This story was written as a request on Tumblr. It's kind of rushed, so it might undergo some serious editing later, but I hope you all enjoy anyway.
"Neji's dead..." The whisper seemed to carry over the battlefield like a sad song.
Tenten thought it was strange, in retrospect, how everything seemed so stop at that moment. An intense battle halting for one fallen shinobi.
She didn't believe it at first. Neji? Dead? Neji was invincible. Neji was perfect. Neji was a genius.
Surely there was another Neji. Not her Neji of course.
As the waves of dizziness came over her, she slowly ambled to where Lee had run seconds ago. When had he run away? She hadn't noticed.
By the time she actually reached Lee, she was watching herself walking from above.
It was too ironic, really. Even in death, Neji was gorgeous.
"It's almost time for my platoon to leave..." Neji mumbled sleepily into Tenten's hair.
"So get up..." Even as Tenten whispered the words, she tightened her hold around Neji's shoulders and used her leg hooked over his hips to pull him closer.
He adjusted his limbs for a second before rolling them in one soft movement so he was hovering above her. "I need you to promise me something first."
Tenten let out a small giggle, opening her eyes to make some sort of retort. She bit her tounge though when she saw the desperation and intensity in his eyes. "What is it?" She asked.
"Promise me if anything happens to me, you'll stay strong and keep fighting." He muttered, still staring into her eyes with the look that always made her question if he could actually see her soul.
Despite his seriousness, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Nothing is going to happen. Especially not to you. If anything, you should be promising me you'll continue on if something happens to me."
He gave her the glare typically reserved for when Lee did something stupid.
"I mean it Tenten. Swear you'll carry on."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "God, everything is so dramatic with you. Fine, I'll keep kicking ass even if something happens."
Neji continues glaring, clearly not satisfied with her answer.
"Tenten..." His voice cracked.
Tenten lowered her voice and reached up to brush a long lock of hair behind Neji's ear. "I promise. I'll stay strong."
Neji turned his head and placed a kiss to the palm of Tenten's hand. For some reason, the gesture caused a hard lurch behind her navel.
She watched as Neji got up and started wandering around her tiny bedroom, picking up his clothes and various pieces of gear.
It was the same view she had seen dozens of times before when Neji left for missions. But for the first time she felt dread, a premonition that things were about to change.
"Neji..." She whispered as he was about to walk out the door. He paused to turn and looked at her expectantly.
Tenten felt her breath catch in her throat, and she wished she had something to say. But she had nothing.
"Nothing, I'll see you later."
Neji gave her a tiny smile and with a soft click of her door, he was gone.
She didn't know if the world was sped up, or if she was functioning in slow motion. Either way, time and relativity wasn't making sense.
One minute they were all fighting, she was emotionalessly going through the mechanical movements of throwing weapons, the next she was watching some medic nin carry Neji's body away, then Gai was ushering her and Lee over near some tents. Gai was saying something, but she couldn't hear what over the roar of her own blood in her ears, and Lee would not stop fucking crying and she wanted to scream, and it was just all too much. Then they were walking towards Konaha and she was in her room again. It all happened in a matter of seconds, or maybe it was years.
She hadn't cried yet, and now that she thought about it, she hadn't said a word since the battle.
The silence in the small room was opressive. But yet, even though it was silent, ghosts in the room were screaming. Clothes that didn't belong to her seemed to cry, all of the pictures were roaring, her still rumpled bedsheets from only three nights prior- that couldn't be right, Neji had just left a minute ago, or maybe it was five years ago, but it couldn't be three days- cause her to choke back a sob as she whirled around and ran out of the apartment.
She sprinted as fast as she could to her team's training field. Despite the open fresh air, she felt like something was squeezing the air out of her lungs.
"I wonder if this was what Neji felt while he died." She thought, causing her to gasp out loud, and stop running so the dark, dizzying moment could pass.
"Hi Tenten..." She heard behind her. Tenten spun around, arm reaching for a weapon from the strap on her thigh before realizing there were none there.
Gai gave her a small, sad smile. "How are you doing?" He asked tenderly.
"How am I doing? What do those words mean?" It was such a simple question, one she had answered many times before. Why did it suddenly sound like some sort of made-up jumble of sounds?
He didn't wait for an answer before he said, "Neji's memorial service is going to be tomorrow."
He gave her another sad smile that was more heart-breaking than crying as he walked away.
"You fucking asshole!" Tenten screamed as she threw a kunai towards the target Neji habitually sat under. Had sat under. "I can't fucking believe you! You are so selfish! What about me? What about us?" She yelled as the kunai missed the target by nearly a foot.
"How dare you! You're messing up my aim! How could you do this to me?" She choked as she stomped over to the kunai on the ground.
"You didn't have to die! Why would you choose that! We were going to be together forever? Remember that? Or was that all bullshit?" She cried out, kicking the target hard enough to make her lose balance and fall to the ground.
Tenten breathed hard as she stared to the trees up above. The corners of her eyes burned as she fought back tears.
"Tenten..."
Tenten quickly scrambled as she glared at Lee standing at the edge of the field.
"What do you want?" She spat venmously.
"I just... wanted to see if you wanted to talk..." He whispered, a single tear leaking from the corner of his eye as he looked at her with a lost look in his eyes.
