1.Progolue: A midnight dreary

It was a crisp spring day in the woods surrounding Konoha, and the wind rustling through the leaves made a light whistling sound as he made his leaps from branch to branch. Chasing after comrades that seemed to get farther and farther away, he turned as he heard his name over his shoulder, "Neji". It wasn't more than a whisper in a low tone. He turned towards the voice to see its origin only to find the endless sea of green; leaves on leaves. Turning back he picked up his pace to keep up with Naruto and the crew. They were at the edge of his vision as he flew through the air, finally landing on the next wooden platform.

"Did you guys hear that?" He called out to his teammates, trying to get their attention. No one turned. No one stopped. They seemed completely oblivious to him.

"Neji." The whisper was louder but had the same tone. It was a beckoning, a calling meant only for him to hear and when he turned again he saw it. The darkness. And it was coming for him. Trees in the distance were being swallowed whole by it. For a second he was shocked; he had never seen anything like it before. It wasn't genjitsu, or at least it wasn't any that he could detect. It just was, and it was approaching quickly.

Spinning back, his team was gone; completely out of sight. He began jumping from tree to tree as fast as his feet would carry him. But it was too fast, and after he activated his Byakugan he noticed a figure in the center of the darkness chasing after him. "Kukukuku," filled the air until it was a loud echo drowning out everything except the sound of the wind violently passing by him. It only took a moment before Neji realized that the laughter was familiar. The laughter that would always be with him, it belonged to a person that guided the Hyuuga on his first encounter with death. "I'm coming for you boy!"

The spear, he saw, shot towards his back. And though he saw it, he was helpless to avoid it. It traveled slower than he expected; a yet he knew it would catch him. It always caught him with unfailing accuracy. Strange, he could already feel the pain that was coming for him. Before Neji's feet touched the next branch he was caught by it. In mid air, the object speared him, right through his heart. It seems that destiny would not be so kind this time to the boy of white eyes.

Neji fell, and the Sound ninja with six arms chased right after him. The spider like nin dove in yelling, each hand wielding an instrument of death. The sound Neji's body made as his back hit the earth was a sickening wet crunch, and paralyzed there, Neji looked up he saw his fate. His eyes could see everything clearly, they were rarely ever wrong. This time he saw his death. All he could do was close his eyes and accept it.

The violent wind and battle cry of his opponent died down into nothing. Everything became black. Everything was still. Everything was quiet. This was death, his final freedom.

"Neji." The voice was back, and when he opened his eyes, it wasn't the darkness that he expected. It was his father, standing over him. Neji, now merely a young boy stood too, looking up into his father's face. The trees expelled their coverings in the dying of autumn and the brown leaves danced around them as if they moved to an unseen melody. His father placed a hand on him tenderly and spoke gentle words deep into Neji's soul. "You Live." His father shot him a smile that was tinted in sadness before turning and walking away through the trees.

He didn't know what was happening but his father was there, but not for much longer. Neji tried to chase after him, but his legs wouldn't budge. He tried to yell out, "Father! Don't go! Father, don't leave me! Father! Father!" but the words were caught in his throat, choked up by his sadness. Tears welled up in his eyes as he speechlessly watched his father disappeared into the woods. Neji fell to his knees and wailed out in emotional pain and anguish. He let go all of the sorrow that he kept locked in his heart for all of those countless years. His heart, he felt, was being squeezed. He lost his father once and that stripped him of his happiness. Losing his father again near took his will to live. After an eternity of weeping he reached up and wiped away the wetness of his eyes with the back of his wrist.

"This is the Genius of the Hyuuga clan? I'm not impressed."

Neji, no longer a boy, turned and saw the ominous eyes of a man with the sharingan. This sadness quickly was replaced with rage. The traitor was back. Three swirled dots in the eyes of the Uchiha began spinning wildly and then fractured, the red eyes splintering

away to reveal blackness. The darkness of those eyes only matched by the darkness of Sasuke's heart, whose lust for vengeance wasn't satiated with his brothers split blood. "Let's see whose eyes are better," challenged Sasuke, "Mangekyou Sharingan!" The leaves that were falling stopped instantly, hanging in time, and it seemed as if the whole world was spinning.

Neji quickly closed his eyes, not wanting to be taken by the power of the Sharingans' genjistu again. The last time it was used on him the mental pain that Neji endured couldn't even be described. Torture was a word that lacked in definition for what had been done to him. With his eyes closed Neji activated the power granted to him through his blood and saw his opponent as a wire frame of chakra pathways. As quick as a blur, Neji lunged towards his opponent, attacking with the famous gentle fist style thrusting a deadly amount of chakra through Sasuke's heart. As the blue glow of his opponent began to die down, Neji opening his eyes and looked into those of his opponent. Sasuke's eyes slowly dulled from a mix of red and black shapes to a pale shade of grey.

"Neji!" The voice was urgent. "Save me!" It was the pleading voice of someone needing to be saved. Bodies were littered everywhere and looking around he saw the familiar pale eyes of his family. Their corpses seemed to all be looking in his direction. Neji almost couldn't bare it as each lifeless husk seemed to already be looking back at him; looking back through him. "Save me Neji!" Hinata pleaded. He ran through the house trying to catch up with her and her assailant only to arrive seconds too late as Hinata was pierced through her chest with a kunai. The attacker looked over to Neji as Hinata's body slumped to the floor. The man's clear full black eyes shined like black mirrors in the moonlit darkness.

"So we finally meet..."

Neji awoke suddenly, bolting upright in his bed. There was a banging on the door to his room and Tenten was calling out to him. "Neji! This is the last time I'm calling you! If you don't wake up now I'm going to leave without you. Hurry up! We've got to go!" He could tell by the impatience in her voice that this had been going on for a little while now, and by the sound of things today was going to be a very rough day around her.

Falling backwards onto his bed, he noticed it was slightly damp with sweat. "Just a nightmare," he said reassuring himself.

"What did you say!" shot Tenten, who was pouncing on any sign of life after hearing his little comment.

"I said give me a minute, I'm not even dressed yet!" retorted Neji, who was still trying to orient himself from his disturbing dream. Waiting to hear her reply, Neji got nothing as Tenten only responded with silence. She always acted a little odd around him early in the morning so it always made Neji wonder why she continually came over to wake him up. Neji grabbed his shirt and opened the door to find Tenten staring right at him. Once Tenten took in the sight of Neji shirtless, she blushed for an instant before getting angry and punching his chest. "Geez Neji, get dressed before you come out of your room! Baka!"

Neji put on his shirt and walked in front of Tenten as they left the Hyuuga estate. The bright sun that made his eyes squint reminded him that it was a brand new morning. He would be free of the nightmares for another day.

2.Morning after

Just because you grow up, doesn't mean that you grow out of nightmares. Even as a twenty year old man now, Hyuuga Neji could attest to that. Not even his position of Branch Family leader saved him from the restless dreams that he'd have from time to time. They were always the same, and always real enough to believe in. A showcase of his failures, played back only for him.

Yes, even jounins could be haunted.

But that was almost natural. No ninja would ever remember the time they saved their village. No ninja would ever reminisce about the time they shined in a high class mission. Ninjas, as a practice, never thought of themselves as heroes. And yet, no ninja would ever be capable of forgetting the time when they weren't as strong as they needed to be, when they failed their mission and their teammates, when they almost died.

With each and every step that Neji took out of the Hyuuga Estate, he hardened himself. Tenten followed and watched, as usual, as Neji's demeanor steeled itself to shut off any emotion or weakness. It was like watching a man become a machine, and it was the reason that she came over each day to wake him up. Not because she was in awe of his transformation into an impenetrable fortress, though that was impressive, but because it allowed her to see him before he'd turn his heart stone cold. Tenten came over daily to watch the man that was Neji.

Neither of them spoke a word as they made their way through the streets of Konoha. Tenten learned long ago that she'd just have to live with the awkward silence if she was going to accompany him early in the morning. She knew it wasn't that Neji didn't have anything to talk about, it was just his way. Many people saw him as a cold, calculating beast of a ninja, but Tenten knew the truth: Neji wasn't a mean or distant person, he simply wasn't skilled at being happy.

Tenten understood him perhaps better than anyone. Even without the Byakugan, she could observe and know what he was thinking; a side-benefit of working with him closely over the years. It was a small thing that she had a silent pride in; something that would bring a crack of a smile to her face, and the one thing that Neji himself couldn't "see".

As they walked through the village Neji was deep in thought. Instead of mentally preparing himself for his next mission, he was stuck on his last dream. Something he remembered seeing didn't add up. Sure, he had fought the sound-nin, and Uchiha Sasuke. He'd gone through that scene with his father. Those were all real; those had happened. But the stranger with the black eyes...

"So we finally meet..."

The voice rang in his ears and echoed like the peals of a large bell in a cave. The words repeated and tumbled over themselves like a chorus of a song. It was beginning to be all he could hear. Who was he? Neji had never seen a man like him before. His eyes shined like obsidian shards; his eyes that were as dark as a demon's heart. From what Neji remembered of his dream, the man's actions were calm, and collected. There wasn't rage or anger in the man's attack, just disinterest. If anything, he thought, the only thing that interested the nightmare man was seeing Neji; it was as if he was actually surprised to see Neji in his own dream.

The few miles walk seemed to be a marathon for the thought-filled Neji.

The Hokage sat in her usual seat at the table. On her left and right were village workers sitting behind mounds of scrolls. The office where missions were passed out was a fairly plain room, the only thing really of note in the room where the dozens of mission scrolls that were passed out each day. Missions that ranged from grocery shopping that the rookie genins did, to high class assasinations that jounins completed were all handed to the appropriate skill leveled ninja as daily routines. Sometimes missions that required the Hokage's presence would come down the pipeline, and on those days Tsunade would have her seat filled by high ranking village counsel members. The days Tsunade was not behind the desk, everyone would know that something huge was happening.

"There have been reports of battles just over the border into Waterfall Country. Our intelligence points to a band of Waterfall ninja going rogue. We have received a request to help dispatch the new missing-nin. Normally this wouldn't sound like a job for a group of our special jounin, but since we don't know the size or the strength of the enemy, and since we share a border with Waterfall Country, if the enemy's are strong the fighting could spill into Fire country. Your mission is to go scout out the enemy, if they are small in numbers, take them out. If there are too many, send one of your members back and we will send out extra squads. The rest of you are to strengthen our border while waiting for back up."

Tsunade turned slightly and spoke directly towards Neji, "You and Tenten will pick two chuunin to fill out the rest of your group and head out tonight. Dismissed."

Neji, blank faced, turned away towards the door after being handed the B rank scroll. Tenten noticed his "business as usual" gaze and followed casually after him. As they stepped outside, Neji began giving out the basic orders. "Gather that female medical ninja that trained under you, the one with the needles."

"Hanawa Akiko," Tenten inserted.

"Yes, her. And also the boy from the Morikage family. We could use his genjistu and special techniques. We'll all meet at the north village gate at dusk." Neji was familiar with being a squad leader and so continued putting out orders in a calm voice. "Bring everything you'll need for a week."

"And Tenten, the answer is 'no'," Neji added as he started to walk away.

Tenten realized she'd just been read; while waiting for a break in Neji's vocal leadership she had been waiting to ask a question, and Neji, seeing it, responded preemptively. In mock frustration she played back at him, "You don't know what I was going to ask."

"Yes, I do." Neji shot.

"Maybe I was going to ask something completely different then what you thought, are you sure you want to be saying 'no' right away? What if I was going to ask you for a really important favor?"

Neji finally turned to face her. He was several paces away and the expression on his face showed Tenten that he felt like he almost got away. She flashed a smile of victory at being able to insert the idea into his head that he could have been wrong. "Fine. What did you want to ask?" groaned Neji.

Making Neji second guess himself wasn't just a game to her, it was her way of breaking down the "perfect defense" he had around his personality. Not only did she enjoy it, but she was good at it. "Want to go get something to eat before the mission?"

Neji stared blankly at her as his suspicions were found true; to him it was just another meaningless request, just like all the other times. He paused, not to consider it, but to exhale a soundless sigh before responding, "No." Slowly, he turned and continued down the road he was originally heading.

"Are you sure? I won't make you pay this time!" Tenten's smile wouldn't leave her face as she yelled.

"I'm sure." Neji yelled in response over his shoulder. "I'll see you tonight."

By his tone and the direction he was heading, Tenten was sure that he was going to train alone. Usually Neji would allow her to come along and help with his workout, but there were other times, she knew, that Neji wanted to be by himself. Solo training is when the Hyuuga did a lot of his heavy thinking. Something was going on his head; Tenten knew it, and backed off.. "Okay, tonight then. Later."

3.The mission begins

Figures darted in and out from behind trees in the still darkness of the moonless night. The silver-eyed ninja in front stopped in an instant, as if frozen in time, and raised his right arm with his palm open. The ninjas who followed after him stopped dead in their tracks. They were unmoving statues in the forest, you would even wonder if their hearts beat. Crossing the border into another country was never a simple thing.

