The Konoha hospital was not particularly busy at the moment and Sakura, keen to head home and catch a few hours of sleep after a long night shift, was in the process of discharging the two injured shinobi when Neji Hyuuga burst through the door into the waiting room. Tenten was pale and unconscious in his arms, and it only took one quick glimpse of the blood covering both of them and the expression of unaltered fear on his face for Sakura to yell for a gurney. She went straight to Tenten, checking for a pulse and asking Neji for details as the gurney arrived and they transferred her to it.

"What happened?"

Sakura felt more than say his wince as he answered, "She was stabbed in the back with a kunai, we can't stop the bleeding."

Sakura nodded as Neji put Tenten down on the bed, but he seemed to have something more to say and she looked up at him as one of the other medics began wheeling the gurney towards the surgery room doors.

"Sakura, she…she's pregnant."

To her credit, the pink haired woman didn't really react to the shocking news of her friend's previously undisclosed condition, and simply nodded as she placed her hand gently on his arm,

"I'll do what I can."

And with that she had disappeared behind the doors with Tenten and the other medic. That had been over four hours ago, and while he had seen a number of people hurry in and out of the doors since, Neji had not had an update on Tenten's condition since arriving and it was starting to drive him mad. Shortly after he had arrived carrying her unconscious and bleeding body, Hinata, Naruto and his uncle had appeared quietly beside him. They simply watched for a few moments as Neji stood unseeing and still in the center of the room, his girlfriend's blood covering his front and dripping from his fingers by his side. It was Hinata who quietly approached him and suggested that he clean up. It took him a moment to process her comment before he took in what she was saying and looked down to see himself.

He must have looked terrifying to everyone else because the sight of so much of Tenten's blood on him was just about more than he could handle himself. He had seen her injured before, and she him, but never had he seen either of them bleed so profusely.

Having understood Hinata's request, Neji was about to comment that he had no other clothes and wasn't leaving when Shikamaru walked up beside them and handed him his training bag.

"I didn't think you would want to go home to get changed." He gave his friend a brief, supportive half-smile before handing him the bag and walking over to take a seat beside Hiashi and await news of Tenten's condition.

And that was how the past four hours had been spent. Neji had washed up and changed his clothes, throwing the bloodied ones in the bag to be disposed of later, and taken a seat between Hinata and Shikamaru. The group waited in silence, Hiashi and Shikamaru observing the movement of staff in and out and the passing of time on the wall clock opposite them, while Hinata sat quietly beside Naruto, who had his left arm draped around her shoulder and her right hand clasped in his as he whispered occasional reassurances to her. Neji caught the words hope and strong at one point but otherwise mostly ignored them. Eventually sitting down became more frustrating than helpful, and he stopped leaning his elbows on his knees and stood to pace in front of the empty chairs on the other side of the room. He could feel Hiashi and Shikamaru's eyes boring into the back of his head but he pointedly ignored them as he paced. He knew he should ask about what happened in the compound after he left and where the other traitor elder had disappeared to, or how the others had come to find them, but he felt as though all he were capable of was walking the same six foot line in the floor, back and forth, staring at the white tiles without even breathing until Sakura came back with news. When he realised she wasn't coming back anytime soon he finally steeled himself to look up, and the emotion of what he saw completely shocked him.

Hinata was leaning into her fiance's shoulder and while her expression was clearly hopeful, she had silent tears in her eyes that were spilling softly down her cheeks. Naruto wore a look equal parts anger and anguish, which didn't surprise Neji as he hated to see anyone hurting, especially Hinata or any of his friends. He had always been particularly fond of Tenten, as had Shikamaru. Said Nara was almost as unreadable in expression as Neji's uncle, both men sitting thoughtfully silent, Shikamaru with his elbows on his knees and head supported on his hands, Hiashi sitting in the same straight-backed pose he often took when refereeing stressful encounters between Neji and the clan Council. He made eye contact with his nephew and Neji realised suddenly that while he was pacing back and forth feeling utterly alone and barely able to function, the people who were most family to him were all sitting right there with him, hoping and worrying, with the exception of Lee.

