The apartment was up in arms as people scurried about in preparation for the party tonight. Naruto pushed through the chaos to try and locate Hinata. Sasuke followed close behind him .
"Naruto!" A soft voice exclaimed from across the apartment. Hinata was in the kitchen with her sister. Sasuke recalled that her name was Hanabi but he truthfully only met the sister once before.
"Hina!" Naruto waved at her, his face lighting up when he saw her. The two men made their way over to the elegantly dressed women. "Sorry that we are late. We kind of lost track of time." Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. Hinata raised her eyebrow at the both of them and then glanced at her sister. She sighed and walked around the counter to Naruto. Placing a quick peck on his cheek she replied. "Actually, your early. I only told you four because I knew the two of you would lose track of time while having that drink."
Naruto gave his girlfriend a shocked look before giving a sheepish grin in guilt to being caught. He returned the peck on her forehead as her pulled against his chest. Sasuke turned his gaze from the couple to give them some privacy. He glanced at Hanabi and greeted her with a nod which she returned.
"So boys." Sasuke looked back to Hinata. "Now that you are here, do you think you could give me a hand moving some chairs to the balcony? It is the last thing big thing that has to be done before tonight."
"Sure." Naruto replied. Hinata glanced to Sasuke for his answer which he replied with a nod. She smiled brightly before taking them over to the chairs that need to be moved.
After they finished, Naruto and Sasuke found a nice quiet spot to sit that was out the way. With another beer in hand that Naruto manage to swipe from the fridge, the two waited. Naruto chatted away and Sasuke listened. The time passed quickly and guest began to drift in. Old comrades, their girlfriends/wives, and people that had been close to Neji throughout his life had been invited. Naruto and Sasuke had separated at some point and began to mingle among the guests.
"Uh. Excuse me!" The group quieted down as Hinata spoke." I think everybody is here now. So…I want start with thanking all of you for coming tonight." Hinata nervously searched for the right words. "We came here tonight to remember a good man." Her voice cracked. "Neji wasn't the easiest person to get to know. Not that he made it easy on anyone to do that. But, the fact that you are all here today means that it wasn't impossible." Sasuke could see that she began to struggle. Naruto quietly stepped up behind her and grabbed her hand. "To me he was a beloved cousin. To some of you he was a soldier. A captain. A friend. A mentor." Hinata paused and glanced to the corner of the room. Sasuke's gaze followed hers and for the first time in over a year he saw her. Tenten Hyuga.
"And to some he was more. Tonight isn't about mourning him but instead to celebrate his life. So please." Hinata grabbed a glass from a nearby table and raised it in the air. "To Neji."
"To Neji!" Glasses were raised high in the air and voices cried out in unison but Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the woman in the dark blue dress who's head was turned down. Then as if the flood gates had been released the crowd dispersed and he lost sight of her. Sasuke twisted around to see if he could catch a glimpse of her. Nothing. No sign at all of the brunette.
"Sasuke!"
He turned towards the voice that called out to him. He found Sakura Haruno pushing through the crowd to him with a wine glass in hand. The last time he saw his former girlfriend was almost three months ago.
"It has been a while. How have you been?" She asked. Sasuke shrugged in response and she grimaced at the man. "Still a man of few words."
"Isn't that why we broke up." Sasuke muttered quietly. However, the words didn't evade Sakura's ears.
"Yeah, and it is why I am now sleeping with your brother." She snapped quickly back at him. Sasuke flinched slightly at her words. After they had broken up, Sakura had gone out with one or two guys but none of them really worked out. Then, a little over a year and a half ago at one of Hinata's gathering while Naruto and Sasuke had been deployed Sakura had reunited with Itachi. Since then the two have been inseparable. She even followed him overseas. Sasuke can still recall the awkward phone call with Itachi when he broke the news to him that he was dating Sakura. Not that he really cared. If she was going to be happier with him, and if his brother was happy with her then who the hell was he to stop them.
"How is my brother doing?" He asked.
"Busy. But you would know that if you called more often?" She sarcastically remarked.
"Well sorry if some of us are busy running the family business here." Sakura smiled at his comment and pulled him into a one arm hug.
"That's why you have Naruto helping you, you ass." Her voice was soft as she whispered into his ear. Sasuke pulled away quickly. "Speaking of which, where is that fool?" Sakura continued unfazed by Sasuke's reaction. She brought the wine glass to her lips.
"Probably with Hinata. I doubt he will leave her side tonight." Sasuke knew that Hinata would need him by her side tonight.
"What about you?" Sasuke raised a brow in question to what she meant. "It has been almost three years Sasuke since we broke up and you have been a civilian for almost eleven months now. Is there no one's side that you would rather be beside right now?"
