A/N: This is my third Neji and Tenten story and I think this one is the most dramatic and intense. Please enjoy it and hopefully leave me a comment too! ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Naruto world. I only own some minor characters and the story's plot.

Warning: Please understand that Tenten did lose her husband and that she's still grieving. This chapter may seem depressing but I can promise a lot happier chapters in the future.

Burning Flames

Chapter 1:

"Reminiscence"

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July 9, 2006. Sunday morning.

Today was that day again.

Year after year it returns, a memory best forgotten on her part, but still nonetheless, a memory. She's fought with herself constantly to forget, to numb, and to ease the pain that comes with this day. But it seemed apparent now to Tenten, that her heart would always remain broken, tainted, and unloved. She would always remember him, and the love that they shared. The constant pain will be a reminder of that.

She would forever carry the cut with her. A bruise although not new, still hurts, and no matter how much she fights it will be present, useless, until the very end. Time doesn't stop, the years will continue to pass and eventually this day will come again. That's what she has learned from years of experience so far.

You can't run away from the pain.

It's been three years since it happened, but it felt like a lifetime. It was only yesterday that he was there laughing and joking with her. 'He is gone now and he isn't coming back', she thought to herself. 'I don't want to breathe, and I don't want to see. I don't want to be in a place where you don't exist anymore.'

Outside, the sky clouded fast upon the coming rain, and although it was seven in the morning, everything was dark. Nothing seemed to be moving, nothing made a sound; the world was quiet. His face flashed into her mind, the grinning face of a young man in his early twenties. His dark auburn hair bounced in enthusiasm and the glint in his navy blue eyes shined with love and adoration. "Tenten, if you can't remember where my socks are, then at least remember this you crazy woman: my heart will always be in your care, and I trust you with it."

A small smile tugged at her lips at the memory. Days with her husband had always been beautiful, they were always light, happy and carefree. Those days were the times where she could understand better and make a coherent response to the meaning of love, of life. Now, sitting on her big empty bed in a dark sullen room, willing the ground to open up and swallow her whole, Tenten had no understanding or coherent reply, just the confusion of grief that couldn't leave her mind.

That's how it's always been on days like this. The pain, the grief, and the confusion would come together and consume her, making it harder for her to even breathe. The third year anniversary of her husband's death, it's ironic that it would be raining on this day. Right on cue, thunder boomed from a few streets down and the light flashed across her bedroom walls, revealing in a burst of light to the untouched closet across the room. But, too quick for her liking, all was still once more.

"I really need to clean out that closet." She bemused to herself, crushing down the memories of his jokes, his laughter, his face, his love. His reminiscence seemed to be everywhere, reminding her.

Split, splat, split, splat. The rain poured down with a sudden rage, whooshing through her bedroom window, knocking on the door with urgency. Split, splat, split, spat. She sat in her room and her foot tapped along to the rains beat, seeking solace in it's rhythm.

The sound of a child calling out to her jolted her awake and she slowly got out of her bed, her bare feet patting against the wooden floor as she left the room. The hallway was dark as she passed the different rooms of the house; The shadows of a few trees being the only source of light that guided her around to the half litted room.

"Shh," she cooed after entering. "Mommy's here, it's all right Miles, mommy's here."

She lifted the sniffling toddler in her arms, and gently bounced her up and down.

Tenten sat on the rocker across the dresser, and the old chair creaked under her weight. The lullaby her mom used to sing to her as a baby escaped her mouth and she sang the words to Miley. The room soon filled with the soft lullaby and the young girl calmed to small whimpers.

"Did the thunder wake you?" Tenten asked at the auburn eyed girl bouncing on her lap. She snuggled her nose into the crook of the child's neck, taking in the smell of powder and lotion. Her dark brown hair, kept up in pony tails, bounced along with her and a smile lit Miley's face at the gesture. She giggled and said, "It really scared me, mommy."

Tenten lifted her gaze to the twenty white pearly teeth sitting in her daughter's mouth and chuckled. Having her daughter here, in the house with her, told Tenten she wasn't alone. These were the moments that kept her living, moments with Miley were what gave her the strength to fight.

