A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
When Tenten learns her mother has passed away, her first inclination is to take a bath. It is an excuse really, to get away from her teammates so she can digest the news in silence. They are on a mission in the Tea Country, and Gai had sent her the news by messenger hawk.
Both Lee and Neji know better than to press her when they watch her expression shift from curious to shocked to solemn. They don't question when she she grabs a towel and shuts herself in the bathroom. And they have the sense to leave the small room entirely, and let her process whatever it is without the self-consciousness that comes from having them on the other side of the door.
Tenten sinks low into the warm bath water, until her chin comes to rest on the placid surface. She makes no move to wash herself, she just sits and stares at the tiles of the wall. She doesn't know how to grieve. She has been so hardened by her life as a shinobi, so used to death, that she sometimes forgets that it is something that is meant to be mourned.
She is the last of her team to be orphaned, but she is unmoved by this realization.
She will no longer have anyone home to return to. This too, does not phase her.
Guilt wells in her then. She should be crying, she thinks, but her mind remains blank and her eyes are dry. When had she become like this?
She remains in the bath for sometime, long after her fingers have wrinkled like prunes, and the water has gone cold.
She feels his chakra then, a soothing presence hesitating in front of the bathroom door. Neji knocks gently.
"They are serving dinner now. Lee and I will save you a seat at the table."
It is not a request. She will have dinner with them. Neji will allow her space, but he will not allow her to neglect herself entirely.
"Coming," she croaks, her throat dry from hours of disuse.
He is hovering outside the room door now, allowing her privacy to dress. He assesses her quietly as she locks the room door and turns to follow him down to the dining room.
But he doesn't question, and turns to lead the way.
Lee is exuberant at dinner, but his spirit his muted out of conscientiousness for Tenten's state of mind. He and Neji make aimless conversation, and she almost forgets her new status of orphan as she listens to their banter.
She allows them to walk ahead of her as they climb the stairs back to their room. Lee hasn't stopped trying to persuade Neji to join him in an early morning workout, and she almost feels a smile tug at her lips as Neji's rejections become increasingly biting. She watches them in the mirror as she undoes her hair buns, as they discuss the winter festival that will take place the evening after they are set to arrive back in Konoha. Neji glances at her occasionally; he knows she is listening.
"I think we should go as a team," he announces, looking at her through her reflection in the mirror. Lee exclaims an excited "Yosh!" in agreement, pumping his fist.
Both men turn to her then, waiting for her reply.
Her lips curve slightly and she agrees. She watches Neji's moon eyes brighten imperceptibly, and then he glances away again, intent on folding his clothes and placing them neatly in his bag.
There is only one bed in the inn, but they have shared quarters far smaller than this, and none of them mind. Tenten settles in the middle, with Lee's spine firmly against her right arm, and Neji's shoulder brushing against her own, his hair spilling onto her pillow.
Lee doses off immediately, and it is only she and Neji left awake in the dark.
"Are you alright?" He finally asks, though he does not turn to look at her.
He can feel the pillow shift as she moves her head in a nod. Quickly, he gives her hand a squeeze. Normally, Tenten would be quite thrown off by this gesture, but now in the darkness, as memories of her mother begin to surface, and a dull ache in her chest become more pronounced, she is grateful for the weight of his hand. Her mother is gone, but Neji is here, and he is her anchor to reality that keeps her from becoming adrift in a sea of grief.
And she knows now why she is unable to cry, even if her mother's death means there is no one waiting on her.
As long as she has Neji and Lee, she will never be orphaned. They are her family too. And they will always wait for her to come home.
A/N: Thank you for reading and please review!
~M.I.