Tenten stared and stared and stared for what seemed a long time. This did not help her come to terms with what she was seeing or the impossibility of it.

At first, when she saw Neji laying on her floor, she thought, "I did it. I finally lost my mind." Then, when his body did not seem to disappear out of thin air like she suspected would happen if she was hallucinating, she made herself snap out of her shock long enough to move him to her bed—after all, wouldn't he be uncomfortable laying there? He was twice her weight, but the sheer panic of what she was doing made her strong enough to carry him to her bedroom. Once he was laying in her bed, she forced herself to drink every detail of him in.

This Neji did not look like the Neji she knew or saw last. He seemed thinner, paler, and somehow…older. The thing that made her question if he was really her fried was the fact that the seal on his forehead was gone, which seemed wholly unsurmountable on its own. But then again, he did call her by her name before he fainted…

It all seemed like a wild dream, but it did not matter how many times Tenten pinched herself, it was clear this was reality. How can this be real? How can a jutsu be this powerful? How can it be capable of bringing the dead to life?

Neji, other than being unconscious, seemed to be otherwise unharmed. Which was strange, because he had been pretty beaten up before he died giving his life for his cousin, a stone-like spear going through his chest. No, he seemed unscathed and unblemished. Like he didn't in fact died, like he lived out a normal life after the war.

Now Tenten pondered. Did she imagine the last few years? Did her friend actually died sacrificing himself? Or had it all been a nightmare? Was he still alive? Had she been so thoroughly traumatized by war that she had imagined the whole thing?

Suddenly, Tenten felt a rising panic build in her chest, it reminded her a whole lot of when she had been scared of the water. But, like, ten times that.

Had she lost her mind?

Even as the thought came to mind, she knew there was only one way to find out, to ease her thoughts.

Still, despite it being clear what she had to do, she blushed. She had never, ever done this before (though, it was so silly!), not even to Neji and they were pretty close friends. Tenten knew this was the only way…

Carefully, fingers trembling, dreading the outcome, she reached for his shirt and slowly lifted it up.

Tenten gasped and let go immediately. The room started spinning and she had to find purchase in the wall behind her.

Neji's chest wore a nasty faded scar, one that marked his demise so long ago. He was Neji. He had come back from the great beyond, she had unlocked the scrolled, she had tied her life to his, and what all of that implied suddenly crashed over her.

Tenten scrambled to her bathroom and had barely propped open the toilet lid before she emptied the contents of her stomach. Her vision was swimming when she forced herself to go back to her bedroom. There Neji still laid, real and not a fiction of her imagination.

"Shit," she whispered as she closed the door and walked to her living room carpet. She practically threw herself on the floor, closed her eyes and started massaging her temples. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." She started rocking herself back and forth. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."

Just then thunder rumbled the skies and it started to rain. It was a downpour.

She should be happy, Tenten reasoned with herself. She shouldn't be feeling like this. Why was she feeling like this?

Her eyes started to burn with the prickle of unshed tears.

Tenten couldn't pretend she didn't know why she was panicking, couldn't pretend away Neji laying in her bed.

She knew that Neji didn't want this. He had told her so many years ago. Tenten didn't know what he would do or say once he wakes, once he sees what she did. It scared her. She had never been at the receiving end of Neji's anger.

Tenten understood that there was no other choice, no way of avoiding it. The only way was through. There was no reminiscing or past that could help her now. There was only the present.

Her brained must have shut down somehow in all the madness and panic, Tenten rationalized as she woke up to loud thundering. Her house was in complete darkness, the rain keeping its hard pounding. The power must have gone out by the lighting storm raging outside (one she did not know about because she had been too sad and then too shock to be aware of). It annoyed her that she hadn't notice.

It took her a second before everything came back to her. Tenten felt her pulse beat loud in her ears again. Neji. Neji…Neji!

Was he still there? How long had she been passed out?

Tenten looked to the clock handing on her living room wall. It said it was 7 at night. Seven! Last time she was awake it was 2 in the morning. She felt desperation raising up her throat again. No, no, no. No!

The lights flickered back on as walked to her bedroom, feeling like she was floating, as she turned the doorknob and saw him there. Sitting, looking at the wall. Then suddenly, at her as she walked in. Tenten felt her stomach sink, her knees give a little. She still couldn't believe it. Even more so now as he looked at her, blinked, as he opened his mouth.

"Tenten?"

Tenten wished she could freeze time, capture this moment. This moment of peace before it all went to hell. She would look back at this memory, fondly. She would hold it close to her heart. This was the las time he would talk to her again; she could feel it. After this, when he knew all she had done, he would hate her. Despise her. Spit at the mention of her name. She did not honor his death. He was right, this is unnatural.

