"God I'm tired!" proclaimed Tenten as she and her team entered the gates of Konaha.

Team Guy had just finished a Rank-A mission, and she was sore all over. She could tell the rest of the team was tired, even the wild Rock Lee and his usual energetic self.

As Guy went off to report to Lady Tsunade the success of the mission, Lee waved his other two teammates off and said, "May you both have a wonderful bath tonight!!" He then leaped backwards over a building.

Tenten laughed and shook her head. Even after the few years they had been a team, Lee never ceased to surprise her. She turned and looked at her other teammate, Neji Hyuga.

One could tell by looking at the rings under his eyes that he was exhausted, but he did not show it. He turned and looked at her sideways, saying flatly, "You've injured yourself."

Tenten looked down at her side and found that once again, Neji was right.

She was partially bleeding slightly near her rib, and just noticed how much it actually hurt. Neji gave a slightly amused smile and said, "Come. Hinata-sama will help with your injury."

~

They walked to the Hyuga Household where Hinata Hyuga, his cousin, was practicing. Neji calmly waited for her to stop, and when she did, he told her about Tenten's injury. Hinata greeted Tenten, then grabbed her hand and took her to a clear room. Neji followed, but turned around at the doorway when he saw Tenten's shirt being lifted above her chest.

"My my!" Hinata exclaimed, "You've hurt yourself more than you think, Tenten!" Hinata then proceeded to heal Tenten's side. "A cut here and here. Goodness, you may know how to work a weapon, but does the weapon sometimes work you?"

Tenten laughed and winced a little, saying, "Yes, a weapon does work me sometimes, but I put it in check afterwards."

Neji heard this, and thought Tenten's comment sounded quite vile, but said nothing about it. He had to wonder though, to why he would even think about it in that way.

~

Tenten thanked Hinata for healing her side and waved as she hwaded towards the Hyuga Compound exit. Neji, still tired yet quite curious at the moment, placed his hand gently on Tenten's shoulder.

"Um... Tenten?"

She turned around to her teammate with a highly curious look, and he continued, "I was uh, wondering if I could follow you home. I've never seen it, and I find myself quite curious at the moment." Tenten looked at him with slight amusement, and said, "Sure, why not?"

She went back to walking and after a moment of contemplating, glanced behind her shoulder to find him leisurely walking close behind.

As they walked, Neji noticed that Tenten was walking towards the gate of the village. He stopped and asked, "Tenten, where are you going?" She turned around and replied, "Home"

"Your home?" He said, "But that's going outside the village."

Tenten looked at him, feeling slightly irritable, and said, "Yes, Genius. Outside the village is where I live. I get peace and quiet a lot out there."

Neji looked at her, too curious to be sarcastic.

'The usual superstitious, perky, impatient Tenten actually enjoys quiet?'

Neji thought she was bluffing.

After a moment, Neji continued to walk to the gate. "Alright then, Tenten. Let's go," he said without looking back. Tenten looked at Neji for a good moment.

'What has become of my stuck up and silent comrade', she wondered. But after a moment, Tenten let the thought slide down her shoulder and ran up to the Hyuga.

~

As the duo walked out of the village, and went deeper into the woods, Neji began to see a river nearby. He then looked at Tenten to ask questions, and to his utter surprise, she looked completely relaxed.

In the years they had trained and hung out, he had never seen her so eased up.

The sight was very new to him, and strangely enough, he enjoyed it. Of course, being Neji, he only enjoyed the sight a little.

As they continued down a worn path in the grass, Neji started to see other types of animals he typically didn't spot in the village. He ended up noticing a pair of deer graze among the grass, shooing away a racoon that hissed at them, and glanced at a stray dog resting under a tree.

Quite the interesting place she's living in,' Neji thought.

When Tenten and Neji got to her house, Neji chuckled to himself.

It was small, had kunai sticking out on the wood rails, and next to the house was a tree with a target sign on it, also covered in kunai. The river was nearby; at least fifteen to twenty feet from the house. A few flowers rested here and there and the house itself was inviting.

At first Neji had to shake his head at the sight.

None of it seemed right at all for Tenten. As he looked at his female comrade though, his eyes slightly widened at what he saw. Tenten was more than relaxed. She was so relaxed, in fact, that she ended up picking up a flower and smelling it.

He shook his head, feeling like he was in some strange genjutsu, but in the end he couldn't keep himself from looking at her.

Tenten looked at Neji, amused at surprised, and said, "Neji? You're staring..."

Neji quickly snapped out of it and tried to think of the right way to answer. He looked off to his right a little and said, "I've just never seen you that relaxed and calm before, that's all." Tenten blushed and giggled a little before unlocking and opening the door to her home.

What Neji saw inside, he had expected as much. The hallway went down at least sixty feet, and found that a few doors were open.

The house itself had weapons scattered here and there, a few clothes scattered on the ground, and a scroll or two discarded. Aside from that, Neji noticed something else.

The house was empty.

Incredibly empty.

He was used to his home being quiet, but never had expected her house to be as quiet and empty as it was.

"Tenten.. You live alone?"

