After reading the emails and reviews that I've gotten from you and my critic, and after reading it all again to myself, I seriously do need to improve my spelling. XD Thanks for the reviews. 'Preciate it.

Stronger

by iJutsu

Chapter 4

Lee nearly killed the dog. He swiftly got out of his seat and picked Pakkun up and shook him rapidly, though he didn't mean to in any way. "Where is she?!" he demanded.

"Lee, put down the dog. It'll never answer," Gai sighed, making Lee put him down 'some-what' gently. He was becoming unusually impatient. But these were serious matters, and he had every rights to. They couldn't let her escape again. Not this time. Pakkun groaned and growled a bit towards Lee. Lee noticed but didn't bother to apologize. He didn't see the necessity to do so. Pakkun then walked over to Kakashi and sat by his foot.

"Well?" Kakashi said towards the dog.

"She's underground," he stated simply, "Although, that's what I believe. I caught her smell deep within the forest. Strangely enough, trees were around in a circle, making one small circle of pure ground in between them. That's where I smelt her. It didn't seem to go beyond that point, nor did I bother to. That meant danger."

"Underground?" Neji said quite questionably. Pakkun just stared dully.

"Yes. Underground. In a hole. In a basement. Whatever you humans call it these days."

"B-but how could she be underground?" asked Sakura, taking part, "Is there like a base of some sort beneath there?"

"Beats me," Pakkun said.

"I-I don't understand," Lee said, out of no where, looking at Pakkun with full confusion written all over his face, "Are you sure it was beneath the ground? How far did you look? Why didn't you look?" He was filled with questions.

"Didn't you hear me, boy?" Pakkun said sharply, "I'm sure it was beneath the ground because her smell was below the dirt. I caught her smell when I was merely in the Konoha forest. I didn't have to go that far. The smell was strong too; easy to catch. She must've been there for some time, now. And I didn't look because, again I say, that meant danger for just a dog like me."

Everyone was silent for a while in thought, before Neji broke it, summing up what Pakkun just said about it. "If you were able to find her that quickly," he started, "And saying that she might have been there at the Konoha forest for a large amount of time, that must be the reason why we couldn't find her in any other land."

Lee's eyes widely opened, and were filled with disbelief. "N-no," he muttered, knowing where Neji was getting at, "Don't tell me..."

He had to. "That underground hiding place where she's supposedly is now," he said slowly, but with a hint of frustration, "must have been the place where she ran away to for the past 4 years."

Rock Lee remained silent, staring at Neji with wide eyes. He couldn't believe it; he didn't want to believe it. He shook his head and walked towards Neji, gripping onto his shoulders with his rough hands. Neji eyed to his left, avoiding eye contact with Lee. He didn't want to see his pain. Lee shook Neji a couple of times slowly.

"Say that isn't true," Lee said in a shaky laugh, still shaking him, "Say that isn't true!"

Neji flinched. "Lee..."

"Please! That cannot be true!" Lee said, suddenly now becoming more serious and shaking him more faster, "Don't tell me she's been hiding there all this time! In Konoha! Beneath our own footsteps! A-all this time...no, it can't!"

Sakura literally had to pull Lee from Neji to keep him from shaking him. Obviously, Neji wouldn't respond if he was being forced like that. Lee was now standing a foot away from Neji, with Sakura's arms around his waist from behind. He couldn't push her off, so staying like that was his only option. Neji rubbed his shoulder as he gave Lee a vigorous look.

"It's a possibility. A strong one," Neji stated to him, before sighing, "I'm sorry. It may be true."

Sakura felt Lee shaking more and more at the second, hands clutched together tightly and head down. Sakura was going to say something to him, but she felt his body calm down a bit and his hands slowly fold out. Sakura, a bit confused of his reaction, slowly removed her arms from his waist and kept it to her sides and watched him closely. With his still head down, he walked towards Neji. Neji didn't bother to move. He didn't mean to, for Lee just passed right by him. Neji too looked down, already knowing what Lee was doing. Sakura watched Lee and saw him stop right in front of the wall that was behind Neji. Lee snarled softly.

"She didn't even leave Konoha, and we didn't know it. 4 years," he muttered under his breath, "She was so near. So n-near..."

