Please see first chapter for disclaimer, etc.

Prompt: Fixed

Warnings: Violence

Part: 2/2

Special Thanks: goes out to starisice, DarkAnonymous324, rao hyuga 18, Franoncrack, Innoiji, Midnight Insomniac, and naash for all your reviews! You all are absolutely amazing, you make my day every time I read your reviews. Thank you!

Author's Note: Since I was so mean and left you all with a cliffhanger on the last chapter, I decided to update with the second half tonight. I'm really excited about this conclusion, because I enjoyed writing it so much. Thank you again so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting my story, and I hope you enjoy Fixed!

*~Fixed~*

"You're supposed to be taking it easy."

Tenten glanced over her shoulder, smiling when she caught sight of Neji standing half-hidden behind a tree. One good thing about living in Hyuuga House were the multiple places shielded by the gardens where one could practice throwing shuriken and kunai, sparring, or any other number of shinobi-related pursuits, without having to worry about prying eyes. "I'm just throwing a few kunai," she said.

"Lady Hokage won't be happy if you've strained anything when you go in for your next checkup," Neji replied wisely. "Even though she, Sakura, and Shizune managed to heal the worst of your wounds, the muscles still need time to heal." Coming out from behind the tree, he stepped up to her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, just to the right of one of her hair buns. "And I won't be happy if you get hurt again."

It had been over two weeks since the attack that had nearly killed Tenten. Security in the Hyuuga estate had been quadrupled, both Neji and Tenten had been pulled off the duty roster for missions, and there had been no further signs of aggression from whomever had sent the original assassin to Konoha. "I need to be ready when Lady Tsunade finally lets us get back to work, though," she replied. Smiling innocently, she took a second to spin a kunai around her finger a few times. "I promise I'm being careful."

Neji sighed heavily, then stepped back to fold himself into a meditation position beneath the target nailed to the tree on which she'd been practicing. "You have ten more minutes," he said, then closed his eyes.

Tenten resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out him, drawing back her hand to launch her next kunai. Her husband didn't even twitch when it landed just off-center of the target less than six inches above his head. Frowning at the target, she rotated her shoulder and winced at the slight pain that accompanied the motion. Not that she wasn't thankful that the Hokage, Shizune, and Sakura had healed her, it was just … she wished that muscles didn't need time to mend on their own. Or, at the least, that the process wasn't so painful, and throwing off her aim on top of that.

By the time her allotted ten minutes was up, she had only managed to get about thirty of her kunai in the exact center. She knew several people would be satisfied with that number, but of all the kunai she'd thrown in her life that had landed exactly in the center of the target, it made her aggravated.

Eyes opening at her approach, Neji got to his feet and reached out to pull the kunai free and hand them to her. "It takes time, Tenten," he said softly. "Think about how long it took me to recover after…" He stopped, lips compressing when he remembered how she didn't like being reminded of the time he'd almost not come back to the village alive. Sighing, he picked up her scroll before she could, sliding the strap over one shoulder as he smoothly slid his other arm around her shoulders. "Remember what Lady Tsunade said. If you push yourself too hard now, it will take you longer to recover your full strength and ability."

She knew he was right, and despite the fact that she wanted to be irked, she didn't have the energy. It was amazing how tired she felt after throwing a few kunai around for less than half an hour. She'd gotten soft while in the hospital, and she hated it. What really made her angry was knowing that it didn't take long to lose her conditioning, but it would take her a long time to rebuild it. She wanted to get started as soon as possible. "I know, I know."

Sliding open the door into the house, Neji politely allowed her to precede him before closing it behind them. "It's still a few hours before the evening meal. Why don't you go rest for a while? I want to talk to Uncle about something, anyway."

While Tenten didn't feel quite as bitter toward Hiashi as she had before, she still felt a little stung that she wasn't allowed to attend meetings with Neji, particularly since he tended to tell her most if not all of what the meeting entailed later. But she knew the Hyuuga family had been operating by the same ancient standards for generations, and she'd been lucky enough that they'd relaxed enough to let her marry Neji without too much protest. She supposed she could muster up enough patience to wait for everything else. "All right. I love you."

Neji reluctantly handed back her scroll, wrapping his hand around hers and pulling her in for a quick but loving kiss before he gently steered her in the direction of the staircase leading to the upper level of the main house. "I love you, too. Sleep well, Tenten. I'll be up later."

