Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Neji and Tenten – Chapter 700

She could see clearly the specks of dust wafting above the glass. It was curious, really. She had just wiped it clean earlier. Where could the endless supply be coming from? She sighed, shifting her legs. She would wipe it later, when she actually had reason to stand up.

Her shop was getting too quiet. Days would pass with not a single person stepping across the door.

She almost wondered whether it was something of her own doing. Were the weapons not sharp enough? Were they too expensive? Did the designs turn potential buyers off?

"Uff," she exclaimed, leaning her elbow on the table. "I can't sell much," she whispered, her eyes glazing as she momentarily transported to a day of fighting and action years and years ago. "Lately the world is too peaceful..."

But she wouldn't have it any other way.

She forced herself off the chair, stretching her arms above her head. She watched the people walking past the shop, once spotting Bolt, looking like the world he lived in was as dull as her shop. Tenten smiled. She would come home sometime soon, and she would be hungry. Tenten eyed the top most shelf at the right side of the room.

There was still a pack of bread left.

She walked to the shelf, reaching for the bread. "Agh," she groaned, realizing that even on tiptoes, they were out of her reach. She swerved around—

And bumped into someone's warm chest.

"I don't understand why you keep them at such a height," she felt his torso rumble as he chuckled. She slapped him playfully, but leaned her head on his chest, closing her eyes to the smell of dust and sun from the blue fabric he wore.

"You're here anyway," she mumbled against the cloth.

"What else is my height for?" he agreed, wrapping his arms around her.

She responded in kind, hands enveloping across his waist. They rested on the exact spot where the scar remained from an injury he took in a war she had tried so hard to forget. Remembering made her tighten her embrace. She had thought he had died. "What took you so long?" she asked, after her heart had calmed and her thoughts drifted back to the empty shop.

"Lee reached 3,500," he said, as she pulled herself away.

"Really?" she asked, impressed, beaming up at him.

He nodded, then stepped past her to reach for the pack of bread she had left. "I wanted to see how much he would finish today," he tore at the plastic.

She chuckled. "Some things don't change."

She froze as his hands touched the two buns on her head. "That's true," his eyes softened as he smiled at her.

Her hand reached up to his cheek and she grazed her thumb through his skin. Again, she stood on tiptoe, kissing him on the lips. For the first time that day, she felt happy for the lack of customers.

"Mama!" a voice rang as the door was pushed open, and she hurriedly withdrew, Neji stepping back as well. Tenten turned to see a young child with brown hair in two buns. Her lavender eyes crinkled in glee as she hurried inside the shop. "Daddy!" she called out in surprise, her eyes landing on Neji.

"Hello, honey," Tenten stepped forward, smiling at her.

"How was your day?" Neji asked, handing her a piece of bread from the pack in his hands.

"Aburame-sensei let us go home early today," she said, chewing through her food.

"Oh! That's right! The Kage Meeting is today, isn't it?" Tenten asked as she reached under the table she had been sitting by earlier. She pulled out a small rag.

Neji nodded as the young girl spoke on. "—then Bolt stood up and shouted stuff."

"What did he say?" Tenten asked, raising her brow.

"Something about an amazing prank," their daughter replied, after swallowing the mouthful of bread in her mouth.

Tenten smiled, sharing a look with Neji. Some things never changed indeed.

She listened to the stories exchanged by her husband and daughter, as she firmly pressed the rag on the case that held her old weapons.

The sunlight shone through the dust free display.

END

A/N: I've always planned to make this collection reach a hundred chapters, but due to a lot of reasons, I just couldn't. Thirty three is as good enough a number as any anyway.

Naruto just ended. It was heartbreaking, for me—seeing all those canon pairings, and not seeing Neji. I felt something missing, so I tried to write it down. This might possibly be the last "canon-ish" story I'll ever publish for Neji and Tenten. It's just honestly so painful for me to operate in the world where...well, we all know what happened.

I'm not closing the possibilities for AU though. I believe that in some parallel universe, Neji survived.

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favoured, and put this story on alert. This chapter is for everyone of you.

Please. Don't stop writing/reading NejiTen. Their's is a story that deserves to live on.

Love,

Vee