Authors note: Such a warm reception! Loved the attention, I gotta a say. If that would happen every time, I would write so much more. I'm glad you guys like this because I serious love this story. It's about 10 chapters so enjoy the heartache!

chapter 2

TenTen turned the lock in her door with dreariness, shoving her shoulder against it. She wanted to shower and sink into her bed to forget about the failure of today. Not one weapon sold. It was a sting to her pride she wasn't sure how to handle.

Her eyes widened as she stood in the doorway at the celebration that greeted her. Hisato stood at the dinner table with flowers and a banner hanging over it reading 'Congratulations' and confetti littering the floor. He popped champagne as she met his great big smile. "Welcome home, store owner!"

She let the door shut as she composed herself forcing a grin on her face, "Wow."

He wrapped an arm around her, handing her a glass and sitting her at the table. "I made dinner."

"You..what do you mean 'made dinner'?"

"With my bare hands."

He laughed as he went to the kitchen and took the steak out of the oven, setting it on the table. He uncovered the rice and vegetables. TenTen leaned forward, speechless. "It looks right, doesn't it?"

TenTen giggled, "So far."

Hisato portioned some on the plate and handed it to her before making his own. He sat next to her, hosting up his glass, "To you."

Forcing the glass up, she swallowed the champagne and all her misery.

It was later that night TenTen pulled the blanket to her naked chest and rolled to her side, with her back to Hisato, she felt herself feel the sorrow of today. On top of seeing Neji for the first time in nearly a year, she wanted only to be alone and deal with the loss. Whenever she saw him, memories of their time in Rain arose to the forefront of her mind without much warning. She stared at the wall in front of her, and the moment it all began played out on a screen in front of her.

"What's the matter with pretend?" She could hear her old self saying. It was distant but the sound of rain falling outside the open window was loud as it hit tin rooftops. She was cold and shivering as she stood in their shared room. His naked torso, faded but she recalled how it felt beneath her fingertips.

"Reality." His voice, the same deep resonating sound it's been for as long as she could remember. He refused to look at her. Standing in front of an open door with silk pajama pants low on his hips as if waiting for the opportunity to run but incapable.

"I don't think you understand the point of pretend. Reality doesn't matter."

"And when pretend time is over?"

"That's a great thing about pretend. You don't think that far ahead."

He had met her eyes then, their closeness suddenly so real, so tangible that she could feel the heat he radiated.

"What happens if pretend is better than reality?"

"You'll never know if you don't try."

"Then do you want to pretend, TenTen? Even if it's just for a moment?"

"Yes-"

The moment she whispered, Neji swept against her lips, one hand cupping the back of her head and the other pressing her back, pulling her hard into his body. Her arms automatically wrapped around him. With the back of his foot, Neji slammed the door and spun her around, their feet tripping on one another until her back hit the wall. His hands slipped down around her thighs and lifted her and on instinct, her legs wrapped his hips. The towel at his neck fell so her hands could feel his skin. It was hot and soft and full of thick muscle that she had dreamt about night after night. Their lips twisted in hundreds of different ways, attempting to get closer, their mouths widened, tongues battling, but it was never close enough. No matter how they pressed to each other, they wanted more, needed more.

And then, TenTen opened her eyes as he shatter their moment, popping the invisible bubble they wrapped themselves up in.

"Here comes reality."

His voice echoed in the darkness.

TenTen flinched when a hand dropped on her shoulder. Hisato tiredly murmured. "There was another part to that letter. They wanted any pictures you have of the Hokage when you were younger." He got up and went to the bathroom.

TenTen stared at the wall. She wanted to dive back in the memories. Into the moments that she had shared with him. They were only a handful. Brief moments but it was the last time she had felt any excitement in her belly, any rush of adrenaline, any deep desire that couldn't be sated.

She stood, pulling herself out of that illusion and chastising herself for it. She knew better now. It was never going to happen. She needed to let it go. TenTen yanked on some pants and slipping a shirt over her head as she went into her closet. She shifted through boxes, pulling random objects out of her way. Hisato stood at the entrance watching as she reached for a box way above her head. He stepped in, reaching over her by a foot and grabbed the box for her. She glared openly. "I didn't need help."

"You never do." He sighed as he followed her to the bedroom, setting it on the bed.

