A/N: Without further ado, our conclusion.

Hold my head inside your hands

I need someone who understands

I need someone, someone who hears

For you I've waited all these years

- Til Kingdom Come, Coldplay

- eight: epilogue -

Tenten returns to Konoha on a mild spring morning.

She breathes in the scent on the air, that newly-green essence sprinkled with the promise of summer. She'd missed that smell in the three months she'd been gone. When Darui had come to Konoha on official Shinobi Union business this past winter, Tenten had joined him in his return to Kumogakure, finally taking up his offer to train with the infamous Treasured Tools. Absently, Tenten pats the scroll at her back, smiling. Darui had gifted her three of the Tools before she'd left, claiming that she was more than able to be their master now.

She crosses the gate into Konoha and says hello to Izumo and Kotetsu, waving. She starts towards Hokage Rock but stops, sensing a familiar presence. Neji emerges a few yards away from behind a tree, arms crossed, his features relaxed. Tenten approaches him, trying and failing to slow the erratic beating of her heart. As she nears him, she can tell he's working to control his own emotions, though he is unsuccessful in one aspect—his eyes are dancing at the sight of her.

"Hi," she says tentatively. "How did you know I'd be back today?"

Neji shrugs, eyes teasing. "Just a feeling."

Tenten squints and raises an eyebrow. Neji's mouth pulls into a wry smirk. "Hokage-sama mentioned to Gai-sensei what day you'd be returning. He must have confirmed it with Darui-san, after you left Kumo," he releases.

A smile pushes its way onto Tenten's mouth. "So, your plan was to wait out here all day?"

Neji answers, raising an eyebrow, "I wasn't expecting you to be back until this afternoon."

"Woke up early," Tenten shrugs. She eyes him, her mouth twitching.

They stand there for a moment, on the edge of the road, soaking in the reality of their togetherness. And then, Neji says, nonchalant, "A lot has changed while you were gone."

Tenten looks at him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Neji nods, his gaze lingering on the sky above as he thinks on what to mention first. "Hinata-sama and Naruto are dating."

Tenten gapes at him, stunned. "No shit?"

Neji rolls his eyes at her profanity, though he can't quite hide the smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth. "It was an interesting winter," he confirms. "Lee and Mai-san moved in together. And Gai-sensei has graduated to crutches, which the hospital isn't necessarily happy about." He pauses, looking at her sidelong. Tenten swallows past the lump in her throat, unable to convey her shock with adequate words. "Shall we go see Gai-sensei?" he suggests.

Tenten nods eagerly, and together, they flash-step towards the direction of their teacher's home.

Following Neji's tip about Gai defying hospital orders, Tenten isn't surprised to see her teacher milling around near the pet shop next to his building, precariously wielding his crutches. She scolds him severely in lieu of a greeting: "Gai-sensei, what are you doing?! Do you want to go back to the hospital?"

At her chiding tone, Gai turns and drops his crutches in surprise, hobbling over to Tenten on one foot. "Tenten! You've returned!" he exclaims, crushing her in his arms.

Tenten endures this for a moment before sheepishly pulling back to survey him at arms-length. "Have you lost your mind?" she barks. "You're going to fall if you aren't careful!"

There is a twinkle in Gai's eye as he considers her. Unconcerned, he sniffs, "My precious daughter is home. I am so happy! Tell me all about your training with Darui-san!"

With a heavy sigh, Tenten lends Gai her arm and they head up the stairs to his apartment. Neji follows behind, having picked up Gai's crutches. She is just helping Gai into his wheelchair in the small living room when Lee bursts through the door, arms thrown wide.

"Tenten!" he exclaims at the top of his lungs. He marches over and wraps her in a tight embrace. Tenten winces, her arms strapped to her sides, unable to move in Lee's unyielding grip.

"Lee," she puffs out, "I can't breathe."

"Ah," he says, quickly letting her go. He steps back and Tenten winces from her now-sore upper body. "I am sorry."

