A huge shout-out to Yumi Ayumu whose review actually, for real, made me shove my thumb out of my ass and finish this. An equally huge shout-out to all of you who has stuck with me, reviewed and read - I hope you will enjoy this last chapter (finally!)
A fair warning, though, for some reason it became so much darker than the previous chapters. I blame Neji, and his canon none-revival. I'm still hurting.

Three times, Neji and Tenten sleep in the same bed. The forth time, they don't want to waste their time sleeping.

Sleep

The first time it was only an accident, and only for a minute.

Tenten was so excited; they had just set camp for the night on their first C-rank and out-of-village mission. They had only been genin for a couple of months, and they already had a C-rank. C! She hummed under her breath as she sharpened and polished her weapons next to the fire.

"The blossom of our team, you make me want to cry, looking at the skilled and youthful way in which you are tending to your equipment!" Guy smiled brilliantly and gave her a thumbs-up. Actual tears were visible in his eyes. Tenten only shook her head amused. She had the utmost respect for her team leader, but... He took some time getting used to.

"GOSH! You are most certainly right, Guy-sensei!" Lee chirped in, striking a pose too. "We should also do something equally youthful to prove our worth as her companions!"

"Lee, the fires burning in your soul never wavers!" Guy was genuinely crying now, Tenten noted absentmindedly as she inspected the edge of her kunai. "We will complete 1500 sit ups before resting, or else may the youthfulness leave us cold and empty, never to return!"

Tenten zoned them out, a skill that she had perfected over the months. An essential skill if you wanted to actually stay sane. She sighed in contentment when the last of her kunai shone and reflected the light from the fire to her satisfaction. She was putting it away when Neji gracefully sat down next to her without a word.

"Welcome to the sane side of the fire," she joked when she caught sight of his strained facial expression. He only grunted with a small shake of his head as a reply. They sat in companionable silence. Well, except for the back-ground noise that was their Sensei and teammate, but they had both became quite skilled at tuning them out.

Tenten was starting to feel slightly drowsy, and suppressed a yawn to the best of her ability. She refused to give in to her tiredness yet, they hadn't even decided who would take the first shift watching! But... The warmth from the fire, the exhaustion from a day spent traveling, the buzzing from Guy and Lee, the companionship and calm she felt radiating from Neji... Her eyes felt so heavy. Closing them for just a second couldn't possibly do any harm, right?

"Tenten," Neji said softly. "Tenten?"

She opened her eyes slowly, not yet fully conscious. Her head rested on something warm that was hard and soft at the same time.

"I... Maybe you should go to bed," Neji said, strangely awkward.
Suddenly reality came crashing down on her. She had apparently used Neji's shoulder as a pillow. She rose to her feet so fast, her head spun slightly. "I'm... I'm so, so sorry, Neji, I..."

He gave her a side-long glance, before answering gruffly. "It's fine, just go to bed. I'll wake you when it's your shift."

Tenten hesitated briefly, but nodded slowly. "Alright. Thank you."

She might have imagined it, but she thought she saw him give her a small smile in return, before he started scowling at Lee and Guy who returned to the fire with loud exclamations of youth and strength.

When Tenten laid down on her bedroll, she thought she did not want to be anywhere else.

The second time, he was unconscious most of the time.

A mission to capture and neutralize an Akutsuki member had not gone as planned.

Tenten had just returned from a patrolling mission, when she got the news of the assigned squads' return to Konoha the previous day. And the condition they arrived in. The poor, older messenger who relayed the news didn't get past the second sentence before she almost knocked him over in her haste to the hospital.

She threw open the front doors and made her way over to the reception, not caring in the least how many people she cut in line.

"Neji Hyuga," she demanded of the woman sitting behind the desk. "Where is he? Tell me! NOW!"

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. "You ninja are always so... Brash." She tapped on her computer, apparently not intimidated by Tenten at all.

Tenten felt like screaming, but forced herself to take a calming breath. "Well?"

"Just a moment, dear." She smiled pleasantly, still clicking away without even the slightest haste. "Ah, third floor, but he's..."

Tenten took off without a word.

"... Sedated."

Tenten realized she was probably being a tad bit irrational, as she accidentally knocked over her second elderly citizen in ten minutes. She shot of an apology over her shoulder, relieved, but still not actually, really caring, when she heard curses from said elder behind her. She took the stairs four steps at a time, landing on the third floor in record time. She skid to a stop when she spotted Hinata exiting a hospital door some six doors down. The younger girl offered her a weak smile, but Tenten cut her of before she had time to even greet her.

"Hinata, is he alright?" She fought to catch her breath, trying to still her racing heart. Hinata didn't seem too worried after all. "What happened?"

