All You Left Me

Memories

Author's note: This will be a short series of memories/one-shots that all flow together. The end will be somewhat sad, for those of you who can't tell by the title and cover.

A beautiful young woman was standing in the rain. In one hand, she held a bright red umbrella, in the other, a rose. Dark hair curled around her face as she stared ahead.

"Do you remember that day, Neji?"

Flashback

A young girl was crouched in a dark alleyway, tears streaming down her face. By her side was a tattered red umbrella. A figure approached her, drenched.

"Come on Tenten, you'll catch a cold," The figure reached out their slender hand.

"Neji..." The girl looked up. Her hair buns were lopsided and her lip was split. A dark circle was forming around her left eye. Neji grabbed her hand and guided her through the dark, rainy street. As he pulled her along, he pretended not to notice the faint blush along her cheeks. The boy knew she liked him, but he had yet to sort out his own feelings. The two children eventually came upon an old school building. The rain continued to pour as thunder sounded in the distance

"Where are we going?" Tenten was confused, shouldn't the building be off-limits? Neji said nothing, so she continued walking with him until they came upon an old brown door. The edges were rusted, despite the clean window cut into it. Now Tenten was worried, Neji would have usually given more explanation. He opened the door, with much effort as the hinges were protested. The room was dark, no signs of people or life in general.

"Neji? What's going on?" Tenten looked at him, eyes wide with fear. Her hand grew cold in his as her heart sped up.

All of the sudden, the room was filled with light. People jumped out from behind desks, faces full of glee.

"HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY TENTEN!!!!!" Among the people, Tenten saw her teacher Gai-Sensei and Lee full of smiles. She saw her classmates, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Ino more excited than usual.

"Thank you...so much!" Tenten's eyes filled with tears, she was so happy.

"Let's eat the cake!" Tenten looked for the source of the voice and saw Naruto with his trademark goofy grin sprawled on top of the table.

"MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER, ARE YOU PREPARED TO EAT THE CAKE OF YOUTH?" Gai-Sensei's voice rang out loudly.

"Yum, yes please!" Tenten had only had cake once in her life and was excited to celebrate her birthday for the first time. While eating the cake, she looked around the room at all her friends and realized that someone was missing. The sweet flavor took on a bitter taste upon her observation.

"Where's Neji?" The girl was disappointed that she couldn't celebrate with her best friend.

"I'm sure Hyuga will be back eventually," Ino said, "We're supposed to be celebrating you, anyways."

It was time for the birthday girl to open her presents, she opened them with care and gratefulness. Some of the things she received were hair ties, a mini tool set, and some notebooks. Tenten was appreciative of her gifts, but she remembered her torn umbrella left in the alley. It was her absolute favorite, torn or not. While playing a game with Ino and Kiba, she saw Neji slip in through the partially opened door.

"Neji!!!" She ran up to him and gave him a big hug, "Where were you? Why are you still soaked?" The girl rattled off questions until she was stopped by the Hyuga's glare. He held out his hand and handed her a bag. She opened it to find a brand new crimson umbrella.

"I know how much you like your umbrella, so I bought you another," The Hyuga seemed as impassive as ever, but Tenten could tell the gift held a lot of meaning.

"Thank you so much! I love you!!!" Tenten gave Neji another hug, giving the stoic boy a chance to hide his blush.

"You're welcome, Tenten."

End Flashback

"You know, that was the first time I ignored my father's abusive words and actions. I was just so happy, nothing could cover up my rainbow," Tenten smiled, "I really meant what I said about loving you." The woman reached up and touched her necklace, a small bird on a silver chain.

"I can't believe you couldn't confess until high school," she giggled at the memory.