A/N: Anything in italics are thoughts and anything that is separated by a line is a flashback. I also made some changes to this chapter based on some feedback.
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot. All characters come from the genius mind of Kishimoto.
Chapter 1
This morning was a repeat of every morning since her return from the war. The alarm buzzed at 8:00 am. A sleep deprived Tenten dragged herself from her bed and slowly made her way into the bathroom. She didn't bother to look in the mirror anymore. She knew her eyes were droopy and bloodshot from crying herself to sleep. With a heavy sigh, Tenten undressed, turned on the shower full blast, and stepped in. Using the hot water as a shield, Tenten began to cry. Her thinning body was shaking violently as she slid down to the shower floor.
Why? Why them? They were the strongest. It should have been me instead. I wish it was me.
She sat in the corner of her shower, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting on her knees; until she lost herself in her emotions. The water turned to freezing cold; and that was her only cue to end her tears and continue her daily routine. After she finished getting dressed, Tenten barely had enough energy to put her hair into one messy high pony tail. She couldn't bring herself to wear her signature buns. Gai-sensei always liked her hair that way.
"Tenten! Your beautiful hairstyle shows off your bountiful youth!" Gai had said this on their first meeting, followed by an enthusiastic 'nice guy' thumbs up.
Back then, Tenten could only give a nervous smile. Now, she would give anything to be called a youthful flower again. She felt anything but youthful. Her once shining big brown eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her girlish curves that in the past were hidden by her baggy clothes were now nonexistent from lack of eating and sleeping. She was wasting away and there was nothing she could do about it. In fact, she didn't want to do anything about it. She had lost all hope in life. She was a broken kunoichi. With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, Tenten quickly ate two slices of bread, placed some water and her scrolls in her bag, and left her small apartment, heading to the same place she visited every morning since her return to Konoha.
oOoOoOoO
It had been six months since the end of the war and nothing has changed. The hole in her heart left by the casualties just couldn't be filled. Everyone around her seemed to be moving on. Hinata had proven her strength and began preparations to become the next Hyuga leader. Naruto was now mentored by Tsunade so he could learn the less fun side of being Hokage. But the biggest disappointment was Lee. After the funerals, every morning she and Lee would meet up at the memorial stone to honor their fallen teammate and sensei. Slowly, as time moved on, so did Lee. Their daily meetings had changed to every other day, then once a week. And now, it was a lucky chance if Lee stopped by the stone at all. Tenten often wondered how he could just forget so easily. Two members of their family were gone. Gai-sensei loved them so much. Neji did as well, even if he didn't show it. Tenten knew he cared.
Despite Lee's lack of attendance in the past month, Tenten was shocked when he was not at the memorial stone. This was a special day. It was Neji's birthday. He would be 18 today. Since his 17th birthday was a disaster, Tenten had vowed to Neji that his 18th would be special.
One year ago
"Neji! Today you celebrate another youthful birthday. I promise this will be the best birthday, full of life and the power of youth!"
"YOSH! Gai-sensei you are so thoughtful to plan a wonderful day for our genius teammate!" Lee screamed as he pumped his fist in the air.
"Ah, Lee, I love your excitement as always! We shall begin this special day with 10 special birthday laps around Konoha. But we'll do it backwards! Then we shall begin the youthful celebration." Gai followed his speech with his patented nice guy pose.
"Oh, Gai-sensei, Gai-sensei. We should do 20 special birthday laps and do them 10 times faster!"
"Lee! My wonderful student. You have the fire and passion of youth burning within you. Let us begin!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Tenten winced at their extremely loud and over the top proclamations of youth. Neji's stoic face did not show how completely annoyed and angry he was with the abnormal duo. Tenten was unsure of what to do. She looked down nervously at her feet before she spoke.
"Um. Lee, Gai-sensei. I don't think Neji wishes to spend his birthday doing backwards laps around Konoha. He'd much rath—"
"Don't bother, Tenten. They're already gone." Neji walked over to the biggest tree in the field and sat down to meditate. He despised his birthday. Everyone made a big deal about it, but Neji saw it as just another day. He and Tenten have been teammates for years; he would even go as far as calling her his best friend. Surely she would understand that he did not want any fancy parties or gifts or anything out of the ordinary. He would have been more than satisfied spending time alone with her.
As Neji slipped deeper into his meditation, Tenten thought of ways to get him to the restaurant where Hinata was throwing his party. She could lie, but Neji always saw right through her. Or maybe, if she just asked him out he wouldn't ask too many questions. Letting out a deep breath, she took out a few kunai and proceeded to chuck them into a tree at the other end of the field.