Special jounin Hyuuga Neji lead the team, followed closely by the genjitsu specialist Morikage Hiro. A few paces behind was the medical ninja Hanawa Akiko, with special jounin Tenten so close to her back that she could have been Akiko's shadow. The formation was a small impenetrable line that proved excellent for traveling through hostile land. And hostile land is exactly where they were right now.

The formation, designed by the genius Hyuuga, accented the point man's ability to see uninhibited even in the pitch black of the forest at midnight and was followed by the weapon master who never missed bringing up the tail. If Neji could see it, Tenten could hit it. In the middle were the equally balanced offensive and defensive illusionist and medic. Together they all worked like a well-oiled machine.

Neji's eyes pierced the darkness; there was nothing that could be hidden from his sight. His sudden cautiousness was a reaction from the report given by the border patrollers of Konoha. Apparently there had been activity recently a few miles from where he now stood; its scale was said to be that of a large battle. From Neji's view point, he could tell the border patrol was wrong. In the distance was the sight of a war zone.

As the team slowly made their way through the wooded area they noticed the extent of the battle scarred landscape. Kunai and shiruken were stuck in everything; there wasn't a surface that wasn't at least partially covered with them. Burns and explosions marked the area, trees were toppled over from having their trunks blown up, and there were areas where the otherwise lush, green forest was singed black.

"Up ahead," the leader said, "the remainder of this fight is taking place. Since we don't know which side is winning, assume it's the enemy. Approach in scouting formation," he continued dictating. "Morikage, you're up. Let's go." Hyuuga Neji's orders were always perfect: short in length, to the point, strategically precise, and just as serious as his demeanor.

A clearing in the distance was the location of a grizzly sight. One man stood alone, surrounded by a cluster of bodies, each decapitated or dismembered in one way or another. He was a silhouette among prone sacrifices; his body painted crimson with their life. The bald figure wore a loose, tattered dark brown coat, and pants, and was wrapped in bandages over his forearms, and calves. In the darkness, his limbs seemed to shine with the blood of his opponents.

Sensing people approach, the mysterious man lifted his head and turned towards the direction of the newcomers.

Morikage Hiro stood casually at the edge of the clearing, his voice calmly matching his stance, "Excuse me. I'm here on behalf of the Leaf, I..."

No sooner had he mentioned 'leaf' before the man lunged at the chuunin with blinding speed. The assailant took little time to literally de-arm the young man before head butting his body repeatedly during its fall backwards to the ground.

"Well that wasn't nice." Tenten quipped quietly.

"I don't think he's a friend." Hiro said, releasing his solid genjitsu.

"Aren't you glad you have your illusions?" smirked Akiko.

"Quiet you three. Let's make this quick." Neji ordered.

The four ninja descended from their tree tops ten meters away like birds diving in on their prey. In one coordinated sleek motion their attack came and continued to come like persistent waves on a beach's shore. First were the poison-tipped needles from the medic-nin that stuck in the rival's back until he looked like a porcupine. As the man stood up and howled in rage and pain the second wave came: two solid illusions rushed from the thick of the woods and tackled the man to the ground, pinning his arms and legs down, forcing the needles into his body their full length and keeping him immobile for the last attack.

Tenten hung in the air as if she was lighting than the wind blowing around her. Her body was positioned upside down as if she were ready to dive into a lake. Opening her eyes, revealing her chocolate-colored orbs, her hands hovered over the scrolls wrapped over her upper arms. She was ready. The weapons mistress held no quarter against her flat lying foe, and proceeded to summon and throw weapon after weapon downwards. Her graceful dive poured down a hale of blades towards her target. Whatever misery Akiko had inflicted with the senbon would be ended soon, Tenten was sure of that. It would be by her hand that the man would be sent from this world.

He smiled.

"Shit!" Tenten cursed under her breath.

The man was apparently not so resigned to the fate that Tenten dealt. Bringing his arms together, the man slammed the solid replicas once holding his arms together infront of him, using them as a shield. Caught off guard, Hiro didn't have time to release his genjitsu and the unlucky illusions took the brunt of Tenten's attack. Rolling to the left to avoid the rest of the barrage, he jumped to his feet quickly, running straight at Hiro's location.

Before the illusionist could move, much less prepare to defend, the other ninja was there. Face to face, the boy from the Morikage clan fully saw his opponent.

Bandages.

Bandages wrapped around the ninja's face, covering his eyes. This man was not seeing his opponents in any normal way. And there it was; his right arm, held low and balled up, covered with metal shards that protruded from his wrist. It was a small lance moving quickly towards Hiro's heart.

Inside of a breath, Neji was there, standing between the two of them. "Heavenly Barrier!" Chakra compacted itself inside of him, and then released like an explosion through his tenketsu in front of him. It was a slight modification of the Heavenly Spin which conserved more chakra and was used to stop attacks coming from one direction.

In front of Neji a blue wall of chakra formed with an audible "bang", a result of the chakra slamming together to form a momentary shield for the Hyuuga. Not only did it stop the oncoming attack, but it forced the man off balance, giving Neji the opportunity to attack. And as he began his gentle fist assault, Tenten began throwing kunai at specified points on the man's backside to neutralize him as a threat; namely tendons and pressure points.

After a dozen hits equaling a dozen closed tenketsu points, and when Neji was satisfied with the containment of the man's chakra, the Byukugan user grabbed the man's shoulder, and threw him against a tree. The rest of the team closed in around him as the "investigation" began. "Tell me everything I want to know. Who, how many, and why Waterfall Country?"

The man gave a gap-toothed grin as his blood slowly spilled out of his mouth, a product from all the internal injuries the leaf squad had inflicted. Slowly he began to open his mouth to reveal the shorted nub of his cut off tongue. He would not be revealing any secrets tonight.

"He's useless. Finish him." Tenten proclaimed.

Three seemingly harmless fingers sped swiftly towards the man's forehead; the Hyuuga quickly put the man down for good. As the figure slumped towards the ground, opened-mouth smile still on his face, Neji bent down towards the corpse.

"What are you doing Hyuuga-san?" Akiko queried.

Moving his hands to undo the bandages of their attacker, Neji paused for a second before looking back at the medical ninja.

"I need to see his eyes."

4.Cracks in the armor

If a person's eyes are windows to their soul, then the dead man in front of Hyuuga Neji had a very wicked soul. The sickly unnatural hue of his yellowish-orange eyes was a testimony to his most deserved death.

"Hn. Just a scout." Tenten said with disappointment laced in her tone.

"Hyuuga-san, I'm sorry." whispered Hiro.

Neji, however, was so fixed on the eyes of the corpse before him that he didn't even notice his teammate's apology. Also, thinking about the obsidian eyes of his nightmare man made him all but numb to his surroundings. What he could hear instead was the echo of his last dream pounding in his ears.

"So, we finally meet."

Neji closed his eyes and calmed his thoughts. It wasn't realistic for him to think that he'd meet and fight some made up person from his dreams. But no matter how many times he told himself that, there were always some reservations... some doubts. Taking a deep breath, the Byakugan user slowly climbed out of his thoughts in time to hear his teammate repeat his name. Neji looked up towards Hiro curiously. "What did you say?"

"I said I was sorry Hyuuga-san. I didn't expect him to move that fast, and especially right at me, I mean, I was well hidden. I don't know how he found me. Also, thank you..." Hiro's words trailed off into silence as the young man slightly dropped his head.

It didn't take Tenten much to understand Hiro's feelings. He was disappointed; in himself, in his need to be saved, and mostly in letting down his perfectionist team lead. Tenten recognized his posture, and the lack of energy from his youthful eyes most of all. She too stood in the exact same stance whenever she felt like she let Neji down. In those rare times, there was always something that hurt when she would look Neji in the eyes. Something about him that always affected her.

Neji barely grunted in acknowledgment of Hiro's actions before giving out tasks. "Akiko, there's something about this body that doesn't sit well with me. I want a quick autopsy done; tell me the interesting things you find."

"Roger."

"Hiro get ready; as soon as Akiko is done I want you to make an illusion to carry the body far away from here. If someone comes looking for him, I want them following 'his' tracks in the opposite direction of us. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

Tenten pulled in close to Neji and started to whisper. "Are you alright? You seem a little out of it right now."

"I'm fine."

"Hyuuga-san, it was a soldier pill. One like I've never seen before. It gave him great strength and stamina, but pretty much poisoned his body. It actually made him blind. Apparently he wasn't using his eyes while he fought us."

Neji stared on as he processed the information.

"One last thing," Akiko added, "he was a Waterfall-nin; which means he was fighting his own people."

"A deserter?" queried Tenten.

"It's possible."

After a moment of silence, Neji gave a small nod to the teams' illusionist, giving the signal to start his task. Grabbing the trance induced young man, Neji lifted him onto his back to carry the boy, the Hyuuga turned to the two female ninjas. "Ready?"

Answering with a smirk, Tenten was off in a flash. Being the closest person to Neji over the years, she would know what he was thinking without being told.

"Wait, Hyuuga-san! Where are we going?"

"The rest of the dead bodies around here come from somewhere." Neji paused. "We're going there."

The sun had just lifted its head over the horizon when they arrived at the small village. Tenten arrived first to the village which was set in a clearing in a lightly wooded area, and had already gone through with informing the tiny community of the events that took place last night; that the people who left to defend them last night were dead, and that their village wasn't out of danger yet.

Neji turned his head to the right, speaking to the man he was carrying on his back, "Hiro, it's okay now, I think you've taken the corpse far enough."

There was no response.

"Hiro?"

Tenten walked up to the other three and saw the situation. "I think he's sleeping..."

Neji immediately dropped the extra weight from his shoulders before walking away towards some of the prominent villagers.

Falling on his butt, Hiro snapped awake. Turning his head from side to side, the young man took in his surroundings. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was sitting in the shadow of a furious Tenten. Scratching the back of his head, Hiro shrugged and offered up an apologetic smile.

"Lucky." Tenten said under her breath.

Tenten apparently wasn't quiet enough as Akiko shot a quick reply, "Who's lucky?" as she walked into the encounter.

"No one!" stated Tenten with a nervous smile and laugh.

"Well, anyway, we have some orders. I have to tend to some of the wounded men. It seems there were a few people who escaped the attacker last night. Hiro, Hyuuga-san says since you already had a nap on the way here that..."

"Hey, I did my job!" Hiro cut in protesting, "I just fell asleep because Hyuuga-san moves very gracefully through the trees!"

Both female ninjas gave him an odd look which make the lazy illusionist quickly stop talking.

"And so Hiro," Akiko continued from earlier, "you'll be sending out an illusion to scout. Hyuuga-san wants to know where the enemy is and how big of a force they have."

"Yeah, yeah." Hiro agreed in a complaining tone.

By the scowl that the medic had on her face, Tenten knew that Hiro was about to get a lecture, and knowing that Neji wouldn't assign a chuunin to give a jounin a task; Tenten went straight to the source.

"Neji, what are we doing while the kids have their tasks lined up for themselves?"

"We're going to help out around the village. They've lost a lot of men yesterday; they could use the extra hands." Neji said before continued walking off somewhere.

On missions it seemed that Neji was a different person. He was kind and sympathetic towards the people he was sent to protect or help. Tenten remembered what Naruto told her, of the speech that Neji gave while they went to retrieve Sasuke. How it was full of the ideals and the ways of Konoha. She guessed it was always this side of Neji that came out while on missions. A side of Neji that was fairly unknown, and a stark contrast to the distant, sometimes cold man she was usually around. It was a nice thought though as she worked; that there was a side of Neji that could warm her heart. If only she could ever find a way to get there...

After a long day of labor, Hyuuga Neji awoke in the middle of the night with a start. A cold sweat covered his body and the visions of his latest nightmare repeatedly played over and over in his mind. The obsidian eyed man from his dreams was back, this time showing Neji all the unfortunate things to come in the near future. Neji walked through the house he was staying at and checked on his trance induced and sleeping teammates. Finally, he made his way to the porch and sat down, legs crossed at the edge. It wasn't long before he heard feet shuffling behind him.

"Sorry if I woke you." Neji said without turning.

"What are you doing up so late?" replied Tenten with squinted, tired eyes as she plopped down beside him.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Is there anything wrong?"

After a couple seconds passed, he finally admitted, "Bad dream."

"What happened in it?" ask Tenten while trying to mask her amazement that Neji, thee Hyuuga Neji was opening up to her.

"I died."

"Anything else?"

After the slightest hesitation he spoke. "No."

The smallest of pauses that he took is what gave it away. He lied, and she knew it. But maybe that was to be expected; Tenten knew that it wasn't likely for him to completely change and pour out his soul to her in night. She wasn't going to force it either, she would just take it as it came.