"He's stable," Hinata answered, which didn't settle her frazzled nerves at all. Stable? That could mean anything! As if she sensed her friends distressed, Hinata continued with haste. "Sakura worked on him herself; he is not in any critical condition, now he just needs rest. She sedated him to help speed up the healing process. He's not expected to wake for another eight hours or so, though."

Tenten let out a big whoosh of air, feeling almost light-headed with relief. "So he'll be fine?"

Hinata smiled again, brighter this time. "He'll be fine."

"Good. That's good." Tenten suddenly felt awkward, having barged in here like a frenzied goat looking for minerals, when it turned out his condtion wasn't even critical. She decidedly refused to analyze why she had reacted this strongly to the news of Neji's injury. She belatedly realized she hadn't given a single thought to the rest of his team. Feeling even more awkward by the feelings of shame that washed over her, she weakly tried asking for their well-being too. It would have gone better had she actually remembered with whom he had left, but Hinata reassured her sweetly they were all fine, Neji the only one even remotely injured. Apparently he had acted as a distraction, while the others set a trap, thus essentially taking on the enemy by himself.

"You can go inside and see him if you want to," Hinata said, ever astute. "I know I would have wanted to, if it had been Naruto in there."

Tenten choked on air, her eyes going wide as saucers. "We're not – I don't – what? No, no, that's not – no. No. Nope," she shook her head. "He's my friend." It sounded lame even to her own ears.

"Of course," Hinata said, clearly not believing her, but too polite to call her out. She gave Tenten a last searching look, then bid her good day and left Tenten standing outside Neji's door alone.

She contemplated leaving, but only for a second, before she resolutely eased the door open, careful to not make any noise. Rationally she knew he wouldn't wake up, since he was sedated, and had he not been, he would have been aware of her presence the moment her feet hit the landing, sleeping or not. Nonetheless, she still closed the door behind her with the same amount of care.

Seeing Neji laying there on the hospital bed, motionless except for his light breathing, made her heart constrict funny in her chest. He looked so... Vulnerable. Fragile, almost, with his pale skin contrasting the darkness of his hair, but almost blending in with the white sterility of the room. She approached the bed, him, slowly. His left arm laid on top of the covers, and she didn't hesitate in capturing his hand in between her own. She slouched down on the uncomfortable plastic chair, clearly not made for extended periods of use, which was perching next to the hospital bed and started her vigil.

She sat there for hours, people coming and going. Lee stayed for almost four hours to keep them company before he, too, left when the clock hit midnight.

Her back ached something fierce, and really, she had just meant to relieve it for a minute when she laid her head down next to him, her hand still clutching his, her nose brushing against his upper arm, but she fell asleep within a heartbeat.

And several hours later, when the slow stroking of her hair woke her up, she may have pretended to still be asleep, and he may have pretended he didn't notice the slight hitch in her breathing giving her away.

The third time, they were too tired to care.

Tenten anxiously paced the hotel room, unable to sit down or relax. She had tried to keep busy the first hours after Neji left. She had wandered around the small town they had stayed in, secretly looking for suspicious activity, but pretending to take a stroll out in the sun. Then she had returned to the hotel and ordered food, which she ate without tasting in their room. After that she had polished all her weapons arsenal. Twice. And he still hadn't showed up. That's when she had given up on keeping busy and started pacing. The worry gnawed at her. Neji should have been back by now. Night had fallen hours ago.

She took a deep breath to steady and center herself. She'd give him until morning, then she would assume the worst, drop the guise of being his gullible, naive wife and raise hell on the people who had invited him, thinking Neji was the spoiled, stupid son of a politician. Oh, they would wish Neji had just killed them on the spot when she laid her eyes on them. She had weapons, pointy, shiny, flawless weapons. She knew perfectly well how to inflict maximum amount of pain with minimal actual damage. She could drag out the pain for days, months. Oh, they would curse the day they were conceived, then try to create a time-traveling jutsu and prevent their parents from ever meeting. Oh, yessss... Sweet thoughts.

She managed to stave of her panic for a good ten minutes this way, before the same thoughts that had been circling inside her head the last three hours came back. What if they had seen through his henge? What if he needed help? What if he needed her? She was at the same time annoyed with herself for doubting him; if anyone was capable of taking care of himself, it was her Neji. She just hated being the one left behind.

Another hour and she collapsed on the bed, her worry giving way to the mind-numbing tiredness she felt. Neither had slept since they had gotten there, oh, 40? 42? hours ago.

She was just about to give in to sleep when she heard someone outside her door. She shot up to a sitting position, instantly aware, her weapons scroll at the ready.

A dark silhouette appeared in the doorway, shutting the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary. Her whole body sagged in relief, giving in to tremors of gratitude running through her veins. She would recognize him anywhere.

