Chapter Thirty-Three
Resolution

I've never felt so strong
Life can lead us
To a happiness never-ending

If we just know that we belong to each other
Never worry
Grow as we go – Taeyang; Wedding Dress [English Version]

Resolution

He was down the stairs in a heartbeat, his heart, although still presenting a dull pain, significantly better. He'd seen the brown-haired girl that caught his affections there surrounded by white, panda buns falling apart but there nonetheless, making her seem perfectly fine, albeit a bit angelic. He smiled at the picture he'd mentally captured of her as he was in the room. Her face had lit up when she'd seen him, although he'd frozen at the mere sight of her (which was why the photo was so ingrained in his memory). Her perfectly joyous smile was enough to send him soaring, as well as to awaken the anguish he'd felt at the moment.

But that was behind him now, since he'd talked things out with her – expressed to her the feelings she'd known for years that he held toward her, and came up with a resolution: to transform his love into something familial rather than romantic. Given the current circumstances, he knew it would be pointless to keep trying to court her when she so clearly had her heart set on someone else (despite how much of an asshole he was). Therefore, he'd told her he'd change so that the whole situation wouldn't come up again – and every word he'd said he meant absolutely. Nothing was going to deter him from accomplishing this newfound goal.

He stepped into the living room and caught sight of the people who'd brought him home getting particularly comfortable. His normally spiky-haired sister had already cuddled up with her boyfriend and fallen asleep. He stepped over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Her teal eyes popped open, although they showed a deep grogginess that implied she'd been falling deeper and deeper into her slumber already. She frowned, narrowing her eyes against the light coming from the lamp in the corner and the ceiling fan, as well as from the windows, putting a hand up to try to block it. She looked up at her brother questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"You should go take a shower; you were around all those bloody dead bodies. Bacteria might be crawling all over you and you wouldn't even know until it was too late." To this she let out a long sigh, although gave no feisty retorts. "Yeah, I know." She sat up on the couch and rubbed her eye, slipping easily out of her boyfriends embrace. Kankuro could see a minute change in his face that implied he missed the person next to him. A little moan escaped the kid as he reached out and wrapped a hand lazily around Temari's arm.

"He should take a shower too," he said to his blond-haired sister. "You've been all cuddling up with the kid – he could be covered in it too." At this, his younger sister grinned, turned to grab her boyfriend's arm, and responded, "Alright." She tugged lightly. "C'mon Shika, we gotta go take a shower."

She glanced slyly up at her brother, who swatted at her hand and looked at the boy behind her on the couch. He looked dazed with sleep, although by the look of slight horror on his face, Kankuro knew he understood what was going on easily. The pineapple-ponytailed boy let out a sigh. "Woman, how many times do I have to tell you you're going to get me killed?" Temari merely laughed and placed an easy kiss on his cheek.

"You really do have to shower after I do, though," she said to him. "I was running around bloody dead bodies and you were hugging all on me, so you have my bloody body germs." She grinned, her blond hair falling to her shoulders and swishing with the slightest movements of her face. He let out another sigh, responding "Well then wake me up when you're done." That being said, he fell asleep all over again, Temari standing up off the couch yawning (and thus placing a hand over her mouth to muffle it) to go shower.

Her brother grabbed a hold of her arm, gently although with a firm grip. "Don't get too comfortable making cracks like that," he warned, "especially around Gaara. We both know I don't like you going around making jokes like that, sis, but Gaara – heh – he'll kill your boyfriend if you so much talk about kissing in front of him."

Temari brushed off her brother's words with a smile. "Kankuro, I'm not stupid; I wouldn't do that." He raised an eyebrow at her, not letting her go just yet. "Just a few hours ago you were telling Gaara he'd made plays at you and tried to get in your pants. You almost got his whole gang killed thanks to that." She rolled her eyes at him, still retaining her smile. "Oh relax, Bro. I was joking – I wouldn't really try to get Gaara to kill him." Her gaze fell upon him. Kankuro instantly noticed the way her eyes softened and her smile became fond.

She loves him.

The simple thought sent him into an odd sort of shock. It was tough to come to grips with the fact that his baby sister (although being only a good year younger than him, he still called her his baby sister) was in love. His eye twitched slightly, his grip on her arm loosened. She noticed, for she looked over at him as she slipped out of his grip.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go shower since you seemed so adamant about it."

With that, she turned and made her way up the stairs. He heard her shuffle about upstairs, seeming to stop in one of the rooms toward the back, opening and shutting things, and then shuffling into some other room and closing the door. A few moments later, the sound of running water reached him.

He turned to look at whoever else was in the living room. Ino was comfortably cuddled up with Kiba on the couch in front of the TV (something he would absolutely have to mortify her for when they all woke up later) while Neji reclined in the one-seater, leaning his head on his fist and looking directly at him. He raised an eyebrow at the Hyuga – not in challenge, but more so in question, for he was far too exhausted to challenge him.