Once a few more moments of silence passed, Tenten, who was still tired, got up to go back to bed. "Well if you need me..." Her voice trailed off as she started to turn. A quick hand caught her fingers and when she turned her head to see him, she found he was already looking at her.

Hyuuga Neji never had to turn his head to see anyone. He never had to rotate his body to recognize anyone's presence. And yet, now he was looking her eye to eye. If indeed eyes were the windows to the soul, then Neji's windows were white-washed; no one could see his soul directly. And even while that was true Tenten saw something now. Sadness.

The eyes that had been forever emotionless where trying their hardest not to show it, but they were failing now. The smallest amount of uncontrollable sadness was visible in the cracks of armor that guarded his heart. That sadness stole Tenten's next breath right from her chest.

"Can you stay for a little bit?" Neji quietly implored.

Whatever haunted Neji while he slept, Tenten wanted to know, wanted to help. However, she knew that someone as strong as Neji wasn't ready to be so weak, and so for now, she was content to stay by his side.

"Okay," she said in her most reassuring tone.

She sat down beside him again and watched as he looked back up at the stars. He took a deep breathe, and seemed to purge his emotions against as he exhaled. Whatever inner turmoil Neji fought now, Tenten was sure it was probably one of the toughest fights of his life.

Neji and Tenten. They sat on that porch, near shoulder to shoulder until they lost track of time. Their silent stasis would have carried right on till morning had not the illusionist disturbed them.

"Hyuuga-san, Tenten-san!" Hiro cried out, "They're coming!"

5.The killing fields

Blood. There was blood all over the place. The crimson liquid spread everywhere, touched everything. The splashing of the rain only helped cover the forest floor with the color, as if a painter had dropped his red palette and the hue was slowly draining away into the earth from the pouring water above.

This couldn't be happening.

But it was, and Tenten was almost numb from the sensory overload. It was happening, and it was happening all too fast. One minute they were fighting; the next they were all being pulled out of the battle. At first, with the red that covered everything, Tenten couldn't tell who was hurt. Being confused to start things off didn't help matters.

"He's hit, badly. It's deep. It ... his lung is punctured."

"Hyuuga-san."

Neji was whiter than normal, and in shock as far as Tenten was concerned. But even in this situation he should have been calm. He was a jounin after all.

"Hyuuga-san," Hiro repeated.

"His wound isn't closing; it looks like there's chakra residing in this hole. His body isn't healing on its own, and he's going to bleed to death." Akiko said just before whipping out tape and applying it directly to the wheezing hole in the man's chest.

"Hyuuga-san."

Neji wasn't sure now if Hiro was continuing to say his name or if it was just an echo that refused to go away. Either way, the boy repeated it over and over as if it was a chant or a prayer.

"I can't heal him here. I'm not even sure I can heal this wound at all. I need to get him somewhere with more medics." Akiko inserted three needles into the body in front of her, an attempt to slow down the blood loss.

The world as Tenten knew was crumbling fast. She and Neji had always made perfect teams. They had never had anyone on the team seriously hurt. No one had been this close to death when they were together. Everyone looked at Neji, they waited and watched for his decision. The red that covered his chest was proof to Tenten that her squad was not immortal.

And the day had started out so nice.

"Hyuuga-san! Tenten-san! They're coming"

Those words would imprint themselves inside of Tenten's brain for a long time to come. It was like the wails of a siren that cried out in warning and scared away the silence. It was a cry that's implications negated the fairy tale like peacefulness that she had been sharing with a certain silver-eyed man. Meanwhile a little voice inside of her admitted that sitting beside Neji could hardly be called a romantic tryst. But Tenten was tired, and listening to little nay-saying voices was not high on her priority list.

The rest of the morning was spent preparing. Most of the villagers were evacuated and told to keep moving towards Konoha. The self-proclaimed fastest three of the village were entrusted with scrolls asking for backup as soon as it could be provided. With any luck, the reinforcements would get to Neji's squad before the fighting got too heavy. Meanwhile, the four Leaf ninja would be fighting to protect the village and the people who were too old or too sick to run to safety.

They were determined to face the incoming force just over five miles outside of the village; a tactic they hoped would lessen the chance of the attack spilling into the village. Traps were set and weapons readied - this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Usually, among high level ninja, fighting was kept one on one; whether this was due the pride of defeating someone by yourself, the honor of single opponent combat, or a simple coincidence of having the same number of ninja as the opposing squad, any which way didn't really matter; one on one was just the norm.

However this was no ordinary day. Today the four ninja from Konoha would be guaranteed to fight dozens of ninja each. Each fight against a one of the enemy would promise to be a challenge; each of them against a horde of enemies, all of whom would be attacking at the same time made the odds of surviving impossibly low.

Neji's orders were simple: stay together, and protect one another's back. They would keep talking during the entire fight, the reason Neji said, was so that they could continue to change their strategy if needed. While there was some truth to that, Tenten knew it to be a lie; Neji wanted to keep everyone talking during the fight to know who was still alive.

By day break, everything was set up. The four ninja were as ready as they could be, all they could do was wait, and watch for death to come.

The first sign that the fight was near was the sound of the wild animals frantically scrambling through the woods to seek shelter. Like cockroaches when the lights come on, they scrambled for their lives. This was nature; the instinct to run when you're outnumbered and outclassed in size and strength. It was the instinct to move to safety and live on. And in that sense, the ninja squad from Konoha was very unnatural.

While the world around them burst in chaos and fear, they stood like statues, unmoving despite the oncoming threat. The leader stood among them, leaning nonchalantly against a nearby tree. To him, this was just another day and another chance to defy fate. Tenten stood defiant beside him. In her mind she would be seen as the stronger person for not needing to lean on anything. She was a 'tree' in her own right; among the squad she was not only reliable, but approachable. Younger ninja in Neji and Tenten's squads could always lean on her if they needed; Neji was just a bit too distant to have the same thing said of him. Sure, Neji was reliable, but it was Tenten who was the heart of the squad.

Akiko, the medic who cared neither for showing off strength nor coolness, sat relaxed near the jounins' feet on a large grey rock. Lastly, the group's illusionist, Hiro, also sat on the ground, and was, oddly, sleeping soundly. Whether it was his youth and arrogance or intelligence and wisdom that gave him enough calm to sleep, Tenten couldn't tell. A part of her just wondered if the boy had a tendency to fall asleep; a quirk the boy probably picked up as a result of his techniques that required him to be in a comatose state. It was an interesting thought that Tenten made a mental note of and would research it a little more if they made it out alive.

The enemy ninja flew in like a swarm of bees through gaps in the trees and from branches on high descending down towards the anticipating Leaf ninja. The first wave of ninja dropped dead ten meters away, a result of running through traps headlong. The second wave that unceasingly trampled their fallen comrades bodies all died from seven to five meters away from the deadly projectiles spent from the lethal ladies of the squad. There was already fighting in the distance as Hiro's illusions were doing their best to pick off numbers of the enemy that came rushing in. It wasn't long after the second wave that the real Hiro came back to life with a gasp, having his solid illusions 'killed' and freeing his consciousness to awaken back in his body.

Meanwhile Neji made simple, decisive gentle fist attacks against anyone that came close enough to be a threat to the people he was responsible for. A dash to the left followed by three quick strikes put down the first of the enemy that tried to flank them. Neji's arms flew back and forth so that each hit that thrust chakra forth had the full momentum of his arm swings. With his arms moving like pistons and his power that could be called inhuman, Hyuuga Neji truly was a killing machine.

The enemy was flooding around them however, and those men who should have been dead from earlier attacks and traps were standing up. Not only were they showing signs of life, but also signs that they were not done fighting yet.

"Formation change"

The group rushed together to make a small compact circle when suddenly Tenten blurred upward with a speedy jump into the air. Hanging in the wind, Tenten had already begun doing hand seals when she finally shouted out to start her technique.

"The four wind spirits"

Four scrolls, one in each cardinal direction shot upwards around the group until they hung around the tops of the trees. After concentrating chakra to her arms, Tenten began to slap the scrolls around her and throw the corresponding summoned weapons down to the earth. With her attack started, Neji threw both of his hands upwards and preformed the Heavenly Barrier to prevent any of Tenten's arsenal from falling on her teammates.

The inertia that her arms created from throwing the weapons with such force and speed made Tenten spin so that she was throwing blades in all directions. She became a fountain that rained down sharp death all around her until even trees were cut down. Shafts of sunlight that snuck in through the tree's canopy reflected off the polished steel to make the attack as beautiful as it was deadly. All around Neji, blinks of light shone like floating fireflies that ignited their bodies before finding their home as daggers planted squarely in the enemies chest. After the last weapon was thrown, Tenten glided down lighter than air with weapons bared, ready to fight.

"By my count, twenty seven."

"I don't think so; half of them are getting up. You only took out fourteen."

"It's so unfair," Hiro protested, "you start out with a special attack so it boosts your numbers."

They stood back to back; each member of the four man team faced one of the cardinal directions. Tenten was back to back with Akiko; both of them would provide ranged attacks and support of the men to their left and right who would take care of any close range threats with their taijutsu. It was another brilliant formation created by the genius Hyuuga to create an impenetrable defense.

"I got… four."

"Nice try, thief! That last one was killed by my kunai, you only got three." Even though Akiko and Hiro weren't related, the playful sibling rivalry was definitely apart of their relationship.

Neji, with his Byakugan activated, could watch all of his teammates. If one of them had a particularly strong opponent facing them, the four ninja would turn the circle until fighting was balanced out. It was a wheel that rotated and moved to bring a quick end of life to who ever they came across.

"Nine."

Neji's attacks were filled with chakra and each punch he let fly stopped a heart here, severed a spinal cord there. The precision of his strikes were like those of a malicious doctor, putting in only the effort that was needed, no more and no less. The Jyuken really wasn't a flashy form of taijutsu, but it never needed to be. The effectiveness in its style was near perfection.

"Twenty one." Tenten's triumphant smile was in full force in this competition of killing.

On Neji's back, Hiro was wielding two punching daggers and trying his best to keep up with his amount of killing. Since Akiko was trained by Tenten, she was taught an affinity for throwing sharp objects, and it seemed to Hiro that each snap of her wrist brought forth a pain-filled yell or blood gurgling choke off in the distance.

"Twelve."

The circle of ninja began to turn and move through out the battle field making sure not to stay in one place too long as they moved deeper and deeper into the current of the river of ninja that came attacking. One of the reasons that Neji moved the circle was to slowly get farther away from the village they meant to protect; another reason they moved was that the bodies of the dead were beginning to pile up and it was inhibiting his killing.

"F-fifteen!" Hiro shouted.

"You're such a liar."

"Children, if you don't stop arguing, we're going to go back to Konoha and I will personally ground you from missions." Tenten lectured, the epitome of the ninja mom, "And then neither of you will be able to kill for a very long time. Is that what you want?"

"No, Okaa-san. Seventeen!" Akiko mocked back.

"We're… Eighteen! Sorry."

Continued muttering could be heard under Akiko's breath each time Hiro would update his numbers in an extreme fashion.

Hiro was getting frustrated, each time he would drop an enemy, another one or even two would appear on the heels of his victory. It wasn't before long that he noticed himself moving away from the group due to continuous attacks that drew him farther out from his circle of safety.

It only took a moment of Neji concentrating more on the horde in front of than the people besides and behind him for Hiro to get separated. The onslaught of enemies continued to attack more intelligently now, Neji noticed. They weren't just throwing themselves at the four ninja like sacrifices, now they were attacking in patterns; one that specifically was aimed at splitting up their formation.

"Tenten, Akiko. Tighten up!"

At the short burst of Neji's command, the two kunoichi closed the gap where Hiro once stood to prevent the weakened side from being their downfall. Neji consciously started moving the new triangle formation as fast as he could to recover the lost boy but it seemed as though there was a conspiracy among the enemy to prevent such a thing from happening. As he fought on, Neji paid attention as Hiro was forced like a chess piece to move further and further away.

Somehow, Neji couldn't help but feel like he'd seen this all happen before somewhere.

6.The last goodbye

By practice, shinobi who went off on missions never said farewells to their friends and family. Of course, the danger was always there that they might not come back. There was always the possibility of death, and in some cases it was more than just a possibility. Nevertheless, shinobi tried not to look at their upcoming mission as their fated last mission.

On rare occasions, without reason, a shinobi will say his goodbyes. Of the few who have, only a handful have ever come back alive.

The battle had started out as nothing more than a chaotic attack by an enemy who tried to use numbers to trample the four ninja. Or at least that is how it was meant to seem. Neji had his suspicions from the start, and he was finding out now that he was right. The enemy acted like a stream of water hitting a rock. After a long enough time with constant, never ending pressure, the rock would show cracks. Neji was learning the hard way that even the perfect defense he made had weaknesses. Hiro was now stranded in a sea of attackers far away from any support that Neji could provide.