Lighting flashed again, and instinctively Tenten huddled herself closer to her three year old. The child fit into her arms like the key into a lock, or a puzzle piece with it's mate. Indeed, these small moments that she spent with her daughter, they were always the best.

8: 39 AM

She stepped into the shower and twisted the knob. It was much brighter outside by now, since it wasn't raining anymore. The sun was ready to show it's face and the rain left behind a shiny coat that covered each surface.

The pain from early morning still remained but felt numbed by the water caressing her skin. It was like she was on auto pilot, never once knowing what she was about to do, until she was actually doing it. She felt the warm water run over her in the shower. She saw the foam from the toothpaste in her mouth as she tried to clean her teeth. She felt the steady beating of her heart and she knew she was breathing.

So why did she feel like a stone, void and empty?

She hugged the towel closer to her body and exited the bathroom. 'It's been three years Tenten; get over it.' She chanted in her head. 'Saito would have wanted you to.'

Miley was back asleep in her bed, after being certain the thunder wasn't coming back, and Tenten was grateful for the silence. At the moment, the best she could give herself was a moment of peace. She flew into her bedroom, marching almost blindly to the now made queen sized bed sitting in the middle of the room, where her clothes laid prepared for the day.

After getting dressed, Tenten sat in front of her dresser in an attempt to brush through the knots in her wet hair. While brushing absentmindedly, she caught sight of the reflection of the half opened closet on the far end of the room from the corner of her eye. The door was open halfway, but she could see some of his clothes hanging up, as if someone really wore them. Her spirits fell even more at the sight.

Ever since the day of the accident, she had never once touched the things that were left in there in fear of breaking down. In fact, she had been so broken and devastated by the loss that first year, that it had been her best friend, Sakura, not her, who had taken on the responsibility of moving all of her clothes from the closet into the drawers near her bed, where she could easily access them without having to face a closet that was full with his things.

Her eyes lowered to the carpeted floor, ashamed and embarrassed. 'I'm such a big coward.' She thought sourly. Determined to get through it alone this time, she set her brush down, carefully, and made her way across the room.

The musky smell of his cologne hit her nose like a wrecking ball the minute she pulled the door open, and it took her a moment to sturdy herself. The tears felt heavy at her eyelids and she dared them to fall, but nothing happened. Tenten grabbed the T-shirt she remembered as the last thing that Saito wore and pressed it to her nose.

The cotton fabric smelled strongly of his sent and the tingling sensation behind her eyes returned, but again nothing happened. 'Why can't I cry?' She asked herself. 'I start to and then I stop myself, why is that?'

From her living room, a telephone rang and Tenten turned at the sound. She hung the shirt back in it's place, feeling in no mood to pack away Saito's belongings anymore. She sniffed and walked slowly to the source of the sound.

"Hello?"

"Tenten, hi honey it's mom, how are you doing sweetheart?"

Tenten sighed. "Morning mom, I see you're up early." She asserted, a bit ruder than she intended. She walked with the cordless phone into the kitchen unhappily. 'Here we go again with the nagging,' she mentally asserted.

"Early?" Her mother exclaimed disbelieving. "It's never too early Ten's remember that. It's already morning over here, anyway. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, everything is good," she lied, looking around the kitchen for the ingredients for Miley's breakfast.

"Tenten don't lie to me." Her mother took the serious tone of a successful lawyer and Tenten knew immediately, that her mother would not give in until her question was answered. "How are you and Miley coping with things, is everyone alright?"

"Well…" Tenten began uneasily, cracking the eggs against the counter and throwing them into the frying pan. "Miley is okay..." She heard the heavy sigh from the other end and intuitively Tenten could see in her mind the way her mother placed her hand over her head in frustration. "Oh, Tenten…"

"Mom, please, I don't want to talk about it." Tenten declared scrambling the eggs. She really didn't want to have to deal with the whole moving on issue right now.

"Honey, you can't let this thing keep you down. Every year it's the same with you, moping around the house, as if you are dead. Which, I don't want to be a bitch about it, but you are not. In fact, you have a little girl that, right now, depends entirely on you. You have to realize that."

