Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: What?! A third Tenten-centric chapter?! What? I didn't leave you guys hanging?! *Gasp*…okay so some of you might have already known I wasn't that much of an asshole so you knew this would come around eventually but still! Let me dream!

A/A/N: The "house" and the "Shop" are two separate entities.

A/A/A/N: also sorry for the excessive amount of dialog but this was one of those chapters so please deal with it for now.

Chapter 26

The ray of light that seemed to encase Ino when she stepped out the car was enough to make anyone feel weird. Almost as if someone was telling her that she truly was her angel sent from heaven, but even that blessing in and of itself wasn't enough to make Tenten's heart move past where it seemed to be stuck at.

It was still raining when Ino found her, though not as hard as it was when she called, and the panic that was so clear in her voice before was shown so brightly on her face as she near tripped racing to her from the other side of the street, not waiting for Choji to turn the car around. When Tenten saw her, she stood slowly, feeling her legs wanting to give away again – from either exertion or heartbreak she couldn't tell – and was surprised to have the girl lodging herself into her arms almost instantly after, umbrella dropped and eyes watering just enough to make someone who had just stopped crying, cry again.

When Choji came up to them, he held up the umbrella and gave Tenten a parka of some sort that smelled of lavender, a sign that it was Ino's, before leading the two back to the car where she was sure to hear a proper mouthful from the, now fuming, blonde.

But she didn't. Instead, the car ride was quite. The radio wasn't on, Choji wasn't trying to make small talk and Ino wasn't yelling. It was just quiet…and she hated it. She wanted to speak to get the conversation flowing, to make things less awkward, but her voice wouldn't come to her. Only squeaks. Small squeaks that shocked her into crying again. So aside from the sound of her gross sobbing, the car ride was relatively quiet.

"You want some tea?" Ino asked as she approached her with a change of clothes, all too big for both girls. "Sorry. Today is wash day so only Choji has some comfortable clothes that you can change into for now while your clothes dry."

Tenten nodded as she took the long shirt that was sure to cover her down to her knees then smiled up at Ino sadly. "Water's fine."

She made a face at her before getting up from her knees and heading towards the kitchen area, stopping at the door before speaking. "Choji can you make us some Chamomile tea…and warm up some pound cake as well please.

"Got it." Choji yelled back, making Ino smile before she turned back to a smiling Tenten ad sitting down comfortably.

She looked at her friend and smiled softly before moving to push her bangs out of her face before allowing her hands to fall to her lap with a huff. She sighed as she looked ahead towards the TV that sat in front of them then moved to get the remote. "Go take a shower." She started. "I don't want you to get sick. Leave your underwear and clothes out on the counter and I'll wash and dry them later."

She stood, bowing a little before she started walking towards the back. "Thank you." She started.

"I'll be here when you're done." She sighed before turning the volume on the TV higher and burying her face in her hands out of frustration, just as Tenten vanished around the corner.

The look that crossed his face when he saw her was enough to make anyone's day really. So it was of no surprise that she so openly forgot herself when she was once again in front of him. She knew for quite some time now that he had been back, but since he himself never approached her about his return she didn't probe him on it – plus his old phone number wasn't working anymore.

When she felt the light squeeze at her side is when she remembered who she was once again, and at the same time, was when she moved to bring her worried son closer. Neji had noticed the boy before she did and the look on his face changed drastically when he reached for a hand shake instead of a hug before he showed them to the table. It was at that moment that so many questions roamed through her mind.

Three years. That was how long it had been since she knew that the war ended and the solders returned home. She remembered seeing him in the background of a picture of some blond boy kissing some random girl at the airport and wondered when, or rather if, she would hear from him again, and though three years was more than she was expecting, she was still rather happy with the invitation.