Tenten eyes him, unable to help the grin that touches her lips. If possible, Lee has seemingly become even taller. His new flak jacket makes him look older, more serious. "How did you know I was here?" she asks him.

Lee smiles winsomely. "I had a feeling!" he declares.

Tenten sneaks a suspicious look to Neji, who snorts. "Oh yeah? You sure a big bird didn't say something?"

She hears Neji scoff and imagines his accompanying eye roll. But Lee merely shakes his head, his smile widening. "No, Neji said Hokage-sama expected you'd be back today! I was only dropping by to check in, and here you are!"

Satisfied, Tenten moves to take her seat on the floor by the armchair. Lee exchanges greetings with Gai-sensei and Neji, getting into a quick back-and-forth with Gai over how refreshing his morning exercise had been. Tenten swallows, suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that she's back with the people she loves most. Her eyes prick with unwarranted emotion; she sucks in a deep breath.

Lee settles on the edge of the couch next to Neji and catches her eye, raising his bushy eyebrows in expectation. "Tell us everything about your trip, Tenten! We have been so anxious to hear!"

Tenten fiddles with a loose thread at the hem of her shirt. "I don't know where to start," she admits.

Gai flashes her a winning smile, and Lee says encouragingly, "Start anywhere! We do not mind!"

Tenten flicks her eyes to Neji, where he is seated at the edge of Gai's sofa, next to Lee. He nods for her to begin, gaze unwavering, at ease and patient. Something warm settles in her chest. She smiles at her three boys and begins.

Once she starts, Tenten finds it hard to stop. She regales her teammates for hours, explaining what life had been like in the Land of Lightning, of the Raikage's fearsome way of ruling, of Darui's patient, if somewhat lazy, teaching.

Though the three know a good deal about the Treasured Tools already from previous conversations, Tenten wastes no time in detailing them all again with gusto, conjuring them from her scroll in a puff of smoke (Neji is adamant that they do not require a demonstration, though Gai and Lee are both game).

Tenten walks them through her intense training sessions, how Darui had first started her on the Bashosen, it being the one she was most familiar with. Gai and Lee pepper her with questions while Tenten details her time in Lightning country, asking all sorts of convoluted questions about Darui's instruction style and Tenten's own chakra growth. Neji listens to her calmly, eyes never straying from her face.

When Tenten exhausts her months-long departure, she finally gets to her feet and goes to the kitchen, in need of some tea. She smiles as she leaves the room; Gai has launched into one of his many stories about the Raikage before he'd been promoted.

Tenten is reaching for Gai's teapot when Lee bounds into the kitchen and leans against the counter, watching her. "So," Tenten begins, smirking at him, "you and Mai-san took the next big leap, huh?"

The smile that spreads across Lee's lips is nothing short of beatific. "I think we will get married. In a year or so."

Tenten nearly drops the teapot, raising her eyebrows at him in shock. "Really? So soon?"

Lee waves this aside. "What is soon when you are in love? I know that she is the One."

Tenten swallows, turning on Gai's small gas stove. "Marriage? Are you serious, Lee?"

"Why would I not be?" he replies. "She is the perfect woman. I am very lucky, I think, to have found her at such a young age."

Tenten cannot argue with this; she sets the kettle on the stove and turns to him, crossing her arms. "Alright. You're getting married, then . . . soon. What did Neji say when you told him this?"

"He approves," Lee says, nodding. "Gai-sensei is very excited as well." Lee eyes her for a moment, then continues, "It is okay to feel . . . sad about it, Tenten."

Tenten scoffs, shaking her head. "Why would I be sad? I'm . . . happy for you," she says in an unconvincing tone.

Lee's smile deepens, his eyes crinkling with happiness. "I guess it was a lot to welcome you home with. Do not worry. It will not be as sudden as it sounds."

"Moving in seems kind of sudden," Tenten mutters under her breath. She stretches out a hand to Gai's box of tea leaves.

