a/n: Oh look! I updated in a day! Haha please don't expect this too often but I'll try to have at most five days between each update! Anyway, this chapter has a bit more...interaction between Neji and Tenten. Not neccessarily 'romantic' but not just as aquaintances. I suppose this is good because I don't want to rush it yet having them act like complete strangers is undesirable. Anywho, enjoy!

disclaimer: My birth certificate does not say Masashi Kishimoto. Nor am I a man. Therefore, I do not own Naruto.

~Cel:)

BUTTERFLY WINGS
CHAPTER 2
~Inquiry~

Neji woke up the next morning with a massive headache, so great that he questioned whether the girl last night had been hallucination or not. He was sure that she existed, that she wasn't a figment of his imagination, but when he looked out the window, the spot where they had been standing just hours ago was untouched, the early morning dew that graced the grass undisturbed.

"Must have been a dream," he muttered, taking a step away from the window pane. "Yes, that's what it was. Nothing more than a dream…"

The house was deathly silent as he walked out into the hallway and grasped the banister. There was none of the creaking that it often emitted, none of the sloshing water than ran through the pipes. It was as if everyone in this house had died and the building had also lost something.

It had lost that warm comfortable feeling of home. Now, it felt like an unfeeling, indifferent structure that stood there of its own accord. No ties, no bonds, no sentimental value; just some bricks and wood arranged in an elaborate display to house the lost souls.

Or, just one soul.

Neji had been and would be the only one the only one living in this house for a long time. His family had long since abandoned this villa, opting a more economical place down by the shore where crystalline waves crashed against golden-sand beaches.

He walked outside and glanced around. Was he, perhaps, looking for the girl?

"Stupid," he muttered to himself condescendingly, "she's not real."

A flicker of color caught his eye and he turned just in time to see a monarch butterfly flit by him, its wings a mere hairbreadth away from his cheek. The insect brought the girl back to his mind, unable to get her look of horror out of his mind. She had seemed terrified when he brushed the butterfly off his shoulder.

Childish, really, to be afraid of such a harmless creature, particularly one that held such splendor.

The girl was no beauty. Plain brown hair, bright hazel eyes, and not much of a figure, the only real captivating characteristic about her were the emotions that were overflowing in her eyes.

Guilt.

Hurt.

Hunger.

Fear.

And Hope.

Like Pandora's Box, the one good thing the only came out after a whole onslaught of disastrous memories were released.

What did she hope for?

What could she hope for?

Neji had already guessed that she was homeless – the state of her clothes gave it away – what drove her to continue living? It must be goddamn tempting to simply lie down and never wake up and he was sure that this thought occurred to her many times over. And yet, she was still alive and her heart was still beating.

There were too many questions that Neji wanted answers to, all circulating around this one mysterious girl that he wasn't sure even existed. She was real, he finally told himself. She's too human, too complex, to simply be a fabrication. What does she see in life that keeps her going? I need to talk to her.

Almost delirious with desire, Neji began streaking through the forest, unaware of where he was headed, only hoping that his path would somehow cross with the girl's. If he was thinking clearly and hadn't lost his grip on common sense, he would have deduced that there was no way in hell that his wishes would be granted. But his mind was befuddled and so he pressed on.

"She can't have gotten far," Neji muttered to himself. "It's only been a few hours. She should be sleeping at this time. She's not gone. She can't be."

After an hour of fruitless searching and vain attempts to call out to her – he didn't know how to address her as simply shouting 'girl' would be of no use – Neji still wouldn't admit defeat.

I need answers, vital answers, answers that will decide my life or death. I have to find her.

Driven by this thought, Neji ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, disregarding the little voice in his head that scolded him for straying from the path; how would he return home? True, he was as good as lost but there was no point in turning back. All he could do was trek onward and maybe find her, proving that this exploit wasn't for nothing, or do nothing at all and wallow in wasted time.

And just as he considered stopping to take a break, he heard her voice again. (At least, he thought it was her voice. It sounded like it had in his memories but he didn't know for sure.)

"Get away from me! Don't you dare come any closer!" The outburst was punctuated with a scream.

Neji jumped and headed in the direction of her voice, bursting into a small clearing to see her cowering against a tree trunk, arms held defensively in front of her face, legs pulled close to her chest. He looked around for antagonist but, finding none, approached her slowly so as not to frighten her.

And then he saw it, flitting around her head, was a tiny butterfly, about as big as two of his thumbnails and colored like a blazing sunset. He waved his hand around and scared off the insect.

Tenten stopped her whimpering to gaze up at her savior, the frightened look morphing into an accusing one. "You're…Neji. Didn't I tell you that I didn't want any help?"

Ungracious little…

Neji unclenched his hand and forced his face to stay emotionless. "You were making a fool of yourself, scared of a mere butterfly."

Visibly flinching, Tenten bowed her head and wrapped her arms around her legs tightly, encasing herself in a cocoon on limbs. She shook violently and Neji was sane enough to be worried.