Taking her time as she ascended the staircase, Tenten decided that a nap did sound rather inviting. Though a soak in the tub sounded better… She wondered if Neji would mind too much if she picked the latter over the former. Deciding he wouldn't, she deposited her scroll in what she and Neji had dubbed their "missions" closet, in which they stored all their gear, before going into the bathroom attached to the bedroom. It didn't take her long to splash some lavender oil into the filling bath, light a few candles, and find some comfortable but stylish clothes to wear to dinner.

A long, relieved sigh eased out of her as she sank into the warm water of her bath. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back against the rolled towel she'd set behind her neck and focused on relaxing all the muscles in her body, starting with her toes and working her way up from there. "Hmm…" She was glad that Sakura had removed what stitches Tenten had needed a few days before, since they had prevented her from taking relaxing baths or showers right after she'd been allowed to come home. What she did hate, however, was the pinkish-white scars left behind. It wasn't that she didn't already have scars on her body - as a kunoichi, injuries (some quite serious) were inevitable - but these seemed … different. They were the first she'd received since she and Neji married, and though she knew Neji didn't love her for her superficial looks, she still couldn't help but hate the marring of her skin. She knew she was being absolutely ridiculous (after all, she loved every single one of Neji's scars, though not their causes), but just could not stop herself.

Relax. Don't think about it. That lasted for all of three seconds before her mind went off on another tangent. Though the Hokage had assigned several people to the task of figuring out who the midnight intruder into Hyuuga House had been (and Hiashi had even sent out a few of his own, secretly), nothing had come to light. The assassin was still as nameless as he'd been when he died. He'd had no headband or papers connecting him to a particular party or village, no other form of identification, and his face had not been in any Konoha Bingo Book. This painful fact Tenten could attest to personally. The face of her (and worse, Neji's) would-be murderer was seared permanently into her mind, and she'd checked her Bingo Book twice just to make sure she didn't miss him. Nothing.

He had been a nobody from nowhere. Whoever was intent on killing Neji was very smart - and, undoubtedly, was even then busy building a still greater plan than the one he (or she) had had before. He was probably just waiting for things to die down a bit, for attentions to grow lax once more… Though security around the Hyuuga estate had been heightened considerably, Tenten couldn't help but think that someone had gotten in before (after all, she'd done it several times herself before she'd married Neji) undetected, so it was not impossible that someone could do it again.

Though something was still bothering her… Crinkling her nose in thought, she searched her mind diligently, but couldn't seem to grasp the elusive thought. Sighing, she gave up and went back to trying to relax and enjoy her bath, refocusing on relaxing her muscles from her feet up as she inhaled the soothing scent of lavender.

She must have somehow managed to relax enough to fall asleep, because the next thing she became aware of was a gentle hand touching her hair and Neji's voice in her ear. "Wake up, Tenten. It's time to get ready for dinner."

Jerking awake in surprise, Tenten flailed in the water for a moment, having forgotten where she was. Had her husband not been an accomplished shinobi, he probably wouldn't have gotten out of the way in time to keep from getting splashed, or punched by the fist she sent flying toward him out of reflex. He stood just out of reach of the drops of water streaked across the floor, brows furrowed and mouth turned down in an expression of bemusement. "If I'd realized you were that deeply asleep…" he murmured.

Reaching over the edge of the bath, Tenten felt around for her towel as she blinked the last of the sleepiness out of her eyes and mind. "No, it's all right," she murmured. "Sorry I almost got you wet. And punched you." She stood, wrapped the towel around herself quickly, then stepped out of her now-lukewarm bath and pulled the stopper so the water could drain out. "How did your meeting with Hiashi go?" She started past him toward the bedroom, intent on dressing so she wouldn't cause them to be late.

Neji caught her hand casually as she started to pass him, easily pulling her to a halt. "Despite his and Lady Tsunade's efforts, nothing more has been found on the assassin," he said quietly. "Or, perhaps I should say nothing at all has been found. He's not in any Bingo Book we have, and there are no tattoos or deformities we could use to identify him." His lips compressed and jaw set in a frustrated expression she didn't see on his face very often at all.

Reaching up, Tenten pushed a lock of hair off his face before touching his cheek with the pads of her fingers. "If whoever sent him is stupid enough to try again, we'll be ready for him." They both knew that her "if" should have been a "when," but each willingly held on to the confidence she'd managed to inject in her tone and words. "Now then, I need to go get ready for dinner, lest we be late." Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and started to pull away.

