Lee and Himawari ended up taking Tenten and Neji to the hospital, both of them propelled on Lee's shoulder while Himawari ran ahead so she could them know they were on their way. She could see Neji, arms crossed, pissed off.
"I told you," Tenten said, even though she knew it would only make things worse. "But you wouldn't listen. You couldn't just let me beat you, huh?"
He snapped his head towards her, his eyebrows scrunching so much she wondered if it actually hurt him do it. His voice was stern as he gritted out, "Tenten, have you ever thought that maybe we wouldn't be dangling here if you hadn't brought me back? If you hadn't, I wouldn't have met Himawari and she wouldn't have insisted on going to your shop and inviting you to train with us. Have you not thought about that at all?"
Tenten was silent. She could tell Lee was listening but was choosing to stay quiet—a wise choice. Neji seemed to fix his eyes at nothing. Or perhaps anything but her. She felt the dread start at her stomach again. He was right, Tenten thought. She always screwed things up somehow.
It was quiet for a moment or two.
"You seem to bond with her," Tenten said quietly, afraid she was going to say something and make things worser than they were. "You even have matching hairstyles."
Neji grunted, rolling his eyes, but otherwise did not respond to her statement.
"She does seem to adore you, Neji," Lee chippered in for the first time.
"I don't understand her fondness," was all Neji said.
Me neither, Tenten thought, deciding to keep her mouth shut for once.
When Neji came back, everyone assumed it was a miracle. No one questioned how it was even possible. Maybe they didn't want to jinx it, make whatever invisible force that brought him back change its mind. Most people assumed it was the Hyuga bloodline that ran through his veins the cause of this, which Tenten considered totally absurd. They weren't that special. To feed into this idea, Neji hadn't tried to contradict them or explain what actually transpired.
Why would he not say anything? Tenten wondered when she realized Neji was deceiving everyone, when Sakura asked what happened and she realized Sakura didn't know what was going on. When Lee offered an explanation in a nonchalant manner.
Sakura turned to Neji, shocked, and found that he was staring right back at her, as if daring her to say something. Tenten tried to convey the question in her eyes, but he turned away from her then.
"Is this true?" Sakura asked when Lee finished explaining.
Tenten sighed, almost ashamed. "Yeah."
Sakura stared at her for a moment, one of her fingers in her mouth, thinking. Tenten was feeling a little bit uncomfortable with her stare until she realized that she wasn't actually looking at her. Sakura was pondering.
"This is extraordinary," she said, out of breath. "I have never heard or seen anything like this before. I…I would like to run some tests."
"I don't know about that—" Tenten started but was interrupted by Neji.
"Yes, that would be good. I would like to understand my current limitations."
Tenten tried to hide her embarrassment as a shameful blushed crept to her cheeks.
They had been at the hospital all day, being discharged late at night. They had done so many tests that Tenten had lost count. Eventually, Lee took Himawari home. After it was clear this was going to take more than two or three hours. To make matters worse, Tenten had Neji as her only source of company, which meant they would be in each other presence without acknowledging each other. Tenten had tried to initiate conversation with Neji, but he only seemed to pretend her away.
During one of the few instances where they were separated, Tenten could overhear Sakura grinding Neji with questions. "Did you know about the scroll?"
Tenten felt a pit in her stomach as Neji meditated over his answer. For a moment Tenten thought he wasn't going to answer at all.
"Yes. When Tsunade was Hokage, she had tasked us to retrieve it. I had not thought the scroll was beneficial for any of the parties at hand, so I told Tenten that we should destroy it. It was too vile. I thought we had burned the scroll, but I guess I was wrong."
Sakura was silent for a moment while she processed these words. "You went against the Hokage's wishes."
Tenten could hear the sharpness in Neji's voice. For once not directed at her. "I did what I thought was best."
Silence again. Tenten thought their conversation was over—she was pretty sure Sakura was going to let Naruto know this newfound information as soon as she was done doing her tests—but then out of nowhere she said, "You know, out of everyone here, Tenten had been the most affected by your death. She was never the same after, even though she pretended otherwise."
