Neji slowly closed his eyes. It was too exhausting to keep them open any longer. The pain was still there.
"Hello? Can you hear me" someone spoke to him. He forced his eyes to open. He looked directly into the critical-looking face of a purple-eyed girl. Neji winced. 'Who is this? A ninja from Kumo? Hopefully'
"Don't worry, I just want to help you," said the girl in a soft voice. He closed his eyes again. 'Even if she wanted to kill me, I am much too weak to defend myself ... "He felt himself lie on his back with careful movements.
She said something but Neji only heard a distant noise. Then silence ... blackness. 'did she kill me ...?
When Neji woke up it was broad daylight. He had still closed his eyes, but felt the sun tickling his face.
He slowly opened his eyes. He felt rested. That didn't fit into the events of the last day at all. Or was it a long time ago?
He sat up slowly and looked around. He was lying in a clearing. Next to him was Lee. In addition, Gai and Tenten. They all seemed taken care of. Bandages were wrapped around their wounds.
Furthermore, Neji noticed that his wounds weren't really painful either. The girl must have healed him. A light wind blew a seductive scent over to him. It smelled like lunch, quite a late lunch. The sun had passed its highest point for hours.
Neji tried to get up, but his legs gave way under him. Then he heard voices carried by the wind.
"Kai leave that! This is my food! No! Hey!" "Come on, don't lead you so childish ..." Then the wind carried the voices in another direction.

While the Ueda trio had tended the wounds of the Konohas, morning had come. It was a fine day for once. There was not a cloud in the sky and a gentle wind blew through the autumn-colored treetops. A picture-perfect autumn day.
Rin and Ryu had literally fallen into bed. They had used up a lot of chakra. Now the four of them were eating. (How did they get it? They 'borrowed' it from the villagers.)
Kai was just about to steal one of Ryu's pieces of meat because she was looking dreamily at the sky.
Just as Kai reached her bowl with his chopsticks, she looked at him. She screamed and tried to take it away from him. Kai had already swallowed it. Now he was about to get the next one.
"Kai leave that! This is my food! No!" again one had disappeared in his mouth "Hey!" Ryu was still screaming. But now she managed to keep her brother away from her bowl.
"Come on," Rin's voice sounded soothing, "don't act so childishly. Kai take some of my meat." Ryu cleared his throat loudly and looked at her sister, who was just handing her brother two pieces of meat.Rin sighed and gave one to her sister too. J
The problem was now solved. Everyone ate peacefully, and then went back to the clearing where they had treated the Konoha team.

Neji had dozed off again but when he heard voices approaching he opened his eyes. Three people stepped out of the bushes. A tall black-haired woman, flanked by a man who looks like her with a sword by his side, and a smaller blue-haired girl.
The man and the girl seemed to be arguing about something, but Neji only understood bits of words as the wind kept turning. At first he winced. The three reminded him of the ninjas who attacked him and his team.
But then, when the blue-haired girl looked him in the eye, he recognized her as the one who must have healed him. "There ……. Awake… ..!" Neji didn't understand more, the wind was still unfavorable. The ninjas slowly approached him.
The black-haired woman must have seen how he winced, because she said soothingly that they would not harm him.
They sat down across from him. Neji was about to say thank you when the girl handed him a bowl and a water bottle. "For you! You are sure to be hungry" Then she grinned at him.
Her brother whistled and raised an eyebrow. Everyone knew what this gesture meant. "At least I know I won't fail like you." Neji didn't know what it was supposed to mean, but her team ... or her siblings seemed to know.
Now it was the turn of the blue-haired woman with a malicious grin. Her sister quietly counted "three ... two ... one ..." and the two had jumped up and got into an argument.
The two really seemed to want each other because now the big one was pulling a long katana. His sister did the same. Her weapon was a little smaller, but no less lethal.
Then the two attacked each other. "Ignore the two of them, they are just arguing the whole time ..." Neji remembered the scraps of words that the wind had carried ... that must have been both of them.
"I'll let you eat and bring the two apart, otherwise they'll kill each other." She got up, took a few steps and stretched her arms in the direction of her siblings. The next moment water shot out of their hands (not directly 'out of' their hands) towards the two of them.
A short time later, the two were soaking wet. "Hey what's that supposed to be?" the two shouted in unison. Neji had to grin. She didn't answer and beckoned the two of them over. The brawlers looked at each other, laughed, and still came dripping closer.
When the three of them were back in front of Neji, he thanked them properly. "Nothing to thank," said the young man and grinned at him. "May I introduce" said the smallest "the most annoying and cerebral ..." "Ryu!" "Well ... this is my> lovely “Neji, these are my team mates Lee and Tenten, and this is my sensei, Gai.” “Good,” she nodded gently to him and stood up. “Is there anything else you want?” Neji said no.
Rin turned to her siblings and examined their wet clothes. "Kai give the Katon chain" Kai pulled something red over his head and handed it to Rin. It put it around its neck and formed finger marks at lightning speed. The chain began to glow. Then she put a hand on the foreheads of her sister and brother.
A hot wind came up that dried them both. 'She must have created it ... does that ... has something to do with the chain?' Neji thought and wondered about it.
Then Rin gave the necklace back to Kai. When he put it back on, he made finger marks and the chain began to glow again.
Suddenly Ryu started yawning and infected her siblings. Kai said, grinning, "You should go to sleep, huh?" and ruffled Ryu's hair. Ryu seemed completely different and just said tiredly "You yawned yourself, good night". instead of saying something nasty. Then she took a blanket and curled up under a tree across from Neji.
Kai wanted to tickle her but Rin held him back. "Leave her, she is tired, she has used up a lot of chakra." Then Rin yawned. "You look the fittest and have used up almost no chakra ... you take the first watch"
Leaving her confused brother standing, she got a blanket and lay down next to Ryu. "Pf" came from Kai, who sat down and lit a campfire with a flick of a few branches. Then Neji lay down again and watched the setting sun a little longer. Then he fell asleep too. Only Kai was still awake and watching over her.