Pain Killers

Did Temari know she'd been awake? Probably not. She wouldn't have... done that, otherwise. Maybe she would have. Tenten shifted to a more upright position in her hospital bed. Her IV appeared to be feeding her saline solution and a strong painkiller – the type that would knock her out in short order.

Good.

The hospital room was like every other she'd ever been in; it had all the charm of a freshly opened box of tissues. Clean, functional, practical and utterly impersonal.

There were no clues that the room had had another occupant – except for the faint, lingering scent of the other woman – not perfume, certainly, Tenten thought, but shampoo or antiperspirant…

She lifted her fingertips to touch her cheek gently, as if a harsher touch would brush away the memory of the feeling. She'd first spoken to the woman only an hour ago, and already she was the most irritating person she'd met. More irritating than her team members, even.

When she'd first seen her she'd almost smiled. Temari was all blond hair and tanned skin, like she should have been all sunkissed warmth and beauty. Her eyes had been the giveaway. There was nothing there, just sallow, glassy neutrality. Like that first time she'd seen a real wolf. Fight and it'd kill her, go back and it would not give chase. It hadn't cared one way or another. Temari had the same look.

Except this time, she'd chosen to fight it out. And, as promised, she'd lost. Spectacularly. She wasn't even sure why she was still alive. Maybe Temari just hadn't cared. The other woman must have known that she wouldn't make it all the way to the wall. If Lee hadn't caught her, if she had landed on her discarded weapons...

But this time, when she'd come in, those pretty blue eyes had been less glassy, more curious.

Forget it Tenten. That way lies madness.

It certainly wasn't her first close call – nor, in fact, the first time one of her team members had saved her – but it was the most confusing. Why, if she hadn't cared, had she followed and missed the next match? Particularly since she was in the third round... Was it just an effort to confuse her?

Damn head games. Some days she hated the psychopaths in her line of work.

"Tenten,"

So much for the great kunoichi, she thought after recovering herself. Neji was always so quiet when he moved around. She flicked her eyes up to him, leaning against the far wall, and smiled faintly. He nodded. Neji didn't smile. Surprise, surprise.

He didn't look particularly sulky, so he must have won his match. Not that it was a great surprise, either, but there was still that one Sand boy left, and he was creepy. Temari and the other one had been strong, so it wouldn't be out of place if he was, too. The Sand-nin were something to be feared. Or perhaps revered...

"Who did you fight?" Tenten asked, gesturing with her head to the chair beside the bed. It hurt, but not as much as it should have. Painkillers were kicking in, then. One lonely little chair, there for just such occasions as a visitor.

Unsurprisingly, Neji ignored her unspoken invitation. Maybe he wasn't a visitor?

"Hinata-sama."

Tenten thought she paled, but didn't allow her expression to waver. That poor girl. She wanted to ask if she was alright, but that would only make Neji clam up. Or rant. Look – More special treatment for the main family, see, even his team mates were worried about her.

Besides which, the Jounin would have stopped it before it got too serious. She was Hiashi's heir, after all. Neji did have a point, regardless of how he wished to express it.

She felt fuzzier than she had; maybe those painkillers were really kicking in. She slumped back into the decidedly un-fluffy pillows. She'd complain about them to Lee when he came to see her.

"Ah," Tenten managed. If she inquired about Neji's health, he would be insulted. Briefly, she wondered if Temari had these awkward situations to deal with as often as she did.

Neji was watching her speculatively. Uh-oh. There was no telling what he might discern with those eyes. She didn't think she had anything to hide, but if she did, he would probably notice. He wouldn't say anything – oh, no, he was too distanced for that – but he would notice, and that would be bad enough.

"You lost," he said simply. She felt a wave of shame wash over her. She had lost. Failed. Had been defeated. She'd let down Lee, Gai- sensei and Neji. She'd even let down Temari – not even a challenge for her. Such a long way to go. She closed her eyes briefly. Why didn't she feel as upset as she should? Painkillers, Tenten, she told herself.

"You lost," he repeated.

With more effort than it should have taken, Tenten flicked her eyes open and scowled at him. Yeah, she wanted to say, I got it. But maybe he had more to say. Neji wasn't usually this talkative – and he never spoke without a reason.

"But you're still happy. Why?"

Tenten blinked muzzily. What now?

Was she? Happy? True, she didn't feel bad, she realised. Or, she hadn't until Neji had mentioned her defeat, and even then it was not for the right reasons, as Gai- sensei would say. She didn't feel like she'd let herself down, just as though her team would be disappointed. But that didn't mean she was happy.

"Am I?" she wondered quietly, almost to herself.

Neji let out a bark of something that might have been laughter if it weren't so twisted. It startled her. Neji didn't do laughter. As a rule, Neji generally stuck to the less positive emotions. "Aren't you?"

He did appear to be right. She was content. Euphoric even. She had no idea why, but it hardly mattered. Maybe it would matter when she could be bothered. Maybe it was just the pain killers. Enough morphine and anything was happy.

"Yeah, I guess I am." She grinned at him. Neji just watched her.

"I'm going to return – Lee's battle is about to begin," Neji nodded sharply and pushed off from the wall in a perturbingly smooth movement.

