Hey guys! I haven't written Naruto fic in a long time. I had some on my old account that got deleted and its been awhile.

I do want to advise, in the future, this fic will contain violent themes (that's why I'm rating it M) such as PTSD and possible sexual content. Every chapter I will make note on what themes the chapter contains but please be advised that if you do not want to read about such content or feel bothered by it, please don't read. This fic if for entertainment purposes only and I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. I love Nejiten and I refuse to accept Neji's death. This is set in cannonverse but will be a sort of retelling of the story. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

Prologue: Under the Swaying Leaves

As she gazed up at the leaves swaying in the wind, Tenten smiled, enjoying the tranquility of the here and now.

She sat at the base of a tree, back resting against the rough bark that had seen years of shinobi training. Several kunai were laid out around her, an unfurled scroll not too far away. She held one of the knives in her hand, mindlessly twirling it as she watched the leaves dance. A polishing cloth was draped over her leg, threatening to float off in the breeze.

The wind felt nice on her face, causing Tenten to close her eyes and let out a content, inaudible sigh. It was moments like this that made her most happy. Between all the missions and the hustle and bustle of training, it was rare to find a peaceful moment. Whenever they presented themselves, Tenten liked to take advantage of them. She was embracing her youthfulness as Gai-sensei would say.

She let out a quiet laugh, finding it funny and slightly horrifying that she was thinking like her crazy teacher. Five years of knowing him did that she supposed.

"What's so funny?" asked the deep voice from her left.

Tenten moved her gaze from the tree branches to her teammate, Neji, who was, or at least had been, meditating, back to the tree like hers was. His eyes were closed and he was still in the relaxed posture, but Tenten noticed that his eyebrow was raised a little higher than normal as he awaited her answer.

She shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. "Just thinking about Gai-sensei."

The way Neji's mouth twisted slightly caused Tenten to laugh again. Since Neji's face was usually blank and stoic, his facial expressions, especially those of disgust, were very funny to bear witness to.

He opened his eyes at her second laugh and stared at her. "I can't imagine why you're thinking about him when it's so peaceful here."

"Oh come on," Tenten said with her laughter still apparent in her tone, "you love him."

"Tolerate is the more correct term."

Tenten shrugged again, a smile still gracing her lips. Whether he would ever admit it or not (which means never), Neji still had good feelings for his teacher. Even if they were buried deep down within a dark corner of Neji's soul that he had locked away and had thrown away the key to.

Tenten turned back to her kunai, picking up the rag and resuming her polishing. "You are right though, it is peaceful today," she turned her eyes skyward again as her fingers moved. "I wish more days could be as nice as this one."

Neji looked on with her. "We are blessed to have such fortunate weather."

Tenten hummed. "It makes me just want to sit here for the rest of the day until sundown," she groaned. "Too bad I have to help my grandfather out later."

Neji smirked. "Truly unfortunate."

Tenten gave him an indignant look. "It is, you've met him."

"I have. He is a strong willed veteran."

"You mean senile old man." Tenten pouted. She loved her grandfather more than anything, but unless you spent enough time around him to get used to his personality, it was like trying to hold a conversation with a wall. It was impossible.

She finished polishing her kunai and moved on to the next one. "What about you? Anymore plans?"

Neji nodded. "Hiashi-sama asked me to train with Hanabi-sama later this afternoon."

"How is she doing?" Tenten asked. "Hinata mentioned that she's getting even stronger."

"Hinata-sama would be right," Neji responded. "Hanabi-sama is close to mastering the Kaiten."

Tenten paused in her polishing and looked at him, surprise lighting up her features. "Seriously? Isn't she twelve?"

Neji cocked an eyebrow. "I was younger when I mastered it. It shouldn't be that inconceivable for Hanabi-sama to already be at the level she is."

"Yeah, but you're you," Tenten waved her kunai a little, eyes narrowing when she caught sight of his smirk. "And don't take that the wrong way."

"What way?" Neji asked, feigning innocence. "I took it as a compliment."

"Don't," Tenten went back to her task, cheeks reddening slightly. "Your ego is inflated enough."

Neji laughed, which in reality was just an exhale of air while he smiled. "I have no idea of what you're talking about."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Tenten muttered. "I could still take you."

