The Mission and It's Outcome

TenTen's POV

I woke up at dawn in Hinata's room and quickly dressed. I dressed in my usual clothes and attached my extra scrolls and weapons under my clothes. I left Hinata a short note that said that I was going and to wish me luck and left out the window. Using the same wall, I jumped down and ran to the front of the gate. I jumped into a tree and waited for Lee and Neji. I was about three hours early so I passed the time throwing my kunai and pulling it back with chakra strings. After about two hours, I felt a chakra presence and pulled out some senbons just in case. I turned to meet the white eyes of the Hyuuga prodigy. "Hey Neji," I said calmly, storing my senbons away.

Neji regarded me for a moment, "Hn," he muttered. "Is Lee here yet?"

"Nope, we still have about an hour before we're supposed to go so Lee will probably come in about thirty minutes or so."

"Hn."

We sat and waited together in a comfortable silence. Once Lee arrived, we stood up and faced the gate, time to get started on this mission

We leaped from tree to tree on the way to the village. When we were a little away from the village, I got the feeling that there were eyes on us, watching and judging how strong we were. "Neji," I whispered, silently asking a question.

Neji nodded a barely noticeable movement of his head. We landed on the ground and slipped into fighting stances. I didn't pull out my weapons just yet; I didn't want the enemy to know what I fought with.

After a few seconds of waiting, ten nins with a scratched hitai-ate jumped down and regarded us. "They only sent three kiddies to fight forty missing ninjas. It seems that Konoha underestimated us," he snorted and spat to the side. "I'm trembling in fear of what they could do."

Lee struck a quick good guy pose, "I will fight for you Gai-sensei, these dirty wannabes will not win!"

"LEE!" I yelped but it was kind of too late. The lead nin tensed up in anger and motioned for the others to attack.

In the fight, it was hard to stay together. Slowly, without us noticing, the ninjas began to pull us apart, I was pushed into fighting in a clearing while Neji and Lee were pushed away from each other but still in the forest. I began to focus more on the fight. When we noticed that we were too far from each other, we began to push back together. Actually, there wasn't much I could do, all I could do was stay in the clearing and hope that the other guys will reach me. I brightened slightly when I noticed that Neji and Lee were now in the clearing. Sure, it meant that I had to be even more careful about my aiming but I preferred that to not seeing them and worrying. I tensed up and quickly summoned up a katana. I held it out in front of me to fight the last few people with. I could see in the corners of my eyes that Neji and Lee were finishing off their opponents as well. As I killed my last opponent I turned to see an enemy ninja heading quickly toward Neji's blind spot. I froze before I kicked into action remembering what Neji told me when we first began trusting each other.

Flashback

"Hey Neji! What did you want to show me?" I asked cheerfully when we settled down for a break.

Neji glanced at me and motioned me up, I obeyed. He pointed to a spot on the back of his neck, "There's a flaw in the Byakugan, this is the one blind spot I have."

I cocked my head to the side and watched him nervously, "Then what if someone comes toward that direction?"

Neji stared at me for a moment before saying, "That's why I was telling you. I was hoping you'll protect my blind spot, the one weakness."

I thought it over and smiled, "Of course I will, you're my friend whether you like it or not, not to mention you're my teammate!" I gave him a quick hug, and as usual, he tensed up. "Oh and Neji?" He turned and nodded to show he heard, "I don't think it's a weakness, I think it makes you human."

I stood in the way of the enemy ninja's katana and felt pain rip through my gut, shit the asshole so owed me.

Neji's POV

I whipped around when I heard the clean snick of a weapon passing through a body. I turned and was met with a bloody sight, "TenTen!" I whispered in shock.

TenTen turned and smiled weakly, "I promised remember?" she whispered, before she slumped down on me.

I felt like I was going to literally see red, that was it, this man was going to die. Lee got there a second before me; he flashed over and kicked the man on the throat, effectively killing him. Lee stared at TenTen's body, "Is she……?"

TenTen opened her eyes the slightest, "I……. have…….. the….. scrolls," she gasped out.

Lee and I quickly stood up and began flashing through the trees, this was TenTen! The Weapon Mistress of Konoha brought down by a weapon, fate sure is cruel. I looked down at TenTen's body again, I leaned down and whispered, "Don't leave me, please, don't ever leave me……" Lee and I were both going at about triple our regular time so we arrived at Konoha before it was night. I completely forgot about having to give a report about the mission of Tsunade-sama and rushed to the hospital. At the hospital I gently set TenTen down in front of a nurse, "She needs help, please……."