Lee considers her with a knowing look. "You would not consider letting Neji move in with you? Or moving in with him?"

Tenten's jaw tightens. Sighing, she says, "We're not . . . we're not you. It's different. And I've been gone, so it's not like. . ." The kettle whistles and Tenten moves it off the heat.

Lee shrugs, sensing Tenten's discomfort. He changes the subject, wearing a smirk, "It is good you came back when you did. Neji was very distracted while you were gone."

Tenten hums, spooning tea leaves into the strainer. "What do you mean?"

Lee's voice lowers into a confidential tone, "He was considering traveling to Kumogakure. To finish the rest of your stay with you."

Tenten shoots him a look. After a brief pause, she says, "Neji didn't tell you that."

Lee waggles his eyebrows. "He did not have to."

Tenten sighs and rolls her eyes, pouring the steaming water into the pot, watching the liquid soak the leaves. Quietly, she responds, "He didn't mention it. When he wrote me last."

Lee sets out four cups for her and Tenten pours meditatively. Lee says as she fills the last cup, "He missed you. It was painful for him."

Tenten sets the teapot on the counter and grasps a cup, lifting it to her lips. Lee goes on, "We have been running together in the mornings. To try to help him regain some of his strength. It is . . . difficult for him to keep up. But I believe you knew that already."

Tenten nods silently and takes another sip, listening.

Lee touches his fingers to one of the cups, pressing lightly into the heated ceramic. "He is still searching, I think, in some ways. For who he will be now." Lee flashes her a quick smile. "You felt the same, when you left. Do you feel you have more answers now?"

Tenten sets down her cup, turning it in a circle on the counter top. "Do you remember what I told you? That day on the hill when we got back from Whirlpools?"

Lee nods.

"When I left, I still felt that way, sort of. That I wasn't anyone without bukijutsu or fuinjutsu. When we were on that mission to meet those Yu-nin, I asked Neji the same thing—what good is a weapons mistress in a time of peace? I couldn't come up with an answer, really. I wanted to be good enough despite it all, but I wasn't sure I was. And then, after Uzushio, after finding that scroll. . ." She meets Lee's eyes quickly. "I had a lot of time to think, in Kumo. About everything. And I think I have my answer now."

Lee stares at her attentively, waiting for her to share. Tenten's heart pangs a little with how much she's missed him. "I figured out I can be different than I was and still be good," she exhales, releasing. "All of the stuff in my past—it doesn't erase my hard work. Hokage-sama's focus on making nice with the other villages, the lack of action—it doesn't define me like I thought it needed to. I . . . belong, in a lot of different ways, to different people. But most of all I belong to myself, and that's all that matters."

Lee's dark eyes have begun to well with tears. He steps forward and engulfs her in another tight hug. This time, Tenten squeezes him back.

In the other room, they can hear Neji and Gai murmuring back-and-forth, perhaps discussing what the plan will be for dinner as the afternoon has ticked on. Tenten feels Lee's heartbeat against her chest and feels her own heart clench—with gratitude, with contentment, with peace.

"I am glad you are home," Lee whispers in her ear.

Tenten smiles, her body starting to ache from Lee's grip. "Me too," she answers.

The four eat an early dinner provided by Lee and Neji—Lee cooks the rice, while Neji prepares some vegetables Gai had stored away. Tenten feels herself sink into satisfaction, watching the three of them laugh and tell stories, filling her in on everything she'd missed over the last three months.

Lee departs after sunset, avowing that he must walk Mai home from her shift at the market, but promises that he will see Tenten tomorrow, that he will treat them all to lunch to celebrate her return.

Tenten wanders out onto Gai's minuscule balcony and takes in the view of one of Konoha's city parks, another mug of tea pressed firmly into her palm. The sky has deepened quickly into a dreamy periwinkle, tingeing the clouds with brushstrokes of purple and milky white.

She hears Gai roll his wheelchair up behind her, and she makes room for him to join her on the balcony. She begins, "Where's—?"

