A week had passed and Tenten was once again left alone in her locked room. Despite the constant visits from Sakura, Hinata, and Ino before, the feeling of pure loneliness attached itself to her. Although this form of loneliness should have been relevant to her far before her kidnapping, it was worse without the feeling of any freedom. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, and rarely herself, but she sometimes didn't even mind the company of Neji or Sasuke. Sure they asked her to do pointless things, but she was satisfied with just spending time with any type of human form.

Spending a week in solitary confinement led Tenten to think, even more than usual. What Marissa had done to her was unforgiveable and extremely wrong, but somehow if she was still alive Tenten would have forgiven her. Perhaps it was because Marissa was someone she relied on, someone she had actually trusted. Ever since she was little she had been teased for being the orphan girl, especially after her aunt and uncle died. Her "friends" had bailed on her when the teasing started, leaving little Tenten to defend herself. As she grew older she learned to keep to herself, to not let anyone in. It wasn't until she took a night shift with Marissa during a huge storm did she realize how much they had in common. From that night on, they had become friends. Tenten was grateful, grateful to finally have someone to call a friend. But that ended sooner then she would have liked.

The door creaked open as Hinata walked quietly into the room. "Gomen Tenten-chan. W-we haven't be-been visiting you very often," her stutter less and less as she grew closer to Tenten, "T-things have been c-complicated after the attack."

"Don't worry about it! I totally understand," a lie, what part of being in a gang did Tenten understand, "How have things been?"

"B-b-better. Ano, Neji-niisama has r-requested to s-s-see you, please follow me."

Finally being able to get out of the room, Tenten jumped off the bed faster than lightening. "Lead the way Hinata!"

The halls were dead quiet. It seemed as if the worry of another attack had sucked the life out of the hallways. Even Naruto wasn't bouncing off the walls, annoying everyone in their rooms. Door after door, wall after wall. Tenten walked slowly behind Hinata, afraid to even breathe. The quiet was eerie, yet almost peaceful, and Tenten didn't want to interrupt it. Hinata stopped in front of a door, "H-here you go Tenten-chan. I-I-If I don't see you soon, g-g-goodbye." She gave a very confused Tenten a hug before departing.

"Goodbye? Are you going somewhere?" Tenten questioned, but no response. Realizing she was left alone in the hallway, she slowly reached for the door and knocked softly twice. "Come in." The voice behind the door was familiar, something that almost made Tenten feel comfortable. She opened the door, walking in just as silent as the halls were. Inside the bright white walls was a sole desk with two chairs, one already occupied by Neji.

"It's about time I saw you! And here I thought you died since you stopped bothering me!"

"Hn. I see, so I was a bother?"

"What? No! I didn't mean it like that. Well I guess I did, but I mean it's been awhile since I've seen you," Tenten said stumbling across her words.

"I'll be sure to be less of a bother next time," Neji said, his tone cold. Tenten mentally shook herself, she fucked up.

"I didn't mean it like that, honest," she pleaded, desperate for the forgiveness of someone she would like to call a friend.

"The reason why I asked to see you is because we're going to ask you this question one last time," the way he had said the words made Tenten tense. Was this what Hinata meant by 'if I don't see you', was she going to be killed now? Had they realized she was only trouble since the Oto members had infiltrated the hideout? "Will you join Konoha?"

The question was simple, it was easy to understand. Yet Tenten stood there, flabbergasted. The words repeated in her head as she gulped, "What if I say no?"

"Then we kill you." The answer was simple, and it made her feel uncomfortable. He was too serious, too calm.

"…why?"

"Oto isn't the only gang to know about you. If you're unable to help us fight then you are of no use to us. You will only be a distraction to Hinata, Sakura, and Ino. You'll constantly need someone to guard you and bring us all down," the harshness of his words made her flinch.

"I see," her words soft, but deep down inside she knew he was right. She would become too much of a liability of they kept her around. Only more gangs would attack, leading to the deaths of the people she had actually grown fond of. If she refused, she died. If she accepted, everything she believed in would cave. Unable to say anything, she looked down at the ground.

"Make up your mind," she flinched once again, "It's quite simple."

The emotions she had tried to keep to herself the past 2 weeks boiled over, "It's not!" The shout surprised Neji, but he didn't let it show. "It's not that simple," she repeated softly, tears escaping her eyes, "I actually have a heart! You're asking me to join, knowing the answer would be a yes. How could I say no? Do I not value my life?"

"Then say yes." She scoffed at how insensitive he was being.

"Every night since I was 5 I would pray to my parents. I promised them I would grow up to be someone they could be proud of in heaven. I promised them I would never let them down. And here I am, almost willing to succumb to your request. Willing to become a part of something that had killed my parents. You tell me, is it simple to betray your parents in heaven? I can't do it. I'd rather you kill me now. What is there to live for? I am in so much debt because of Marissa, I'm in debt because I'm beyond poor and no longer have a job, I have no family and my only friend sold me out to a gang and was killed by karma. I'd rather die than to disappoint my parents."