Neji raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening. "What was that, Tenten? Didn't quite hear you."

Tenten glared at him halfheartedly, raising her kunai in challenge. "Don't act so smug. I might not have as many wins as you but I have beaten you plenty of times before. Plus, I know your weaknesses better than anyone."

"Is that a fact?" Neji challenged back.

"Yep," Tenten could feel a smirk of her own rising to her lips. "I know the limit of your stamina; I know how good you are at Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu; and, I know where your blind spot is, your greatest weakness of all."

Neji hummed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Seems like you do have it all down."

Tenten smirked in triumph, settling back against the tree to silently celebrate her victory in this not-quite-an-argument-argument, until he spoke again.

"Since you know all that, you're one of the only people I trust to watch my back in the middle of battle."

The way he said it, like complimenting her was something he did on a daily basis and not some once in a blue moon, stars aligned occurrence is what made her face turn so red it could give Hinata a run for her money. Tenten knew he trusted her with his life like she did him with hers, but to have him say it so bluntly and without conviction made her want to smile hugely and hide away in a deep hole from embarrassment.

The fact that he wore the most smug expression on his face that she had ever seen made it very clear that he knew exactly what he said.

With the determination to retaliate and the need to have an excuse for her flushed cheeks, she jumped up from her position and fired the kunai she was holding in his direction as she created distance between them. She didn't aim for his face but to the side of his head. He didn't even flinch when the knife embedded itself in the tree a mere inch away from his ear.

It made her smile though. Seeing the length of his trust in her to know that he didn't need to dodge was flattering.

Neji looked way too amused. "Didn't we already spar an hour ago?"

Tenten grinned, already feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "So what if we did? Don't tell me you're scared of taking me on twice in one day."

Neji smiled as he rose from the ground. "Not at all. Though," he took his typical fighting stance. "I'm more worried for you, you have far less stamina than I do."

Tenten scoffed, unfurling a scroll from her waist holster. "I thought trash talking was unbecoming of you, Hyuuga."

"I'm not trash talking, I'm stating a fact."

Tenten didn't even give him a chance to smirk before she was unleashing a barrage of shuriken at him.

They fell into a pattern that they had perfected over the years. She attacked, he retaliated. He attacked, she retaliated. Sometimes their sparring sessions mirrored previous ones and during others, one of them would do something completely unexpected and the other would quickly analyze and counter. It was something Tenten wished would never change.

They had been teammates for five years now. With Gai-sensei and Lee always strengthening their Taijutsu skills, Neji and Tenten had turned to each other for a sparring partner. At first, Tenten had seen that her abilities were subpar compared to his, a fact that he had noticed as well. He never outright said it, but Tenten knew that he didn't take her as seriously as one should take an opponent. It had pissed her off quite a bit and she didn't really like Neji when they started out as Genin.

That all changed however when during one of their sessions, she had a moment of what was probably pure adrenaline (most likely a mixture from the fight and her anger towards him) and had sent flurries of senbon at him. For whatever reason, his reaction time was slower than normal and he wasn't able to get away fast enough. Luckily, she hadn't hit any vital points, but his right arm ended up looking like a porcupine.

After Tenten's thousand apologies and a trip to the hospital to make sure Neji wasn't going to die, he looked her dead in the eye and said, "I'm glad it was you. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to miss my arteries."

She grew to like him after that wayward compliment.

The bond between them was unbreakable. All members of Team Gai held a respect for each other, but the connection shared with Neji and Tenten was something else. It was a trust that ran so deep that they didn't have to worry about anything else as long as the other was around to watch their back.

More than sparring partners, they were best friends. When Lee and Gai got up to their usual antics, the two of them would share an eyeroll and suffer on the sidelines together. In some ways, they were trauma bonded. If there was one thing that only Lee and Gai could do, it was to top their most ridiculous stunt with something ten times more embarrassing. Both Neji and Tenten saw things that they could never unsee and the only other person who understood that level of trauma was the other person in their pair.

Neji tried to hit a chakra point in her shoulder but she flipped out of the way at the last second. At some point in their fight he had brought her into close combat. She summoned a bo staff from her scroll and was using the momentum of the weapon to make complicated flips and twists to avoid a direct hit from the Gentle Fist.