"Eh? Who's he fighting?" Tenten asked, annoyed that he hadn't told her, but too fluffy-headed to bother lifting herself from the pillows. Neji paused by the door. Who was left? She ran a quick inventory in her mind. Nobody she'd want to go up against, but as long as it wasn't –

"The sand boy," Neji replied emotionlessly.

There was only one sand boy who deserved that tone from Neji, and Lee couldn't beat him. Damnit. So only one of them progressed to the finals. And all of the sand-nin progressed. Well, at least Neji wouldn't find his fight 'boring'.

She wondered why that word sounded so bitter in her mind.

Just before the sleepiness overtook her, she wondered if he'd be fighting Temari.

As the door swung closed, she heard Neji's voice call back to her, somewhat uncharacteristically, "That's a nice shampoo, you know."

Ha. She knew it hadn't been perfume.

She had a lot to learn, she realised as her eyes closed and sweet, sweet, pain-killing oblivion settled over her mind.

"He's what?" Tenten stared at him. Gai- sensei wouldn't usually have chosen to make Neji the bearer of bad news. He wasn't sympathetic enough for the job. She might have thought this was some sort of joke, if she hadn't known that Neji didn't make jokes. Not ones that weren't sardonic and cynical, anyway.

Neji shifted. It was almost imperceptible, but Tenten had spent an awful lot of time trying to predict Neji, and she knew that he was uncomfortable.

"I said, he's not going to fight again."

Tenten swallowed. "Can you, uh, elaborate on that?" she asked. Neji looked up and glared ferociously at her.

"He won't be able to be a shinobi, okay? Some extreme taijutsu technique that Gai- sensei taught him tore up his muscles, and then Subaka no Gaara crushed his right arm and leg." His glare faded into his normal hostility. It seemed a little less intense than usual.

Tenten swallowed again. She was getting out that day, and Gai- sensei was supposed to have come to 'collect' her. She'd known something was wrong when Neji had walked through the door instead. She just hadn't realised how wrong.

"He's never going to fight?" she echoed faintly. No more stupid training exercises involving jumping from lamppost to lamppost or catching autumn leaves? No more stupid sunlit backdrops with Gai- sensei about the virtues of... whatever?

"Correct."

No more Lee, ready to help out for the sake of helping out? Ready to fight to the death to defend the underdog, stupidly, hyperactively, excessively enthusiastic and ready to make a difference, to change, to try just that little bit harder and...

And what?

And loose everything.

Maybe Neji was right.

Why was everything so damn uncertain? Where had her nice, stable view of the world gone. It was like a triangle. Her. Neji. Lee. Then Temari had thrown a spoke in her nice, safely-spinning wheel, which was a switch of metaphors, but it made so much more sense than sticking to triangles and painkillers... painkillers, she thought.

Yes, Pain Killers were definitely the answer.

Why? Why Lee? Why that match, that move, that guy? It was so unfair. So unfair. Unbearable.

Was she crying?

She blinked her tears away sternly, determined not to start bawling in front of Neji. One did not cry in front of Hyuuga Neji. It gave him ammunition. He'd never actually use it if it wasn't necessary because he just didn't care that much, but still... She swallowed and looked up at him from her seat on the bed. He watched her calmly.

"Which room is he in?"

Neji told her.

"Have you been to see him?" she knew even as she asked that he wouldn't have. Why would he? It still seemed important to ask. Even Neji might change.

"Yes." He replied.

Of course he ha – he had? Neji had... he had... he must have an inkling of the impact this would have on Lee, then, if he had gone to see him despite his... reservations about his personality. Tenten found the details of that encounter hard to imagine.

Well, not really.

It had probably been something along the lines of:

"You know, it was Fate."

"I refuse to believe it! I shall not give up – I shall never give up!"

When had things gotten so boring? There was so much out there that could have been happening, and things were this predictable?

That's the painkillers talking, Tenten, she told herself. Except that they were clearly not. Painkillers didn't have a tendency to talk, unless you'd taken enough to knock out a dragon.

She looked up at Neji again, trying to see any trace of the facet of his personalty that might have allowed him to do such a compassionate thing for his team mate. She found none. Neji was an enigma to her, and he constantly wrong-footed her. Almost as much as Temari had.

Why was she still thinking about that woman?

Painkillers, she repeated, realising that she'd been off them for days.

"Did Gai- sensei ask you to tell me?" she asked softly.

"Yes." Neji cocked his head. He looked her up and down as though searching for signs of physical inability. "Do you need company?"

Unusually courteous of him. Tenten knew that Neji would spend the vast majority of his time by himself – brooding, probably – if Gai- sensei wasn't so gung-ho about togetherness and family and suchlike. It might even have been his way of asking if she needed someone to talk to.

Actually, that was probably expecting too much. Way, way too much.

"No, thank you, I'll be fine to get home by myself. Are you staying here?"

There were numerous people they knew in the hospital since the chuunin exams were always a busy time for hospitals, but she couldn't think of anybody Neji might be visiting.

"Yes," he didn't elaborate. She hadn't expected him to, but it was worth asking. Or, at least, worth implying the question.

"Mm," she nodded, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked past him out the door of her hospital room.

Lee.

Well, shit.