As though a sign from the heavens, the green monster of Konoha himself rushed through the entry at that very moment, coming to a sudden stop when he saw them and moving directly to Neji. He was out of breath but whether from running or not Neji couldn't tell.

"What happened? I heard Tenten was attacked but no one could tell me any details…" he was almost frantic and something brotherly and protective in Neji kicked in at that point to snap him out of his solitude and force him to try to reassure or calm his old teammate.

"She was stabbed by a traitor in the clan Shikamaru and I were trying to apprehend. Sakura is in there with her but we don't know anything yet."

Lee's eyes widened slight at the explanation but he calmed somewhat knowing that Sakura was with her.

Shikamaru suddenly had a thought and he leaned forward and asked Neji quietly, "Did you tell her about…" he made a 'you know' sort of gesture with his head, "the ah…"

Neji leaned back against the wall with arms folded, tipping his head back and wincing as he closed his eyes and answered, "about the baby, yes…"

Lee's eyes turned comically wide as he looked from one man to the other and back in rapid succession, "Baby?! What baby? Whose baby?"

It was lucky that they were alone in the waiting room and his shocked yell didn't disturb someone.

"Mine," Neji opened his eyes and looked down at his ex-teammate, "and Tenten's, obviously."

"Oh Neji, I had no idea…" Lee's voice lowered and his expression softened.

"Neither did she until a few hours ago…" he felt a pang of guilt for that. If he had told her sooner maybe things would have happened differently and she wouldn't be here fighting for her life. Lee seemed to feel guilty too, though why he would was beyond Neji.

"I didn't even know the two of you were together. You never said anything and I never noticed any change between you." Oh, that's why. That definitely wasn't Lee's fault.

"It's okay, Lee. No one knew, except for Hinata. Though I suppose it doesn't matter now. Who knows what the council will do after tonight…"

"Well at least two of them won't be a problem." Shikamaru smirked slightly from his seat and leaned back to relax a little now that conversation had been started and everyone seemed a fraction less tense. Even if only a fraction. "We tracked both of them down and took them to Hokage tower after you left, so I think the council will have more important concerns tonight than your wayward personal life…"

Shikamaru was interrupted by the sudden movement of Hiashi, who had been as still as a statue up to that point, but stood now and gestured to Neji to join him.

"Speaking of which…Nephew, a word?"

A looking of concern passed between the three men but Neji nodded curtly before glancing back towards the surgery doors, where he kept desperately hoping to see Sakura's pink hair appear. Lee caught this and gave him a shooing gesture, "Do not fear, my youthful friend. We will wait for Sakura to bring us news."

Lee set himself in a sentry position standing in the corner, which would have been funny if the situation weren't so deadly serious, and Neji followed his uncle to the opposite corner of the room. The two men stood in mirror of one another, arms crossed and heads slightly bent as they conversed quietly, and even without their distinctive eyes, the familial resemblance was uncanny in that moment. Naruto, who had been unnaturally quiet and was still holding Hinata, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, looked over her head to Shikamaru and Lee.

"What do you think they are talking about?"

Both men paused to think for a moment, glancing back at the pair, before Hinata sat up suddenly interested and provided the answer for them.

"Father is telling Neji that he isn't going to be punished for anything that happened tonight…last night, and that he has his blessing."

All three mouths dropped open before Naruto asked, "How on earth would you know that?"

Hinata smiled slyly for a moment before indulging them, "Tenten came looking for my father after Neji and Shikamaru left her last night. I bumped into her after having dinner with you…" she cast her gaze to Naruto, but missed the disapproving looks from Shikamaru and Lee that said 'that's a late dinner…' before continuing,

"She felt like something was wrong about the whole situation and that there had to be someone else on the inside. By the time we got to my father, he had already surmised who in the council might like to be rid of him and so we decided to come back in case the two of you needed help." She turned towards Shikamaru this time.