He remained quiet before his eyes flashed angrily and he raised his head.

"DAMN!" he yelled furiously, punching the wall with as much force he could get. Sakura gasped and the teachers sighed, seeing the huge hole he made on the wall. Sakura's hands covered her mouth in shock. Then, Lee brought his hand that he used up to his chest and clutched it with his other arm. Neji didn't move from his position, with only the wind coming from the hole Lee made blowing his hair. Instead, he raised he head and spoke.

"Stop it," Neji said sharply. Lee flinched and Neji continued, "Letting out your anger like this isn't going to help anything. Yes, she was so near and we both were too foolish to not notice that. But the past is past and the only thing we could focus on now is finding her."

Neji then turned around to face Lee. Lee has been already facing Neji while he spoke. Neji took a step closer to Lee and looked at him straight in the eye. Lee didn't look away as Neji said, "We're not going to make the same mistake again."

It took Lee a couple of minutes before he could nod in agreement. He let out a shaky sigh, frustrated of what he just did. Sakura finally removed her hand from her mouth and sighed in relief that Lee was okay. Lee then began dusting himself off and tightening up his protective tape around his arms.

"Let's get going," Lee said to Neji while still tightening up the tape. He then looked up at Gai then back at his work, "I apologize, Gai-sensei, but you cannot come with us in this journey. She wishes for only Neji and I and we wouldn't want that much trouble."

Gai merely nodded, understanding. When Lee finished, he looked down at Pakkun, "Where at, again?"

"About 500 meters north from the Konoha entrance to the forest. You won't miss it. You'll spot a about 10 trees formed around in a circle, with an empty spot of dirt in the center."

Neji and Lee nodded at the same time. They both then turned to everyone. Lee first looked over at Sakura and dearly smiled at her, mouthing the words: Thank you towards her. Sakura couldn't help but smile the same way and rush up to hug him before his journey. Kakashi stared at them oddly. "Sakura's attitude towards Lee sure did change," he thought, remembering when she used to always avoid him and make fun of him due to his hair, eyebrows and outfit. Lee hugged her back closely one last time before releasing her. He nodded at Kakashi and gave a thumbs up towards his own sensei, Gai.

"Wish us luck, Gai-sensei!" he said, pinging a smile, trying to keep a positive attitude.

"Yosh!" Gai grinned, pinging him back the same smile with his thumb also up, "May your strong power of youth stay with you throughout your expedition!"

Giving them one last smile, they headed out towards the door. Neji looked one last time, catching the glance of Sakura. Sakura looked at him and mouthed: Good luck. Neji just chuckled quietly with a small head shake and left the building, understanding what she meant. Lee looked over at Neji, once he exited. Neji looked at him back and nodded. Taking one last breath they ran towards the exit, or where they had their 'first fight' with Tenten. They ran in their incredible speed until they were only inches within the forest. It was best for them to just walk towards their destination from there, so that they won't make all that much noise for her to hear. Lee and Neji looked sharply forward as they walked constantly towards their target. It was 500 meters north, which luckily for them, wasn't hard to fight. As they walked, Lee again looked over at Neji. Neji looked back.

"I'm sorry about my actions earlier at the hospital," he said to Neji sadly, "It's just so hard to believe."

"I can't blame you," Neji replied simply. Lee sighed.

"Do you actually believe that it's her? That Tenten, our Tenten, is actually that...disaster?"

Neji thought for a while before speaking, "What makes you think that she isn't?"

"Well, she never did say that she really was Tenten. Just that she knew us and hates us both. Even if she was, why would she hate us? Why would she have urges to kill for power? It's just not like her. And if she changed, why would she want to change into that?"

Neji remained silent. Lee did make a point, but they were all questions that only she could answer. She did tell them that it was for them to find out, anyway. Lee again sighed.

"And," Lee continued, "She wasn't wearing the necklace I gave her years before her disappearance."

That caught Neji's attention. Lee had a incredibly sad expression on his face, just on mentioning that necklace. It wasn't jealously, it was somewhat shocking for Neji to find out now. "You mean the one with the large heart?" asked Neji. Lee caught his expression and smiled softly.

