For Tenten, it had been a long time since that morning.

The first few days, she hadn't even talked to him. It was until their mission together that they'd finally stopped avoiding each other. Tenten still remembered their first encounterafter the fight; awkward and formal, and God, she hadn't known being near him and talking to him would ever make her uncomfortable that way.

During the mission, she'd tried her best to be professional, forgetting all that he'd said in her kitchen that morning. She could see him acting normally too. It wasn't too hard because even before this, they had barely displayed their affection in public—no kisses, no holding hands—especially during missions. All she had to do was act as if they were still only friends. Only teammates, only partners. Nothing more. She could easily do it considering she had been his partner for so long, as pathetic as it was.

And Neji? Neji needed time.

It shouldn't have been surprising. Neji always needed time before he accepted something. He'd needed time to accept the reality about his father and his status in Hyuuga clan, he'd needed time to accept Hinata as his cousin, he'd needed time to accept the two Green Beasts in his team. He had needed time to accept her in his life; they had been through a long road before finally getting to this point.

Yes, he just needed time to be braver and stronger for her, and he would come back sooner or later. Tenten had always been an optimist, which was why she refused to cry like a heartbroken woman after he'd left. Kunoichi didn't cry.

Even if she had to move on from her experience in Kumogakure alone. That was the hardest part.

"Tenten, look, that's Neji!"

Tenten nearly jumped and looked around frantically. "Where?"

Lee grinned sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry, Tenten. I was lying."

The brunette kunoichi glared at him, realizing that Neji was still on his solo mission and she wouldn't see him until tomorrow. Not wanting to be alone at home, she had asked Lee to train with her and now they were resting under a tree after two hours of intense sparring. "That's not funny."

"But, Tenten," Lee cried, "you weren't listening to me! What's bothering you? I will gladly help!"

"I'm fine." The weapon specialist merely shrugged, stretching her sore legs. "What were we talking about?"

"Is it something between you and Neji?"

Hearing his name again, her head snapped up in an instant. "What? No."

Lee stared at her solemnly. "You know what I'm talking about. I am your friend, Tenten. And Neji is my rival. I know him."

She closed her eyes, feeling more exhausted than she actually was. "How do you know that?"

"I just know," he said firmly. Tenten took a moment to remember that Lee, despite his exuberant personality, was actually sharp enough to note if something wasn't right. "You both have been acting strangely. I thought you two would spend most of the time together after your return, but…"

"Neji is busier than us, you know," she said quietly. "Longer missions and clan business and all."

The taijutsu user shook his head. "I see he never comes to your apartment again."

About this, she had nothing to say. She couldn't deny it. It had been only a few days and she had found herself missing his presence at her apartment, and the little things—like the smell of morning tea he always made.

"What happened?"

Tenten analyzed the look on Lee's face and all she could see was concern. Years of companionship finally forced her to reveal the partial truth. After all, there really was no point to hide forever. He would find out soon. "We had a fight."

He didn't look surprised. "When?"

"The day I was released from the hospital." She didn't want to say that she and Neji had broken up—no, she would always be his friend and partner. There wouldn't be breaking up for them. "That's all."

"I suppose that was a big fight."

Tenten let out an awkward laugh. "Not really. Any fight without me throwing my weapons isn't considered a big fight."

Unlike usual, Lee didn't seem amused. Instead he frowned, making her slightly uncomfortable. "You've just returned, Tenten. He shouldn't have left you."

"Well, it happened," Tenten couldn't stop herself from retorting. "What, do you think I'm lying?"

Her teammate winced, looking slightly hurt. "I don't think you're lying, Tenten."

Tenten sighed and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Sorry."

"No." Lee's voice came out almost in a whisper. "I am sorry, Tenten. It's probably because of me."

"What?" Tenten lifted her head and snickered. "You have nothing to do with it."

Her best friend opened his mouth to say something, but stopped before any word could come out. He looked troubled, if not guilty as if he had done something wrong.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Lee?"

The shake of his head only grew her suspicion more. "No, it's nothing."

Tenten sighed. "Lee. Please tell me." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "When it comes to Neji, you shouldn't hide it from me."

Lee gazed at her with the same guilty expression. "Promise me you won't tell Neji?"

"Yes."

He watched her for a few seconds, looking unsure. "He… avoided me after you were claimed dead."

It took her a moment to process Lee's words.

"I knew I was the one to blame. I did know." Lee paused to take a deep breath. "There wasn't a day I didn't blame myself for what had happened. I was extremely devastated, Tenten. I had to deal with the fact that you were gone, that it was because of me, and that Neji… Neji blamed me, even if he had never said anything. Not even Gai-sensei could make me feel better."

It wasn't that Tenten had never expected this. While she'd been suffering alone in Kumogakure, she had thought about this many times. Knowing Neji, knowing how easily he lost control when he was upset despite his calm and stoic nature, she'd known he would put the blame on Lee.