TenTen slipped a knife from under the bed and slid it along the seam, ignoring the skeptic look from Hisato, "Like you didn't know that was there." He shook his head, saying nothing.

She quickly asked, "Could you get me a glass of water?"

He hesitated, looking at the unopened box but succumbed and ran to the kitchen.

TenTen opened it and the first item was a team picture. Gai, Lee, Neji, and her gathered to take one rare photo. She yanked it off and shoved it in the nightstand drawer. Hisato returned with the water and she thanked him taking a sip as he dove into the box. He was disappointed for the most part finding awards from her genin days that had best marksmanship, archery, swordsmanship, and other random weapon awards. He became a bit worrisome as the awards began to stack up.

"I just opened a weapons' shop, you think I don't know how to use them all?" She scoffed shoving them all away, digging further down. Deep in the bottom were the pictures she was looking for. She pulled them out and became quiet. He leaned over her shoulder before snatching it out of her hand.

"This is your class?" Astonishment sounded in each syllable as he looked over the faces.

She shrugged going through other random photos.

He pointed, "This is Nara Shikamaru. He's the Hokage's second-in-command. He's smarter than a computer. This is Uchiha Sakura. She is a world renowned doctor and helped win the fourth Shinobi War...Holy crap...That's...That's Uchiha Sasuke...You knew Uchiha Sasuke?" He blinked at her and she barely gave him a glance. Hisato returned to the picture. He sucked in a breath, "Do you know who you are standing next to in this picture?" TenTen didn't bother looking. She knew all too well. "That's Hyuuga Neji. He's legendary! He's on his way to Council. I can't believe this. Why have you never said anything? I feel like I don't know you."

TenTen scoffed, "You're being ridiculous. I don't know these people anymore."

"But you were there when they were being made. That's got to be something. TenTen, you should use this. Put it in your store. You'll have hundreds flocking to you in no time at all."

She took back the picture as he reached for others. He went on in disbelief as he went through each photo but she disappeared into a past that was long forgotten. Over ten years since she first met her teammates. Lee was more passionate and a little bit blind in his ambition. He had lost some of his fervor after his wife died from an illness a year ago. But he continued pushing forward raising a child all by himself.

Neji...She ran through all her memories of Neji...and sadly she found very few that she was happy about. Their short love affair in Rain was of make believe and pretend and even now, she made it seem like it had been a part of her imagination. That entire week deleted from her real memory and left to the dreamworld. He remained the same: arrogant and conceited till the bitter end. She was thankful that she had moved on. Hisato was a good match for her. His young energy made her laugh and kept her on her toes. He was manly enough to swat down any of her tomboyish qualities. And they still gave each other the space to grow.

She imagined if anything had happened with Neji, she would have ended unhappy. He would never changed enough to form a real relationship.

"Look at this." He held up a picture.

TenTen blinked, confused. It was a picture of her, Lee and Naruto laughing. She didn't remember it ever being taken. She took it up. They had be about fourteen for they were sitting at an old version of the ramen stand. "I can send this in I guess."

With that decided, they packed up all the pictures and awards and Hisato put the box back in its place. TenTen grabbed the photo from the nightstand and stuffed it under the mattress before getting into bed.

"Hey, what if I come by tomorrow after my shift and watch the shop so you can go look for a dress?"

"A dress?"

"It's a formal event. You can't go with anything you own."

"Oche."

"You know it's true." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her backside into him as he got comfortable.

She sighed. "I hate shopping."

"You know any girls?"

TenTen stared at the wall. There were a few.

TenTen sent word in the morning to Sakura, hoping she could meet up to assist her. She felt so stupid that after all these years that there were very limited number of girls that she knew. Hisato came at one with his goofy smile, sending her out. She could feel a black mass of clouds hanging over her. This was something she didn't want to do and she felt her body dragging.

Sakura thankfully showed, waving an arm up in the middle of the marketplace, her three year old daughter skipping in front of her. When she saw four year old Boruto throwing rocks, her heart sank. That meant HInata was here as well and sure enough, she was sitting on a bench waiting.

She smiled warmly, despite hating the fact that Hinata came. There wasn't anything against her, it was simply what she represented. The Hyuuga clan, the one thing TenTen despised.