"Neji," flew from her lips. She made to stand up, when he came in to view from the dark, his face illuminated by the sliver of the moon that crept through the blinds from the window. She froze. He looked exhausted, and... Smug. "Neji?"

His eyes slowly rose to meet hers, and a tired grin appeared briefly on his face before disappearing again. When he spoke, his voice was oddly sluggish, but still painfully controlled. "Apparently I am able to out-drink every single member of their elite guard. It was my destiny to win. I winned... - won. I won."

Tenten blinked at him in disbelief. Twice.

He took two steps before collapsing unceremoniously face down on the mattress right next to her. She felt the outline of his thigh against her outstretched leg. A welcomed warmth that more than his actual reappearance to their room, reassured her of his well-being.

Her hand hoovered hesitantly above his shoulder, just to make sure. At the first light touch Neji turned his head slightly in her direction and opened one eye just a crack. "I'm fine, Tenten," he closed his eye again, the effort to keep it open apparently too much for him. "Let's just sleep."

That was really all she needed to hear.

Tenten fell asleep almost before her head had hit her pillow, but she could have sworn she felt the faintest touch of his fingers against her cheek before a blessed darkness consumed her.

The fourth time, he asked her to stay.

"Don't do it!" She demanded as soon as he had opened the door to her insistent knocking. She swept in to the room, not bothering to wait for his invitation. Neji closed the door softly behind her, but didn't say anything. "It's a suicide mission, and I know you know it too."

"Yes," he agreed, his voice perfectly level and expressionless. "It most likely is."

"Then why-"

"Because it is my duty as ninja, Tenten," Neji interrupted, still eerily calm. "You know this, and you would do the same."

Tenten drew a deep breath and looked away from him, trying to center herself. She positioned herself in front of his window. Eyes not seeing anything but their blurry reflections. "Naruto said he was going to decline the mission request entirely, ruling it as too dangerous and not worth the, frankly abysmal, payment, until you volunteered – no, demanded to take it. Why would you...?" She paused, still refusing to look directly at him. To let him see how much this unsettled her. "Why? What is it about this mission? This disgraced mercenary from Sky asking for help?"

"Naruto told you all of this?" Neji asked with a frown. "I thought it was classified information."

Tenten pushed away an unbidden memory of herself screaming and hurling a good portion of her weapons arsenal at the current Hokage. "Being good friends with both the Hokage's girlfriend, and his best friend has its advantages," she replied airily. Not technically a lie. It bought her the advantages of Hinata's exceptional cooking and Sakura's sublime medical care. "You're avoiding my question. Why?"

She saw him, in the reflection from the window, take half a step closer, before seemingly changing his mind and abruptly coming to a halt. He sighed heavily, but did not answer immediately. He seemed... Haunted, tired, unsure. It was then she realized he actually had a reason – and not the hare-brained, glory-for-eternity, see-if-I'm-invincible, fivehundred-against-one-that's-decent-odds, destiny-obsessed reason she thought he had. Since the Forth Ninja War ended six years ago, peace had ruled the nations, and missions above an A-rank were incredibly rare. This was the first S-rank anyone had even heard of in months.

She turned around and quickly closed the short distance between them, standing an arms-length away. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "Talk to me?" she all but whispered, a lump suddenly forming in her throat. He looked at her thoughtfully for several moments, before slowly nodding. He gestured for Tenten to sit down on his bed, which she did, albeit only after pushing him down first. She sat cross-legged, facing him, while he stared straight ahead, only occasionally glancing in her direction.

"The mercenary's name is Daisuke Zhou. He has a wife and two children. He also had an identical twin brother, who had a wife and a child of his own," Neji said. His voice was lower than usual. Tenten did not miss the use of past tense, and dreaded where this story was going. "Daisuke was wounded grievously after a battle, and was unable to heed his commander's call, thus bringing dishonor to his name. His brother, who knew how much this would hurt Daisuke, took his name and armor, and went in his stead."

Tenten put her hand consolingly on Neji's shoulder. She could feel his tense muscles twitching under her palm. "Neji..."

"He was found out and killed by the commander the very first day. The whole family was dishonored and stripped of everything. Their land, their money... The murdered brother's wife and child blames Daisuke, who also blames himself. He wants revenge. He wants to kill the commander who tore apart their family, and..." He stopped his tale suddenly, swallowing whatever he wanted to say.

"And you want to help him, even if it is impossible, because you understand why," Tenten finished for him. She desperately tried to dislodge the large lump seemingly stuck in her throat. She realized her grip on his shoulder might be bruising, but she couldn't seem to let go, and he didn't seem to mind.

"Yes."

"Yes..." She blinked rapidly, ignoring the burning sensation in them. "Okay."

He, finally, turned to fully face her then. He laid his bigger palm over hers, which was still resting on his shoulder. "You understand why I must do this."