Her husband surprised her when his arm shot out to wrap firmly but gently around her waist, pulling her back toward him. She yielded willingly to his touch, allowing him to tilt his head down and kiss her properly. There was something almost desperate in his kiss, and that surprised Tenten. For the past two weeks he'd been treating her like she was made of glass, as if she'd shatter if he used anything but the feather-lightest of touches. It had started to grate on her nerves, to be honest. She was glad he'd stopped treating her like that, at least for now.

At last Neji pulled back, though he didn't completely let go of her. "So many times these past two weeks, I've thought about how close I came to losing you," he said. His eyes, hard and cold, were fixed somewhere over her left shoulder. "Never again, Tenten. If whoever this is comes back to try again, and something … goes wrong … promise me you'll stay out of the way and let things run their course."

Something cold and ugly unfurled in her stomach, making her glad that they hadn't yet had dinner. "Neji-" she began, horrified.

His hand fisted into the fabric of her towel at the small of her back. "Promise me, Tenten. Please." Now his eyes were glaring directly into hers, icy white with their intensity. She had never been afraid of his eyes, not even when she'd first seen the way the Byakugan altered the planes of his face around their pupil-less depths. But now the force of the emotion in his eyes made her frightened, simply because she'd never seen physical proof of him feeling anything quite that strongly before - nothing dangerous, anyway.

Her throat went dry, robbing her of her ability to speak. She couldn't promise him that. At one time, she had thought she really could promise him anything, but now? Anything but that.

Neji must have seen the determination in her eyes, because he sighed and finally released her from his powerful gaze. "I figured." The words came out on a long sigh, almost disguised by the rush of air. But she had known him long enough to be able to distinguish the words, even when he didn't want her to hear them.

Unable to make herself part with him under such tense conditions, even for a few moments, Tenten pushed herself up onto her tiptoes again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her cheek against his. "I love you," she said. The words meant so much more than their face value; she said them in a way that was meant to convey everything for which she couldn't find the right terms.

His lips brushed her bare shoulder, lingering for a long moment on one of her worse scars. He didn't say anything in response, but he didn't have to. He'd always had a way of being able to tell her how he felt with a single touch, or a brief look. When at last he withdrew, he guided her quickly to the door and closed it behind her before she could get a good look at his face.

She didn't realize until after the door had closed and the lock had clicked that the warm, wet sensation on the scar so very close to her heart was a single teardrop: one she herself had not shed. For a moment she rested her head against the door, hearing nothing but splashing water inside. Then she forced herself to turn away and dress, knowing she had no choice but to allow Neji time to compose himself.

And yet, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she couldn't promise him the one thing he wanted more than any other in the world, even though she knew that if their positions were reversed and it had been she who asked the same thing of him, he would have replied in the same way.

If Hiashi and Hinata noticed the tenseness between Neji and Tenten at dinner, neither said anything about it. Their conversation focused mainly on harmless topics - the upcoming street fair in Konoha, Hanabi's excitement over her first mission with her team (on which she was gone at that very moment), and the rumor that Lady Tsunade was almost finished preparing Naruto to take over as Hokage, the date set for just a little over three months away.

Neji couldn't force himself to show enthusiasm for any of the chosen subjects. He was too busy focused on Tenten, who sat quietly next to him, barely picking at her food. He knew he had struck a nerve inside her with his earlier request, and regretted having upset her. But he knew his wife very well - she was impulsive, passionate to a fault, willing to do whatever it took to protect and save those closest to her.

Too bad Lady Hokage hadn't approved his and Tenten's plan to disappear from Konoha for a while. She had deemed it too dangerous, saying that if they got too far away from the village, help would undoubtedly not come in time if they were caught, and there was no way for them to safely get a message back to the village. Neji could understand those reasons, but it still made him a little angry. He hated being stuck inside the Hyuuga estate, waiting for another assassin who might or might not come.

He wished he could have at least talked Tenten into leaving. But she had been adamant about remaining at his side, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't selfishly glad she was staying. On the nights Tenten had forced him out of the hospital to come home and sleep, he'd woken himself on the verge of screams several times. On each occasion, he'd had to force himself to calm down and remember that Tenten was still alive and relatively safe. He'd fortunately not suffered any such nightmares since she'd come home, but the images that haunted his waking hours were almost as awful.