There was so much she wanted to show and tell him that she was unsure of where to start, like how she finally got the hang of perfectly throwing those Kunai he got her for her birthday one year or how she was a mother now – a widowed mother – but Neji had been ahead of her, already deciphering what the child's name was and whose son he was long before she could truly say anything about it. Strangely enough it made her happy, made her feel something she had forgotten about from whenever she was around him, and she liked the return of such thoughts…that is until he told her when he wanted to meet with her in the first place.

Honestly, she wasn't prepared to have that letter thrown on her and was hardly that comfortable with Katsurou suddenly being thrown into the midst of it all to swallow all that information about his father in one sitting, but she had promised herself that she wouldn't run from Neji. Not that she knew why she felt the urge to run from him before, she still promised to not do it when she saw him, so she sat through the reading, through the pain that encased her as memories of her short lived marriage resurfaced form the very back of her mind.

It was all too much really. She had thought the reunion of her and Neji would have brought her nothing but happiness and a form of escape from the deep feeling of loneliness that encased her, something that accommodated her husband's death, but as it turned out she was wrong. Instead it made her remember him more. It made her feel guilty for something she knew she didn't do, and even worse, made her feel responsible for bringing the letter addressed to his mother, the woman who only caused her to stress that much more.

Yet she couldn't blame Neji. After all, he had been through enough as is. For three years he struggled between wanting to carry on his Gunso's wishes and not wanting to get involved with the widowed wife of said person, but the friend in him had won out. Plus he was stressed from staying cooped up in the Hyuga compound and the effects of the war was taking its toll on his judgement skills, making him a little more fidgety than usual. So even if she did blame him for ruining her fantasies of seeing him again, she wouldn't be able to find it in her to just push all her worries onto him.

So, after all the crying had stopped, the rain had washed over what it could and she was back in his car, drying off to the best of her abilities with the towel he had offered, she found that she couldn't be nothing but happy with Neji's presence.

Where did things start to go wrong? She thought as she stepped out of the bathroom, running her hands through her hair in some lazy way to detangle the locks. When she turned the corner she wasn't surprised to see Ino turning the TV down, getting ready for whatever she had to give her.

"You're out?" she cooed as she turned towards her, standing. "Hold on. Let me warm up your tea."

"Thank you."

"I called Iruka on your phone. Choji is on his way to pick up Katsurou and bring him here. You two will stay here for tonight."

"No, Ino –"

"I'm not taking "No" for an answer, Ten." She sighed, cutting the older woman up. "You need this, Ten. You've been going through…things, stuff I don't know. I just know that you've been going through it alone." She stared at her, clear eyes searching Tenten's clouded ones for signs of possible lies, and when she found none she looked back to the tea. "I'm going to go warm this up. Wait here. I'll be back."

Tenten nodded then sighed herself as she plopped down on the couch, leaning to where her back was what she was sitting on rather than her butt, then moved to turn up the TV only to give up before her fingers could even brush the buttons on the remote.

"Am I pitiful, Ino?" She questioned just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the microwave and cups clanging from the kitchen.

"At times," Ino admitted, "Yes. Yes you are."

After some time the beeping sound of the microwave echoed and Tenten near laughed when she heard Ino curse under her breath slightly and complain about hot cups and what not, before she was greeted by the blond clumsily stepping over the couch with two teas in her hands, expertly not spilling an ounce. "I mean, you lost your husband of only 8 years in the war. You're a single mother of a quite kid, working two jobs and trying for a third, you've slept with your best friend and he confessed to you only for you to turn him down and avoid him for God knows how long, and then, to top it all off, you ended up falling in love with said best friend only after he had gotten himself a girlfriend."

She sipped at her drink, hissed a little when the liquid touched her tongue then looked back at Tenten to continue. "And she's hot. Choji even said something about her when he found out about the two of them dating, and he typically doesn't pay attention to celebrity gossip but he knew her name. Kiba can't stop talking about her either, and even Shikamaru had to admit that she was a looker."