She turned back around abruptly, almost colliding with a silently gliding Neji, who gracefully sidestepped her, and stalked in the opposite direction. It took her a very small amount of time to reach the room Neji had given her the number to.

Gai- sensei was sitting by the bed of a very pale-looking Lee. He was awake and sad-faced. Lee was also awake, dull eyed and apparently on nasty painkillers, but he was awake, which was interesting.

Painkillers, again, Tenten? Honestly, you'd think you were addicted, or something...

"Ah, Tenten," Gai- sensei began, but then stopped as he didn't seem to have anything else to say.

Tenten stood beside the doorframe and felt very, very awkward. What do you say to the guy whose dream was just gunned down in the elimination round? She had no idea. She was the girl of the group, wasn't she supposed to understand these things instinctively?

Naah.

She looked around the room, desperately searching for something to talk about. 'So you're never going to be the taijutsu specialist you always wanted to be, huh?' wasn't a very good conversation opener... although she wasn't sure what Neji had mentioned.

Probably those words exactly. Bastard.

There were lots of flowers – daffodils, mainly, and a few bunches of brightly coloured creations with the Yamanaka symbol on them, but also a simple wreath of lilies leaning against the windowsill. She thought that that was a nice touch, even if the message wasn't so great.

"These are some lovely flowers, Lee-kun," she commented, surprised at how casual she sounded. "Who brought them in?" As a rule, she didn't get too many flowers. Sometimes Lee brought some in for her, but she had no admirers, and her father was often away on mission.

Lee blinked at her dully for a moment, trying to comprehend through the haze of pain medicine. Finally, he smiled weakly at her. "Ah, Sakura-chan brought in most of them," He admitted.

Tenten smiled. The girl wasn't totally shallow, then. Strange that she was chasing Uchiha, if that was the case.

"That's lovely," she nodded, sliding over to the windowsill. "Did she also bring in these?" Tenten hadn't expected such a firm grasp on the concept of simplistic elegance from the Haruno girl, but maybe she'd been wrong.

"Ah... no." Lee hesitated. "Neji brought those." He mumbled. Tenten almost dropped the wreathe in shock.

Eh?

Neji had brought Lee flowers?

Neji had brought Lee flowers?

Neji had brought Lee flowers?

Tenten stared at the lilies for a moment and silently fumed. "Neji never bought me flowers!" she blurted before she could stop herself.

Wincing at her own selfishness, she turned to apologise to Lee, but found him smiling, a real, genuinely amused smile, up at her.

"Bringing you flowers might have been misconstrued as the passionate promise of his youthful integrity, Tenten-chan." Or, at least, that was what she thought he said. Something about misleading and youth and flowers and passion.

His speech wasn't suffering; the pain killers mustn't be too bad. Although he did have a point, in a flowery, euphemistic sort of way.

Tenten smiled. He was right, of course, and the thought that Neji even appreciated the existence of flowers was sort of... unnatural, so she shouldn't be annoyed. In fact, maybe she shouldn't even go there. It would probably be actively harmful to the healing process. Somebody had probably recommended them to him, or maybe he'd actually started listening to Gai- sensei... Scary thought.

But it would be nice to get some flowers to brighten up the ever-more-familiar hospital room, sometimes. The brief thought that maybe that Temari woman would bring some the next time was dismissed without alarm. She was getting used to it now.

Damn painkillers.

"Something on your mind?" Lee asked her curiously. She must really be getting transparent. Neji was one thing, but this level of insight from Lee...

"Hey, shouldn't I be asking you that?" Tenten evaded easily. Like hell she was going to tell Lee that all she seemed to think about was the woman who'd beaten the shit out of her and laughed. Bitch. Kinda sassy. Cute, really.

Painkillers.

And then she'd come into her hospital room while she'd pretended unconsciousness and watched her for what seemed like hours, laid a soft, promising kiss on her cheek and disappeared without a trace.

Painkillers.

No, she wouldn't tell any of them. Although... although it might have been nice to have had someone... normal to talk to. Lee was good to joke with and watch, even if she had to save him from himself occasionally, and Neji was good to talk shop with and train with, even if he was arrogant and aloof most of the time, but... she needed somebody good with practical, simple solutions.

And her team was just a bit lacking in sanity. Then again, it was nothing to some of the others around her. Like Kakashi-sempai's, for example.

She stayed and spoke to Lee for a while, light, fluffy conversation and banter, while Gai- sensei was unusually – downright perturbingly, truth be told – silent as he watched them. After the better part of two hours, she left with a promise to come and visit again soon.

Tenten didn't know where she was heading, only that she needed to find something to lift her spirits, and therefore needed to get away from any traces of her shattered team. Perhaps she'd just go for a walk... or train until she was numb.

She was almost out of the hospital when she heard the loud, self-righteously indignant proclamations that could only come from one source. With a faint smile, she walked the short distance down an adjacent corridor.

"Hokage, hokage, hokage," she muttered to herself. Naruto was always good fun to watch, even if that thought would outrage him. Really, she could see how Hinata got off on it.

Even if the whole admiration thing was a little... odd.

She poked her head into the doorway of room one-eight-seven and quickly pulled it out again to avoid being hit by a pineapple. Hesitantly, she swung the door open wider and stepped inside.

