Please see first chapter for disclaimer, etc.

Prompt: Healing

Sequel to: Warmth (chapter 5)

Special Thanks: goes out to DarkAnonymous324, Kratos Wilder, Franoncrack, BlackRose723, SeiraXD, naash, and kenzinator for all your great reviews! Thank you so much, you all always make me so happy!

Author's Note: Yes, it's finally here! The promised sequel to chapter 5's fic, Warmth. I was re-inspired to write it after the end of the last chapter. It was a lot of fun to write, so I really hope it's as enjoyable to read! Thanks again for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting my story, I really appreciate it!

*~Healing~*

"This is your own fault, you know." Tenten fought to hold back the inappropriate giggle bubbling into her throat.

Neji made a soft sound that was almost a growl, but didn't try to respond further. He merely glared at her with fever-glazed white eyes, lip curled in an uncharacteristic snarl. Now he knew exactly how she'd felt when he'd come to get her and found her curled up in bed a few days before. It felt like someone had poured ice water into his veins and then left him in the middle of Snow Country in the dead of winter. He didn't care for the feeling.

The smile melted off her face as she moved to sit on the edge of his bed. "You know, this is kind of your own fault," she said conversationally.

"How is that?" If his throat hadn't been so sore, he was sure he wouldn't have sounded so - hoarse.

"You insisted on taking care of me," she replied. "And while I'm much better now, you're down with it."

"I'm not sick!" Neji snapped in automatic denial. "I'm a Hyuuga. We don't get sick." As if to prove him incorrect, a cough rattled its way out of his chest. As if his sore throat, itchy nose, and freezing insides weren't enough to disprove him…

Tenten pressed the back of her hand against his cheek, since testing his temperature on his forehead did no good because of his curse mark. "Your fever's coming up." She made a weird clicking noise with her tongue. "You shouldn't have tried to come to training this morning. Stubborn."

Neji scowled at her, but only halfheartedly. "I'm fine."

She huffed. "You're not fine. Now stay here. I'm going to see if I can find the kitchen."

He started to shove off his blankets. "No need. I can-" He half-yelped in surprise when Tenten's hand shoved against the middle of his chest, pushing him back down onto his pillows.

"Stay here," she stressed. Eyes narrow, nose scrunched up, lips curled, she glared at him in a way that kept him pinned to his bed if for no other reason than because he knew she had many weapons on her person, was more than capable of using them, and had no qualms against using them. "As I said, I am going to find the kitchen. If you've moved so much as an inch by the time I get back…" Leaving the threat dangling, Tenten slipped out of his room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

It would have been so much simpler if he hadn't been fighting the urge to sneeze just as Tenten launched that last attack at him during training earlier that morning. Then he would have been able to avoid the kunai faster and come out completely unmarked, instead of with a cut along his left bicep. That had been what tipped her off to the fact that something wasn't right with him, which led to her practically dragging him back to the Hyuuga estate so she could fuss over him.

Funny, he'd never pictured Tenten as the fussing type. He'd heard of women having the "mothering" instinct, but the kunoichi had said more than once that she was sure that particular gene had skipped her. Neji, however, wasn't quite as convinced of this as Tenten seemed to be. He wasn't sure there was anything else that would explain her behavior towards him.

For once, Neji was thankful that the Hyuuga estate was one of the quietest places in Konoha. Outside the gates, the village bustled with people laughing, talking, going about their business; inside the gates, everyone went about their business, but as quietly as possible. Usually it set Neji's nerves on edge, but this time, he was thankful things were peaceful so his thrumming headache wouldn't be made worse.

An alarming rattle of crockery outside his door alerted Neji to Tenten's presence. He winced, waiting for the sound of breaking things, but the door slid open without any distressing crashes or thuds. His teammate stepped into the room, then slid the door closed with her bare foot. "Here!" she said, holding up the tray in her hands. "Hot tea, soup, and medicine." She looked entirely too smug at the fact that she was going to get to do to him what he had done to her.

Neji sniffed cautiously, though that didn't really help since he couldn't smell anything because of his cold. "What kind of soup?" he asked warily.

She set down the tray, then lifted the bowl and held it out toward him. "It's your favorite - herring soba."

Pushing himself up into a sitting position and reluctantly withdrawing his arms from the warmth of his blankets, he took the bowl from Tenten. He stared down into the bowl, wishing he felt better so he could enjoy the taste of the soup. He hadn't even known Tenten knew how to make herring soba, since she claimed to be horrible at cooking… Grasping the spoon, he blew gingerly before lifting it to his mouth and tasting.

Tenten watched him anxious eyes, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "Is it good?" she bit her lower lip.

"Hmm." It definitely wasn't the worst he'd ever tasted, but he decided to attribute anything off in the flavor to his sickness. "You made this?"

Her cheeks flushed pink. "Hinata might have helped," she hedged.

Neji's chuckle turned into a cough, and Tenten swiped the bowl from his hands before it could spill. "Here," she said, wrapping his hands around the mug of tea she'd brought. "Drink some of this."

The comforting taste of chamomile laced with honey and lemon juice eased the burn in his throat, as well as helping smother the urge to cough. He sighed in relief as he passed the mug back to Tenten, who had been holding her hands close by just in case he had to cough again and hand it back. "Thanks," he whispered. "That's better."

Smiling, Tenten handed him the soup again. With each spoonful, Neji felt a little better, though he didn't think he'd be running laps with Lee and Gai for a couple more days yet. The soup and tea combined was helping warm him up from the inside, as well as helping his cough and sore throat.