Determined, the three ninja fought on trying to recover their friend, but the walls of ninja that stood in their way let them know that such a goal was going to be impossible, or at least, not as possible as Neji had hoped. One of the smallest drops of water fell from the heavens and hit him right on the bridge of his nose. It had just started raining when Neji felt sick to his stomach with déjà vu.

"Something's wrong."

"I know something's wrong, we need to get Hiro back. That boy can't fight by himself against these numbers. I'm amazed he's lasted this long." Akiko answered back. After all, having grown up with the boy, she was the one who knew him best.

It's true, Neji thought, Hiro was a talented ninja, but not this talented. Quickly playing back the enemies movements that drew Hiro out of the formation Neji came to a nauseating realization. The mobs of ninja that he fought had stayed just out of his usual reach. They had made a play to make Hiro logically move to the direction and distance they wanted.

It wasn't a moment later that he saw it. In the distance, through massive amounts of bodies that stood in his way, Neji saw Hiro again. He stood in a clearing, surrounded by a ring of enemy ninja that just stood by, not attacking. Then one man, walked into the circle with Hiro. From what Neji could see of his chakra, this was not a man to be trifled with.

The world went into slow motion, the rain slowed its fall to the earth, and yet, even then it was happening all too fast.

"Get out..."

"What did you say!"

"GET OUT NOW!"

Neji abandoned the formation first without caring about breaking the perfect defense, and made his way dangerously fast towards Hiro through the crowd of blood thirsty ninja. Rusty kunai and claws seem to shriek forth from all directions. Even though most were dull and old they had no trouble slipping past mere skin, imbedding themselves deep into Neji's muscles. One kunai went right into his arm and would have sliced through to the other side had it not gotten caught nicking his bone.

The next thing Neji knew, he was flying through the trees holding Hiro close to his chest with Tenten and Akiko trailing behind him trying their best to keep up. After a few minutes of out-running his pursuers, Neji stopped to take a look at the boy in his arms. The two girls were only a moment behind and both paled at the sight of their men painted red. It took a second for them to realize most of the blood was Hiro's.

Akiko near jumped back when she first saw Hiro's wounds. A large chunk of flesh was ripped messily out of the boy's chest revealing scrapped clean ribs that floated in a sea of red blood. She dove at the boy not wasting any time to inspect the wound, knowing that delaying too long would allow the enemy to close in on them in no time. She carefully pulled the boy away from Neji' and into her own arms before assessing his wounds.

"He's hit, badly. It's deep. It ... his lung is punctured."

"Hyuuga-san." Hiro's voice came with a sputter of blood through his tired lips.

What Neji saw as an outsider in his dreams last night, he was experiencing first hand now. In his dream he was speechless, and now, living it, he understood why.

"His wound isn't closing; it looks like there's chakra residing in this hole. His body isn't healing on its own, and he's going to bleed to death." Akiko said just before whipping out tape and applying it directly to the wheezing hole in the man's chest.

"Hyuuga-san?"

Neji turned his head to look at Hiro's face. The desperate eyes of a ghost colored boy looked back at him. Hiro's expression bordered between validation and panic; even now, Hiro's thoughts were trying to focus themselves on the mission and the regret of failure. The boy who grew up always being called "sleepy-head" truly wanted to become a great ninja. Now, that future seemed to be slipping away as quick as his blood drained into the earth.

"Hyuuga-san?"

Hiro continued questioning; he called out his team leader's name as if asking if death was his fate. Neji had no answers for the boy.

"I can't heal him here. I'm not even sure I can heal this wound at all. I need to get him somewhere with more medics."

The veins surrounding Neji's eyes flaring visibly as the Byakugan activated. The enemy was off in the distance waiting, seemingly enjoying their wounded prey.

"Tenten, take Hiro and Akiko and get to safety, I'll keep the enemy here."

"We're not leaving you, I'm sure Akiko can do something as a quick fix..."

The clouds rolled in quickly and overcast the sky, darkening the forest like an artificial nightfall. The glowing coils of the enemies' tenketsu appeared like blue flickering candles all around him that failed to illuminate their surroundings. They pulsed like wild blue flames hanging in mid-air, staying at the edge of his vision.

"Leave now." Neji's orders left no room for questioning.

"Fine, Akiko can take Hiro and leave, but I'm not leaving you."

"Yes, you are." His pupil-less eyes glared right through Tenten and made her breath catch in her throat from the shock of his unabridged anger.

"Why do I have to leave?" Tenten's worked hard to keep the strain from showing in her voice. What Neji was telling her was too much; it went against everything she ever thought was possible. Neji was ordering his own suicide by telling them to leave.

"They're coming." Akiko was beyond fear and spoke quiet words resigned to fate. In normal circumstances she was a know-it-all ninja. The only thing that kept her quiet and humble was her admiration for Tenten, her former Sensei. She was an intelligent ninja who excelled in ninja medical arts from a young age and had every reason to tout off her accomplishments. She was destined to be a great ninja, but her youth was showing now. No matter how much she held it back, it seemed as if hopelessness was closing in from all directions. Holding her dying friend, she seemed to flinch at each drop of somber rain that fell on her. Every drop that hit her head and shoulders echoed her death.

"Because I said so."

"Just tell me why!" Tenten wouldn't let those foolish words drive her off. She couldn't go back to Konoha with the explanation of "because." They would definitely not be the last words she heard from Neji.

"Hyuuga-san, Tenten-san..." Hiro's whispered his last words before letting the shock of blood loss pull him into unconsciousness.

"Because if you stay you'll die!"

Beyond the walls that guarded his emotions, beyond the armor of his heart, Neji's fear abruptly burst forth.

The enemy was racing towards them and the noise of their battle cry was almost deafening. The shouting got louder as they drew near but all Tenten could hear was the repetitious sound of a forest in a downpour of rain. She stood there, face to face with Neji, numb; numb from the words he spoke, and numb from the flood of his emotions that swept her away like the swift current of a massive river. She was frozen, she couldn't move even if she wanted to.

Neji assumed his infamous jyuuken style attack stance and took a step to close the distance between himself and Tenten. He would get Tenten to leave even if he had to make her do so by force. Tenten had only ever seen a semi-serious Neji while fighting him in training, now she was experiencing just how ferocious his eyes looked from the viewpoint of a real opponent.

When she originally met him she couldn't help but stare into his silver eyes. After a while, she could tell what he was focusing on, even though his eyes had no pupils. The first time she saw him activate Byakugan, she couldn't look directly at him for a week. It was something about the veins on his face that seemed inhuman. Over the years she was able to not only see Neji and accept his frightening, yet hauntingly beautiful eyes, but in some ways she found them to be special to her.

This was different. What she saw now were the eyes, the veins, and the danger the lurked behind them all. Every other day that she knew him, he was always a friend and teammate, but at this moment in time when he was ready to attack, Neji showed he could truly be a fearsome opponent. In the back of Tenten's mind there was a quiet whisper that spoke up as she took a panicked step backwards.

Monster…

"Leave now…" Purposefully left out was the unspoken 'or else' that was clearly visible in his eyes. Neji stayed low, prepared to attack his teammate. He had to let her know that he was serious about what he was telling her to do. In his head, she was dead if she stayed. Something told him the way she died would not be pretty, and so, if she refused to go, Neji would finish her himself.

Tenten lingered only a second before spinning on her heals and grabbing Akiko's arm. The Tenten began throwing weapons into the darkness to carve a way out as the medic-nin held Hiro tight. The two made their way through a thin wall of enemies before bounding away through the trees to escape.

Tenten turned at the sound of the words that slipped out of Neji's mouth. Her last image of him was of the anger draining from his face to be replaced by sorrow.

"Goodbye Tenten."

Two hours into fighting solo, Neji first started showing signs of fatigue. In the back of his head he was becoming vaguely aware that this could have something to do with the fact that he hadn't gotten decent sleep in the past three days. Luckily, the Jyuuken style of taijutsu was extremely chakra efficient.

"Stop underestimating me! Heavenly Spin!"

Neji rotated his body emitting a small, continuous amount of chakra out from all of his chakra holes which sent the rain and seven surrounding enemies flying away. Immediately as the spin ended, Neji was already in his stance. He stood there, slightly leaning forward over his right leg with his arms held up into the air at length, one in front of him, the other behind him. In the span of a second Neji went from defending himself to initiating an attack. There were multiple opponents, each with multiple chakra holes that needed to be closed if they were to be defeated.

Neji went after them all. "128 Hands of Hakke!"

In a flash of speed, Neji dashed in between raindrops towards the largest group of attackers. As he sped by one of the ninja opposing him, he jumped with a reverse spin through the air towards the foe. In mid-jump, Neji planted a kick imbued with chakra towards the ninja's heart, making him crumple after grabbing his chest. Neji landed crouched low in the middle of three ninja that had not yet even registered his presence. The Hyuuga's hands flew to specific points on the ninjas' bodies so fast that his limbs blurred. Neji was like a multi-armed beast.

From that point on, it was a highly intricate dance that Neji had been practicing constantly over the years. The enemy ninja tried to counter attack, but they were non-moving statues compared to Neji's speed. Some were nearby, some were at a distance, some stood in clumps, some were by themselves; they were all just targets.

It was a dance of numbers and Hyuuga Neji its master.

At any given time during the attack, he was only vaguely aware who or where he was attacking, all he knew for sure was who to attack next, and how many more attacks he could get off before the dance ended. Blood spilled out of the edges of the opposing ninja's mouths as Neji made their hearts burst inside their chests.

Yet no matter the rate at which Neji could drop his opponents, more would come back to fill their spaces. It was dawning on him that this never-ending battle would finish when he ran out of chakra. The only thing that tore him away from his thoughts was the kunai flying into the back of his vision. Being so distracted before realizing they were incoming, there was nothing he could do to change their course.

They flew through the air as if they were cutting the wind itself. The shiny daggers whistled all the way to their target, piercing flesh and bone; the song it sung was death.

7.Foretold fates

The sensei walked back and forth at the front of the room, drawing illustrations from the lecture that seemed to never end. No matter how much Neji wanted to zone out, or lay his head down on the desk, he couldn't. It wasn't allowed. The only choice he had was to sit there with perfect posture, and quietly listen. Having extra life lessons taught to you as a Hyuuga probably gave Neji a more unique childhood.

".. are not opposites. Rather, they are interdependent. For example, day cannot exist without night. Light cannot exist without darkness." The lecture continued as the teacher wrote down key phrases on the board.

While the desire to be a normal kid died shortly after his father, it didn't mean that Neji had to enjoy all of the extra requirements put on him by the main branch. Self inflicted training and studies was one thing, being taught Yin and Yang by the families designated mono-toned teacher was another. Of course, when the teacher literally can see out of the back of his head, you have little room to slack off.

"This supports the idea of balance. And just as Yin becomes Yang, they also are apart of each other, they exist together." The sensei's voice perked up, "Remember, just as there are stars in the night sky, there is also light within the darkness."

This was apparently the point where the teacher hoped Neji would be in awe of the wise knowledge. Instead Neji's clever mind went fast at work in processing all this information. "Doesn't that also mean that there's some darkness hidden in the light?"

After a moments pause, the teacher blinked.

The impact of the kunai sent the assailant's body flying backwards away from Neji, finally pinning the target to a tree nearby.

"You're lucky that I want them to understand the importance of following orders," a voice came from over head as Tenten came jumping down from a tree. "You piss me off Hyuuga Neji, acting all tough, putting yourself out there to be a sacrifice so your team can get away." Tenten words came out in a jumble between throwing more projectiles, catching her breath, and lecturing the silver eyed team leader.

"I don't care what happened in your dreams or what you think will happen now. But I'm sure as hell not leaving without paying back the person who hurt Hiro! So you can fight me or fight along side me; it's your choice: make it quick."

Tenten wasn't exactly the most delicate kunoichi to grace the ninja ranks in the Leaf Village. It's possibly the reason why Neji thought he was able to tolerate her for so long. Tenten was a capable, strong asset, and in the many years he'd been around her, she'd perhaps become something else... something unknown to even himself. But all of this did nothing to escape the fact that she wasn't strict when the need arose. Inside of the ferocity that Tenten now displayed was the hint of a smile and satisfaction. It reminded Neji of the first chuunin exam he took, of when they went to retrieve a dazed and unconscious Rock Lee. If he recalled correctly, even though Lee had a good amount of damage to his inner ear, Tenten violently shook him to wake up.

There was a need to apologize, but that wasn't what she was looking for. Apologies could come later when they were safe. What Tenten was upset about was the fact that Neji had inadvertently devalued her strength. By sending her away earlier, it was a signal to Tenten that she would be a hindrance to the fight. No matter the fact that Neji's true intent was to keep her and the rest of the team alive, Tenten made it clear that above all things, that she was a Ninja. Trivial factors, such as being able to walk away from the mission came second.

A smirk creped onto Neji's face. "Fine, let's get his done then. But as team lead, I call dibs on taking down the one who hurt Hiro."