Why was she not surprised that Naruto was accompanied by flying pineapples?

Never mind, she didn't want to know.

Ah, Uchiha Sasuke's room. That would explain the indignant Naruto and the appearance of the room, which was vaguely reminiscent of something between a florist and a chocolate shop that had sort of... exploded. This was not particularly surprising, either.

What was surprising was that Hyuuga Neji was perched on the windowsill. He was radiating hostility, sure, but he was there. He lifted a hand in greeting to her over his shoulder without bothering to turn his head from the window – probably a nice view of the little garden that all hospitals seemed to have.

Briefly, inanely, she wondered if any of the flowers were from Temari.

Painkillers, she reminded herself. It was just the painkillers making her think stupid, crazy things all the time.

"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed upon noticing that both Sasuke and Neji were no longer paying him any attention...although it might have been harder to tell with Neji, she found her self thinking sardonically. Either way, neither of them were focused on him, and Sasuke was looking towards the doorway, so Naruto, after glancing towards the window to see if Neji had found anything interesting or was simply being arrogant and broody, turned towards the door.

A startled expression crossed his face. Tenten found it rather comical. Her spirits were lifting already.

"What are you doing here!" he yelled, pointing. Tenten raised her eyebrow. "You're not another Sasuke-obsessed freak!" He seemed very sure of this. Tenten grinned. If even Naruto had noticed that she wasn't a member of the fanclub, all was well with her social life.

"I don't have to be obsessed to come and wish somebody well, do I?" she didn't really care that much about Sasuke's health, although he was very attractive, and... she was sure he had other nice qualities if you knew him.

Maybe.

Well, he dressed nicely, at least, and he was quiet.

If those were the only good qualities he had going for him, she thought, he wouldn't have had all of those crazy fangirls. She must have been missing something.

Maybe it had to do with the pineapple?

Dear Gods, what was in those painkillers?

Neji snorted derisively. She wondered if he'd read her mind. Sasuke raised one utterly, utterly perfect eyebrow.

Naruto gave her a pensive, squinty-eyed look. After a moment or two of thought, which looked very challenging, he dismissed her presence and returned to informing Sasuke that the only reason he was there was because Kakashi had suggested it and Sakura-chan had thought it was a great idea.

Putting those two in a confined space and not letting Uchiha leave was a great idea, huh? Ew.

Tenten moved over and joined her team mate on the windowsill, facing inwards so she could watch the show.

"Why are you here?" she asked Neji curiously but quietly.

Neji didn't move a muscle. He might as well have been unconscious. "I came to wish somebody well," he replied calmly. Tenten fought the urge to scoff.

Neji's philosophy on life appeared to be something along the lines of, 'If I'm going to hell, you're all coming with me'. He hadn't come to wish anybody well – much less Sasuke, who was in the final round of the exam.

She would not voice this aloud, but her look said it all. Neji's lips quirked faintly, and she was almost sure he'd smiled. Then she looked again and dismissed the idea. Neji didn't smile.

They sat in silence and watched Naruto become more and more indignant with every sharp, cool comment thrown in by Sasuke. It seemed to amuse Sasuke and Naruto just as much as it amused her, she realised after a little while. It was with this thought in mind and a soft-footed Neji in tow that she left when one of the night-staff kicked them out.

Naruto stayed behind to argue.

Those two were so transparent.

"Neji?" Lee asked tentatively a few days later. The taller boy was standing by his window, watching the street below – no pretty garden view for this boy. As though he could actually get out of bed to see what was below anyway, Neji thought to himself.

People below scurried like ants, running this way and that about their meaningless, consumer-driven little lives. Didn't they understand that what was happening was happening and there was nothing they could ever do to speed it up or slow it down? The wheel of time turned and Lady Fate moved at her own inexorable, measured pace, unhurried and unstoppable, with a plan for everybody...

It took him a moment to notice that Lee had actually spoken and was using the answering silence to twitch a little. He was nervous.

Neji made a small, affirmative noise that might not have even been a noise at all, but since it was Neji, and therefore couldn't have been an accident, it was interpreted as such and thus made one Rock Lee smile faintly before frowning thoughtfully.

"You don't think Tenten is acting oddly, do you?" he queried.

Neji didn't turn around. He could see Lee fine, even if Lee couldn't see his face, which rarely shifted away from two expressions, anyway – boredom and bitter anger. It had changed slightly now, though, as it made use of an expression it had only recently learned, having only recently discovered that there were people in existence other than him and his family.

He'd always known, but they hadn't had quite the same impact as they were lately.

Anyway, Neji's face flickered into an expression known as consideration. In short, he was considering the past few days and his encounters with their female – and therefore immediately incomprehensible – team mate.

Lee, he realised, was on to something. Tenten had been strangely pensive during the past week. Ever since she lost that match...

"Preoccupied," he informed Lee, not wishing to waste precious breath that could be better used in the transportation of oxygen.

Lee nodded slowly. "But what would trouble her so?"

If Lee could have seen Neji's eyes, he probably wouldn't have noticed that they were being rolled, due to the innate oddity of the Byakugan, but this was not the point. The point was, Neji rolled his eyes and reverted to his patented 'bored' expression, which was good, because his facial muscles had begun to ache from holding an expression as new as his abrupt realization that he was not the only being on the planet.

