A/N: My first "official" NejiTen(ish)…I like how it turned out, so don't throw rocks if you don't. Here we go with the flowers again, Dahlia-Forever thine. Sometimes flowers say what words can't. Any Japanese used are honorifics or curse words.

Disclaimer: I wondered for awhile if Kishimoto was playing into Shikamaru's sexism when he didn't ask any kunoichi to help out with the Sasuke retrieval arc… (which is why it was so awesome that Temari saved him!) if Naruto was mine, Tenten would've kicked some serious ass!

Bedside Manner

Tenten's quick footsteps echoed through the silent hall as her eyes searched for the correct room number.

"Uchiha…" she muttered through gritted teeth. "He almost died for that yarou, Uchiha."

Her grip tightened around the yellow dahlias she'd hastily picked up in the hospital gift shop. Nara Shikamaru was damn lucky he didn't cross her path. All that bouzu broke was a finger? It'd be more than that if she got ahold of him. What the hell was he thinking? Why hadn't he tried to find her? From everything she'd been able to piece together, her skills with weapons and accuracy could've made a drastic difference in the number of serious injuries.

The door to room 814 loomed large in front of her. Guy-sensei had told her that Neji hadn't regained consciousness yet, and Hyuuga Hinata had confirmed it after she'd visited him. Tenten took a deep breath and pushed open the door. She'd been warned that he'd lost a lot of blood and was very pale, but nothing had prepared her for the waxy sheen of his skin. When she saw how he practically glowed in the darkness of the room her knees went weak. Suppressing the urge to sit, Tenten walked purposefully to the window and opened one of the curtains enough to rid the room of the ghastly glow.

"With as many visitors as you've had," she said filling a plastic cup with water. "You'd think someone would've opened the curtain."

She arranged the yellow flowers in the cup and set them on his bedside table, they were embarrassingly simple next to the elaborate creations the Hyuugas had brought. Finally sitting down in the chair by his bed she was troubled by the fact that even with the midafternoon sunshine pouring in, he was still disturbingly pale, making the scar on his forehead even more pronounced than usual. But, she noted with relief, his breathing was steady as if he were asleep.

"Between you and Lee, Team Guy almost ended today, and noone bothered to inform me," she sighed taking his left hand in hers. It wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't ice cold either. "What were you thinking, going off on some insane mission and leaving me behind? I could've helped, I could've protected you the way Gaara-san protected Lee-kun."

She stopped as tears began to fall silently down her cheeks onto his blanket. Secretly she was glad he was unconscious, she never wanted him to see her like this, a blubbering crybaby. She closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. She'd found out quite by accident that Neji and Lee had gone off on a mission without her in the first place; but then once the medics had been dispatched word spread like wildfire through the village that the squad made up of one chunnin, four gennin, and an already injured Lee was being brought back with serious injuries.

Tenten had raced to the hospital demanding answers about her teammates. The waiting had been the worst part, watching Hyuuga Hiashi break down because once again he was faced with a situation that he had no control over. Comforting Hinata and Hanabi while her own heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. Finally going to see Lee who had no answers about Neji's condition, but proclaimed the virtues of Gaara the former psychopath from Sunagakure who'd caused all his injuries in the first place. It felt like her world had turned upside down.

As long as she lived, Tenten didn't think she'd ever forget the sense of relief that washed over her being when Shizune appeared announcing that Neji was going to be okay. After that, the time flew by while she waited for everyone else to take their turn at his bedside.

She smiled down at his sleeping face, "don't ever leave me behind like that again, not when there's a chance I could protect you." She stood up and touched his cheek. "We're teammates, I forbid you to die unless I'm there beside you."

When the door closed behind his final visitor, Hyuuga Neji opened his eyes. The yellow flowers shown in the sunlight as a faint smile played about his lips.

o-o-oOWARIo-o-o