Neji now had a tight hold on both of Tenten's wrists- she wasn't going anywhere. However, since it was Tenten, that didn't mean she didn't fight back. She struggled wildly.

"Don't touch me! How dare you- I hate you-" Miraculously, she managed to pull one of her hands free, and took a swipe at Neji again: only to have him catch her wrist once more. "No, Tenten. No more. Enough."

Angry tears filled Tenten's eyes, and she furiously blinked them away. She was getting tired, and when she saw that Neji's iron grip on her wasn't going to relax, she gradually stopped struggling. A shinobi knows her limits.

She stood up straight, his fingers still enclosed around her wrists. They stared at each other for a length.

Neji finally broke the silence.

"I killed him. I killed Orochimaru." His Byakugan saw her disbelief rekindle her flame of emotions.

"Liar." She hadn't believed in Neji for so long. For eight years.

"I killed him, Tenten." He deactivated his Byakugan.

"Prove it," she breathed. He was lying. There was only one way he could-

He let go of one of her hands, and pulled something out of one of his packs. A hitai-ate. Orochimaru's hitai-ate. The symbol engraved into the cool metal confirmed it.

A ninja's most important possession was his headband. It belonged only to him. There were only two times in a ninja's life that anyone other than he handled his hitai-ate: the first was the day it was given to him upon graduation from the academy- and the second was rare. The second was if the shinobi was killed, and his defeater took it as a token of victory.

Neji slowly slipped the Sannin's headband into Tenten's hand, but she dropped it almost immediately. She'd seen enough evidence. She carefully removed her arms from Neji's grasp and took a step back. She couldn't believe she was forgiving him, forgetting what he'd done. But she was.

"How?" she whispered. "He was invincible..."

Neji looked away. "There's no such thing as invincible, Tenten."

She only looked at him, but he could see how the moonlight was shining in her eyes now. Just like it used to. "I am…sorry," he whispered.

Still, she only looked at him. Walked a little closer to him. Put one finger slowly on his cheek, so softly that he could barely feel it. "I know, Neji. I feel how cold you are."

He unconsciously began to reach for her, before realizing what he was doing. He slowly pulled his hand back to his side, but clenched it into a fist.

"They…aren't going to take me back. I know they won't. They won't let me in, Tenten," he whispered.

Only then did she smile. Softly. "You've been away for a long time, Hyuuga Neji. Have you forgotten what Konoha is like?" She moved her finger across his forehead. Across his curse seal.

"No," he said softly, and this time he let himself reach for her.

And he was back.

And she was free.

fin

Sorry it was so short, but I couldn't develop it any further without totally deviating from my original idea!!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks for all the awesome reviews!! Bye!

violetrosie