Warm Milk with Sugar
This is actually also a separate oneshot that I made, but it is also a part of my other story, Goodnight Kiss. I guess Goodnight Kiss could be called the sequel, because it tells what happens after this. I really hope you enjoy it! It took me two hours to write…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own all ideas. The end.
(&)
Tenten unlocked the door to her small apartment, rifling through a small stack of letters and bills that the old housekeeper had brought to her. Neji and Lee had become Jounins about two weeks ago, but Tenten hadn't even entered the exam. She was still a Chuunin. With Neji and Lee almost always on missions to 'prove themselves to the other Jounin' the three former teammates rarely met; whether to train or hand out. So, naturally, Tenten felt lonelier and lonelier every day with the exception of her older sister, Kyou. Not that that was going well, either.
Flashback
"Ten-chan, I'm home!" Kyou called, entering the apartment and throwing her ANBU mask onto the sofa, plopping carelessly down and turning on the TV. Kyou had beautiful long brown hair, like Tenten's, but had mysterious black eyes instead of the deep brown ones her sister possessed. Her hair was in two braids which were then pinned up onto Kyou's head, so as to keep it out of the way.
Kyou sighed when Tenten gave no response. She knew Tenten was home. Either that or she forgot to lock the door when she left. Kyou turned off the TV and walked out of the living room, past the small kitchen, and down the hallway to the last door. She knocked quietly. "Tenten? Is something wrong?" No response. "If you want, we can train together. We haven't done that for a while."
This time Tenten replied, "We haven't done a lot of things for a while." Kyou could hear soft footsteps inside of the room, and soon the door opened. Tenten was a mess; her hair was simply thrown up into a single messy bun, her shirt was completely disheveled, and Tenten had black wrings under her eyes.
Kyou frowned. "Have you been playing around with Mom and Dad's scrolls again? If you want to learn, I can help you." The offer was like a peace treaty. Tenten was angry, and Kyou knew it.
Tenten glared at her older sister. "I can teach myself, thank you. And besides, you probably have another mission to go on soon, ne?" Tenten said coldly as she softly shut the door. Kyou sighed and looked at the floor and then back at her little sister's door. This time she had a determined fire burning in her eyes.
"You're right. I do have another mission to go on tomorrow, but until you're a Jounin I have to keep bringing in enough money to take care of both of us. Yours doesn't even make up half of what needs to be paid! God, Tenten, you're such a pain!" Kyou called defiantly to her sister.
Tenten slammed open the door. "You know what? Then don't pay for me! I'll just go off on my own. I can find my own apartment! And anyhow, why in the world would I want to live with a bitch like you!" Tenten screamed.
"You watch your language!" Kyou yelled back. Tenten was slowly moving down the hallway towards Kyou and Kyou backed up. They were almost in the kitchen by now.
At this, Tenten let loose and finally release all of the anger and loneliness she had pent up in the past couple of weeks. "Since when were you my mother? I don't know when you started thinking that you were the boss of me, but I sure as hell am not taking any more orders from you of all people! You may have tried to raise me, but it's not like you actually got anywhere! Mothers spend time with their children; mothers know when something's wrong with their children; mothers always know what to say. And if you aren't my mother, then fine! Just don't freaking boss me around! Go ahead and complain about how much money I make. Go ahead and complain about my low position!" Tenten was screaming louder than Kyou had ever heard her scream before. In fact, they never fought. Not before this.
"Ten-chan…" Kyou whispered.
Tenten just glared even more fiercely at her as they began to back into the kitchen. "Don't 'Ten-chan' me! I'm not a child anymore, Kyou! And you know what?" Tenten was scaring Kyou, who now had tears in her eyes. "You know what? You might as well not even be my sister," Tenten said sinisterly. "If I could, I would disown you right here and now. Why? Simple! Because I hate you! I hate everything about you! And I hate everything that you do, also! And it's your fault Mom and Dad are dead, also! Mom and Dad were right in naming you Kyou; you really are bad luck! It's your entire fault! And I HATE you for it!" Tenten screamed. Tenten just stood there, panting. Kyou rushed out of the kitchen past Tenten, who didn't even try to stop her. Grabbing her mask, Kyou ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
End Flashback
Tenten had almost immediately regretted what she had said, and rushed to the ANBU building. Kyou had already left on her mission; apparently, she had asked for a day with Tenten before leaving. This only made Tenten feel worse.
And so Tenten was waiting for her sister to come back from her mission. Hopefully, Kyou would forgive her.