The tirade from Tenten wasn't something Neji was expecting. He thought she would have said yes without a second thought. She was right, he had thought she was going to say yes. Only an idiot would have asked to be killed all because they didn't want to join a gang. In his eyes, she was an idiot. However, deep down inside he knew he would've made the same decision if he had been in her place. If there was one thing Neji refused to do, it was to disappoint his father. "Follow me."

"So this is it huh? I'm being led to my death. But it's ok, at least I'm dying for something I believe in," she rambled on as if Neji cared. If he did, he didn't show it. The walk was longer then Tenten had imagined. She supposed she should've been seeing her life flash in front of her eyes. Instead she kept staring at the beautiful brown locks belonging to the attractive man in front of her. She had been so focused on his hair that she had failed to notice that they had arrived in front of a door. He knocked before entering what seemed like an office.

"Tsunande-sama."

"What is it Neji? I'm a little busy."

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I would like to discuss her with you," he said while tugging Tenten forward.

She eyed Tenten up and down, "Proceed."

"I told her to choose to join Konoha or die," he started explaining, "She chose death."

"Then I suggest you fulfill her request." Tenten gulped, thinking she actually had a chance of being saved.

"I'm requesting for her to be sent home," wide brown eyes stared at him as he continued to ignore Tenten, "I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say we're not the type of people to just execute someone because they asked for it. Let's send her home and wait for the million yen. We can send people to look after her in case she decides to skip town."

Tsunande raised an eye at Neji, "And what about the other gangs?"

"She doesn't know anything the other gangs don't already know. If they want to kidnap her and kill her, then that's their choice. After all, she'll just request death again."

Tenten looked genuinely surprised. The thought of going home hadn't even been close to an option in her mind. If anything, she thought she was just going to stay a prisoner for the rest of her life. In her state of shock, she stayed silent as Tsunande stared at both her and Neji.

"Do what you want, just don't regret anything later. Now get out."

A sigh of relief took over Tenten as she scurried out of the office after Neji. Although nothing that Neji said had really made sense to her, she knew she was extremely thankful towards him. Even though she had nothing to look forward to once she returned home, she was satisfied with just being home. Sure she may have to work countless hours in order to pay off the debt, but she was free and being free was the best feeling in the world. After finally reaching her old prisoner room she turned towards Neji.

"Get your stuff and I'll take you back," he commanded. She retreated back to the room without saying a word, afraid that whatever she said would make him change his mind. After packing her things she walked out slowly. "Neji, do you think it would be okay to visit Sakura, Hinata, and Ino?"

A short silence, "No."

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because they're currently busy, doing things you wouldn't approve of."

"Oh. That's okay." The look on her face clearly read that it wasn't okay, but she also wanted to leave before she wouldn't be able to. The painfully quiet walk to the car seemed to last forever. Neither said a word, almost afraid to break the silence between them. The car ride back to Tenten's house was just as quiet and tense.

Currently posted in front of the house, neither said a word. She made no effort to get up and leave the car, and he made no effort to usher her out. The tension between them built as time passed, quicker in both their minds. Finally it was Tenten who made the first move.

"Neji. Thank you, truly," the words shocked the normally emotionless boy. It was the first time he had ever heard anyone say thank you in such a genuine way. It was the first time he was receiving something this genuine. "I'm sorry I was such a bother, but you don't know how much it means to me to have you bring me here."

"Hn."

"So, thank you. I promise I'll get the money somehow and eventually. But I guess this is goodbye," her words lingering almost as if she hoped he would ask her to stay.

"Goodbye Tenten."

She closed her eyes, knowing that what she wanted would never happen. "Goodbye Neji," and with those last words she opened the car door and walked out. It was odd to her how she could've grown so fond of someone she didn't know, someone who she rarely talked to. If anything, she should've hated him. She should've hated him for kidnapping her, for placing this heavy debt on her, and for making her lose her job. However, she couldn't. She couldn't find herself hating him and she couldn't describe it. Maybe asking to send her home had really touched her heart, but whatever the reason was didn't really matter anymore. She wasn't going to see him anymore and he wasn't going to stick around to see her. Walking through the doors she stole a glance at where the car once was, but it was gone. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed and locked the door behind her, ready to return to her old life.

On the other side, once Tenten had said her goodbye, he drove off. Neji couldn't explain it, but there was some kind of emotion in him when she had said it. Something that drove him insane. The known human ice cube actually wanted her to stay in the car with him. He would never admit it, but he liked her presence. It was soothing and it seemed to calm his nerves. But it was over. Whatever the feelings he felt would never resurface as he drove further and further away from her.


It's been three years since my last update and I'm really sorry for those who have been waiting on me. I thought I had given this story up but recently I've been missing writing. So I figured there was nothing to do other then to update! As you can probably see, my writing has changed in these three years. I chose to update this story to not only write but to compare my old writing with my new. I chose the ending of this chapter to be something that could also end the story if I seriously didn't choose to finish this story. I honestly don't know if I'll continue this story. Once again, I'm sorry for the wait and I'm sorry I might not finish this story. I hope you guys enjoyed this though, I did this on a whim so the chapter probably sucks. I couldn't remember much of the plot and where I was even going with the story, but I tried my best.