"He already knew about Neji and Tenten and their…situation…at that point…"

Shikamaru nodded, "He had to tell us when I found out Tenten was being offered up to sweeten the deal," he said the phrase as though it actually left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

Hinata made a face suggesting that she wasn't aware of that piece of information and continued, "Father told her that Neji was always a bit of a lone wolf and that he had always hoped he might find someone who was as good for him as Neji's mother was for his father. Tenten was shocked. She said that Neji never mentions his parents or their relationship much, and given the restrictions on his life and the fact that they couldn't have a real relationship, she tried not to bring it up." She glanced over at her father and cousin again and could see the surprise on Neji's face as he listened to his uncle.

"Father doesn't want Neji to miss out on having a family now like he did as a child – I don't think he remembers a lot about his parents these days. He told Tenten that if she can put up with Neji," Hinata smiled as she repeated his joking words, "and if it is what they both want, he won't let the council or anyone else stand in their way, especially given the circumstances."

"Alright Neji," commented Naruto in celebration, "it only took, like, a decade, a secret relationship, surprise pregnancy and clan uprising to get there, but get there he did!"

Shikamaru and Hinata rolled their eyes at his jokingly backhanded compliment but Lee gave him a high-five as they watched the two Hyuuga's return to them. Neji didn't say anything, but his expression was less brooding and he seemed somewhat less distressed than he had been in the last few weeks, despite the situation.

The early morning had brought a few more people through the building, and the rising sun had lifted the mood of the room a little simply by changing the atmosphere. They sat in silence again but it had taken on a decidedly more companionable feeling. It was less than five minutes after their conversation that Sakura finally appeared, holding the double doors open so the gurney could be wheeled through into one of the patient rooms, and Neji was standing before he even realised he had moved, Hyuuga eyes following what little he could see of Tenten down the hallway, despite knowing that only next of kin would be allowed to see her for the next few hours. He stopped in front of Sakura when she held her hand up to him and noticed the deep tiredness in her expression. She was absolutely exhausted and probably not in the mood to argue with him. She held a clipboard against her chest with one arm and ran a tired hand through her distinctive hair as she decided on her choice of words. That gesture alone froze him to the core with worry. Sakura looked at them all briefly then directed her attention solely to Neji.

"It took us a long time to stop the bleeding and she has lost an enormous amount of blood – we had to give her a transfusion – but other than that the damage was surprisingly limited. There will be a nasty scar on her back but with luck and a lot of rest she will recover physically within the next few weeks or so." She paused for a moment before adding, "She is unconscious, so she doesn't know yet but…we couldn't save the baby. I'm so sorry, Neji."

Sakura put a consoling hand on his arm as he sagged a little and gave a half-hearted nod to indicate he understood. He had sort of assumed when he saw how much blood Tenten lost that there wasn't much they could do regarding the baby – that they would lose it – and he was really more concerned that they didn't lose Tenten because if they did it wouldn't matter. Deep inside though, in a place he didn't really visit often, there was a sense of aching loss regardless that reminded him even though it was unexpected, he liked the idea of being a dad. Just another thing Tenten brought to his attention that he didn't know he wanted until she made it possible. And somehow all he did was get her hurt…

"Tenten might be out for a while and when she comes to she will be weak, but you can go and sit with her if you'd like."

Neji looked up in surprise at the offer, "I thought only next of kin were allowed in?"

"That's correct." Sakura's smile was dazzling despite her tiredness and her eyes showed a hint of mischievous inside knowledge, "Tenten has had you listed as her next of kin since she was seventeen, Neji."

He almost heard everyone's mouths drop open at that. Sakura caught his eye, "I guess in some way she's always known what you both wanted…"

Neji couldn't help but return a smirk of his own as he nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess she has."