"What?"

The Hyuga closed his eyes and lifted his brows. Kankuro noticed for the first time the hints of bruise-like circles under his eyes. He was tired too. As for words, he said nothing, although he did open his eyes to look straight at Kankuro again.

Said boy muffled down a yawn with his hand, rolled his shoulders back, and waved a hand at him. "Do you know where Sakura is? I'm going to the other base." The Hyuga raised an eyebrow before signaling toward the arch to the kitchen. Kankuro gave him a nod before heading in to find Hinata flipping a pancake on the stove and Sakura devouring one at the table.

They both glanced up as soon as he walked in, Sakura with a piece of pancake hanging out the side of her mouth. Her emerald eyes were widened – a true deer in the headlights expression – as she pushed the rest of the pancake piece into her mouth with her tongue and gave him a syrupy smile, reaching for a napkin.

He stepped into the kitchen a bit further, straight over to Hinata to give her a one-armed hug as she cooked the pancake. "I'll see you tomorrow, uh, later today I mean."

The sunlight was truly beginning to push through the curtains in the kitchen (odd how the people who actually lived in the house were men yet they had curtains on all the kitchen windows). Hinata nodded against him, returning his hug just as easily. He placed a hand on her head, ruffling her short hair much like one would a cute puppy with scruffy fur. "And you make sure that hyperactive blond kid treats you like the princess you are, hear me?"

A cute giggle escaped her as she nodded in response. "That's something you don't have to worry about, Kankuro-kun." A light blush tinted her cheeks. "Even though he's hyper, he's the sweetest boy I've ever met." Kankuro returned her smile fondly. "Good to know."

He then made his way over to Sakura and flicked her forehead lightly. She scowled up at him. "The hell was that for?" She was holding her fork up, another chunk of her pancake stabbed onto it. He gave her a smirk that read "you know damn well what that was for." Her response was a smile and an awkward sort of one-and-a-half armed hug, for she did not bother putting the fork down before hugging him.

"I'll see you girls later."

Hinata nodded twice while Sakura's smile brightened. "Okay, love you," was their simultaneous reply.

"Love you girls too," Kankuro said as he made his way through the archway back into the living, a yawn escaping him as he turned and stepped onto the carpet. He placed a hand over his mouth to muffle it.

"Seems like Don Juan is tired."

Kankuro couldn't stop himself; despite being utterly drained and dying to shower and fall into a bed to sleep he found himself rolling his eyes and sending the exhausted Hyuga in the one-seater a rude quip. "Still upset because you look like a girl?"

Neji seemed unabashed. As a matter of fact he smirked. "Says the one who wears make-up."

Kankuro felt annoyance beginning to stir. "It's face paint. Either way, even without make-up you look like a girl with that damn long hair of yours."

"My hair adds to my looks. Your hair looks like a rat's ass."

Kankuro shut an eye, his annoyance increasing as he met the cold silver gaze of the boyfriend of the girl he loved more than himself.

"Still upset because your hair's compensating for something?"

Again, the wretched boy's smirk broadened, his eyes taking on a depth that sent them deep into darkness.

"Still upset because Tenten loves me and not you?"

He'd admit it – he felt that, somewhere deep down. Yet he smiled slightly, not breaking eye contact with the guy he so badly wanted to hurt for taking what he once believed would've been his sweetheart (because he'd come to realize that she never really would be his in the first place. She'd known for at least three years how he felt for her and still didn't return his feelings). "Tenten loves me."

He spoke confidently, his smile continually broadening as the sun peeked in through the blinds in the window of the living room, hitting one side of his face brightly while throwing the other in shadow. He barely noticed the extra light in his eyes. "She may not love me in the way that she loves you." A slight twinge somewhere deep in his chest made him momentarily stop. "But she loves me nonetheless."

The silver-eyed boy before him held his gaze strongly. Kankuro saw what appeared to be anger in the depths of those eyes filled with darkness. His anger seemed to intensify as he sat there leaning his head on his closed fist. Kankuro raised an eyebrow at the kid; again, not out of challenge but merely in question, as if to say, "Why are you looking at me like that? I can't win, therefore I don't bother. I have no problems with you."

The message was received, for the boy before him dropped his smirk and traded it for a rather tired expression. "Alright, whatever you say." He muffled a yawn, waving Kankuro off before adding. "Shouldn't you get going anyway? It's seven in the morning."

Kankuro shrugged, muffled yet another yawn himself, and began making his way over to the door just as his sister came back down the stairs. Her hair was damp, some parts dripping on the oversized T-shirt that she wore over what were presumably her boyfriend's boxers.

She's going to get her boyfriend killed and I'm going to die of a damn aneurism.

He stopped in front of his sister before making it to the door, putting up an index finger as he opened his mouth to speak. Before a single word could escape, however, she let out a sigh. "I know, I know; I'm gonna get him killed and you'll die young as a result. It's not that big of a deal. Better this than in panties and a tank top with no bra, right?"

