When they met
Chapter 3: When Fu met Tenten
The first time Fu saw Tenten, she instantly thought she had to be friends with her.
Everyone thinks the first time they met was when Neji had presented them. But in truth, Fu had met Tenten way back the year before, in Suna.
She was eating ice cream on the beach with her brothers, letting the waves tickle her toes. Her head turned to a crystal-clear laugh and that is when she saw the twin-buns haired girl, helplessly laughing holding her stomach, watching her friend trying to get back on his paddle board.
The boy did not look at all amused at the guffaws of her friend. He managed to climb back on the board with rare grace and rearrange his long hair while managing to send glares at his friend.
Fu blinked at the most beautiful boy she had ever seen and then her gaze landed on the brown-haired girl who was not in the slightest afraid by the deathly stare of her companion. She instead looked overjoyed, pink hues clouding her cheeks, her grin deepened and her eyes… her eyes... Fu thought she never saw anyone else gaze at someone else so lovingly.
And she instantly knew she wanted to be their friend.
Unfortunately, her father called them back before they could reach shore and Fu helplessly looked at the missed opportunity. But the morning after, it felt like a miracle of destiny when she saw him while walking aimlessly through the city's streets. He was sitting in a coffee shop's terrasse, in all his glory.
And the rest was history.
Of course, that was weird, this obsession she had to make friends. But Fu had always lived a secluded life, all she knew was her home, her brothers and her father. She had been homeschooled so she never had the opportunity to make lots of friends. She was ten when she realized how truly alone she felt and had cried to her father. He hushed her, taking her in his arms, promising her that she would make a hundred different friends and this was all over.
And indeed, when she reached her seventeenth birthday, it was truly, really over. Which meant she could travel the world to her heart's content, as her father had promised her. She was a bit odd in her interactions, she knew, but so far of the few people she met, it seemed to work out just fine. And in her little bubble, Fu always grew up perfectly comfortable with who she was.
To whomever this may concern, Fu always thought it important to remind she had never planned to fall in love with Neji. She only wanted to be friends. Really.
But it took mere minutes of his scrutinizing gaze to melt her insides. And when he first smiled at one of her nervous jokes, she knew it was not every day that you met someone that made your heart quiver and skip beats like he did. She had been completely demoralized when her vacation days came slowly to an end and knew she might never see him again. So as impulsive as she was, she saw no other option than to dramatically kiss him on the last day of her trip.
And all that happened next was not entirely her fault because he kissed her back, and his hands snaked around her waist and his body pressed against hers. Were his lips so soft because his kiss was a sweet lie? She couldn't help but wonder, if it was her he imagined when he kissed her. Did he think of Tenten anytime he caressed her skin? Was she too tall or too skinny when his arms closed around her because she was not the right one?
Because she'd be a fool if she didn't notice the way his eyes lit up everytime he mentioned her, or how the picture of Tenten eating his cotton candy at DisneyLand was still his screensaver. Even a year after they were together, he replaced it with a black background after she left for Suna. But at least, he didn't change it back when Fu replaced it with a picture of the two of them two in a restaurant.
Fu had to gulp down the guilt like the nasty medicine she had been forced to take when she was younger. She knew she had broken something precious, something budding. But she couldn't blame herself for reaching out for happiness. It had been scarce enough as it is in her life.
And truly, if Neji had so loved Tenten, he would have been with her, right? Right.
And if they were supposed to end up together, nothing could come between them. Right? Right.
And if their relationship was as strong as they claimed, it shouldn't shatter for a stranger. Right? Right.
Right, right, right, Fu would think nervously when she knocked on Neji's door after months of not seeing him.
The second time she met Tenten was in Neji's room. She had seen people's hearts breaking in front of her constantly. Her mother's. Her father's. Her brothers'. So she could recognize it instantly. But never had she seen someone swallow it back so quickly, so fiercely.
Tenten could die for Neji and it showed because she was dying right there for him.
Which made it all the more difficult for Fu because she had prepared a speech for the first time she met her. She knew of their intimacy and was ready to defend her relationship, to gain the boyfriend's girl best friend's good graces. But Tenten had already welcomed her so warmly, her speech seemed futile now. She wouldn't need to convince her, she was already waving the white flag.
