Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliates. Daichi, however, is mine.

A Blossom with Reason

By Tanya Lilac

Broken

It had been a little more than three years since she had woken up in a hotel room with Neji's arms around her, but it still felt the same. She felt calmed, like he had siphoned off all of her emotions.

"Morning."

"Hey." Tenten shivered against the morning chill and Neji pulled the sheets up a bit higher. As the fabric settled, she raised her fingertips to trace the curse seal upon his forehead, lingering momentarily before swiftly brushing over the rest of his features. Any kind of boyish features his face had once retained had been stripped away, leaving a strong jaw but a fine forehead. His eyes were as penetrable as ever, but there was a quality to them now that she had never witnessed when they had been younger. They seemed to hold more… contentment. There was no longer a drive for such fierce revenge, only a desire to fulfil a dream; his own.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," Tenten smiled. "Not much, anyway."

"You're hiding something, again." Neji commented.

She shrugged. "Probably."

"I keep thinking promise when I look into your eyes."

Tenten blinked and her eyes hardened.

"Or maybe you're just suffering from anxiety."

"Anxiety over what?"

"You tell me."

"Stop playing hard to get, Neji."

"Ahh, well, you see- that's not the problem here; you're lying in a hotel bed with me, pretty much naked, and you're the one being somewhat ambiguous."

"All of the men in Konoha would willingly give anything to be in your situation."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Neji teased.

"Egotistic bastard."

Neji smirked down at her, taking in her features. Smooth, unblemished skin, high cheekbones and she had long since lost the chubbiness she had once possessed, giving her face a more angular and mature stance. She had changed, that was for sure.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Tenten asked, tilting her head to the side. "It's like you haven't seen me in years or something."

"I haven't had the time to ogle at you openly."

"Oh, like you haven't had the time to ogle at my hemline openly before last night?"

"Your hemline usually ends mid calf and the fact that you wear pants means that I don't see anything."

"That's the exact reason why, Neji." She replied loftily.

Neji's thumbs brushed over her eyelids and they came away with a light powdering of eye shadow and kohl.

Tenten gasped.

"I look like a prostitute, don't I?" She cursed colourfully fell out of the bed with an undignified 'oof!'

"That was coordinated," She muttered as she winced and stood, wrapping the sheet around her and leaving Neji on the bed in only his boxers.

"You know, you look stupid in those boxers. Why do you have smiley faces on them?"

"You're looking at my crotch? Wow, I'm honoured." He retorted sarcastically.

"Oh, get over yourself." The weapons expert retorted tartly, picking up his jeans and throwing them in his face (incidentally, he was slapped on the cheek by the heavy fabric), and proceeded to trip on her way out of the room.

Neji repressed a snort of amusement.

-x-

Tenten emerged from the bathroom, once more the austere and practical kunoichi. Her nails were inconspicuously clean and her hair was twisted up into their customary buns, much to Neji's disappointment.

"Breakfast?" He gestured at the meal set out on the table and she sat down, making her way through the French toast, grilled tomatoes, egg white omelette, fruit and coffee with no difficulty.

"The joys of room service," she sighed, staring out the window.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not too good," Tenten admitted. "I'm dreading returning home. Part of me wants to go talk to my mother but the other part… just wants to ignore it."

"And what about him?"

"Dai?" Tenten felt heat rise to her cheeks as she thought of the intimate kisses they had shared the previous night.

Neji seemed to be thinking the same thing and he cleared his throat, rearranging the items on his plate.

"Well, I don't know. I promised him a spar, and… well, I don't know what next."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes." She answered without hesitation.

"And are you in love with him?"

Silence.

Neji leaned forward, placing his chin on steeped fingers.

"So you don't."

She looked away, sitting back heavily in her chair.

"Don't tell him." She murmured as she turned angrily blazing eyes back to him. "And if you use it against me, in any way, I will make sure that you regret it."

Neji held up his hands in a placating manner and the kunoichi backed down, cutting up her omelette in a vicious fashion.

"And your mother?"

"I, like every other human being, will ask her how her trip went. Whether or not she wants to breach the subject, I'll leave to her."

"How will you explain your arrival in Konoha if you get home after her?"

"I will tell her the truth. That my mission was a simple C-Rank surveillance and that I'd had to travel out of Konoha for the day."

