Disclaimer: Never have and never will.

Tenten was wandering through a thick, oppressive fog. The last thing she remembered was the blinding pain in her head before everything went black.

Now there was no pain. There was nothing. No light. No sound.

The deprivation was terrifying.

"Neji!? Kazuya?" she called out haltingly, trying to get her bearings and wanting to hear something other than complete, utter silence.

Expectedly there was no reply, but when Tenten saw something change in the unvaried, dark landscape, she practically ran towards it. What she saw made her stop dead in her tracks.

Her beloved parents, teammates, every single person who she held dear to her was lying dead in a growing pool of blood.

"You killed them."

She tore her gaze away from the horrifying sight before her and looked up to see a masked woman holding a bloodstained sword watching her calmly. The mysterious figure lowered its porcelain mask and Tenten stared at the very face she saw in her mirror every day, the face her mother and father had given to her.

Suddenly she couldn't breathe. An unbidden whimper escaped from her mouth as the inevitable wave of overwhelming guilt and grief threatened to drown her, pulling her down to her knees, reminding her that she was alone and that it was all her fault.

The battle hardened mistress of blades was gone.

All Tenten could do was weep.

Tenten's movements were always fluid and graceful when she fought, and the way she was doing so now left no question as to whether or not she was serious. From the beginning Kazuya had refused to kill or even hurt her in any way, but she didn't seem to have any problem doing either.

Although she was somewhat limited in terms of jutsu by the lack of her large scroll, it didn't make his fighting her any easier. He had been trying to get close enough to knock her unconscious, but each time he would be pushed back by a barrage of weapons.

Her injured shoulder didn't seem to be affecting her in the least. Kazuya suspected that she probably couldn't feel it at all thanks to Nakajima's sick jutsu, but at the rate she was going, the wound would reopen and it would hurt like hell afterwards.

Kazuya's grip on the shuriken tightened as he parried a blow from Tenten's twin katana and stared into the blank, lifeless depths of her usually expressive eyes.

He was going to murder that bastard who dared to use and degrade her body this way. If he was still alive after Hyuuga was through with him. Unfortunately, things didn't look like they were going too well on Hyuuga's end.

In fact, the entire fight seemed to have been orchestrated in Nakajima's favour. Hyuuga didn't have the weapons to sever Nakajima's chakra strings and the last time he'd checked, his clan's weapons didn't have any blunt edges for him to attack Tenten without harming her.

If he and Hyuuga switched places, it would be an entirely different story altogether, but by getting Tenten to target Rin, Nakajima had lured him away from the fight to engage Tenten. It wasn't that he would lose, but by winning he would most likely end up killing her and that was something he would never allow.

But unless Hyuuga came up with something good, it was only a matter of time he lost.

"Hyuuga!"

Said Hyuuga caught the fuuma shuriken Kazuya threw at him out of pure instinct.

"How do I use this?"

"I'm a little busy here, in case you haven't noticed," Kazuya answered, hastily dodging the shuriken headed his way. "You're supposed to be a genius, right? Figure it out yourself!"

Kazuya knew that he was asking too much. Even with the proper instruction, most Jounin took a week or more to learn how to channel chakra into their weapons and sharpen it. But Hyuuga Njeji wasn't one of your average Jounin, at least not from what he'd seen and heard so far.

I hope I'm right about you Hyuuga.

If not, we're all dead.

"Kaiten!"

Neji's chakra barrier deflected the chakra strings before they so much as touched him. Once he was certain that there wasn't anything in his immediate vicinity, he slowed his spin and eventually came to a stop, his jutsu leaving behind a large crater in the ground in its wake.

He caught sight of something charging towards him and quickly channelled his energy into the fuuma shuriken, raising it in time to block Nakajima's tanto. Several chakra laced wires immediately wrapped themselves around the shuriken, but the thin layer chakra covering every inch of the weapon was preventing the chakra strings from slicing right through the metal like they had the kunai Neji had tried cutting the strings with before. However, his borrowed shuriken couldn't cut Nakajima's chakra strings either, so perhaps it was merely a stalemate.

Neji watched hazel eyes narrow, the owner's lips pulled back in a silent snarl before returning to their earlier, carefully blanked expression.

Apparently, Nakajima hadn't been expecting this.

"What did you do to her?" The single question was nearly inaudible and yet forceful at the same time. His mercurial eyes bore into his opponent's, but the latter was hardly intimidated by his glare.

"As you can see, she has been most cooperative." The other shinobi started deliberately, giving him a deceptively friendly smile. "After a little persuasion, of course."