"You're not really doing a good job at making me feel better you know." Tenten complained as she too sipped at her drink, mimicking what Ino had done earlier, but giving up instead and putting the cup down to let it cool there. "I mean…I get it. I sound so…so fake. I sound like I just think that I'm in love with him because I'm lonely, but that's not the case…at least that's not what I think it is. I mean, yeah I'm comfortable when I'm around him, even after all of what happened, happened, I still feel like I can be myself around him, but that's something I've been able to feel since I've known him."

"What about with Lee?" Ino asked.

Tenten shook her head then moved to sit up properly. "I'm close to Lee too, of course. I've known him longer. But he and I grew up together. We were in the same orphanage for a while before he was adopted by Guy Sensei, and even after then we still hung out long before we met Neji so it feels like he's the closest thing to a blood related brother to me, you know?"

"But it's different with Neji."

She stopped and looked forward, reaching for her cup once more and taking a long swig, ignoring the heat that stuck to her tongue and burned her throat before putting the cup down once more, failing to try to clear her mind. "It…It feels different when I'm with him. I've gotten closer to him than I ever did with Lee and it only stopped when I started dating Shino, so I didn't notice it then…but I'm sure that I've been in love with him too…probably just as long as he has for me."

"But now it's too late."

She nodded. "I…I never thought that Neji and I would be separated. I thought that us two and Lee where like the three musketeers and that no one could come between us…because we wouldn't let them, but then I was the one who ruined everything."

"No." Ino started.

"No I was." Tenten admitted. "I was being…picky. I didn't know how Neji felt towards me so I was just content with being friends with him, but when Shino came around and admitted to liking me despite the closeness between Neji and I…it made me happy."

"So that's why you accepted his confession?" Ino pried. "Because you knew how he felt towards you not because you were interested in him?"

She nodded, a slow smile coming across her face before she brought her knees up to her chest and held herself there in an attempt to hide the tears that started to form. But, of course, Ino knew, and spread her small hand across her back then started rubbing gently as she waited for Tenten to start up again. "I…I feel so stupid." She complained.

"Drink." Ino ordered, making Tenten sit up properly once more before she took another long swig of tea and shivered at the warmth that encased her.

"I never thought I would fall so in love with him." She admitted before putting the cup back down and laying her head on Ino's shoulder. "I didn't think that anyone aside from Neji could make me feel so…comfortable. But he did." She sniffed and whipped at her tears before Ino moved to get her some tissue. "He did…and I loved every minute of it. I loved being beside him despite our differences and what his mother thought of me…and that caused me to, pretty much, abandon the only two best friends I had. But I was so stupidly happy that I didn't even notice what I was doing…and I hurt them. I hurt…I hurt him. I hurt Neji because I was being selfish…And now, I'm miserable without either of them."

"Have you told him?" Ino asked as he finished her tea. "Neji I mean."

"What?" Tenten questioned, shooting up to look her in the eyes for signs of a joke. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you love him." Ino scoffed, rolling her neck before she rolled her eyes. "Drink." She ordered, getting Tenten to finish her drink before she took both cups to the kitchen. "I mean, the worse that could happen is he turns you down for his girlfriend, right?"

"That's pretty hurtful."

"Well I didn't say it would be all flowers and sunshine, honey. Of course someone's going to get their feelings hurt when it comes to love. I mean, think of how Neji must have felt. He confessed by accident and probably wasn't expecting to hear that you never wanted to see him again. That probably hurt him pretty bad. He thought the one girl he loved would be a little more understanding with his feelings towards her and instead she went bat shit crazy on him and further crushed him."

Tenten flinched as the thought crossed her mind. She remembered how harsh she was to him when he accidently confessed. Looking back at it, she could blame it on the fear that took her over and made it hard for her to explain then. Now, she could say it was there because she started thinking that her whole life was a lie, that she could have just as easily avoided being hurt as bad as she's been from her marriage with Shino had either her or Neji just confessed earlier. Yet, at the same time, she was happy with what she had received. She loved her son and she loved her late husband, her friends, her family, all of that, she was happy to have. So, all in all that fear was something that accompanied the confusion she felt towards what could have been and what she's got.