Annoyance seeped in her blood, and Tenten bit her lip. "I know mom. I'm fully aware that a life depends on my own, that's why I haven't completely given up. It's just that I feel like everything is on top of me. You know? I feel lost. I had a loving husband, mom, someone who was there for me, and I lost him." Tenten placed her left hand on her temple and sighed. "I'll recover, mom… it will just take some time, that's all."

Her mother sighed again, but this time relief caused the action, "Well, as long you start taking steps baby, but don't pressure yourself. I just want you to get better." Tenten smiled, placing her food on a plate and putting it in the microwave. "How's America?"

"Same as always, cold." Tenten laughed at that, leave it to her mom to complain about the weather. "Besides all… the commotion going down there, tell me, how has life been treating you?"

Tenten smiled again, it was obvious America didn't change her mother's strong willed nature. She was a strong a woman, one of the many reasons Tenten looked up to her.

"Everything's been good… Miley and I went to the mall yesterday. Since it's summer break now in Japan, I thought going out would be nice for a change. Oh! But you would never believe who I encountered while there."

Tenten laughed when her mother eagerly questioned her, a childish like tone overcoming the once motherly. She was glad that her mother called. The women may be a nagger, but she had this way of always making Tenten feel better about things.

5:25 Pm

"Will you be good for mommy, Miley?"

She nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I promise."

Tenten smiled at her daughter's adorable little face. Miley's auburn eyes, full of honesty and sincerity looked back at her and Tenten winked. She was kneeling on the floor with both arms holding Miley's shoulder protectively and she pulled her in for a hug.

"Pinky swears?"

She felt Miley nod in the crook of her neck and pulled back to seal the agreement. Her tiny pinky fit into Tenten's own just as Sakura appeared from the hallway. "Aww look at you two. You guys look like you're never going to see each other again."

Tenten stood up and grinned over at a very pregnant Sakura, clad in a matching green maternal outfit, and flip flops. Her petal pink hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and it moved on her shoulders as she walked over to Miley.

She was far along into her pregnancy now at her stage of six months, and the baby bump was there as proof of it.

"Do you mean the look you and Sasuke share every time you guys go somewhere the other won't be?"

A small blush crossed Sakura's cheek as she crossed her arms and looked away childishly. "No…" Tenten laughed at the reaction. "Are you sure it's okay for me to borrow you like this?"

Sakura turned back to face them, swatting away her hand dismissively. "Yeah its fine, Sasuke deserves a break from my nagging anyway. Besides you… you need to handle that business you have this afternoon, remember?"

She and Tenten shared a knowing look, and after a while, Tenten gave in with a sigh.

Sakura was her best friend. When Saito died, Sakura had been there with her, helping her through everything she had gone through. When she felt like dying, she had held her and told her everything was going to be alright. She was the other rock, besides her mother, that helped her make it this far.

"Alright if you're absolutely sure, then I guess it's alright." She walked down the stairs to retrieve her car keys.

It was late in the afternoon, around five pm, and the sun was beginning to set. The light peaked in through a window that Tenten had opened downstairs, after speaking with her mother, casting shadows as the cars passed.

As a ritual in this day, Tenten had always gone to visit the grave located in Tanzaku Gai to pay her respects to her fallen husband. This year, however, since Miley was a bit older than before, the thought hadn't once crossed her mind. Until Sakura had showed up to take over her duties as a mother, Tenten had believed she would have been stuck at home all day, moping and reminiscing.

She didn't know how to feel about going back to the grave. She remembered the promise she made, the one about being happy again and moving on with her life, and guilt quickly consumed her.

'I'm sorry Saito, for failing you.'

Tenten grabbed the purse she had placed on the couch downstairs and turned back to the two most important people in her life. "I'll call you as soon as I get there." She called upstairs to Miley and Sakura.

"Alright!" she heard Sakura's muffled reply, overlapped by the running water of the bathtub. After slipping on her sneakers and reaching for the front door's handle, a tiny voice stopped her.

"Mommy, wait!"