Tenten finally came to a letter from the Hokage herself. She sat down on the couch, eyeing the letter. With trembling fingers she opened it.
(&)
Neji hadn't seen Tenten for days, and he was beginning to worry about her, so he stopped by her apartment about three days after Tenten had received the letter. Neji knocked, but Tenten didn't come to the door. He knew she didn't have a mission, and she wasn't at the training grounds. Neji knocked again. "Tenten, are you in there?" he turned the handle of the door and it surprisingly wasn't locked. Tenten had to be home; she never left with the door unlocked. "Tenten?" Neji called, walking into the apartment.
What greeted him was not a pretty sight.
Kunai and shuriken were everywhere, imbedded in the TV, the wall, the sofa. The table was completely broken and dishes were shattered everywhere in the kitchen. The refrigerator was left open, and a horrid smell came from it. The water in the sink was left on and was flooding the place. After turning off the water, Neji made his way down the hall. The first door was Kyou's room, which was torn up even worse than the living room and kitchen. Her bed was completely in shreds, lamps looked as though they had been blown apart, and the clothes weren't even recognizable. Papers everywhere were torn up and Neji even found a few books that were half burned and unreadable.
He stepped out of the room and opened the next door, which was the bathroom.
A rush of water greeted him, mixed with shampoos and soaps. After turning off the sink and the bathtub, Neji noticed the shattered mirror. Blood was everywhere, and shards of glass were scattered throughout the room. The toothbrushes were snapped in half and the medicine cabinet was completely torn away from the wall and ruined. More closely examining the blood, Neji noticed it was about two, maybe three, days old.
In horror and shock he moved on to Tenten's room, the last room in the hallway besides the closet.
He slowly opened the door and was greeted with a sight that made his heart skip a beat. There was blood in the bathroom, but it was almost nothing compared to the blood in Tenten's room. Her mirror was shattered, also, and blood was smeared on the walls as if a young child had tried to paint them. There were small pools of blood staining the carpet and just about everything else in the room. There was no light in the room, so Neji couldn't see the rest of the damage, but he could tell that it was much like Kyou's room except twice as bad.
The next thing he did was call Lee, who was hanging out with Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata today. When they saw Tenten's apartment, they almost felt like throwing up. Hinata actually did. After Hinata was done, it was agreed that Naruto would alert the Hokage and Neji, Lee, Sakura, and Hinata would look for Tenten.
The caretaker said that he had seen Tenten walking off towards the woods. Actually, it wasn't walking; it was more like stumbling. She wore a trench coat what was a little big for her, and she didn't look too good either. The foursome set off.
(&)
They ran through the woods, calling for Tenten, but no one answered them. It began to rain and the branches became slippery, forcing them to walk on the ground in the mud. With both Hinata and Neji's Byakugan activated, they soon came to a small figure lying on the ground.
"Tenten!" Lee cried as they all ran over to her. "Oh, what has happened to you, our dear precious flower!"
Neji lifted Tenten into a sitting position as Sakura began to heal her. She looked terrible. Shards of mirror and glass protruded from her skin and the blood ran down her arms and legs. Her head was bleeding, also and blood trickled from her pale lips, which were chapped and stained with blood. Tenten was dirty, too. Her mud covered body shivered although the rain was warm and her eyes slowly opened.
"What -" she croaked. Tenten sharply pulled back from Sakura and flung herself down on the ground, further covering herself with mud.
"Tenten…" Sakura began.
"Leave me alone!" Tenten screamed, clutching the slick wet grass. She whimpered in pain as she curled up and clutched her shirt, which was torn and almost unrecognizable; discolored from the mud.
"Tenten, what happened?" Neji asked sternly. There was quiet, except for the falling rain.
"The rain is warm," Tenten whispered hoarsely, still turned away from the group in her curled position, lying on the ground. "The rain is like people. It can be warm one minute, and cold the next. And then it goes away so quickly."
"T-Tenten…" Hinata murmured, taking a step toward her friend. "I have always though…that if you are the sun, then the people you know are like the stars, right? And while you can't always see them, they are always there. And even if some are brighter than others, they are all special to the sun."
"Have…have you ever done something wrong, when you were little, maybe? And…and after you got in trouble, your mom hugged you and let you cry a little. And then…she sat you at the table and warmed up some milk, adding a spoonful of sugar and maybe a drop or two of vanilla? And then she gives it to you and makes herself a mug and sits with you…and then she smiles the sweetest smile you've ever seen? One you've somehow come to…come to need to live. And then you say…thanks, Mom. I love you. And then she smiles and she says…I love you too," Tenten whispered to them.