A ghost of the anger he'd felt earlier that night rose up within him, mixing dangerously with the slight annoyance the damned Hyuga had just made him feel. He looked at his usually spiky-haired sister disbelievingly, closing his index-finger-raised hand into a hard fist, fighting the temptation to let it collide with the top of her head. He gritted his teeth. She grinned. "Just relax Bro, I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing; I can take care of myself."

He narrowed his eyes at her, his frown becoming a deep set glare. "Listen demon child - "

He was cut off by his sister's short laugh, her cheeks blushing a light pink. He dropped his glare for an expression of confusion as she muffled her giggles with a hand. "I'm not the demon child," she said between spurts. "Gaara is."

Just as when he'd sent Neji that retort, he couldn't stop himself. A grin broke out on his face that eventually gave way to his own burst of laughter. He placed a hand over his face to mute the sound at least the slightest so as to not bother those who were already sleeping.

It took them both a few minutes to completely calm down. Afterword his sister placed a light kiss on his cheek before stepping over to her sleeping boyfriend and tapping him on the shoulder. "Your turn," he heard her whisper in the kid's ear. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he twisted the knob of the front door and made his way out to the front porch.

He seemed to remember something, stopped, stepped back into the house, grabbed a key chain with two identical keys dangling off the same ring, and made his way over to the driveway with a simple, "Temari, I'm taking the bike."

"You're lucky you're my brother."

He gave a toothy smirk to no one in particular as he gently eased the key in the ignition – for fear that his sister would come after him with that damned fan if he shoved the key in – and revved the bike. The resulting roar echoed along the empty street, resounding proudly as he pulled out of the driveway and down to the temporary hideout he, his brother, and their gangs would spend their time in Konoha in.

Resolution

Sakurambo
Something was up.

From what I could sense, Sakura wasn't feeling her usual depressed emotions; she was throwing them up on the surface – no doubt to try and throw me off – although I was still able to feel the giddiness that she felt deep within. It really made me wonder what the hell had happened earlier that night.

She and Kankuro had been out for quite a while.

Could it be possible that…

I shook my head at myself. That's ridiculous! Sakura thinks of Kankuro of a brother! Of course nothing like that happened! I pursed my lips as I placed my hands behind my head, adding extra support that the lone pillow I had couldn't do.

Funny as it seemed, I was lying down quite comfortably in a double bed with the extremely perilously injured Rock Lee. It was probably a horrible idea, seeing as he was injured in one of the most central parts of his body, but whatever; I'm not a hyper sleeper. I always curled up on my side and stayed in one spot either way. I wouldn't hurt him. Plus he offered a sense of comfort despite the fact that he was so doped on up painkillers that he could barely stay awake for more than half an hour every few hours to eat, drink (only water), and shower.

I wasn't on my side yet, however. I was relaxing on my back next to him. From what I could tell of the room, it was his. The sheets he was currently under were green, the pillows sheathed in a darker shade of the same color. The floor was wooden and the walls white, as with the rest of the six bedrooms and the hallway. There was a lamp – with a green shade of all things – in the corner, turned off, leaving the room in darkness save for the bits of sunlight peaking in through the window.

It was so ridiculously green, yet it was oddly really cute. The colors brightened up my mood easily; no matter how down I felt and no matter how much seeing Lee all sleepy and pained saddened me. Strange how I'd met the kid only a little while ago and he already had this effect on me.

It's not like I liked him; of course not. It was simply that I felt guilty because I'd been the one that'd shot him and destroyed his ability to stay awake without feeling pain as well as his ability to move about freely. That single bullet, with all its zooming-from-a-mile-away power, had knocked out parts of his nervous system. While Sakura had done the basic stuff and removed the bullet and sealed the wound, thus returning part of his motion, she hadn't been able to cure him so that he'd recover fully. It was something that absolutely needed to be done by an expert medic – like, say, Tsunade.

It really was a tremendous thing that she'd accepted. She'd said yes to treating one of the thousands of students in her school who was injured for – at least what I was sure was – absolutely no reason at all. Of all of the students who needed medical attention – who went to that school simply to grab her attention and ask for her assistance – she'd chosen Lee. It was questionable, no doubt, but it was also quite useful and therefore we were all very grateful that she'd stepped up to the job that Sakura couldn't do. Meanwhile, Sakura was over here holed up and acting all depressed.

Or at least she had been up until a few hours ago. Those surface emotions had been enough to trick me a few hours ago, feeling the hum of her emotions, but as soon as I actually started to pay attention, I noticed that she wasn't truly depressed anymore. Normally, I would've been monumentally excited and happy for her, yet what bothered me is that I had no clue as to why she was so happy or at least peaceful to some extent beneath all the layers of false sadness. It was one of those times where I really wished I could read her mind.