Being locked in this close quarters fight, Tenten was able to take in every facial expression Neji made. They were always so miniscule, one really needed to be close to him to see the differences between them and his usual impassive face. He went from smug overconfidence to serious concentration. There would be a tiny uplift of his mouth whenever he landed a hit and a slight furrow of his brow everytime she managed to dodge. He didn't even wince when one of her kunai barely grazed his forearm. Watching his face cycle through these expressions was one of Tenten's favorite things about sparring with him.

Unfortunately, Tenten wasn't able to dodge a direct hit to the chakra point on her elbow. The sudden sting due to the loss of chakra caused her grip on her staff to slacken and Neji easily overturned the battle. He used a leg to hook one of her legs out from under her and in that moment of surprise, he took the staff out of her grip. She fell to the ground with a grunt and quickly found the end of her staff pointing at her throat.

It was quiet for a moment before Neji broke it and said in the most condescending voice he was probably capable of, "I win."

"Oh shut up," Tenten groaned and fell flat on her back, catching her breath with a pissed off pout sporting on her face.

Neji did his signature not-laugh again before gracefully taking a seat next to her. "You do know that fighting angry isn't going to help you in battle."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Neither is fighting overconfident yet here we are."

Neji leaned back on his hands. "Confidence stems from victory."

Tenten glared at him before shifting her gaze. The sun was almost directly overhead and the sky was filled with giant, puffy white clouds that floated by at a leisurely pace. She had a feeling that Shikamaru was off somewhere enjoying the same sight she was.

When she spotted one that looked a little familiar to her, she raised a hand and pointed. "Doesn't that one kinda look like Lee?"

Neji followed her gaze and twisted his face in confusion, "How can that possibly look like Lee?"

"It looks like his hair," she waved her hand for emphasis. "See? How it makes that bowl shape?"

Neji didn't look convinced. "If that is what you would like to believe."

Tenten rolled her eyes and gave him a good natured smile. "It's called having an imagination. Not everything needs to be so cut and dry, Neji."

Neji huffed. "I'm a practical person. I prefer things to be cut and dry."

"So do I," Tenten said. "But every once in a while, it's nice to be uncertain of things and just enjoy them for that. Like seeing shapes in floating clouds."

Neji was silent for a moment. "You're starting to sound like Shikamaru."

Tenten laughed, "Maybe he's got the right idea."

The wind blew by just then. A few strands of hair that had come undone from her buns brushed her forehead. She could see Neji's own from the corner of her eye lifted in the breeze. It was such a nice moment, so quiet and calm. These moments, after they were done sparring, were ones she always looked forward to.

They sat like this everytime they finished training. Usually they would recline against a tree under the shade to cool off. Neji would always meditate for an hour after their fight and she would sit a few feet away. Most of the time, she would sharpen her weapons but every once in a while, she would just sit back and relax, enjoying the peaceful moment in time.

When they first began doing it, Tenten would always leave when he started meditating, feeling that she was intruding on a private moment of his. Then, one time when she was packing up her stuff, he ever so casually mentioned that it was okay for her to join him.

She had tried out mediating but quickly discovered it wasn't her forte. Sitting absolutely still and not thinking about anything was hard for her and she was constantly shifting and letting her thoughts drift. So, she settled on cleaning her weapons. She was killing two birds with one stone: maintenance and spending time with Neji.

She watched his hair sway, not for the first time transfixed by how pretty it was. When her eyes travelled from the strands to the profile of his face, Tenten felt a rush of affection wash over her.

She would rather die than tell him that she liked him. Tenten couldn't name a specific time when she fell in love with her best friend. There wasn't any of that dramatic stuff like him saving her at the last minute before being attacked or anything sappy like the way he smiled at her once. There was just one time when Lee and Gai-sensei were doing another stupid stunt and Neji was giving them one of his trademark unimpressed glares that Tenten just knew in her heart that she loved him.

It had happened when they were fifteen, two years ago. Tenten had tried to reason with herself that it was just a brotherly affection, just like the one she saw Lee in, but it quickly became apparent that that was not the case.

