A/N: I should be finishing MU BYONNA but one shots are so easy to type out…forgive me.
The sun was shining as brightly as ever; it could not possibly get any brighter and that was depressing him. Normally, he would have been irrationally angry at the heavens for being so clear and serene while his heart was experiencing typhoons of emotions but that was not so on this day. On this day, he was too tired to be anything but depressed; on this day, Neji's heart was practically dying.
A figure stepped out of the crowd to stand next to him.
"How long?" he asked, his voice as emotionless as ever, surprising him slightly.
"7 months." The answer was brief, but the realization it brought him had the pain in his chest rising to a crescendo.
"W-why…?" he couldn't finish the question…he didn't trust himself to talk.
"She asked us not to tell you." It was spoken softly, almost apologetically and that just left him feeling sick.
7 months? That was a long time. How…how could she have possibly…why would she…?
An uncharacteristic sigh escaped his lips as he tilted his head back to gaze at the heavens and random thoughts of the past flitted through his head.
XXXXXX
"Hirohito is taking the jounin exam in 6 months."
"Hn." It was his uniform answer and he didn't bother looking up from his paperwork at what his wife had just said. He was ANBU advisor to the Rokudaime Hokage and that came with its own perks, but the massive paperwork was definitely not one of them.
"Neji?"
"I heard you Tenten," he replied.
It was unfair to her, he knew, but he had a lot of work to do and he didn't understand why she suddenly felt the need to visit him in his office; she was a distraction. The news that his 15 year old son had been invited for an elite-ninja exam lightened his mood, but only a little. He truly didn't have time to indulge in idle conversations with someone – wife or no – when he had his work to see to.
"Oh, alright then…I, um, I guess I'll see you tonight."
"Hn"
"Neji…?"
He looked up. She had called his name hesitantly and he was vaguely irritated by that; didn't she know she sounded like a whining child?
There Tenten stood in a dark negligee, attempting to strike a very feminine pose that he guessed was supposed to come off as seductive. She had never been really good at doing such things and he wondered why she was still making attempts after 17 years of marriage. They had not been intimate for a while – what was it, 3 weeks – but he wasn't that bothered by it so she shouldn't be either…she would just have to understand.
"I have a meeting with the council Tenten."
She flinched slightly and he wondered whether his statement had sounded like a reprimand to her…no, she knew him better than that.
"Alright."
He nodded at that and left the room, completely missing the tears welling up in her eyes.
He was frustrated. For 2 months; 2 months Tenten had been almost hounding him. She would think of the most inane of reasons to seek him out and was acting…clingy. She was driving him crazy and he was sick of it. Yes, he had not been spending enough time at home, but this was too much.
Marching through the door, he walked straight to their room, ready to inform her of his disgruntlement.
She was deep asleep on top of the bed.
That was odd; he had never seen her sleep during the day. Shrugging it off however, he left her alone and sought another means to alleviate his frustration.
"Tenten."
She looked up at him in surprise. Their meals had been eaten in silence recently and he understood why she would be startled at his sudden vocalization.
"The council has asked me to move into a house in the village centre so I could better be accessed when needed. I have permission from both Hokage-sama and Hinata-sama. You and Hirohito shall be staying in the Hyuuga compound; I leave next week."
"H-how long?"
He frowned at that. She was clearly saddened by the news and he didn't understand why. The past months in their marriage had been almost desert-like and she had seemed content to just keep quiet about it. The affection that used to rise up every time he would see her had slowly died and now he felt pity – not concern – as he looked at her gloomy form.
"It's a long-term assignment." That was enough information; after-all, he couldn't reveal too much.
"Oh."
He went back to concentrating on his food after that.
She did not enter bed that night.
"What?"
"Please Neji."
The ANBU looked at his wife; had she gone insane? She had asked him to postpone his departure and leave after a month. Then she had asked him not to tell Hirohito about it which made sense since the boy would be having his exams in three weeks and he didn't need to be concerned about anything else. But she had requested him to train with her everyday for the next month. Everyday! Was she crazy?
