Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's notes: This has been stuck in my mind for a long time, and didn't really fit in with any of my other story collections. So I made it into a really short drabble. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks.
Some Days
Some days, he thinks that Tenten knew what was going to happen. Maybe she read it in the cards, possibly saw it reflected in the movements of the stars high above. Perhaps she just guessed; being a shinobi meant life was prone to ending unexpectedly.
Whatever the cause though, she'd made him swear to take her child if anything ever went wrong. "I can't bear the thought of the Hyuga getting a hold of him. I won't have him sealed."
Because she was his best friend, his teammate, and as close as a sister, he swore. He never thought he'd be held to it.
A little more than a week later, she and Neji were dead, killed on an A-ranked mission in a far off country. The only family he'd ever had was gone, and Lee suddenly found himself the surrogate father to a dark-haired, white-eyed little boy with a permanent ear to ear grin. It is Tenten's smile.
Some days, Lee thinks this child can never replace the family he lost. But that's all right, because he will never replace Tenten and Neji as parents.
Maybe some day, they'll learn to be enough for each other.