The predawn light streamed through the open window onto Tenten's eyes. The young weapons mistress sighed and shifted, swearing all kinds of pain on her team mate for starting their training so damn early. Something silky brushed against her collar bone. Tenten forced her eyes open and looked down to be greeted with the object of her previous thoughts. Even though he was much taller than her she didn't think she had ever seen him look so little. He was curled against her like a cat, his head on her shoulder and his dark hair falling across them hiding his face. She reached out and with the barest of touches pushed his hair back exposing his face. His bare forehead looked strange without the Seal, like it was missing something. She didn't realize how accustom she had become to seeing him with it or with the bandages he usually wore to cover it. His eyes bore the tell-tale signs of how hard he had been crying. She knew something had happened. The only time she ever saw Neji cry was when it concerned his father and those occasions had become rarer as time went on.

Neji stirred against her before going still again. She could tell that he was awake. Something had happened, something that was enough to make Neji want to run from his problems. He was fake-sleeping. She thought Neji enjoyed dawn-training. Finally he opened his eyes, lifting his head slightly to look up at her. Even after sleeping he was exhausted, physically and emotionally, that much was clear. he was too tired to even blush at the fact that they were lying so close to each other. She reached out and touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and turned his face into her touch. Panic welled up in her. He was letting her touch him, more than she ever had in her life. Something had happened that shattered her friend like a glass doll. Tenten was on unfamiliar ground. Glass and dolls had no place in the life of a Ninja. She was all weapons and hard, sharp edges. So was he, for the most part, but here he was clinging to her like she was the only thing keeping him in one piece.

"Neji," she said, her voice soft with the remnants of sleep, "what happened?" he shook his head, "Neji," she shifted, bringing herself closer to his face, "whatever it was, keeping it in isn't going to change anything. I'm here, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," she smiled softly, "whatever happened, we'll get through it together. Just let me help you."

"I don't think you can, Ten," he said softly.

"That's what you said when you were trying to learn all those techniques," she said, "then we figured it out, together," she reminded him, "is it your Seal?" one of his hands flew to his forehead, "it's still gone," she promised.

"No," he said finally, "it's--" he looked away, ashamed at how quickly his eyes filled. She used the hand on his cheek to bring his lavender eyes to hers, "its my father," she nodded, "he wasn't," he stopped, struggling to get himself under control, "he wasn't mine."

"Huh?" Tenten felt her eyes widen, "what do you--"

"Hiashi," he said, "Hiashi slept with my mother, or she slept with him to try to get an 'in' with the Main House. My father raised me because he was ordered too, not because--" he felt his throat close, "not because he wanted too," he hated how the last words came out so desperate.

"Oh Neji," Tenten pulled him tightly against her as she felt his body shake, "your father loved you, so much. Don't ever doubt that," she stroke his hair, "don't ever."

She realized what that meant. It meant that all the guilt Neji still held because of his attempt on Hinata's life had just increased beyond count. It meant the hatred he had for Hiashi--for the Main House, had probably just doubled. And, she was not a fool, she knew it meant that Hiashi only would have told him because it had been decided that Neji would be his heir. Tenten tightened her arms around the sobbing young man, loathing the Head of the Hyuuga Clan even more than she did already. She never understood why he manipulated Neji the way he did when he was just his nephew. But now, now that she knew Neji was his son, well, the confusion just go worse. In the far off days when she imagined she would be a mother (yes her 'children' had moonlight eyes), she could never imagine doing anything like that.

Someone knocked frantically on the door. She heard hushed voices and then someone using the spare key which meant it had to be Rock Lee or Gai since Neji was the only other one who had the key. She pressed her lips to Neji's head and gently disentangled herself, getting up and walking out of the room to be faced with the oddest sight. Rock Lee stood there with the key in his hand looking around at the weapons like he expected to see a body. She realized it did look like she had been attacked from the way the weapons were scattered around. Next to him was Hinata Hyuuga clutching a small duffle bag in one hand and Hanabi's smaller hand in her other. Both girls looked almost lost, though Hinata looked like she was trying desperately to be strong for all of them. Tenten took one look in her eyes and realized that she knew everything. Before she realized it she pulled the two younger girls into a hung. Hinata hugged her back, Hanabi stiffened momentarily before hugging her back as well.

"He's here then?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," she said nodding quickly, "he's here," she looked at the bedroom, "I think he needs some," she trailed off, "time?" she tried.

"Of course," Hinata said though Hanabi looked down almost disappointed, "I brought some of Neji's things," she held out the duffle bag, "I thought if he was going to stay with you he would need things," Tenten saw her eyes fill with tears, "like a toothbrush and shoes," she shook herself with a brave smile, "here," she held it out.