"Perhaps because she missed her chance to pass the exam," he deadpanned. Perhaps she was simply not supposed to be a chuunin. Or perhaps she was supposed to be older. Or maybe it was just imperative that the other woman make it to the finals for fate to progress properly. For all Neji knew, Lady Fate had to prioritize.

What a fucked up thought. If she had to prioritize, when the Hell was she going to get around to him?

And he wasn't on painkillers, although he sort of wished he could be, because then he'd have something to blame his inappropriate theologizing on.

Lee shook his head. "I don't think that's it. I mean, she didn't seem sad, just... like she was confused."

Neji shrugged. Lee nodded and went back to the corny manga Gai- sensei had left him. Shoujo, he'd noticed. Something about love and justice and shining little clouds and a hero and heroine who called each other's names constantly, even when the other was absent.

Neji thought about it for a moment longer. Tenten, not the manga. The manga wasn't worth his attention, as interesting as it seemed to be. Confused was not quite right. Perhaps lost was a better word, but maybe he just had more experience with the feeling.

He paused reflectively, considering what might have made Tenten act the way she was. A bizarre little hunch hit him like a freight train and made him smile. Or, well, smile mentally, as we've already been over the fact that Neji's facial muscles aren't developed enough to smile, even if smiling uses less muscles than frowning...

Never mind.

Anyway, a moment later, he made up his mind to visit the Sand woman. She was destabilizing what was left of his team's equilibrium, and he wanted to know why, or at least for how long.

Temari was walking down the street, lazily eying the goods for sale. Kankuro was keeping an eye on Gaara and she had no real reason to train. She'd win either way. The sun was out and it was a moderately warm day, a blue sky, a soft, dust-lade breeze. In short, all was well.

Except for that annoying little prickling up her neck that told her that she was being watched. She shrugged it off. She was a foreigner, and konohagure was just the sort of place that did not like anything out of the ordinary. Xenophobic idiots.

Little did she know that the person watching her was none other than Hyuuga Neji. A Hyuuga Neji who was about to do something quite unusual for the sake of some reconnaissance.

So Temari continued her walk and nobody really seemed to care that she had a giant fan strapped to her back, and she eyed the goods, some lazily, others with a decidedly scornful gaze and Neji followed her quietly.

While she stood and examined some lovely antique handheld fans – real silk, hand embroidered – a boy only slightly taller moved next to her, apparently also interested in lovely handheld fans.

Now, Temari was quite an intelligent girl, as less-than-intelligent girls do not make good kunoichi, they make dead kunoichi, and she knew that this was probably a little odd. Guys just didn't often have a fetish for lovely, antique, handheld fans.

And this was not any guy. No, no, this was one of the genin that she actually did not wish to compete with in the finals of the exams. The attractive, feral-eyed one with the long black hair? Yeah.

Hmm...

Being, as we specified earlier, a good kunoichi, Temari knew that he was still looking, not only at the fans, but at her. Those eyes were really freaky. She wondered how far around his vision stretched.

"Do you want something?" she asked abruptly.

Neji turned and eyed her speculatively.

Establish eye-contact without scaring her.

He established eye contact. Temari didn't scare so easily, so he didn't scare her, either.

Prepare to smile.

His lips curled faintly.

Was that the best you could do? I have no choice but to tell you to say something polite.

"Hello," he murmured softly. Temari raised an eyebrow, apparently wondering if he was trying to hit on her.

Oh, that was a witty one, Neji.

"What do you want?" she asked again, suspiciously, but a little softer.

Neji snapped open and closed one of the fans, frowning at it. "I saw your match," he deadpanned. Neji's acting skills were alright, but his vocals just didn't change that much.

Temari raised an eyebrow. Was this his idea of research? Considering their placement in the final exam, they were unlikely to clash until the last round if they did clash at all. Did that mean that he thought she was the most likely person to win? Or was this about the girl?

"And?" she asked finally, directing a flat, cool look at him.

If he noticed the look, which he must have, he ignored it easily. "And..." Never let it be said that Hyuuga Neji is perfect. Forethought was not exactly his strong point, genius or not.

"And I wished to congratulate you," he murmured. Gaah! Somewhere, somehow, a chibi Neji was on its knees, ripping its hair out and screaming, 'That's SO LAME!'

Temari was inclined to concur. Her eyebrow raised higher. "Thank you," she muttered. Then, reluctantly, "That pretty little... Tenten... put up an okay fight, too," she muttered ill-manneredly, knowing he was on her team. And hot.

Neji's eyes actually appeared to narrow. She didn't know how he did it, since he had no pupils to speak of, but there was an odd sense of focus. It was decidedly freaky. Viciously, she hoped he had to fight Gaara.

If the statement meant anything to him, he didn't mention it. Instead, he lifted the fan she'd inspected most vigorously, a pale, off-white one with a pattern of purple dots on it that had immediately reminded her of her own weapon, and cocked his head for a moment.

"I will see you in the finals, then," he said before adding to the old lady minding the stall, "how much are you asking for this?"

Temari snorted and went to find something else that might amuse her. It was not until she was several shops away that she realised that she'd called Tenten 'pretty'. How transparent she was getting.

