The sound of the doorbell echoed as her finger left the bell.

"Coming," she could hear an unfamiliar voice as hasty footsteps ran towards the door.

The door opened, she found herself staring at a confusing scene.

A tall boy stared into her brown eyes, it was as if time was drunk and threw her into a wrong dimension; she thought she saw Shikamaru, but the eyes she found staring at her reminded her of someone else.

"Tenten-san," the boy called her name, greeting her with a nod as he held the door for her.

"Eh, thanks Shikadai," Tenten blinked and walked, noticing the boy was putting on his shoes.

"Where're you heading?"

"Sleepover at Boruto's," Shikadai smiled at her, before turning around and shouted. "I'm leaving!"

"Be safe!" Tenten snapped back into reality, hearing a familiar voice, footsteps heading towards her way as the door shut behind her.

Before she knew it, there she stood - her blonde hair neatly tied up into four bunches, her tall lean frame wrapped in a dark blue kimono. Temari smirked at her.

"Come on in," she said, as Tenten finished removing her sandals.

Tenten followed Temari into the dining room, where Shikamaru was sitting, flipping over a newspaper. He looked up as she walked in.

"Yo," he said, putting down the newspaper. Temari went by his side and knelt down, she picked up the bottle of beer and poured him another cup.

"You want one?" She asked Tenten. She shook her head. "Beer's not really my thing."

Temari shrugged and stood up, walking back into the kitchen.

Shikamaru took a sip from the foamy cup, he licked his lips as he put the cup down.

"I assumed you'd be wondering why I had asked you to come here." Shikamaru blinked, his dark brown eyes stared at Tenten as she looked back at him.

She could feel a strange tingle along her spine, her mind boggled with excitement and fear at the same time.

"Yes."

"I have a mission for you, Tenten," he said. "A mission which only you could do."

She held her breath in anticipation.

"Mission or what not," just as Shikamaru was about to say something, Temari walked inside, holding a pot in her hand. "Dinner is ready."

She said nothing as Temari placed their meals onto the table, she sat down next to Shikamaru.

"Dig in," he said, before grabbing his chopsticks.

Tenten began to eat, her eyes widening in amazement as she chewed.

"Your cooking's good," she said, Shikamaru chuckled at the comment as Temari shook her head.

"You sound like you're surprised," Temari scoffed with a smile.

"You don't seem like the domestic type," Tenten shrugged with a weak smile.

"You can keep talking," Temari smirked. "I can still beat you any time, any day."

Tenten thought for a moment she saw the ruthless kunoichi, dressed in her lilac outfit, staring down at her before sweeping her aside with her giant fan.

Tenten stared at Temari for a brief second, before both women broke into laughter.

Temari rubbed her eyes as Tenten stared at her admirably.

"I still find it hard to believe that you two ended up together," said Tenten.

The couple turned and stared at each other, Temari rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Things work in miraculous ways." Her green eyes sparkled as she exchanged an affectionate glance with her husband.

Tenten felt her heart aching a little as she saw - their blissfulness unknowingly mocked the loneliest woman in the village.

"How've you been?" Temari turned around, Tenten gulped the bite and blinked at her.

"Y'know, since Neji returned… it must've been quite an experience, to say the least," the woman's voice rang in her ears. "He looked just the same as he did, I wondered if he had aged, or if he had just came back from the grave."

"I…" Tenten found herself tongue-tied, how could she put so many emotions in words?

"Temari," Shikamaru's calm voice broke the icy silence, he rested his hand on hers as he gave her a reassuring smile. "You said you made some sweet soup for dessert, didn't you?"

"Right, I'll fetch you two some dessert." She grinned at them and stood up.

As Temari walked into the kitchen, Tenten turned back at Shikamaru with an anxious glance.

"The mission," she said, her hands clasped together nervously.

Shikamaru nodded. "Naruto has given his permission, and he agreed that you are the best person, no, the only person who could do this mission."

Tenten waited, in great anticipation, her brown eyes wavered as Shikamaru's lips parted.