And all of the sudden, the Neji that Tenten knew was back. Whatever was brooding around in the back of his head was suddenly cleared. A little bit of a stern talking to seemed to snap his focus back to what was important.

"Okay, but you have to get him good for me too." Tenten shot back with an energetic smile.

Crouching low, Tenten's hands pounded to the ground as she shouted out for a summoning jutsu. Several long blades spiked up from the ground and slid across the terrain like the fins of sharks poking out in the sea. They cut through the ground, splitting the roots of trees, fallen branches and the limbs of people who stood in the way. The blades swam across the ground and gave no mercy to anyone caught standing in it's path.

Neji ran in the wake of the blades as kicked up dirt billowed behind the metal. As he ran down between the walls of people, the corridor quickly caved in, flooding with attackers to replace the fallen. In the distance, Neji saw him, the apparent mastermind, standing calmly while the world erupted with violence around him. Neji would make sure that this man's last moments were anything but the calm he was living out now.

Meanwhile, Tenten had her weapons at hand, and summoned clothing acting like armor adorned her shoulders. As much as she was a master of almost every known weapon, she could very possibly be considered to be a weapon herself. Every drop of blood her opponents drew, she turned into a possibility to summon more and more weapons. Through openings in the fight, Tenten would change; it was like she was decorating herself slowly, piece by piece with weapons. It was her determination that she would not go quietly along with Neji's predictions. She was going to use this day to yet again prove to Neji that not everything in the future was set in stone.

Neji moved and battled his way closer and closer to the leader. For every stride that he advanced, the leader moved back. It was instantly obvious that it was a strategy to draw them apart, much like he used on Hiro. But none of that would matter in a short while. Soon it would all be over with Neji standing over this man's corpse.

Neji was nearly exhausted by the time he caught up to the enemy leader. The man, dressed in a ragged cloak which covered dark blue ninja clothing, stood on the water at the base of a waterfall. There was no where left to run. Neji had been carefully watching with his Byakugan while fighting and following the man; there were no traps set to ensnare the leaf-nin. It was becoming obvious that this man, wasn't a mastermind as Neji had previously thought. While he lead an impressive number of ninja, this waterfall ninja wasn't making tactical retreats, he was making moves away to get out of danger.

"Coward..." Neji thought to himself. "The only way he was able to hit Hiro was due to the fact that Hiro was overwhelmed defending off the others."

"You're done for now. There are no more of your minions around to shield yourself from me. And I've seen your moves, you may be fast, but not fast enough." Neji shouted over the sound of the waterfall.

Confidently, Neji walked across the face of the water, exerting a small stream of chakra from his feet to keep himself from sinking. The mist produced from the water hitting the rocks was a welcome refreshment from the heat of battle. When he was 10 yards away, the man started doing hand seals, which prompted Neji into a defensive ready stance.

"Driving Rain Technique!"

As water came down like needles from the falls, Neji smiled. There was no way that an attack of this caliber would work against a Hyuuga.

"Kaiten!" Chakra shot out from his rotating body to create a bubble like shield around him. The water needles harmlessly splashed to pieces as they hit the side of Kaiten. When the move was finished, Neji again continued to walk confidently across to water. A Small part of him wanted to savor this easy opponent that had cost him a teammates injury.

As he drew near, the mist from the falls started getting thicker and thicker, beginning to obscure his view. Of course with the Byakugan, this meant nothing. Even when the mist became dense, he still saw his opponent running off to the right, apparently to 'surprise' Neji with an attack from behind. Right before the ninja lunged with a Kunai towards Neji's back, the Hyuuga spoke. "I Still see you."

Neji spin quickly to intercept the attack, using Jyuuken he hit the hands of the enemy targeting spots on his arm that would make it impossible for the man to continue holding his kunai. It was becoming obvious that there would be no enjoyment derived from this fight. Neji settled to finish it quickly.

"64 Hands of Hakke!"

In his mind, Neji visualized the symbols at his feet. Standing in the center of a Taijitu symbol, the symbol which represented the principles of yin and yang, with each of the trigrams surrounding it. Quick as a blur, Neji's hands shot out, reaching for the 64 tenketsu points that would shut down his opponents chakra. As his fingers moved to the first target, they were stopped millimeters short. Something was dreadfully wrong; Neji's entire body was locked in place.

"Too dangerous, too dangerous." The man said as he relaxed. "I've seen what your bare hands can do to people, it seems as though they are quite deadly."

Neji's mind was spinning. No matter how much he willed his body, it wouldn't move. Meanwhile, the man in front of him moved easily; it didn't make sense. "But how?"

"Oh, you're wondering why you can't move right? Most people are always baffled by it. It's the mist obviously. While people usually think that the mist is used to hide my presence, that's just a secondary effect. The real purpose behind it is to surround my prey. Then, I supply the chakra to make a solid mold of mist around you, to keep you from moving."

Neji was racing through his thoughts finding an solution to get out of the trap of mist. While he was in this position, he'd be unable to do kaiten to free himself. He could however expel chakra from his body to blow away the empowered mist, but he already knew he was getting dangerously low on energy. Even if he used enough chakra to free himself, he wouldn't be out of danger if he passed out from chakra depletion.

"Now this technique requires a lot of chakra, and I still have to use it on that teammate of yours that came back. So if you would please, die quickly."

The man's right hand reached into his weapons pouch to pull out a kunai, but the weapon slipped out of his partially closed hand. Pulling his hand up, little red dots were slowly becoming visible across his forearm.

"I guess this is thanks to your taijitsu." The man flashed an awkwardly grateful smile. "I suppose I'll just have to kill you with my left hand." This time the waterfall nin's left hand reached across his body and into the weapon pouch. Pulling out a kunai in with his steady hand, the object of death slowly moved towards Neji's throat.

There was nothing left. Neji was out of ideas, out of chakra, and out of time.

The blade moved gracefully, and from what Neji could tell, it would cut right through his neck and throat. Though this would end the fight, Neji understood that this alone wouldn't kill him. Clinically, he would die from the suffocation of not being able to breathe. If he panicked at the loss of oxygen, his body could unwittingly spasm, which would force him into unconsciousness. Even if he were to try and hold his breath, the reflex to breathe would eventually take over. His only choices left were between loosing control and dying quickly, or remaining calm, and dying moments later with the panic of death in the background of his mind the entire time. Neji resolved to do the latter, hoping on the chance of finding an open, and possibly doing something that could help Tenten for when she would have to fight this man.

To Neji, a death more painful would be worthwhile to possibly save Tenten.

Within an inch of his sacrificial neck, the blade stopped. Bewildered, Neji saw the man maintain an unnatural stillness. In fact, everything around him seemed to have stopped. As if time itself was halted. Neji's own heart refused to beat.

From behind the waterfall-nin out stepped the man from Neji's nightmares. His onyx eyes were trained on Neji. His black hair flowed gracefully behind him as he strode out into view. His eyes, dark as fear, were a complete compliment to the hair draped around his shoulders. With a teasing smile that was drunk with elitism, he spoke softly to Neji.

"Didn't I tell you that you were going to die today?"

8.Heaven's corruption

Neji couldn't tell what angered him more: what the man was saying or the fact that he was so nonchalant while saying it.

"Didn't I tell you that you were going to die today?"

In his smile was the confidence of foresight. Neji wondered if this is what his own face looked like many times in battle. The Byakugan was a powerful tool that revealed many things to the user. There were very few things that weren't revealed under its pressure. Neji reflected on how many times he told people of their imminent demise, and thought about how it felt here now.

"I've been watching you throughout the years," the dark eyed man continued. "I've been watching you deteriorate as a ninja. I've always wondered how 'geniuses' die."

The man walked around casually, taking in the surroundings. He inspected the fight from all angles, almost like he was going to critique. All the while, both Neji and his opponent were in a state of timelessness. No matter how much Neji urged his limbs to move, they remained unresponsive. The kunai held by his enemy remained a mere inch away from his exposed neck, and though it too didn't move, it was a constant reminder of what was to come.

The dark eyed man draped his left arm over Neji's shoulder like a friend would and leaned in close to Neji's ear.

"She'll die too, you know." whispered the man.

It was almost in an intimate tone, full of the seriousness that was lacking from the rest of his words. What was left unsaid was the name 'Tenten', the person to whom he referred. But it didn't matter, Neji understood it immediately. And now, given this moment before his own death, Neji was able fully grasp the weight of the concept. The image in his mind of Tenten dying was unbearable, and conjurered up emotions that Neji rarely felt; emotions usually kept in check from his restraint and ninja training.

The man slowly walked away in front of Neji. After a few paces, he glanced back over his right shoulder, his obsidian eyes connecting with Neji's.

"I wonder if he'll be kind to her, and give her a quick death too," he voice sounded absentminded, almost as if he was thinking out loud. It was only a second later that his voice turned devious with wicked thoughts. "Ho, ho, or I wonder if he'll be far kinder to her in other ways."

Neji screamed from the mental anguish he was experiencing. Inside his head, the scream was trying to fight against the images forced upon him, as if the volume woud shield him from the hurt and pain of the ideas. He was quickly losing any bit of control he might have still had. Neji had no chakra, and was exhausted from fighting so many hours in a row. He had no rest from the uncountable sleepless nights, where this man, the man from his nightmares, would terrify him awake. While they had only met recently in Neji's dream, it was obvious that this man was responsible for all the horrid dreams Neji had.

"What do you want with me?" Neji ask with eyes closed.

When Neji opened his eyes, the two men were face to face. The dark eyed man, place a hand on Neji's head, and spoke simple words plainly. "Neji. You live." It was the same words spoken by Neji's father all those yeas ago. The few words that had burned themselves into Neji's core. The words that gave him so much fuel in training, in life, and especially moments like these; moments of imminent death.

"Live, so that I can enjoy myself." The dark eyed man began to squint as his mouth formed a wicked smile.

Immediately, the man turned way from Neji and walked to the symbols surrounding him. The Taijitu, the symbol that represented both yin and yang remained around Neji, and this man began to alter select symbols. Each of the three lined symbols on the ground had meaning, and their placement in relation to each other was purposeful. When together, they represented unity, and more importantly, balance. The dark eyed man quickly altered the symbol for wind to mountain, marsh to water, and fire to the symbol for thunder. Under Neji, the Taijitu started to change.

Even without the dark eyed man's direct interaction, the symbols of yin and yang began to morph. Slowly yang, the white portion of the circle began to overtake the black side, till all that was left was the familiar black dot. The man walked to the symbol for earth, the ultimate sign for yin, three bisected lines stacked on top of each other, and attempted to alter it. As he connected each of the broken lines to create the symbol for heaven, the fullest symbol for yang, the black dot was gone.

"What do you think? Do you like it? It reminds me of your eyes."

Neji realized he was now standing on a pure white circle, and while there was definitely something wrong with that, Neji felt power stirring inside of him. While it was refreshing to Neji to feel the surge of chakra return to his muscles, the relief quickly turned to pain. The chakra began to boil over inside of Neji's chest.

Neji winced at the pain and shouted at the man, "What did you d-"

The question was cut short as time jerked to life. Without warning the blade held by the waterfall-nin streaked a trail of light and continued moving in a course across Neji's neck.

In the distance a man's scream shot out and was quickly silenced. With all of her enthusiasm gone from tirelessly fighting, Tenten summoned all of her will into believing that the shout just then wasn't Neji's. The enemy was slowly cornering her into a large grotto of rocks with small steams of water braided across the ground. Tenten stepped backwards, her feet splashing into a puddle as she tried to catch her breath before the next onslaught of attacks.

The crowd before her was a mass of men with evil orangish-yellow eyes; eyes that rolled in all directions for no apparent reason. They were a bloody group, with slashes that Tenten inflicted that cut through clothing and skin alike. She took a deep breath and readied herself into a fighting stance. Had the enemy not been blind from the poison that increased their strength and durability, they would have thought twice about fighting after seeing her. At a glance, Tenten herself looked like a weapon, with metal claws wrapped around the backs of her hands, spiked pads adorning her knees, elbows, and shoulders. She even had small, thin blades that ran the length of her shins and forearms that worked for both attack and defense.

No matter how deadly she was to them individually, or even groups of them, they had no fear of her. Their collective minds had only one thought: the destruction of life.

In an instant, they began to lunge at her, barraging her with drawn kunai and swords. She dodged one person who flew past her, and parried another who locked swords with her claws. She thrust her knee upwards to the center of one man's chest which stopped him in his tracks, the next moment that man was falling backwards with blood bubbling from his mouth. No matter how well she was doing, it was becoming apparent that it was no use. There were too many, and they were getting too close for her to defend them all at the same time.

From everywhere knives and weapons came in at her. Because she expected it, it didn't surprise her when a kunai dug deep into her skin; it hurt like hell, but it didn't surprise her. Her readiness to accept pain but not defeat allowed her to continue fighting and defending without skipping a beat.

