A/N: I'm not sure how far I'm going to get with this fic, but I've been wanting to try out some oneshots recently, so bear with me I guess.

Chapter 1

Grief

The war was over. That's all anybody had on their minds these past few weeks. The losses were great, but none were in vain. Every life lost during the long battle was for the cause of bringing peace to the Five Great Nations and to defeat the formidable Akatsuki once and for all. Nobody expected most of what happened in that long, treacherous battle; Obito being Tobi, Kaguya being reanimated, Sasuke suddenly deciding that he was going to be Hokage, and all the other bumps in the road to peace. Yet, the most shocking thing that happened to the village of Konoha, was the loss of their very own Hyuga prodigy.

Loss was unavoidable during a time of battle, she knew that. She grew up with that statement being shoved down her throat by everybody she knew, more so from him than anybody else.

"Promise me you'll come back to me," she said to him the night before they were to leave for battle.

"I can't do that," was all he said before rolling over in bed and taking her in his arms for what could be the last time.

That conversation played over and over in her mind for days, or was it weeks? She couldn't remember. She never in a million years thought that that would be one of their last exchanges of words.

Lee and Gai Sensei were over it…no, over it isn't the right words. They were done grieving and they've began to move on with their lives. Being forever handicapped and giving up his ninja career took grieving precedence over one of his students' passing over two months ago. Tenten wasn't as ready as everybody else. A part of her felt that moving on was another way to say 'forgetting', and she was not ready to forget the love of her life.

"Tenten!" Lee called from the porch to her cottage, "I know you're in there, open up!" This has been going on for days. Lee would stop by to check on her, but she refused to come to the door or even just call back to her friend so he'd know that she was still alive. It was almost pointless anyways, she definitely didn't feel alive. "Tenten, it'd been weeks, if you don't come to the door now I'm breaking it down!"

She knew he was serious, and she wasn't taking on any missions anytime soon, which meant she wouldn't have any money to fix a door her rambunctious teammate broke down. It took her a minute to drag herself out of bed and pull on some pants before she could make her way down the stairs to the front door.

The pounding on the front door kept going as she padded her way across her living room. Tenten took hold of the knob, then unlocked the chain that kept the world out. "What Lee..?" she said squinting at the sunlight pouring in from the outside world.

"You haven't been…" he stopped when he noticed the bags under her eyes. "Are you okay?" He forced himself into her house and shoved the door closed behind him.

"What do you want Lee?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay…"

She stared up at her friend for what seemed like hours before finally answering, "Not particularly…"

Lee didn't completely know what to say. He knew that she was hurting, he hurt too, but there was something in Tenten's eyes that told him that there was something much more buried deep in her heart than just losing a best friend. He'd been around her long enough to know. He wasn't stupid, dense, but not stupid, he was one of the few people that could read her like a book. Just watching her mannerisms, he could tell that she hadn't showered in a few days, or eaten a proper meal. This wasn't a sign of sadness. She was depressed. In that moment, he knew.

"Tenten," he said quietly, "did you love him?"

That's when the tears fell. She didn't even realize that she had started crying until Lee gently brushed the water from her eyes. She thought she had used up all her tears. He grasped her slender shoulders and followed her collapse to the floor.

"Hey, it's okay," he tried to reassure, "maybe not now, but it will be, I promise."

"Y-you don't understand," she sobbed, "he promised me he'd stay! He promised!"

This didn't seem right to Lee. Neji wasn't one to tell somebody he'd promise to come back, especially with war staring them down. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She pulled away to collect herself enough to speak without choking on her words. "He promised me that after the war ended we'd…"

"That you'd what?"

"Neji, I need you to promise me you'll come back."

"I told you I can't do that," he replied without taking his eyes off the commander giving them their positions for the battle.

"I know war is unpredictable, and I know it isn't fair of me to ask you to promise me, but I don't think I can give it my all if I don't hear you say it…I need to know that I have something to come back to."

"You always have something to come back to."

"Neji, you know that's not what I mean." She lowered her voice to a whisper so only he would hear, "I love you more than anything…I need to know that you-"

He cut her off, "Tenten, you know I love you."

"Let me finish. I need to know that you're not going to let yourself die for something as minimal as protecting the main family when they are all capable of winning their own battles."

"I'm going to do what I have to to protect my comrades, friends and family. You should do the same."

She took his hand and treaded her fingers through his. "I need you by my side."

Turning to face her he let his hand slip from hers slightly, running his thumb over her ring finger. "I'll stay."

"What?" Tenten was shocked at Neji's sudden cave.

He stared into her eyes. "I can't promise that I'll come back, and neither can you. We can't predict the outcome of war. But I promise, if we both come back, I'll stay with you if you promise to stay with me…forever."

"What do you mean?" She already knew, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I-I'll marry you…I mean, if that's what you want…"

Seeing him flustered wasn't a common occurrence, but she loved knowing that her always stoic Neji had a soft side. "Is Neji Hyuga blushing?" she teased.

"Shut up…just answer the question…"

"Yes. When we both get back, I'll marry you."

A/N: Don't forget to review! 3