Chapter 3

Tenten twiddled nervously with her fingers as she sat on the bed, while Neji sipped on the glass of water she had just given him. She had eventually calmed down a little while ago and to be completely honest...she was a bit embarrassed.

She shouldn't be. That's what she kept telling herself. Given what she'd been through, she was allowed to cry like some pathetic little baby in front of him. Him, being the man she had thought she'd lost a few years back. If anything she should be angry that Neji was back. What had he been doing for so many years instead of coming back home and proving that he wasn't actually dead?

She wasn't actually angry though. She wanted to be, but she wasn't. At least maybe not yet. Right now, she was just so happy to have him back. Scared too, but happy. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Besides, she had a feeling that getting angry with the Hyuga man wouldn't do much good. Neji wasn't the type of man that wouldn't just disappear for no reason. She badly wanted to ask him, but considering that whatever he had been doing had made him faint of exhaustion, she thought it would be best to save those questions for another day. He still needed rest and honestly she was happy enough to just see him right now.

After pulling herself together, Tenten had nervously apologized to her dumbfounded teammate, before quickly changing the subject to him being thirsty. Before Neji had a chance to respond or ask questions, Tenten had untangled herself from his loose arms and swooped over to the other side of the room, where the nurses had supplied a jug of water and a glass, before pouring some in said glass and handing it over to the skeptical man.

Despite her embarrassment, Tenten couldn't help but sneak in a few glances at the Hyuga, just to make sure he was still there. Glancing back again, Tenten automatically tensed when she found he was staring back at her – he was frowning- but he was looking at her. She felt her chest clench once again at the sight, but pushed it down, like she had been doing for years. She had never been the type to cry in front of people, especially her team. She didn't like making others worry.

Instead of turning away this time, Tenten held his gaze and couldn't help the small, hesitant smile that formed on her lips. Her smile grew slightly wider when the man raised a questioning eyebrow her way. She almost forgotten how sour he could look.

"Are you going to tell me why you were crying?"

His voice made the young women smile more, this time softly. How long had it been since she heard Neji form a full sentence?

"Even tough girls cry," Tenten whispered, her eyes falling back down to her fingers, avoiding his own.

"I know that," his reply was soft and Tenten allowed another peak at him. He had set his cup down on the bedside table and was now watching her intently and if she wasn't mistaken, with a bit of worry.

Tenten wanted to ironically laugh at that look. Why should he be worried about her? He had been the one who'd been 'dead' for years. Who knows what he'd been through? Unless maybe that worry was for himself and what she might do to him later.

"Tenten.." His worried voice said again and it was music to her ears to hear him whisper her name. The way he said though, made her realize that another tear had escaped and was sliding down her cheek.

Furiously, Tenten whipped away the stray tear, mentally scolding herself for letting him see her cry. Hearing and feeling her cry was one thing, but seeing it was another, although she was certain her eyes must be red and puffy from earlier. She just hoped it wasn't too noticeable.

"I'm fine," she assured, lowing her hand from her cheek, once she was sure no more tears would come out. "...I guess I'm just in shock.."

It was silent for a while and she knew he was giving her another unconvinced look, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. She'd probably just burst into tears again if they just stared at each other. It was normal for her to be upset when he had been gone for so long. She didn't want to think. For once, she was glad that he was the non-prying type.

"...How long was I out?" Neji voiced, breaking the awkward silence.

"Not long," Tenten whispered back, finding some interest in her training pants. "I only brought you in a couple hours ago."

In the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. "..How is Lee?"

Tenten turned to look properly at him again. "Lee?" she asked, now confused. Had Neji seen Lee before arriving in the village graveyard? If that was true, why hadn't Lee stayed with him or send out a message?

Neji raised an eyebrow at her once more. "Did Lee not partake?" he asked, his expression going concentrated, seemingly trying to remember something. "Then was it just the two of us? I was sure there were two others.."

"Partake? Two of us?" Tenten repeated, only getting more lost. She watched as Neji slowly brought a hand up to rest against his closed eyelids, his expression pained. "Neji?" Tenten asked, softly urgent. Her hand shot out to gently touch his lifted arm, her eyes searching him for anything painful.

Neji's teeth clenched tight for a for seconds, before slowly opening his eyes again to look at her, moving his fingers a few inches away from his face. "Neji?" Tenten's hold on his arm tightened at the lost look he gave her, but the look disappeared almost as fast as it came. What replaced it was a look she had never seen on his face before.

The Hyuga's mouth opened and closed and Tenten was ready to call the medic again, before he answered. "Where..where is Naruto and Hinata?"

"They're fine, if that's what you mean?" Tenten answered slowly, cautiously.

"I think I need to see them..?" Neji voiced and Tenten noted that he was talking more to himself then to her. Why was Neji asking all these weird questions?