"Yup and I guess you should know the story," said Lee, "This was about 6 years ago? 2 or 3 years before her disappearance, I believe. It was the day before graduation, where the next day we were no longer a team. Anyways..."

Flashback

Lee leaned against the tree in exhaustion after his training with Tenten. Neji was out, visiting the Hyuuga clan. Lee looked over at Tenten, who was drinking water as her sweat came down her forehead. They were both tired but both proud of improving their attacks. After Tenten placed down her water bottle, she grinned at Lee and Lee did the same. Neither had talked much during training. Not that they could, but tomorrow was the day of the graduation, making it bittersweet for both of them. They were training together for the last time as a team. It was a shame that Neji wasn't there with them, all due to family matters.

"Good training, Tenten!" he said, catching his final breath that he needed, "It is surprising about how much you improved!"

"Thank you, Lee," she smiled, "I still can't catch up to you, though."

"Of course not! You'll never catch up to my speed, Tenten!" he laughed, not meaning it in the insulting matter, "You are still a bit slow. But do not worry, youthful flower, you will soon get faster than ever!"

Tenten glared and punched his arm playfully and shot back, "Well! At least my aim is more precise and doesn't hit feet away from the target!"

"Your aim might be the most accurate in our team, but you'll never be strong enough to defeat me!"

"You sure do have a lot to say coming from a guy who wears green spandex."

"Hey! It's stylish!"

"Yeah, considering only you and Gai-sensei wear it."

After that they begun to laugh hard. Tenten even had to hold onto her stomach to control herself. Minutes passed and they were now catching for air from laughter. The sun shone warm upon their heads, and Lee looked up and back down. He sighed sadly.

"This is it, isn't it?" he said, "After tomorrow, we're no longer going to be Team Gai and-"

"STOP right there!" she said sharply, making Lee surprised by her sudden glare, "Don't say such a thing!"

"But..."

"No! No 'but's! That's never going to happen! We're always going to be a team no matter what happens! Sure, we're no longer going to be fighting side by side any longer but that doesn't change the fact that we were once Team Gai, nor does it mean that it has to change! Didn't you say that our team youth was to grow and remain forever?"

"Tenten," he said slowly, seeing that her eyes were getting watery, "Your right. I'm sorry I said such a thing." He then placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll just shut up now. Let's just try to keep the positive. Oh! Hey, I got you something."

Tenten blinked and stared at him oddly. He reached into his pocket bag and pulled out a white necklace, with a large heart shaped, about a 4 inches long, locket attached to it. The locket was open, to indicate that nothing was in it. After dusting it off a bit, he handed it over to her with his pinging smile. Her eyes were still a bit wide with amazement as she looked at it.

"Wow," she said breathlessly, "It's so pretty! But...why?"

"You know," he smiled, "As a remembrance of me. Here give it to me. Okay turn around, I'll put it on."

"I'll wear it forever!" said Tenten as she happily turned around and waited for Lee to place on the necklace. As he tried to put it on, she spoke, "Hey. Let's make a promise! Even after tomorrow, we'll always stay a team forever! We'll never let go of each other! Promise?"

Lee chuckled once he finished, making Tenten look at her necklace that hung from her neck. He smiled. "Promise."

End of Flashback

"After that, I told you about the promise, remember? You also promised her that." Lee said, "A-and she promised to wear it forever. Then, here came today and she wasn't wearing it. What else did she turn into? A...promise-breaker? A liar?"

Neji stayed quiet. He had absolutely nothing to say to that, but he learned a lot more about Tenten after hearing Lee's and Sakura's story about her. He did understand how Lee felt. A remembrance should be held onto forever. Lee groaned then sighed and looked ahead. They were probably 200 meters away. Strange how fast they walked. The story must have killed time. For about five minutes, they didn't speak. They didn't know what else to say. Lee couldn't take it and decided to break the silence.

"Say," Lee said, "What were you and Sakura talking about earlier?"

Neji blinked and he felt his face grow a bit warm. He then shook his head, "Nothing."