"I don't think I would be able to stay so strong if that happened to me, though."

"Who's to say Neji is staying strong?" Ino challenged. "Maybe he's just hiding everything like he's been doing this whole time with…what did he even go to the hospital for anyways?"

"He passed out in Korea from…shock I guess." Tenten stated. "He has PTSD apparently."

"See!" Ino barked as she came from around the corner with a plate of snacks. "See. That's what I'm talking about. He has PTSD? And he didn't tell anyone? Did he tell you?"

She shook her head. "I just thought that he had some minor anxieties. It seemed like only his family knew how severe it was."

"Well, he hid it pretty well, don't you think?"

She looked at her momentarily before turning to the TV in front of them. She watched the screen for a while, trying to decipher what was going on in the weird game show that Ino had turned on in an attempt to distract her mind. When that didn't work – seeing as nothing was able to truly distract her this time around – she faced Ino once more. "So you're saying that he's just not showing that he's hurt?"

"I'm saying that maybe…" She paused and looked up as if she was searching the roof for an answer before she looked back down. "Ugh. I need a drink. Anyways. I'm saying that maybe he's getting close to his limit. You know, people can only hold in so much before they blow, and God knows Neji's been holding back things since he was young. I mean, who are we to assume that he is perfect."

Tenten blinked, eyeing her friend for a second before smiling a little – granted her puffy eyes did make it look like she was going to cry again – then chuckling as she looked away. "Choji has really grown on you."

"My baby's the sweetest sweet heart available. He balances me out. I learn from him, he learns from me. It's perfect."

"When's the wedding again?"

"This upcoming summer. We're waiting a while before it all gets set into place. I'm planning to go do all that good stuff like wedding dress shopping, color coordinating and stuff like that come December."

"Well I'm glad that you're happy." Tenten admitted. "You deserve it."

Ino smiled before she scooted closer to her friend and wrapped her arm around her shoulder before rocking her gently, getting the girl to lay her head on her shoulder once again. And there they sat, rocking, humming, and staying peaceful for once as everything started to sink in.

Tenten had to admit, the tea did do wonders to her system. She felt a lot calmer than she thought she would from just a hot drink and felt that she could even go to sleep rather easily because of it. Not only that, but talking to Ino had made things less stressful as well. She had a clear mind for once and it allowed her to think things through…and one thing she was sure about was that she was going to tell Neji after all.

She was going to confess.

"Want some wine?" Ino suddenly asked. "I'm going to pour me some."

"I don't like Red wine."

"I have White and Rose as well." Ino admitted with a dastardly smile. "Also have some beer – it's not flavored though – and some regular and peach vodka. It's really good. Wanna' give it a go."

Tenten laughed and sat up, whipping at her eyes gingerly before stretching and turning to where she was facing the kitchen where Ino was. "I'll just have some wine. Rose sounds good."

"I'm going to spike it."

"I figured." Tenten laughed. "Why do you like to get me drunk?"

"It's not that I like to get you drunk," Ino smiled as she started to pour their respective drinks, adding a shot of vodka to Tenten's wine. "It's more like I don't want to be drunk by myself. I mean, soon I won't be able to drink any, you know."

"Why?" Tenten asked as he reached for the cup.

"I'm planning to get pregnant the first year." Ino admitted just as casually as when they announced their engagement, which made Tenten nearly spit out the small amount of drink she had in her mouth.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Ino sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and leaned forward till her arm were resting on her thighs. She smiled as the thought crossed her mind and couldn't help but feel bubbly before she turned Tenten.