"Uh..Neji, are you feeling alright?" she asked, her hand slowly moving from his arm to his forehead to check his temperature.

She jumped however, when his own hand caught hers just before she was able to touch him.

"What are you doing?" Neji frowned, but his eyes were still calculating.

"I-I was just going to check your temperature.." she explained carefully, her heart pumping in worry and from being startled. "I wanted to check, cause...you seem kinda out of it."

Neji blinked and Tenten held her breath. She watched him slowly relax his body and his hold on her hand, eventually letting her go.

"I'm..sorry," Neji looked away from her, looking angry with himself. "Force of habit."

Tenten had to think for a moment about what he meant, but when it came to her, her eyes moved to his forehead. Neji had always hidden his mark, the Caged Bird Seal. He never once let anyone touch it either, but why would it matter now?

The weaponist moved her eyes to look fully at him. Neji seemed to still be fighting something within himself and her eye's widened when one of his hands slowly moved to touch his forehead.

'Is it possible?' Tenten thought tensely. Did Neji not know that the seal was gone? She didn't know much about the curse mark, besides what Neji had told her. What she remembered of it was that it was only removed through death, which is why she had been so shocked earlier when she saw it was missing. Was it possible that Neji didn't know it was gone either? It seemed impossible. It had been years since his apparent 'death', he should have been able to look at his reflection during that time. Then again, Tenten reminded herself that she still didn't know what Neji had been doing during those few years.

And looking at the way he was reacting, she was worried that he didn't know that the mark was actually gone.

"Neji.." Tenten voiced and she paused when he brought his confused eyes to look back at her. "The curse mark...um," she hesitated at his stare. "You do know that it's...gone?"

She held her breath when Neji didn't answer right away, her body tensing when his gaze became intense.

"..that's not something to joke about Tenten," Neji breathed, looking a bit hurt that she would mention it like that, but he hid it almost completely. It was too bad for him that she knew him too well.

Tenten's hands tightened around the blanket underneath her at his answer. 'He doesn't know.' "Neji really-"

"Enough, Tenten," Neji ordered, frowning at her, before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. Tenten knew he was trying to calm himself and let go of some annoyment he was probably feeling. He had done it many times in the past. Usually she would laugh at him or call him out on it, wanting to tease him a bit, but now she wanted him to listen.

Neji let out a surprised grunt, when Tenten gently grabbed both his cheeks and forced him to look at her, her eyes pleading for him to listen. "Listen to me," she whispered and Neji's eyes narrowed at her, but didn't move away from her. Biting her lip nervously, Tenten took that as permission and hesitantly started to trace her fingers up to his forehead. She barely rubbed over his temple. She would have blushed from the proximity and from touching him so familiarly, but this was too important. Her eyes moved away from his forehead to back to his eyes, that were slightly widened in shock and confusion.

"Neji," Tenten tried again, her fingers stopping their movement to continue her words. "Your mark...it's gone." Her fingers then shakily slipped off of his forehead and retreated back towards her chest as she worriedly watched the still man.

He didn't say anything for a while, maybe trying to comprehend her words. She saw realization flash in his void-coloured eyes and Tenten knew that he would believe her. He knew deep down that she would never joke about his mark. The thing that he hated so much. None of his friends or teammates would mock it.

"Are you okay?" she asked nervously as she watched him bring a shaky hand up to touch his bare forehead, his expression indescribable. His fingers moved over it, almost trying to feel for the seal.

"I-I need to see my uncle," he stuttered, all-un-Neji-like, and started to pull the blankets off of him.

Tenten's heart stopped for a second at the sudden movement, but she was too late to keep him seated, his body moving too fast. The girl quickly jumped off the bed herself and placed her hands firmly on Neji's chest, blocking the now standing man. "Hold on!" she warned, her eyes moving to look up at him. Strange, had Neji always been this tall?

"I'm fine," Neji grunted, bringing Tenten out of her thoughts to see him wince at using so much effort. Despite his words, Tenten felt her teammate's body stumble for second, before she instinctively caught him before he fell.

"You need to rest, Neji," Tenten said, the first time she ever said that to anybody but Lee. "Please, the medic said that you were very low on chakra," she tried to reasoned, while she helped the Hyuga sit back down on the bed.

Neji visibly softened at the plea, finally realizing that his teammate really was worried about him. He allowed himself to be settled on the bed, his head spinning suddenly and his body felt so heavy. Had he really been so careless to use so much of his chakra?

"Relax Neji," Tenten almost begged.

Neji looked up at her to see her worried, desperate expression, before his eyes looked down to where his hands were resting on his knees. They were shaking. In an attempt to calm himself, Neji gripped his hospital clothes, but it didn't stop the shaking. Closing his eyes, the Hyuga tried to sort out his scattered thoughts. What was wrong with him? He almost never lost his composure like this, especially not in front of a teammate.