The four retired from the dinner table earlier than usual that evening, not lingering over conversation like usual. Neji let Tenten go upstairs by herself, knowing she needed a little time to herself, even though she didn't seem to want to ask him for it. Hinata seemed to sense something was amiss, but didn't comment, instead inviting him out to the garden with her for a while. He managed to last about twenty minutes watching her paint, but finally had to excuse himself and go back inside.

Tenten was curled up on a cushion by the window when he entered their apartments. She didn't turn, even though he knew she knew he was there. He stood silently by the door for a long time, watching her watch the wind in the trees, before he finally got up the nerve to cross the room and kneel next to her. "Tenten."

She didn't say anything. She just scooted a little closer to him and curled into his side, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. Neji let out a silent sigh of relief, wrapping both his arms securely around her as he followed her earlier gaze. They stayed like that a long time, silently wrapped up in each other and their separate thoughts, a familiar and comfortable pastime for each of them. How many times had they sat side-by-side, usually under a tree while she rested and he meditated, comfortable with their silence and each other? Too many to count, certainly. Neji thought he liked things this way better, though.

His wife finally stirred out of his embrace long after the sun had vanished beneath the horizon. He let her go, turning his head a little to watch her vanish into their bedroom. He wondered if their earlier conversation was still bothering her, since she hadn't said a word to him since before dinner. Standing, he allowed the guilt clawing silently at him to direct his feet as he slid open the door into their bedroom and entered.

Tenten was already in bed, sitting propped up against a nest of pillows as she read by the light of the lamp on the bedside table. This time she did look up as he entered, a soft smile on her face. She looked more like herself than she had since before she'd been hurt, and it made his heart beat a little faster.

No. Sternly, he redirected his trajectory toward the bathroom, deciding he'd imagined the flicker of disappointment on her face as she turned back to her book that he'd glimpsed right before he shut the door. It didn't take him long to brush his teeth, splash some cold water onto his face to try to snap some sense into himself, and change into nightclothes.

In that short period of time, Tenten had set aside her book and turned off her light. She looked to be asleep, the light of the moon illuminating the peaceful expression on her face. Neji scowled as guilt dug at him again - she got tired so easily now, and he knew he was the cause of it this time - as he quietly moved across the room and slid into bed next to her, trying not to jar her awake.

She rolled over as he settled onto his back, face nestling into his shoulder, hand fisting into his nightshirt, leg hitching slightly over his. "I'm sorry, Neji," she whispered sleepily against him.

Neji curled his arm around her and tangled his fingers in her loose hair. "I love you," he replied. As she had done earlier, he allowed the three words to express so much more than the usual sentiment. He felt her smile into his shoulder, and knew she knew he felt she had nothing to apologize for.

MOVE!

Neji did not question the instinct that shocked him awake an indeterminate time later. Instead, he tightened his arms around Tenten and rolled violently to the right, landing on his forearms and the balls of his feet so he could protect his wife with his body while at the same time not putting too much of his weight on her.

Her eyes were wide with comprehension as she fisted her hand in his shirt and tugged just as a shuriken whizzed a few centimeters above his back and embedded itself in the wall instead of him. Neji plunged his hand under the mattress, fingers curling around the familiar handle of the kunai Tenten had put there. Using the bed as cover, he shifted into a hunched-over crouch. "Run while I distract him," he breathed. "Get help." He didn't wait for her response, knowing what it would be, before he launched himself up and over the bed, activating his Byakugan as he lunged toward the intruder kunai-first.

The intruder leaped away, just managing to avoid getting stabbed or tackled by Neji. The Hyuuga landed hard on his shoulder and rolled back up to his feet, seeing Tenten just avoiding a few shuriken as she ducked out of the room. He let out his breath in relief, triumphantly turning back to the assassin, who was already turning away from the door, back to Neji. His motions seemed hurried, as if he realized now that he didn't have much time left to complete his mission.

A kunai appeared in the other person's hand, and Neji had about two seconds to try to figure out what his best move should be. As the intruder lunged forward, Neji decided to use the other man's momentum against him. He settled into the correct stance for the Gentle Fist, deciding that would be the best route to take to get things finished quickly.

At the very last second, the assassin twisted away, making Neji miss with the technique he had used successfully a thousand times. If it were not for the fact that the Hyuuga prodigy's momentum was carrying him forward, since the Gentle Fist had not made its intended contact, Neji would have received a kunai in the back. As it was, he felt it skim across his shoulders, drawing a thin line of blood. Grr. How could that have failed? I've never missed with the Gentle Fist before - and no one's ever gotten out of the way! Was he dealing with someone even more knowledgeable about the Hyuuga family's inner workings than he'd first thought?