White eyes sharpened at the implications of what Nakajima had just said, but he didn't ask or say anything more. When it was clear that neither of them were going to give in, Nakajima disappeared back into the shadows to prepare for his next assault.

Keeping his byakugan trained on Nakajima, Neji ran through his remaining options. His sole long ranged technique was too easily avoided and his opponent's wires prevented him from getting close enough to attack.

Neji glanced at the fuuma shuriken in his hand. Shaping his chakra after it had been channelled into the weapon was proving to be more difficult than he had expected. At this rate, he would never be able to sever Nakajima's chakra strings without Fuuma's help. Unless...

The Hyuuga made sure the energy in the shuriken hadn't yet dissipated before sending his chakra to his fingertips.

He was going to end this.

At first, Nakajima found himself somewhat bemused his opponent made the first move. He reacted immediately, sending out his strings to attack the Hyuuga who continued coming straight for him, both dodging and blocking them with his newly acquired weapon.

His surprise turned into amusement when he comprehended the reason behind the Hyuuga's sudden change in tactics. It was out of desperation to end the fight as quickly as possible, most likely to save his precious kunoichi.

You don't need to trouble yourself, Hyuuga-san. This is going to end.

With my victory.

Once the Hyuuga had successfully dodged the last wire, the hidden chakra strings around Nakajima's legs shot forward to secure themselves around his wrists, catching him completely off guard. The other ends of the two wires wound themselves tightly around the branches of a nearby tree, preventing their captive's arms from making even the slightest movement.

The fuuma shuriken hit the ground with a clatter.

Nakajima approached his fallen enemy slowly as if savouring the latter's defeat that was soon to come. He stopped right in front of the Hyuuga and raised his tanto directly above the Hyuuga's chest when something hit his.

Hard.

"H-How-" Nakajima choked on a mouthful of his own blood, his face contorting with pain as his legs gave way.

The Hyuuga prodigy smirked, tapping the strings binding his other hand with the glowing index finger of his freed hand. His chakra had been concentrated and shaped there into a small, razor-sharp chakra blade. The metal wires snapped instantly under his touch.

"I'm a genius."

The second Neji's chakra filled palm put Nakajima out of commission, Tenten froze. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, she collapsed right over the edge of the roof she was standing on.

From the opposite rooftop, Kazuya bit back a curse as he followed her down. Just when he realized that he wasn't going to make it, Neji managed to catch the unconscious kunoichi before she hit the ground.

"Is she okay?" Kazuya asked. Neji ignored him as he gave Tenten a quick once over with his byakugan.

Although she hadn't sustained any injuries during her fight with Fuuma, the wound on her back had opened again. The blood had soaked through the bandages, staining the white fabric of her shirt with a deep red patch that was steadily growing bigger. Neji could feel the wetness seeping into his hakama where he had pressed it against the wound to stem the blood flow.

It wasn't as serious as it looked, but it was best to get it treated as soon as possible.

"Send for a doctor."

The Hyuuga's voice was soft, but it carried well over to the people in the building behind him. One of the guards raced off to carry out his order. Neji laid his teammate down on the soft grass, entrusting her to Fuuma only out of necessity.

Convinced that it was finally safe, several more guards stepped out of the building and proceeded to follow the Jounin as he walked over to Nakajima and helped the latter to his feet at Neji's direction.

"Release her." The steely command behind his request was blatant to everyone who heard it. Nakajima was no exception. Breathing heavily, he brought his hands together to form a hand seal.

Neji's byakugan could clearly see Nakajima's chakra leaving Tenten's body, but he had a feeling that something was amiss.

Tenten still wasn't waking up.

"It's not over yet."

The stunned silence that followed Nakajima's simple statement was shattered by a piercing scream.

"Tenten? Tenten, what's wrong?" Kazuya asked over the screams of the girl lying on the ground in front of him.

"Tenten-san!" Rin came running past of the guards surrounding her and out into the garden to her friend's side.

Neji could only stand there, watching Fuuma and Sakurai-san's attempts to comfort the crying kunoichi. Never in his life had he seen Tenten like this. The worst was that every single pain-filled sob that escaped her lips made his chest tighten in a way he couldn't comprehend.

Turning all of his conflicting emotions into anger, he unleashed the full extent of his glare combined with his kekkei genkai on the man in front of him.

"What did you do?" His question was barely audible and yet so forceful at the same time.