"Hey, hey, I'm…sorry," he muttered, still standing above her, not knowing the right way to comfort her.

Appearing not to hear him, she glanced around warily, the trepidation clear in her hazel eyes, and then buried her face into her knees. Neji leaned closer and could hear only snippets of what she was saying yet they were worrisome all the same.

"Weird noises from downstairs…I thought she was just being…clumsy…taking a nap, that's all…red ribbons and…nectar…all my fault…"

"I have to get her out of this forest," Neji muttered to himself, stooping down and lifting her surprisingly light body off of the floor. "She needs serious help." He felt her shake in his arms, her eyelids drooping, succumbing to sleep, unconsciousness.

Move.

Neji looked around the clearing, trying to unearth the correct way back. His heart falling, he realized that this forest was immense and many had warned him not to venture in alone without a clear idea of where he was headed. But…if this girl – this troubled, homeless girl – could do it, then so could he.

He made it a sort of game, a race of some sorts, to keep himself motivated. Make it back to the villa before she wakes up and he would win. Neji did not take well to failure.

And so he was discouraged when she began to stir, her eyes fluttering open and connecting with his. She began to mutter something and Neji had to put his ear right by her mouth to hear her.

"Daddy?"

Neji was slightly bewildered but found himself playing along. "Y-yes?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Tenten continued before Neji could reply. "Why'd you do it?"

"What?"

"I…I thought you loved Mommy."

He was silent. What could he say to that? In light of the poor decisions that he had already made this morning, it would be no surprise if he blurted out something that would traumatize her even more.

Tenten did not seem to notice his lack of words. "Did you really mean it when you said you weren't coming back?"

Neji cleared his throat. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

Nodding, she smiled and buried her face into his shirt, her breathing soon becoming even as she fell back asleep.

Something tugged at his heart as he watched the girl sleep in his arms, so peaceful and innocent. She really didn't deserve the cards that Fate had dealt out to her. But there was nothing she could do except bear the burden and continue living.

"Why can't I do that?" Neji growled to himself as he stepped over a protruding tree root. "She still has a reason for living! Why don't I?"

Around sun high, Neji finally managed to stumble out of the forest and into a grove of apple trees, a location he was quite familiar with. Delighted, he began trekking west to where the villa lay and breathed a sigh of relief when the recognizable shingled rooftop came into view.

As he climbed the stairs with the girl in his arms, he realized that he didn't know her name. Resolving to ask her as soon as she woke, Neji settled her into one of the many unused beds and tucked the blankets around her.

Neji was feeling rather protective of this girl. She clearly had no one else to depend on, to trust, and he had taken it upon himself to be her defender. Like a knight in shining armor protects a princess.

He looked down at Tenten's sleeping face.

A very bedraggled princess.

With a sigh, he trudged downstairs and prepared a light lunch despite the fact that he hadn't had anything to eat since last night. He could barely eat the food that tasted like cardboard but forced it down anyway. When he was done, he cleared the plate by pushing it as far as it would go and laid his head on his folded arms to think.

Suddenly struck by a brilliant idea, Neji turned on his computer, cursing the slow network connection. When his homepage had loaded, he redirected himself to a search engine and typed in four letters.

F. E. A. R.

When Tenten came to, she was surprised to find herself in a bed, a very comfortable bed in fact. The blankets were soft, the pillows plump, and for a moment she just enjoyed the sensation after so many nights of sleeping on the group with nothing but thin, ripped clothing on.

Then her common sense came over and began to question what she was doing here.

Slowly, she pulled the sheet off of her body and placed a toe tentatively on the smooth, cool wood floor. Praying it wouldn't creak, she swung her other leg over and stood up, her eyes landing on the closed door.

As she reached out to grasp the handle, she stopped herself, remembering the butterfly. What lay beyond the door? Did she even want to find out?

"I can't stay cooped up in here forever," she told herself. "I've got to at least try and escape."

Tenten opened the door to reveal nothing and headed for the stairs that lead into an elaborate foyer.

Am I dreaming?

When she had set foot into the kitchen, Tenten saw him, awake and scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper. Ah, this must be his house. I wonder why he brought me here. She tried to recall the day's events but shook her head, unable to do so.

She didn't say anything and continued approaching him, only stopping when his voice reached her ears.

"Oh, you're awake." Neji turned to look at her, inconspicuously flipping his paper over.

"Yes." Tenten scratched the side of her nose.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes."

He looked amused, as if he were talking to a young child. "You're welcome."

"What?"

"I said you're welcome." Neji smirked as if he were enjoying this. "Now, what do you say?"

"Thanks, I guess," Tenten mumbled, suddenly feeling very annoyed that this boy was trying to instruct her.

He seemed satisfied with that as he got up and came to stand in front of her. "Now that I think about it, I never got your name. Were you serious when you said that you had no name?"

Tenten nodded. "I had a name, once, but that was a long time ago. I'm no longer that person."

"I see." Neji's eyebrows furrowed. "Can I ask what you were called when you had a name?"

