Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Tenten's family, the Kingdom of the Dragons, and Doushi.

Note: Thank you to everyone who alerted, favorited, and reviewed this story. It really means a lot to be. I hope that you will continue to read this story.

Chapter 10

~~~~~Several Days Later ~~~~~

It was finally time for the Queen Reiko's funeral. Everyone from other kingdoms that were invited was present. The ninjas from Konoha had known that they would be attending a funeral therefore they brought along black clothes proper for a funeral. It was tradition that the normal people were allowed to see the ceremony. It would be held as usual at the Head Priestess's temple also known as the Temple of the Dragon King which was extremely close to the palace. This day was a solemn day for everyone and everyone was dressed in black. Although the priestesses were not wearing black clothing.

That day as the ninjas ate there breakfast along with the King and his children they noticed that Tenten was not there. After a while Ino said, "If you don't mind me asking, where is Tenten?"

"Tenten is already at the Temple of the Dragon King. She is getting ready for the purification and ceremony. We will be escorting the body there but during the purification only the Priestesses will be allowed to watch and everyone else will be waiting. When it is time for the ceremony everyone will be allowed to watch," Hayate said. After that there was silence. Once they finished eating they got ready for the funeral. Everyone changed into their black clothes and they went to the meeting point which was just outside where the Queen's body was held. Once everyone was ready they made their way to the temple. It was a relatively short trip as the temple was nearby.

When they reached the temple the ninjas saw Tenten. She was in the middle of a group of priestesses; one who Neji recognized was her aunt Kaori, standing at the bottom of the steps to the temple. She was dressed in traditional priestess clothing but had a hair ornament. The hair ornament had a design Dragon's Blossom in the middle and was surrounded by dragons as if protecting it and the ornament also had bells hanging off the edges. (If you guys have seen or read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles her hair ornament is sort of like Princess Tomoyo's.) Once the carriers of the casket where the body was held arrived she nodded her head. Then she and the other priestesses turned and headed up the stairs. They entered the temple and after several minutes the men that carried the body inside exited and the doors to the temple closed.

After almost an hour of waiting the doors to the temple opened signaling that the purification was over and soon people went up the stairs to get a closer look of the ceremony. Of course the royal family, their guests and the nobles were up front. Once everyone was settled the priestesses came out in two lines. They made some sort of pathway then the men came up carrying the casket and were followed by Tenten who was holding two fans and had a shawl with dragon designs on it. Once the casket was set down Tenten kneeled and the other priestesses moved about and got to their places. Tenten then said some words and summoned all her dragons. The citizens did not seem at all fazed but this as if this was natural for the ceremony which the ninjas had a feeling it was. After several more seconds Tenten stood up and began to dance. As she danced the shawl followed her movements and the dragons as well seemed to dance along with her. The other priestesses also danced along with her. The people who were seeing this for the very first time and even those who were seeing it again could help but be mesmerized but the graceful, elegant, and refined movements of the priestesses especially Tenten. After several minutes of dancing Tenten and the others stopped and kneeled once again. Tenten began to pray,

"Almighty king of the heavens, Dragon King, heed my prayer. Allow this noble soul to rest in peace. Guide and allow it passage into your almighty kingdom. May this soul forever rest in peace."

Once the prayer was over everyone bowed their heads, even the ninjas who were taught what to do. After that they then began to go to cemetery of the royal family members. Tenten was at the head and the priestesses surrounded the casket. Once they reached their destination everyone was allowed to leave a flower on the casket before it was lowered to the earth. The flower giving took quite some time as many of citizens also gave their flowers. Once it was done the casket was lowered into the earth and was buried. People stayed there until it was fully covered and even once that was done they stayed for a while. One by one people went back to their homes until the only ones there were the royal family, the priestesses, and their guests. After several more minutes they headed back. Tenten and the priestesses would be heading back to the temple to change out of the priestess clothing.

Once Tenten was out of her priestess clothing she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The purification and ceremony had gone on without any mistakes. She felt somebody come up to her. "You were great Tenten," the person said.

"Thank you, Kaori-obaa-sama," Tenten said.

"We should go back to the palace, I'm sure that your family and friends are waiting for you," Kaori said.

"Yes," Tenten said. She then followed her aunt outside the temple where guards were waiting to escort them back to the palace. Once they arrived the guards bowed and left.

"The ceremony was perfect Tenten," King Tatsuo said to his eldest daughter she greeted him.

"Thank you, Otou-sama," Tenten said. After that she began to talk to her friends.

"You were really great out there Tenten," Ino said.

"Yeah, it was really beautiful," Sakura said.

"Your performance was extremely youthful Tenten," Lee said.

"Thanks you guys. I was sort of nervous that I would mess something up. I'm really glad that I didn't," Tenten said.

"Did you really think that you would make a mistake? You've been practicing that dance every day since you learned that you would be doing the ceremony and besides you've learned and practiced that dance before," Hayate said.

"Even if I practice it every day doesn't mean I won't make some sort of silly mistake," Tenten told her twin. They continued to talk about how Tenten did a wonderful job at the ceremony. However, in the back of Tenten's mind she was still wondering who had poisoned her mother. She wanted to find the person soon so that she could ask whoever it was why he/she had decided to poison her beloved mother.

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating in such a long time (almost two months). It's just that I've been so busy. I've had a Science Fair project to do, a math project, a paper to write, and normal homework. I've also had Odyssey of the Mind which is a team competition. The competition was on March 3rd and my team got fourth place. I'm sad that we won't be moving on to state but at least we placed. I've also had Match Counts competition. I also have voice and piano lessons on Saturdays. The Saturdays of January and February I've been at school trying to finish up stuff for Odyssey competition and then I had to go to voice and piano so that was quite hectic. Now that the competitions are done I have some free time and since Spring Break started I might be able to update one or two more chapters this week but I also have my other stories to take care of.

Anyway I hope that you liked this chapter. Don't forget to review.