A sudden burst of pain in his cheek sent him stumbling away, hand lifting to touch the blood on his cheek incredulously. Was that a lucky shot, or do they know where my blind spot is? If they hadn't known before, they did now, because there was no way his attacker could have missed the fact that Neji hadn't seen the kunai coming in time to turn away or block it.

Neji spun around to keep his attacker in sight just in time to see the black-clothed figure stumble back, an arm locked around his neck, kunai in hand. Tenten!

His wife had jumped onto the back of the assassin, wrapping an arm around his throat to cut off his air as she held the tip of her kunai against the side of his neck. "It's over," Tenten announced calmly.

The light flicked on, and Neji turned to see Hiashi and Hinata standing in the doorway, the latter still looking a little sleepy but relatively alert. The addition of light didn't make that much of a difference, since the figure was masked. This didn't last long, since the head of the house stalked straight across the room and snatched off the dark fabric, revealing the face of the newest assassin.

Neji's first impression was that the man looked slightly familiar. But it wasn't until he caught sight of pale, pupil-less eyes that matched his own and the curse mark on the man's forehead that comprehension dawned.

His attacker had been a Hyuuga, a member of a branch family, just like Neji.

Hiashi scowled darkly as Hinata and Tenten both gasped in surprise. "Gorou! What is the meaning of this?" He fisted his hand into the other man's shirt furiously.

Tenten at last let go of the other Hyuuga and came to stand next to Neji, though she still looked ready to renew her attack if it became necessary.

The young man, who was only two or three years older than Neji, glared like a cornered, wounded animal. "I'm not telling you anything."

Now the fact that he was able to avoid my Gentle Fist technique makes sense, Neji thought grimly. And that whole time, under his mask, he had his own Byakugan activated. That explains how he was able to sneak past the guards into the house. But is he working by himself, or for someone else…? He wasn't sure which possibility was more disturbing.

Hiashi let out a disgusted sound low in his throat and turned toward the door, dragging Gorou with him. "I am going to take you to the interrogation corps myself," he said. "Everyone, stay alert in case this one is working with others."

For a moment Neji, Tenten, and Hinata were left standing silently, unable to do anything but stare at each other. At last the heiress turned away, clenching her visibly shaking hands into fists. "Come. I will make us tea while we wait, and Tenten bandages your wounds."

The moment Lady Hokage had heard about what had occurred, she'd sent a squad of her most trusted ANBU over to protect Neji against any further attacks, his protestations that both he and Tenten were ANBU themselves falling on deaf ears. The masked warriors had stationed themselves outside the main room of Neji and Tenten's apartments, keeping sharp lookout for any further trouble while Tsunade went to join Hiashi at Gorou's interrogation. Because of the danger that might still be present, neither Neji nor Tenten were allowed to leave the Hyuuga premises, which irked them both, but they could not argue.

Despite the fact that the three of them had not had much sleep at all that night, Neji, Tenten, and Hinata were all still wide-awake when Hiashi returned just after sunrise to share the interrogation corps's findings.

Hiashi accepted a cup of tea from his daughter, then sat and sipped silently for a minute, ignoring the three expectant gazes on him. At last, after an amount of time that felt longer than it actually was, he set aside his cup and met each of their eyes in turn, settling lastly on Neji. "Gorou was working alone, on his own agendas," Hiashi announced quietly.

An almost audible sigh of relief passed among the three who had been waiting so long for news. "Why?" Hinata asked. "And, if his target was Neji all along, why did he attack Tenten?"

"One question at a time, daughter," Hiashi said admonishingly, but not harshly. "Firstly, Gorou was on a mission during the attack on Tenten, so he did not know that Neji had been sent out on one of his own at the time. The man he sent into the compound was an assassin-for-hire, with no loyalties except those who paid the highest. Gorou had been planning this for quite some time, which was how he had managed to ferret out the man, who obviously is in no Bingo Book to which we have access."

"His being a Hyuuga explains why the assassin was able to get into the compound so easily," Neji said, nodding. Now everything was beginning to make sense. "And as long as he was off on a mission, he would seem utterly innocent if someone did, perchance, suspect a member of the family. He probably planned to kill the assassin himself if he did escape the compound alive, to keep the truth from ever getting out."

