The doctors told Tenten that it was safer to stay in the hospital for a few days.

Even though she didn't like that idea, her friends, sensei, and even those who she doesn't talk too much came to visit her every day.

Even Shino visited her, bringing a bundle of flowers each time.

Lee and Neji came of course, but Neji has keeping his distance from her. Even when they were alone, Neji wouldn't say much but the usual, and he would act as if the kiss never happened.

'That stuck up Hyuga,' Tenten thought, 'he takes my first kiss away, and then acts like a jerk. The nerve of him!'

Every time Tenten would try to bring it up, Neji would ask or bring up other things. It's as if he was trying to erase the memory altogether.

'Well, we'll see about that,' Tenten thought.

~

The day of Tenten's release, everyone was waiting at the front door with anxious smiles.

Tenten managed to get Sakura and Ino access to bring her out on her release. But Lee was persistent, and ended up coming along as well. Tenten wasn't angry though; she was quite happy that Lee wanted to help her out of the hospital.

Thankfully, they ended up finding out that a wheelchair wasn't needed. Neji, who had access to see her whenever, was already there when Lee came rushing to see Tenten.

"Lee, wait-!" Neji tried to say as Lee opened her hospital door. However, he was too late, and he and Lee witnessed Tenten changing.

The duo stared at her, and Neji noticed that she was wearing panda underwear. Tenten stared at them and screeched, "Get!! Out!! NOW!!!"

Lee and Neji hurried out and slammed the door behind them quickly. 'That,' Neji thought as he finally took a deep breath, 'isn't something you'd see everyday.'

When their names were finally called, they came back in the room. Tenten was standing at the edge of her bed, slightly angry and embarrassed. Lee apologized several times, and Neji managed to cough out one.

She giggled nervously and said, "It's okay, mistakes happen. Come on, let's get out of here." Lee nodded and was the first one to greet Sakura and Ino. Tenten whispered in Neji's ear, "Thanks for going to my house and getting my clothes earlier. Kami knows what might've happened if I needed underwear."

She smiled at him and walked ahead, leaving Neji to shudder at the thought of going in her underwear drawer. However, the shudders weren't from fear or the like.

Tingles and all sorts of feelings overcame him, and no matter how much he wanted to, those feelings wouldn't leave.

~

By the time they got close to the door, Lee was already outside with Ino and Sakura.

Tenten shook her head and asked, "Did you ever get my bands from Lee and Naruto yet?"

Neji looked at her as blankly as he could.

He didn't forget. He just really liked her hair down.

But he was going to have to fib to make sure she didn't end up fighting him. "I forgot Tenten. Sorry..." She shrugged the apology off and kept walking.

That irked him heavily.

He silently wished he had told her the truth, just to get her angry. But if he did, then both of them might end up kissing again in the heat of the moment. He wasn't so sure he wanted that.

~

They got to the door, and Tenten got a kunoichi group hug. Hinata ended up hugging her the hardest.

"I was so worried about you!" Hinata exclaimed, "Those past few days, I had wondered if you were worse off than they had said." Tenten laughed and said, "They just needed to make sure nothing else was wrong with me. The hits I took should've killed me, but they didn't."

The girls giggled and ended up hugging Tenten once more. Sakura said, "We're all going out to eat, and you're coming along. That hospital food doesn't fill a woman up like it should!" Sakura grinned and walked off; the rest of the shinobi following her lead.

Tenten looked up and saw Kakashi and Gai sitting on the hospital roof, in a heated rival conversation from what she saw. She almost laughed until Neji grabbed her wrist.

He said quietly,"Um... Tenten... Let's go before we get dragged into whatever they're planning." He pulled her away from the hospital before she could utter a word.

When they got to the restaurant, they all shared a large table together, and Neji and Lee sat next to Tenten.

Tenten wanted to pretend it was no big deal, but Neji kept glancing at her, and her insides were acting more than strange. She slightly prayed that the gathering would end soon. Little did she know, Neji was praying for the same thing.

After a while, it did end, and everyone was saying their goodbyes.

As they all walked out the restaurant, Tenten asked Neji if he was okay.

He turned and stared at her again, which freaked her out. He shook his head and said, "I'm fine." He started to walk away, but Tenten grabbed his arm and said, "Liar."

Neji sighed. The night for him was about to become a lot more longer and difficult than he had originally planned.

"Tenten, can we not talk about this right now?" Neji asked, spotting a few sideways glances towards them.

"No," Tenten said, "Nothing's wrong with talking right here. What is your problem, Neji? Why do you keep ignoring me? Is it because the kiss wasn't good enough for you?"

Any and all talking stopped right then and there.

'For the love of Kami,' Neji thought. He turned to Tenten with an irritated look on his face. Ino and Sakura had this look on their faces, but said absolutely nothing. 'So much for stealth,' Neji thought as he cleared his throat. He said carefully, "Tenten, it's not like that. The kiss... It was fine. But I shouldn't have let it happen."

She glared at him and asked, "How So? I'm not your type? Is Hinata your type? Do you need someone calm? Someone who will listen to you and bow and bend to your every will?"

Neji glared right back at her and said, "What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that you're a chickenshit!" she replied angrily. Tenten and Neji had already forgotten about the small crowd looking at them.