This was one of the drawbacks of Ino's damned mistake; I could easily sense how Sakura was feeling, almost as if we were truly twins and had the whole telepathy thing going. But, despite being able to sense how she was feeling and predict her movements in combat and being able to mimic her in the slightest fraction of a second, I still couldn't read her mind.

The bond that we shared was one that simply allowed me to be able to sense her hum of emotions and gut-reactions and the like, which then allowed me to predict what she was going to do, think, or say. But I couldn't actually think what she was thinking unless she was openly thinking about it.

And she was nowhere near open about this. Her emotions were concealed – quite poorly I might add – however concealed nonetheless. And admittedly, it hurt. Sakura was never one to keep things from me, no matter how bad it was or how upset she knew we would get with her. She always told either me or Ino what was going on in her mind if she knew we couldn't come up with the answer on our own. Now it seemed as if she didn't want us to be able to feel that something was up, let alone come up with the answer or tell us herself.

I wonder if she's told Ino anything about this.

I pursed my lips in thought all over again. There's something so off about her it's ridiculous! What the hell went down with her and Kankuro that she's all happy again?

I simply lay there for a moment, hands behind my head for support, the comfortable mattress soothing my back as light poured in from the window directly across from the door. (The sun had been rising for quite a while; it made me question as to when the hell it was going to get off its lazy ass and bring itself all the way up.) Absolutely nothing came to mind as I lay there thinking.

My hands automatically grabbed at the hair on the back of my head, allowing myself to hold in the frustrated scream that I so desperately wanted to let out. I'd been so used to being able to predict Sakura's thoughts and know exactly what had been on her mind – either through that prediction or through her directly telling me – that the mere idea of not knowing anything at the moment really upset me.

My eyes shut of their own accord and I removed my hands from behind my head to cross my arms over my chest. "What the hell, man?"

It came out as a whisper, albeit an angry one, which is why I was surprised when the heavily doped up kid next to me woke up suddenly, eyes spread widely, lashes flashing back and forth as he blinked rapidly for a moment before settling into rhythm. His left arm gave an odd sort of twitch, as though he were going to use it to support himself in sitting up. However, he did not for the life of him get up. Instead, he winced, felt the disturbance of my worried movement toward him, and rotated both his eyes and head so that I came into his field of vision.

His dark and heavily lashed eyes were still glazed under the few stray bangs from his bowl cut that needed to be trimmed if he planned on maintaining the look. There was the slightest hint that he was aware of what was going on, though, despite all of the medication. His gaze caught mine for a moment, and my heart stopped beating for an instant.

Even though he was ridiculously sleepy because of all the medicine, he seemed to know exactly who I was and seemed as though he wanted to tell me something. I raised a pink eyebrow at him. He blinked a few times before he spoke, his voice coming out raspy and rough from long hours without use. "Sakura…mbo?" I smiled at him as brightly as I could and nodded my head twice. A small, however pained smile crossed his features as he turned his head to face me slowly, the sunlight peeking in through the window lighting up part of his face.

"You okay? Do you need anything?"

He attempted to shake his head, although realizing that it would hurt, he quickly abandoned the idea. "Ah no, I am quite alright." I raised my eyebrow at him again. "So then what is it? You had to have faced me for a reason."

His smile didn't fade for even the briefest instant, but rather seemed to brighten. "I felt a presence on the bed and simply turned to see who it was. I thought maybe Sakura had come in to see how I was. I see that it is not her." He took the briefest pause. "However," a short, deep breath, "I am happy that it is you."

I felt the beginnings of a blush creeping onto my cheeks. Fighting it down, I cast my gaze down and mumbled a little "thanks, I guess."

Our short conversation stretched into a silence that was awkward, however strangely comforting. For some odd reason even though I was embarrassed the fact that he didn't speak made me feel a bit better. It probably had to do with the fact that he wasn't a mocking bastard, unlike Neji was with Tenten and Sasuke had been with Sakura.

And damn it, there it was again; that damned feeling that Sakura was concealing something about her feelings and why she wasn't depressed. It made me want to smack myself around and then go and smack her around for making me get so curious that it got to the point of me smacking myself around. My fist clenched of its own accord.

I could tell Lee noticed this because I could feel his questioning gaze. "Are you alright," was his question after a moment. I unclenched my fist and let out a small, slightly frustrated sigh. "I'm fine." I felt him continue to stare at me, not raising an eyebrow, not sending me a soft, forceful glare, but rather furrowing his rather thick, dark brows into a concerned frown. He was still lying down and as a result had to look up, making the frown appear deeper than it really was. I let a small smile escape, more so to reassure Lee than because I was better. "I'm serious, I'm okay Lee."

His response was only a slight deepening of his frown before he let out a soft, sleepy sigh. "Okay. If you say so, Sakurambo." A small yawn escaped him, his eyelids coming down sleepily. My smile automatically became fonder – I could feel it. He was so cute when he was sleepy!

"Are you sleepy?"