"Tenten. Tenten was my name."

"Strange phrasing," he commented casually, sidestepping her and heading towards a cupboard. "I presume you're hungry?"

"Famished," Tenten agreed.

Neji produced a plate with bread and a slice of ham, which he set on the table, indicating a chair for Tenten to sit in. He watched as she eagerly obliged and began eating quickly, as if it was all going to disappear in a few seconds, which it did – disappeared into her stomach.

"I want to know, did you see what I wrote on that piece of paper?" Neji waited.

"No, but I can't read very well so it doesn't really matter if I saw it or not," Tenten replied with no sign of shame of embarrassment.

I guess literary skills aren't very helpful when you're homeless.

"You need new clothes," Neji announced, leading the way upstairs.

"No, I don't," she retorted, smoothing the frayed ends of her dark gray shirt. "I'm perfectly fine in this."

"And then you really need to take a shower," he continued, pretending not to have heard her.

Tenten touched her hair, pulled into two messy buns. There was dirt and caked mud from sleeping in the forest last night and who knows what else that could have crawled in. Admitting defeat, she followed the Hyuuga upstairs and into a bathroom.

The bathroom was large, with a bathtub the size of a hot tub stationed in one corner and a walk-in-closet-sized shower off to the right of a titanium sink and marble-top counter. Neji pulled the fluffiest towel from off of a towel rack and pressed it into Tenten's hands.

"Shampoo and conditioner are in the cabinet. Soap for bubble baths, too," Neji explained, gesturing to said cabinet.

Tenten could only nod, stunned by the sheer luxury of the room in front of her.

"I'll find some clothes for you," he told her and then dropped his gaze, looking very awkward. "Um, you need a bra, right?"

"I usually just wrap it up," Tenten replied, not quite registering his embarrassment. "Maybe gauze?"

Neji nodded, looking relieved and headed out of the bathroom, shutting the door to give herself some privacy.

Tenten turned on the bathtub faucets and watched as warm water gushed out and began to fill the enormous tub. Stripping her clothes off quickly, she kicked them into a lopsided pile by the toilet and began rummaging through the cabinet, looking for something Neji called 'bubble bath soap'.

When she emerged victorious with the pink bottle clutched in her hand, she looked at herself in the mirror, frowning at how much weight she had lost. Her ribs were visible and her cheeks had a sunken look to them, almost skeletal. Although her skin was nicely tanned from so much time in the sun and had a few curves, she was overall too anorexic-looking to be called 'pretty'.

She shook her head slowly and poured the soap into the tub, watching with amusement as pink frothy bubbles began to spring up along the surface of the tub. When the water nearly overflowed, Tenten placed a foot into the whipped pink bubbles and slowly lowered herself in, welcoming the feel of warm water cleansing her grimy body.

When she deemed herself sufficiently clean, Tenten drained the water and wrapped her hair up in a towel, another one circling the rest of her body. She opened the bathroom door to see a pile of neatly folded clothes and a roll of gauze resting on top of it.

Tenten unfolded the garments to reveal a green hoodie and black athletic pants. They were warm and smelled of detergent, she observed as she pulled on the pants. She carefully wrapped the gauze around her chest before putting on the hoodie, comfortable despite being slightly baggy.

Neji was sitting at the table when she finally came down, glad that she looked cleaner. He quickly discontinued his writing but not before Tenten saw the word 'trigger'. "I have something to ask you," he said.

She sat down in the seat across from him, disregarding whatever he had been writing. "Ok."

"Will you stay here with me?"

"What?"

Neji frowned, realizing that his wording was not quite correct. "I'm not asking you to marry me or something. It's just that you have nowhere else to go and it's fine with me if you stay here."

"You pity me," Tenten stated.

"I want you to have a better life than you've already had," he contradicted.

"It's the same thing." She crossed her arms, thinking. "So is that your reason for wanting me to stay? Pity?"

"It depends on your perspective," Neji countered.

"It's not permanent."

"I know."

"You'll get annoyed with me often."

"I'll suck it up."

"Fine."

Neji raised a perfect eyebrow. "Fine…what?"

"Fine, I'll stay," Tenten gave in. "But only if I get to ask you one question."

He sat back. "Go for it."

"What's the real reason for wanting me to stay?" Tenten shot out.

Observant.

"The real reason," Neji repeated, dismissing the idea of feigning ignorance. She really was perceptive, this one. It wouldn't be long before she found out about him but…he needed her here. "My questions need answers and I believe you have them."

a/n: Isnt Neji the most gracious host? Wahh, I'd love to stay in his house for a few days. XD So that was Chapter 2 and I know you have no idea where this story will lead to so I'll give you a hint: The story revolves around Tenten finding out the secret behind her mother's murder while Neji tries to reawaken his reasons for living.

Yeah, very angsty, I know but...I hope you all enjoy it! Next chapter coming on September 9th at the latest!

This chapter's review topic: Favorite color? XD

~Cel:)