Please see first chapter for disclaimer, etc.

Prompt: Rain

Special Thanks: goes out to naash, SeiraXD, KNO, DarkAnonymous324, BlackRose723, SuzuGamerGirl, Kratos Wilder, and Franoncrack for all the wonderful reviews! Thank you all so much!

Author's Note: I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this oneshot, but the weather where I live did not want to cooperate with me (not that I'm complaining)! So I had a bit of trouble writing about cold rain when the sun is shining and the birds were singing outside, which explains a bit about the lateness of this chapter. Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting my story, and I hope you enjoy this prompt!

*~Rain~*

Thunder rumbled a little closer, sounding to Neji a bit like the inexorable approach of an enemy army. Turning his face upwards, he scowled at the clouds hanging low overhead, dark and heavy with threatening rain. He would take sweltering hot over cold rain any day, he thought irritably as the first raindrop splattered on his nose.

The first raindrop seemed to have been sent ahead as a scout, and it must have found conditions favorable, because a few seconds later a deluge started. Neji scowled, wondering how he had managed to get stuck on a team with the one sensei who, literally, didn't have enough sense to get in out of the rain. Or, apparently, let his students do the same.

By the time he reached the training grounds, the ground was slippery with mud and littered with leaves the wind had whipped from the trees. Gai-sensei and Rock Lee were already happily training together, hands and feet flying as they practiced taijutsu. Both men were splashing through mud puddles, though they didn't seem to notice or care.

Neji cast a half-desperate look around, relaxing slightly when he spotted his other, saner, teammate crouched under a tree particularly heavy with foliage, mostly protected from the rain. He picked his way through the mine of mud puddles toward her, making sure to steer clear of the Green Beasts on his way. He had no desire to be splashed in mud, any more than he wished to fall into a mud puddle.

Tenten smiled sympathetically as he stopped next to her, gazing at his sopping attire with gentle eyes. "You look - wet," she commented.

Gathering a handful of his hair, Neji grimaced as he tried to wring the worst of the moisture out of it. "Every other sane person in Konoha is warm and dry," he grumbled. "And we're out here in a tsunami. I understand that it is necessary for us to be able to fight in different kinds of weather, inclement or otherwise, but this is ridiculous. And dangerous," he added a moment later as Lee slipped and landed on his backside in the mud. For a moment he looked startled, but then he was on his feet, sharing a roaring laugh with his sensei. Then they continued training as if nothing had happened.

Reaching out, Tenten playfully flicked a semi-dry strand of hair away from his eyes. "At least they're having fun," she offered. "Not that I want to go hop in mud puddles. I haven't done that since I was three."

Neji sighed. "I've never done it, and have no desire to do so." He clenched his teeth to keep them from chattering, wishing he'd just told his sensei to go away when Gai had dropped by the Hyuuga estate to inform him that training would continue that morning, despite the weather. He would wind up sick tomorrow, he just knew it. If there was something he hated more than the rain, it was being sick.

"At least as long as Gai-sensei and Lee are fighting, they won't notice us," Tenten pointed out. "Though it might keep you warmer if we did do something."

Neji let out an involuntary shiver, hating the way his cold, wet clothes were sticking to his skin in uncomfortable places. "Why aren't you cold?" he demanded.

Tenten shrugged. "I was born in March, on one of the rainiest days we had that year," she said. "At least - that's what I'm told. I guess that must have something to do with it. I was born immune to rain."

"I was born in July," Neji replied. "During one of the hottest and driest months in Konoha. I do not suppose you'd like to share some of your immunity with me?"

She briefly rubbed his arm, and he greedily leaned into that small bit of warmth. "Would if I could," she said. "Moving will help warm you up, though."

"Moving back home," he said. "I seriously doubt they'll even notice if we leave."

Laughing at the dark look Neji shot their teammates, Tenten picked up her large scroll from where it had been leaning against the trunk of the tree and slung it across her back. "Come to think of it, home does sound good." She squinted up at the sky, her pretty mouth tilted downwards in a frown. "It'd be nice if the rain let up, though."

Neji shivered, quietly but heartily seconding that sentiment. He didn't care if it rained the rest of the day, just so long as it slacked off - or, better yet, stopped - long enough for him and Tenten to get home first.

If the two were hoping they could sneak away without being detected, they were bitterly disappointed. Lee was the first to spot them and shout out, "Why are you leaving, Neji, Tenten?"

The duo froze mid-step, slowly turning to face Gai as he ran toward them. "It's raining," Neji said, deciding to go for the obvious.

"Just a little," Gai said. "We have to be able to fight in all sorts of weather, remember!"