Hinata's face was full of shock. Naruto and Lee weren't too slow either.

Everyone knew exactly what was going on.

Neji said, "Tenten, I'm not a chickenshit. I'm just not looking for a relationship right now. And besides, I don't think you are MY type. Hn. Shino's or Naruto's maybe. "

Naruto's eyes widened and Shino said nothing except a slight chuckle.

Hinata looked as if she was going to faint.

Tenten was more angry than she had ever been.

"Maybe I was wrong for snapping at Ino," she spat, "Maybe you ARE stuck up. Beyond reason! Beyond any planet or galaxy, or universe. 'My name's Neji and I'm the most stuck up bastard in the whole universe!' That sounds about ri-!"

Neji didn't let her finish. He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her to him as he said, "This must be the only way to shut you up, Tenten." Before she could reply, he cupped her cheek and kissed her hard.

Tenten let out a squeal and pressed a hand against his shoulder, trying to push him back. No good, she realized, as his fingers had a good grip on her skin, creating a small bruise. After a moment, he slowly parted lips with her and just looked into her dark brown eyes.

Fury, embarrassment, and confusion ran jumbled her thoughts, and in one swift movement, she slapped his face. Neji stumbled back a little, gripping his stinging cheek in the process.

Gasps and "Ooohs"were heard.

Neji and Tenten came back and realized that all they said and did happened right in front of everyone. Tsunade and Shizune who were walking out of the restaurant, had stopped to watch the commotion, felt awkward and eventually walked elsewhere.

Neji glared death daggers at Tenten, but she didn't care in the slightest. Tenten had had enough of him to last a lifetime, and turned to storm off.

Neji didn't hesitate to do the same thing, going the opposite way in the process.

~

"The nerve of that self-righteous Hyuga!!" Tenten exclaimed as she stormed out of the Konoha gates.

Sakura and the rest of the kunoichi were rushing trying to catch up to her, calling out her name. "Leave me alone!" Tenten hollered out.

Hinata grabbed Tenten's shoulder and said, "Tenten, please stop and tell us what that was about! I'm sure we can help." Tenten was shaking, angry and sad at the same time, hot tears running down her eyes.

Ino said after she caught her breath, "Tenten... Explain to us what that was about. Please. We want to help you."

Tenten sighed and said "You can't help... I can't explain love.... It's not that simple."

The girls looked at her in surprise.

"Love?" Replied Sakura, "You're in love with Neji?"

~

Neji was more than steamed. He was steamed, baked, and turned into a tasteless meal.

'How dare she?!' Neji thought. He could understand why Tenten hit him. And that was just it. He was in the wrong.

'So why am I mad?!' He thought.

Shikamaru, along with Shino, Naruto, Lee, and Kiba were already waiting for him near his home. Shikamaru chuckled and said, "I think you owe us an explanation to what just happened."

Neji scoffed and said, "If you, smartass, didn't see it, then what's the point of saying anything?"

Shikamaru said, "I know what love is, but I've never seen it expressed like that."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. "Love?"

Shino said, "It is obvious. The way Neji looks at her, the way he acted when we came in the room that first day, and the way he acted tonight. He didn't want to shut her up at all."

~

Tenten was sobbing in her room, while Sakura gave her a reassuring hug. "Oh my..." Hinata said. "I didn't know... He did and said.... Oh my..."

Tenten nodded slowly.

Ino just sighed.

Sakura stated, "After all that, you two still aren't together? Did he ever apologize?"

"Yes, he did," Tenten replied, "And... It's just.... I don't know. Once his hands touched me, I wanted no one else to touch me. I never said anything though. He never even recalled being with me that day, and the next, he remembered. And he's seen the picture. I know he has. I tried to hide it; tried to ignore it, but I can't anymore, and I'm afraid he's going to reject me. I can't handle that!"

Tenten held her head and cried harder.

Sakura said, "Let us help you, Tenten. We're sisters, believe it or not and we're here for you. Don't doubt, don't deny. Neji Hyuga's got feelings for you. Know it."

~

Neji sighed as he hit his forehead up against the wall. "I was young, and I didn't know any better. I don't know what overcame me but... I touched her in places I shouldn't have. And in the past few years, I had hoped to have a chance to correct my wrongs, but I eventually forgot again. The past few days reminded me of those wrongs. And that picture..."

Shikamaru said, "It's obvious that she really does like you. She even forgave you for that. She respects you, and cares about you very much. Yet you keep shunning her away. Is it because you're afraid of failure for once?"

Neji glared at Shikamaru, and Kiba said, "He's got a point. Besides, you and her wouldn't be that bad of a match. Better than with Shino or Naruto." Kibe chuckled at his own joke.

Shikamaru chuckled, and Naruto said, "I take offence to that."

Kiba teased. "But don't you have your eyes set for Sakura?" Naruto asked, "Don't get me started, dog boy, I know you've been staring at Hinata lately!!" As the boys got into an argument, Neji sighed and moved away a bit. 'If anything', he thought, 'this night will end up even longer than I had first assumed.'

~

Update(11/22/15): Chapter edited and fixed. Picture has been put up. Enjoy the chapter! ^ ^

~ Nimo #IFanonNotCanon