"Thanks," Tenten said grasping her hand kindly. She bent down to Hanabi's level, "Neji's not going to be training today. I could use a partner and I hear your close to learning the Heavenly Spin," she smiled, "it its okay with your sister I'll help you."

"Oh can we 'Nata?" Hanabi tugged urgently at her sleeve, "please can we?" Hinata gave Tenten a grateful smile and nodded.

Break

Neji waited until the door had closed behind the group to come out of the room. He felt more heartsick than he ever had before, more than the time he thought Tenten was in love with the Sand Ninja with the funny face paint. He felt exhausted. Even walking seemed to take up too much effort. He wasn't sure that was entirely due to the removal of the Curse Seal though, something told him that it had a lot more to do with his heart than his head. The worst part was that underneath his sadness, underneath the weariness, something much darker was going on. Something evil was twisting and begging for blood. That cold voice that had told him to kill them all, to take what was his, it was back with a vengeance. And the worst part was that it made sense, just like it had when he he was fighting Hinata in the Chunin exams.

Hiashi Hyuuga deserved to die.

So many had suffered for what he had done, and for what? Not for Konoha, not for the Hyuuga, for himself, for his personal family which suddenly seemed to include Neji. He felt his fists clench in anger. He wanted to beat him until his arms couldn't move, until the part of him that had screamed out for vengeance on the Hyuuga Head since he was four years old finally was satisfied. Somewhere inside he knew he was being stupid. He knew that he wasn't about to go crazy and try to kill the Hyuuga Clan head but he still desperately wanted too, he wanted too with the same desperation that he wanted everything to go back to the way it was before he threw himself in front of Tenten. It was so much easier to just hate his uncle but like his cousins. Hell he was even beginning to get along with his uncle. Now of course it was a completely different matter.

He had sisters.

The thought threatened to topple him again. He had two younger sisters. Subconsciously one of his hands went up to his bare forehead. What would happen to them? Would they bear the Curse Seal now? Could they do it? He knew when he was little and he got it it was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his life. He was sick for days after having the Seal applied to him. And then he had been young, much younger than either of them were now. How would they survive the Seal? Clearly Hiashi wasn't above putting it on his own children, or maybe it was only the child he didn't acknowledged. He closed his eyes angrily, his hands clenching the lip of the table. Even if he didn't want this responsibility, even if he wanted anything else in the world, he was not going to let anyone touch Hinata or Hanabi.

"Neji!"

Tenten gasped and he looked down to realize what he thought was the counter had actually been one of the sharpened kunai lying on top of it. He lowered his hand in stunned silence, his eyes slowly raising to see Hinata and Hanabi looking at him with a mixture of concern and horror. He realized what it must look like, what he must look like to them. He was shirtless, disheveled and blood was streaming down his palm. Of course there was also the fact that his eyes were red and bore all the signs of crying. Upon closer inspection though, it was clear the two girls had also been crying. Clearly they had some idea of what was going on. It was Tenten, as usual, who knew how to deal with him. Instantly she had a dishrag in her hand and was wrapping it around the bleeding slice in his palm. He saw Hinata wince slightly and remembered that his cousin--no, he corrected, his sister--dabbled in healing.

"Hinata, I've got a first aide kit--" Tenten stopped herself, "here, hold this," she motioned to his palm and the rag, "I'll go get it."

Hinata gingerly wrapped her hands around Neji's bigger one, pressing the makeshift bandage against her couisn--no, she sternly corrected herself, her brother's--hand. Her mind was reeling. Neji. Tortured, guarded, quiet Neji was her elder brother. If she didn't already loath her father she would now. It was hard to remember the time before Neji's father had died. When he had been a wide-eyed innocent child who found all the joy. Growing up in the stifling world of the Main House she had watched her cousin with fascination, unable to understand how someone could be happy. That was before her father had taken away his happiness. Even when got the Seal, though his eyes were confused he didn't seem sad. He seemed to understand his responbility. Then his father's death had changed everything. Then the joy had been replaced with such bitterness it took her breath away. Then he had become a four-year old version of what he had been until he almost killed her. She forced back the bile in her throat. It had been bad enough when her cousin had tried to kill her but now her brother had. She knew it shouldn't change anything but it did. Afterwards, they had become much closer, then they had become friends. Now she didn't know what they were. Neji looked at the ground. If Hinata didn't know him better she'd say he was waiting for it to swallow him up.

"This looks deep," she said turning his hand, "you might need stitches. You were gripping the blade hard."

Leave it to Hinata to turn what could have been a suicide attempt into an accident.

"I was," he sighed, "upset," he finished lamely.

"I'll say," Hanabi snapped crossing her arms, "you've got to get better soon and show me how to Heavenly Spin properly so Tenten doesn't ruin another of my shirts."