Tenten flashed through his mind for the briefest moment. He shook his head but the look in her eye told him that she didn't believe him.
"Okay… Well I am going to see if I can catch Hinata for a moment? I will have to leave soon because I have a early flight back and I would hate to go back without seeing her." Sakura turned and left Sasuke to his own devices.
The next few hours were spent talking with old friends from his military days with most of that time being spent with Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru was still in the military but had moved over into intelligence a couple of months after Sasuke and Naruto left the military. The two reminisced about the old days, retelling old war stories and Sasuke listened to new ones but every once in a while he found himself drifting his eyes to the area around him searching for her. It was almost midnight when he finally broke away from the group to get some fresh air.
He figured the balcony would be empty and decided that it would be the best place for a quiet moment. As he approached the glass double doors he noticed a figure was already out there.
Tenten…
He pushed the door open and walked out into the cool night. She flinched at his quiet entrance but after glancing him up and down she returned to leaning against the railing. Sasuke watched as her gaze drifted back across the city, her hands folded out in front of her. Strands of hair fluttered around her face in the gentle breeze. She reminded him of someone who was thinking of the everything and nothing all at once.
Sasuke turned his gaze from her and stepped over to the railing. He leaned his hip against it and looked out to the city. Below, cars passed by and the faint voices of people walking past could be heard. But, to Sasuke it was just absent noise. His mind was on the lone woman beside him. The woman who refused to shed a tear at her own husband's funeral. His gaze turned back to her.
"You were one of his teammates, right?" Tenten beat him to the punch and surprised him in the process. "You posture screams military." The way she said it made Sasuke shifted uncomfortably at that the thought of how obvious it was, not that she meant any harm.
The two stood in silence. Tenten never bothered to look at him and Sasuke couldn't stop looking at her. He gazed over inch of her face as if the answer to the burning question of why he couldn't thinking about her existed upon it. Instead all he discovered how well her almond colored eyes complimented her long rich chocolate hair. That her sun kissed skin was uneven and that at the edge of her jawline was a little faint scar. An old one that never quite healed.
"…I am sorry."
Sasuke onky had to whisper the words and it was as if the world froze for just a second. Tenten knew it was coming, but it never seemed to get any easier. She pushed herself upright. Her hands griped the railing but her gazed remained forward. Sasuke watched as her chest began to rise in shallow breaths, as if she was struggling to breath.
Stop. Breathe.
"Holding it in will only make it worse." He stated bluntly without a second thought, instantly regretting it.
Well shit…
"What the hell would you know about it?!" She hissed as she turned to face him for the first time. As her eyes caught his gaze, she wanted nothing more than to take back the words. The look in his eye was one Tenten knew well because she saw it everyday in the mirror. It was the look of the deep, unspeakable pain. The pain of a boy who lost his parents to soon. The pain of a lover who now sleeps in a cold bed. The pain of unspoken words, and of harsh ones. The kind of pain that could haunt a soul for eternity. For Tenten, looking at Sasuke was like looking at a mirror of herself.
Sasuke didn't know what to say and decided that it would be best to just leave. He stepped towards the door to turn to head back in, cursing at himself internally.
"Wait!" Tenten reached her hand out in front of him to stop him. The action surprised him. After her reaction to his comment, this was the last thing he would have expected from her. "I am sorry…Neji always said that I had a temper…sometimes I just react without thinking." Her words tumbled out as her gaze danced across the floor as she searched for the right words. As she waited for Sasuke to do something, anything really, her teeth grazed across her lower lip. Despite the tension, Sasuke couldn't help but notice of how cute looked she right now.
"I should have put it better."
Tenten nodded slowly. Her lips pursed together, not really knowing how to respond. Her gazed flickered to everywhere but to him. She couldn't bring herself to look at him just yet.
"You know, don't you?" Tenten voice was soft. Sasuke didn't need ask to know what she was speaking about.
"My parents died when I was ten. Car accident." Sasuke spoke blankly.
"Shit, I am sorry. I..." Now she was the one lost for words.
"I guess we both assholes." Sasuke chuckled at his own remark and Tenten couldn't help but smile a little bit. The tension was still there but now it seemed softer. "Would you like a drink?" Sasuke asked. Tenten sighed in relief.
"I would love a drink. A beer would be great." Tenten smiled softly. Sasuke gave a quick nod before turning to find themselves a drink.
I will admit that I struggled to right this chapter, particularly the Tenten and Sasuke bit. I probably rewrote like five time before it seemed to fit for me. Let me know what you think. Reviews are always welcomed.
