Author's note: I created my character Karin before I read Shippuden, so don't think I ripped off the name. Not a big deal, just wanted to clarify :3 ALSO this chapter took me awhile to make for 2 reasons. I'm going to post them at the bottom so you can read after the chapter (and so I don't take up space).

Dew drops dripped off the morning leaves as the sun slowly took over the golden sky. The birds awoke and took flight to sing and catch their breakfast for their crying babies. The small chirps reached the cracked window of the research center and echoed down the silent halls. Thin beams of yellow light broke through the slightly dusty window of Tenten's room, making a glittering effect in the light that shone through. The sleeping girl laid peacefully in her white bed with the beams of sun softly touching her face, highlighting her beautiful features. Neji sat, leaning forward in his chair, sleeping soundly with his hand resting gently on top of his girl's.

The combination of the hungry birds and dim light aroused Neji out of his slumber. His head nodded up while his eyes attempted to focus out of his blurred vision. He blinked and turned towards Tenten. He was silent. His thumb subconsciously stroked her hand as he studied her unchanged expression.

Moments later, the sound of rushing footsteps was heard down the hallway approaching the room. The door opened revealing Sakine and Lee, out of breath, yet looking quite satisfied as they entered.

"Neji, good news!" Lee announced. Neji looked up at him with curious eyes.

Sakine began, "for awhile now she's been out in the Fire country, but she's returning tonight! So as long-"

"Who is she?" Neji interrupted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Her name is Karin, and she has a skill that may interest you."

Neji stared at her with some hope. Lee glanced at the location Neji's hand resided, and smiled in delight. Neji looked at Lee and gave him a serious look. The boy just turned towards the door.

"Don't worry Neji, once Karin gets here you can hold her hand when she's conscious." Lee had a wide grin as he exited the room before Neji could make any remarks. He did however give the back of Lee's head a death glare as he left.

Idiot, if I let go of her hand her heart might slow down. He should be more serious in this situation. What if this girl doesn't make it in time? Then what Lee?

Sakine had a small grin as she began to speak to him. "You should take this time to relax. You need that. If her jutsu works as planned, then there's hope for a full recovery. She just needs to last until tonight." She smiled at him as she departed the room.

I can't just stop worrying. What if this jutsu of hers doesn't work out? Then we're back to square one…her heart's already dangerously low. I can't let go now! He squeezed her hand as he uttered under his breath, "Tenten."

Tenten turned. "Did you hear something?"

Neji turned towards her. "No, you heard something?"

"I thought I heard my name… weird."

"Maybe it was a bird," he shrugged and began to walk.

"Yea… maybe." She paused a moment before catching up to him. I could've sworn I heard his voice… the boy in the white robes. He was identical to Neji, but it wasn't him. Neji is caring, talented, smart, and strong and just by looking at him you can tell he's perfect in every way!

The thought of the second boy intrigued her, although he seemed to be Neji's doppelganger. Same features, yet expressionless, unlike her Neji who seemed to give a positive, loving look which made her melt. The more she thought about this, the more she realized he really wasn't all that better than the boy she was walking with. In fact, the Neji she kissed under the tree seemed to have much brighter eyes than the dull sparkle-less ones his twin possessed.

Even though Tenten realized the glowing boy wasn't as glamorous as she originally thought, she still felt there was something special about him. He seemed more real. More tangible, even though her Neji was walking right next to her. Compared to the familiar feeling she felt with the doppelganger, the bright Neji seemed to be the dull one.

How could this be? The Neji who kissed me, held me, and looks me in the eyes with compassion… how could this other guy give me a feeling that makes my heart jump? I didn't even touch him, yet I can't get him out of my head!

Screams and shouting were heard echoing throughout the hallways from the unexpecting victims of a wild creature trapped in the hospital. Neji's head shot up in response to the shouts of surprise. He stared at the open door showing the hallway, listening to nurses and scientists making various noises as the creature made its way through the crowd. He blinked. A small dark blur dashed from the door to underneath Tenten's bed. He stood up, keeping his hand on Tenten's. He looked around the room for any signs of movement. The room was still. The screams stopped but the footsteps drew nearer to the room.

What the hell is in here? He asked himself. His eye dotted to the corner of the bed where he heard a critter-like mumble. He stared for a moment, then lifted his free hand. "Byakugan!"