She turned to look back at Miley, her toddler frame wrapped in a Disney princess's towel, getting ready for her afternoon bath.

"What is it Mile's?" She ran up to Tenten, her tiny hands outstretched to meet hers and said, "I forgot to tell you I love you."

Tenten smiled sadly and lifted Miley into her waiting arms. She closed her eyes in hopes that the emotions coursing through her would go away, afraid that Miley would be able to tell. "I love you Miley,"

She felt the tiny hands on her back tighten. "I love you too mommy." Tenten set her back on her feet and patted the wet hair on her daughters head.

"Go finish your bath, okay?"

"Okay," She tilted on her toes to lay a small kiss on Tenten's cheek. "Bye."

"Bye, Miles. Be good!"

She stepped out into the warm rays of the setting sun and closed the door behind her.

Crossing her way over to the silver Toyota RAV4 Limited she owned, something settled into Tenten, something that didn't feel right. Her instincts were telling her to stay home, a feeling of uncertainty crowding into her mind. She had the feeling something bad was going to happen, but what it was, she did not know.

The sound of her car alarm greeted her and as she sat in the drivers seat, all thoughts of what could go wrong were pushed into the farthest corner of her mind. She looked at her house one last time before hefting a big breath, putting the key into the ignition, and reversing the car out of the driveway.

7:55 PM

The smell of the tangy, orange air freshener that hung on her rearview mirror was the only thing that kept her mind focused on the journey ahead and not succumbing to the uncertain feeling nestled in the pit of her stomach. It had taken two hours and thirty minutes to finally reach Tanzaku Gai's borders, and if it hadn't been from sheer determination, Tenten would have pulled in at a nearby inn sooner.

Not that she hated driving, but she found the task to be a very dangerous one, and refrained from doing it as much as possible. It took too much concentration of the outside world, much of her mind was on the edge of excitement and worry, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to last her entire trip. The task of driving miles away from Konoha seemed even more dangerous tonight than before.

Passing by the street aligned with various homes and a village park, Tenten changed her course of direction and began on a different path. After locating an appropriate inn for the night, Tenten wasted no time to check in, and check out, the purpose of her visit finally settling in.

"Can I please have your best wine be sent to my room?" Tenten told the lady sitting behind the front desk, her hand clinging to the desk wood so hard; her palm turned white. She had a feeling that after her return from the grave yard, the drink would be heavily needed to soak her sorrows in; no doubt her only source of escape.

The lady typed something into the computer to her left and turned to look back at Tenten with a smile. "When would you like it to be delivered, dear?"

"Sometime around nine would be nice, please." ' I should be back by then,' She thought.

"Alright" The nice lady, most likely in her late forties or so, accepted the key from Tenten's hands and stated to her politely. "Return safely,"

Tenten only nodded once at this, and waved behind her.

"Arigato."

A chilling wind ran past and she shuddered at the contact, realizing then, that maybe a simple solid black t-shirt wasn't enough to keep her warm.

After climbing back into her car and turning the heater on, cursing off the difference in weather between Konoha and Tanzaku Gai, Tenten concentrated her whole being on the chore of making it back in one piece.

The sky was so dark that it was as if someone had thrown a blanket over the earth, and the stars were the little holes that had been eaten away by light. The moon's half crescent form bounced of the hood of Tenten's vehicle, reflecting off its shiny surface as she raced down the lane; the few drowsy lights along the path dim and her mind silently went over the memories of the past as she drove on. (Another part of her ritual.)

Saito had been 19 when they met, a boy full of mischief at the time, and something always up his sleeves. He and Tenten met through Sakura and Saito's younger brother, Sai. Now, sitting in her car all alone, racing against time to make it to the grave yard before eight thirty, the story appeared clear in her mind, more so than any other time.

The game between Konoha University and Sand central, a rivaling university, had been held that same Saturday afternoon. Tenten had planned to stay home in the two bedroom apartment Sakura and her once shared, maybe do a little studying for her upcoming exams or something else of the sort. Sakura had commented on how boring her plans were and Tenten remembers suggesting that Sakura pick out a better activity to do, since her life seemed to have failed to be interesting.