"Sorry," he breathed, feeling hopeless and he hated it. "I'm just so confused.."

Tenten's eyes softened at the helplessness she heard in his voice. Tenten came down to her knees to kneel down in front of the Hyuga so that she could look at him properly. His eyes were still shut tight, his eyebrows furrowed. Her heart clenched. She reached out to place her hands over his shaking ones, holding them comfortingly. Soon she saw pale eyes looking back at her.

"It's supposed to be there," he told her, his eyes wrinkling in confusion. "It only leaves when I die.." he said softly, uncertain. "I'm not dead, Tenten."

The words triggered something in Tenten and another tear escaped, running down her cheek. She didn't bother to wipe it away, instead clinging to his hands.

Neji's eyes followed it and she struggled to keep the cry in at the look he gave her.

"What happened to you?" she breathed out weakly, before she could stop it. She hadn't wanted to ask until he was feeling better, but he was making her so worried. She wanted to help him. She wanted to understand.

Neji's eyes lingered on her damp cheek a moment longer, before meeting her eyes again. "I don't know."

Naruto drummed his fingers fingers against the hospital's cafeteria table, his other hand supporting his head. His eyes were directed a bit off in the distance to where Sakura was busy gathering an extra packet of food for Tenten, as promised.

They, themselves had already eaten, and on any other night, Naruto would have gone on about how surprisingly good the hospital's food was, but that was just it. It wasn't a normal night.

The blonde closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, lifting his head from his one hand. They had been in the cafeteria for over an hour now. He had gotten a mouthful from Sakura about them just leaving Tenten there, despite his reasoning. The pink-haired medic just wouldn't listen to them. Eventually Sasuke had so annoyed with their bickering and ended it.

Naruto had never been more grateful.

That lead the trio to silently and awkwardly gathering random piles of food and eating in complete and utter silence, but it wasn't like there wasn't anything to think about either.

"We should start heading back," Sasuke said next to the blonde.

Another slow glance at the clock on the wall nearby and Naruto found himself nodding in agreement. He had given Tenten more than the time he silently promised. He knew it would never be enough to satisfy her nerves, but he hoped that it did at least helped some. Besides, he wanted to see Neji. He still had no clue what was going on and it was already passed midnight.

The blonde startled when a heavy, white bag suddenly plopped down on the table in front of him. Looking up over the bag, he came eye to eye with a still very pissed off Sakura.

But was he about to crumble down to his knees and beg for forgiveness? No way! He was no longer the little boy that coward at her rage, he did help end the Fourth Shinobi War after all.

...He just hoped she wouldn't punch him again.

"If you two are going to start again, I'm going home," Sasuke warned, his voice tired and annoyed.

Sakura held Naruto's stare with her own glare for a second longer, before sighing in defeat and Naruto almost thanked Sasuke in relief.

"You're right," she whispered, before offering an apologetic smile to Naruto, who returned one of his own. Resting her hands on her hips, Sakura then turned to look at the clock, her lips frowning at the time. "I wonder if they're done yet?"

"He must be really knocked up if they're taking so long with him," Naruto pondered aloud.

"You don't actually believe this guy is really the Hyuga, do you?" Sasuke voiced and Naruto frowned at him.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, his body straightening in his seat. "It's not like people haven't come back before, right?"

"They were also mindless zombies," Sasuke scoffed.

"What about Obito," Naruto defended, crossing his arms.

"That wasn't really 'coming back from the dead', Naruto," Sakura corrected, her voice reasoning. "Obito's body was never buried, his case was more of a misunderstanding."

Naruto looked confused and a bit surprised at his female teammate. "Sakura...you agree with Sasuke?"

Sakura frowned at him, before avoiding his gaze, instead tying a knot on the packet. "I don't agree with anyone. I haven't even seen him yet," she said, looking back at him again. "What I do know is that we need to be careful around Tenten. She won't admit it, but she's still grieving and 'Neji' coming back isn't helping."

Sasuke frowned at that, before pushing his seat back and standing up. "It's been years, If she's a real kurnoichi, she should be able to handle this."

"Teme," Naruto almost hissed from his seat. Years after coming home and his friend still lacked human sympathy.

"It isn't just her feeling on the line," Sasuke calmly said, his eyes narrowing at the blonde. "She should be able to see that."

"It isn't always easy to accept losing someone you care for, Sasuke," Sakura whispered, looking at him with strong, but sad eyes. The look made the Uchiha pause. Naruto watched uncomfortably as he watched the wordless exchange go on between the couple. Before long, Sasuke gave in, deciding to take the conversation no further. With a quick nod, the raven man picked up the packet of food.