"Neji."

"Where am I?"

"In my house."

"Your house."

Tenten nodded.

"What happened to your apartment?"

"I moved out."

"When?"

"14 years ago."

Neji looked at the wall again as he assessed what she had told him. He frowned slightly.

"I can't move," he simply said.

Tenten was silent for a moment. She didn't know what to say. His statement was nothing she expected. She couldn't hold it in. "I need to tell you something."

Neji closed his eyes, sighed. Tentatively, he touched his forehead. "I know."

It is then when it hit her. Neji wasn't just looking at a wall, he was looking at the long mirror propelled against the wall. He was looking at his missing curse mark.

"I didn't mean to do it," Tenten said quietly, as if that would be answer enough.

Neji opened his eyes and locked them with hers. "Did you?"

Tenten just nodded. She opened her mouth, but words failed her. How could she explain herself? How could she put into words the selfishness behind her actions? "I—I missed… you."

Neji just stared at her, expression unreadable. Like it had always been, like he hadn't been dead for 14 years. Like he didn't think her feelings merited her bringing him back to life. Tenten's heart pounded in her head at the realization, tears filling her eyes in the process (something she never liked to do, crying in front of Neji). A lump gathering in her throat.

Neji seemed unmoved. There was only silence. Maybe he was letting her words sink in, Tenten thought. Letting them be processed.

When the silence persisted, Tenten quietly added in desperation, "You promised I was never going to be alone… but then you died."

Neji sighed. Looked at the mirror again. "I know what I said."

Said, not promised.

Tenten swallowed the lump in her throat, finding her resolve. And anger. "If it is such a pain being back, I can just kill you. I can make you rest in peace again since you like being dead so much."

Neji's eyes snapped to her, irritated. Somehow that made Tenten feel better. Good. Time had made her forget how stoic Neji really is. "Do consider your words. Didn't you read the scroll before you did the jutsu? If you kill me, you die, too."

Tenten felt heat rise to her cheeks. She rubbed her face aggressively, flustered. "What else do you want me to say, Neji? I wasn't thinking. I wasn't—"

"Clearly," Neji cut her off. "Of course, you weren't. You keep forgetting, I didn't ask for this. You keep talking as if there was no other choice. I was fine as I was."

"You didn't ask to be killed either, but here we are!" Tenten drew in a sharp breath, trying to reign in her anger. She cursed under her breath.

Neji closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Tenten didn't know what she was expecting, but this wasn't it. "Unbelievable."

Neji was still pinching the bridge of his nose when he said, "What is? The fact that you went against nature itself, or that you defied my wishes when I clearly—"

"No!" She shouted over him, then went quiet. That seemed to silence Neji, too. He just stared at her intently. "The fact that we haven't seen each other for 14 years and the first thing we do is fight." The words lingered in the air. "I just wanted my friend back and, for a moment, I was happy I did."

Neji closed his eyes again, placing his hands in his lap, resting his head in the headboard. "I am glad to see you, Tenten. But that does not mean I am not angry."

"What would you have done if you were in my position and I was in yours and you found the scroll?"

Neji opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while. "Frankly? I don't know."

Somehow the answer stung more than she expected and Tenten had to inhale quietly. "I see…"

Neji seemed to have processed his words then, because he added, "I am glad to you, Tenten. You look so…different."

His words did not make her feel any better. "Everything is."

A/N: So okay. Addressing time, I haven't uploaded since last year because of multiple reasons that I will list even though excuses are excuses and it doesn't change my late upload or promises I will upload sooner, but I hope you do understand:

I live in Puerto Rico. If you keep up with Puerto Rican news or know of Puerto Rico, we have been hit with a lot of earthquakes since last year during the last days of December. Although, I do not live in affected areas (thank baby Jesus!) and they have somewhat calmed down, they delayed me both in progress (because of electricity and internet) and my mental state and drive to write.

I am a student and I work full time, no need to explain further. Though some people can manage uploading when they do both these things, I am no superhero.

Coronavirus. I have been doing everything from home (work, university, everything) and I haven't had the time, but lookie I found a little bit of time to finish this chapter after all this while. Even if it is short and vague.

With that said, I hope you stick along for this ride of a fanfiction.

PS. If you are wondering why 14 years, well, I Googled how old Boruto is (when they ended the Naruto manga and introduced the new gen to us) and said 14. Man, do those characters age well, they look so young! Anyway, guys, please review. Let me know what you think about the chapter and what might happen in later chapters.