I had a surprisingly hard time writing this chapter. I'd get half-way through, loose my muse, then start something completely new. I always felt like it wasn't living up to my expectations no matter what :/ Not only that, but there were so many things I could've done from my last ending point, I just couldn't decide (it kept me up all night! yes, feel /very/ guilty xDD). In the end I went for a romantic chapter because, well, I'm a sucker for romance!! 8P Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was bright. The light burned against her lids and they fluttered open.

Tenten sat up so fast the tubes in her nearly ripped out. She wasn't at home. In fact, she didn't recognize the room at all. It was white and sterile and reeked of Lysol.

Her senses were extremely slow. No matter how hard she tried to think and remember, it felt like she was swimming through chocolate pudding, minus the chocolatey goodness. There was a thick fog in her brain, and when she tried to speak it felt like her tongue was a giant shag carpet. Only after staring at the wall in intense concentration did it dawn on her that this was a hospital room. And like a chain, everything began to link…

She remembered.

She remembered it all. The party, the fight, the smoke, the window, the fire, the body, the crash. But what happened after that? Surely God wasn't cruel enough to make her heaven a hospital room. Or was this hell? That would explain a lot.

Her eyes drooped heavily as every part of her body ordered her to lie back down, but the emotional battle in her mind stopped her. She sat straight up beneath her sheet, expression blank and limbs motionless.

Then the tears fell as reality began to set in. She was alone in this world now, a world that hated her very existence. This couldn't be 'just life'. This couldn't be the hardships those adults always said happened to everyone. This didn't happen to everyone- it happened to her. All those preachings…all those story books…it was all bullshit. Life wasn't fair, she knew. But this was beyond unfair. This was punishment for something that unknowingly been committed by her. Was she like some freaking Genghis Kahn that was reincarnated to be damned to hell for slaughtering ugly Mongolian dudes?

It hurt. The loneliness, the sadness. It hurt so badly, she was afraid she was going to die. The clawing at her chest made it hard to breathe, her heart feeling constricted and making every beat painful. Couldn't heartbreak kill someone? Her life had never come so close to the suicidal line. She reached for a tube in her shoulder to escape from this place.

"Don't…" said a voice. Tenten looked up to find a very sad and weary looking Sakura in a rumpled nurse uniform. Purple bags hung below her eyes and every vein on her eyeballs stood bright red. Her mouth drooped. Setting down her clipboard, she walked to the end of her bed and sat down. A hand reached towards Tenten's, but the weapon mistress withdrew and cast her gaze away. She didn't want pity.

"Tenten…I'm so sorry. When Neji brought you and your aunt here…you were in critical condition. Your aunt was already dead. We had a hard enough time keeping you alive as it is," she sighed. Tenten looked back at Sakura, tear-brimmed eyes widened in surprise. Yet no matter the amount of scrutinizing her best friend's face received, all it gave away was exhaustion. For some reason what Sakura said triggered something in the back of her mind. But what could it be?

"…Neji?"

"Yeah. I told him to go after you when that little bitch ripped your costume off. He must've found you inside the burning apartment. Honestly Tenten…how stupid could you be to dive into a frickin collapsing inferno like that? You were asking to be killed!"

"Yeah. I was. Did you really expect me to pull up a lawn chair and watch as my aunt got reduced to ashes?" Anger and spite coated every word. It was a tone never used with her best friend before.

"Oh" Her voice sounded hurt. She was silent for a moment, then realizing the uselessness of her words, stood, smoothed the wrinkles of her skirt, and walked out of the room with her heels clacking softly against the tile. Tenten slumped back into her pillow to wallow in depression.

What was it that she was remembering? What was it that happened that she just couldn't grasp? It was so frustrating! Like picking up ice with chopsticks, no matter how much effort was put in to grab it, it kept slipping away. Tears of frustration melded with those of sadness. Damn this! Damn this sedative. She couldn't think.