However, after returning and seeing that everything seemed fine between Neji and Lee, her worry had been erased. Then again, it wasn't that she had nothing else to worry about.

"I'm sorry, Tenten. Perhaps that is why Neji—"

"Calm down, Lee," Tenten interrupted softly. "We didn't even mention your name when we were arguing."

"But…" Lee said hesitantly, "I'm still feeling guilty about this."

She let out a sigh again. "How many times do I have to tell you this? I have returned. It's over and I don't regret saving you even if I had to deal with what happened afterwards."

"But I didn't say that I forgave him when he apologized! That's probably why he was mad at you, and—and…"

Tenten stared at him in disbelief. "Neji apologized to you?"

Lee swallowed as if he had just revealed something he shouldn't have said. "Yes."

"And what did you say?"

Lee's features were filled with shame and regret that she wondered why he hadn't shed any tear yet. "I… I said what he had always said everytime I went to apologize to him. I just told him to forget it." He kept his gaze down, not meeting her look. "I meant it, Tenten, I swear. I want him to forget it. I just want Team Gai back."

That was why Lee acted naturally as if nothing had happened between him and Neji. And Neji, well, he was just always good at pretending.

Lee rubbed his eyes. "I shouldn't have told you this."

"Yes, you should have told me." Tenten said sternly. "I have the right to know."

"Please don't say anything about this to Neji." He looked at her, somehow pleadingly. "Please Tenten. I don't want…"

"I won't." She murmured.

There was a pause while Tenten played with grasses between her fingers, thinking about how everything could happen and change in just four months. "I didn't know I made you two that miserable, Lee." She had never wanted to.

"Three, Tenten. You shall not forget Gai-sensei."

"Alright, you three. I know that it killed Gai-sensei too. I'm really sorry."

"You shouldn't be. It was my fault."

Tenten couldn't help but chuckle. "I blame myself and you just blame yourself. This argument is getting us nowhere. Let's just forget it, okay?"

Lee still looked uncertain. "But how about you and Neji, Tenten? You—"

"Everything will be fine," Tenten said, half to reassure him, half to convince herself. Giving her best friend a confident smile, Tenten reached for his hand and squeezed it briefly. "Don't worry. He's just being… sensitive, I guess."

Lee blinked innocently. "Is it his time of the month as you often call it, Tenten?"

Tenten laughed, trying to feel relaxed as long as Lee was around, grateful for his presence when she was having a hard time with Neji. She could think about everything later at night, when she was alone in her room.

Hours later, the Weapon Mistress sighed in frustration and looked down at her feet as she walked.

She had made Neji and Lee suffer like that. Of course she had been aware of it, but she had never wanted to be the reason for them to fight, or worse, to hate each other. Even if everything looked fine between the two now, Tenten still had doubts.

She lifted her head up to look at the sky. Honestly, she just wanted to look above, but unexpectedly her eyes caught the sight of someone familiar walking in the opposite direction of her.

Tenten stopped walking immediately, her heart racing nervously as Neji came nearer. Why was he here already? No one had told her he would come back sooner than scheduled. Swallowing hard, Tenten braced herself to look at him—he was watching her with the same unreadable expression and the same cold, pale eyes. He was tired, she could see it, and how he needed a good shower and fresh clothes. Tenten held back the urge to run to him, to offer him his favorite dish for dinner and a nice massage before sleep. In their years together, she had always been the one to take care of him as if she was his mother.

God, she needed to stop thinking about it.

Neji sent her a glance and Tenten stopped him when he was near. She had to.

"Neji, wait."

"What?"

Even if she felt relieved because it didn't seem that he was impatient or annoyed at her, there was a lump in her throat because he really sounded like a stranger now. It was the tone he always used to anyone else, never to her. "I…"

Neji didn't move, without raising his eyebrow, without saying anything.

"I know what happened between you and Lee." He needed to know that she knew; if he thought he could hide something important from her, he was wrong.

The look in his eyes didn't change. "Nothing happened."

Tenten inhaled deeply. "Look, Neji, I don't really want to talk about it but I have to." She crossed her arms, convincing herself that she always had to be brave when it came to Neji. "You made Lee suffer while I was gone. He was drowning in guilt. Have you ever thought about how bad he felt?"

She knew she had just broken her promise to Lee, but she had no choice. She needed to tell Neji that it was none of Lee's fault. She also didn't want him to blame Lee for her forced marriage. No. "You shouldn't have blamed him. He never asked me to sacrifice myself for him. It was my own decision."

The Hyuuga's face still didn't show any reaction. "And?"

"And you'd better make it up to him," Tenten said firmly. "I've never wanted to ruin your bond. I know there's nothing going on between us anymore, but," she cleared her throat, trying to find better words, "about my forced marriage, just please don't blame Lee again, okay?"

And he just stuffed his hands into his pockets, walking past her casually as if she was just a stranger and he didn't know her.

