Title: Stupid Onions
Summary: One afternoon, Neji comes home and finds Tenten crying over onions.

A/N: Something I came up with while I was making dinner, chopping onions. It's also a spin-off idea from my NejiTen story that's part of my plot archive. And thank you for all the reviews given so far: Toph43, fmorgana-bluenausicaa, IheartItachi-kun, and SunshineGirl09. Your reviews mean a lot to me. :)

Slowly walking up the stairs, Neji entered the apartment at four. Taking off his shoes at the doorway, he slipped them into the shoe rack, contemplating the way the sun light streamed through the slits in the blinds onto the wooden floor. Bringing his gaze up, he found his wife, Tenten, in the kitchen with her head hung over a cutting board. Her hands were balled tightly on the granite countertop, her body quivering, yet eerily still. For the briefest of seconds, Neji thought she might have cut her finger, but when she whimpered and raised her hand to wipe at her face, he saw no blood and sighed in relief before crossing into the kitchen, standing behind her.

"Something the matter?" he asked gently.

"Stupid onions. They're stinging my eyes," she huffed through her sniffles and tear-stained eyes.

Neji peered over her shoulder, staring at the small, uniform squares of white onion resting on the plastic cutting board. Her knife was placed to the side, some more small squares pillowing it from the board. To his right, he spotted the yellow-orange light of the setting sun dancing in the sink basin.

Staring down at the onions, his brows knit in puzzlement. From what he could smell, there wasn't enough sulfur to make anyone cry. And he knew for a fact that Tenten, the famed weapons-mistress of Konoha, wouldn't cry this much over chopping onions.

Scanning for what else could have caused her tears, he scanned the countertop, taking in the neatly stacked white dishware and the wooden cupboards by their heads. He checked her hands again for blood and noted her knuckle-white grip on the edge of the counter while her left arm was slung over her stomach and gripped the sleeve on her right arm as if to physically hold in the tears.

And suddenly…instantly…he knew.

He and Tenten had gotten married two years ago. They were a relatively young couple, having gotten married at twenty-one, but their occupation rarely left such luxuries as time.

Not much had changed since they became married; Neji was a bit more careful on missions, and Tenten retired from Anbu to take a job teaching at the Academy. They bought a small apartment for themselves, decorated it, and did all the things married people did. Often times, Neji would wonder how he had ever lived without knowing Tenten and marveled at how much he loved the idea of being married. He didn't think he could be happier. Then Tenten told him she was pregnant.

To say Neji was ecstatic would be an understatement. During the first few weeks after the announcement, Neji practically glowed with pride. They did all the things expecting parents did; they bought a crib, decorated the baby's room, stared at her stomach, and picked out names from a book. It seemed like a fairytale made just for the two of them.

Then, it happened. One day, while teaching class, Tenten started feeling sharp pains in her stomach. They roiled and raged in her body; blood began to soak her pants and run thin spider web trails down her legs. She felt nauseous and scared; her students did too. Everyone started screaming. Teachers from other rooms came to check what was going on. Tenten passed out; the last thing she remembered seeing was Kurenai's concerned face.

When she woke up in that sterile hospital room, Tsunade's face was immediately apologetic. Before the words even left her idol's lips, she knew.

"I'm sorry."

He had been on a mission at the time, but he was called back. A replacement was sent as he sped back to Konoha, Tsunade's letter in hand. All he could think was that it was a mistake; surely this letter was meant for another Neji.

And when he found her waiting at the gates, lips quivering and body trembling, he felt his heart sink and the world pull out from under him; he knew. He just knew, and it crushed him. Unable to hold it, she launched herself into his arms. Quietly and consolingly, he caught her and embraced her and told her it was okay as he felt the weight of their combined grief. And as she cried into his arms, the dreams of dirty diapers and baby names floated away.

After that, there were the sympathy letters; the quiet pitying stares. They locked their doors, didn't leave the house as they mourned the joy of their life. The crib was put away, the walls painted over; the baby book put away and forgotten. Their house felt like the joy had been sucked out, and only the memory of crushing loss remained.

That had been six months ago. At that time, Tenten had been two months pregnant. If it had survived, they would've been frantically preparing for its arrival next month, and Neji smiled faintly at the idea of a fall baby.

However, life moves on and gradually, normalcy flowed slowly back into their lives. Neji started going back on missions, and Tenten went back to the Academy. Tenten was never the same after that, though. He had suggested trying again, but the haunted look on her face forced the topic down and they never spoke of it again.

But that was months ago. He had thought by now she would've gotten over it, but looking at her closely, he supposed she just pushed it down. Though he had accepted the loss of their child, he supposed Tenten was still adjusting to the idea. After all, she was closer to their unborn child since she was the one carrying it.

The short erratic sounds of her sniffling brought him back to the present day. She had begun crying again, her arms cradling what would have been a swollen stomach. Under her breath, she muttered, "Stupid onions."

And sighing, he closed the gap between them and let his arms wrap around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he held her close and felt her shoulders relax ever-so-slightly against him. Breathing in her scent, he let his warmth flow into her body as he gently held her.

"Onions are stupid," he agreed.