"Washing dishes," Gai answers before she can finish. He looks up at her, a twinkle in his eye. "He has been visiting me often lately. Every afternoon we have tea together. But his tea is not near as good as yours, of course."

Tenten rolls her eyes, though her chest warms at the sentiment. That fire in her gut from earlier reignites, and she shifts against the balcony railing, taking a deep breath to keep herself centered and calm.

Gai says, "Your last message to me was very intriguing. What is it that you found?"

Tenten lifts her thumb to her mouth, intending to nibble on the corner of her thumbnail, but she catches herself and wraps her hand back around the mug. "I found another record. Of the rogue-nin who kidnapped my parents and other ninja. They. . . When my parents escaped, it seems one of the mercenaries got away as well. He fled from the Land of Hot Water into Lightning country."

Gai has turned in his chair to watch her, but Tenten resists from meeting his eyes, focusing on the slowly drifting twilight over the trees.

"What happened to him from there?"

Tenten cracks one of her knuckles and sighs. "He was insane, Gai-sensei. He would rave about the things that he and those other ninja did. He was taken by the Raikage's guard and imprisoned for the rest of his life. He died in a cell in Kumogakure, almost eight years ago."

"Hm," Gai murmurs, stroking his chin. "Did the records contain anything else?"

Tenten sighs, curling her fingers around the mug. "When the rogue-nin was first imprisoned, they had him interrogated. Standard procedure for the Land of Lightning, especially at the tail-end of a war. Darui got me access to the Raikage's library, where all of those records are stored." She takes a breath, recalling what she had read. "Most of it was incoherent—just off-the-wall answers to basic questions. But . . . when the interrogators asked him how he escaped, he told them that one of their captives—a weapons maker—set fire to the compound. Apparently, he had been successful in breaking the cursed seal."

Gai's thick eyebrows rise in astonishment. Tenten turns to her sensei, feeling strangely emotionless. "It must have completely drained him, Gai-sensei. My father—he couldn't have been a very skilled ninja, not from any of the records, not from the memories I have. It cost him everything."

Gai settles into his chair, dark eyes roaming over the expanse of the sky. Tenten can detect the first beginnings of stars, winking into sight. He says, "It is the mark of someone truly talented, to be able to break a juinjutsu."

Tenten purses her lips. "It could have weakened over time. There's so little I know about it. . . But I thought—if Lightning has a record of these ninja, why wouldn't other surrounding nations? Their compound was in the Land of Hot Water. Surely someone would remember a group of mercenaries, even if they weren't aware of what they were doing."

"It would not hurt to look," Gai muses, lifting his gaze to her. A small smile graces his lips. "I was hoping you would be here for a while longer before setting off on another adventure."

Tenten shakes her head. "I thought . . . it would be over, once we went to Uzushio. That I would have closure. But now. . ."

Gai nods. "I can see that. But often the past is not a straight line. There are many detours, things that require a second look. As we grow older, we see more clearly."

Tenten sighs. "Well, I'm not going anywhere just yet. I only got back a few hours ago." Her thoughts skip to her return that morning, how pleased Neji had been to see her.

Sensing her thoughts, Gai releases a wolfish grin. "He missed you."

Tenten doesn't stop the smile that perches upon her mouth. She shrugs, "I missed him too. I missed all of you."

"It has been an interesting few months without you. Neji and I have grown so much closer. And he runs with Lee in the mornings, I'm sure he mentioned."

Tenten's chest aches a little, feeling the absence she'd left in her friends' lives, the missing limb she'd felt ever since she'd departed Konoha. "I'm glad to be back," she replies, draining the last of her tea.

Neji appears in the doorway then, wiping his hands on a towel. His gaze slides from Gai to Tenten, an eyebrow rising in suspicion. "Something tells me you were just talking behind my back," he tells them.

"Neji, we wouldn't dare! How could you think that?" Gai exclaims with mock offense.