She would get the telltale butterflies in her stomach; she would blush whenever he said or did something a certain way to her; she would get unnecessarily worried whenever he was in a pinch even if it was obvious that he could handle himself. It was little things that Tenten would notice that gave confirmation to her thoughts and feelings.

Tenten had divulged this information, when it became obvious to her, to the other girls. Sakura and Hinata had been positively happy when they heard. Hinata even went so far as to say that there was no one else she could picture her cousin to be with (an unexpectedly bold statement from the shy girl that made Tenten very red in the face). Of course Ino, being Ino, after screaming in joy (and shouts of "I knew it!") had demanded that Tenten confess her feelings immediately, an order Tenten had adamantly refused.

Tenten was perfectly content with just staying friends with Neji for the time being, especially since her revelation had come only a few weeks before their second Chunin exams. And if she was being honest with herself, Tenten wanted Neji to make the first move, because she felt that if that job was up to her, she'd want to jump off a bridge in embarrassment.

To some extent even, she felt she wasn't alone in her attraction. After the girl chat, Ino had kept saying that Neji had a thing for her as well, pointing out some of the subtle things that apparently, quote, "every lovestruck guy does when he wants to get some." Tenten had ignored the blonde for the most part, but the other girl's words had made her more aware of the things he said and did.

Such as the way he said her name only slightly different from everyone else, or how he would always check on her wellbeing first when out on a mission even if she was perfectly fine. The little things really did go a long way.

She watched his unwavering eyes gaze at the sky above him. She was patient and was content with waiting for him to make the first move (if her suspicions about him were really true). There was a lot going on right now, with the Akatsuki after Naruto and the many missions her team was being sent on. Plus, she was seventeen, she had plenty of time before a romantic relationship became a prominence in her life.

"We should go," Neji's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "I still have training with Hanabi-sama."

Tenten hummed in agreement, lifting herself up from her position on her back. Neji stood before she did and offered a hand to her. "Ever the gentleman," she thought as she accepted it.

Once up, she dusted herself off and set about collecting her weapons. "Just so you know, I will win next time."

"Oh?" Neji questioned, highly amused. "And how will you go about accomplishing that."

"A kunoichi never reveals her secrets," Tenten said airly. She bent down to seal a katana away in her scroll before slinging the thing over her shoulder, securing its hooks. "You'll just have to use that genius brain of yours to figure it out." She set off in the direction of her home, knowing full well he would follow. He always insisted on walking her home.

Sure enough, his footsteps were behind her instantly before he came into view beside her. "Indeed I shall."

Tenten smiled at him smugly as they walked. They fell into casual conversation along the way, mainly about their team and friends with the occasional teasing comment thrown in. It was comfortable and companionable, something they both enjoyed immensely. When they reached her house, Neji departed with a farewell and Tenten gave him a little wave as she watched him go, taking in his broad shoulders a bit longer than what was necessary before entering her home.

Immediating, before she could even shut the door behind her, a gravelly voice called from within the house, "You're late."

Tenten rolled her eyes as she removed her shoes, "Sorry Gramps. I got caught up training with Neji." She glanced at the clock on the wall and narrowed her eyes. "And from the looks of it there are still eight minutes until four."

Her grandfather scoffed before appearing in the doorway to the kitchen, "You know that when I say four I expect you here at three-thirty."

Tenten mocked bowed. "My deepest apologies to my dearest grandfather."

He scoffed. "Enough with the theatrics and follow me." He turned around and went back the way he came, Tenten following with a grin on her face.

Bingwen Zhou, or Wen as he's called by everyone despite his displeasure, was a man in his early seventies, though he certainly didn't look it. He was tall and muscular and covered in scars from his time as a shinobi. Once dark brown hair had turned silver and was cut short above his ears. His dark brown eyes were narrow and naturally angry looking, a stark contrast to his granddaughter's. At the moment, he only wore dark pants, leaving his upper body in plain view. It was riddled with small nicks and a particularly large and nasty looking scar adorned his hip, an injury he had sustained during the Second Great Shinobi War. If Tenten didn't know him, she would assume he was in his fifties at the latest and a great hobby of hers was watching the shocked faces of those that didn't know him find out his true age. It was quite the spectacle.