"Neji. I know you aren't big into celebrations, but I was thinking… ," she paused, not sure whether to continue.
A somewhat annoyed Neji didn't bother to open his eyes when he spoke, "Thinking what, Tenten."
"That, um, maybe you and I could have dinner or something. Just for your birthday you know. As a gift."
Tenten was so nervous about his response; she wouldn't dare turn around to face him. She continued to concentrate on throwing her kunai at different points on the tree. She had no clue that Neji was equally surprised. He knew their relationship was more than just teammates and even beyond friendship, but they were not lovers. Neji knew Tenten developed feelings for him some time ago and he slowly began to develop feelings of his own. He wasn't quite sure where that left them, but they both had an unspoken agreement to never mess with the dynamic of Team Gai. Still, Neji was curious what this birthday dinner meant.
"Fine," was all he said. But that small response was enough to make Tenten blush with excitement.
Once in the restaurant, Neji immediately regretted his decision to have a birthday dinner with Tenten. He assumed it would be just the two of them, but no. All of the rookie nine, Sai, Gai, Lee, and Kakashi were all there. Wait. Why is Kakashi here anyways? Neji wondered. It didn't take long for Gai and Lee to get into the sake. And after that all hell broke loose. Or to be more accurate, Gai and Lee broke loose and nearly tore the restaurant apart. A very perturbed Neji and equally annoyed Tenten spent the remainder of his birthday restraining and dragging a highly inebriated Lee back to his apartment while Kakashi took care of Gai.
"I'm sorry things ended like this. I'll make this up to you next year, Neji. I promise." Tenten's voice was so soft and full of regret, that Neji felt guilty that his unhappiness caused her to be upset.
"Hn," was the only reply Neji could come up with. "Goodnight, Tenten. We will resume training tomorrow as usual." And with that, they went their separate ways. On his walk back to the Hyuga compound, the more he thought about the past 12 hours, the angrier he became. 'Happy birthday to me,' Neji thought as he entered his room and fell into his bed.
Tenten let out a deep sigh to calm her nerves. She tried to remain strong. She admired Neji so much that she never wanted him to see her tears. She could feel his spirit at the memorial stone. It was if he were there watching over her. This thought that he was so close but unobtainable made Tenten sick to her stomach.
"Happy birthday, Neji. You're probably having a good time with Hizashi-sama and your mother. I won't keep you for long. I just wanted you to know that I remembered my promise to make this birthday special for you. I'm sorry I let you down again, Neji. Please forgive me."
With those last words, a silent tear escaped Tenten's eye. Not bothering to wipe it away, she bowed before turning to walk towards their old training grounds.
oOoOoOoO
He waited for the young kunoichi to be completely out of view before jumping from his perch on the tree branch. Every morning he watched her come to the memorial stone. Some days she seemed to be okay and to be moving on. And other days it was too painful to watch. He understood her grief all too well. Only a lucky shinobi escapes the loss of a teammate. But for her to lose two at the same time seemed to break her spirit completely. Kakshi chose to avoid Tenten at the memorial stone, but today he realized that he hadn't kept his promise to his best friend.
During the war
"Gai! You shouldn't have used the 8-Gates."
"It's too late now."
Kakashi could barely make out his words. He knew what releasing the 8-Gates meant. He cursed himself for not being able to stop Madara before he lost another friend. No, not just a friend, his eternal rival.
"I need you… to look after Tenten." Gai's voice was laced with pain as he struggled to continue. "She has been like a daughter to me… I worry what will become of her."
Kakashi slowly nods his head. "So this means you win. 51-50."
Thinking about his friend's final request, Kakashi was ashamed that he had done the opposite. At first, he wanted to give her some space to grieve, but her grieving never seemed to end. He had allowed Tenten to hit bottom. Kakashi began to think about all of the shinobi that did not return from the war. Every one of them sacrificed their lives for the future of the village. He understood that Gai and Neji did what they did so that Tenten and the other Konoha shinobi could continue to protect the village. Kakashi had to reach her somehow.
"Gai. Whatever it takes, I will bring her back. I promise."
A/N: This is my first time writing fanfiction as I'm use to writing short stories with completely original characters. Please tell me if anyone seems really OOC. Also any suggestions and constructive criticism will help make me better. Oh and I promise (ah see what I did there) that the entire story won't be so sad and dark as this chapter. Thanks for reading!
~BCG