More footsteps echoed down the hallway. "Shit," she whispered, "a doctor. The last person I want to see now" Her mind whirred and she considered running for it. Instead her head rolled to one side and her breathing slowed into a deep even pattern. Closing her eyes (but leaving a small crack) she watched to see what her visitor would do.

It wasn't a doctor. It was Neji. If at all possible, he looked even more exhausted than Sakura, as though he hadn't slept in days. His outfit was the same as it was at the Halloween party, minus the vest, fangs and cape. Tenten was shocked. She nearly opened her eyes but caught herself and continued with her act. Curiosity drove her to see what he'd do next.

He stood at the doorway for a moment, watching her back (which was facing him). His eyes darted to her monitor, then he moved forward slowly, walking around the bed slowly to her front side. A sigh escaped his lips. It was sad and only further revealed the level of his tiredness. She wanted to comfort him so badly. This sleeping thing was only getting harder.

Neji crouched down before her, head at her face level. He leaned in slightly then stopped, examining her facial features which were (though she was struggling with it) still. Tenten's heart beat faster and she struggled for control, knowing it would show up on the monitor. Her breath caught for a moment. He leaned in closer still, pausing one final time as if to check to see if this is what he wanted to do.

She didn't know what happened next because her eyes closed tightly, but she felt light pressure on her lips and knew it could only be his upon hers. A wave of confusion hit her. What was he doing? What the hell was he doing? She never thought of Neji as the type to take advantage of someone like that, especially her.

Tenten had to fight to keep the act up, though it was nearing impossible. Just before she was about to give up and open her eyes, he was gone. Those agonizing minutes were only a few seconds. The kiss had been short, barely more than a peck, but had felt like an eternity.

The more she thought about it, the more it bugged her. The taste…the feel…the way he'd done it. It all seemed so familiar. It tugged at that thing in the back of her mind.

And then like an explosion, the memories resurfaced, all flooding back at once. She had never really believed someone could travel back in time and see a flashback like people did in movies, but it was happening to her right then. This was real.

Her body was rocking, her mind drifting in and out of consciousness. Pain. It was everywhere…pulsing in her head and elbow, searing up her leg, covering every inch of her skin like she was being poked by a thousand needles. Tenten opened her mouth involuntarily to cry out in pain. Her eyes struggled to open. When they did, she saw Neji above her, eyes forward and mouth pulled into a tight line. He cradled her against his chest. Her aunt was over his shoulder. The prodigy was having a hard time running with the weight.

Every second hurt. She was hardly aware, almost half asleep, struggling to remain conscious. But her business was unfinished.

"Why?" Her voice was so faint and raspy, it shocked her. It felt as though a layer of soot covered her face, drying her lips and making it hard to form any words. Neji looked down at her, surprised. He didn't stop running.

"Why what?"

Something warm traveled down her cheek. A tear. It made her already stinging eyes burn more.

"Why didn't you leave me there to die? Why didn't you let me die with her? I wanted…" Her throat was parched and the previous intake of smoke made her choke. She couldn't finish her sentence-her body was fighting to make her sleep again.

He stopped for a moment, balancing himself on a slanted roof top. Slipping an arm out from beneath her, he wiped the ashy tear from her cheek.

"Because…" Then he smirked.

Tenten tried to glare but couldn't. The world was starting to blacken before her eyes and her eyelids drooped heavily.

"Ass…hole" she breathed as her eyes shut for good. His face seemed closer the moment before he disappeared, but the pain blurred everything. It made her vision hard to trust.

"Fate" she thought she heard him whisper. Something soft touched her lips.

Darkness came again.

"Holy shit!" Tenten jerked up again. That's right- he had kissed her twice! Or had he? She was half delirious the first time, and just now Neji was utterly fatigued. That's right. They were both crazy when it happened. It couldn't be real. Could it?

Either way, the bet wasn't won. Though she had long forgotten about the bet, it came to her now. The deal involved a mutual kiss, something they both wanted and did to each other. If he kissed her in her sleep, that didn't count. That wasn't a world stopping fairytale kiss. But the fact that he kissed her scared the crap out of her. Her hands shook as they clutched the sheet.