He padded quietly through the kitchen and into a small workshop. Wen was a Jonin and skilled Bukijutsu user, as well as a member of the elder council of the village (though he rarely made appearances for he detested politics and could care less about the other elders opinions). People always marvelled at his skill and asked him to train them, but he always adamantly refused, declaring he was no one's teacher and if they were pursuing him, they were wasting their time. He was the most stubborn man Tenten had ever and would ever meet.

The workshop was quite large, stacked to the brim with crates of shuriken and kunai. The far wall was lined with various swords of different types and blades. Shelves were lined with scrolls and various mismatched ninja tools. A large desk sat against a wall, scattered papers and shuriken haphazardly thrown about. A large smithing table stood in the center of the room with Wen's signature scythe lying on top. In the corner of the room stood the altar to Tenten's parents.

Her mother and father had died before she had even become an academy student, having been killed while on a mission. Tenten had foggy memories of her parents, limited to her father teaching her how to properly hold a shuriken and her mother styling her hair. She had been raised by her grandfather since.

Both of them did a slight bow to the picture, as was custom in their household. Tenten gave the picture (the one of her parents on their wedding day) a tiny smile before spinning to face her grandfather. "So what is it you needed my help with?"

Wen pulled a scroll off of one of the shelves, "Unseal everything in here and sharpen them."

Tenten took the scroll and laid it on the smithing table. She bit her thumb and spread the blood over the complicated seals. In a poof of smoke, several throwing knives appeared.

Tenten picked one up and turned it over in her fingers, examining it. It was a heavy handled one with a thin blade and by the looks of it, it had seen some fights. "This is a high quality one, a Black Ronin Triple Bolt," she mused, twirling it around to watch it glint in the light. "Whose is it?"

"An ANBU. Now quit playing with it and get to work, they need to be finished by tomorrow," Wen grunted. He moved to the desk and reached for a stack of forms, squinting at the handwriting.

Tenten smirked as she set about sharpening, still taking time to marvel at the beautiful knife in her hand. "There's nothing wrong with wearing glasses ya know."

Wen grunted again. "I don't need those stupid things," he glared at the paper in his hand. "If you're skilled enough to slit someone's throat without them even noticing then you should be able to write legibly."

Tenten peeked over his shoulder. "Inventory: ten ronin knives; nineteen standard kunai; thirty shuriken; four demon wind shuriken; two sabers."

She grinned at his unimpressed look. "I don't need you giving me sass little brat."

Tenten shrugged, knowing he didn't mean any of his malice. "Tsunade-sama recommended you get glasses for reading. It's common among the old."

Wen scoffed. "That kid has been recommending things to be ever since I've known her, and that was when she was shorter than my knee cap."

Tenten rose a brow, "I would hardly say a woman in her fifties is a kid."

"Listen brat," Wen grudgingly wrote out the list that Tenten recited to him. "Everyone younger than you is a kid and that never changes."

Tenten tilted her chin up in thought. "But you only ever call me brat, never kid."

"That's because you've always been a brat."

Tenten gave him a sour look but Wen remained unfazed. Before she had a chance to comment, he asked, "Have you chosen a weapon yet?"

While talented in Bukijutsu, Wen was nowhere near as versatile with weapons as Tenten was. He mainly stuck to his scythe and various swords, as opposed to his granddaughter who made it a point to master any weapon she so much as touched.

Though he was proud of her for her skill (though it would be hard for him to say it), he still thought it important for her to have a signature weapon, one that she was a grandmaster of. Coming from a long line of weapons smiths, it was a tradition. Wen was a scythe master and her father had been exceptionally skilled with a kusarigama.

Tenten glanced at her father's weapon hanging on the wall and then to the scythe on the table in front of her. She was well versed in practically every weapon, but she had not come upon one that she truly wanted to call her own. At one point, she had wanted her weapon of choice to be a kusarigama like her father, but the blades and chains never felt perfect in her hands. So on the wall it remained and she cycled through the weapons, hoping one day she would find the perfect match.

She still had yet to find it.

Tenten looked down at the knife, seeing her reflection in the blade. "Not quite."

Wen didn't say anything, he only nodded to show that he heard her.

Tenten sighed, "How did you come to choose a scythe?"