"I told Hinata what we were doing and she wanted to join." Sakura told her. "The Hyuuga own a dress shop over here. We'll get a discount."

TenTen followed behind with as much positive attitude as she could muster. The kids ran ahead and fell behind only to run ahead again. She watched them play missing Metal. That was the only kid she cared about. Sakura and Hinata talked about the similarities between their kids and this obviously left TenTen out. She was already regretting this.

"What about you, TenTen? You and your boyfriend still doing good?"

TenTen mindlessly went through the aisle looking for whatever. "Yes."

"How long you've been dating now?"

"Two years, I think?"

"Any marriage in the future."

She snorted. "No."

"Why not?" Sakura handed a dress to one of the ladies to take it to the dressing room.

"I'm not marriage material."

Sakura shrugged, "I think that means you just haven't found the one." She approached and snatched a dress off the line, holding it up for TenTen, "Try this one."

TenTen groaned but shrugged.

Hinata wondered softly, "You don't want any kids, TenTen?"

She shook her head, "No. None for me thanks. And it's not HIsato. It's me. I'm not...I've never been. I've never seen myself as a wife." TenTen picked out a dress and was about to hand it to the woman to take to the dressing room but Sakura snatched it back and returned it to the hanger.

"Marriage doesn't change you. You don't have to be wife material." Sakura told her. "I'm still a doctor, everything I have always been. I don't see myself as a wife or mother. But I'm both. I think you're missing the point of marriage."

TenTen followed the girls to the back where the kids currently dived in and out of curtains.

"And what's the point?"

Hinata giggled as if it were obvious. "Love."

TenTen bowed her head, hiding her red cheeks as she stepped into the changing room. She should have known that answer and yet it had been the farthest from her mind. It's not like she didn't love Hisato. But the kind of love to marry...

She nervously eyed the three dresses Sakura had chosen for her. Green, red, or white were her colors of choice. All of them had some sort of jewelry embedded in them at some point so there was no getting out of that. And they all were long ball gown dresses, much to her distaste. She chose the red, simply because it had the less embellished out of the three not noticing the slit until it was too late. She shook her head ready to take it off when Sakura called.

"Let's see it!"

She came through with a straight back and a hard glare. "You can see my ass." She bit and then caught the sight of the two kids. "Butt." She fixed quickly.

"No, you can't." Sakura rolled her eyes. "This is perfect."

The owner of the store came around, adjusting it, placing pins were it needed it, slipping black heels on TenTen's feet to get the proper measurements for the trim. TenTen stared at herself in the mirror. It was a beautiful dress. It was silk and slimming and her breasts looked a decent size in it. She found herself smiling at her reflection. It's been awhile since she actually felt pretty.

The front door to the shop opened with a ding and her eyes slipped casually to it. TenTen ducked down searching for an escape route only to catch Sakura and Hinata's confused gaze.

"Hinata-sama." Neji called.

"Back here, Neji-san."

TenTen quickly straightened herself, keeping her back turned as Neji walked into the dressing area, "I'm here to escort you to the family meeting this afternoon."

"Oh right. I'm sorry, TenTen."

He lifted his head at that point, searching for her. He past right over her, turning toward the door until he felt her staring. When their eyes connected in the mirror, he made no outward change in his appearance. He never did, having such control of his features. TenTen wondered what his heart felt like, if it pounded as fast as she remembered when he had been in her arms.

Hinata got up and picked up Boruto, heading for the door but Neji made no move to follow. She turned around, waiting and confused.

Sakura smiled knowingly, "Isn't it a perfect dress, Neji-san?"

He blinked, moving his gaze toward her, "I have no opinion on such matters. Good day, Sakura-san. TenTen."

TenTen watched him walk out the door. He never once looked back. She dropped her head. Her momentary boost in self-esteem falling fast. Sakura came up behind her with a sympathetic smile. "He certainly had an opinion." Her green eyes drifting, "I still can't he-"

"You like the dress then?" TenTen interrupted refusing to talk about it. Even those that knew about it, that were closest to her, that could perhaps even help. TenTen didn't need help. She never did, as Hisato so kindly put it. She spun around one last time, deciding until she caught sight of the price tag in the mirror and she snatched it up, "Um..Does a boat come with this dress?"