Say Goodbye

Authors Note: I started thinking of the song "Say Goodbye" by Skillet, and I was like:

"Wow…I should write a one-shot about this. That'd turn out pretty cool."

So, here's my first one-shot ever! It's a mystery Tenten pairing, and it's in

Tenten's POV. This is set in modern times. Reviews are welcome, and so

is constructive criticism. Oh yeah, and our mystery is possibly going to be kind of out of character…sorry.

END AUTHOR'S NOTE

I stood in front of an all too familiar grave with a somber look etched into my face. My friend left me behind. My friend left this world in a way…in a way that I never wanted him to. It was two years after his death today. As I read the name carved into the onyx headstone, memories flooded through my mind and tears worked their way to my dark brown eyes.

My friend and I…we were inseparable ever since we met all those years ago. We lived next door to each other in normal sized apartments. My friend would go to his family's house, and would bring me along sometimes. I was shocked at how badly they treated him. Whenever I came with him to his family's house they would badmouth him but I never really thought anything more about it. Then one day…he flew away.

Flashback

Two years ago today I had woken up and gotten ready for school like I normally would. I was dressed in some basic black skinny jeans and an army green tank top. After I had finished getting ready for school, we were beginning our junior year, and I exited my apartment after locking the windows and the front door. I went next door to Neji's apartment and knocked a few times. He didn't answer after a few minutes, so I knocked again and waited a few more minutes. I didn't get an answer. I took out the spare key he gave me incase of emergencies and I unlocked the door. I walked in, shutting the door behind me quietly.

"It's Tenten." I said as I walked around the apartment and looked for him. I never found him in the apartment, so I exited his apartment and locked the door behind me. I grew panicky and tried to remember where my friend might have gone. My eyes widened. "Why didn't I think of that?" I asked myself. I checked my watch and noticed that there was only a half hour to get to school, and it took us twenty minutes walking from our apartment building. I ran out of the apartment building and towards his family's house as fast as I could. I ran up and knocked on the door loudly. I could hear someone fall and grumble before heavy footsteps came to the door. A man around the age of 40 or so with long, messy brown hair opened the door slowly. The man's eyes were bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol...and blood.

"What the hell are you doing here this early?" The man asked me angrily, his words noticeably slurred. I pushed past him and ran up the stairs to my friend's room. I opened the door, and immediately regretted doing so.

I saw my friend lying motionlessly in a growing puddle of blood with numerous wounds all over his body. I choked out a scream and tears came down my face as I ran over and kneeled beside my friend.

"Please. Please wake up! Don't leave me!" I told my friend desperately, shaking him gently. His eyes opened halfway and I noticed his strangely colored yet beautiful eyes were extremely dull and lifeless. I smiled and leaned down to hug him, but he hissed in pain. "I'm sorry." I apologized, sitting up straight after letting him go gently.

He coughed out a mouthful of blood. "T-ten-ten…y-you need to…get out." My friend told me as blood dribbled from his mouth and down his chin before dripping onto the floor. I shook my head vehemently.

"I'm not going anywhere!" I exclaimed. My friend placed his hand over mine slowly, covering my hand in blood. I didn't notice.

"T-ten…please. G-g-get out…of this p-place." My friend pleaded.

"Then you're coming with me." I told him. My friend shook his head solemnly.

"T…T-ten, I c-can't." He paused. "I-I won't m-make it. I…I c-can already see t-the li-light, Ten." He finished.

"N-no, you'll be fine! I can take you to the hospital and we can still go to school, and see all of our friends again!" I cried hysterically. My friend reached a shaking, bloody hand up to my face and wiped away my tears.

"T-Tenten. P-please d-don't cry…I h-hate it w-when you c-cry. Li-live…for m-me…please. I d-don't wa-want to see y-you until it's y-your time to go." My friend told me. Tears flowed in a torrent down my face at this point. I nodded, but only enough for him to notice.

"I promise." I replied with a small, sad smile. "Please…just don't say goodbye. It'd be too hard for me." I added.

"O-okay." He replied, his breath getting shallower. "T-ten…I…I l-love y-you. I a-always will. Don-Don't f-forget about m-me…please." He added as tears fell from his eyes for the first time in years.

If it was at all possible, my own tears flowed even more heavily from my eyes. "I love you too, always and forever. I'll never forget about you." I told him, leaning down and kissing him lightly on the lips. He started to respond to my kiss, but succumbed to the darkness. I pulled away and his eyes were closed, his body cold. I picked my friend's lifeless body up into my arms and held him, my tears dripping onto his cheeks. I ran out of the house with his body still in my arms, my vision blurry from the salty tears that stung my eyes and rolled down my face.

End Flashback

Tears ran down my face again, for the first time since my friend's burial. 'I'm so sorry…' I thought, wiping my tears away and forcing myself to stop crying. Everyone was devastated when they found out, but they never hurt as much as I did. They never dealt with having to see him die. They never knew that he died while I kissed him. I never told anyone about that kiss…it was my only special secret that I kept between my dead friend and myself. I wanted him back so much it broke my heart. I set a dozen of mixed roses on his grave. Red for our undying love to each other, white so he knows I'll never forget him and I'll know he'll never forget me, and black for the sorrow I experience everyday from his loss.

I kneeled down in front of the onyx headstone and ran my finger lightly over the engravings in the stone. "I love you…" I trailed quietly.

A true friend and great person

Who deserves to fly freely with the birds

He watched everyday.

We will never forget you.

Rest In Peace

Neji Hyuuga

July 3rd, 1988 – August 22nd 2005

"I love you, Neji Hyuuga." I said, kissing the headstone where his name was engraved before getting up. I left the clearing, which was actually his favorite clearing to go bird watching. A light breeze blew my long hair that I kept down only when I went to visit him and I heard five words that were carried by the breeze, which made me smile.

"I love you too, Tenten."