Neji narrows his eyes at Gai, then analyzes Tenten carefully. She grins and laughs in response.

Tenten and Neji depart from Gai's soon after, setting out for Tenten's apartment. Dusk has moved on, replaced with a deeply sweet spring evening. Tenten inhales a steady breath, nostalgia overwhelming her senses. They do not speak during their walk, content to enjoy the night in silence. Neji's sleeve brushes her arm, and it takes Tenten a measure of willpower to not reach out and lace her fingers with his.

They reach her building and walk slowly, slowly up the stairs. Neji lets Tenten go up first; she can feel his anticipation at her back, and she smiles at no one, withdrawing her keys. "Do you want me to make tea?" she asks him nonchalantly as she unlocks the front door.

Neji does not reply; Tenten passes through the entrance and slips off her shoes. She turns to view him over her shoulder and feels her pulse thud at the look in his eyes.

The door is barely shut before Neji is dipping down to cover her mouth with his. Tenten hums into the kiss, her arms sliding around Neji's neck as he leans her against the wall. His thumbs press into her hipbones and Tenten squeezes his neck. "Miss me?" she breathes out, head spinning.

"You have no idea," Neji mutters back. He closes the distance between them again, his arm snaking around her back. Tenten tightens her grip, folds herself around his waist.

Neji exhales; Tenten can feel the tension leave his shoulders. "Three months," Neji begins, clearly struggling with coherency, "is a long time, Ten."

"I'll be sure to bring you with me next time," she mutters, working his bottom lip between her own. She pulls back suddenly, recalling what Lee had said, and smirks at him. "Though, Lee did mention that you were planning on coming to visit?"

Neji rolls his eyes and presses his forehead to hers, fingers splaying across her throat. "I need to talk with him about minding his own business."

Tenten pushes his chest back, wanting to see his eyes. "Were you really planning to come? Would Hiashi-sama have even let you?"

Neji disregards her questions and leans forward again, silencing her with another feverish kiss. "Neji. . ." Tenten mumbles, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to tease him.

"Tenten, shut up," Neji replies, firm.

Tenten sighs, put upon, but a second later she is all too happy to oblige, having felt Neji's hand graze the skin of her ribs as he pushes past her shirt. He pauses for a moment, waiting for permission. Tenten slides her arms around his neck and nods, knotting her fingers in his hair. Neji smiles against her lips and carries her down the hallway.

There had long been a heat between them that simmered, rising in temperature as they grew older and more mature, spent more time talking than training. Now it has grown into a white-hot thing, burning through each gaze, each glancing blow or touch.

They reach her bedroom and break apart. Tenten looks at Neji, he looks back, and then they reach for each other. It is an undoing, a loosening of their inhibitions, of their past, and a shift into something different, a closeness neither has felt before, falling into an unforeseen future. All the layers fall away, and it is only them.

It is the middle of the night, but they aren't tired, even though Tenten had gotten up before dawn to make it back that morning.

She spreads her scarred hands over Neji's mottled chest, studying him. She gestures to it with a tilt of her chin and asks, "Does it hurt ever?"

Neji smiles slightly, eyeing her long ago partially severed thumb. "Does yours?"

Tenten scoffs and makes to push him away; Neji secures her wrists above her head. His lips make a trail down her throat and sternum. He says, cheek pressed to her breastbone, "It hurts when it is going to storm. Sometimes it's debilitating enough that I need a few minutes to gather my strength."

Tenten considers this, thinking to only a short while ago, when they'd had to pause for Neji to catch his breath, apparently an eternal side-effect of his injury. "You're lucky we don't live in Kumo," Tenten mutters.

Neji nods, somewhat preoccupied with the way her skin is illuminated from the moonbeams shining through the window. He murmurs, thinking back to his checkup at the hospital earlier in the week, "Sakura-san said that I'll have to use a cane. When I'm older."