Plus, if he had to think about it, having someone there to keep him company and take care of him might be helping, too. Especially since that person was Tenten…

"Medicine," Tenten said, pressing two pills into his unsteady hand. "Your turn to swallow some this time." Setting the empty bowl aside, she picked up the tea again and held it to his lips so he could get a mouthful to take the pills with. Resisting the urge to make a face at the nasty taste as he swallowed them, he wrapped his hand around Tenten's and tilted the mug so he could drink what was left of the tea.

"Thank you," Neji said as Tenten set the mug on the tray again. "I feel better already."

Tenten shot him a dubious look. "I don't think it works that fast," she said. "Now then, you lie down. I'm going to take these back to the kitchen. Same thing goes: you move while I'm gone, and sick or not, I will hurt you." Once more, she maneuvered the door open and then closed with her foot, leaving him alone.

Tucking his blankets around his shoulders, Neji rolled onto his side and fought the urge to curl into a fetal position. The only time he could remember feeling worse than he did now was when he'd fought (and almost lost to) one of the Sound Ninja Four who had helped Sasuke escape. At least he didn't have the blood loss this time, though that might have been considered only a small miracle…

His eyes were so heavy he could barely keep them open by the time Tenten returned. For a moment she stood by the closed door, smiling at him, her head tilted to the side so she looked a bit like an inquisitive dog. "You look sleepy," she remarked.

"Hn." Neji fought to keep his eyes open, knowing if he even so much as blinked he'd fall asleep. "Thanks, Tenten," he slurred. What in Konoha had she given him? He felt like the one time he'd tried sake - drunk and exhausted, his body too heavy to twitch even.

A gentle smile curled up the corners of her mouth. Reaching up, she pulled the ties out of her hair as she quietly crossed the room to crawl into the bed next to him. "You're welcome," she whispered. "After all, it's only fair I get to take care of you now, since you took such good care of me before."

"Hmm…" Neji fell asleep to the sensation of Tenten's arm draped over his chest, her head snuggled against his back, directly between his shoulder blades. He drowsily considered kissing her, but he was so comfortable lying there with her curled against and around him, so he would do it later… After he awoke…

Hinata crept through the silent halls of Hyuuga House, every once in a while glancing guiltily over her shoulder. She had left Tenten in the kitchen alone to do the dishes since the older girl had assured her she was all right, but Hinata felt guilty and went back to check on her. The kitchen was empty now, clean dishes neatly stacked in the drainer.

Even though Tenten had seemed to find her way around all right before, Hinata decided she'd look around quickly to make sure she hadn't gotten lost. The Hyuuga heiress considered Tenten to be an older sister, and she knew how happy the woman made her cousin Neji. There were places in Hyuuga House not even Hinata was allowed to go, and she didn't want her friend to accidentally stumble upon one of them and get into trouble - trouble that might even lead to her being banned from ever coming back.

The low rumble of voices caught Hinata's ears as she passed her father's office, but she didn't stop to listen in. Hiashi was often in meetings, usually with the Elders or other members of the clan. She was just glad he was home at the moment, since she got to see him little enough the way it was. Perhaps after his meeting was finished he would like to sit and have some tea with her and just talk, as they'd taken to doing upon occasion recently.

When Hinata had checked as many branches of the halls leading away from the kitchen as she could, she decided to venture out towards her cousin's room. She wanted to check on him, anyway, since he had not looked very well at all when Tenten had brought him home from the training grounds. She could not remember ever seeing her cousin so sick, and it disturbed her a little. Hinata had always pictured him as almost indestructible, though she knew that was not the case.

Pausing before Neji's door, Hinata considered knocking. But if Neji was asleep, she didn't want to wake him. He was a very light sleeper, and even if she knocked softly enough to where he wouldn't hear, he would probably detect Tenten's movement as she came to open the door.

I'll just look inside quickly, she told herself. Just to make sure he's doing all right, and to see if Tenten needs me to get anything for her. With that decided, she settled her hand on the wood-and-cloth door and gently slid it sideways just enough to peer inside the room.

Neji's room was immaculate as always. The first thing Hinata saw was the cup of tea sitting on the nightstand, though it looked like it was rapidly going tepid. The next was her cousin, lying curled up on his side, blankets tucked around his shoulders and to his chin. The third and final thing Hinata noticed made her eyes go wide, and she had to lift her hand to her mouth to smother her gasp of shock.

Tenten lay behind Neji, arm draped over him, head pressed against his back, legs curled against his, her brown hair fanned out behind and beneath her on the pillow. The expression on her face and the one on Neji's matched - peaceful happiness.

Hinata closed the door with shaking hands, blindly turning to stumble her way back down the hall as she shook her head. I didn't see that, she told herself. Though I think it would be wise to have that tea with Father, so he won't do what I just did and see them together like that… Neji was sick, and Tenten was there to take care of him. If she made him happy, Hinata determined, who was she - or anyone else, for that matter - to stir up trouble for them?

She felt her cheeks turn redder as a sudden cough caught her off guard. Oh, great…

*~The End~*

Author's Ending Notes: And here it is, at long last, the promised sequel to my fifth oneshot, Warmth! I picture Neji as being something of a tough patient when he's sick, though I also picture Tenten as the one person in the world who can get him to cooperate. Originally, I was just going to leave the story at the end of Neji's scene, but I had the idea for Hinata's part and decided to write it in. I haven't written from her POV before, so I really hope it read smoothly. And perhaps I was a little mean leaving it where I did, but think of it this way: if everyone in Hyuuga House comes down with The Bug, that means they'll probably be quarantined, which means Tenten will get to stay with Neji longer… Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it!