"You're just lucky you're short," Hinata returned evenly, "otherwise she'd ruin your pants as well," Hanabi turned her eyes to the ground in the exact same gesture that Neji had.

Hinata looked between them. She had always been told that she looked like their mother. Same indigo hair, same soft words, same everything. Hanabi had always taken after their father. She had always blamed the similarities between Neji and Hanabi on the fact that their father's were identical twins. But there were similarities between them. They had the same glare, the same quiet determination that drove them to constantly prove themselves. They had the same chocolate brown hair that fell pin strait down their backs, even if they wore it differently. She wondered if people saw similarities between her and her siblings. But she hadn't really ever been like Hanabi so she imagined she wasn't that much like Neji either.

"Got it!" Tenten said triumphantly coming back into the room and picking her way through the weapons with a massive first aide kit.

"Thank you," Hinata said as Tenten put the kit down, "here," she led Neji over to the table and sat him down, "here," she pulled another chair over for Hinanta, "I'm a crap healer."

"I think I'm the only healer in my family," she said with a smile, "and I'm not even that good at it."

"Better than Tenten," Neji said looking at the mess of the first aid kit and receiving a glare from his team mate.

"Just wait until you can perform something other than 'Bleeding-No-Jutsu'," Tenten threatened.

"I quake with fear," Neji said, his voice dry and sarcastic.

"As you should," she said smugly.

This she could do, this was familiar. Her prods, his dry responses, they verbally sparred with the same skill that they physically did, although the sight of the latter wasn't nearly as breathtaking as the former. Tenten felt her heart clench at the fact Neji still bore signs of crying. That and the kunai--she prayed he just wasn't thinking. She could understand why he was acting as he did, hell if she found out Hiashi was her father she'd probably be hysterical too. But that was just it. She was always the emotional one. Gai and Lee's emotions went from crazy to extreme, nothing in between. She had always been envious of Sakura and Naruto, at least he expressed something other than insanity. When Neji and she were on missions or even training, he was the quiet one and she was the emotional one. Her new position as the 'strength' of their pair was something that she wasn't sure she was comfortable with but knew that she did not have a choice. Neji had been her strength when she had none and she would be his.

Someone knocked on the door. Tenten frowned and walked over, opening it to reveal not Hiashi Hyuuga as she had expected but a pair of elders, standing side by side with a group of Branch house members. Their moonlight eyes bore into her. While Neji, Hanabi and Hianta's had always seemed so expressive, these eyes were like looking into a sheet of ice. There was nothing in their eyes but the bitterness she saw in many of the Hyuuga's. Her fingers itched to grab a weapon and throw it at them but she had a feeling it would do more harm than good. Inhaling she tried to keep her racing heart down, tried to view them as something not to be afraid of. They were men, not Gods.

"We're here for them," one of the elders rasped.

"You'll have to be more specific," Tenten snapped in response.

"Out of the way girl," the elder returned, "we have the Byakugan. We know they're in here and if you do not--"

"If you don't leave I'll have every right to send you away," she hissed angrily, "you're trespassing. This isn't Hyuuga property, its my house and my guests are welcome to stay as long as they would like."

"Why defend him?" the second elder spoke up, "as the heir to the Hyuuga Main House he hardly as time for an orphan with no name or lineage. His marriage will produce children worthy of the Main House."

"Neji is my friend," she snapped in return, "and I'll defend him because he's always defended me. If you knew anything outside of having blood relations you'd know that," she crossed her arms, "now leave unless you want me to tell the Hokage that in addition to almost killing your precious 'Heir' you've also trespassed on the property of an 'orphan' and openly threatened her."

Despite being crazy and very powerful the Elders seemed to know that infuriating the Weapons Mistress was not a good idea. With the promise of more pain and consequence they left, probably to get Hiashi. Even though she knew she was being stupid Tenten thought she'd just repeat the process. One man couldn't be that intimidating, even if he was Neji's father. She shuddered slightly at the thought, the elder's words ringing in her head. A warm, calloused hand wrapped around her wrist. She looked up to see Neji towering over her, his eyes boring into hers. She opened her mouth but he cut her off, a rare thing for the usually silent Hyuuga to do.

"That was a lie," he said, "no matter what I am, what I will be, I will always have time for you."

"Well that's comforting to know," she said, flashing him the most honest smile she had given for two days, "you girl's want to sleep over here? My couch folds out."

"T-Thank you," Hinata said softly, an arm wrapped around a shell-shocked Hanabi, "I think that would be for the best."

"Cool," Tenten said with a shrug and turned to say something to Neji, though the words died on her lips. He was looking at Hanabi and Hinata with the same protectiveness that had been in his eyes before he had thrown himself in front of her. Even though she was glad for his protectiveness, she couldn't stop the feeling that there was no way this was going to end well.