But Fu remained worried, not because of Tenten, but because of Neji. Because of how he looked at her, how his muscles tensed up, and under her fingers she could feel him controlling himself to not rush over her and hug her. When he almost did, Fu squeezed his hand and he leaned back against her.
Dread was gripping at her stomach like it never did before, and Lord knows she had a million other reasons to be dreadful for. So when Neji left to seek his father after he called him out, Fu cleared her throat.
"Please, leave him to me." She blurted out as soon as he was far away enough.
Tenten's eyebrows shot up to the sky. "Leave him to you?" She laughed. "I would never take him."
Fu eyed Tenten, incapable of hearing the falseness in her laugh.
"You're the one person he'd like me to impress." The blue haired girl finally said. "You're making me a mess." She let out a shaky breath.
"Fu…" Tenten's brows furrowed.
"I see the way you look at him," Fu cut in before Tenten could add anything, before her courage left her. Already, she could feel the tears prickle her eyes and her voice tensing under the tightly wound throat. "You look at him like you'd give up anything."
Tenten opened her mouth to interject, but Fu was quicker again. "You're just playing pretend," She smiled mirthlessly. "You want to be more than friends."
"I would never-"
"He is mine." She said unsure. "He is mine." She repeated more forcefully. "So please, don't drive us apart. It'd be so easy for you to do so. Not that you would!" She waved her arms frantically when she saw Tenten's expression change. "You wouldn't even know you're doing it. He'd just sense your pain and he would run to you."
"Because if it is me or you, I'm going to lose." Fu shrugged hopelessly on her shoulders, a lone tear sliding down her cheek.
"I don't know what to do. He's the most precious person I have ever met." She pleaded with her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "It is better if he doesn't know the truth. If you didn't tell him about your feelings. So please, I know, I know how selfish I am. I know I am nothing but a stranger to you. But please don't tell him anything. Please, I beg of you. Please, please, don't make him choose. Please."
Tenten watched helplessly the desperate plea of this girl who sprouted out of nowhere and unrooted her whole world within one hour. She had a million things she'd wanted to say during her monologue, but they all disappeared on her lips when Fu uttered her last please.
Please.
It still resonated within Tenten's heart. It felt urgent, with rare despair. A matter of life or death. And she found herself saying :
"Ok."
It may as well have been the hardest word she had ever uttered. Because Fu was not simply asking her to support their relationship, but to erase herself from the picture. And Tenten could only agree, Neji's heart was big enough for two, but she knew that as long as she was in the picture, Fu had not a real chance to completely gain Neji's love. Not because Neji loved Tenten in a romantic way, but because their friendship would always be more precious than his and Fu's budding love. It barely had the space to flourish in the impetuous jungle of their friendship.
She owed it to Neji to let him experience love correctly, without her interfering, even when she did so unconsciously. And he loved Fu, she could see he cared about her. Each stroke of his thumb on her hand ripped Tenten's heart, bulldozed her spirit.
So it was probably better for her own emotional health to take a step back. She didn't know why she agreed to this girl's plea, but something in her told her it was the right thing to do.
So when Neji came back, she plastered a smile on her face and excused herself, allowing her tears to fall freely the moment she reached her room.
Call it cosmic twin intuition, but Lee appeared the week-end after and she spent her Saturday in his arms crying her heart out. Then Hinata came to her as soon as Neji presented Fu to the rest of the family, and she spent her Sunday crying in her arms. How could she ever hide anything from the ever observant Hinata?
By Sunday night, Tenten had made the decision to move to Suna. She had been tip-toeing around the idea, lacking the courage to do it, until this happened. She made arrangements with Lee, they hunted for an apartment near campus and by her graduation day, everything was settled and she started packing up.
All that was left was to tell Neji.
But she didn't know how to tell him. How could she tell the person she loved most she couldn't bear to see him with another all the time? That she tried so hard to not intrude on their relationship she had lost any energy to smile and laugh. For Neji, Tenten was simply busy studying for finals. But Tenten couldn't move out of her bed. She went to school, pretended everything was alright with her friends, but she didn't go out with them after school anymore. She'd go straight home and seek her bed. She didn't even know how she finished her semester and kept her average intact. She slept more than she thought possible and ate less than she thought was reasonable.