The nurse looked down at TenTen's still bleeding cut and gasped. She began screaming and yelling for help and emergency attention while trying to heal the cut at least a little. I watched TenTen get whisked away by the nurses and felt the knot in my stomach loosen just the slightest. A nurse came up to me, "Are you hurt?" she asked, "Your shirt has a lot of blood on it."

I shook my head, "It's not mine," I said politely.

The nurse nodded, she smiled at me sympathetically, "I'm sure your teammate will be alright, after all, they're calling Tsunade-sama and Sakura-san to heal her."

I nodded at her concern distantly, I was still remembering when TenTen had gotten in the way of the blade for me. Her softly uttered words were a mystery. Sure I tried my best to not break my promises but to get stabbed through the stomach to keep a promise was a little on the extreme side. I clenched my fists, the moment when TenTen slumped down was the first time I had ever felt completely helpless and vulnerable. Staring at her limp form while we were jumping from tree to tree had almost been unbearable. I loosened my fists, why was it that I felt such concern for someone I labeled as just a teammate?

TenTen's POV

I felt extreme pain on my stomach when I was semiconscious. The stab had really done its job well, if it had hit Neji, he would be dead right now. I tried to wake up, I hated hospitals but my physical state was finished, I fell back unconscious think about the words I had heard while the wind was whistling in my ears. "Don't leave me, please, don't ever leave me….." and I distinctly knew that that voice was Neji's voice.

I finally completely woke up and tried (unsuccessfully) to sit up. The moment the top of my back left the bed I felt pain shoot through my body. "Ugh.…." I moaned as I fell back on the bed.

I opened my eyes to see white. Just white everywhere, this meant I was in the hospital which meant that I had gotten hurt contrary to the promise I made Hinata, Sakura, and Ino, oops? I painfully turned my head to see white eyes, green, pink, and a large iron fan. "Hey Neji or Hinata, Lee or Gai-sensei, and Temari," I croaked out dryly. I turned my head painfully to see them and saw a flash of concern or relief in a pair of ivory eyes. That was weird, I thought, If it's Hinata, she would have said it, if it's Neji, it's a fake because Neji just doesn't show emotion like that……. Besides, Hinata Has light lavender sort of eyes, not ivory. Which left Neji, which also doesn't make sense.

I heard a soft giggle, "Actually," Hinata's soft voice said, "It's both."

"YOSH!" yelled never repressible Lee, "OUR BEAUTIFUL KONOHA BLOSSOM IS ALIVE AND SAFE!"

I growled quietly, "Lee you are so lucky I'm stuck in this stupid bed!"

I heard a chuckle, "I knew you wouldn't have gone down without a fight bun head!" Temari cheered happily.

I moaned, all the talking was giving me a headache. When I saw Lee open his mouth to say something again, I interrupted, "Will you guys SHUT THE FUCK UP DAMN IT!" I groaned and clutched my head, "You guys are giving me an annoying troublesome headache."

Sakura smiled, "You must be getting better if you can yell like that.

Temari snickered, "You sound like Shikamaru." I mumbled up a protest to that but she ignored me and continued, "You better get well soon, you still owe me a rematch!"

I smiled weakly, "You're going down wheat hair."

Temari laughed, "Not in the condition you are right now!"

Sakura frowned, "Quiet!" she yelled.

I smirked and croaked, "That was sort of contradicting….."

Sakura looked at me in surprise then laughed, "All right, all right. Sorry but all of you guys have to go out. The only people allowed in here is the nurse, doctor, and teammates/family."

Neji, Gai-sensei, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura stayed. They all just sort of stood around my bed and after a while Hinata told me she had to go. I grinned, "Date with Naruto right?"

Hinata blushed and suddenly frowned, "Why is it that you remember everything about any relationships that are told to you yet you always forget to wear fancy clothes to our girl get togethers?"

I winked cheerfully, "My memory is very elective."

Hinata rolled her eyes and left with a cheerfully good bye. After a while, Lee and Gai-sensei left with loud yells of replenishing their youthfulness, and hoping that their youthful blossom will get well soon. I rolled my eyes and waved to them cheerfully, that was their way of helping.

Neji just stayed there, not moving and not even looking at me. I frowned, maybe he felt guilty about me being stabbed…… if he got guilty anyway. "You okay Neji?" I finally asked.

Neji looked at me for a moment before saying, "Hn," and looking away again.

I sighed and looked out the window, "You should get going soon," I told him, "The suns going to set soon and you're going to be locked out."

Neji chuckled slightly at that, "You and Lee never get locked out, how can they lock out a Hyuuga?"

I forced a smile, "Good point, but won't they worry?"