"I merely released her from my control, Hyuuga-san," Nakajima replied calmly. "Unfortunately, my jutsu can only be used on people who aren't fully conscious, so I'm afraid I had to put her under a genjutsu."

"Release her. Now." Neji was slow and deliberate in his speech, but the warning in his tone was clear enough.

"I will if you let me go. If not, I'd say she has less than ten minutes before she breaks. Especially if she is as weak as she looks. And when she does, her mind will retreat so deeply into itself that she will die."

Neji did not say anything, but he found himself actually considering the idea despite the fact that surrendering would mean that he had lost. Hyuuga Neji hated losing, but there was only one thing that that he simply could not afford to lose.

He began making his way towards the three people in the middle of the garden. Kazuya had stood up, his eyes burning with defiance as he stared straight into his superior's powerful eyes.

"You mean you're going to just let her die?" Kazuya questioned, his voice filled barely restrained anger. The Hyuuga's silence was all the confirmation he needed. The only thing that was stopping him from punching was Rin's hand that was clutching his.

"You're a bigger asshole than I thought."

Neji couldn't bring himself to meet the blonde's hard, accusing glare. Instead, deactivated his bloodline limit and he bent down to Tenten's level.

"Tenten. Tenten." Compared to the way he had been speaking with Nakajima earlier, the Hyuuga's voice was markedly less harsh. Yet, it still retained that strained note of urgency and had even taken on an almost questioning, if not pleading tone.

By now, the tears on her face had stopped falling. Several precious seconds passed as she took several shaky breaths before she spoke, her voice so soft that he almost missed it.

"I-I don't want to be alone..."

There was that uncharacteristic tightening in his chest again before he could think of the right words to say.

"You're not alone," he finally said.

"I can't see anyone. They're all dead," she whispered brokenly. The odd quality in her voice made it sound like she was on the verge of tears again.

"Tenten-san-" Rin started, but stopped when Kazuya shook his head.

The fact that Tenten was responding meant that the genjutsu was weakening, that she was still fighting it. But judging from the way she hadn't even seemed to hear them when he and Rin had tried, she would only respond to Neji. Any interruptions could just as easily send her right back into the illusion, only this time, it could be permanent.

"Open your eyes, Tenten. We're right here."

Tenten's chest rose and fell unevenly as her eyelids fluttered, her head turning towards the familiar sound.

"Neji..." Her brown eyes shone brilliant amber in the moonlight as she looked up at him with a tiny smile before she slipped back into unconsciousness.

"No!" Nakajima shouted, thoroughly defeated now with the loss of his final bargaining chip.

"Saa, Nakajima-san," Soichiro said as stepped out into the gardens with his ever faithful bodyguard and god-brother, Hiroshi, in tow. "You can either come peacefully, or we'll have to use force."

"Insolent boy!" Nakajima spat, struggling weakly in an attempt to escape the guards' hold. "Your pathetic father would have been nothing without me!"

Soichiro's normally gentle eyes narrowed at the insult as he ordered his guards to take Nakajima away.

"We'll him over to the police in the morning, Hyuuga-san," Soichiro assured Neji who nodded once.

Then, for the second time in as many nights, the Hyuuga strode away with the smaller, bloodied frame of his partner's cradled gently in his arms.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D I know I've put the characters through a lot of grief this time, and this arc isn't even over yet. *grins maniacally*

Now to answer your questions before you ask.

Neji's new trick basically consists of gathering chakra in his fingertips like he does for his Eight Trigrams 64 Palms technique and forming the right shape. I figured that this would be easier for him than shaping his chakra after it had been channelled into the fuuma shuriken. As for how our favourite Hyuuga genius came up with this and how he learnt it so quickly, the aforementioned title speaks for itself. ;P

Now, some of you may be wondering why Tenten couldn't snap out of the illusion by herself and why she was so easily taken in by it. All I can say is that it was an extremely powerful genjutsu and maybe give a little hint to check the previous chapter for something said by a certain character that also adds to this explanation.

Also, some of you may be a little pissed at Neji and agree with Kazuya whole-heartedly for not letting that moron go and saving Tenten. This issue, amongst a few others, will be taken up in the following chapters of this part of the story.

And finally, as for why Neji was the only one who was able to help Tenten break the genjutsu? It could be because the jutsu was weakening due to Nakajima was losing his hold on her. But to confirm it for those of you who were speculating, it's mainly because of the close bond that the two of them share, even if one doesn't remember and the other's just too proud to admit it. :)

That's it for now.

Update - 20/1/09:

Beta read by Midnight Memories XD