She was slowly dying here. Every passing day reinforced her choice, she needed something new. She needed to find the Tenten that didn't need Neji. And it was going to be hard. She had to wean Neji from her soul, learn to be simply Tenten and not Tenten, Neji's best friend. She could only do that away from him. When she got enough of her own foundations, she'd go back to him, to her friend and not to her unrequited crush.
She tried to explain that to Neji but the conversation had gone about as bad as she could have imagined it. She never heard Neji yell, and in the chaotic environment of their fight, all rational thoughts explaining her choice left only a blubbering and shouting mess.
He left her there when she started crying, when she begged him, he turned his back on her. When asked later, decades from now, Tenten would still remember that moment as the most painful one in her life.
She packed in a frenzy all night after convincing her parents she needed to go with Lee in the morning. She felt relieved when they didn't press more than that, they must have understood anyway, their fight must have been heard up to the Hyuuga Mansion.
YOU ARE LEAVING KONOHA.
GOODBYE AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING US.
COME BACK SOON!
As soon as she saw Lee drive past the sign, she let out a relieved sigh.
"Want to talk about it?" He raised a brow.
She shook her head, letting her puffy red eyes wander on the passing green hills and the unfairly blue sky. After a night spent packing boxes and crying over the hundred pictures she had of him, all she wanted to do was focus on the soon-to-be Suna's sun and let herself fall in slumber, pushing those horrid memories away and leaving only space for what was about to come.
She had never once looked back on that day. She had tried to reach out to Neji a few times during the summer, but he never answered back. Until the first day of school.
I hope you're doing well too.
This was all he said. After twenty missed calls from her during the last two months and lengthy messages from her. Tenten had seldom felt resentment, and never towards Neji, but that day she felt it deeply. And since then they kept their communication to a strict minimum. Birthdays, important events, things they forgot in each other's home.
It was weird for Fu to deal with all this. How many girlfriends could say they tended to their boyfriend's broken heart? Well, she could. But she couldn't complain, she brought this on herself. She knew her plea was the last straw that convinced Tenten to leave town. Guilt gnawed at her insides more than her medical condition did.
It was also a challenge for Fu to pick up where Tenten left. And she knew she paled in comparison. She had many times proposed a game of Mario Bros or an Avengers movie. She even asked him to teach her how to skate. But he always refused, she knew that deep within him, there were things in his life that were sorely mean for Tenten and Fu learned to compose with that. Sometimes, she felt they lived with a ghost in their relationship.
But Fu also learned to compose with that. She learned to forget all about it when he held her close in bed and in her head, she counted the many ways she had been there for Neji the way Tenten hadn't. It was a bit psychotic, she knew, but she couldn't help herself, it was the only way she could reassure herself at times. That she had done the right thing, or at least, not done the wrong one.
Neji had kissed her. He had touched her bare skin. He had made love to her.
But everytime she made the list, she would stop. Because she knew that physically, he had gone farther with her. But when she tried to think about non-physical ways she could beat Tenten she only found one :
She had nursed his broken heart.
Something the brown-eyed girl could have never done since she was the source of it all.
In those moments, Fu would snuggle closer to her boyfriend. Let her cheek press possessively on his bare chest in their shared bed.
Tenten came back often to Konoha and she often spent time with her friends there, during the summer and the holidays. Neji was never there, he always had somewhere to be. If it was not a family function, it was a week-end trip with Fu. Of all the times she visited during her first two years in Suna, she could count gatherings he had also attended on the fingers of one hand. One of them was his awkward nineteenth surprise birthday Fu had organized, about one year after she had left for Suna.
It was Fu who insisted she should come. And Tenten refused many times. It was Ino who interjected in their back and forth that Tenten would gladly come. Fu seemed lost, in a way she wanted Tenten to be present, because it felt ridiculous for her to still fear the chocolate haired ex best friend of her boyfriend. Though, in a way, she really expected her insistence to fall on deaf ears and not be taken seriously. And it would have probably worked too, if Ino hadn't meddled.
Fu sighed internally. If anything, winning Neji's friends over was, is, the hardest thing for her at the moment. Sweet and gentle Hinata was the first to warm up to her. After that, Sakura did with a certain resignation to it, which quickly transformed into a courteous and distant sort of camaraderie. But Ino was still cold, at least she had stopped glaring at her every time Neji brought her to a gathering. And she had stopped ignoring her when she talked to her. It was probably Hinata's doing. A couple of months after Tenten left, during a party at Hyuga Mansion she had heard the girls talk behind closed doors. She wouldn't have eavesdropped, but the sound of her name had frozen her in place.