Tenten blinks, her expression shifting. She easily looses one of his hands from around her wrist, and lightly runs her fingers through his hair. "Does it bother you ever? That you made that choice—to put yourself in harm's way on purpose for Hinata?"

His fingers float across her ribs. "There are some fights you can't walk away from without it costing something, changing you." Neji shrugs. "This one happened to be mine. I wouldn't have avoided it, even if I had known what the outcome would be. Even if it would have been different—and I wouldn't be here."

He eyes her, as if sensing this is an answer she doesn't want. But Tenten merely shakes her head and sighs. "So. Your balance will get worse, then?"

Neji nods, turning his face to press into her torso. Tenten hums in thought, pushing her hand through his hair. After a moment, she comments lightly, "Well, I guess I could always make you a fancy cane, like I'm planning for Gai-sensei."

Neji groans into her side, exasperated. "As long as it's nothing flashy, I'll accept," he finally says.

"Don't worry," Tenten reassures, absently brushing her thumb over the cursed mark on his forehead, "I know what you like."

Neji laughs, his lips spreading in a mischievous smile along her skin. "I was hoping you would say that."

A soft smile spreads across Tenten's mouth, setting a soothing rhythm across his skin. Neji asks her, "What were you and Gai-sensei talking about earlier? On the balcony?"

"The information I found out in Kumo. About the ninja who took my parents."

Neji shifts until he is looking at her fully, face serious. Tenten sucks in a breath and tells him about the interrogation records. Neji listens without interrupting, his expression growing darker with each word. Tenten reaches out, stroking the concerned lines that have appeared on his forehead.

She says quietly, her heart clenching some, "I've had some of my memories start to come back. Nothing concrete. They're more . . . feelings than anything. Snatches of moments."

Neji listens intently, his hand sliding up her arm to grasp her shoulder. "What are they of?" he asks softly. "The emotions?"

Tenten swallows, shifting to lean her head back against the wall. "Fear, mostly. Maybe not my own, but definitely theirs—my parents. I . . . I keep having this memory of standing outside in this yard, and my mom is singing to me. I don't think my father was there—maybe the rogue-nin separated them when they let us outside? It must have been fall, I remember being cold. But her back was to me—I don't remember her face. But she was looking up at the sky and just . . . singing. She had a deep voice, but it wasn't unpleasant to listen to." Tenten lifts her hand, forms her fingers into a fist. "I was holding a leaf in my hand. I'd crumpled it into tiny pieces."

Her gaze refocuses and she looks to Neji, who is regarding her seriously. She flashes him a quick smile. "It's like my mind has been this huge desert, and the rain has finally come, slowly starting to fill up rivers." She shrugs. "I've been really sensitive, I guess. Since Uzushio."

Neji's palm grazes her cheek, gaze sympathetic. "I talked to Naruto, a while ago. About if he remembers anything about Uzumaki Kushina's culture—if she left anything to him from Whirlpools." Neji shakes his head. "He knows as much as you do, I guess. As much as anyone does."

"I think I want to go and investigate about the rogue-nin more. I told Gai-sensei—there's no way people didn't know about their compound. How else would that journalist have known about them, if someone hadn't told him?" Tenten's forehead creases, a familiar determined look returning to her eye. "I don't think he stumbled upon them by chance."

Neji swallows, briefly turning his face away to stare out the window. Tenten trails her fingers along the line of his jaw and throat, waiting for him to express what is clearly weighing on his mind. He finally says, looking back to her earnestly, "I'd like to come with you. Next time."

Tenten smirks, patting Neji's shoulder soothingly. "You know you don't have to ask. But . . . would Hiashi-sama really let you go?"

Neji does not answer, lifting himself up on an elbow to gaze down at her. "I'm sure I could persuade him. He's too preoccupied with Naruto and Hinata-sama to pay much mind to me."

Tenten raises an eyebrow. "What?"

Neji gives her the short version of the events that took place over the three months she's been gone—that Naruto and Hinata had confessed to each other and been on a series of very chaste dates throughout the village.