Two days before the final third of the chuunin exam, Rock Lee was allowed out of the hospital. He signed out with little difficulty and mad his happy way home with the freshest bunches of flowers in his hands. And, of course, the slightly depressed-looking wreathe Neji had brought him. He'd never leave such a symbol of friendship and devotion behind. Never!

When he reached his home, he was only mildly surprised to find Gai- sensei there waiting for him. What was surprising was that Gai- sensei appeared to be holding a large bowl full of... something. Hoping that it was not home-made food, Lee invited his teacher inside.

Unfortunately for Lee, it did appear to be home cooked food, dumplings to be specific. Maitou Gai was not exactly known for his superb culinary skills. In fact, it was closer to the opposite.

But, Lee, hoping that Gai- sensei had bought the dumplings from somewhere, or at least gotten somebody else to make them, opened his mouth and popped one in upon invitation to do so. His reaction was almost immediate as he gagged and spat it back out into his palms.

"Gai- sensei, what are those? They don't taste like normal dumplings..." Lee informed him, hoping that he had not insulted his teacher, his idol, his...

"Aha! I see you have noticed their unique flavour!" Gai- sensei said joyfully. "I should expect nothing less from my very best pupil," he declared. "For these," he made a grand, sweeping gesture that Lee ducked out of concern for his safety. "are not normal dumplings, oh, no... These are my special spring of youth dumplings for regeneration! If you eat one hundred of them, your injuries will heal perfectly!"

Lee brightened and felt youthful fire blaze in his eyes. Had anybody with an eye for that sort of detail been in the room, they would have noticed that it was quite visible, too. "So if I eat one-hundred of your spring of youth dumplings for regeneration, I will heal perfectly and be able to continue on the eternal path to my dream of being a great ninja?" he asked, and, without waiting for an answer, began wolfing down the admittedly foul little parcels.

"Eh – Lee! I didn't say to eat one hundred of them at once!" Gai yelled. Lee stopped, already on his seventy- eighth dumpling.

It was another of those joyful occasions where they would look back, laugh uproariously and move onto another fond memory. Or, as Tenten and Neji would agree, it was a moment to which they'd look back, laugh nervously and change the subject.

Tenten watched on from the stands. Neji was brilliant in his every movement this morning, surpassing even his best efforts in the training she'd put him through. The training had been less intense than this battle, she would freely admit, but she had rather less chakra to waste than Naruto.

She had never really considered that she might be watching the battles from this part of the arena – as a part of the crowd rather than a combatant – but it did not bother her any more than it had back in her fluffless hospital bed.

"It's all over," she murmured, eyes narrowing as Neji assumed the position for the sixty-four hands of hakke. A sixty-four hit finishing move that blocked all of the chakra tenketsu that were exploitable was not something that the likes of Naruto could overcome. She was sure. It didn't explain why her gut was clenched and her intuition was telling her to get Neji out of there.

Lee, just visible at the railing, leaning on one crutch and hovered over protectively by Gai- sensei, also seemed to logically think that Naruto didn't have a chance, and also seemed to feel that he did.

That kid was unpredictable and odd. Tenten just hoped that Neji's arrogance wouldn't make him underestimate the blond too much.

Naruto said something, and then Neji told him that he was in reach of his hakke now, and then Naruto looked a little clueless and gave Neji an adorable pensive, squinty-eyed look which almost made her understand why Neji was being so kind as to warn the naïve little brat. Except that she didn't think he had any maternal instincts to speak of. And if he did, then they certainly wouldn't actually speak of them.

Then the figures on the ground were a blur, Neji from his offence and Naruto because he was being kicked around like a ragdoll, and the only clear things were the deadpanned, emotionless calls of,

"Hakke, two hands! – Four hands! – Eight hands! – Sixteen hands! – Thirty-two hands! – Sixty-four hands!"

The chakra smoke cleared to show Naruto on the ground and an intense, focused Neji watching him emotionlessly. In the deathly hush, Tenten heard a small, sorrowful voice whisper softly,

"Naruto-kun..."

Briefly, Tenten took her eyes off the injured Naruto and allowed them to drift over the other participants to see if they appreciated the display. Shikamaru was looking a little pale but unsurprised and Sasuke still hadn't arrived – which was a little bit worrying, but she didn't really care if Sasuke was too arrogant or stupid or preoccupied to turn up – which only really left the sand nins.

Gaara – she'd heard all about his terrifying battle with Lee and looked upon him with wariness and vague respect – was watching hungrily, hands tight on his arms, eyes focused intently on the fight.

The tallest one with the puppet was paying more attention to Gaara than the battle, glancing back and forth nervously. That was odd. Was the redhead particularly unstable?

Temari was eyeing the battle as though it were a curiosity, leaning on the railing and staring down unblinkingly at Neji, whom she seemed to be overly interested in. Tenten felt a surge of possessiveness rise up within her, although who she was feeling possessive of she couldn't say.

She let her eyes linger for a little longer than they should have on Temari – the way the light hit her hair, the way she didn't seem to need to blink, the way the hem of her skirt rode up on one side, displaying one interestingly creamy, lithe leg... Temari's eyes made harsh, quick contact with hers; perhaps she could tell that she was being watched intently.