He didn't nod as his eyes shut slowly, dark and thick lashes falling against his ever paling cheeks. His face was so peaceful, his muscles relaxed, his eyebrows arching slightly (if you looked close enough you could see a natural shape under the thickness).

"Lee?"

I waited a moment for him to respond, but when he didn't I leaned over and brushed his hair back from his forehead lightly. He cracked a sleepy eye open, his dark eye meeting my gaze for a moment. My heart did a back-flip and belly flopped its way into my feet before rising back up. "Hmm?" His eyebrow raised slightly out of sheer habit.

"Are you sleepy?"

He gave me a tired, hazy look before he responded with a simple "mhmm." As a result, a small giggle escaped me as I smoothed my thumb over his forehead. It seemed to ease him into his sleep faster because before I knew it he was motionless save for the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed.

I smoothed his hair back a few more times before I gave a small sigh and lay on my back to rest next to him. My arms went right back behind my head, once again providing the support that the pillows on the bed couldn't. It was truly a wonder how Lee could sleep here so easily. On top of Sakura coming in every so often to check his status, these pillows were really flimsy and lacked fluffing as well as stuffing (it rhymes!).

Damn it!

The subject of Sakura popped back into my mind (considering the fact that seeing Lee go all sleepy and groggy dropped the subject from my mind at how adorable he'd been). I gritted my teeth and re-clenched my fist as the sunlight began to shine right in my eye.

I really want to know what the hell happened that she's so bright and happy! She was way too depressed to be feeling the way she is right now. It must've been something drastic.

I held my current position for a moment, my clenched fist tugging on my hair, my teeth gritted in frustration, before I let out a long, soft sigh, slumping back against the mattress in my spot next to Lee.

The sun was up, the night had been long, and the consequences of being awake for nearly twenty-four hours and expending desperate amounts of energy fighting and gathering shit and bringing over the injured to the other side of town to your ally gang's home slash hideout and dealing with an emotionally shot telepathic twin of sorts and a whole house of emotionally challenged hormone-crazed teenagers was beginning to take its toll. The light was blinding to eyes as exhausted as mine as it began pouring through the blinds in the window. My body was aching in all sorts of different places, and the soft green sheets beneath me, combined with the warmth from Lee's nearby body, were beginning to tempt me.

My eyes began getting heavy as I reached over and covered a small yawn.

My curiosity was still murdering me, though. Internally, a war was being fought between my body's craving to collapse and fall into unconsciousness and my mind's curiosity as to what the hell had Sakura walking around like a boy who'd just had sex for the first time (she was that happy beneath all the fake emotions. It was so odd!).

Unfortunately, Sakura's sudden mood swing would have to wait a while. Another, much longer and louder yawn escaped me. I muffled it with my hand as long as needed before curling up onto my side and facing Lee. His profile was partially lit by the rays of sunlight sneaking in through the window, although parts of his profile were thrown in shadow because some of that same sunlight was hitting me as well. I smiled softly at the way he looked from this perspective.

Despite being utterly drained because of medication and as a result doing nothing but sleeping for the past few days to weeks, his face was set in grim determination. It was almost as if he were trying to prove a point in his sleep, like he was fighting off some dark enemy. The simple thought broadened the smile on my face as my eyelids began to close in on my field of vision.

His dark, evenly trimmed albeit growing hair was falling to the sides of his forehead, some of it flopping back from when I'd smoothed it over. His face was motionless, although his chest was moving calmly and heavily with his deep sleep. He'd already fallen into REM sleep, his eyes beginning to twitch slightly.

By now the corners of my eyes had long been surrounded by the darkness that was overtaking me. It carefully spread over to the center of my vision, beginning as simple splotches and gradually joining together.

Like globs of paint dripping down a canvas.

It was my last coherent thought before I let myself drift into a warm and comfortable sleep next to the unknowing teddy bear that was my Rock.

Tenten
When I woke up, it was already way past noon. The sunlight that had just begun to peek in when Kankuro came in to speak to me was already filtering in past the point of the midday sun. I figured that I'd slept a good six maybe seven hours. It wasn't much for someone injured, but hell it was better than nothing. Those few hours were more than enough to give me more strength than I'd had the night before.

A small yawn escaped me, and I quickly placed a hand over my mouth to muffle it a bit so that it wouldn't come out as loud. I glanced over at the clock on the bedside table and let a small sigh escape through my nose. It was already two o'clock. In other words, I'd gotten seven hours of sleep rather than the six.

Deciding it was time to get up and do something about my breath and my ridiculous need to pee, I began to push myself up with my elbows, wincing as the movement made the pain in my leg go from a numb soreness to a sharp stab. It took me a while to sit up and lean myself back against the propped up pillows, resulting in the ever famous slightly labored breathing and the beginning of sweat along my brow. The white covers that had been over me during the morning slipped down to my waist though, removing some of the heat that had been rising within me from my effort.

