Neji woke up to the sound of someone tapping on something. He tried to act as if he didn't hear it, but whatever it was would not stop. Only a few seconds had gone by until Neji had completely lost his patients and quickly turned his head to search for the origin of the excruciatingly annoying noise. To his surprise, he had found an unexpected visitor tapping a pencil on the table next to them clearly showing signs of nervousness and guilt. He had wondered why they didn't come sooner considering their personality. It was completely out of character for them to neglect a daily hospital visit to their friend.

"Lee, what are you doing here? I was beginning to think you would never come." Neji said half-jokingly

Lee burst out in his usual comedicly large outburst of tears, "Neji, I'm sorry! This is all my fault! My job was to provide back-up and I failed! My failure cost you your life!"

Lee was hysterical. What Neji was not seeing is the month's supply of tears and pain Lee had put himself through. Every morning he would think about that mission consequently leading him to the training field every day to punch the grief away. After each session, Guy Sensei would talk to him and try to calm him down. The pain Lee felt was limitless. He had only recently had the courage to face Neji after what had happened.

"Calm down Lee. None of this is your fault. If anything, it is my fault for being so careless. My life is not over. I have accepted what has happened and you should too." Neji said trying to calm him down

"What I did to you is unforgivable. Why couldn't have been me?" He asked looking at the floor

Neji looked down at Lee's hands. His hands and arms were bruised and bloodied from all of his training, "Why are you injured?"

"It's nothing. I've just been training. I will never let this happen again!" Lee assured him

Neji sighed, "Lee, I will tell you again this is not your fault. There is no reason for you to push yourself to the this point. I know you don't want to believe me, but please just listen. I am grateful for what happened to me. I understand a little better what it means to be a ninja because of this. I learned that physical strength means nothing if you don't have the emotional strength to deal with losing it. The best thing about sitting in this bed for over a moth though is that I know I have great friends to take care of me. You do not need to worry about me Lee, I'm fine."

Lee looked up to Neji and quickly hugged him still bawling, but these tears came from another place, "Thank you Neji! You have restored my youthful spirit! I promise that when you get out of here, I will do everything I can to help you."

Just as he had finished, the door opened. The two men's favorite weapons mistress walked in and flashed a friendly smile. Neji motioned her to come over to them.

"Oh yeah, and something else happened because of this too." He said as Tenten reached his bedside.

He captured her lips in a loving kiss leaving Lee with his jaw on the ground. Tenten's cheeks became a deep shade of red due to the sudden public display of their new relationship.

"WHAT! When did this happen?" Lee yelled

Neji gave Tenten a half grin, "A few days ago, but there have been feelings between us for a while now apparently."

Tenten gave a slight chuckle, "Try not to freak out so much Lee."

"Yosh! I have to tell Guy Sensei!" he said before he sped off

"That's Lee for you. One minute he's bawling until he hurts and the next thing you know he's running off excited as ever." Neji said with a slight laugh

Tenten crossed her arms and stared daggers at Neji, "Did you really have to tell him so soon?"

Neji smiled and took her hands, "Lighten up. He was depressed. I had to show him that my life is turning out fine," He leaned up to kiss her cheek, "Especially now that I have you"

She rolled her eyes and giggled, "Oh please Hyuga. Don't use that corny crap on me. Now he's going to tell the whole village."

He placed his hand on her back leading her to bend down a little more so he could whisper in her ear, "I honestly hope he does."

Her face went back to that all to familiar shade again, "Why won't you let me stay mad at you?"

She brought his face up to meet hers and gave him a kiss in return.

"Thank you for that. I thought I would have to work a lot harder for it." He said with a grin

She sighed, "Do you always have to have the last word."

He gave her a small kiss, "Always."