They had not trained together for years due to the fact that in order for him to be successful as an ANBU captain, he had to go all out. She, on the other hand, would have gotten seriously injured in the process. Tenten was a strong ninja, but she was no match for Neji – few people were anyway. But there she was insisting he train with her; the woman was clearly not in her right mind.
"Please…"
He sighed. It wouldn't really hurt he guessed; maybe this was her way of dealing with the situation.
"Alright."
She smiled at him and he was taken aback at the deep gratefulness shining in them…had she really expected him to refuse in the first place?
He was disturbed by that thought.
Neji panted as he pinned his wife to a tree. She had gotten stronger and faster during the years, but her stamina had – strangely enough – diminished. They had decided to engage in hand to hand combat alone; it had been his only condition. He didn't want to accidentally hurt her.
The Hyuuga's eyes widened as he looked into his wife's. They were sunken and he wondered what had happened…was she fatigued, sick, restless? He didn't have much time to ponder it though, as she twisted out of his grip and came at him with a particularly deadly tai-jutsu combination.
He smirked as he got ready to counter it…he had missed this far too much without even realizing it.
It had been three weeks and Hirohito had passed his jounin exam with flying colors proving he truly was his father's son; Neji was in a good mood as a result. As he sparred with Tenten, a rare contented smile graced his face and he observed his wife discreetly.
She was beautiful; he had almost forgotten that. The weapons' mistress truly was something to behold and he was suddenly reminded of his reasons for marrying her…he had almost forgotten those as well. As they trained together, the occasional brush of her skin against his reminded him of the lack of physical contact that had dominated their marriage in the past months…could it still be fixed?
As she ran towards him, one of her hair ties snapped and dark brown locks cascaded down one side of her face; Neji's eyes widened for two reasons.
Firstly, for the fact that he had not seen her hair down or felt it in his fingers for what felt like forever and secondly, there were small grey streaks marring her tresses. How had those gotten there…she was far too young. Had she really been that stressed recently?
Had their marriage caused that?
Had he caused that?
The month was up and he had made his decision…he was staying. The council could fire him if they wanted to, but he was not going to leave his wife and son…no. Tenten had gone through far too much because of him and he wasn't going to put her through more. Hirohito was out on a mission and the ANBU captain had prepared supper as best as he could, looking forward to spending a quiet evening with his wife.
He walked to their bedroom and slid the door open slowly, not wanting to wake her up before he was next to her. Kneeling down on the futon, he extended his arm and called her name softly.
"Tenten."
She did not respond.
"Tenten…"
Still no answer. He frowned slightly; she had always been a light sleeper.
"Tenten?" he moved his hand to stroke her cheek but froze in place as their skins made contact.
She was cold; ice cold. What the…?
"Byakugan!"
No, no no no no, NO WAY!
He did not see a chakra flow.
"Tenten, Tenten!"
He shook her vigorously, but her body was limp and her chest did not indicate any signs of breathing. The pulse was non-existent as well. Neji quickly stood up and stared down at her in shock as the simple fact registered in his head…
His wife was dead.
XXXXXX
He winced at that last memory…why?
Why had this happened? Why him; why her?
He had found out later that she'd had a progressive cancerous disease ravaging her body. She'd hidden it from him for months! He used to be concerned over each and every little thing that happened to her…he must have really slipped if she could hide a terminal illness from him for months. Tsunade-sama had diagnosed her and she'd been informed of the time she'd had left…that explained so many things but still…why her?
Why hadn't she told him?
He wanted to be angry, but he didn't have the strength for it…the depression was swallowing him up.
What use was his byakugan if it could not even notice the things that had been right in-front of him for weeks?
"Mom would have loved the weather." Neji turned to look at his son, his thoughts momentarily interrupted.
"Yes, she would have," Lee responded next to him.
She really would have loved it.
The thought flitted across his mind and he bowed his head again. Tenten had never liked cloudy skies; the firmament was her element and it was only fair that it remained as bright and sunny as she was…no, as she had been.
Neji sighed. Bright and sunny…she had been his sun on so many occasions…so many…and he had almost lost track of that fact…
He sighed once more. Now that she was gone, that damned sun had better shine as if it was paid to. It would need to shine as hard as it could to even come close to her brightness. Her light had always kept him from his own darkness…
He hoped she knew that.