Neji's vision turned to shades of grey as he saw the outline of an animal crawl out from underneath the bed. It leapt towards Neji's chest, turning its usual black and brown colors as the byakugan was deactivated. He let go of Tenten and used both hands to grab the attacking creature. "Shit!" The monitor beeped abnormally again.

"Neji!" Kishimi yelled, witnessing the attack along with several other orderlies. Some of them held random items such as a sheet, a net, a box and other random accessories. The raccoon wriggled in Neji's grip as it tried to escape. It broke free and landed on the bed, scratching Tenten's hand in the process. The coon jumped off the bed and scrambled towards the door, weaving between the doctors' legs. As it ran away, one orderly tossed the sheet in the air as Lee threw throwing stars, creating a circle of stars pushing the sheet towards the animal. The stars stuck in the floor surrounding the raccoon, trapping it within the sheet.

Neji looked at the monitor, then back to Kishimi. "How did that get in here?" he demanded.

Kishimi went to address him as the others went to retrieve the squirming pest. "We left the door open after bringing in a big table. It must have smelled someone's breakfast and snuck inside. I'm terribly sorry about all this, are you okay?"

"Yea." He glanced at Tenten. "Damnit…"

"What? What happened?" Lee asked.

"That raccoon… it scratched her." He pointed to Tenten's hand. Everyone's face grew concerned.

"Hey! What happened here?" Sakine asked as she ran toward the room.

"A raccoon snuck in and scratched Tenten. We should check her for rabies" Kishimi suggested.

"Hmm.. this could be bad." Neji and Lee began to frown. "If she does have rabies, the medicine might have negative effects."

"Why would rabies medicine have any negative effects?" Lee asked.

"Well, recently one of the plants we use to make the medicine was ruined by an annoying insect problem, so we've had to use a substitute. It's still effective, but it does have some little side effects."

"Like what?" Neji asked.

"The one you would be most concerned with is drowsiness"

Neji gritted his teeth and stared at the monitor. Her heart continued to beat ever so slowly. This is very bad…

They didn't have to walk far before they hit the village. The trees and path were still dewy from the previous rain, making the wet houses glisten in the sunlight. The couple strolled along to look for their teammate, watching the children run around chasing a local cat while the parents were wringing out wet clothes.

Neji tapped his hand against Tenten's, who responded by interlacing her fingers with his. It felt nice.. until moments later when padded feet made their way up her back and secured themselves in her buns. She stood there, stunned by what was now standing on her head.

*hisss*

Neji stared at it as the kids ran up to Tenten.

"No fair, she isn't base!" One of the little boys yelled at the frightened cat. The rest of the children moaned in disappointment as their toy was out of reach.

"Tenten," Neji gestured to her head, "you have a little something.."

She looked over at him seeing him give her a joking smirk. Well that's new, I've never seen him make a joke. Even if it is a small one like that. She smiled at his childishness, as the cat began to relax a little.

"Neji! Tenten!

The cat looked over to see an excited green blur rush in its direction. It fluffed up in surprise and scrambled to get off the girls head. Tenten wobbled a bit from the moving weight on her head. The cat jumped down onto one of Tenten's steadying hands and stumbled onto the ground before darting away, shortly followed by a wave of children.

"Ow!" Tenten held the back of her hand, studying the tiny scratches the cat's claws left behind.

"Oh I'm sorry Tenten was that my fault? I did not realize there was something on your head."

"It's ok, just a little scratch." She assured him. She continued to look at the tiny drops of blood build up outside the skin. Something feels different…

There was a weird silence between the three ninja…. "Oh yea!" Lee spurted out. "I came to tell you, I got a message from Konoha. The Mizukage help us out and now Konoha is back to normal! Gai sensei said it's never been so peaceful."

"That's wonderful Lee!"Tenten exclaimed. She couldn't exactly remember what was wrong with Konoha to begin with, but as long as it was peaceful now, she didn't dwell on it.

Lee continued, "So I guess that means this could be a little vacation for us!" The three of them couldn't help but smile at the news.

A little old figure shuffled up in front of them. "Excuse me, you three are ninja, am I correct?" They nodded. "I am the elder of this small town. We haven't had ninja pass by in quite a while. We've had several issues around here with thieves and nuisances ruining our crops, would you be able to stay a little longer and help us?"

