Life in the Hyuuga house is something surprising. Take, for example, how some mornings, I wake up to find that my room is being cleaned by one of the other women.

Other days, though, start out with quite a bit more surprise. Such as one when I woke up extra early for some reason, just to notice that the light in my closet was on. I knew I had turned that thing off before I had gone to sleep. Sure, I had been rummaging through it before that, but I wasn't one to leave a light on.

"Who's there?" I asked quietly, getting myself out of the bed.

Whoever it was dropped a glass something, because I heard the shattering. "Tenten? Did I wake you?" Hanabi replied, her voice emitting fake sweetness.

"Of course you did. The light?"

"Shut up. There's no way that woke you up. It had to have been my failed attempt at sneaking in. Let's keep it at that." She stepped out of my closet, only for me to see that she was wearing some of my favorite clothes.

I rolled my eyes. "Hanabi, why are you wearing my stuff?"

"Because it's all so pretty, and I want to be able to use it while you can't." The smile on her face was so blissful, so real, that I didn't doubt that it was the truth. "You know, I like all of it. You should totally let me take it."

"Wait, what?"

She twirled on her toes, letting the end of the skirt she was wearing billow out. "Take it. Later. Not now. When you can't use it."

"That's what I thought you meant." My head hurt at the idea of what she was saying. She liked this whole "five years" thing, didn't she? Well, I guess she did, because it meant all of the stress wouldn't be on her shoulders anymore. For the first time, I saw her not as a pest, but as a struggling girl with a fate she didn't want.

But I couldn't just let that go like that. I, being the nice person I try to be, ended up taking a bunch of my too-small clothes I had been saving from years past into Hanabi's bedroom and letting her try all of those on. She really was pretty when she was being an angel, not her father's demon. I enjoyed being in her company, especially since she was telling me about her private life that didn't involve the family.

Why hadn't I known she was this amazing? All that time, I had been secretly calling her a bitch under my breath when she walked by. And now? She was a good person at heart, although her actions sometimes didn't show that.

"I don't get her," I told Neji later that night, while I was sitting up against our room's door and he was in the construction site working. "She's like a present. A very wrapped up present."

"Most people in this family are."

"You know, I should have noticed that before this. You used to be a real puzzler, way back before all of this happened." I wiggled a finger in his general direction, although I knew he couldn't see it. "Might have done something to make me not like you."

He laughed, and I couldn't help but giggle. "Ten, are you being serious about that?"

"If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't have said it. I'm not like I used to be, where it was impossible to tell if I was lying or not. I haven't lied in weeks."

"How should I be sure you aren't lying now?"

My eyes widened "Really? Why would I lie to you through the tarp? That's almost as bad as me lying to your face, and I wouldn't do that ever. You'd kill me before all the words got out."

"This is true."

"Hey, wait, if you're talking to me, are you really working?" I asked. "Because I hear no loud noises."

He obviously hit something against a piece of wood, as a hammering sound resulted. "There. Happy?"

"No. Tell me, love. What are you doing?"

"Is it wrong for a man to be painting a wall?"

Without me even trying, I came up with a million and one reasons on why it was. But why would I go and be mean? "If it was, it would also be wrong for a woman to know how to fight and throw things better than her husband."

"You're funny." I could tell he was trying to hide his anger. "Go on now, into the bedroom. I'll be in there in a few minutes."

Sometimes I liked asking myself why I actually got married to him. I knew the answer, that I was in love with him and just trying to hide the truth from myself, but what if that wasn't really it? What if it was because he, or anyone else in his family, brainwashed me?

It wasn't possible, but I had always thought it was impossible for me to fall in love, and I did. So what if they had? How would they have gotten away with it? Hiashi had a way with scaring me into agreements, some of which went down while I was drunk, but it was all the same. What if they had some sort of drink that made me follow their every order.

I screamed. Neji had come into the room, holding a tray that had a nice bottle of something on it. Why was it that when I thought of drinks, they appeared?

"What's the occasion?"

"Must something special be going on for us to have a fun night?"

My heart began pounding. "I guess not, but wouldn't it be nice? I like knowing why we're doing this sometimes."

"I don't think I need a reason to give my love to my wonderful wife." He put the tray down on a dresser. "Which reminds me. When did Hanabi get your old clothes?"

"I gave them to her."

He grinned. "Nice to see you being fair to my family."

"I try."

"Come on. Let's get this started, okay?"

The next morning, I woke up to a dark room. The fact that there was nothing strange going on like before was a comfort to my very confused mind.