"You both have to stop your little hazing of Fu." She heard Hinata say.
Ino scoffed. "We did not haze Fay."
"You know what I mean Ino." Hinata replied sternly.
"I don't have to like the girl." Ino spit back. "She is the reason for all this mess to begin with. She's the reason why Tenten went away."
Hinata sighed exasperatedly. "Don't belittle Tenten as such. She would never go and leave us all behind just because Neji found himself a girlfriend."
"No, but Fu was the little spark she needed." Sakura supplied, taking Ino's side.
"It may be the case," Hinata conceded. "But it was still Tenten's choice and she is happy now."
"She could have been happy here." Ino ground out.
"You're being unfair. Neji and Tenten made their bed. Fu is innocent in all this." Hinata exclaimed. "She does not deserve your animosity."
Fu gnawed at her lips. Was she truly innocent? In a way she had done nothing wrong. Neji was free when they dated. But she did convince Tenten in a way. She couldn't blame her friends for wanting to protect her and defend her the way they did, she hoped to have similar friends one day.
Please. The words still rang in her head. He would choose you. Let me have him, completely. Without you attached to him. She hadn't phrased it so directly, but that was basically what she had asked her. She wanted her gone. It was easier that way. She didn't have much time. She didn't have much of a choice. Or at least, that is what she told herself when she stared at Neji's bedroom ceiling when she couldn't fall asleep; wondering how many times it had been Tenten, instead of her, who laid next to a sleeping Neji. How many times had his breathing soothed her enough to calm the energy coursing through her as his arm ever so slightly brushed hers?
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura finally sighed, bringing Fu out of her contemplation.
Ino said nothing and Fu didn't wait for their conversation to end before joining back the party downstairs.
But after that, they had become friendlier, in their own way. Ino could still be a little bit abrupt, like that time she cut in on Tenten's behalf, ensuring she would be there for Neji's birthday. But Fu tried to think nothing of it, after all, a part of her really wanted Tenten to be there, a part of her still held out on the hope of being her friend.
Tenten had come, driven by Sakura and dragged by Ino. And when Tenten entered, Fu almost regretted it. The brunette's style had changed quite a lot since she left for Suna. Since then, she had adopted the south's fashion, her shorts were shorter, her cami flimsier, her skin taner and she more often than not let her hair down in that beach-way wavy style which were now streaked with golden hues because of how much sun they got.
All in all, Tenten looked hot in her red satin romper and assorted red strappy heels. And all Neji's college baboons of friends were ogling her like a fresh piece of meat and drooling all over her long tanned legs, shimmering collarbone and ruby-red lips. She looked positively glowing and Neji had positively glowered at the tons of guys who had been lining up to talk to her and betting on who would get her phone number.
Tenten was about to leave the party early because of the unwanted attention she was receiving. She had tried avoiding mindless discussions with half-drunk men by compulsively texting Temari all evening long to try and look too busy to talk. So far, her Suna friend has been made aware of every single detail of this party. Hinata was rushing everywhere to make sure no one broke anything in their house. Ino had left her to go see Sai and Sakura was nowhere to be seen since the brooding Sasuke had arrived on the premises.
She smiled awkwardly when another one of Neji's frat bro approached her, desperately looking for a way out. Naruto was definitely making a fool out of himself at the keg stand. Shikamaru was probably snoring somewhere upstairs. Choji had disappeared with a bag of chips and a girl she didn't know the name of. And Kiba seemed to have an animated discussion with another girl on who between cats and dogs made for best companions.
"So how do you know the birthday boy?" The guy tried to strike up a conversation the same way the others had. Did their fraternity have a sort of manual with similar sentences to use when talking to girls?
Tenten bit the inside of her cheek before replying with the constructed answer she had given all evening long. "We were high school acquaintances."
The words fell numbly over her tongue, tumbling out of her lips, hard and cold like marbles spilling out of her alien-feeling mouth, as if her tongue had been stung by a bee. At first she said they were childhood friends, but she stopped after the first couple men raised their eyebrows wondering out loud why Neji never had talked about having such a pretty childhood friend.