"I bet your uncle loves that," she says, grinning.

Neji nods, winding a hand through the hair at the back of her neck. Thoughtfully, he replies, "Uncle's been having Naruto over for tea, about once a week since they confessed to one another this past winter."

Tenten raises her eyebrows. "Really? Well that's lucky." She shifts onto her side, attempting to push away the uncomfortable feeling that has lodged in her chest.

Neji trails his hand up her arm, turns her face to his. A smile is lingering at his mouth, soft and hopeful. "He was hoping you would come soon, as well, once you got back from your travels."

Tenten stops herself from gaping. "Hiashi-sama wants to have me over for tea?" she asks incredulously.

Neji nods, turning her wrist to his mouth. Lips against her skin, he murmurs in answer, "Yes. He wants to hear about the Treasured Tools. Among other things." He pauses for a moment, gauging her reaction, before continuing, "He wants to know you better—apart from my opinion."

Eyebrow perched, Tenten knows she looks skeptical. But she is also somewhat flattered, knowing that Neji had spoken of her highly enough to receive such an invitation. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she asks, "I don't suppose you told him where you were going to be tonight?"

Neji scoffs and burrows his face into her neck. "That is not a conversation I wanted to have, no."

Tenten snickers and wraps her arms around him.

They lie there for a while in silence, as the evening slips later and later towards morning. Finally, Neji murmurs, "Can you believe that Darui-san gave you the Treasured Tools?"

Tenten shakes her head, mystified. "I'm still processing that, actually. I . . . wasn't expecting it. Not really." She half-smiles, recalling the moment Darui had gifted them. "He said they'd be of more use to me than him. That I'd earned them."

"It's a great honor," Neji comments. Tenten does not miss the pride that shines in his eyes. "When will you put in your bid for Hokage?"

Tenten rolls her eyes. "Be serious," she mutters.

"I am," Neji maintains. "You're a legendary kunoichi—not from any type of kekkei genkai or ancestry." Neji flashes her a quick, contented grin. "It's simply because of who you are—your ingenuity and craftsmanship and technique. You're far greater than anyone gives you credit for."

Tenten beams and Neji looks back at her with a rare, content smile. Tenten leans down to kiss him. She is twenty years old, and feels her future stretching out ahead of her like a long, sunlit road.

Tenten slips out the next morning while Neji is still asleep.

It is a crisp spring morning, and not many people are out. Tenten walks slowly down the road, rubbing her tired eyes. Though she has only been away for the better part of three months, Tenten can still feel the change in the air. But is it Konoha that has changed, or just me? she wonders.

Pondering this, she enters the cemetery grounds and makes her way to the plot of land next to the wax tree. When she sits beneath the stone marker, Tenten is surprised to see the gravestone is clean and polished. A smile graces her lips, her chest tightening a little at Neji's thoughtfulness.

She sets aside the scroll she'd brought with her and reads Baachan and Jiichan's names, imprinted deep within the stone. She begins, "It's a nice spring day—like the ones that used to make you sing, Baachan—the ones that would make Jiichan tease you about your singing voice. I only just got back from Kumogakure yesterday. Sorry I was away for a while."

Tenten pauses, lifting her eyes to the almost wispy blue color of the sky. Taking a breath, she resumes, "The last year has been . . . interesting. I wish you were here so I could tell you about it." Tenten digs her hands into the grass, leans back on her palms. "While I was in the Land of Lightning, I found out more things about what happened to my parents. They . . . did not have happy lives. It makes me sad that they had so much heartache and pain, that they didn't get the chance to enjoy their freedom, after they escaped.