Tenten turned around and said, "Yep! It gets a little spooky sometimes, but when I start cleaning my weapons, I feel much safer."

Neji sighed, closed the door behind him, and walked down the hall.

He looked to the left of him and saw the living room. 'Surprisingly clean.' he thought.

There was a couch, a chair, fireplace, and small table with a few scattered weapons upon it. He shrugged it off and looked to his left. There, he saw the kitchen. A few dirty and clean dishes out, and the counters and floor were clean. She had one table and two chairs.

As he continued to look at the two chairs, he felt slight pity for Tenten for coming back every day to an empty household.

Neji shook his head a little and kept walking down the hall.

He stopped halfway before he got to the last two rooms and bathroom.

There was a side table to his left, and on that table were a few scattered letters and one or two drawings. Up against the wall at the end of the table was a picture of a man, a woman, and a little baby.

Another picture was one of the woman by herself.

And the final two pictures were of Team Guy, back when they were all naïve and one where they're young adults.

Neji lingered at the table a little longer until Tenten started to come out of her room. And she didn't exactly look like the usual Tenten.

A few strands of her hair were down and wavy, her shirt was pink and flurry at the ends, and her green tights didn't look half bad. She topped off her look with light brown sandals and a smile that was quite bright.

"Enjoy looking around Neji?" she asked him.

Not knowing what to say, he nodded and walked past her to look at the last two rooms. Tenten looked at Neji and held back a giggle. That Hyuga never ceased to surprise her.

Neji looked in Tenten's room then quickly looked away, trying his best not to blush. He had ended up seeing a black lacy bra hanging from her bed.

The last door was shut, which raised curiosity inside him once more.

He glanced over his back to see where Tenten was, and heard her making a ruckus in the kitchen.

'It wouldn't hurt to look,' Neji thought.

He slowly turned the knob of the door and opened it, not sure what to expect.

He saw paint.

Paint everywhere; all on the walls, the ceiling, and the door.

There were pictures of fellow shinobi such as Naruto, Ino, even Choji, teachers such as Kakashi and Guy, and even team Guy themselves.

One had all the kunoichi and just the guys in another.

Neji walked in the room, careful not to make and noise, and marveled at what he was seeing.

To his distaste, he eventually saw a few disturbing ones as well. One picture depicted when Naruto and the rest of the Sasuke Recovery Team came back broken and bruised. Another showed when she fought Temari, and when she fought herself and got caught in that sphere of water.

He also saw pictures that showed unknown emotions.

Neji came by one showing a child holding two faded hands.

Then one showed blackness surrounding a child.

Neji shuddered involuntarily.

He had no idea why she would create those things. But she did, and it made him wonder if he really knew his teammate at all.

The final one he saw was one of him and Tenten. She had drawn him so accurately; it's as if she really looked at his face.

'Then again,' he thought, 'She does tend to stare at me once in a while.'

The painting showed him rubbing her forehead, both smiling, both eyes shut. 'What could the painting possibly mean?' Neji wondered, 'Certainly nothing romantic.'

But the painting wasn't showing anything a comrade might do to another.

Neji's gaze and trance was interrupted by a loud noise in the kitchen. He swiftly went out the room, shutting the door behind him quietly, and quickly went to the kitchen doorway.

Tenten was on the floor rubbing her rear. A latter was on the floor, and two light bulbs had been dropped to the floor and had created a large mess.

He smiled at the sight. 'There's the Tenten I'm used to.'

He put the pictures and empty rooms to the back of his mind and helped Tenten up. They both then started cleaning up the mess, along with the rest of the kitchen.

~

Neji was so caught up in helping Tenten that they didn't stop till the whole house was clean.

The last door was not touched for obvious reasons.

Tenten was slightly huffing and puffing, but found enough breath to giggle. "Thanks for the help Neji," she said, "but I'm not sure why you did. I figured you'd be getting sleep or meditating by now."

Neji didn't know how to answer that, so he shrugged it off. She laughed and said, "Well you better head home now. It's just about dark." And with that, she walked to the front door and released a lantern from inside a scroll nearby.

He had almost forgotten about heading home. A weird sensation came over him, but he ignored it and walked out the door.

Tenten shook her head and followed close behind, lighting up the lantern in the process.

The walk back to the gates was silent and peaceful.

Tenten was smiling the whole time, which was usual for her. But with what the last of the light would allow Neji to see, he saw that her smile was perkier than usual.

He couldn't help but to smile a little.

After a few minutes, they made it back to the village. "And here we are," said Tenten, as she turned to look at Neji, "Thanks again for the help." Neji cleared his throat and mumbles, "You're welcome." Tenten gave a good punch on Neji's shoulder and started to run off.

"See you at practice tomorrow!" she squeaked out happily.

Neji smiled. He actually couldn't wait for her to show up.

He saw a different Tenten that day, and ended up wanting to get to know his own teammate for once. But a slight pang grew in him.

He knew Tenten would be going back to her empty house alone, and for some reason, that bugged him.

~
NOTE(11/22/15): Chapter has been edited, picture has been put up. Enjoy!

~Nimo #IFanonNotCanon