"Go find Gai-sensei if you need to bitch." She said hoarsely, grabbing her discarded bag and walking past Lee to leave the field.
"I'm not the one who needs to talk." Lee mumbled soft enough that she could pretend not to hear as she brushed past him, leaving him standing alone.
"Hello, thank you all for coming out to honor Hyuuga Neji, a fallen shinobi and my student."
Tenten glanced around the clearing. It was amazing how many people had shown up. There were no more open chairs and people were standing along the edge of the trees. Lee reached over and held her hand. She supposed it was more for her sake than his at this point. She still refused to meet his eyes though as Gai opened his mouth to speak again.
"I could tell you about how Neji was a great shinobi, an amazing warrior, a great asset to the village, a ninja through and through. But you already know that, which is probably why you're here. But Neji was so much more than that, which is what I'm going to tell you about."
Tenten slowly raised her head as Gai took a deep breath.
"Neji was an amazing friend. He often had a funny way of showing it, but he would do anything, I mean anything for the people he cared about. He took arrows through the stomach in an attempt to give his friends a chance to escape once. He was the kind of person you could go to at three in the morning with your problems with, and he would listen."
Tenten felt Lee's hand squeeze hers tighter.
"Neji was also a big brother two his two adopted younger sisters. He cared for them, loved them, and tutored them into the strong young women they are becoming. He was also an adopted son, not just to his uncle, but also to me. Even though he was rebellious at times, I think he made everyone who called him son proud."
Tenten glanced over at the Hyuuga family and watched as Hanabi and Hinata wiped tears off their faces, and Hiashi rubbed his eyes.
"I watched Neji grow from a frustrated pre-teen to an amazing and charismatic young man. I've fought beside him, and lately behind him, watching as he slowly grew better every day. I learned he's an amazing dancer, has a pretty decent singing voice, and has read more books than I've even heard of. I learned he likes the kind of music where you can't understand what the people are screaming, and that he's actually pretty funny in a witty, sarcastic way. I learned that he's a night person, and he has a smile that, even though it's rare, lights up a room. I watched as he went from insulting nearly everyone he met to being able to put a smile on anyone's face. I watched as everyone fell in love with him, myself included, and I watched as he fell in love on a level that I, twice his age, have never expierienced."
With that last line, Gai stopped his rambling and met Tenten's eyes. He coughed slightly and wiped at the corners of his eyes.
Tenten was aware half the congregation what glancing at her at this point. It was her turn to tighten her grip on Lee's hand.
When Gai resumed speaking, his voice was hoarse and cracked.
"I'm sorry about that rant. I was so blessed to be such a huge part of Neji's life and get to know him so well. I'm just realizing that now. It's truly terrible how the world works like that."
Nearly everyone's eyes dropped to the floor. Tenten felt her head grow light and twisted her eyes shut hard.
"But in any case, I won't say it's tragic or sad or unfair. Neji choose his destiny. I won't belittle his decision and sacrifice by mourning it. Instead, I'm going to be proud."
Tenten's eyes slowly opened as she looked up at her sensei.
"Neji died for his comrades and family. He died doing what Neji did best- protecting everyone. His death and sacrifice was essential to winning the battle. I may have lost my child, but I gained a hero."
Gai took another deep breath, and when he started his voice was strong.
"There is not much more to be said about his passing. I'm sure everyone has their good memories of Neji that they can hold onto forever. I hope those are what you will think of, and not his death."
Tenten felt the squeeze in her chest ease ever so slightly as she thought of Neji's smile, his hand holding hers, his lips touching hers...
She was snapped out of her mind though when Gai started speaking again.
"I do have to ask you all to do something though..."
Another long pause and deep breath.
"I ask that when you leave here today and carry on with your lives, please, love somebody else more than you love yourself. I ask that you never internalize your pain and take care of what hurts. I ask that you tell the people important to you that you care for them everyday. I ask that you take stregnth from those that need you. I ask that you trust your heart and always do what's right. Remember that somewhere, there is always someone calling for your help. I ask that you answer their call."
An odd stillness and electricity buzzed through the air. Tenten knew her mouth was open slightly as she looked up at her sensei.
"I know destiny is a debatable subject, but I do believe everyone has a higher purpose and a moment to make a difference. I hope when that moment comes, you'll be strong."
Neji's last words to her resonated in Tenten's head.
"I suppose that's all I have to say..." Gai finished lamely, giving a final sigh. "Once again, thank you for coming." With that, he stepped away from the podium.
Tenten took a few minutes to stare at the sky, contemplating everything that had been said.
As everyone got up to leave, Lee envoloped her in a hug. She let him. And when Gai come over and joined the hug, she finally let out all the tears she had been bottling up.
"There will be times on your journey where all you'll see is darkness. But daylight will find you if you keep looking for it." Gai whispered.
Tenten smiled slightly as she pulled away from the hug, wiping her eyes.
"I think I'm ready to start looking for it." She said, taking both of their hands as they started walking.
She didn't know where they were going, really she supposed it didn't matter. She didn't notice all the people moving out of their way, smiling at the trio.
Tenten did notice the bird that flew over their heads and the big gust of wind though.