"Honestly, I've been wanting a baby since I got to hold Katsurou." She admitted. "Something…changed in me the moment I held that boy. It's like…It was like love at first sight. Or something like that." She took a sip at her drink – "testing the waters" as she liked to call it – before she downed a good portion of it, shaking in delight before she gasped a little. "I wanted so much to be a mother like you were, to have someone call me Mommy and love me unconditionally. I wanted to know that I…that I made something useful for once."

"Oh, Ino." Tenten started before she put her glass down and reached for her friend, wrapping a tender arm around her bent over back and resting the other on her thigh, flipping the tables on who was comforting who. "You've made a lot of useful things. You owned a flower shop that flourished until you and Choji started that restaurant together, and then you, you went and made that flourish too."

Ino smiled a little, but didn't look up at Tenten so she continued. "Not only that," she started as she scooted closer. "But you also made one man by the name of Akimichi Choji a very, very happy person."

She laughed then and looked up at her finally, smiling brightly. "I did, didn't I?"

Tenten nodded. "And you can only make him even happier, by becoming his wife."

Ino laughed again then sat back and crossed her legs while Tenten reached for her drink again and laid back beside her friend and giggled a little herself. "And I'm sure that once you become a mother, you will make him or her a very happy child."

"Damn straight." Ino squawked as she held her glass high. "Here's to motherhood!"

Tenten laughed then whooped herself before raising her glass to Ino's and clinking them together. "To motherhood!" She cheered.

All she could think of was the face he made when she spoke those words: Leave! Get out!

She knew what it sounded like. Right after he confessed damn near everything to her, and she went and told him to leave?! The more obvious one was that she was rejecting him despite how important to her he was, but the other one, the undermined one, the less obvious thing she was implying was that she no longer wanted to see him.

That was harsh.

She pretty much ripped his heart from his chest, broke it into many pieces then stomped it till it was nothing but dust…but even that wasn't enough to explain how hurt she made him. After all, he had no heart left for her to take away...since she was always carrying it with her in the first place. So, for a more accurate form, it was like she simply, handed him his heart back, called it disgusting, then left. That was how bad she hurt him…and to this day she regretted it so much.

"Sorry" she sighed as she woke up from her sleep.

It had been days since she last saw or heard from Neji and she had to admit that everything seemed to be a lot duller since the incident. Her rent was getting raised, her highest paying job was letting people off and she just so happened to be one of them, and Katsurou was being bullied in school – though that one she was unsure of since he wouldn't talk to her about it – so, to say that she was still thinking of him, of the face he made when she told him to "leave", was the same as saying that it was something that bothered her just as much as everything else that was happening to her.

She sighed as she reached up, pulling the trigger for the bus to stop before she got up and gathered her things to get off. "I've got to call him." She sighed. "I need to apologize."

That was when her phone sounded, scaring her to practically jump off the bus and struggle to bring her awkwardly swung over purse to the proper side before digging through and quickly answering the phone.

"Hello?" She huffed.

"Tenten?"

She blinked then pulled the phone back and read the name with a slight frown. Sure she said she needed to apologize, but that didn't mean that she was ready to do so right then and there. So she sighed and placed her hand on the arm of her purse, gripping it tightly to calm herself down while she bit down on her lip and returned the phone to her ear. "Hey, Neji."

She jumped herself awake for some reason, having been scared from the memory just as much as she was when it actually happened. When she was finally able to make since of reality again she turned to see what the warm thing was beside her only to smile when she saw Katsurou sleeping tenderly beside her, resting his messy bed head on her arm and gripping to the sleeve of the shirt she had on. The smile stayed as she moved to encase her son in her arms, kissing the top of his head before she cuddled closer to him and silently thanked Choji for carrying her to a room.

She sighed though, when she was able to get comfortable again, and stared ahead towards the wall in front of her as thoughts raced through her mind. Thoughts of Shino, of her step mother, of her rent, her job hunting…and of Neji.

"Tomorrow for sure." She whispered. "I'll tell him tomorrow."