A/N: Kay, so this is technically the last chapter.
It's so short! I'm sorry!
BUT there will be an epilogue :D
So no worries, no worries.

Thanks to my reviewers!
Enjoy chapter 15 :D

Disclaimer: Currently Owning: NOTHING

It was raining outside; the sky was crying.

Only one person stood in the room next to the coffin. Nearly everyone else had cleared out of the funeral home, the ceremony having already been finished.

Tenten was almost unrecognisable. The two buns that were her signature hairstyle had vanished, letting her chocolaty brown locks hand down loosely past her shoulders, held away from her face by two hairpins on either side. Her vividly coloured and casual clothes had vanished as well, being replaced by a dreary and lacy black dress along with dress shoes. No make-up adorned her face as it usually did. Overall, her appearance made her look like an overgrown crying little girl.

Shakily, she raised one hand, which looked extremely pale against the long-sleeved satin of the dress, and touched the nameplate gently: as a mother would to a child.

Medashi Haterou

The dates of birth and death had yet to be engraved, yet there was no mistaking what the nameplate stood on.

A gravestone.

Finally, after holding it in for the whole procession, Tenten knelt over and burst into tears. She didn't know how long it'd been when somebody came up to her and knelt down beside her.

"Are you Hat-chan's mommy?"

Tenten stopped sobbing and looked up to stare into a pair of wide and curious blue eyes belong to a small girl with long red hair. Wiping her face, Tenten put on a forced smile. "Yes. What's your name?"

"My name is Aashi Rikka. I know how to spell if forwards and backwards. I also have a pet goldfish named Obi." Rikka gave a cute little-girlish laugh. The dreary black dress she had on really didn't suit her personality.

Before Tenten could respond, another woman walked into the room. "Rikka! There you are, don't go running off like that!" and then she turned to Tenten and smiled kindly, holding a hand out. "Hi. I'm Aashi Nami. You must be Tenten, right? Rikka's told me a lot about your son, they seemed to be very good friends. I'm really sorry."

Smiling, Tenten took the woman's hand. "It's okay. Thanks for your concern."

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Name started uncertainly, "But how old are you? I hadn't expected you to be so young." She herself looked to be in her early thirties, approximately ten years older than Tenten herself.

"Not at all. I'm twenty-two. But I hope you don't judge me on that, I loved Haterou more than anything. I still do." She smiled as she ruffled Rikka's soft hair.

Name looked taken aback. "Oh, no. No, of course not. It's a mother's job, isn't it? To put their child first." Then the woman, who had the same blue eyes as her daughter, looked over to the coffin. "Are you married then?"

Nearly laughing at the irony, Tenten held up her left hand, which was ring free. "Actually I was engaged a while ago, to Haterou-chan's father believe it or not, but I made it clear to that snivelling bastard that if he so much as ever talked to me again he'll regret it. So no, I find men too troublesome for that."

"That's not very nice, is it?" both women turned to see Neji walking towards him, his black suit making him look like he belonged at a ball rather than at a funeral. He walked up and kissed Tenten's cheek, then holding a hand out to Nami. "I'm Hyuuga Neji."

"Aashi Nami." She was looking at him in a way that a woman shouldn't look at a man who was ten years younger. Tenten suddenly got the urge to grab Neji's head and say 'he's mine', but somehow she resisted. "Well it was lovely to meet you, Tenten, Neji." She smiled again. Then turning to Tenten she gave the younger woman a slip of paper. "I couldn't imagine how you must be feeling, but if you ever want to come over, just for tea even, feel free to give me a call. Bye-bye now."

With that, Nami walked away pulling her daughter, who was yelling "Bye-bye Tenten-chan-san." Behind her.

Neji slid his arm around Tenten's waist. "Let's go, shall we? We're being waited on. They're expecting dinner, you know."

"Dinner?" Tenten asked following him to the hall. When she looked at her watch, she started. "Oh wow. It's six already. Who's waiting?"