Tenten was quickly getting drunk by sipping her cup everytime she wanted to avoid having to participate in the conversation with a random guy who popped by her side. If they hadn't noticed the wobbly stance of their speaking partner, Neji surely did and excused himself from Fu's arms for a couple of minutes. He found Shikamaru who was sleeping upstairs and tossed him his keys so he could take Tenten home.
Fucking troublesome. Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.
Though he did understand how dire the situation was when he saw Tenten giggling at a couple of strangers, and leaning on one of them for support. When Tenten saw Shikamaru approach, the little sober part in her sighed in relief.
"Let's go home, Tenten." Shikamaru said, wrapping an arm around her. "Or Neji is going to kill both you and me."
He hadn't thought she would have heard him or even comprehended him in her drunken state. But her back stiffened and her eyes settled, sightlessly in front of her.
Moving her proved almost impossible and Shikamaru couldn't possibly bring her home in this condition, he looked around for Neji but he had disappeared with Fu somewhere. He found Hinata and signaled her over.
"Can you help me move her upstairs in your guest bedroom?" Shikamaru asked her.
She nodded and they made their way up the stairs and settled Tenten in the guests' bed. Everything was set until they heard moaning and grunting coming from the room next door.
"Please, Hinata," He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me the guest's room is not adjacent to Neji's room."
So that is where he had run off to.
Hinata chewed on her bottom lip. "We should probably move her… it wouldn't do if she woke up and heard… them."
Shikamaru grimly nodded, looking at the passed out girl in her red satin clothes.
"Let's move her to Hanabi's room." Hinata offered. "She's at a friend's house and I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
Shikamaru groaned and proceeded to lift their friend again, already feeling the backache that would appear on the morrow.
When she was finally tucked in, in Hanabi's bed, with a bottle of water next to her and a few aspirins on the bedside table; Shikamaru blew a contented sigh. He couldn't wait to get to his bed and crash there, he was spent. Hinata had already gone back down after hearing a loud noise that could only signal something had been broken.
Shikamaru was about to do the same when Tenten started crying. He didn't know if she was conscient or just awake enough to let her sorrow go. He scratched the back of his head, wondering what to do with a crying female. Normally, when Ino cried, Choji was the one consoling her and he would be a supportive presence in the corner.
Shikamaru sighed for the tenth time since Neji found him. He couldn't leave her like this.
"I-I r-really l-lo-loved h-him, yo-you know." She managed in between sobs and hiccups. " A-and, he kn-knew it." She heaved. "H-he kn-knew."
The rest of her mumblings were pretty much incoherent for him, but he sat down on the edge of the bed nonetheless and soothingly taped her arm until she fell back into slumber.
When he finally came back down, he was met with a few accolades from random men he had never met. He was completely puzzled as to why random strangers were accosting him with secret winks.
"You're the man Shika!" One of them pointed both his indexes at him, grinning like a fool.
Shikamaru barely had time to register the strange behaviour before a glaring Neji appeared in front of him.
I guess they are done for the night.
"I thought I told you to take her home." Neji ground out.
Shikamaru frowned at the hostile behaviour of his friend he just did a massive favour to.
"She was too wasted for that so I took her upstairs." Shikamaru stared boringly at his seething friend.
"Took you long enough." Neji spat.
And this was it for Shikamaru. His evening had been a series of catastrophic events from Ino talking his ear off about Sai, to Neji waking him up to go deal with Tenten, to the latter girl who ended up crying in his arms… and now his friend was accusing him of sleeping with a passed out girl? No.
"Well next time," Shikamaru hissed, slapping the unused car keys across their owner's chest. "You'll be less horny and you'll dry your best friend's tears yourself. Understood?"
He didn't wait for the Hyuga to say anything and walked away to find his car and get home as quickly as possible.
Neji let the guilt wash over him. He didn't want to sleep with Fu. She had made multiple allusions to it during the last couple of months, but he always became a bit cold at the idea. He was simply not feeling it. But she had dragged him into his room, even though he had protested. The only reason he agreed to go upstairs was that it gave him a reason to follow Shikamaru and Hinata who walked up the stairs a very inebriated Tenten.
They took the stairs from the kitchen instead of the living room. And all the while Fu was talking, Neji kept an ear out to hear if they had brought Tenten up yet or no. He hadn't heard their footsteps yet, which meant she must have been so passed out they struggled to carry her.
"Neji?" Fu called out.