Everyone was silent until Sakura said, "I have." Hinata soon agreed, and they both stared at Neji.
"I…I have. Why?" he asked coldly.
"Because…" Tenten said quietly. "I never have. What…what does it feel like? To have your mother hold you? I…I can't remember anymore. And…because of this…I have regrets…regrets I have had since I was…I was old enough to think properly…and…they tear my heart up slowly…every day…and they make sure that I feel every bit of the pain…and then somehow, my heart…it heals itself…but never completely…and so it just hurts more…but over time, I've come to realize…that hearts can't ever truly break…because there's always something keeping part of them together…" Tenten was now gasping for air and coughed a bit of blood, but continued talking.
"Everyone's gone…they're all gone…" Tenten said, eyes widening with realization. "And…I never got to tell them…"
Hinata spoke up. "Then you should tell them now, ne?"
"But…"
"I'm sure they can hear you." Hinata seemed to know what was going on and what Tenten was talking about, so Neji allowed her to kneel down next to Tenten and shake her a little bit. "They'll never really be gone, because they're what are keeping part of your heart together, ne? That's what you implied."
Tenten closed her eyes and whispered to herself. "Thank you, Nee-chan. I love you, but…"
But? There was a but? (An/ Sorry, just had to say that…)
"But I miss you a lot…and I'm sorry…I don't hate you; I never have…You meant everything and more to me," Tenten sobbed, clutching her shirt just above her heart. She just continued to cry there until Tsunade, Shizune, Naruto, and a few ANBU came; the people closest to Kyou.
"Tenten, we're taking you back to the hospital now," Tsunade said, loudly and clearly.
"No."
"Why not?" Shizune asked.
"Because there's no point!" Tenten wailed, curling into a tighter ball. She was hysterical. "There's no one left! When I lived in the Snow Country, my Mom and Dad died! And then the only friends I had growing up died, too! Ryu and Yugi and…and Temari acts like she doesn't even know me anymore, because I wasn't there to help them…and…and…Haku's dead, too. You thought I didn't know, but K-K-……..Kyou…….helped me gain access t-to the files, and I-I saw his n-name there and you…you l-lied to me! W-When I asked, y-you said w-we didn't k-know…a-and you were m-my idol, and t-then….and I didn't even get to say sorry because I said she was a bitch and it was her fault Mom and Dad died and she was nothing but bad luck and I hated her and……" Tenten broke off into heart-breaking sobs, stopping every once in a while to cough some more.
After a couple of minutes, Neji lifted Tenten towards him and held her close. She cried into his shoulder as he hugged her and stroked her hair, slowly calming her down. The girls (and Naruto) were crying, but Hinata and Sakura smiled knowingly as Neji took Tenten into his arms.
"T-Then t-there is a r-reason to go on…" Tenten whispered, a small smile forming on her lips. Everyone looked at her questioningly. "B-Because the m-moon is the most i-important to the sun, a-and they can't live w-without each other…right, Hinata?" And everyone smiled as the warm rain stopped and the sun shone brightly in the sky.
(&)
Tenten awoke in a hospital room. Her mind was fuzzy and she couldn't register what happened…and what was happening. She could hear voices, but they sounded as if they were far away, and she could see people but she couldn't recognize them. After a couple of days, Tenten was finally able to recognize someone, a nurse, who had come with some tea for her. The lady had long, dark brown hair, and milky white eyes.
"Hyuga-san?" Tenten asked confusedly.
The nurse looked up in surprise and then smiled one of the sweetest smiles Tenten had ever seen. "Yes, I'm Neji's mother. He asked specifically for me to take care of you. It seems he fell asleep, though, while waiting for you to snap out of shock," the kind lady said. Tenten looked over at the other side of the bed as Neji's mother helped her to sit up. Neji was sitting in a chair with his head resting on the bed. He had been holding her hand. Neji's silky black hair stood out against the white sheets. Tenten smiled at Neji's mother. "Thank you very much, Hyuga-san."
The nurse laughed. "No, no! Please, as one of Neji's close friends just call me Sei." Sei smirked. "Neji said he wanted me to take care of you because you were more than just his best friend." Tenten looked up in surprise. "He said you were his sun. Neji also said to give you this," Sei said, indicating the tray. It wasn't tea, but milk. Warm milk with sugar.