Lee didn't bother to continue. He just nodded and continued looking forward. It was trees, then more trees, then a couple more trees, and the sun that shined through the leafs of the tree. Lee looked up and sighed in relief. The day was still young. It was still in the early afternoon. Lee then looked over at Neji would was looking around his surroundings constantly. He raised an eyebrow and did same thing, not seeing anything.

"What are you looking at?" Lee asked.

Neji didn't answer. He started to hear the rustling of leaves and, probably sticks, coming from a distance. It wasn't caused by wind, for wind wasn't blowing that well at the moment. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, putting his arm in front of Lee to prevent him from continue walking. Lee stopped and stared at Neji strangely. Neji didn't bother to look at him back, already knowing the kind of looks he was given by Lee.

"Stay put. There's someone here."

Lee blinked and looked about. He finally caught the glance of somebody. It was a female. Her back was to them so they couldn't see her face. Her hair was inches above her elbow, and was the color of light brown, much more lighter and longer than the hair of the girl they were looking for. That was a relief, knowing that it wasn't Tenten. Lee looked in closer. She was clutching onto her stomach with one arm and leaning on the tree with her other arm. Her head was also down and she was shaking very much. Lee gasped.

"Neji! That girl is hurt!"

Once the girl heard them, she stopped shaking. She didn't turn around to look at them. She stood dead frozen. Neji took a closer look at the girl and then nodded towards Lee, mentioning that they should go to her. Lee also nodded and they quickly, but as quietly as they could, run to her. She still didn't move, but her eyes remained wide open. Lee frowned. She looked frightened by their presence. As calm as Lee could get, he took a step closer to her.

"Miss, are you alright?" he asked concernedly.

No response came from the girl, for she begun to shake again, eyes getting wider and skin getting more pale. This worried them. She looked extremely hurt, or numb at the matter, and looked like she needed hospitality immediately. But, if they were to stop and help her get taken care of, more time is taken away for searching for Tenten and the getting to the underground 'base'. Neji grunted. What were they to do? Lee seemed to be thinking the same thing. He took another step towards her.

"Are you alright?" Lee repeated, "You look very hurt and..."

He was interrupted when he saw her begin to move. Her body was shaking as she did so, including the arm that was leaning against the tree to support her. Slowly, she managed to turn around little by little with her arm still around her stomach and head, as noticed, down. Shivering, she tried to lift her head, but her head stayed up for only a second, for her legs gave up on her and she fell towards Neji. Neji blinked and quickly held onto her, with his hands gripped on her arms. She began shaking again, and fortunately enough, she was able to lift her head. It pained her, for it was like pounds of stuff was upon her head. Neji grunted as he finally got a firm hold onto her. He then looked down at her, noticing her stare. Their eyes locked and again her eyes got wide and suddenly full of life. Neji stared back in awe. She looked very familiar. Strangely familiar.

Almost like Tenten.

But not the Tenten they fought with. Not the Tenten who had betrayed them. But the other. She looked like the Tenten who they once knew as the joyful, happy supportive Tenten. The one who's eyes would shine whenever she would learn a new technique. The one who would laugh at anything. The one who would cry for her team. The one they want back.

The girl didn't stop staring. Her eyes started to shine with tears that went down her cheek ever so slowly. Neji and Lee looked at her questionably. Suddenly, a shaky smile came across her lips. A happy smile.

"N-N-Neji? L-Lee?" she stuttered almost joyfully, as her shaky hands went to touch Neji's face, "Is it r-really you?"

She then looked over at Lee, her smile getting bigger and more tears flowing out of her eyes. She then, as carefully as she could, released herself from Neji's grip and stepped over to Lee. After taking one step, Lee had to hold onto her, for she almost fell again. Once Lee was holding onto her, she without hesitation wrapped her arms around him. She embraced him as hard as she could, like a little girl holding onto her favorite teddy bear. Lee was caught off guard by the sudden hug and couldn't react. Why was he to hug a stranger? A stranger that knew who they were? She began to rub her face against his chest. Lee shivered.

"F-f-finally," she said, now crying and wetting Lee's vest slightly, "I-I'm home..."

Lee and Neji were very confused. Lee allowed her to cry on him, for he believed pushing her off wouldn't be good at a time like this. Lee tried to stay calm.

"You know us, miss?" he asked kindly.