Neji nodded and Tenten picked up her cup of coffee.

"So do you still miss talking to me?"

"Not any more." Neji smirked and the kunoichi rolled her eyes. It was just like old times.

-x-

Tenten unlocked the door and took one look at her mother inside the living room.

"How was your trip?" She asked.

"Good…" Mai replied uncertainly.

"Good."

Tenten took a deep breath and walked past her mother into her room.

A few minutes later, Mai knocked timidly on her door.

"Tenten?"

"It's open."

Mai crept into the room with a shaky smile.

"I think you're old enough to know, now, about… well, what happens when you fall in love with someone."

Tenten did not look up when Mai sat down on the bed, beside her.

"It's… something you never forget," Mai said quietly. "But as time goes on, the sense of it fades a little bit and becomes hazy. And when you meet someone who brings out that spark again and sweeps you off your feet with such passion, you just get swept away."

"Why are you telling me all this, now? Are you in love with someone?"

"I thought I was."

"Did something happen in Tanzaku?"

"Do you remember, on your birthday, when we had that fashion parade? I met this guy… called Ichiro. And it was so exciting, he was handsome, he was beautifully mannered and he made me feel so happy- happier than I've been in a very long time." Mai looked down for a few moments. "And when he proposed that we take a small trip to Tanzaku city, I was so excited- I was singing in the shower, humming… I just couldn't wait for the next time I could see him."

Tenten smiled. She had remembered these small events, but hadn't thought too much about them at the time.

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I just thought that it would be a shock for you; and we had only been together for a little while… and, well… I guess it all turned out for the better."

Mai sighed.

"When we went to Tanzaku… I found out last night that Ichiro had a wife. And two other girlfriends. And I didn't believe it. I didn't want to. And then, for some reason, I thought of you, and I knew that I couldn't hide it from you anymore, and that I couldn't keep up a relationship. And suddenly, everything made sense; why he would only meet with me late at night, or why he always insisted that I never called him…"

"Are you sad?"

"I was, to begin with, but then I realised it wasn't love. It was just… lust. I wanted to feel like someone wanted me for who I was, and I just jumped at the opportunity."

"You could have told me, you know. I would have been fine with it." Tenten's voice did not quaver.

"I know that now." Mai replied with a shaky smile. She kissed Tenten's forehead and left the room.

-x-

A few nights later, Tenten woke to hear the sounds of two people talking quietly in the kitchen. Her senses were sharp and she knew who the other voice was. She rose silently from her bed, sliding a katana out of its sheath as she walked past it, its song deadly and shrill. Her door opened soundlessly and she crept into the unlit hallway, and looked past the archway into the kitchen.

Ichiro stood there, kissing her mother, his hands inching closer to the skin of her midriff.

"Ichiro." Tenten's voice was quiet, deadly.

Mai blushed and turned around, but Ichiro jumped back at seeing the steely look in her eyes... along with her bared katana.

"Now, Tenten. I know what this looks like… but it's not what you think!"

"Don't patronise me." Her eyes narrowed fractionally and Ichiro gulped.

"Tenten, please, put away the katana." Mai put up her hand.

"No. He needs to get out of here, now."

"He came to apologise." Mai tried to reason with her resolute daughter.

"And people do normally apologise with their tongues," Tenten retorted shrewdly.

"I love her, Tenten." Ichiro said boldly, sensing that Tenten was on the losing side.

"You love her like you 'love' your wife?"

Ichiro and Mai both stilled.

"What's her name? Kasumi, wasn't it? She's beautiful, she's wealthy and the two of you had the best whirlwind fling of a lifetime. Her mother never approved but that was what made it all the more addictive… the late night sessions, and finally, you eloped. All was fine for a couple of years and then you began to stray. Kasumi's money was more to you than she ever was. You used her funds and her jewels to sway other women to your side, to your bed. You never loved her." Tenten spat, her grip on the katana tightening. "Men like you… deserve whatever that comes to you."

"Tenten, please-"

"Mother," Tenten turned to face Mai. "You were always so protective of me- you never wanted me to get burned like you did, or make the same mistakes- whatever mistakes they were. You loved my father- and, although I have no objection to you dating other men, I can't help but disapprove of a married man. You told me yourself that it was just lust…"

"Well maybe Mai didn't tell you the whole story," Ichiro smirked.

