This is my first fanfic, I don't know what I'm doing...sorry :P

It was a cold and stormy night, and for some reason unbeknownst to him, Neji felt it before he was even there. The flash of light washed off his eyes and he barely registered the rumble that rolled off the sky. He became aware of the rain first, of the tiny drops that punctured his cheeks, then the blackness engulfed him but the sensation was significantly different from what he remembered. There was no pain for once, and his neck was pulsing, even more so now that he'd taken notice of it. He sat up, slowly taking in the familiar surroundings, it was weird because Neji distinctly remembered dying. Did he understand it wrong? Did they actually manage to heal him and bring him back to Konoha somehow? He sat there, undisturbed by the rain pouring down his face, soaking his clothes. What day was it today? It seemed like the tempest had washed away all the remnants of war and the night was now, storm aside, awfully quiet.

Tenten was taking care of her whistling tea pot when came the knock on the door. It was pretty late and the weather was nasty for someone to venture to edge of the forest, where her house was. She thought it must have been Lee coming to check on her, especially after that huge lightning struck down near the cemetery.

"I'm coming, I' coming," she said, rubbing her hands on the apron and hurrying towards the door. When she swung it open though, Lee wasn't there. Tenten jumped at the sight then screamed and then cursed herself for being loud when the kid might have been asleep already. Her knees buckled for a moment and she leaned against the doorframe, needing support, her hand was still clutched over her mouth but her lips were moving against her fingers and mumbled a faint, "Neji?" His hair dripped water from all ends and the overgrown bangs stuck unceremoniously to his face, his clothes where ragged and holed where the wounds had been, and clung to him like a second skin. Tenten thought it must have been one of her sick dreams. So she reached out a tentative hand and gasped when her trembling fingers settled on the solid material of his jacket.

"TenTen," his voice made her gaze snap up to his eyes, "Can I come in? The weather's awful outside."

TenTen shook her head, "Ah, of course. I'm so sorry, come inside."

After locking the door behind them, she led him to the bathroom, not even bothering to check if this was an illusion to dispel. She was reluctant to touch him though, it felt weird and Tenten was scared that if she did, he would disappear and she'd wake up in her bed, alone again. "Here," she said as she filled up the tub and then, as soon as he shut the bathroom door, she ran to the bedroom upstairs. The kid was still there, TenTen breathed a sigh of relief and sat at the edge of the mattress, her fingers ghosted through his black bangs careful not to wake him.

When TenTen headed downstairs she instantly realized that she couldn't hold up to her mental promise of finding Neji some dry clothes. He stood there, in front of her with nothing more than a tiny towel around his waist, he didn't blush because Hyuga Neji never blushed, but his lips were set in a frown and his eyes looked astray from her face. "I'm sorry…uhm, my clothes…" It was clear that she couldn't lend him any of hers, his shoulders were too broad, his chest thick and taut to fit even in the oversized robe that she had thought of. True, she had a few spares of Lee's shirts in the back of her closet which she kept for when he stayed over, but Neji had a whole other built and the kid's clothes well, they were kid's size. Her hands felt suddenly warm and twitched, Neji was desperately reaching for her but she ran off before his fingers could graze her arm. When she returned, TenTen smartly used the blankets piled up against her chest as a shield to keep Neji away. What am I doing? She reprimanded herself while she prepared the couch, this was Neji, she missed him so much, she wanted to touch him. But he felt so much more real than her other dreams and he felt so much more himself than her usual, poor recollections that maybe he wasn't?

Neji had sat on the couch in the meantime, his legs crossed and he was pulling at the towel to fix it. TenTen patted on the pile of blankets next that she settled next to him. "Use these for tonight, tomorrow I'll find you clothes that fit you first thing in the morning."

"Mine will probably be dry by tomorrow anyway," he nudged towards the chairs laid out in front of the fireplace where his clothes hung, "They're a bit holed but they'll do the job."

"Ah, but like you said, they're all ragged, maybe I can fix them? Do you want some tea, I was making some but the water's probably cold now, oh I can heat it up again, and food, you must be hungry I have -"

"TenTen" he said, and she immediately fell on the couch next to him, still a bit far, her hands nestled together and her eyes fixed on his like he was something to defend against. "You're fretting," he finished, and his voice, deep and calm, his gaze soft, was more than TenTen could handle at the moment.

Her eyes started burning and her throat was suddenly constricted, "Are you alive?" She whispered.

Neji reached for her arm, this time she didn't move away, his fingers clasped her wrist ever so gently, and he brought her hand to rest against his neck. The pulse throbbed underneath her palm and TenTen gasped and lingered, to make sure. Then, slowly and unbidden, her hand moved lower, down the curve of his shoulder, down the smooth plains of his chest until her fingers reached the edge of one of his scars and brushed against it. It was a fleeting touch but it was more than enough for TenTen, she retracted her hand, curling in into a fist against her heart. And suddenly she blinked, realizing that she wasn't looking at Neji anymore, no rather she was staring at her thighs and her vision was blurred, her cheeks were wet with hot streaks of tears. Neji reached out to her again, this time though his arm encompassed her back and he pulled until her head was resting on his chest. "Hear my heart, TenTen, it's beating."

So she leaned in and listened, and she heard it. It was hammering against her temple and it was beating, fast, erratic.