Before he could answer her question, Tenten was pounced on. All she could see though the tight hugs were bundles of pink and blonde hair. Ino pulled away, her make-up smudged and cheeks tear-stained. "Oh Tens, I honestly can't imagine what you're going though. I couldn't stop crying!"

"Calm, Ino. Calm. There's a such thing as sadness beyond tears you know." It was silent, and no one seemed to know what to say.

Finally, Neji broke the silence. "Well there's no point in the eight of us just standing here. Why don't we go change and meet somewhere for dinner?"

"Sounds cool. How about Chinese?" Naruto began excitedly, but shut up as soon as Sakura elbowed him in the ribs. Tenten grinned slightly at this, the next time she had Chinese food would be too soon.

"Why don't we go to that new Italian restaurant? I hear there's a really sexy waiter there." Ino said grinning. Then she turned to walk out the door, dragging Shikamaru by the elbow on the way. "Meet you all there in an hour."

Everyone dispersed, and Tenten followed Neji out the door. She didn't trust herself with her car, if she wasn't a great driver before there was no telling what might happen to the vehicle after intense emotional stress.

She got in the passenger side of Neji's BMW, still envying it's awesome aura of awesomeness, and waited for Neji to start the car. The ride home to her house was comfortable, small talk on the weather and such.

They pulled in to her driveway. "Don't you need to go home too, to get changed and all?"

"No, I had a feeling this was coming. I have clothes in the back, saving gas, you know." Even as he said this Neji walked to his trunk to pull out a plastic bag. He locked the doors and followed her inside.

Tenten opened the door and let him in. "I'll be upstairs. It'll probably take me about half and hour to get ready. So wait here, watch some TV or something."

"Sure. Half an hour? Does getting dressed really take that long?"

She gave him a dirty look. "It's more than just getting dressed, you know."

"Sure, sure. Whatever. I'll wait here." As he said this, Neji settled himself comfortably on the couch. "Before you go upstairs, I was wondering. What are you going to do now? Wouldn't your house seem really empty?"

By now, Tenten had already reached the base of the steps. "I'm not sure. I'll probably move out and room with Ino, or something."

"You could come live with me." Neji stated casually, as he flicked on the television. "Free of charge. My house it too big anyways."

"Er, thanks…? Wouldn't that kind of give off the wrong vibe though?"

Neji shrugged, eyes still glued to the screen even though he wasn't taking in anything he was watching. "Just a suggestion. You could think on it."

Without another word, Tenten went up the stairs.

When he could no longer here her, Neji pressed the mute button on the remote and listened carefully.

Sure enough, a moment later there was a loud squeal and footsteps racing down the stairs. Before Neji had time to prepare for anything, Tenten was on top of him hugging his neck tightly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Yes! Yes!" she got off of him and proudly thrust her left hand towards him. On the fourth finger was an engagement ring; with a diamond even larger than the one that Kankorou had given her.

Neji grinned and shrugged. "It was bound to end up happening anyways."

After much more squealing, Tenten went upstairs to get ready, admiring the ring on her finger. Somehow it was much more beautiful than its predecessor.

Half and hour later, Tenten was downstairs. Dressed in a, tight, light blue shirt with a plunging neckline and jeans that were tucked into her boots, she was ready to go. And go they did, after a slight comment on Neji's casual everyday dress consisting of a tee shirt and jeans.

The Italian restaurant was indeed nice, and the waiter was indeed hot.

Tenten was actually surprised Ino wasn't throwing herself at him; instead she seemed rather controlled and holding hands with Nara Shikamaru. We must expect the unexpected.

Actually, Tenten and Neji getting engaged wasn't really unexpected to anyone, minus possibly Naruto.

Everyone actually got them a gift. Even though Ino took credit for it.

Neji's eyebrow twitched as he opened it.

A box of condoms.

A/N:

not as spectacular as I'd hoped.
The epilogue will be longer :D
Thanks for reading!
Reviewers get Kakashi shaped cookies this time ;)
fanny-kun