Nodding, Hiashi smiled thinly. "Your surmise is correct, as always," he said. "After the assassin failed and was killed, Gorou decided he needed to commit the murder himself to make sure it was done correctly. Since he was a member of the family, he planned to quickly commit the murder, slip out, and act surprised when he was later told about it. Of course, his plan did fail, for which we're all thankful."

Tenten rested her head on Neji's shoulder, her hand tightening slightly around his. "But that still doesn't explain why Gorou wanted to kill Neji," she said softly.

"Jealousy," Hiashi stated flatly, his response immediate. "Among other things."

Neji quirked a disbelieving brow, finding it hard to believe anyone could be jealous of him. Hinata, yes, since she was the heiress to the family, thus the one with the most power.

"Don't sell yourself short," Hiashi said sternly. "Gorou, although older, has always been jealous of your abilities. He was never able to do as you did and teach himself the Gentle Fist technique, or any of the others you were able to pick up, even though he's almost as powerful as you. He was hoping if he eliminated you, the Elders and I would turn to him and teach him the techniques so we would have a replacement." He sighed heavily. "This was also part of a larger scheme he was still mapping out, which eventually led to breaking the seal and stealing the leadership of the Hyuuga clan for himself."

Hinata let out a soft, strangled sound. "How did we miss…?"

Hiashi shook his head. "I don't know, Hinata. No one in the family has ever tried a coup such as this before, and I hope none shall be attempted again in the future. None of us are sure what motivated Gorou to try what he did, other than jealousy and hatred. His mental stability seems lacking, as well, but is that really an excuse?" Lifting a hand, Hiashi rubbed his forehead tiredly. "What Gorou seems to have failed to realize is that Neji is irreplaceable."

Neji blinked in surprise. He wasn't entirely sure what his uncle meant by such a compliment - whether it was aimed at Neji as a person, or at his power in particular - but regardless, it was the nicest thing Hiashi had ever said, so he chose to take it at face value and not pursue the meaning behind it further. "Thank you, Uncle," he murmured.

Tenten snuggled a little tighter against his side and smiled up at him, agreement shining in her honey eyes.

Hinata cleared her throat softly. "What is going to happen to Gorou?"

A grim expression settled on Hiashi's tired features. "He will be punished accordingly." The words were soft, but they hung heavily in the silence that followed.

Neji sighed. He could partly understand where Gorou was coming from - he had, after all, harbored some of the selfsame feelings toward Hinata when he was younger. And there were few things he desired more in life than being free of the caged bird seal on his forehead that bound him to servitude to the main branch of the Hyuuga family. But still, he couldn't imagine going to the lengths Gorou did to accomplish those goals…

Hiashi stood abruptly, bowing slightly before turning toward the door. "Excuse me. I believe the Elders and I have much to discuss. Hinata, you should be there, too." He paused at the door, turning back toward where Neji and Tenten stood respectfully next to each other, bowing slightly. "I will come back later and tell you both about what we talked about. I believe it is time for a few things in this family to change." With that he and Hinata were gone, at last leaving Neji and Tenten alone.

After pressing a soft kiss to his wife's forehead, Neji went over to the window to gaze out over the gardens below. "While I'm glad things are finally going to change … I'm afraid they're going about it for the wrong reasons," he said. "They're going to release some of their power over us for fear of something like this happening again, to one of them."

Tenten's arms slipped around his waist as her head came to rest on his back, just between his shoulder blades. "Perhaps that's true," she said softly. "But things are changing, and for the better. Maybe, whether we like the reasons or not, we should accept this as a good thing, at least for now. These changes might open the door for more to come in the future, and those changes made for the right reasons."

Neji turned in Tenten's embrace and wrapped his arms around her, suddenly feeling very tired. "Thank you, Tenten. For - for everything."

She smiled up at him, understanding shining in her eyes. "I love you, Neji."

*~The End~*

Author's Ending Notes: And here's part two, finished! I really enjoyed writing this part, especially the scenes with just Tenten and Neji. They reflect a lot of how I see their relationship, as a fiercely loyal, passionate, and protective couple. I loved investigating all three facets, especially in the context of this fic. Also, I wish I could have gone into more details with Gorou's character, but there was no way to do so without unbalancing the fic, particularly since I wanted to stick with Neji and Tenten's POVs. Perhaps I'll do a companion oneshot later, with more about him and what compelled him to do the things he did. Hmm. Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed Broken and Fixed, and thank you for reading!