She was caught by surprise when one of the men she didn't previously notice to tackle her to the ground. Quickly retaliating, she flexed outwards against his encompassing arms, burying the blades on her forearms into the insides of his biceps. It was a second later that she realized it was Neji.

"Neji?"

Fear and panic hit her at the same time from both sides, and for an instant she was swimming in a sea of confusion. Little drops and streaks of crimson could be seen covering his body, the only exception being his neck where a good amount of blood was still flowing. If the Hyuuga's had a naturally fair complexion, Neji was almost a ghost.

Wordlessly, Neji stood up over Tenten, his eyes burning with determination. He jumped vertically in the air with a spin. As the enemies weapons rushed in towards him, intending on spearing him from all angles, Neji released one of his more taxing jutsus: Heavenly Spin. Tenten had never seen this technique from this point of view before, and it was quite the sight to see. Amid the pain of her wounds, and past the joy of seeing Neji alive again, slipped her instant reaction to the spectacle. She was in utter awe of it.

Tenten saw as visible white chakra puffed out of Neji's skin, and bloomed in a circle outwards, blowing away any person standing around him. Neji was like a large bird, being born from in the center of a protective shell, and it was amazing to her.

Neji's chakra not only pushed away the attackers, it also passed through a large portion of them. As his chakra moved through their bodies, it countered their energy, negating it. In this one move, he'd rendered countless numbers of them unconscious from instant chakra depletion. When he landed on the ground, he stood for a second, analyzing his opponents, before the strength in his legs gave out. Neji fell forward to his knees before dropping all the way to the ground.

Tenten was up in an instant, with most of the enemy dazed or unmoving she rushed over to Neji and flipped him over to his back, to check on his wounds.

"Neji? Neji, are you okay? Speak to me. We've got to get out of here!" She spoke rapidly as she glanced over him. Most of the small spots of blood on his skin didn't appear to come from cuts or gashes, Tenten quickly assumed that they must have been from other ninja. The sight of red was a stark contrast to his pale skin, making Neji seem all the worse. Tenten's eyes were drawn the blood still dripping from his neck.

"No, no, no, no, No!" Fear had fully set in as Tenten was unable to do anything but imagine the worst. She paid no attention to the few enemy that had started to get up and stumble her way. She tore a few inches of cloth off her right pant leg and began to clean the wound to see how deep it went. It was the glint of light that played on the kunai in front of her face that made her look up. The arm holding the blade pulled back for room to gain momentum and thrust forward, aimed square between Tenten's eyes. Tenten winced her eyes closed, and waited for the end.

A second passed by. Two seconds. Three.

By the time she opened her eyes, the man before her was gone. It was then that she realized that most of the men who stood up were no longer there. In the distance she saw a waterfall-nin begin to stand, and that's when she realized the truth of the situation. A flash of green streaked in between trees at a blinding speed and with an impressive single punch, sent the waterfall-nin flying. Rock Lee, in his typical green speed suit complete with jounin vest, was here to save the day.

With the reassurance of their safety, she reverted her attention to Neji's neck. Gently, she wiped away the blood, expecting to see the start of a gash somewhere. More and more blood was wiped away until there was none left, and amazingly, there wasn't any gash. In fact, what was more puzzling to Tenten was that there wasn't a single wound on Neji's neck, and yet after a second, in the same spot blood began to flow.

"It's okay, I'm alright..." Neji replied to her concerns.

"Neji, looks like you and Tenten had quite the battle today without me." said Rock Lee who was now standing nearby.

"What took you so long..."

"I had to wait for an anbu squad to come with me. I heard from Akiko-san that these were quite troubling ninja, and after seeing what they did to Hiro-kun, we decided to pool our resources and send out the best." A self-serving smile crept its way on Lee's face.

"The best huh? Well the best has left a few standing off behind me and to the right."

"But, I..." Lee growled quietly to himself before speeding off.

"I thought you were dead." Tenten said choking back the sadness of the idea.

"I won't die just yet. It's not my destiny. There's still a few things I need to do here."

"Destiny again huh? I don't know about that but-" she said before she was cut off.

"I like you a lot Tenten; you're very special to me. I want you to know that."

"I-"

"Hyuuga-san, do you require immediate medical assistance?" The pair of leaf anbu interrupted her response. They stood there with their usual white masks designed to look like animal faces. White pieces of armor covered their chests and forearms, and while they looked plain by any usual measure of ninja, they were perhaps some of the most deadly men in the world. Despite their potential for death, these two were probably the only two people in all of waterfall country that were calm at this very moment.

"No, I'll be fine for now. But I'm ready to go home."

"Very well, Lee-san will be your escort. We'll clean up here." And without any flair or drama, they walked off. They walked through the piles of corpses as normally as one would walk down the street. When a waterfall-nin sat up suddenly near them, all that could be seen was the sword the anbu used being pulled out of that man's chest; the drawing of the sword was near invisible.

"Neji, can you walk?" Lee said as he got back, and before Tenten knew it, was already lifting Neji up.

"Yea, I think so."

"By the way, does that hurt?"

"A lot of me hurts right now Lee. What part in particular?"

"It looks as though you have something in your eye..."

"It doesn't feel like there's anything there, Tenten, can you see it? What's it look like?" He asked while turning to her. After all of the things that had happened today, and what almost seemed like a confession, it was hard to look Hyuuga Neji directly in his eyes. She just didn't expect to have him make the first move.

"I don't see - wait" she stopped herself. Plain as day, in the eyes that were so special to her, there was something different. Something had changed.

"I looks like a little black speck."

9.Epilogue: Unexplained death

To his recollection, this was something new. He'd been in the ranks of the anbu for about two and a half years, a ninja for a lot longer, and in all his life he'd never seen anything like this before. The kunai he picked up from the ground not only had a bent tip, but the tip of the blade had been charred white. Upon touching the oddity that was the tip, he noticed some chakra residue remained and that the metal was actually warm though the heat was fading. Under his cat shaped mask, the anbu frowned at the curiosity.

"What do you have there?" Asked the bird masked anbu.

He stood up from his crouched position, carrying the kunai to show to his teammate. "Kunai, but it's kind of, I don't know... weird."

"Special weapon?"

"I don't think so, the bent part of the blade didn't retain it's edge. It's like someone stripped away it's sharpness. Anyway, what's up with the corpse? Any techniques we can recover?"

The ground was wet around the dead body of the waterfall-nin. After having been pulled from the water at the base of the fall, it'd been placed on the ground spread eagle by the bird masked anbu who was inspecting it almost like salvage.

"Techniques we can recover? There's not even an organ this guy can donate."

"Can you tell what did this?"

"According to the dossier, it doesn't look like the leaf-nin sent on this mission could do something like this. We'll maybe Tenten-san; she has enough sharp weapons."

The corpse laying before the two was covered in divots and holes that littered his body. In seemingly random places, a total of sixty four holes covered the front side of the lifeless husk, each of them about an inch wide and about two inches deep.

"We'll report this to the Hokage. For now, let's get rid of it."

The bird masked anbu dropped a burn note on the body, and with the release of a small sting of chakra, the object went up in flames.

10.Prologue: The madness of queen mab

In the beginning there was nothing. In this nothing there was a sense of peace. The tranquility of emptiness is where Hyuuga Neji took refuge. He came to exist in it, floating within it, and if only it would stay that way, then maybe he could get some rest.

Beep. Beep.

The low drone of beeping seemed muffled as it hummed through Neji's existence. The sound helped fill the void and tugged at his consciousness, pulling him from the coma of nothingness. There are things that he is seeing now, and he wishes he didn't. And it doesn't matter whether he's a Hyuuga or not, because when he closes his eyes he can see them staring back.

When you wish you could go to sleep in your dreams, it's never a good thing.

The eyes watching him intently belong to faces of people he knows all too well. Neji stands there, in the center of his mind, and is surrounded by the judgmental ghosts of his past. The ghosts of the fallen hate him, and Neji can understand their feelings. Their hate is a translation of the guilt he feels. The agony is almost unbearable to his soul.

"Why didn't you save me?"

The phrase is a whisper that slides past everyone's lips. It's said in rounds like the chorus of a song. The words said by many begin to overlap and intertwine; they mingle together untill they become indistinguishable, and yet the meaning of those words are clear: Neji had failed them. While the faces of the dead never look sad, their eyes have the definite glare of an accusation.

How many times he'd seen these ghost and apologized profusely to themn, Neji couldn't count. No matter how many times the Hyuuga begged them to go away, his pleas always fell onf deaf ears. They always wanted more, they wanted the one thing that was stolen from them: life. They always blamed Neji for losing it. These were the ghosts of the people Neji couldn't save while on missions, and their numbers never seemed to stop growing. Neji was a prisoner of his own mind, surrounded by the packed crowd of dead people.

Hands craving life shot out from the crowd. They reached towards him, grabbing him, ripping away at whatever they grasped. His shirt was torn asunder, and his skin broke when their greedy hands clasped around it and pulled. As he fought to make his way through them, he could feel his blood trickling down his arms, and back. His skin cried blood from the long gashes torn in it

Through the pain, his guilt melts together with his boiling rage. "Get away from me! You're dead! You're all dead!"

It's then that he spots a new face in the crowd. Their eyes lock, and the fear solidifies into a realization; Hyuuga Neji had lead another person to death. Suddenly the crowd is no more, and on this plane there exists only those two people. Morikage Hiro, the illusion specialist chuunin, stood just across from Neji. The boy had been Neji's subordinate on the last mission and gotten mortally wounded. Before his fate was sealed he was sent away with both Tenten and the team's medical ninja, Akiko. Neji final memory of the boy was of the gapping wound in his chest, and the wheezing sound of his breathing as a result of his punctured lung.

Now the boy is before Neji, skin bleached white. The only color truly seen is the vibrant red life gushing out of his chest. The echoes from that battle resound in Neji's head, and familiar words drift in the air through the space between them. "Hyuuga-san?" Those words were the prayer for life from a dying man. Neji had failed the boy; letting him get pulled into battle, and out of the planned formation.

"Hyuuga-san?"

His name was called again, even though the ghost's mouth remains still. Neji can't help but remember the scene: the chuunin laid on the ground, repeating his name. What the wounded boy was really asking though, was for Neji, the team lead, to give an order that would fix this situation. What he was really wanting to hear was Neji saying that everything would be alright.

Neji squeezed his eyes closed and tried with all of his might to forget. If only he could just forget everything that happened in that last mission, he thinks to himself, then maybe this nightmare would be over. The voice of the boy in front of him grows faint, and when Neji begins to open his eyes he can see the chuunin begin to fade away.

"Neji."

The voice that came from behind him was quiet and soft. When he turned to face the source, he saw Tenten in the distance. Tenten. And then it all comes rushing back to him. On the last mission he'd surprised her with a confession. When face to face with death he'd seen the spark of his existence flicker and in that moment he'd realized what was important to him, and more importantly, who. The next time he saw her, he didn't let the chance pass him by.

"I like you a lot Tenten; you're very special to me." The words he spoke then he heard now, only this time, there was something more. "Don't worry, I won't let him forget. I won't let you fade away too."

Directly behind Tenten was a looming figure, as if her shadow had taken shape. Delicately, arms circled around Tenten's figure as she was embraced, and the pitch colored eyes of the man who haunted Neji became immediately apparent. Tenten looked oblivious to the actions taken to her, and stared innocently back at a Neji.

"Get away from her you bastard!" The anger Neji felt was quickly becoming uncontrollable. The hatred he felt towards this man was visible along the ridge of his white knuckled fists. For uncountable nights, this man of darkness had tormented Neji's dreams, and played with Neji's mind. Now his presence was threatening to infect the one thing that the Hyuuga held dear. Neji was just starting to understand how much Tenten meant to him, and he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. With hands raised ready to attack, Neji was off in a flash, sprinting at the man.

The obsidian-eyed man leaned his head in, resting it on her right shoulder while continuing to speak, "I won't let him hurt you."

Neji had no intention of harming a hair on Tenten's head, let alone hurting her out right; the lies this man was saying to Tenten were unforgivable to the Hyuuga. The wicked smile that played on the man's face only further infuriated Neji as he dashed towards the pair.

Neji felt the need to inflict tremendous pain to this nightmarish man. The silver-eyed man had endured much himself and was ready to dish it out two fold, but as he got in range of the stranger, Neji noticed that he was still mostly hidden by Tenten's figure; it was as if he was using Tenten like a shield. But none of that mattered; Neji was a genius and all of his attacks were executed with precision. Neji felt confident that he could effectively attack without even touching Tenten.

Hyuuga Neji dropped down into the famous Sixty-four Hands of Hakke stance, and readied himself. Anything in his divinity field had no chance of surviving. In the blink of an eye, as if time slowed down, Neji was on the attack, his hands already compensating for Tenten's body as his fingers traced arcs in the air to land divine strikes on the target behind her.