"We want you to get close to Neji, to investigate his… resurrection."

Tenten's back stiffened. "I…"

"Sakura, the medical team and archives team are doing the best that they can … but we all know - Neji was dead, but now he is alive." He clasped his hands together. "And given your past history with him, it is most likely that you would be able to get something out of him that no one else can."

"Why me?"

Shikamaru pressed his hand on his chin, staring at the table as he tapped his finger.

"We've thought about it - while Hinata is his family, they haven't been really close up until nearly the time of his … well, death." Shikamaru paused. "And since you are way more sensitive to emotions, compared to Lee, you're the obvious choice."

Tenten nodded. "I see, what about Ino? Will you ask her to look into his mind?"

"Of course we will have Ino look at him, but whoever revived him would have made precautions. Ino told us that often, memory sealing jutsus can be broken by strong emotions; if there is anyone who can invoke that in Neji, that'd be you."

Tenten felt the temperature of the room dropping, her heart felt a chill as a thought flew by her mind.

"Do you mean that Neji was revived by someone aiming to harm Konoha?"

"I can't say for sure, that's why we need to make sure." There was a glint in his eyes.

Tenten stared back at him, she bit onto her lips for a brief moment.

"What if he is a threat?"

Shikamaru sucked his teeth as he threw his head back, scratching its back ferociously.

"I don't want to think about this, and I hate to say this…"
"We would have to kill him." Tenten gulped. "I would have to."

"If it comes to that…" Shikamaru paused, he observed Tenten's face, darkening as each second passed. "The village's safety is of utmost importance."

She felt something churning inside of her, an acute pain banging in her head. Squeezing her hand into a fist, she blinked and sighed softly as she slowly relaxed her fist.

"I understand, you have your difficulties, Shikamaru."

"I'm glad that you do." Shikamaru nodded with his arms folded. "It is not an easy thing."

Tenten turned around and sighed softly. She stood up from her chair. "I think I should go now. Thanks for the meal." She pushed the chair back as she stood up.

"You're skipping dessert?" Temari poked her head out of the kitchen and arched an eyebrow.

"I'm quite full," said Tenten, smiling weakly at her. "Thank you very much, Temari-san, it's nice seeing you."

Shikamaru nodded at Temari with a reassuring smile. "I'll walk you to the door."

Tenten trudged slowly towards the door, she glanced over her shoulder, noticing that Temari was not following them.

"Does she know?"

"Not like down to every single detail, but she will figure it out," Shikamaru replied, frowning with a proud smile. "After all, my wife is a smart woman."

Tenten stared at the man as he smiled contently, she felt her heart jolting for a brief second.

"You're very lucky, Shikamaru."

"Huh?" He turned around and stared at her.

Tenten smiled at him. "You have a beautiful family, time has treated you well."

Shikamaru was about to say something as Tenten stood up, patting herself.

"I will make sure to report any findings."

The door closed behind her as she walked away from the Nara residence.

She observed her own shadow as she walked, wondering if she was being watched.

Tenten had for a brief moment thought that she could take the time to get used to Neji, and then she would be able to live on normally.

Her rational self told her that something was coming, the only thing she wondered was how far down the rabbit hole she was going to dive into.

There was a brief moment where she thought she was going to live on, innocently, being able to accept the fact that Neji was back, as if he had been on a long mission, and she was there to wait for him. She wanted to pretend that nothing had ever happened.

Now that she was tied to this mission, it could only mean one thing.

She had to face him.

Author's note:

Another chapter! I deliberated a little on how much to include in this chapter; this is mainly to set the pace for the upcoming chapters ... now that Tenten has a reason to get close to Neji, what will happen? Please stay tuned as the mystery unfold!

P.S. I wrote this story out of the belief that Neji shouldn't have died (he is too lovely a character to die :/); and I can't help to imagine if what happened if he got resurrected; this story is probably not going to be happy version of that alternate universe ... you have been warned.

Anyways, enjoy! xoxo

V.S.V