She could only nod, not trusting her voice to hold if she tried to speak.

He let out a deep breath, and she felt him relax slightly under her fingers. "And you won't try and stop me?"

She looked away from his steady gaze, hating herself for her answer. "No," she whispered. "You know I won't." The first tear fell from her eyes, trailing slowly down her cheek. "I just wish you wouldn't do this alone."

He caught her in a crushing embrace; his arms encircling her waist, his face hidden where her shoulder met her neck. She returned his embrace fiercely, desperately trying to hide her tears in his hair. "This isn't goodbye," she said stubbornly. "This isn't... You won't... This. This is not a goodbye."

He answered by hugging her even tighter to his broad chest.

"It's not," she insisted. She drew back and placed her hands at either side of his face, burying her fingers in his hair. He grabbed her wrists in a steel grip, but did not push them away, instead he seemed to hold them there, to keep them there.

"Tenten, I..."

"Don't!" She said more harshly than she intended. "Don't say anything. Just... Don't."

He gently leaned his forehead down until it rested against hers. He tried again. "Tenten, I want you to know-"

"Please, don't." She pleaded. She sounded broken, even to her own ears. "I couldn't bear it. Save it for when you return. Please."

He sighed.

"Because you will. I know you will. You always return," she shut her eyes to try and quell her tears. "You always return to me."

"So I have," he agreed quietly. He didn't promise anything, and Tenten didn't want him to. Promises were for children and civilians, not for them. They were ninja, and ninja never promised safe returns.

"When?" She dreaded to hear the answer, but needed to know how much time she had.

"Dawn."

So few hours... She bit her lip, suddenly unsure, but... She didn't want to have any regrets, and if he... If he...

Before she could talk herself out of it, she closed the last inches between them and kissed him with all she had. He responded immediately, like he had been waiting for that kiss, craving it for years.

It was neither soft, nor elegant – too forceful, too rushed, too desperate – but it was everything she wanted, no, needed right then. She needed to make sure he at least got an inkling of what she felt for him.

His hands released their iron grip on her wrists and, so slowly and so gently – a stark contrast to the searing desperation of their mouths - he traced them all the way back her arms, down her sides to firmly slide around her waist. Goosebumps erupted in their wake, a shiver traveling down her spine to center low in the pitch of her stomach.

One of Tenten's hands fell from his hair to rest down his collarbone and chest, to feel the powerful beat of his heart against her palm. The part of her mind that was pure ninja and ever aware of her surroundings, couldn't help but notice his heart beat a lot faster than usual. It thrilled her beyond thoughts and prompted her to deepen the kiss even further by biting down softly on his lower-lip, while her hands strayed down his chest and sides. She was instantly rewarded with a low-pitched guttural noise, she never would have dreamed Neji to be the source of, and the tightening of his arms around her.

The kiss went on seemingly forever, but still yet only a moment, slowly winding down to a light touch. When Neji drew back, putting just a sliver of a span of space between them, Tenten drew a deep breath, reveling in the feel of her swollen lips and the burn underneath her skin. She refused to open her eyes. She didn't want to try and read anything from Neji's always impeccably neutral expression.

She burrowed her face against the hollow of his throat, trying to stop her mind from reeling and analyzing and doubting. Neji kept quiet, only holding her firmly against him, his palms a steady warmth against her back.

At least she would always have this, she thought. She tried speaking, but had to clear her throat twice before anything actually came out. Even then she hardly recognized her own voice. "I... I guess I should go. Let you get some sleep before..." She trailed off.

She didn't want to leave.

She didn't want this night to be over.

Not yet. Not ever.

Neji mumbled something on the verge of indecipherable that made her freeze.

"What?" she whispered, not daring to hope.

"Stay," he repeated carefully, his lips moving against her hair and the shell of her ear. "Here, with me. Stay."

She lifted her head off his shoulder to catch his eye, almost afraid of what she would see.

He was probably aiming for indifference, but everything in his expression gave him away to her fine-tuned eyes that had spent years lovingly tracing his every feature. His jaw was clenched just a tad too tight, his nostrils flared the tiniest bit, a small frown evident between his brows, a light almost invisible flush to his cheeks, and his eyes...

She smiled softly, a swell of warmth filling her heart like a minor sun. "Okay."

His jaw and shoulders relaxed and the tiny frown disappeared. His eyes, though, stayed the same. "If you want to?"

She answered by kissing him again, and he didn't need any more reassurances.

Come morning she wouldn't have any regrets, and she certainly wouldn't waste their short time sleeping.

Tack

I truly want to thank every single one of you who has reviewed, favorited and put this story on alert. You are the best! Those of you who has read and enjoyed the story, but haven't done any of those other three things; don't worry, you are the best too! Writing wouldn't be a tenth as enjoyable without you.