A nurse walking by glanced in, stopped, then poked her head in the doorway.

"Hun? You look like you're in pain…let me give you some more stuff for that" The woman walked over to a table and picked up a needle, examining it in the light for a second.

"No! I mean…please…I don't need it!" Tenten tried to protest, but the nurse picked up her arm and poked the needle into it, injecting the liquid slowly.

"Don't worry sweetie, it'll be over with soon" She smiled reassuringly, then left.

"Damn you" The sedative coursed through her system. Tenten fell asleep thinking of Neji.

The days at the hospital were boring and agonizing. As her wounds healed, she was given less sedative and was awake and aware most of the time. The other half of the time was spent crying and dreaming more horrible things than usual, this time involving her aunt. Sakura came in daily, though Neji never showed up after the kiss incident.

They released her from the hospital when her condition was stabilized, eleven days after she first arrived. Even though she was finally free, her body was so wracked with sadness she did nothing but cry on Sakura's guest bed all day, shoveling in ice cream and watching soap operas. Tenten couldn't face the hardships that lay ahead of her- going back to school, finding a home, arranging the funeral…yet they all happened in time.

The funeral was small. Kiba, Naruto, Lee, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji came with Tenten. A few others that knew her aunt from work and other various places came as well to pay their respects. Sakura held her as she cried.

It was so hard to look down at her aunt's cold face. Tenten was so used to it smiling warmly, her lips covered in the oh-too-bright red lipstick. She was used those exotic hanging earrings clanging every time she swung her head or bustled about to make dinner. She remembered how her aunt sat with her for a week straight after her parents died. Her aunt helped her recover, and for a long time ran to her room when she woke up screaming from nightmares. It was because of her aunt she was able to live again. And now she was gone.

After the funeral, Tenten decided to go to school again. With Sakura's support, Tenten could bear her classes and make up the mounds of work she had missed. Though the looks everyone gave her in the hallways squeezed her heart every time she saw them. Several times she nearly broke down in the middle of class or at her locker.

It was so painful, but slowly life moved on. And that scared her more than anything.

Exactly three days before the deadline of the bet, Tenten lay awake at night. The full moon shone through the guest bedroom window. Lifting herself from the bed, she opened the window. For the first time in two weeks, she was going to visit her hill again. It was the only familiar place she had left, the only thing that hadn't changed in her life.

Wearing the pink silk pajamas Sakura loaned her, she ran through the trees, loose hair flying behind her. Some part of her was bitter and pessimistic enough to believe that her hill would become some construction site. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw it hadn't.

Her moon was there. Her stars were there. Her sky was there. For first time since her aunt died, Tenten felt a sense of peace. Taking her place against her tree, she began to hum.

Over her humming she barely heard a rusting from behind her soon after. The humming stopped. The peacefulness ended. Something was about to take place. That she felt in her gut. Without moving her head or looking back, her lips softly spoke.

"Glad you're here. I have a lot of questions for you"

Okay. I'm perfectly aware that that chapter just totally sucked. But I keep thinking about the next chapter and I'm like…must…hurry xD That and I feel pressured to keep my promise that I'd finish chapters while I was on vacation (I've actually found I have /less/ inspiration here…if that's possible). I also, in case you haven't noticed, seriously hate details that don't have anything to do with a story. So I rush –shrugs-

Anyways. TBC. It might take a couple of days for the next chapter to come out for a few reasons: One, I just got home and I'm so freaking tired! 8[ Two, I am spending way more time perfecting these last few chapters so that itself should take a couple days. Three, I'm immersing myself in some new anime, and I'm the person who has to get through a whole anime series in a day, even if it means zero hours of sleep xD Sorry!

As a last note…shame on you guys! ( I get back from a week of vacation and only three added reviews? I was expecting at least two hundred! ;P Kidding about the two hundred part. But only three more? –sniffles- Thanks a lot for hurting my feelings ;o; However you can make up for it if you say nice things about this chapter ;)