Tenten would always remember that the worst day of her life started out like any other normal day. Rise at dawn, meet with training buddies, roll eyes if they included Lee (such as today), and work very, very hard until the need to pass out had faded into mild discomfort.

Everything was fine that beautiful, sun drenched morning until one statement:

"I'm getting married."

Dead silence.

Neji's statement was met with looks of shock from his two former teammates. It was a rare occasion that they all had time to train together at this point in their careers, and it wasn't until each of them had paused to breathe that this information was shared.

Tenten suppressed the urge to vomit, screech, and babble incoherently at the same time. Lee was less successful.

"But Neji! You…you swore NEVER…I do not understand, though I am quite overjoyed by the upcoming of so glorious a celebration of youth and the power of love and…." Lee continued to babble in the background of Tenten's hearing. There was too much or a roar in her ears to continue to give him her full attention. Neji would not meet her searching eyes, choosing instead to look resolutely forward.

Neji was going to get married, and not to her, the woman who loved him. They were best friends, a relationship forged at first through the mutual aggravation toward green clad beings.

"…and Gai-sensei will of course be so excited…."

Funny enough, it was not Neji who had needed to warm up to his team. It had been Tenten at first. Neji had entered Team Gai with the attitude that it was his duty to succeed, which required at least a guise of cooperation and attempt to conceal SOME of his disdain. It helped that Gai-sensei had immediately shown that he was a force to be respected (in a purely professional aspect).

Tenten had entered the all male team with the expectation of being coddled and needing to prove herself at every turn, which had made her caustic, unfriendly, and unnervingly driven. Gai made it clear quickly that he expected her to work just as hard and made no reference to her gender. In fact, Tenten had often wondered if he was even aware of it. Lee was impossible to resist forever, almost like a really cute fungus. And Neji had cracked that ice with a well placed sarcastic comment under his breath about the undue flexibility of spandex in certain…areas of anatomy. Tenten had snorted so hard she choked on her drink. It was friendship from then on.

Her drive had remained, though she was a softhearted girl underneath all that shell and let it show in a sisterly fashion to her new friends. Until, one day those damn hormones had kicked in and made a disturbing point of Neji's very fine physique…

"…But I would NEVER betray the lovely Sakura in such a fashion of course…."

Dammit, he still would not meet her eyes.

Over time, and missions apart, Tenten and Neji made it a point to have time together to catch up. Tenten was sure she was the only person Neji honestly told every detail of his life to. She did the same. Eventually she realized her true feelings for the Hyuuga prodigy, and cursed herself for months for craving the one thing she could not have. She respected him for maturing into a thoughtful, cautious and brilliant shinobi. She loved him for reasons she could not name. It was a silent understanding between them that nothing would never happen because of his decision to avoid marriage. She avoided pointless confessions and focused on continuing to there for him as the best friend possible.

Until now.

"OH! I understand now! It is the glorious sunrise of youth in Tenten, the most honorable of women, that you wish to join in matrimonious harmony, yes?" Lee looked expectantly at both teammates, hope and happiness shining in his eyes.

Neji looked to be in shock at such a statement and finally turned his face to the group. Tenten wanted to throttle Lee.

Lee was cursed with naivety and a lack of tact, not stupidity. He noticed far more than most people were comfortable with him revealing (loudly) and Tenten had beat into him for a long time to keep such things to himself. Clearly a revisit to such lessons was in order.

She knew Neji didn't want to marry due to clan politics, she knew he kept a distance from women for that purpose, she knew his heart suffered for it. She knew he craved her presence and it had been hinted that he wished she would fall for other men and lead the life she deserved.

"I will be bound to the Lady Hinata, as is the will of Lord Hiashi."

Now that, she didn't know.

Lee's smile faded into a rare serious expression. "This will make you happy?"

Neji glanced at Tenten's stiff form. "It is Lord Hiashi's attempt to merge his brother's bloodline back to the Main House and show peace to other branch families. It is a move that will only benefit the clan."

Political union. A exactly created bethrothal with no emotion behind it. The kind that often left people…dissatisfied. Suddenly Tenten felt she could breathe again.

Neji chose at that moment to politely excused himself, sorrow evident only in his eyes to the two people who knew him best.

As he left, Tenten called out to him. "How soon?"

Neji paused long enough to reply, "two weeks" before continuing to walk away. Lee turned in devastation to his female companion. "Are you going to just let him leave?"

He watched a wicked smile form slowly on her lips. A sign that trouble was about to brew.

"Oh no, Lee. I'm not giving up that easily at all…."