"Both of you had no idea what I had come from when you took me in. I can't imagine it was easy, taking on an orphan that had no history—you had no idea what you were getting. I know it annoyed you, Baachan, when I'd argue with the boys at school, and Jiichan, I haven't forgotten how much you hated that I'd do target practice on the walls in my bedroom. But . . . you loved me anyway. And I loved both of you." Tenten swipes at the silent stream of tears with the heel of her hand. With slightly shaking fingers, she opens the scroll and summons a lacquered box and her father's kunai. She holds up the kunai, examining it against the shaded sunlight from the wax tree. "I came to ask if you two wouldn't mind sharing your spot with my parents for a while—at least until I can get something else worked out."

A breeze lifts, rustling the wax tree leaves. They are a bright summery green, as if spring is only a passing dream. Tenten smiles and sets the kunai inside the box, suspending it from a wire. She closes the front glass panel and takes a breath. With practiced quickness, Tenten performs the hand seal detailed in the scroll she'd found in the dilapidated beam in the Land of Whirlpools. Briefly, the kunai glows a deep cobalt blue. Tenten lifts the box and turns it in her hands, before balancing it along the smooth ledge of Baachan and Jiichan's grave marker. The blue grooves of the kunai dance with sealed chakra. On the outside of the box, the carved symbols of whirlpools glow with the energy from the kunai.

Tenten sits back on her heels and closes her eyes, feeling the sun on her face. "Baba, Mommy, Jiichan, Baachan—I am legendary now. In my own right."

The breeze picks up again, stirring her bangs. You are. You are.

Tenten bows her head. "I am grateful for you all," she murmurs, pressing her eyes closed. The wind moves around her, and Tenten hears the echo of her mother's singing, her father's encouraging correction, Baachan and Jiichan's elderly snickers, Gai and Lee's shouts of youth, Neji's not-quite laugh. She smiles.

After a moment of sitting in peace, Tenten stands and brushes herself off. As she turns towards the entrance, she is unsurprised to see Neji waiting for her, face turned towards the sun.

"How'd you know I was here?" Tenten asks as she brushes by him.

Neji breaks away from the post he'd been leaning against and falls into step with her. "Just a guess."

Tenten turns her head, hiding her smile. "Thanks. For taking care of them while I was gone."

"You don't have to thank me for that."

His knuckles brush the back of her hand. She opens her palm to his, letting him lace their fingers together. Tenten smiles, remembering her dream from Madara's world, recalling what Neji has told her of his own. He turns his head, catches her smile, and asks, bemused, "What is it?"

Tenten shakes her head. "I'm just happy to be back," she answers, squeezing his hand.

Lee's promise of lunch hangs in the air and Tenten's stomach growls. She can feel Neji's slight laughter next to her, and she gently punches him in the side with her free hand, grinning.

She thinks of the markers of remembrance she'd just left in the cemetery, the mixture of pain and sadness and joy that the memories brought to mind. Her thoughts ebb and flow towards Gai, always supportive and protective, and Lee, positive to a fault and unfailingly kind. Tenten's gaze skirts to Neji and he looks back at her, his expression open and yielding. The feeling of home—its sentiment of safety, of belonging and comfort overwhelms her.

Neji squeezes her hand. Tenten smiles back at him, and they start down the road, hand in hand.

Notes:

- At the gravestone, where Tenten is pleased with Neji's thoughtfulness - graves are usually kept clean by the departed's relatives, it's even a part of a Japanese custom called Obon in Japan. Neji took care of their graves while Tenten was away on her trip.

Writing this story has been incredibly cathartic for me personally. Last year, I had a bad time of it, and this fic really helped me to process some of those emotions and thoughts. One thing that Gai mentioned in this I hope resonated with you, because I've found it to be strikingly true in my own life: our lives are not straight lines. They will diverge in ways we won't have expected, taken dips or detours or end in dead-ends. But what's important to remember is that our journey is not over; there are brighter days on the horizon.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being so kind and generous towards this idea that I had. Your follows, faves, and reviews have been so encouraging. If you want to connect elsewhere on the internet, that list is on my profile. As always, thank you for reading and making this fandom so easy to be a part of. Wishing you all unending, sunlit roads. -KNO