The dance of the Hyuuga specific move had started, and Neji felt that this would be another time he would savor each and every hit as he started the count.

"One-"

The hand that shot out from over Tenten's left shoulder caught him off guard, and since he was in the middle of attacking, there was little he could do to defend against it. As the fist closed in on Neji's face, he braced himself for the blunt contact and prepared himself to be able to continue the sixty-four strikes. But something was different now, and time seemed to come to a crawl as Neji analyzed the counter attack.

Neji had fought so many different ninjas' taijutsu techniques, and he'd thought he'd seen them all, but this was unique. He watched as part of the incoming fist loosened, and how both pointer and middle fingers extended out; it was almost reminiscent of the Hyuuga's own divine strikes, but there was no primary tenketsu spot that these fingers could reach, or at least not where they were currently heading. Instantly, the sickening truth of the attack's intent became known, and all a wide-eyed Neji could do was watch it happen.

Two fingers of the nightmare man pierced into and curled around Neji's right eye.

Neji could feel the slight tug, and noticed as his vision was cut in half once the optic nerve was pinched in two. Once his eye was fully extracted, he watched with his one good eye as it as was rolled between the nightmare man's fingers. The shock of it all was still registering in Neji's mind when the pain and agony overcame him.

"AUGH!"

Neji dropped to the floor and clutched the empty socket as he screamed endlessly.

"I'll protect you." The dark eyed man whispered intimately to Tenten's ear while marveling at the small silver dotted orb in his left hand. "I'll protect you while we get to know each other very well."

Neji was becoming aware of the beeping again, the same beeping that brought him into this miserable existence was beating loud and fast, each noisy tone was quickly chased by another. For the moment that noise helped him come to his senses rather than drown in the pain. He laid on the ground on his stomach, and couldn't bring himself to open his eye lids to see what was happening around him. It was the fear of how the sensation would feel, and how that feeling would again make him realize that one of his eyes was missing.

Voices swam around in Neji's head, and while some were familiar, when filtered through the pain none of them made any sense.

"Oh my god, his heart is about to burst..."

"What's happening? Is he going to be okay? Neji?"

"He's going into SVT at over 200 beats per minute."

With all of his training and years of repressing his emotions, his painful past, and his burning desire to protect Tenten from this horrible man, Neji regained a small amount of composure. His voice was ragged from screaming, as if each word he uttered was first cut with rocks. "Who the hell are you anyways?" Absent in Neji's tone was the energy and anger that had caused him to rush in and attack.

"Neji? NEJI!"

"Get her out of here!"

"Oh? Are you finally willing to truly acknowledge me? Very well then, you may call me Jirou." Footsteps could be heard growing near as Neji continued to mentally block the pain; they seemed to echo in this hollow place in his mind.

"Put the pads on him. Set the level to low; we're trying to get a rhythm for his heart, not jump start it."

"Jirou..." While it was hard to think clearly, Neji couldn't recall knowing a person named Jirou. He'd never been on a mission with a person of that name, and what's more, he never let anyone named 'Jiro' die.

"And I have a gift for you..."

As the sound of steps stopped before his body on the ground, Neji's instinctively opened his eyes to see what horrible thing this man would do next. He was horrified to see another hand reaching again for his eye socket; the fear of what this man was capable grew unabated. Neji was shocked and sickened as he felt warm and wet flesh push into the empty cavity in his head. From the first moment of pressure on his empty eye lid, he had used all of his self-control to not throw up, however it didn't keep the bile taste out of his mouth.

The "gift" fit perfectly in the gap where his right eye had been, but before Neji could hope that he'd at least been given his eye back, he saw something in the distance by Tenten's feet. A small white eye lay there with a silver dot of an iris. His eye was looking back at him, and to his horror, when Neji looked up, he noticed that Jiro was now missing his right eye.

"CLEAR!"

11.A divide in the divine

Outside of the hospital, the village of Konoha is starting to wake up. Hazy purple clouds try to hide the fight between the rising sun and a sliver of the moon for the domain of the sky. The heavenly bodies hang opposite from each other - almost as if they refuse to be seen together. At times they seem to chase one another, and at other times they seem perfectly satisfied apart. It's a love-hate relationship between the kings of the night and day, and Tenten has seen it many times before.

But this is the first time she can remember watching it from the benches outside the hospital.

The bench is cold where her bare arms touch the metal, and under her fingers she feels the moisture of the morning dew as she grips her seat. The sun now proudly beaming its rays over the horizon makes her squint her eyes, but she doesn't look away. There's a part of her that hopes the pain she feels can replace the hurt she heard in Neji's voice a little while ago. As the sunspots start to blot out her vision she wishes they would also blot out the memory of what she saw in that room.

Tenten always knew she had feelings for Neji, even if she never dared to say them out loud. In actuality, she hadn't even understood her own emotions for the silver-eyed man until he suddenly confessed on their last mission. Before now Neji was a training partner, a teammate, a friend, and something more personal that she could never quite pin point. He wasn't like a brother to her; she'd known many people who had siblings and her relationship with the Hyuuga was nothing like that.

And now that he'd confessed, who was he now? She wished she could just answer that one question.

Amidst all of this soul-searching was the daunting memory of Neji screaming in pain, but it was more than that. The doctors that rushed in to treat him couldn't know what Tenten knew. While they heard a patient in need, Tenten heard more. She'd been on enough missions with Neji to know the sound he makes when he gets hurt, or even severely hurt. The unfamiliar hint of fear in his voice was frightening. As she fought to stay from the doctors who wanted her out of the room, she also battled with her own fears.

Neji was a genius. Neji was a leader. He was strong, and reliable. She couldn't count how many times she'd entrusted her life to him. He was one of the few people that she admired as the epitome of being a ninja, and it terrified her when she heard his screams of agony twisted with fear.

Just what could Hyuuga Neji be scared of?

As the nurses dragged her down the halls of the hospital away from his room, over her shoulder she saw him howling in pain. It was the slightest of glimpses, but as he screamed she could have sworn that the silver of his eyes was swallowed in darkness.

Tenten gave a laborious sigh as she leaned against the back of the bench. There was so many things happening, and all of these questions kept circling around in her head. Somewhere in the chaos of her mind was her response to his confession that she had yet been able to give him. All she wanted to do was wake up early and tell Neji that she felt the same way about him.

Looking away from the sun, she starts to feel light-headed and puts a voice to the next question that pops into her head.

"Why is this so complicated all of the sudden?"

"I'm going to be upfront with you Hyuuga-san; even the higher-ups of the hospital staff don't know how to deal with the complexity of your blood-line limit, much less so of the oddity in yours." The doctor that stands at the foot of his bed tries his best to sound competent while his words betray him.

There's the distinct ripping sound of Velcro as the nurse takes off the device to check his heart rate.

"But we're going to keep you here under observation for other reasons. What happened to you earlier is called supraventricular tachycardia; it's when the heart starts beating rapidly. In your case, your heart was going into overdrive."

"When will I be able to leave?"

The doctor again opened his mouth, but the next words were not his own. The voice that cut in edgewise came from the doorway of the room.

"Now. You're leaving now."

Short but stately stood Hyuuga Narabi, one of the elders of the Hyuuga's main branch. He was dressed formally and accompanied by two members of the branch family, his own personal entourage. If there was a question of authority rising in the doctor's mind it was quickly stifled with the answer of old silver eyes combined with a curse-free forehead; even though he wasn't the current head of the clan, his words held sway. The pointed glare that shifted from Neji to the doctor coupled with the almost constant scowl that adorned his face stilled the medicinal practitioner's tongue from protesting.

"Come. Get you're things, and follow."

The walk out of the hospital was a quiet one. There was no talk of his condition, no talk of the abnormal black speck that dotted his right eye. There wasn't even talk of Neji's last mission. Though the silence might have been uncomfortable to say the least, it was far from unusual; Neji was a member of the branch house, Narabi was an elder in the main. Neji was not to speak unless spoken to.

Over the years as Hyuuga Hiashi started bridging the gap between the divided clan, the resistance of the main branch was always clear. They were dyed-in-the-wool believers in their stature and place in society; one man and his nephew coming to terms with each other wouldn't instantly change old blood. The elders in the main branch refused to be humbled, or in their own words, humiliated by lowering themselves closer to the branch.

Neji could feel his own blood begin to heat up. While the better part of his life was spent under Hiashi's leadership of the clan, it was the puppet-wielding elders that came up with many of the decisions that he learned to hate growing up. From the time his father died, to the first chuunin exam, Neji was caged by the belief that he wasn't free from a fate of dying in service. At night he would wonder how much of that cold determination that helped him be a ninja was a result of being jaded by life in those precious formative years. He would always remember the times he didn't cry when people important to him died, and all the times he wanted to.

When they finally reached the Hyuuga estate the two escorts where promptly dismissed with a curt nod given by Narabi. Neji however, didn't get to escape so easily.

It was still relatively early in the morning as Neji followed the elder through the hallways. They dodged, left and right, all of the branch house members who were already awake, diligently tending to the chores of the big mansion. Windows were being washed, and floors scrubbed; no one seemed to stop what they were doing as the two approached; yet each cleaner yielded a way of passage. It was only after Neji walked past that heads would turn, and eyes would stare quizzically. Each set of silver eyes of his fellow branch members were met by a pair not so symmetrical.

When they arrived at the entrance to the elder's council room, Neji knew something was wrong. As he stepped into the center of the room between the two rows of tables, he could feel all eyes of the already filled room bearing down on him. Not only were they staring at him, but also each of them had their byakugan activated. Neji recounted how his opponents looked when they saw his eyes on the battlefield; he supposed he must look the same way now. If having your soul pierced by one byakugan user was daunting, then there wasn't even words to describe how Neji felt.

He was a life-sized voodoo doll, and their glares were the needles that unstitched him to his very being, until nothing was left hidden.

12.Successful constraints

It isn't panic that begins to overtake Hyuuga Neji, but it's something close to it. Pale faces dotted with colorless eyes begin to fade into the bland room; the difference between the whites of their eyes and the white of the walls becomes less distinguishable. The glares of a room full of Hyuuga main branch elders were dizzying to say the least.

Both his heart and his head are pounding, and Neji could almost swear that someone in the room is slipping him a small stream of pain through his curse seal. His eyes wince. His jaw goes slack. Even though he wasn't going to cry out in pain much less say anything, an elder in the room yells, "SILENCE!" at the opening of his mouth.

Normally, even with his eyes closed, Neji could still see everyone in the room, but the pain that's crushing his head is making the byakugan ability useless. The searing sensation starting in his brain is slowly trickling down his spine like how water rolls down a window pane during a light spring shower. The curse seal's effect slowly and gradually glides down, intermittently gaining momentum at unpredictable times. The pain is locking up his shoulders and arms and it's taking all of his concentration to retain his balance and remain standing.

In a room full of the most insightful people in the entire village, they are all blinded to the inhumane agony being placed on Neji. All of these most respected people are distracted. Some have their attention stolen away by anger, some by jealousy. Some have willingly given their attention up, so as to not really see what is happening in front of them. Every single one of them has either ignored or purposefully overlooked Neji's pain all because of the color that has appeared in a branch member's eye.

"This is a disgrace," a hushed voice says in disgust, "a defiled byakugan such as his is a blemish on the entire Hyuuga clan."

Phrases filled with contempt swirl around the room spoken by countless random elders. The belief in those words is as real as anything can be, but behind these lips that spewed vocal hatred is the fear of evolution. Each of these high status men are recalling how the Uchiha clan started. How one of their seemingly untalented branch members was allowed to marry outside of the clan, how she'd given birth to a 'normal' baby without the byakugan, and how that child's dark eyes that escaped the cage of the Hyuuga lead to tragedy.

The thoughts shared by all are on the tips of the elders' tongues until someone gives them life.

"At least we have a cage on this one..."

It's morose, paranoid, and probably an inappropriate thought for these men of elevated stature to be thinking out loud, but it's also comforting. The reassuring thought that they literally control the life and death of this branch member allows some of the men to finally breathe easy.

Hyuuga Neji is becoming less and less of a person. His name was never even spoken since he entered to room. What Neji is now is a liability; an easily terminated liability.

"What do you mean, 'He was released'?"

It wasn't the first time that one of Tenten's teammates escaped the much needed clutches of Konoha's hospital. Thinking about it now, she realized that she should have expected this. Neither of her restless teammates could tolerate the dreadfully slow process of healing. At one point in her many years of knowing both Neji and Lee, she'd come up with the hypothesis that to the two boys, not training was more dangerous than actually being deathly ill. While there was something to be said for the obvious necessity of training in the life of a ninja, Tenten couldn't overlook the importance of well-needed rest.

"I'm sorry Miss, but Hyuuga Neji is no longer-"

Tenten already knew how the sentence would end and jumped to cut the girl off. "Didn't he have a heart attack last night?"