Tenten felt heat burn her face, heart pounding in embarrassment. She did need Sakura saying all of this.
"We both knew death was imminent with war, we were aware of it. She also knew how repulsed I was about the scroll. Yet, that didn't change her course of actions." Neji's words were so bitter the once burning sensation she had glossed over with ice.
"Hm." Sakura simply answer. "If things were different, if you were the one in her position, what would you have done?"
Tenten felt her ears prickle as she strained to hear. "I don't know, but I certainly never would have done something so rash."
"Maybe Tenten didn't intend to make such a rash decision either."
Then they stopped talking all together.
When Neji got out and Sakura called her in, she tried to avoid looking at him. Inside, Sakura only gave her an empathetic smile.
After a few seconds Sakura quietly asked, "So, why did you do it?"
For the first time Tenten tried to think it through. Why did she do it? She knew she missed Neji, wanted to see his face, remember how he was, hear his voice again, but what truly drove her to this point? Was it missing him or something else?
"At this point, I don't even know why anymore."
It was nearing nightfall when Sakura could figure out what was wrong with them or had at least a bases in understanding on what was going on. The scroll worked as a tether, linking the person who opened the scroll to the deceased. This could only be done with the person in the living world becoming an anchor. That meant that they shared a single heartbeat and chakra link. If one of them experience pain, so would the other. If one of them died…
Each and every test seemed to confirm the worst.
When Sakura prickled Neji's finger, Tenten's started bleeding in time with Neji. When Sakura shocked Tenten, both her and Neji's hearts were beating at the same rate. They were both experiencing the same physiologically. That's why when Neji blocked Tenten's chakra, he fell alongside her. This also explained why Neji aged too. His body had to keep up with Tenten's physiology in order to survive, that meant aging.
It was nearing midnight when Sakura said, "I have only scraped the corporal side of this. I have yet to see the psychological and emotional part of all of this and if there is even one. I know it's a lot to take in, especially in one day, but what you need to take from all of this is: you need to be careful. I don't know how strong or fragile this tether is and if it can dissolve easily. It might seem too much of a hassle, but if you two can keep a record of how your body's reactions, it would be great. That way we can track everything that's happening."
Tenten nodded, trying to convey understanding. Meanwhile, Neji had his eyes closed, resigned. Clearly irritated.
"I think it is also important to notify Naruto. I think he would like to know of this," Sakura added lastly.
"Of course," Tenten said, but she could tell that was the last thing Neji wanted to do.
Like that, they were discharged, walking alongside each other as the reached the hospital doors. Both were silent, still taking in the news. Tenten didn't know what to say. She only felt a knot of guilt and shame in the pit of her stomach. When they got to the entrance door, Tenten knew they would go their separate ways. Knew they might not even discuss this.
She grabbed Neji's hand instantly, stopping him. Forcing him to look at her. He looked furious. "Neji, we need to talk about this."
"What is there to talk about, Tenten? I think we already established how much of an unnecessary burden this is."
Tenten nodded, trying to be reasonable. After all, she was the mastermind behind all of their troubles. She tried to swallow the lump she left in her throat. "You know I didn't mean for it to be this way. I-I had lost my friend. I just wanted to see my friend one last time. I didn't think all of this was going to happen afterwards. I am sorry. I will try to find a way to take you back to the place you were before."
Neji sighed, place a hand on one of her shoulders. "Let's just focus on registering anything we feel different in our bodies and compare notes."
Tenten nodded, her vision blurring with unshed tears. She did not know why Neji not being abrasive towards her made her so emotional.
"I know you meant well," Neji said firmly, yet quietly. "Let's just deal with the card at hand."
Tenten nodded once again as they walked through the entrance and headed outside, parting in different directions.
A/N: Hey, guys! Long time no see. Please review and let me know your thoughts. I know I posted a different story yesterday (If you like Avatar the Last Airbender and enjoy Mai and Zuko, you should read *wink wink*) and not updated this, but I tried to stay true and finished this today. I wanted to establish the bases of what the scroll implied and what they possible limits and dynamic would be in the future. Did you think it was something like this? What do you think will happen next? See you guys on the next update!