Neji shrugged carelessly, "They won't care."

I grinned, "Then I won't mind the company."

Neji's POV

TenTen fell asleep soon after she 'asked' me to stay. I watched her chest rise and fall with each breathe and thought again of what she had said.

Flashback: TenTen gets stabbed

I was dispatching the stupid missing ninjas as fast as I could. I felt a chakra presence right behind me, right where my blind spot was. Shit, I'm going to be too late, I thought angrily as I turned. I started when I heard the clean snick of a blade but no pain. I turned to see TenTen with a katana through her stomach. Her blood dripped down and she looked like she was in extreme pain. "TenTen…." I whispered in shock.

Temari turned her head and smiled weakly, "I promised remember?" she slumped down on me.

I frowned again, TenTen had promised to protect my blind spot but I didn't remember anything involving getting half way killed to do so…….

TenTen's POV

The first thing the stupid asshole (Neji) said when I was able to get out of bed was that I needed to train a lot to get back in shape. I flipped him off and told him to go and try getting his stomach stabbed. Even more annoyingly, he was right and a week after I was 'let out' of the hospital (I escaped but Tsunade-sama said; after screaming at me for doing something that dangerous only a few days after being stabbed; that if I was strong enough to jump out the window, I was fine) I started target practice and basic training. In three days, I was only a little weaker then my normal strength and started sparring with Neji again.

I landed on the ground in a crouch, looking at Neji as he stopped his rotation. "Can we take a break," I gasped out, "I'm still recovering."

Neji just walked up to a tree and leaned against it as he waited for me to catch my breathe. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue and sat next to him and slumped onto the trunk. I leaned my head back and took deep breathes, trying to draw air into my seemingly empty lungs. I sighed and closed my eyes, the day was slightly chilly but I was warm from the work out. I knew my hair was in complete disarray, the buns probably half way loose and not keeping my hair out of my face at all. I growled in annoyance, and with my eyes still closed, yanked the ties out and tried to redo them. I started muttering swear words when I realized that my hair was too sticky with sweat to unknot and redo. I gave up, put the ties around my wrist, and slumped back onto the trunk.

I tiredly opened my eyes to pearl ones staring at them. I felt my eyes widen slightly, "What?" I grumbled, still annoyed about my hair.

Neji continued to stare at me, "Why did you take it?"

"Eh?" I asked confusedly, "Neji, what the hell are you talking about?"

Neji continued to stare which was starting to creep me out, "Why did you take the katana?"

"Oh…." I muttered. I struggled to think of an excuse, "You would've died from a neck wound…… but I saw it and kept it from hitting anything vital?"

Neji raised his eyebrows, "I'd say your stomach is pretty vital."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Whatever, you're alive, I'm alive, everyone's happy so get off my back."

Neji frowned, "Next time you might not be as lucky."

I turned my eyes away from his stare, "Yeah, yeah. Can we train now?"

I stood up and pulled out a scroll and opened it a bit. Neji flashed from where he was sitting to in front of me. Before I could even voice a protest, I found myself pinned to a tree. "Why?" he growled, angry now.

I looked at him struggled to keep an impassive expression on my face, "I think you damaged my back again."

He looked slightly apologetic and his grip loosened slightly, still tight enough to hold me in place but loose enough that I wasn't in pain. "Why?"

I felt like punching him, he was so damn clueless! And I thought Naruto and Sasuke were bad with emotions. "Because I was trying to save you, you damn asshole!" I yelled.

Neji flinched slightly, "Why were you trying to save me?"

I snorted and tried (unsuccessfully) to get my wrist out of his grip. His grip tightened slightly, "Okay, okay," I yelped when my wrist started hurting again. "Because you're my teammate."

Without thinking, I felt my head turn to look away from his eyes. "You're lying."

I scowled, and kept my eyes turned away, if I looked, I wouldn't be able to lie.

Neji's POV

I lifted her chin with one hand, "Why are you lying?"

TenTen looked like she wanted to kill me, "Because no one likes admitting they love someone when that person is a complete asshole."

I looked at her in shock, "What?"

TenTen glared at me, "I'll dumb it down. I'm in love with you. Most people don't fall in love with asshole and I'm unfortunately, one of the few that do. And no, Ino and Sakura don't count, they were stupid little people."

"That's why you did it?"

"Yes you jack—!" TenTen stopped talking when I kissed her on the mouth.

TenTen stared at me in shock once we separated, "Why…..?"

I smirked and kissed her again, "Because I love you," I whispered in her ear. TenTen blushed and turned away, reaching for a scroll.