It took all of Tenten's willpower to not throw up when Tsunade informed them of her decision.

She knew Neji's vacancy would've been filled eventually. There was a selfish part of her that hoped that she, Gai, and Lee would be left as a 3 man squad, or at the very least that the process would take enough time for her to find her next career choice.

Teaching always appealed to her. Or maybe taking her specialization to the next level and joining a weapons-specific division of ANBU.

She wasn't sure why she was so eager to move on. Maybe there was a part of her that had already done the math and seen what was coming. Maybe identity didn't matter at all, maybe it was just the thought of another human being filling the void that had once been so magnificently held by Neji. It seemed blasphemous. Impossible.

It wasn't a very shinobi-esque belief. She knew her training. She knew the rules. Her foremost concern should be with getting their team back to the necessary 4 members.

But Neji was… Neji. For 7 years she'd watched him grow, watched him change. His transformation from an uptight, anti-social, condescending asshole, to an uptight, anti-social, slightly less condescending asshole, to finally an uptight, anti-social, condescending third of her entire world was everything she'd ever wanted as a child from her first genin squad.

She'd idolized Tsunade as a child. What she appreciated most about Tsunade wasn't her talent, her strength, her healing abilities, but that she came as a package. One of three, unbelievably talented and unique individuals that had found true companionship in one another.

Real, genuine, calloused friendship.

It wasn't something you could ever say out loud. Much too embarrassing. So when asked, she settled for just being Tsunade. But in her heart of hearts, she loved Lee and Neji for being everything she'd ever dreamed of.

Oh, it took some work for her to get there. Her first impression of Lee was no better than her first impression of Neji. Neither were her second, third, fourth, tenth, twentieth, and hundredth impressions him.

But she came to love them both just the same. They were her Sannin.

And Gai was no Hiruzen Sarutobi. Not even close. But sometimes, when he wasn't walking on his hands, or walking on all fours, or walking on his toes, or walking on his fingertips, or doing one of a million things she swore he thought up of every morning to embarrass her, if ever those rare moments were ever to arise, just for that tiniest moment, a whisper of time so quick that she sometimes doubted it even existed, just barely, she saw him as magnificent as any Kage that had ever lived.

Maybe. She still wasn't so sure.

She used to think they'd be a team forever. A child's fantasy, to be sure. But to her, the happiest years of her life.

Gone.

Neji was dead. Years of a world she'd carefully crafted, shattered.

And Uchiha Sasuke was set to replace him.