They had just told her. Her reaction was probably supposed to be something along the lines of hysterical tears and slumping in a corner. Even now she could find humour at the recollection of the looks on the policemen's faces when she had just stood there, disbelieving. After no reaction they had left, throwing sympathetic glances over their shoulders at her. She'd closed the door and leaned against it, staring up at the ceiling.
"He's gone."
The words brought tears to her eyes, and she let them spill over, staring at the most recent picture of her just an hour ago deceased father. He was smiling, and hugging her as if there were no tomorrow. She choked when she realised that there never would be a tomorrow for him.
She didn't go to school for the next three days. The phone started ringing the second day, and didn't stop on the third. She had an almost perfect attendance record; only had one sick day for the whole of the year before. She stayed holed up in her room and didn't leave except to shower, and even then she was in a daze.
It was the end of the third day, and she was curled up in her bed, staring at the wall. She was just about to start clearing her mind so she wouldn't be plagued by images of her father when he was alive. It would only produce more sorrow and widen the hole in her heart.
It was when she heard her door creak open that she stilled and her eyes widened. Then a pair of arms surrounded her and pulled her into a hard chest.
"It's ok, Tenten. I've been there. If I can survive, then I'll keep you alive. I promise."
She turned and cried harder than she had ever cried before. She poured all her feelings into her tears and didn't care that she was making his shirt wet. After a while, she calmed down, crying reduced to sniffles. She rested her head against his shoulder, exhausted. He continued to hold her as she finally dozed off into a dreamless sleep for the first time in three days. Before she fully fell asleep, she made sure that he knew she appreciated him.
"Thank you, Neji."
"Anytime, Tenten."
A/N: I was listening to Innocent Man by Billy Joel when I thought of this. JSYK.