All of a sudden, her eyes shot open and she stopped crying. Lee seemed to notice, for he lightly pushed her back, but kept his hands holding onto each of her arms. She looked at him with her wide wet eyes. Her eyes that were once showing happiness were now showing pain and sadness. Neji and Lee just kept staring at her, not knowing whether or not to feel bad for her. She looked over at Neji then back at Lee. She started to shake her head slowly.

"N-no. T-this can't be an illusion...not again!" she said in almost a scream, "It can't...It can't..."

"An illusion?" thought Neji, getting him quite suspicious. Lee grunted softly, trying to keep her up.

"What are you talking about?" Lee said, trying to calm her down with his voice, "Do you really know who we are? You look awfully familiar, but I'm afraid we've never met you before."

Tears were rolling down her face as she spoke, "G-guys...it's me..! D-don't you recognize me?"

Lee and Neji unfortunately shook their head as a 'no'. She was now sobbing with hiccups in between each cry. Lee felt a pain in his heart. They were hurting her, but they had absolutely nothing to do with her. Neji looked up. They had to continue looking. Lee sighed and looked at her straight in the eye.

"Miss, you're hurt. You must be sick, and perhaps your seeing things," he said comfortingly.

"I know what I'm seeing!" she yelled with harsh tears flowing down her face, then pointing at each of them with her shaky hand, "Y-your Rock Lee. Y-you Neji Hyuuga..! We...promised...we're...you and...Neji..."

Neji and Lee were staring at her in complete confusion, getting her more hurt inside. She looked down, trying to control her tears while putting her hand up to her chest, where it hurt. Neji even found himself feeling a bit bad for the girl. She did indeed look familiar, but it just couldn't be who they thought it was. They already found her and now they're trying to find her. Lee then felt her hand travel up to her neck, as she slowly slip part of her fingers into her dirty shirt. Her elbow was hitting Lee's chest slightly. When she finally removed her fingers, she looked up at Lee with her sad eyes. She tried to give them a reassuring smile. Lee looked down. She seemed to be holding something attached to her neck.

"L-lee, don't...don't you k-know?" she shakily asked, as her hands slowly unfolded, revealing an item in her hands. Lee's eyes widened. "Y-you gave me this...r-remember?"

Neji's eyes widen a bit as well once Lee gasped softly. Lee looked at her then back at the thing she was holding.

It was the necklace. The white heart shaped locket necklace that he gave her.

Lee was caught in complete shock. His grip on her arms loosened and took a small step back, making her stand her own. "H-how...?" Lee thought, frustratingly,"I gave that to...Wait, W-what the hell..?" His eyes then shifted back to the girl. Her eyes were now showing a bit of hope in them. Lee focused on her, and so did Neji. She sighed shakily and released the necklace. She then used both her hands slowly to make two buns on her hair. Neji and Lee's eyes were now wide open.

"N-now do you recognize me?" she sadly asked, putting back down her arms and letting her hair fall back down for her arms were getting numb. Tears again filled her eyes, as she looked over at Neji, "P-please...It's m-me...Ten-"

She was interrupted as she felt a sharp pain on her back, causing her to unexpectedly cough out blood. Lee gasped and she lost balanced, falling to her side. Neji, just in time, caught her and held her close. He looked down at her. A kunai was stuck on her back. The kunai then fell, making her cough uncontrollably. Neji grunted and looked around for who suddenly attacked her. He gasped quietly as his eyes opened wide in shock. Lee looked and did the same. On the tree branch, a couple of feet away from them, stood the betrayer. She had an evil smirk upon her face, with a kunai in her hand, indicating that she was the one who threw it.

In a matter of seconds, she was right in front of Neji and Lee. She chuckled and took a step towards them. She then placed a hand on the shoulder of the girl lying in Neji's arm and grinned at Neji and Lee. She spoke, with the wind blowing the bangs of her short dark hair.

"I see you met my friend, Tenten."

TBC

Ha. I bet you at least expected that Lee and Neji would find her and try to make her good again. (Well, that's what my friend thought, and I found that pretty original and boring.) It sounds pretty confusing now, but keep reading on, and I assure you, it'll make sense. Hopefully. R&R:D