"Hiruzen said I couldn't do it when we were Genin. I wanted to prove him wrong."

Tenten gave him a disbelieving look, "You became one of the best scythe wielders ever out of spite?"

"Spite gets you a long way in life," he said plainly.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I can see that. How did you even make it this far?"

"Good question," he was squinting at the documents again. "Wish I had died already."

Tenten groaned, "Can we not start this again?"

"What?" He gave up trying to read the paper and thrust it in her direction. "A shinobi should die in battle, not from old age and misery. Should've died in the third war."

"If you had died then you wouldn't have been able to raise me. And it says that there will be a shipment of senbon tomorrow."

He took the paper back, "You would've turned out fine even if I hadn't been around, you're a tough little girl."

"I'm seventeen."

"Exactly, a little girl," Wen returned the form to the pile and set about drafting a letter. "How about a bow?"

Tenten shook her head. "Takes too much time to reload."

"A lance?"

"I prefer a bo staff."

"Then why not have that be it?"

"Too predictable."

Wen threw a look over his shoulder, "What the hell does that even mean?"

Tenten shrugged, "I use the bo staff all the time, I used it today even. I want to master a weapon that no one would expect me to choose," her voice lowered slightly. "I just hope that I find it."

Wen stared at her with that sharp, penetrating look that she had seen her whole life. Then he got up and stood beside her, resting a hand on her head and patting it slightly. "You'll find it soon enough, brat."

She gave him a tiny smile in thanks and went back to sharpening. The afternoon bled into evening as the two worked, the sounds of sharpening and scoffs filling the workshop.

"Has there been any word from Daiki's squad?" Tsunade asked Shizune, entering her office after dinner instead of going drinking like she wanted, Tonton trotting at her heels.

Shizune regarded one of the scrolls in her arms, doing a sort of juggle to make sure the rest didn't fall to the floor, "No ma'am. I don't have any recent reports from them."

"Hmm, that's not like him," Tsunade sat at her desk and pulled out the mission requests for the past week. "He's never missed a report. What did the last one say?"

"They had come upon the village that they were tasked with investigating," Shizune paraphrased the contents of the scroll. "The bar was completely destroyed, as the mission request stated. The bar owner's daughter was reported missing the night of the incident. There was a small blood splatter found on the wall that matches the type of the daughter. Daiki's squad was going to interview villagers and search the surrounding area."

Tsunade hummed, "I've been to that bar before. She's only around twenty years old." She found the mission request. "I sent Daiki because he's an expert at investigation, if anyone can find her it would be him. I also asked him to keep me constantly updated since I know the client personally. When was that report sent?"

"Six days ago, ma'am."

"Tch," Tsunade spun in her chair and looked out the window at the setting sun, biting her thumbnail with a displeased look on her face. The mission was a B-rank and Daiki, a Jonin, and his squad of three Chunin had been dispatched immediately since kidnappings were time sensitive. The chances of a kidnapping victim surviving more than a few days was rare and the more time that passed the lower their chances got.

It would be a week tomorrow and the odds of the girl being alive were slim. Add to the fact that Daiki hadn't reported anything in, the case was beginning to look worse and worse.

Making her decision as the sun fully set beyond the horizon, Tsunade spun around again. "Shizune, if there is no report by eight tomorrow, I want another squad sent to investigate and find Daiki. And daily reports are mandatory."

Shizune nodded, sensing the urgent tone in the Hokage. "Is there any team in particular you would like me to send?"

"Team Kurenai is still out on a mission of their own," she thought for a moment. "Send Team Gai. Neji's Byakugan will be useful and Gai can be pretty intuitive when he wants to be."

"Yes ma'am, I'll make the arrangements right away," Shizune turned and left the office, leaving the Hokage and her pig by themselves.

Tonton was snoring softly, the only sound in the room now. Tsunade rested a hand on her head and pet Tonton with soothing strokes, not having a good feeling about the situation whatsoever.

Thank you for reading! With all the free time granted by quarantine, I should be writing a lot and getting it out relatively quickly. I have the whole thing outlined, I just have to add words (lol). I hope you enjoyed and I apologize for any grammar and punctuation mistakes I missed, I suck at editing my own work.