"Achoo!" Tenten latched onto Neji's arm as she sneezed, looking sheepish as she stared at them, hand over her mouth. "'Scuse me," she muttered, sniffling.

Lee and Gai were on her in a moment. "Youthful flower!" they exclaimed in unison. "You're sick!" the latter declared. "You must go home immediately! Or do you need to go to the hospital?"

Tenten looked stricken. "Home is fine," she said. Then she waved her hand, keeping the other tightly clamped onto Neji's arm. "No need for all of us to miss training," she said, then coughed. "You all go on ahead."

Neji had to smother the urge to grin. He knew exactly what Tenten was doing, and knew he owed her something major for this (later, when things were warmer and drier, naturally). "I'll take her home, Gai-sensei," he offered.

Gai nodded curtly. "Very good, Neji! Keep an eye on her once you're there. If she gets sicker, take her to the hospital, and don't let her argue! Lee and I will be by right after training to check on her."

As soon as they were out of sight and hearing range of the training grounds, Tenten stood a little straighter, a smug grin overtaking her lips. "How'd I do?" she asked, loosening her death grip on his arm.

"You had me convinced at first," he remarked. "You sure you're not sick?" He extended his hand to touch her forehead, though everything felt warmer than his own skin at the moment - except for the rain, of course.

Tenten cleverly avoided him. "I'm fine," she said. "You're the one who's likely to get sick."

They half-jogged all the way to Tenten's small apartment, meeting very few other people on the streets. Rumbles of thunder played counterpoint to their sloshing footsteps, and the wind slapped raindrops against them like cold needles.

It was nice when Tenten finally closed the door behind them, muffling the sounds of the storm. "Much better," she sighed, slipping off her shoes.

Neji did the same, but stayed standing in the entryway, staring down at the puddles forming around his feet. "Sorry I'm dripping all over your floor," he said.

Tenten waved her hand. "There's been worse on this floor," she said. On her way to her bathroom for towels, she pointed at one stain in the doorway leading to the main room. "Like that bloodstain," she said casually, as if a stain that size were no big deal. "Been there for years - had a mishap with a new weapon!" she called out as a door squeaked open deeper in the apartment. Then she was back, carrying a stack of towels in her arms. "Here." She tossed him a couple.

Gratefully catching them, Neji draped one over his hair and rubbed, relishing the warmth. Leaving it where it was, he used the other to cut down on the majority of the dampness on the rest of him. "Thanks, Tenten," he said, voice muffled.

She surprised him by taking the edges of the towel over his head and lifting them up, peering under to smile up at him. "No problem," she said. She'd taken her hair out of her signature buns, letting it fall over her shoulders in soft, damp waves. "If you want to take a hot shower, the bathroom's through there." She twisted her upper body to point. "I'll put on some hot tea."

"Don't you want to shower first?" he said. "It is your apartment."

His teammate laughed as she vanished around the corner into the kitchen. "Immune to the rain, remember?" she called back.

Tenten had been right: A hot shower and dry clothes was just what he needed. Once more thankful that he always carried an extra set of clothes just in case they got called on an emergency mission and he didn't have time to return home to pack anything, he carefully draped his wet ones over the shower rod to let some of the dampness out of them.

When he finally made his way into the kitchen, Neji found Tenten standing by the stove. She'd found some time to change into dry clothes of her own while he'd been in the shower, though her hair was still hanging loose around her face. She looked comfortable, and he realized with a start that this was the first time he'd seen her in anything but battle clothes.

Neji cleared his throat to let her know he was there. "Thanks for the use of your shower," he said.

Grinning at him, Tenten poured hot water into two cups. "No problem. You look much more comfortable now."

"I am." It was the truth, except for one thing. While the hot water had helped for as long as he was in the shower, now that he was out, he still felt cold inside. Hopefully the tea would help that, though.

Though Tenten made a good cup of tea, it didn't really help. By the time Gai-sensei and Lee showed up to check on Tenten as promised, they found the female member of their team sitting on the floor next to the couch, where Neji was lying wrapped up in two blankets, a cool washcloth draped over his forehead, and a thermometer sticking out of his mouth.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said in response their looks of shock at seeing her looking healthy. "Unfortunately, I think Neji caught all the germs that were aiming for me earlier."

Despite how miserable he was, Neji decided that, perhaps, being sick because of the rain wasn't all bad, particularly when he had Tenten to nurse him back to health.

*~The End~*

Author's Ending Notes: Gah! It was so hard to write this when it's such a beautiful day where I live - it's so warm, I can go outside in short sleeves, without a jacket! And writing about cold and rain when it's like that outside was so much harder than I'd planned for it to be. Thank you all again so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!