Unenthusiastically, Tenten had accompanied Sakura to the game, uninterested in the least on the match that seemed to have had the other students around her on edge. It was when the second bell had sounded for break that Sakura had spotted her old friend, Sai, sitting on the bleachers with another young man.

The chemistry between Saito and herself had instantly formed upon the first meeting. Feelings arose, dates took place and eventually Tenten had found herself completely in love with the guy, and time only past to evidently intensify those feelings.

After two years of a serious relationship and constant dating, Saito had proposed when she had turned twenty and him twenty one. He had told her on numerous occasions that his dream was to be a police officer, one to take out all the bad guys and be called a hero. The year before his proposal, and the exact year after he graduated from the university, he received a job role in one of Konoha's top forces.

He had been anxious and eager at the chance to live his long life dream, and Tenten at the time had been happy for him too, unaware that this job would one day cost the both of them something precious. The year after marrying, Tenten found herself pregnant with their first child and enthralled beyond belief at the news, she had left her job at the company's bureau, much earlier than usual. Then she had made them both an early dinner, barely able to keep her excitement under control.

And she waited.

And waited.

And waited…

But he never did come back home that rainy night, even with all the pleas in the world, Saito hadn't returned to her. Nothing could have changed the situation. Not screaming. Not denying. Not begging. Nothing. The whole thing was beyond her, and Tenten knew that now.

She parked the car in one of the parking spots and stepped out into the night. Hundreds of tombstones covered her range of sight. Grass and dying weeds crunched under her foot as she subconsciously made her way to the only grave present in her mind, her car keys jiggling in the pocket of her jeans while she slowly approached.

As she opened the gates of this barren, cold, moist, and shallow place, death seemed to welcome her by each breath. She reached her destination soon after passing an old lady placing flowers on a beloved's stone, shadows surrounded the area around her.

She bend to her knees, closed her eyes, and reflectively reached over to trace her fingers over the cold, familiar, lifeless words.

Saito, Takahashi

Cherished police man,

Friend, brother,

Husband and father.

You shall be deeply missed.

1981-2003

She sat in silence for a long time, the sound of an owl in the distance the only sound to be heard. Finally she opened her eyes and allowed them to linger on her ring finger before speaking.

"Hi, Saito it's me again." The wind blew her hair in her eyes and Tenten brushed it aside before continuing. "I know I promised to be back sooner, but I… I couldn't find it within me to come any earlier than today, and for that I'm extremely sorry. I have always been a coward after all," she laughed humorlessly to herself.

"I recently started to work again, you can at least be proud of me for that. Miley's doing really well since the last time we spoke. She loves kindergarten and is doing fairly well."

"It's summer break for her now though." Tenten smiled at the stone.

"You should see how exited she is, running around and playing with more energy than even I seem to able to find these days. Remember how you used to call me hyper all the time? She is so much like you." she let the silence stretch as if she were really talking to a living person rather than a spiritless stone.

L"Well, Miley doesn't even begin to compare with me. Everyone's doing really well, the last time I saw Sai he had promised to come and visit, I wonder if he really had? I'll have to ask him the next time I see him." She pulled some twigs from the cold stone and smiled sadly.

"My mom still nags all the time, she wanted me to give you her blessings today. Everyone else is on my case about moving on, getting better… none of them truly understands how hard it really is for me."

"Anyway," She looked down at the stone now as she spoke, the wind silently carrying her message. "I miss you Saito, and I doubt that will ever change. I miss you so very much. If I had the power to change this, I would have already." Almost on cue, thunder lashed out in the sky, and the world seemed to darken even more, typical on a day like this, after all.

"I love you, and I always will." She stood at that comment, wiping the dirt on her pants before muttering a quick prayer, and gazing at the stone with sad, dejected eyes. "Until next time."

She turned around and headed out the way she came, never once turning to look back. Silently the rain started to fall in a quick pace, and Tenten ran to her car; but not before she caught the voice that whispered to her as the rain poured down mercilessly; a voice filled with life and hope unbound.

"Until, next time."

A/N:Lets here your thoughts: Should I continue?

R&R!