Tenten felt herself flush faintly under the cool harshness of that gaze. Across the arena, the blond girl sent a mind-numbing smile her way and re-applied her attention to the match.

Now what did that mean, Tenten wondered when she'd regained her thoughts. Normally, she'd take a kiss and a rather... personal... smile from a person as an obvious flirtation, but this was not all that normal a situation. Firstly, she'd always imagined herself with a male (possibly Neji, but not Lee, and never Sasuke), and second and most importantly, the woman had beaten the shit out of her.

It struck her as a funny sort of way to start off a relationship.

However, Tenten allowed, it was not as though the circumstances had allowed for anything less that her defeat by unconsciousness, death or giving up, and she sure as hell hadn't been about to give up. So really, Temari would have had to have knocked her out anyway. It still didn't explain the cruel comments and evil throwing-of-prone-form-over-sharp-objects stunt, but Tenten was willing to admit that some things were an element of style.

Although, hopefully not those things.

Because it would be really unfortunate if someone as pretty as Temari was totally heartless.

Chakra exploded below and for a split second, Tenten caught the unguarded shock on Temari's face and knew that her eyes finally, inexplicably mirrored her own. Then her head caught up with her hormones and she jerked her eyes back to where they were supposed to be, too surprised to feel guilt.

Naruto...

Somehow, she wasn't surprised. Sure, she knew it was impossible to emit chakra after one was in range of Neji's hakke, but with Naruto... With Naruto, possible and impossible didn't seem to matter so much.

If he ever did get to be the hokage – and something told her that that, also, was not actually impossible, but merely his special little brand of improbable – things were certainly going to change around here.

She glanced back up. She couldn't help it; somehow her eyes were drawn to the gold-topped figure across the arena. She looked calculating, speculative. The blue eyes snapped up to meet Tenten's again, and they narrowed. Temari's smile this time was accompanied by a narrow, inviting look.

Tenten shivered. It was not from cold.

The arena was cleared for the next match – she was leaving, it was not the one she'd come to see. She needed to think.

Neji had always been very sure of his emotions – one needed to be if one was as alone as often as himself, and he had plenty of time to consolidate his thoughts and opinions.

He'd come to one of his favourite training places – a clearing out in the forest close enough to the river to hear the gurgling, giggling noise. Usually it was pleasant. Right then, meditating on the fight, it was merely a distraction. He wished for some time alone to – not that he'd ever admit it out loud – sulk over his defeat.

But he wasn't alone, and there didn't seem to be time to properly reform his thoughts before they were invited out into the harsh public eye.

The public eye was only Lee, and he was hardly 'harsh', but still. It was the princible.

Naruto kept changing things on people. He had seen it with Hinata; seen it with that Uchiha kid. As soon as people were resigned to whatever life they were in, whatever life fate had planted them in, Naruto showed up and started declaring things that didn't make sense and making stupid promises that he couldn't fulfil in a million years.

But somehow, the senseless little things all made sense when seen form a certain angle and the promises got fulfilled and the world as everyone knew it got turned on its ear yet again.

Lee was watching him, leaning his chin on top of his crutch. His body language said that he was thinking about something abstract.

"I'm beginning to think that there might be something to that Hokage thing," he muttered. He almost sounded bitter – well, for Lee, which meant he sounded a little disappointed.

Neji could guess why. Lee had spent so long working so hard to beat him and Naruto had gone and done it with little preamble. Neji almost felt sorry for his team mate, in the twisted way he usually felt pity, but he'd long since learned to appreciate life's irony. So instead, he smiled sardonically.

Lee frowned. He probably found it condescending. Neji didn't bother to correct him.

"Naruto beat you," Lee informed him suddenly. Neji's gaze landed back on him. He wondered if Lee could even tell the difference.

"Yes," he agreed, tugging on one of the straps by his head and considering that Lee might be trying to be spiteful. Neji was not so easy to spite. But then he shook the thought off. Lee was not spiteful. There was no guile, not a scrap of deception to him. And Lee couldn't be cruel. Tactless, silly, a little overzealous about some things and quite the little fashion victim, but never cruel.

"I thought you'd be more upset," Lee admitted, playing with some grass near his feet as though he were ashamed that he'd thought so. The grass was blue-green in the fading dusk. Neji cocked his head. He couldn't really recall how he'd felt the last time he'd lost to somebody in a straight fight. Not that he couldn't actually recall other times, just not the last one, and not really any distinctive feeling.

He'd come to sulk, but he just felt sort of empty. He knew that whatever piece of him that Naruto had taken with him when he'd beaten him would be replaced in time, but it was still an uncomfortable feeling. He considered telling Lee, but then decided against it. It wouldn't translate.

"I thought so, too," he lied instead.

"No you didn't." Lee's eyes connected with his again. There was something there that he'd never seen, but he couldn't put a name to it. Emotions weren't really his thing. Lee shook whatever it was off with, "You wouldn't even consider that you'd lose."

Neji shrugged, although one had to be looking to notice it. Lee was looking. "How did you feel?" he asked, uncharacteristically.

