The Snow: The Loss
Tenten wasn't accustomed to the steady and thick snow that filled the atmosphere. Dainty and white, it held no promise for the awaiting summer. Still, a sunny person as she was, she found it more beautiful. Compared to the bright and warm days that elongated into golden sunsets of summer, the winter snow held a tragic beauty. And it was beautiful and sentimental.
It signaled her tragedy.
In the first snows, the mission went against all that was planned. Forced to flee back to Konoha because of an ambush, fingers were pointed at her as the cause of the failure.
In the mid-snows, she found out that the man she loved was, indeed, involved with the adorned and beautiful rosette Sakura Haruno. Tenten went on several missions to escape the regret of not telling him sooner, so that maybe, just maybe, she would've had a chance with him. Even if he was the walled Neji Hyuuga.
As the powdery white snowflakes fell, forming into deeper, higher snow-hills, she was sent on a mission (originally C-rank) climbing up and past A-rank. Then, in her awaited tragedy, she was slowly and fatally poisoned, and returned to the Hidden Leaf on the verge of dying. The only miracle, Tenten recalled, was that she had a few weeks left to live.
At the end of the blessed snow, her condition worsened, and she was frequently forgotten, staring outside the large windows of the bleak gray hospital room. She could count the remaining days with one hand and a half. Tenten would always gaze longingly at the happy people, even when she had sworn secrecy to herself about her condition.
The snow, after that, only grew stronger.
The last day, her weak body couldn't handle anymore of the medicines that she was given, nor the movement of her body. She was deathly pale, and frail, like she could be blown away by the slight wind. She didn't want her pain to be augmented; she wanted to feel the snow once again, before her untimely demise. Tenten pitifully begged to be carried outside. The nurses and doctors went against it, saying her physical (and emotional) self couldn't handle it.
"I'm going to die anyway…" No one protested against that, and she was carried on the back of one of the male medics that she had befriended.
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"Tenten-chan? Is that you?" Tenten turned to face the speaker, spotting the distinct lavender-white of Hinata's eyes, accompanied by the spring green and white eyes of Sakura and Neji, looking at her, stunned. She smiled.
"Hello…Hinata-chan. Long time no see!" Tenten was met with a bone-crushing hug that her dying body was not capable of returning. Hinata looked at her surprised, while Sakura inspected her.
"Tenten…what happened? You look awful…" Sakura said, while Neji nodded. Tenten smiled wearily, glancing at the attendant. She held out her hands, the cold bits in the air making contact with her cold palm before disappearing. Some caught on her closed eyelid, dropping onto her eyelashes. Tenten turned to them, her eyes half-lidded.
"Goodbye." She closed her eyes fully, slumping against the arm of the bench she was seated on. They could only gape in shock as the medic carried her away.