Neji turned to Tenten, who had hope in her eyes, and replied, "Well, seeing as we aren't in a hurry to return to our village, I suppose we could afford to stay a little longer." Tenten smiled at his answer. She liked helping people, and especially enjoyed the time she and Neji were spending together.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" The little old lady left happily.

Lee suggested, "shall we go and celebrate with our new friends here?"

The other two nodded, and went back to holding hands. "Ow!" Tenten retracted her hand in pain.

"Oh, sorry," Neji apologized. "Are you ok?"

"Yea yea… it's just a pain in my hand. I'll be fine."

He took her hand, kissed it better, then wrapped an arm around her waist and continued to walk.

Lee and Neji sat in the few chairs outside Tenten's room. They heard light shuffling inside her room along with the flipping of papers. They turned their heads when the door finally opened, watching the two doctors exit.

Kishimi spoke first. "Well, she tested positive for rabies."

Neji's heart sank. Shit.. "…Wait, what if we don't give her the medicine? Wouldn't it travel through her bloodstream slower since she's lying down with a slower heartbeat? We could take care of that later right? " He continued to ramble before Kishimi finally stopped him.

"The problem is, since she got scratched on the hand, that's where most of the disease is located. Since it won't travel far, it'll just settle there and poison that area."

The boys stared at her, waiting to hear to worst. "If left there untreated much longer, we may need to amputate her hand."

Lee spoke up, "But this is a village of healers, can't someone extract it or something?"

Sakine stepped forward. "We can get rid of poison, not diseases. We still rely on medicine for that. Even if we used all our healing powers and the huts, we would need a physical remedy in her bloodstream."

"What about the huts?" Neji asked.

"Pardon?"

"You mentioned the huts outside. I saw the inside of one of them while walking through the village. It looked like it was different compared to the hospital equipment."

"Yea, those are more of a natural healing area. Those huts used to have a small hot spring in each one. People would come here to rest while on long journeys, enjoying the healing and rejuvenating qualities of the water and herbal scents. They were said to be the most spiritual and healthiest area of this small land because of its natural healing powers, known to cure migraines, illness, and sometimes even broken hearts. Of course, the results weren't always instant, the springs worked faster depending on the person's chii. However, people stopped using them and relied on regular medicine. Soon we stopped getting visitors and ended up closing them. There are very few natural springs left, most of the ones in the huts are gone and are now used as storage for herbs. Those wouldn't help your friend I'm afraid."

There was silence. Neji bit his lip. Lee's eyes widened, if that was even possible. He turned to Neji, "W-what do we do?" Neji just stood there, thinking. He knew he wasn't close to bringing her out of her sleep, so drowsiness may be the smartest choice… However…

"Give her the medicine…"

Lee asked, "Are you sure?"

"We have just as much of a chance to bring her out of her comatose state after the medicine as we do now. And maybe the side effects won't have a big effect."

"But it could worsen. You really want to take that chance?"

"Lee, Tenten is a weapons master. If she woke up without a hand, she might as well be dead. A handless weapon user is a useless one. It would be the equivalent of when Tsunade told you to give up as a ninja. She wouldn't forgive us for that."

Lee, still unsure of the decision, nodded to him.

Neji turned to the girls and took in a big breath. "Give her the medicine."

First off, let me apologize for not updating in over a year! I'm so so sooo sorry.

1. I was planning on writing the chapters out during school when I had nothing to do instead of doing it all in one shot on the computer… but school ended, so I only had this one chapter on paper. And I started college last year, so that's taken up the majority of my time (full scholarship!) I've had no free time to update this except during breaks. And even then I just didn't have it in me to wanna write in my free time ('effin writers block).

2. In one of the dreams, I had two possible situations. I wrote the one possibility for awhile ago during school... but then realized it didn't fit the "perfect" atmosphere I was trying to set for her dreams. So I redid it to the situation you read here. The first attempt was too… harsh. (giant beast attacks… Neji's badly hurt.. etc.)

Also, unless I stretch it out somehow, I might end this in one more chapter. Thanks for reading :3 PLEASE leave feedback. I love reading what everyone has to say.

And as a little something to make up for the looong wait, I'm also gonna post a link to a mini fanfic I wrote during my writers block. Don't worry, it's still NejiTen ;)

Bday fanfic: fanfiction(dot) net/s/6711115/1/bMasquerade_b_Birthday_Party