A slight movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I immediately went into hyper-alert mode, snapping my head around to see what was causing the movement. Imagine my surprise when I saw Neji there, hair let loose and sprawled out across the bed sheets, head resting on top of his arms on the side of the bed. His eyes were closed and unblinking, lashes dark against the pale skin of his cheeks as he breathed deeply and regularly. The sight made me smile at the cuteness. I'd never really paid attention to how adorable and peaceful he looked when he slept; it was as if the whole world could stop what they were doing and lay down and sleep because of his face.

That silly thought made the urge to giggle bubble up from within me, escaping me in a soft ring that was barely audible. Therefore, it surprised the shit out of me when Neji's eyes snapped open and quickly began scanning the room. His shoulders had tensed as soon as he'd awoken, but he hadn't moved an inch in the slightest. He hadn't even removed his head from his arms.

I stared at him with what I'm sure were eyes the size of dinner plates. He caught sight of me and relaxed instantly, eyes going from murderous intent to gentle worry. He stood up without a moment's notice and placed a hand on my forehead, looking into my own eyes. "Hey, are you okay? Did you need something?"

I blinked a few times, feeling the color rush to my cheeks for a moment out of the pure unexpectedness of his actions, before shaking my head slowly. "I'm fine, Neji. I just need to pee and do something about this morning breath."

His eyebrows knitted themselves into a frown, eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity, as if he needed to process my words. He removed his hand from my forehead before pulling me into the most affectionate hug he'd ever given me, sitting himself comfortably beside me on the bed. I blinked a few more times in surprise as I felt his hand on the back of my head, his chin on my shoulder while his other arm wrapped around my midsection, trapping my right arm.

It took me a moment to realize what he was doing, so it took me even longer to wrap my arms around him in response. I felt the smile that I'd had when I'd seen him asleep sliding back into place on my face. His smooth, deep voice came to me barely above a whisper. "I'm so glad you're okay."

My smile dropped; his voice shook as he continued. "I was so scared I was going to lose you." His hold on me tightened. "When I got to you, you were so cold and pale; I was terrified that I'd been too late. Your breathing was so slow…"

Out of sheer subconsciousness I began rubbing his back soothingly with my hands, placing my chin on his shoulder much in the same way that he was doing to me. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. He'd clearly taken another shower before going to sleep because he still smelled like soap and shampoo (his damn hair was prettier than mine!).

He didn't cry this time, as he had done the last time, but settled for burying his face in my neck for a little while. It seemed like he couldn't go on after those words; he simply stayed the way he was, his warm breath tickling my neck, despite the fact that he wasn't talking one bit. His hold on me didn't loosen, so I, in turn, stopped rubbing his back and tightened my hold on him.

We stayed that way for a while – how exactly long, I wasn't sure, but we didn't move an inch for the longest time. It seemed as if the sun had already sunken a little lower by the time we pulled apart. He pulled back and placed a hand on my cheek, his eyes seeming to search my face. I raised an eyebrow out of habit; it probably made me look like a sarcastic ass (but hey, maybe it was just returning the favor for the sarcastic ass he'd been when I'd first met him!).

He smiled when he caught sight of my eyebrow, stayed like that for a moment, as if thinking, and then let out a small chuckle. "What's the eyebrow for?" I shrugged. "I don't know, but you were staring. It went up on its own. It has its own mind."

He raised his eyebrow at me now, although his face had more of a sarcastic arrogant look than I was sure mine had. "Oh, so now eyebrows can think?" I rolled my eyes, stopping when it gave me a slight headache, before I gave him a look. "Oh shush, Neji, you know what I meant." His eyebrow fell into a small smile as he leaned back onto his arms on the bed. He stared at me for another long while. I was starting to grow really impatient with it.

"What? Is there something on my face that you keep staring at me with that big goofy grin of yours?"

His smile broadened and I resisted the urge to punch his arm (and then kiss his cheek as an apology and just to throw in some bipolarness for the hell of it). "It's just that you're so cute when you're wearing all white. It makes your hair and eyes look even browner."

I frowned and pursed my lips. "How the hell does looking muddy in all white make me look cute?" He shrugged and straightened up, rubbing my head a bit. "I don't know, maybe it's because you're just cute."

It was one of the rare times that he actually complimented me. I couldn't help it; I blushed, a small smile coming onto my face as I turned my head away in slight embarrassment. I could practically hear the bastard smirking. A long, awkward moment passed, making me really consider that all this time was going by when I desperately needed to pee. I bit my lip without really realizing it, the blood dripping down my chin slightly as result.

Neji instantly was set off. "Tenten what's wrong?"

I felt the blood rushing into my cheeks just then, because for the first time since I'd been awake, I noticed that the house was entirely silent, which meant no one was awake.

Which meant that Neji would have to be the one to take me to the bathroom.

I let out a small, nervous laugh, the blush spreading down into my neck and ears into what I'm sure was the ugliest shade of red imaginable. "It's just that um," I started, bringing a hand up to rub the back of my neck despite how weak I felt. "I um. . . I still have to pee."