The nurse looked around on her desk until she found and picked up the right chart. She quietly whispered select words and flipped through pages as she skimmed through the file until she came upon the diagnosis of young man's condition. In a pace too slow for Tenten came the words, "...Yes, it looks as through he suffered-"

Again Tenten impatiently cut into the girl's sentence, "And you let him go?" Tenten could feel the onset of a headache, this was becoming too much for her to handle with any sense of rationality.

Normally the hospital could handle strong-willed ninja and make them comply with a doctor's orders. After all, this was a ninja village's hospital; they dealt with matters like these often. In the past, Lee has been strapped down to a bed and made to heal from wounds received in battle. Thought Neji never required physical constraints to keep him in the hospital, the nursing staff would make sure to stop by his room and insist on his need for a restful recovery.

The nurse became quiet once more and focused back on the file. "Actually, it says right here that Hyuuga Neji was signed out of the hospital by Hyuuga Narabi against the doctor's will."

"Fine!" Tenten took a deep breath to try to keep her head from pounding. If much more of this nonsense continued, she'd had to be checked into the hospital. "I'm going to the Hyuuga estate. I'll try to get Neji back in here if I have to drag him myself."

The look that the nurse gave her was that of plain disbelief masked with a polite smile. "Good luck."

Tenten realized that she would need luck too. The number of times that the Hyuuga's main family ever allowed good things to happen to the branch family could be counted on one hand. Getting Neji readmitted to the hospital would probably be against the white eyed man's consent, much less the main families.

The series of events that took place in the elder's meeting room were fresh in Neji's head. He walked through the hallways aimlessly without destination as he replayed the memories over and over like a broken record. So lost in his own world of thought was the Hyuuga genius that he didn't even notice his name being called. It wasn't until he felt a tugging on his right shirt sleeve that he surfaced from the depths of his mulling. When he turned to see who had pulled him from his serious contemplations, the familiar face of Hyuuga Hanabi was looking back at him with a perturbed countenance.

"You're ignoring me..." It was a statement. It was a complaint. It was supposed to be a cute whine.

Neji had understood Hanabi's affection for him for a while. Years ago when Hiashi made efforts at restoring the relationship between the two branches of the Hyuuga clan, he'd taken direct control of Neji's training. Hanabi had grown resentful because this meant less training time for herself. And after all, how had she become of equal importance to a branch family member in the eyes of her father? But beyond the resentment, and after she had actually trained along side Neji, Hanabi started to see her male cousin as more of an older brother. He was someone who was talented, smart, and bore a handsome resemblance to her father. With that understanding in place, Neji earned a spot in Hanabi's view of family.

"I'm sorry Hanabi-sama, I didn't mean to. I was just lost in my thoughts." Neji apologized politely as he turned to face the teenager. "Was there something you wanted?"

Neji watched as she was suddenly startled by his face, and once he remembered why, he supposed this would be happening a lot now days. Before she could find the appropriate words to say, he spoke up.

"Oh, right. Don't worry about this." His right hand went up to his face to touch the patch that had been placed over his right eye. "It's nothing."

"I didn't know you were hurt on your last mission..." She was searching for something to say that could break the ice of protocol that held back her concern.

"Seriously, Hanabi-sama. I wasn't hurt. I'm fine." His words were coupled with a reassuring smile to try and convince her. "Now, was there something you wanted?"

Hanabi couldn't help but stare at the black eye-patch that adorned Neji's face. There was a very obvious pride in all Hyuuga that had the byakugan, for Neji to have one of his covered; she couldn't even fathom why he would do that if he wasn't hurt. But for the sake of his insistence and his smile, Hanabi pulled her eyes away from the foreign object and refocused on her original goal.

"Neji-niisan," she said as she beamed him a smile back, "I was wondering, do you think you'd like to train with me by sparing?"

13.Quiet deceptions

Throughout nature, there are many creatures that use their looks as tools for survival. For instance, scarlet snakes are said to have their stripe pattern mimic that of the poisonous coral snake in order to deter predators. Other animals, such as the chameleon, use the color of their skin as camouflage; their intention is not to frighten their enemy, but rather to carry on in disguise. In this way, their outer appearance works as a natural defense to keep them out of danger.

Both of these principals, intimidation and subtlety, have importance in the ninja as well. Whether a ninja carries large, formidable weapons or sports a huge frame with massive muscles, their appearance is used to give them an edge in battle. On the opposite side of the coin, not all missions are completed with strength alone, and this idea is what causes the need for ninjas skilled in obscurity; ninjas who are trained to be untraceable.

Hyuuga Hanabi however exhibits neither of these traits.

The object that Hanabi reminds Neji of most is a sundew. Like the meaning of her name, the sundew is a fire colored flower. Both Hanabi and the sundew are slight in size, both are visually striking, and the plum shaded petals of the sundew's flower bare a strong resemblance to the color of her eyes. What's more is that like the sundew, Hanabi is deceptively dangerous.

Below the pretty petals of the carnivorous plant waits the multi-stalked tentacles. The stalks secrete a sweet, dew-like substance to lure their prey in which, in turn ensnares them in the sticky secretions.

Hanabi's small stature and graceful looks would be sure to work the same way. Any person who saw her as an enemy would be sure to underestimate her abilities. For sure the over-confident opponent wouldn't fear getting too close and would fall susceptible to her masterful use of jyuuken. After less than a handful of successful strikes the enemy would be ensnared by an inescapable defeat.

Standing across from her now, Neji had to constantly remind himself not to lower his guard against the girl. They'd been sparring for the better part of an hour now, and while Neji had the position of a mentor, he was constantly being surprised by her. From the start of the first fight he hadn't noticed anything peculiar, but with every subsequent fight Hanabi was pushing her speed and reaction time faster and faster, and in a style of combat that required very little physical prowess, speed was definitely a mark of strength.

He'd begun to wonder if Hanabi was testing to see if her elder cousin would become complacent in fighting; checking if he'd settle on the idea of her level of speed, and what he'd do if she surpassed it suddenly. For being young, Hanabi was a tactician beyond her years.

She was four paces away from him as they sparred inside the Hyuuga's training dojo, a place they'd retreated to in order to escape the glare of the sun on this near cloudless day. And while they were free from the reach of the sun bearing down on the backs of their necks, the heat of the day was still prevalent due to the stuffy nature of the dojo. Even though all of the sliding doors and windows were open, the lack of a breeze made the room seem like a sauna.

While he might never have put words to the idea before, Neji had to admit Hanabi was a very talented and intelligent fighter. Sure, he'd known for some time now that she was a quick learner of the jyuuken, and that her bloodline limit was close to his own, but standing opposite her now in combat was something altogether new. She never tried the same attack pattern twice, if it failed once then it was sure to fail again, and if it succeeded once, then she knew Neji wouldn't let it happen a second time.

For the last five minutes Hanabi was the definition of motionless, and Neji knew exactly what she was doing because he was doing it himself. Both the Hyuuga were intensively thinking out their next strategy while patiently waiting for an opening.

For a moment, Neji let his mind slip away and thought about how this was a nice distraction. The sparring so far had given his mind a reprieve from his nightmares at night and the depressive thoughts caused by the actions of the day. It wasn't a split second later that he steeled his fighting resolve, a response to a twinkle in Hanabi's eyes that showed that she almost used his mind wandering as an opportunity to start a decisive attack. But even though he refocused his mind to the fight at hand, the opening she'd seen in him was still a glimmer in her eyes.

Just then, a small bead of sweat rolled down the center of Neji's forehead, slide to the left side of his nose and into the corner of his uncovered eye. Before he was midway through a blink, Hanabi was on the balls of her feet charging forward.

Before Tenten stood the oversized, thick, solid oak double doors and wall surrounding the Hyuuga compound. And no matter that they were a village in the center of a dense forest; Tenten still thought this was going too far. Of course, every time she saw a token of prestige like this from the Hyuuga, she always had to remind herself that naturally there were perks to being one of the village's founding families. But she also knew that as a whole, the Hyuuga's weren't exactly a boastful bunch, it's just that they got to modestly enjoy a few status symbols most of Konoha didn't have.

After three consecutive 'bangs' of using the door's knocker, footsteps could be heard over the wall. Seconds later the heavy door creaked ajar, opened by one of the Hyuuga branch members that Tenten didn't know. The actual opening had a funny way of letting light through gap in the doors. Though she knew it was simply a matter of it being early in the morning, the effect of the high walls and position of the sun made it seem like the Hyuuga kept the sunlight to themselves when you stood outside the compound.

The person attending the door gave Tenten an even look, and waited for her to speak her business.

"Yes, I'm here to speak with Neji please."

"I'm sorry; Neji is unavailable at this moment. Please come again at another time." And immediately the door began to audibly protest its groans as it started to close.

Through the quickly slimming space between the doors, Tenten spoke up, trying to get a word in before she was completely dismissed.

"Please wait, I'm just here to check up on him. I'm his squad mate you know! I just want to see if he's okay." Her voice bordered on the line between impatient and anxious but it wasn't enough to get the sympathy or approval of the door attendant.

It was at the last second that she was able to catch a familiar face, to which she called out for help.

"Hinata!"

The doors slammed their way home ending with their sides nearly flush against one another. Through the slight crack she was able to make out a line of sight showing Hinata quietly walking her way towards the door. Tenten took a step back away, and looked up to the top of the wall; a vein attempt that she somehow believed would help her hear what was taking place better.

It was a few moments of silence that made her countenance fade from hope to disappointment, but it took only an instant of watching the door reopen that brought a smile to her face.

Hinata stood waiting on the other side of the door with a polite smile, her hands clasped together in front of her as usual. Both women waited for the door to be completely open before speaking, and while she was hopeful as to what the Hyuuga heiress would say, Tenten stood outside the door waiting for a specific response.

"Good morning Tenten-san, shall we go see Neji-niisan now?"

"He confessed?" Hinata's already high pitched voice went up a notch with shock.

"Um, well, sort of."

Tenten's eyes sank to the ground with embarrassment. She asked herself yet again how she gotten to the point of letting a member of the Hyuuga ask her personal questions. Each of them were as perceptive as a lie-detector, and worst of all it was Hinata administering the test. Hinata with her quiet, unassuming self could ask the most devious questions in such a polite manner as to evoke the truth out of even the best secret keeping ninja. Tenten swore that Hinata had to have picked up knowledge extracting training on par with that of Hibiki Sensei.

"Well that is quite something..." Though surprised, Hinata didn't seem to break stride at all as they toured the hallways that led to the dojo.

Tenten agreed with the statement, though for completely different reasons. It had started with the completely appropriate question as to why Tenten was coming to see Neji. When she'd responded that she was checking up on a hurt teammate, Hinata stopped in her tracks. Apparently, by the look on Hinata's face, that answer wasn't sufficient enough of a reason to see him; something the Hyuuga elder's cooked up Tenten was sure. When Hinata suggested that Tenten could be there for a more personal matter, as no one said it was a forbidden reason, Tenten took the bait hook, line and sinker, and the slippery slope to revealing everything to Hinata was what ensued.

"So what do you think about Neji-niisan?"

Hinata had such an innocent face to be asking all these devious questions.

"What do you mean?" Tenten was working hard to keep from stammering. "He's the leader of my squad..."

Hinata stopped for a moment and spun on Tenten. It didn't take the inspection of the byakkugan to see that Tenten was holding back the truth. The weapon's mistress was caught, and she knew it.

"Ahem, let me rephrase then. How do you feel about Neji-niisan?" It was the stressing of the word "feel" that let Tenten knew there was no escape.

"Ah geez," Tenten doesn't have a mirror in front of her to confirm it, but she can definitely tell her cheeks are heating up and going red. "Listen, we all go through kunoichi training enough to know that intense situations can make your emotions go hay-wire. What if that's all it was to Neji? What's if that's all it was to me?"

"So your emotions are going hay-wire for Neji-niisan?"

The crimson that painted Tenten's face was the admittance Hinata's aim was dead on. But before she could gain the composure to respond to the pointed question, Hinata stopped again.

"There he is..." With a nod Hinata pointed to the open door to the dojo. It seemed like the interrogation would finally be over, and Tenten was glad to not have her heart under the microscope without having first had a chance to understand it herself.

"Thank you Hinata."

Tenten smiled and walked quickly across the small courtyard to the dojo, glad to be out of the clutches of Hinata's knowing eyes. Just as she was almost in the clear, nearly steps away from the spar taking place, Hinata's voice reached out to everyone nearby.

"Good luck!"

Tenten didn't have to turn to know that Hinata was wearing a well-meaning smile. Well-meaning or not, the comment was an arrow through the heart. Tenten could feel the blood rushing to her head again, and now that Hinata had caught Neji's attention, she knew that her blushing was spotted too.

In the middle of parrying an attack, Neji turned to Tenten and asked ignorantly, "Good luck for what?"