"Hey!" Tenten spun around, watching his back in disbelief. "Can you at least listen to me? Stop being an arrogant bastard, dammit!"

Neji stopped before he got far without looking back at her. Her heart lurched—he was probably mad at her for insulting him—but he remained calm, even if his shoulders were visibly tense.

"Your forced marriage," he said in a steady voice, "is not my business."

It was unbelievable, how certain words had the power to hurt more than any weapon ever could. Tenten's fingernails dug painfully into her palms, her eyes wide as she watched him walk away.

Now she was sure that he wasn't the Neji she knew.

It was a beautiful evening.

Neji glared up at the sky as though it was mocking him. He absolutely didn't feel alright now, but the orange sun, the colored clouds and sky, and people around him looked fine, looked happy. Could at least one of them feel bad for him?

That damn morning in her apartment hadn't been as easy as it had seemed. She didn't know it, but he'd secretly felt more than guilty to see her staring at him in disbelief after he'd said he was going to leave. Yet, the fact was the more his chest felt heavy, the more it told him that he did need to leave.

Tenten reminded him so much of his father.

The news about Tenten's death had been as painful as his father's years ago. Tenten had also been the reason of his ruined friendship with Lee, just like his father who had been the reason of his hatred towards Hinata. They both taught him about love, and at the same time, made him suffer.

Neji hated the way they made him weak. Tenten and his father had the same power: to reveal who he truly was. The vulnerable Hyuuga Neji, the not-so-strong Hyuuga Neji, the sentimental Hyuuga Neji.

And what had he said? He needed time to get braver and stronger for her? He should've had told her that they perhaps needed to stop needing each other like this. They weren't weak civilians, they were fighters. Shinobi didn't love, shinobi fought.

He quickened his pace to his living quarters in Hyuuga compound, repressing his urge to punch something or someone—not Tenten, of course, even if she was the cause of this. As if she wasn't done torturing him after all this time, she had added another problem.

You made Lee suffer while I was gone. He was drowning in guilt. Have you ever thought about how bad he felt?

Was that what she really thought about? About how Lee had suffered because of him? Did she have no clue about how suffering Neji had been and how guilty he'd felt because he couldn't do anything to bring her back? It turned out she cared about Lee more than him.

He had lied about her forced marriage—obviously it was his business, it was his problem too that he couldn't stop thinking about that even after he'd started to distance himself from her. He had been too angry that she was concerned about Lee more than him and thus, the words had slipped out of his mouth. No doubt, she was mad at him now and it would just make the situation worse.

"Neji."

Neji closed his eyes and stopped. Of all times, why did his uncle have to appear now? Reluctantly, he turned around and bowed out of habit. "Uncle."

Hyuuga Hiashi nodded once, his arms folded beneath the heavy Hyuuga robe. "We need to talk about something."

Neji was exhausted and hungry and upset. The combination wasn't too nice, but he appeared calm for he was in no position to object any of his uncle's orders. "What is it, Uncle?"

There was a pause, indicating that what Hiashi was going to say wasn't something good.

"How is your relationship with Tenten?"

Of all topics, it had to be her. "Tenten?"

"Yes, Tenten." Hiashi looked at him with similar piercing pale eyes. "How is your relationship with her?"

Neji was too shocked to answer. Hiashi, as far as he was concerned, had never asked him anything about his relationship with Tenten. His uncle had known her since their Genin years, knowing that the two always trained together. At the beginning of their relationship, Neji had made some efforts to hide her from his family, but after a certain point he had no longer cared about that. Hiashi, and no doubt other members of the clan, had of course heard it. Or probably they had asked Hinata about Neji's love life out there.

Either way, never once had Hiashi said a word concerning their relationship. Neji had always liked to think that Hiashi had no objections about him being with Tenten. One of very few advantages of being a Branch member was that they generally weren't obligated to marry someone the clan picked. Even if they would do it to him, Neji had made his decision even before he'd started his relationship with Tenten; clan's order or not, he wouldn't marry someone he didn't want to.

Neji cleared his throat. "Pardon me, Uncle. Why do you need to…"

"To ask?" Hiashi continued for him. "I just need to know."

The younger Hyuuga regarded his uncle for a few seconds. Of course there was something that motivated Hiashi to ask him about this and Neji had a bad feeling.

"Neji."

"We're doing fine."

That was a lie. Neji couldn't bring himself to tell Hiashi the truth. He just couldn't tell him about their current situation.

The Hyuuga's head stared at him for a long time while Neji could only hope his uncle couldn't spot his lie. Thankfully, the older man turned around to leave. "I see. Go take some rest. We have a meeting tomorrow morning."

Holding back the urge to groan at the thought of family meeting, Neji closed his eyes tightly. He felt like sleeping until tomorrow night to forget how frustrated he really was. "Understood."

"And, Neji."

"Yes?"

Hiashi paused for a while. "Make sure you know who she is."

(A/N): Anyone still interested in this story? Life's never been this busy and I just can't update weekly.