Lee looked a little taken aback. He'd never really had a conversation with Neji before. Sure, there was the usual, 'You just don't get it, do you? A dropout cannot change what he is. Accept it.' Speech, but this was not like that. This was Neji showing real interest in his motives, his goals, his interests... Neji was acknowledging him as a human being! Had he finally proved that he was worth at least that much? Oh, if only Gai- sensei could be here to witness this moment, this sparkling avenue of youthful joy down which he'd travelled to allow Neji, his team mate, his comrade, to bare his soul! Tears came to his eyes at the thought of his idol.

Gai- sensei!

Neji watched warily – although one couldn't really tell from his face – as Lee's eyes filled with fire. And we're not talking hyperbole, here. He had a strong urge to back out with something like, 'never mind. Forget I ever mentioned it...'. But he wouldn't take back his words, and he was even vaguely curious. He wondered why those words sounded so very familiar...

"Ah..." he made a small, questioning noise, and then wished he hadn't.

He didn't know why he'd bothered. Lee was Lee. Excessively so.

"Ah, the moment has arrived in which you have finally opened up to me..." Neji tuned Lee out as he continued his pre-actual-answer spiel in hopes of preserving whatever sanity he had left after Uzumaki. This was what Tenten was good for.

"Lee." His voice sounded sharper than it needed to, even to him, which was saying a lot.

Lee stopped abruptly. His face sobered alarmingly. "Oh... um. Okay. I sort of... when I opened the Gates, I sort of felt... as if I was really worth something. And then... when even that wasn't enough, and he still beat me, and... They tell me I can't fight again... sort of think... That maybe you're right," Lee admitted quietly.

Neji waited and wondered why he didn't feel more content at those words.

"You know... Maybe hard work really doesn't make any difference. I... I guess you heard... I can't be a shinobi anymore, and, even though I feel as though I should try harder and chase the goals of my youth, I'm not sure it would really make any difference. There is no reason."

Neji felt vaguely as though a noose was tightening around his throat, but he had no basis for the feeling or really even any idea where it came from. Maybe it was what Tenten called intuition. This was his fault. Oh, damnit. Sometimes, he hated being one of the good guys.

He should agree with Lee, like he'd always done. His opinions always seemed solid and real before. But now... Uzumaki had changed him fundamentally. He had changed that which could not be changed, that which was predetermined. What had once seemed solid and real now looked like a flimsy shelter from reality.

Bumfuck.

The world paused and took a breath around him. He had the oddest feeling that Fate was listening to him at that moment, as though he were doing something that mattered.

And so he felt his tongue moving without his conscious direction. "You're wrong," he said, which puzzled him. What puzzled him even more was that he firmly believed that he was correct.

Lee looked up, intensely startled. His eyes looked even bigger than usual. Neji couldn't blame him.

"What reason? Give me one good reason to keep trying!" Lee demanded angrily.

Neji contemplated his angry profile calmly, trying to word this sudden, abstract little thought that drifted through his mind.

"Because," he murmured, leaning forward to untwine Lee's fingers from the grass at his feet, "Rock Lee doesn't give up. That doesn't change." Ah, sweet solidity. At least something would always be.

Lee was surprised, to say the least. "What?"

Neji shrugged. He wasn't about to repeat himself. He glanced back at Lee. "You'll find something. There is always something," he said confidently.

Lee was staring at him. Unsurprising. "Why?"

Neji frowned. "Does it matter?" he pulled some grass out, watching it fall gently to the ground.

Lee shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant. What reason?"

Neji eyed him. "When have you ever needed a reason? Why would you ever need a reason?" he asked, with perhaps pardonable bitterness.

Lee snorted. "Since now," he replied. "... complete loss of confidence," he added, somewhat sheepishly.

Was Neji expected to feel sorry for him? He chewed his bottom lip. This strange new rush of expressions he was experiencing lately was starting to get to him.

He took a deep breath. He was going to regret this, he knew it. "Me," he said, leaning in close.

Temari's match took a while. Quite a while. Shikamaru was a pain in the arse about it, too, she noticed.

She didn't experience the usual intense satisfaction in beating someone. It hadn't been much of a win, anyway, she reflected.

Now, where the Hell had her prey vanished to?

"Good luck, Gaara," she murmured as she passed him. He grunted.

She found her quickly. She was almost as good at finding things as she was at killing them.

"Yo," she said, softly but clearly, watching the girl jump and twist around fast. She must have been distracted by what she could see, Temari thought, settling down next to her on the tree branch and peering down where she was looking.

Aha.

Her team mates were... talking, she supposed. The body language didn't look as though they were very friendly. It actually looked more like an exchange between herself and her youngest brother.

Tenten held one finger up to the blonde's lips, shushing her. Temari raised an eyebrow and concentrated. A moment later, she didn't really need to hear the conversation to understand it. The pretty one leaned in and kissed the other, who seemed to protest.

At first, anyway. She smirked. Not surprising really.

"Cute," she said softly.

Tenten was grinning. "Come here often?" she asked.

Temari gave her a blank look for a moment, but shrugged. "I think I'll be coming by way more often soon," she smiled.

"Really," Tenten said.

"I have so much to learn, you see," Temari finished

Tenten frowned, wondering why that sounded so very familiar.

"Oh." Then she, too, caught on. "Yes. Me, too."

There were a few eeeevil grammatical flaws in this, so if you notice any more, tell me, okay?

Okay