The blush on my face deepened – I felt the heat growing more intense, to the point where I was almost sweating. I studied his face as he took in what I said. A short moment passed before he twisted his face into an embarrassed grimace, cheeks reddening slightly. He pursed his lips into a frown in puzzlement and the question on his face was evident: Should I wake up one of the girls?

"Waking up the girls would be a bad idea," I warned when I saw him seem to contemplate the idea further. "Temari's really bitchy when you wake her up, so she might throw a fit. Ino just won't wake up, Sakura will swing at your face and kick at your babies, Karin will probably put a gun to your forehead, but I'm not too sure about her." I paused for a moment and considered what Karin truly would do, but continued after a few seconds, abandoning the train of thoughts that had begun to creep up. "Anyway, Sakurambo would probably sense your movement and throw the nearest object at you so you really wouldn't have time to get away, and Hinata, well…"

I stopped again, this time thinking about what Hinata's actions would be. "Usually, Hinata's really cute and adorable and innocent when she wakes up, but if she was exhausted from the night before it's best to let her sleep. She's one, our strategist after all, and two a really scary person when she doesn't get a minimum amount of sleep."

Neji raised an eyebrow at my analysis of his idea before sighing and dropping his face back into a look of resignation. I gave him a small, apologetically embarrassed smile as he stood up from the bed. He scanned me from top to bottom as he stood, eyes gliding over all of the white surfaces that covered me. My blush intensified yet again.

What the hell blood cells? Can you like please go back to where you belong?

Disregarding my rude thought, my blood only seemed to continue to rush into my face.

Damn insubordinate oxygen carrying assholes.

Neji stepped a bit closer and reached a hand down momentarily before thinking better of it and retracting it. He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the white blanket that covered my body from the waist down. I noticed the blush creeping onto his cheeks yet again, barely there, but just there enough to be visible. He raised the same hand he'd reached out to scratch the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

"How the hell am I going to do this?"

I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow, thinking of a way to do this without causing embarrassment for both of us. If he picked me up by supporting my back first, the blanket wouldn't shift much, but it would still shift, and it wasn't like it needed to shift much to expose the fact that Sakura had left me in just a white t-shirt and underwear so that no clothes would get caught up where the bandages were. If he tried to pick me up by the legs first, it'd probably hurt a bit and be a little awkward for him to try and come over to pick my top half up.

But it seems like the best option right now.

I let out a small sigh and responded to his question. "Legs first. Lift them up and put your arm under my knees, then put an arm under my back or something and take it from there."

He shifted slightly in his place at my words, face seemingly still embarrassed and uncomfortable. I lifted my eyebrow again. "What is it now?" He avoided my gaze as the light blush on his face intensified just the slightest. "It's just that if I pick you up by the legs," he said, "I'd have to go under the blanket and then the blanket would come off while I was taking you over to the bathroom."

The frown fell back onto my face. I blew a few stray bangs out of my field of vision, mulling over this latest obstacle, all the while the urge to pee absolutely fucking growing. I desperatelyneeded to pee. The thought hit me randomly.

"Well, why not tuck the blanket in while you're picking up my legs so that it doesn't come out, and then tucking the blanket up under my back so it doesn't flop down and you don't trip or something while taking me to the bathroom?" He narrowed his eyes, thinking about my proposition for a moment. My tolerance for my full bladder was wearing thin.

"Can we do this fast? I really, really, really need to pee."

He didn't hesitate another moment. Quick as physically possible, Neji stepped over, tucked the blanket in just the way I'd told him, and lifted me up from the bed, pulling me against him. I winced as I felt the dull pain become a stab yet again as the movement disturbed the wound. A small hiss escaped me, completely out of my control. I threw my arms around him, legs automatically feeling like jell-o, despite the fact that I wasn't even walking. I carefully mentally assessed the rest of my body parts as Neji began making his slow way to the bathroom.

My head was sore, no doubt from when I fell after getting shot by the bastard that had caused all of this. My arms were still ridiculously weak and my right leg felt as if it was going to completely fall off. I felt the disarray that was my hair, as it was falling all around my face, despite the fact that the rubber bands were still, to some degree, holding it up. The bangs in front of my face were just as frayed and, I imagined, just as frizzy. The pain from my right leg was also radiating into my left leg and into my lower abdomen.

Conclusion: I felt like I was on some super twisted strong version of my period, except that the blood that had come out hadn't actually been from my crotch – it was from the spot on my leg right next to it. The thought forced my lip into a weird sort of grimace. Neji, being the observant little Hyuga he was, didn't fail to notice this; as a matter of fact, he took it as a sign of me being in more pain than I actually was and stopped.

"I'm sorry. Am I going too fast?"

I shook my head weakly against him. "No, you're doing fine. I was just thinking."

