A/N: It feels so nice to be on spring break! Hopefully I'll be writing more in the next week.
Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
…..
She awoke with a start, sitting up abruptly, eyes glancing about her wildly, hands blindly groping to keep the blanket on her shoulders. It is dark in her bedroom despite the silver rays of moonlight slipping through her curtains and crawling on the floor towards her. It is unusually quiet, the crickets having gone to sleep and the wind dying down for the night. Nothing moves in the shadows.
She is alone when she does not want to be.
Her fingers tangle themselves in the chain around her neck, playing with the wedding ring of a pendant, keeping this precious piece of her husband near. For a while she simply sits there, staring into nothing, mind wandering to things she does not wish to think about during the day. He'll be fine damn it! Stop worrying! He doesn't freak when you come back a few days late from a mission- or…or a few months. Tears prick her eyes and she feels so helpless. She has pestered Tsunade on his whereabouts to the point she has been banned from the Hokage's office. She's weeded what she can out of Shikamaru too, seeing as he is head of the intelligence department.
"Tenten," the Nara always begins, with a slight air of exasperation. She does not know whether to punch him or appreciate all that he has done for her. According to him, Neji is still alive, but that's about all he can tell her.
Gingerly, she places her feet on the ground, arms still wrapped around her to keep the blanket from falling. She stands shakily and pauses, ears straining to pick up any sounds of life. Her heart pounds loudly in the silence. Sometimes, when she's still half asleep, she thinks her heartbeats are his footsteps, always getting louder, always coming closer. And then, at any second, he'll come and lie down next to her and trail his fingers down her face. Her chest stops heaving for a moment as she runs through these images over and over again. The pain in her hand from being clamped so tightly around her ring, and the sudden rush of cold brought on by the blanket falling off her shoulder, snaps her back to reality. She breathes again and tiptoes across the room. She curls up on a stiff wooden chair near the window, hugging her knees to her chest. She feels as if she were going crazy. How many hours had she spent like this? And the counting, she would always start counting, thinking he'd come back when she reached a thousand.
He'd promised, though the mission's survival rate wasn't too high, he'd come back to her. But then again, this was Neji, and he was never good at keeping promises-at least not these types of promises.
After about half an hour, she feels herself slipping back into unconsciousness. At least in her dreams he's still with her.
"Tenten." His voice is sharp and strained. She rolls over, eyeing him wearily.
"Neji... it's… three in the morning. I am not training with you at such an ungodly-"
"I have a mission," he cuts her off. He tugs on his shoes and stops in front of the mirror to readjust his headband. Even though his emotionless façade is in place, she still senses the urgency of his movements.
"When will you be back?" she asks sitting up now and reaching into the drawer of the nightstand for his mask.
"Soon," he grunts, strapping his katana onto his back. Tenten slips out of their bed and reaches him in three long strides. He holds still as she places the mask over his face and catches her wrist, moving away from her touch. There is an awkward pause as he drops her hand and steps back.
"Neji," she whispers quietly. He shakes his head and turns.
"Soon. I promise." She knew it then, the likelihood that she'd never see him again, the way he tried to distance himself from her.
He wasn't coming back.
She jolts awake, breath catching in her throat. For a second she is sure it is his fingers grazing her shoulder, but when she turns, she realizes it's only that damned blanket again. It has collected into a pool on the ground, leaving her skin exposed. However, before she can snatch it off the floor and rip it into a thousand pieces (she has to stop herself from counting again, one piece for every step it'll take him to get back to her), something in the mirror catches her eye. She swears she sees his reflection, hurriedly fixing his appearance just like that morning so many months ago. It's only for a moment, but she feels his presence, hears him breathe. She is transfixed.
She knows it now too, that he's not coming back. She can feel it, his soul moving on from this world, ready to join the stars in heaven.
Her necklace slips from her neck and she fumbles for a minute as she tries to find her ring on the floor. But it is too dark and she is too tired, so she gives up and returns her gaze to the mirror. But he's not there anymore, his ghost, his image, or whatever tricks her mind was playing on her, it is over.
Just like that…he is gone.
…..
A/N: This is definitely not my best work, but it'll do for now. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.
Also, happy Easter!
~M.I.