A small ceremony took place in the cemetery. Two graves, identical besides the inscriptions, sat side by side next to the crowd of people wearing black.
One by one, each of Tenten's friends place a flower on top of her grave.
First it is Naruto, who remembers her fondly as his girlfriends best friend who was always down for ramen.
Then Ino, who thinks of all the times Tenten visited her flowershop.
Then Sakura, who regrets all the times she didn't see that Tenten was hurting.
Then it's Lee, who's crying more than anyone there. He thinks about all the missions that went smoothly thanks to Tenten.
Next is Gai Sensei, who wishes he could have done more to help her.
It carries on like this until there are only two people left: Hinata and Kiba, each with their regrets and memories about the once bright kunoichi who was their best friend.
Hinata remembers how happy Tenten was with a Neji when they were alive.
She regrets letting herself lose another friend.
Kiba remembers all the times they got into trouble when they were kids and how he always took the blame for her.
He wished he could have grabbed her hand that day
Soon the graveyard is completely empty. Nothing is there except two ghostly figures standing behind the graves.
Tenten had a sad smile on her face as she watched and mentally said goodbye to each person, since she never got a chance to do so when she was alive.
Slowly, she is coming to terms with what happened. Where she would have preferred to stay alive and keep fighting, emboldened with what Kiba and Hinata has said to her on that roof, there is nothing she could do now to change what happened.
The only upside to the entire thing is that she gets to spend eternity in the afterlife with her love. For the first time, she turns to look at the ghostly man beside her.
Neji holds out a hand, and after taking a deep breath, Tenten takes it.
Neji leads her away from the graves, walking into the distance, fading until they are nothing but mist.
For now she can be with him, always.
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Always (NejiTen)
Fanfiction"When this is all over, come with me and never look back." "Always." ~ Neji Hyuga and Tenten Mitashi have never been close. More like rivals than friends. Until about a year ago when everything changed. And when Neji passes in a war protecting...