"Hm?" He answered back, his eyes still on his cellphone, wondering what was taking them so long.
"Neji." His girlfriend called him more insistently.
He finally looked up to see that she was undressed. And the following things quite happened on their won. He was a bit drunk, and also - he couldn't deny that Shikamaru had been right- incredibly aroused that evening.
So he let himself go, for once, just once. He lost himself in her skin and in her mouth and kissed her in places he never did before until her moans were louder than his conscience. And when he came, all his mind could conjure up were red satin and a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.
And Neji had hated himself when he regained his logical reasoning back. He had just lost his virginity thinking about someone other than the one he made love to. How low could one get? He hugged Fu tighter against him, as if to prove to himself that that last image meant nothing. She meant nothing.
When Tenten woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache, the first thing she saw was a pair of white eyes staring back at her.
"Tenten-chan!" Hanabi shouted in delight. "Finally, you're awake!"
"Hanabi, please." Tenten whispered hoarsely. She drank water and took two aspirins. She needed mouthwash before she could start her walk of shame with her yesterday's clothes. She looked up and saw that Hinata had dropped an outfit for her and a bottle of mouthwash.
Bless this anticipating proactive goddess. That's a capricorn right here. Tenten thought thankfully while changing into the new clothes. All the while, Hanabi chatted excitedly about the new things happening in Konoha that Tenten was missing.
She smiled warmly at the youngest Hyuga. She had missed Hanabi, and even though they still video called often, she sometimes ached to not be able to the things she used to do, like hug her or braid her hair when she unexpectedly popped over. Hanabi was as close to a little sister as she ever got.
"So, how is it going with konohamaru?" Tenten asked before taking a swig of the mouthwash and spitting it back in the sink of Hanabi's bathroom.
"Boys," The preteen rolled her eyes leaning against the doorway of her bathroom. "They are so stupid."
Tenten chuckled as the thirteen years old girl proceeded to inform her of the latest stupid prank show project he and Udon came up with.
After, she bid goodbye to Hanabi and made her way downstairs. But before she could reach for the door, she heard the booming voice of Neji's dad calling out her name and his uncle excitedly asking her what she was doing here. She silently cursed her failed subtle exit and joined the two at the kitchen table.
Thankfully, neither Neji nor Fu were there. Hiashi and Hizashi took news from her, asking her how Suna was at this time of year, how her studies are going, if she still planned to apply in medical school here in Konoha.
"You know you can stay for breakfast." Hizashi offered. "Neji and Fu usually wake up much … later."
He said the last word in an unsure manner when he realized what he had just done. Hiashi clapped ironically at his brother's silly mistake.
"Congratulations, Hizashi. Way to go." Hiashi sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Just showing again that you got the good looks and I got the brains."
"We look the same." Hizashi deadpanned.
"Yes, well you really got nothing going on for yourself, eh?" He smirked at his brother before turning to Tenten and placing a hand on hers. "Don't listen to him, honey. It does not happen often, we have strict rules in the household."
Tenten forced a sheepish laugh, waving her hand around. "Oh I don't mind! I'm happy for him, really."
She winced at the pained smiles they gave her.
"In any case, you should know this is always your home." Hizashi supplied softly.
"And if there is anything we can do to help, please ask us." Hiashi added. "Suna University's dean and I go way back. I have a lot of blackmail material."
Tenten laughed but rapidly stopped when met with the serious face of the older twin. "It's a joke right?" She paused. "Right?"
"Just call us if there is anything." Hizashi finally answered for his brother who still kept a completely serious face.
Tenten had told all about the fiasco that Neji's birthday was to Temari when she came back from Konoha, preparing to move out from the flat she shared with Lee to a new one she was going to rent with Temari. Lee and Gaara were finally moving in together and in his excitement, Lee had brought nine new plants to decorate their apartment with.
And as the seasons flew in Suna, she kept wondering what would happen at Neji's next birthday. If she would even be invited this time. But after almost two years away from him, she could start feeling herself heal. Even if she was not invited, she wouldn't be sad about it. She had come to learn to appreciate the friendship she and Neji held as a precious gift. A gift that ended, like many friendships did, but for the time it lasted, it was a precious, precious miracle of sorts.
The next time Tenten would see Neji again was almost one year after his nineteenth birthday, at Fu's funeral.