last chapter will be excellent and it shouldn't take me too long to write it either. Lastly thank you for the reviews yet again. Constructive criticism is always a help and thank you for whoever gave me that because I think you are right, it is easier to read. Anyway, so after about a week or so of revisions, here it is Chapter 4! Enjoy!

The Confession

"Neji, why are you holding my hand?"

'Shit…' Neji quickly let go of her hand and looked to Tenten who was blushing slightly but had a stern look on her face. His mind reeled as he tried to think up some sort of excuse. After a second or two of struggling with it he decided on the only thing that wasn't an outrageous lie.

"Your arm was hanging off of your bed, so I just thought I would put it back on it." He quickly looked to the floor to recollect his thoughts. Within moments his icy exterior had been replaced and he looked as though nothing had happened.

"Oh, well… Thank you…" She didn't know why she was blushing but she fought hard to suppress it. 'He is just concerned because we are teammates… that's all…' She looked to her hands as silence enveloped the two of them. She looked back to Neji to find him a bit of sorrow behind his cold expression.

"Tenten, I am sorry… I should have been there… I let the team down and I…" He stopped himself short. He couldn't bring himself to say it, no matter how much he had planned it out. 'Well, I guess actually doing it is harder than I thought…'

"And you what?" Tenten was curious now and wanted to know what he had failed to say.

Neji looked to the window. He was trying to bring himself to say it; however his heart was wrestling with his worries and his mind, but they say the heart is the strongest muscle. "I let… you get hurt…" Apparently, they were right.

The heat was starting to return to her face but she ignored it. "It's ok, we all make mistakes. Don't be yourself up too hard, or you won't leave anything left for me to train with." She smiled at him which was returned by his trademark smirk. "Now get me my clothes, I need to make up for lost training time."

Neji sighed. He never argued with Tenten when she got like this. It was safer, and less of a hassle for him. He walked over to the wardrobe on the far wall and tossed her clothes to her. "I will meet you at the training grounds in ten minutes." He walked out of the hospital room not waiting for her answer.

'Normal Neji, a good sign…' She thought to herself as she got dressed. Within 5 minutes she had arrived at the training grounds to find Neji waiting impatiently.

"Come." His stance changed immediately and his Byakugan was activated.

She grinned and flung an array of weapons at him which included three kunai, six senbon, a kama, and a katana. Neji dodged the kunai and senbon easily. The kama caught him off guard a little but he caught it with relative ease and had just enough time to block the katana shooting at him like a spear. It always amazed him how she hid so many weapons in what looked like a normal outfit.

However, he wasn't able to contemplate the katana for long; Tenten had used the large weapon as a way to close the distance between them. She used another katana and swung at his head. Neji smirked. "Why in the world would you get closer to me in a spar?"

Tenten's eyes widened as she realized her mistake. 'Damn it!' She winced as she felt him hit a tenketsu in her wrist, making her drop the katana. He then moved in for the finishing blow, using his palm to channel his chakra into his attack. He stopped a few inches short of chest, not wanting to do real damage. "Why did you stop? You never hold back…"

"You just got out of the hospital. I would rather make sure you are perfectly healthy before I start attacking you fully again…" He turned around to find a very irate Tsunade and Sakura who were standing in front of an ecstatic Lee and Gai.

"Hyuuga-san!" Tsunade's voice was like nails on a chalkboard when she was angry. "What do you think you are doing? You do not help a patient sneak out of the hospital to go training!"

Neji moved his finger once to stop her as he noticed Tenten open her mouth to protest. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, if I didn't help her; she could have re-injured herself in the process. I want my sparring partner to be in top form. You understand don't you?" He had remained completely calm which sometimes caused people to calm down. Most of the time, it just made them angrier. Fortunately, it was the former rather than the latter.

Tsunade did calm down a little bit and finally let Lee and Gai go bounding past her to greet Tenten in a way the green clad idiots had patented. "TENTEN!" Lee closed the distance first and hugged her fiercely, causing her to cough from the force of it.

"Lee! Air! I need air!" She panted as he let go of her to make way for Gai who struck his nice guy pose.

"Our Konoha flower lives again! May the springtime of youth always protect you!" Tenten nodded as she smiled. Lee and Gai were always something to rely on, they were always weird.

Tsunade motioned to Sakura and began walking back to her office. "Tenten, you are recovering still, no hardcore training for two days."

Gai spoke up immediately after. "To celebrate Tenten's recovery we will be training!" Tsunade nearly fell over. "We shall embark upon a team bonding trip! We shall go camping!" Tsunade recovered and sighed as she continued back to her office. Whether it was Gai, Jiraiya, or Kakashi, one of them would give her a heart attack eventually…

All of Team Gai had arrived at their designated camping spot in the southern half of the fire country. Neji and Lee had done their normal shelter building contest and had finished just as the rain had started. Neji and Tenten retreated to their ground hut which was furnished for two people not just one, while Lee and Gai retreated to their normal tree house.

Tenten was sharpening her weapons on the bed while Neji sat on the floor meditating against the wall. Tenten looked to Neji and grinned. She threw a kunai just above his head, hoping to catch him off guard. It landed with a thunk in the wall, but of course, Neji didn't even move.

"Please don't damage the hut Tenten, it's a pain to build them…" She frowned. He could be such a killjoy sometimes.

"Hey Neji?"

"Hn."

"Do you… ever think about anything except training and missions?"

He raised an eyebrow in response. "What brought this on?"

She shrugged, forgetting his eyes were closed. "I don't know, I was just wondering…" She figured the conversation was over but was surprised when he spoke up again.

"Yah… occasionally…"

Tenten remained silent as she continued sharpening her kunai. "Neji, thanks."

"Hn."

Tenten sighed. 'Wonderful he is in one of those moods. Yet again, the two of us are alone. Yet I still can't seem to find the courage to tell him…'

"Tenten, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" Neji opened his eyes as he spoke, giving her his full attention.

She sighed. Here was her chance, yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. "I… Neji… I… love you…" Her face was as red as a tomato and she looked to the ground.

Neji sighed to try and control his own breathing and heart rate. He closed his eyes for a few moments and opened them again as he was about to respond. However the look on her face stopped him. She had tears running down her cheeks and her hands were clenched and shaking. His face showed no emotion though he was confused and shocked and couldn't even say anything.

The tears were now flowing unobstructed as she realized he was just an idiot, a cold, stern idiot who would never care for anyone besides himself. "You know you could say something!" She ran out of the hut as she started to sob. She jumped off into the trees and sped off into the darkness of the rain and the forest.