Title: Promise
Author: vendettadays
Pairing: Neji/Tenten
Rating: T
Length: 995
Spoilers: Manga Chp. 614
Summary: They said they would be together after the war. Promises were made. But promises were easily broken.

A/N: It has been years since I have written a Nejiten fic - hope you enjoy.

They had felt it long before it actually reached them. The beginning trembles of war had rippled through the air of Konoha and it had brought unease to every single occupant of the village.

Shinobi and civilian were preparing for the worse. So was Neji.

Neji's eyes scanned the training ground cautiously. He was in the open and prone to an attack, but first, where was she hiding?

His heart pounded as his white eyes darted from one tree to the next. The strong muscles in his chest drew air into his lungs, supplying every cell in his body with oxygen.

Inhale. Exhale.

There!

'Hakkeshō Kaiten!'

The barrage of kunai, senbon, and various other vicious weapons that were aimed at him ricocheted off his spin and thudded into the ground.

As soon as his kaiten stopped, a sword swung for his head. He ducked to avoid it, but was assaulted by a volley of kicks and punches that forced him to jump in retreat. He landed in a crouch and charged with an attack of his own, but was deftly blocked by a spear.

Breath.

Inhale. Exhale.

His clothes stuck to him uncomfortably. Sweat ran down the sides of his furrowed brow, down his neck, and down his back. His long hair was coming loose from its tie. But his concentration never wavered, as he blocked the swipes and stabs of the spear that was intent on taking his life.

The spear swung and with one final chakra-fuelled punch, he snapped the spear in half. They both leapt apart and landed five metres from each other.

'Neji!' cried Tenten, her breathing heavy and laboured. 'You didn't have to break it!'

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, calming the beatings of his heart.

'Poor workmanship,' replied Neji.

Tenten scoffed. 'You're buying me a replacement.'

Neji didn't reply and started to warm down his body, whilst Tenten began to summon her weapons back into her scroll. Her weapons were scattered and covered the cratered training ground of their genin days. It had been an intensive training session and had been intended so.

They were training to kill.

The war was approaching and they had to be ready. If they were going to win, nothing less than ready was required.

They had to be prepared.

Neji sat down on the worn grass and closed his eyes. Breath. He felt the nervous air around him, the trees were rustling in anxiety, and the birds had been silent for so long. War was coming and nature knew it.

He frowned and opened his eyes. He looked at Tenten who was rolling her scroll up and sealing it. They were training partners, comrades, and part of the same team. Never anything more, never anything less. Yet with the growing worry of war in the air, he felt compelled to think differently.

He had no time for frivolous thoughts and he knew that Tenten was the same. They were shinobi and would die shinobi. Their duty to protect always came first. There were no feelings between them other than that of a teammate. But now, Neji wondered, for the first time, if there could be something else.

Inhale.

Exhale.

'Tenten,' called Neji.

Tenten looked up from adjusting the strap of her scroll and walked towards him.

He wasn't nervous and he didn't blush. There was no need for these kinds of displays, because it was Tenten and it was all pragmatism to him.

She waited for him to start.

'When this is over, we should be together.'

Tenten's eyebrows arched incredulously. She knew Neji and knew what he meant, but it still surprised her. She understood him in a way that no one else could. Neji was pragmatic and so was she – she wielded pragmatism in her hands everyday.

'Are you even allowed to have relations outside the clan?' asked Tenten, as she sat next to him on the grass.

'I am of the Branch House. The seal will deal with my death and as long as I fulfil my duty of protecting Hinata-sama, it does not matter who I have relations with.'

Tenten titled her head to the sky. The clouds were moving fast and she saw the signs of devastations in their frantic movements to escape. She considered it for sometime in silence and Neji patiently waited for her reply.

They were shinobi. They knew the loneliness of their chosen life and the understanding that came with it. They were only trying to prevent the loneliness, but their decision only made it worse.

'Yeah, we should,' answered Tenten finally, as the skies began to bleed from pink to an angry red. 'Promise?'

An unexpected warmth filled Neji and he nodded. 'Promise.'

They should have been prepared. But they were not.

They had seen the warnings that permeated the world around them. The air, the trees, the birds, the skies, the clouds. They had felt the tremors of war and still chose to ignore what was right in front of them.

Neji coughed. The muscles in his chests squeezed the blood that had kept him alive from his lungs and it came spurting from his mouth in a splatter of red. The pain from the wooden stakes in his back dulled with every sputtering breath he took.

Breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

His mouth was moving and he was saying something to Naruto, but his ears had begun to fail him. All he could hear was the waning, thump of his heart and it was trying to tell him something.

He had fulfilled his duty, but not the other.

His eyes glazed and he thought about the promise he had made.

He thought about how promises were made to be kept, but were often broken.

He thought about Tenten.