He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly asking me to expand, but I simply dropped my grimace into a reassuring smile. He furrowed his brow at me slightly before letting out a sigh, deciding to drop it. "Right, whatever you say," he muttered.

That made me grin as I said, "Damn right it's whatever I say. I wear the pants in the relationship!" He re-furrowed his brow at me, this time a look of warning plastered on his face. "Watch it Cripple. I can easily throw you down the stairs and say I lost my footing and dropped you. On top of that, that's really a stupid thing for you to say considering the fact that you're not wearing any pants at all at the moment."

My mouth dropped open of its own accord, the blood rushing into my face, making sure to fill my neck and ears as well. Had he really just said that?

The smirk on his face made it clear that yes, he had just said what I'd thought he'd said and he found my reaction to what'd he'd said amusing.

"Neji if I had the strength to punch you upside the head, trust me I would."

A quiet laugh escaped him as we finally made it over to the bathroom. He stopped right in front of the door, adjusted himself underneath me, slid an arm out from under me, and opened the door before turning sideways and waddling easily into the room, both arms supporting me again, the whole process awkward and uncomfortable – both from the pain of my wound and from all the movement shifting the liquid contents of my bladder around as if I hadn't been holding it for hours.

The bathroom was relatively large and completely white, save for a single wall as deep blue as the depths of the ocean, which was utterly ironic considering the fact that it was the wall on the other side of the shower, as well as where the bathtub was located. The toilet was pushed up against the wall adjacent to the door – and boy did it look tempting. My insides felt about ready to burst just looking at it. I bit my lip lightly as Neji continued to waddle over to the toilet before abruptly freezing in place.

I blinked and looked up at his face. His usually pale cheeks were accented by a light tint of pink. I frowned and pursed my lips. "What happened?" His lips shifted in a weird duck face, moving from right to left and then back to right before he actually said anything.

"It's just that uh, how are you going to use the bathroom with your clothes on?"

It took a minute for me to discern what he really meant by that – but believe me; once I understood, I blushed so hard I'm sure Hinata would've been proud of me. He cast his gaze sideways, despite the fact that I was still in his arms. I frowned, desperately trying to fight down the blush on my face and cleared my throat lightly, examining the situation as objectively as I could with my bladder as full as it was in search of a solution. A few moments passed by before I gave up – every thought turned up blank.

Thankfully, this was the time that Sakura chose to pop in, hair ruffled and face showing signs of tiredness, despite the fact that she had her hands on her hips and a pink eyebrow raised at me and Neji. I blinked and then grinned. She didn't grin back, but rather stepped over to us and placed her hand lightly on my forehead.

"Thank gangster you're awake and well."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What the hell do you mean? Were you expecting me to not wake up?" She shrugged and responded with, "Well obviously I knew you were going to wake up I just didn't know if you were going to wake up okay. Even though I cleaned out your wound, it is in a pretty uncomfortable spot and you could easily get an infection if you're not careful – and Tenten, you're not exactly careful."

I rolled my eyes at her words but stopped short when the motion made my head ache massively.

"Also, you and Neji might want to pay attention to what you're saying. The noise you guys were making in the hall is what woke me up but the things you guys were saying are what kept me awake."

We both gave her questioning looks. She let out a sigh and shook her head lightly before quoting our conversation.

"'Are you okay? Am I going too fast?' 'No, you're doing fine I was just thinking.'" She smirked at the expressions beginning to fall on our faces before she continued. "'I wear the pants in the relationship.' 'That's really a stupid thing for you to say considering the fact that you're not wearing any pants at all at the moment."

I felt the rush of blood swelling in my cheeks yet again.

"I just came to make sure you and Neji weren't doing anything questionable while you're injured as badly as you are, and while you're not doing what I thought you were doing I can't say that this doesn't look questionable." Her smirk only broadened in amusement.

I blushed and buried my face in the crook of Neji's neck to hide my embarrassed face, all the way feeling my bladder fighting to not explode into six trillion pieces and either kill me or make me pee my pants (or lack thereof).

Sakura let out a quiet laugh at my reaction before she tugged lightly on some of the loose strands of my hair. "Oh relax. I know you were just trying to pee. I figured as much when Neji asked how you were going to with your clothes on. But hey, I'm here so you won't have to worry about Neji perving and peeking while you use the bathroom." She took a moment's pause before adding, "You know unless you're cool with something like that."

She only let out another quiet laugh as I threw her an "Oh fuck you, Billboard brow."

It's finally here guys! I'm so sorry about taking FOREVER but you already know the drill: school and responsibility always suck the joy out of life.

Anyway, I'm sorry this took so long but it's here and you read it so I hope you enjoyed it! And on the more optimistic side of the spectrum, I'm on break at the moment so I may be able to update again! Just know that I'm also working on updating my other stories as well (I mean ABC's is just like "Kiki wtf man I've been here for almost two years now.) so if you read those well you'll be getting extra helpings! I hope you all are okay and Happy Holidays darlings!

Thanks for reading and review please!