Chapter 6: In Memory of…
It was an overcast, rainy Saturday morning a day after the investigation started-two days after Lee was found dead. Tenten had just arrived at the agency-dressed in a knee length A-line black zip up dress with cut outs on the back accompanied by plum lipstick and her hair left loose and black heels-and made her way upstairs to the team meeting room. As she walked in she found Neji-looking sharp as ever in a black suit- standing by the window watching the rain come down. It would definitely take her a while to get used seeing the room with one less person. Usually when she walked in she'd see Neji and Lee, but that wasn't the case anymore.
Lee was gone.
She walked over to the window and stood next to him but didn't say a word. And for the next few minutes, that's how it was between them-standing in silence and yet they seemed to know what the other was thinking. The sound of the door opening broke them from their thoughts.
"Hey guys we need to start heading down" said Naruto who stood in the doorway then headed out
Just as Neji was about to leave Tenten held on to his sleeve
"I don't know if I can do this" she looked up at him tearfully
"Don't worry; I'll be up there with you"
They took the elevator down to the ground floor and headed to the gravesite of all the fallen agents. Director Tsunade spoke first, about his service to the agency and his invaluable contribution. As soon as she finished Team Guy made their way to the platform where Tenten addressed the people.
"This was quite a devastating blow, not just to Team Guy but to the entire agency. Lee was one of the bravest and most enthusiastically determined people I knew. He didn't just bring his skills to agency but heart as well. If ever you needed a friend to cheer you up, a colleague to help you out or a brother-figure to talk to, Lee was the one and only" she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes
"Lee I'll never forget…" she could feel the lump at the back of her throat, she had to take a breath to keep going "I'll never forget everything you did for me and everything you taught me—" she paused again and that's when Neji walked up behind her and held her hand. She held on tight then continued speaking "You weren't just my teammate, you were my best friend and a brother to me, goodbye and I love you" she ended it there, any longer and she would immediately start crying hysterically.
Xxx
Everyone was back inside since it started raining heavily. They all had drinks and enjoyed the finger foods present. Neji and Tenten left early-after having a very emotional conversation with Lee's mother-to her apartment. There they sat together on the couch in front of the fire place and had a cup of tea.
"Thank you" she said quite softly
"For?" he looked at her with a raised brow
"Being up there with me today, I don't think could've done it without you" she rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. She sighed and closed her eyes before speaking
"I feel like the only absolute in life is loss. The older you get the more people you lose"
"That's a rather bleak way of looking at life, especially from you Tenten"
"I know but I can't help but feel this way, Lee really didn't deserve to go so young"
"Don't do this to yourself; try to find an acceptable reason for his death. No answer will ever satisfy you because you don't want to accept that he's gone"
"Are you speaking from personal experience?" she looked up at him and he remained quiet "I know I shouldn't ask but, what was it like for you… when you lost your father?"
"I was only four at that time, so it was the biggest shock I'd ever experienced. I really looked up to my father and I refused to accept that he was gone, that we'd no longer spend every afternoon together, or that he'd never see his son grow up" he kept his voice as neutral as he could but Tenten could tell that it was a difficult topic to talk about. And yet she was also quite surprised, Neji hardly ever spoke about his father, not even to her most of the time, so to hear him speak so openly to her was a great surprise for her. She took his hand in hers and held it tight.
"I think your father would be incredibly proud to see the man you've grown into Neji, it'd be hard not to be. I think you're pretty incredible." She looked up at him and he returned her gaze
She kissed him. She slowly put her arms around his neck and he around her waist. Their kiss was gentle yet passionate and after a while, they separated
"Not that I'm complaining or anything but what was that kiss for?"
"It's just a way for me to show you how much you mean to me" she smiled at him "You both mean a lot to me and thinking back we really underestimated Lee in certain areas" she chuckled
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know why but a conversation I had with Lee a while back just suddenly came back to me and we were talking about you and me together"
Flashback…
It had been two years since they'd joined the agency. The three of them were training—Tenten on weapons and Neji and Lee doing combat training. The sun beat down on them as they trained but it didn't stop them from going all out. Tenten was doing Shuriken target practice when suddenly she couldn't see the target very clearly and felt dizzy. She passed out.
Both Neji and Lee ran to her side and after a few minutes she woke up. She was resting against a tree in the shade.
"Tenten are you alright?" asked Lee in a concerned voice
"Yeah I'm fine I just pushed myself a little too far I guess"
"You really should be a little more careful Tenten" Neji finally spoke up
"I will, I will" she sighed before picking up her bottle of water and drinking some
After that the two guys went back to their training while Tenten rested. She still felt incredibly overheated so she took off her long sleeve shirt-leaving her in shorts and a sports bra- then closed her eyes for a while
She watched her two teammates spar with each other; their movements were incredibly fast and done with precision. Their combat skills were in a league of their own. About an hour later they switched to target practise, Tenten always paid attention to Neji as he threw his shuriken-to see if he could do it as accurately as her. She was the best in the entire agency when it came to using weapons but that didn't meant that her friends weren't close to her level. As she watched him Lee came and sat next to her with a bottle of water in his hands.
"It seems like I was right" he spoke up
"Right about what?"
"The fact that the two of you have feelings for each other" he took another sip of water
"That's not true Neji and I don't have feelings for each other" she tried her hardest to deny but the blush on her cheeks said otherwise
"Do not try to delude me into thinking that it is not true. I have seen the way you two look at each other when the other is not"
"That's stretching it a little don't you think?"
"Maybe but there's definitely a different atmosphere when the two of you are together regardless of whether I am present or not"
"Well we definitely didn't intend for that to happen, but really Lee what you're seeing isn't romantic feelings"
"What about what happened earlier then?"
"I'm pretty sure you were just as concerned as he was when I passed out"
"True but there was definitely something there and you cannot deny that. If you try to pass that off as nothing then you underestimate my intelligence"
"It's not your intelligence I underestimate believe me, it's just that you've never been one to pick up on these kinds of things" she chuckled
"It is not like you two were being very subtle about it" he chuckled as well "I have no doubt that the two of will end up together, one way or another" he put his hand on her shoulder
"I guess we'll have to wait and see then wont we?"
End of Flashback
"I never would have thought that of all people, Lee would be the one to notice anything between us" she smiled
"That's true; Lee's was never good at reading the situation when it came down to the dynamics of our group"
"Yeah, I mean remember how many times he'd tried to ask Sakura out when it was so clear that she liked Sasuke and yet on missions his perceptive powers are sharper than ever"
After that Tenten went to the kitchen and got two wine glasses and a bottle of wine from the fridge. Neji walked over to the kitchen and stood by the counter.
"Well since we're remembering him today; we should toast to him" she said as she poured for the both of them. They both raised their glasses:
"To Lee, an irreplaceable teammate and friend" she said and they both clashed their glasses before taking a sip
After they finished their wine Tenten looked at the time-ten p.m.
"Well I suppose I should head out, we've got a case to solve starting tomorrow" said Neji as he headed to the door
"Yeah and we need to give it our all" she held the door open for Neji "Goodnight Neji" she smiled and pat his shoulder
"Goodnight Tenten" he gave a final look before walking out the door and disappearing down the hallway
Tenten turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room and went straight to her bedroom where she changed into her sleepwear and lay in bed looking at the ceiling waiting for fatigue to take over. She thought about Lee for a moment then decided to think about something else because any good memories of him were changed to the memory of two nights ago when she saw his lifeless body on the ground. She turned to her side and turned off her bedside lamp and closed her eyes—for the night and to accept that her best friend was gone forever.