Never to Forget summary: Tenten's unnoticed by everyone. Neji only sees her as a weak teammate, only to be used for training, but he realizes something. He loves her. Why? His conscious says it, so does everybody else. But something happens to her. What? Her emotions ate her up, he killed her. Somehow, things just aren't the way they are supposed to be…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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Never to Forget
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TENTEN'S POV
I watched as Neji and Lee were training. Obviously, the Hyuuga prodigy was winning, but Lee just couldn't have accepted. Neji was dodging every move Lee was throwing at him and in my mind I was cheering as loud as any girl possibly could. Maybe even more than Sakura and Ino.
My secret crush (AKA, Neji) won the so called "battle" with one hard, firm punch in the stomach, sending the bowl haired friend of mine way across to the last tree on our training ground. Inside, my heart felt warm and fuzzy. Somehow I knew, that deep in Neji's small, shrunken heart, was a place where he was cheering himself on.
NORMAL POV
Neji stood there, frowning, arms crossed over his chest. "Maybe you walk the walk instead of talk the talk," he simply answered.
Tenten smiled inwardly and pushed her feet up to carry herself to Neji. "Should we train now?" She asked holding in a yawn.
Neji nodded and got into his fighting stance. Tenten followed quickly as she disappeared into the trees. The prodigy activated his Byakugan, his eyes shifting from tree to tree.
Swoosh! At least two dozen kunai and shuriken flew at Neji, who dodged them easily. "Hmph," he grunted with frustration. Is that all she has? She's getting weaker and weaker by the minute… Neji's thoughts trailed off as a couple of fuuma shuriken whizzed past his head, only to chop of the ends of his hair.
That got Neji fully angry and participating. No body touched his hair, not even Hinata. His anger was boiling, only to realize that Tenten was sitting on the branch on the near by tree, approximately three or four feet away. Her breathing was light and soft, but the Hyuuga could still hear. After all, he was perfect, ne?
The white eyed boy back flipped and kicked Tenten off the branch, sending her soaring in the air. But that wasn't all. He, Neji Hyuuga, was still pissed. That was a baby beating. Neji geared up his Gentle Fist formation and jumped towards the flipping certain panda bun girl. He attacked her with everything he had, only to notice that she was almost dead.
Shit…Over a stupid lock of hair? Neji stopped himself. He was one punch away from killing his almost useless teammate. (A/N: What a bitch!) There she lay; bleeding from every angle and side you could turn to. Lee awoke from his unconsciousness and noticed Tenten; almost dying from her one and only love; Neji Hyuuga. What did she love in that guy? I mean, he's cold-hearted, mean, nasty (in a bully sense) and didn't give a damn for anybody else in the world except for him and Hinata.
Tenten opened her eyes slowly, breathing heavily. She could feel that she was loosing blood fast, but no matter what, she would do anything to prove that she was strong. For herself, for Konoha, for the world! But mostly for the man she loved; Hyuuga Neji.
Tenten picked herself up, very slowly, as she heard Lee gasp. Foot steps echoed in her mind as she looked up. The sun was too bright to see anything, but she did notice a figure. A star that shone brighter than any other… Neji…
The pressure in her head was drowning in her making her collapse. She fell to the dirt ground, panting from the anxiety. No! I can't give up now!
The figure scooped her up gently. Tenten's eyes were half opened. She was loosing her breath fast.
"Neji," she managed to choke out. "You have really improved…I'm glad…" She said before falling into unconsciousness.
Unconsciousness…Sleep…Diary? A place where anyone could do what they wanted, it was theirs to hold. In the sleep world, you controlled your dreams and in Tenten's dreams she wanted the good times to come back. But they didn't. She was too stubborn to let them. Only the pain of the Gentle Fist attacks floated in her mind.
Neji held Tenten close as he walked, no, ran, the streets of Konoha bearing the half dead girl in his arms, followed by Gai and Lee. No one seemed to notice or care. They just walked pass by as if there was no one in Neji's hands.
She was loosing blood fast, and it was all because of him. It was all Neji's fault. She just chopped off two inches of his precious hair, and BAM! The next second Tenten's almost dead.
Her hair ties let loose, letting blood drip down them carelessly like all of the people of Konoha. Neji had just one person to turn to; Tsunade.
He ran as fast as possible into her office, slamming the door open, Tsunade in total alarm, her eyes widened at the sight of Tenten. "Oh my gosh! What happened!"
"Hn," Neji said, handing Tenten to Tsunade.
"Get some of the medic nins in here, STAT!" Seven to ten medic nins rushed in, Sakura being one of them. Sakura stared blankly at Tenten, then to Neji, and then back at Tenten.
"Save her!" Tsunade shrieked as the nins took Tenten away.
Hours passed, maybe even days, but Neji sat in the same chair until the nins came out of the operating room.
"What happened?" Gai, Neji and Lee yelled in unison. The nins shook their head as a death toll was heard in the background. Their faces darkened as Sakura walked up to Neji, plastering on a sad smile.
"Her last words were, 'I love you Neji-kun'," Sakura whispered to the Hyuuga prodigy. He stared at her, small, micro-sized tears in his eyes.
Sakura smiled very sadly as everyone walked out. Neji stood there, almost crying as he decided to see her one last time.
Pushing the door open, he saw Tenten, eyes closed, a faint smile glued to her face. Yet she manages to keep a smile on her face… Neji thought as he walked up to the pale figure, grasping her hand, holding back tears.
A shinobi never cries… Tenten's voice echoed through his mind. She was weak, but strong enough to always have a smile on her face. No matter what. He kissed her lips lightly, waiting for her to wake up, smiling shouting, "Neji-kun!"
He frowned at the sight. No movement, no nothing. He kissed her more, still nothing. He let his grip go as he hugged the lone body on an empty operating bed, breaking down into small tears. He did not sob, he did not cry. Another way to word it…he teared. He teared at what he did and what would have happened if he didn't do what he did. Somehow he felt that she was crying too...
What if he wouldn't have killed her…she would have still been here, smiling like always. Adapting to anything, that was what she has always done, and one more thing…
She had gotten Hyuuga Neji's heart. He didn't forget her. He never did. As the years passed, he spent every morning, 4 AM to 7 AM lying upon Tenten's burial chamber. Also after lunch, and before sleeping. Some people thought he was crazy, meanwhile, the other half thought he was in love. And it was true. He was... She had a special resting place, just for her, so when she would come back to life, she would know she's loved. But unfortunately, nobody did love her when she was alive.
No one did figure out who killed her, and they never would have. The only two people that did were dead; Tenten and Neji himself. He died on Tenten's chamber, not only thinking about her, but loving her…
And when he joined her in heaven…the first words he said to her were, "I love you too Tenten-chan…"
End…
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Authoress Notes: What did you think? Did you like it? This is a one-shot. There might be a sequel to it as how they lived their lives in heaven, but I'm still thinking about that, just like the "Lost at Sea" sequel. Is it sweet?