Sakura smiled softly, thankfully at him, before moving around the table to stand next to him. "Come on, Naruto," she said to her still-seated friend. "I want to check on Tenten."

Naruto sighed, before nodding too and stood up to join them in the slow walk back to the assigned room. "Coming."

It didn't take the three teammates long before they reached Neji's room. What caught Naruto's attention though, was the fact that the door was wide open.

"They must have finished when we left," Sasuke concluded, stopping next to Naruto, who was staring wordlessly at the open door.

"Tenten-"

"Must be inside," Naruto softly finished. He couldn't see much besides an open widow through the door. It was more then unsettling to know that Neji, the man that died for him, was sitting in that room. He wondered how Tenten was taking it.

With a deep breath, Naruto moved to walk into the door, hearing Sasuke and Sakura doing the same behind him, but when he poked his head inside was more than discomforting.

Tenten was kneeling in front of the side of the bed, her face scrunched up with worry. Almost fearfully, Naruto slowly trailed his eyes up over her, towards.. "Neji?"

The name left his lips the moment he saw the Hyuga man. He felt his skin pale at the sight of the painfully familiar friend he'd lost years ago. His whisper seemed to startle the two out of whatever conversation they were having and both turned to look at the blonde man.

What made the blonde wake up was the pained, lost look that addoned the Hyuga's features. He looked tired and weak, but the expression in his eyes were nerve-wrecking.

"What's going on?" Naruto firmly asked, his eyes darting out between the two people in front of him. "Is he okay. Tenten?"

Sakura took that moment to move passed the worried Naruto, going instantly to Neji's side, her hands glowing with chakra. Tenten quickly made space for the medic, moving backwards, before weakly getting to her feet while she kept her eyes on Neji.

Sakura reached out to place her hands on his clothed chest, sending her chakra in to search his body. It didn't matter that the other medic and nurses had treated him, she wanted to take a look herself.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief at Neji while Sakura treated him. Neji offered no resistance when Sakura started her process, he just sat there, his head bowed slightly. Naruto didn't like it. Neji was too prideful for it. He accidentally caught Tenten's eyes. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. He probably didn't look much better.

"I don't sense any injuries," Sakura voiced, her tone professional, the way she always was during medic work. "His chakra is very low, though," she frowned. Why hadn't the other medic fixed that? Applying more chakra to her hands, Sakura said, "It'll take a minute, but I can transfer some of mine."

"The others tried that earlier," Tenten timidly said behind her, her eyes hesitantly moving away from her teammate to Sakura. "They said his body kept rejecting their chakra."

Sakura's eyes slowly moved away from Neji's chest to look up at his face. When he didn't return her stare, Sakura went back to her job. Like Tenten said, her chakra wouldn't transfer. Confused, the medic retracted her hands, before backing up a bit to give him some room.

"Why won't the transfer work?" she asked herself out load, her eyes falling to her hands.

Neji remained quiet and Naruto stepped closer to the man. "Neji," he murmured, his hands fisting against the fabric of his pants. The Hyuga spared him no notice.

"He just needs rest," Tenten offered, her voice shaky from earlier. Naruto caught how Neji slightly flinched at her words. What had they been talking about?

Another step forward and Naruto decided to bite the bullet. "Look," he whispered strongly to Neji. "You're probably tired, but I think-"

"Not now, Naruto," Sakura glared. Whether this was Neji or not, this man was still weak and in no condition to go under interrogation. They would make sure that his room was guarded so that if he was a spy or criminal, he wouldn't escape, but for now he needed to rest.

"I know, but-" Naruto started.

"He needs to rest," Sakura countered.

"Wait," Neji stopped their conversation and all heads looked at the down-turned Hyuga. Naruto watched as he raised a hand to rest against his closed eyes, his hair almost blocking his entire face. "I actually...I want to talk with Naruto."

"Neji, maybe Sakura's right," Tenten whispered to him. "You're not yourself. We can talk again tomorrow."

"That's okay, I won't stay long," Naruto pitched up. If Neji wanted to speak with him, than he would and he didn't think he'd get any sleep tonight if he didn't either. "It'll be quick," he assured, looking to both Sakura and Tenten.

Sakura hesitated, her eyebrows softening. Casting a nervous look between from Neji to Naruto.

"Let's go," Sasuke's voice came for the first time. He didn't wait for an answer, before stepping outside the room, but not before casting a look back at Naruto.

Naruto knew what that look meant. Sasuke was telling him to be smart, careful.

He would be.

Chapter three is done! And it come out a day earlier then I thought ^.^

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought (Review plz).

If you want to see more, I have good news – chapters 4-6 are just about ready to launch! Expect the next chapter this weekend. I promise they will get longer!

Thanks for the lovely reviews, they all brought a smile to my face 3