The next few minutes were a mess. After Tenten forced her stomach out of her throat and back into its proper cavity, she regained enough sense to stutteringly offer Neji a towel or some tea, and – oh Kami, her house was such a mess! – and—

Neji graciously declined her frantic offers of kindness and went to find a towel for himself, leaving Tenten to fret alone in the living room, her mind racing with what she was going to say when he got back. If she could even bring herself to say anything semi-coherent.

Now, he was back in her living room, staring out the window with a towel around his shoulders, and Tenten could do nothing more than stare at him.

After a few minutes of the most uncomfortable silence of Tenten's existence, she finally ventured to say something.

"Umm… you…" The words died on her lips. What was she supposed to say? That he shouldn't have come all this way in the rain? Because he shouldn't have. That she had missed him terribly? Because she had. That she was mad at him for staying away and not telling her what was wrong and not sending so much as a word to her through Lee? Because she was. But somehow, with him sitting here in her living room, the storm rumbling steadily outside, reflecting the gray in his eyes, none of it seemed right, and she found herself with nothing to say.

Fortunately, Neji took that moment to turn his head and look at her.

"You look pale. Have you not been sleeping well?"

The question was so normal. Feeling tears welling in her eyes, Tenten did the only thing she could think to do under those circumstances.

Despite the burden of her injured leg, she threw herself at Neji, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, if only to hide the miniscule tears that she hadn't been able to stop.

She felt him stiffen for a moment, but then he relaxed, sighing into her shoulder.

"I don't imagine that sudden movement is particularly good for your leg."

"Neji…" she chuckled, wiping the tears away with her thumb and sitting back. "To be honest, I really don't care."

"Well, I do." He said seriously as he helped her settle back into her chair.

The smile on Tenten's face faltered.

"Is that why you're angry with me?"

Neji gazed at her, his eyes roaming over her face in a distant manner, as though he wasn't really seeing her at all.

"You ran off without telling us, without even leaving a hint of where you were going." He tapped a finger absentmindedly against the arm of the couch. "I will admit that I acted irrationally at the Hokage's office, and I should not have snapped at you. However, the fact remains that you cannot continue like this."

Tenten felt the color rising into her cheeks. Though she knew what he was getting at, she asked anyway. "Like what?"

"Acting as though you are invincible." He answered simply. "If you really want to recover and rejoin our team, you cannot keep pushing yourself. You must take the time you need, regardless of how long it takes. And…"

He paused, locking his gaze with hers.

"…you cannot keep running away from us."

Tenten started to retort, but all the words died in her throat. He was right.

"I just don't… want you all to think that I'm weak."

It was not some grand revelation. She'd known for some time now that that nagging fear had been driving most of her actions lately.

Neji, for his part, accepted it with little surprise.

"Depending on your teammates is not weakness. Tenten."

Tenten frowned slightly, her mind warring between annoyance that he, as usual, seemed to have won this argument and pleasure that despite the time apart, everything might be alright.

"I know." She muttered quietly.

However, after a moment, her face contorted, and she poked an accusing finger into his shoulder.

"But that's kind of hard to do that when one of them goes missing for days on end!"

Neji arched an eyebrow, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Well, perhaps that will help to reinforce the lesson."

The slightest hint of a smirk lit his face, and Tenten's mouth dropped open. Before he could anticipate it, she lunged for him, socking him in the shoulder.

"Are you trying to tell me this was all some kind of sick joke to reinforce a lesson?! Hyuuga Neji, that is not in the least bit funny!" She gently moved to swat him again, but he caught her wrist, throwing her off balance and causing her to topple onto the couch on top of him.

Pressed against his chest, she could feel a rumbling chuckle rising into his throat as he helped her to a less awkward sitting position. Still, he kept his hand on her arm.

"That was not my intention," he explained calmly, "however, if it helped my cause, I will not object to it."

Tenten mock-frowned, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Belatedly, she realized that she was very close to Neji, and that didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Oh, and what cause might that be?"

The hand resting on her arm fell away, coming back to cup her chin.

"Convincing you that you are not weak, just very important to me."

Tenten's head was a little fuzzy, but she managed a chuckle and a weak smile.

"Is that right?"

She was answered by the touch of his lips against hers.

For the first time since the mission that started this whole ridiculous, Tenten began to think that all the trouble might have been worth something.

"OH MY YOUTHFUL BELOVED STUUUUDENT!"

The loud exclamation, followed by a banging on the door, caused the two to jerk apart. Neji attempted to smooth out his shirt where Tenten's fist had folded around it, and he ran a hand through his hair, a strange gesture from the normally impeccable genius. Tenten stumbled back to her chair, cursing as she rearranged her leg. She had to be thankful that their teacher had actually knocked for once…

…still, he had the worst timing imaginable.

"My youthful blossom!" Gai-sensei boomed as he opened the door, practically sprinting into the living room. However, he stopped when he saw Neji, and his brow furrowed.

A cold spike of fear ran through Tenten. If Gai-sensei realized, he'd tell Lee, and then they'd never hear the end of it. To be honest, she wasn't sure whether to expect Gai-sensei to react as a protective father figure or to start ranting about the beautiful blossoms of youthful love.

As he opened his mouth, she braced for the worst.

A/N: Sorry the chapter's a bit short, but hopefully it was worth it! And I threw in some Gai-sensei just for your benefit, FruitySmell. He hadn't made an appearance in far too long.

I feel I ought to dedicate this chapter to pusa-is-me, considering the fact that without some encouragement and prodding, I probably would not have finished this chapter when I did. Also, I must admit I'm feeling the pressure, because the last chapter of the amazing Scars and Stitches came out today, and it was totally wonderful. (If you haven't read it, go do it!) So thanks to my apparent telepathic twin! (To answer your review question, diannalovely1995,we've determined that we are, in fact, secretly telepathic twins.)

Thank you, thank you to pusa-is-me, Ami1010, diannalovely1995, scarlet letters in the snow, SultanaV, little-miss-book-worm-95, FruitySmell and untouchable hexing witch for the reviews, and to all my other readers for, well, reading. As usual, you guys are pretty darn awesome.