"You're standing here, in our home." Tenten said quietly. "You're standing in the middle of our kitchen, kissing my mother. I don't care if you came under the pretence of saying goodbye or apologising in order to persuade her to start up your relationship again."

Ichiro flinched.

"Yes," Tenten laughed coldly, bringing up the katana slightly. "You really are that transparent. Step away from her now."

Ichiro backed away some more.

"Now, I do believe that you received a very wise piece of advice in Tanzaku city. Why, Ichiro, aren't you following that piece of advice?"

"I love her," he repeated. His words had no effect on Tenten.

"You don't." Tenten hissed, walking forward. "You're just using her, just like you're using your wife's money. As soon as you're done, you're just going to drop her, like you dropped Yukiko."

Ichiro's eyes looked frantically for an exit.

"There's a door behind you. Get out." Tenten lifted the katana into an offensive stance. "Now."

The man yelped and left, running out into the night. The kunoichi set the katana down on the table and sat down on the stool next to her mother.

"Why did you do that?" Mai asked her quietly.

"He's a liar. And he deserves whatever punishment his wife is going to give him."

"How did you know him?"

"You told me, this afternoon."

"But… you didn't look surprised when you saw him; and it was almost like you two recognised each other."

"Just… go to sleep." She turned away to go back to her room.

"Tenten, tell me!"

Tenten stopped walking.

"I was assigned a mission. A mission to track a man who was unfaithful to his wife who would be in Tanzaku city for a week. He would be with his new mistress who needed to be identified. That was all I was told before hand, but when I found out it was you… I hadn't wanted the mission. I hadn't wanted to find out this way, but I did. I followed you two to the club, and after you two got separated, I went after Ichiro and I talked to him and Kotetsu brought him back to Konoha."

Mai swallowed, absorbing the information with a shuttered face. She had long before closed herself off- even to her daughter.

"And so… you gave him that bruise?"

"Yes. He was trying to hit on me." Tenten's voice was just as cold and detached as her mother's; they both knew where she got it from.

Without a further word, Tenten picked up her katana and went back into her room, and slipped the blade back into its sheath.

Dawn took forever to come.

-x-

"I still can't believe the odds," Daichi looked at her incredulously. "You were sent to spy on your mother!"

"I know, it's really, well, coincidental."

"Maybe it was fate."

Tenten shrugged, although the mention of the word sent a shiver down her spine.

"I still feel kind of… guilty about what I did. I mean, the look on her face. She was just so crushed when I told her about it- it was like she was never going to speak to me again."

They threw down their bags and began to stretch and prepare themselves for their spar.

"She'll get over it."

"Yeah, I know that, but… it was just seeing them, in Tanzaku, they were so happy together. And, disturbing as it was, she was happy for the first time in a long while. And I mean it. Sometimes, I just can't help but wonder if she's only sad because of the way that I live my life…"

"Don't think things like that. They'll only drag you down."

"I know, but I always just… wonder. Like also what life would be like if my father was still alive. Maybe she'd be happier then. Your parents were always happy; it seemed like, even after so many years of being together, they were still in love."

Tenten flexed her fingers as she picked up her katana, one in each hand. Daichi did likewise.

"Yes, but you're forgetting that my mother was younger than yours when she had me."

"Oh... How old was she?"

"Thirteen, believe it or not."

Tenten didn't doubt him; the custom of arranged marriages still existed in many countries and in many cases, girls from the age of thirteen were often married off to men more than three times their age.

"It was an arranged marriage that had worked to her and my father's favour. Although he was eighteen at the time… they were desperately in love and had been having a secret relationship behind their parents' backs."

That, however was news.

"They ended up swaying the matchmaker to tell their parents that he would be a very compatible suitor- so compatible that he was her true love. And, well, they got married and everyone ended up incredibly happy; my grandparents had the dowry and all of their assets were safe from greedier families…"

"Well, I guess it was a happily ever after for them."

"Not in the end, but everything else… they still loved each other so much. They'd only been together for thirteen years but it was more like a lifetime for them. It could have happened any day and they wouldn't have had any regrets- my mother told me so… but I think their only regret was that they'd left me. They knew I could take care of myself, but we were…"

"A family." Tenten finished for him, in a soft voice, her eyes hidden from him as she looked away.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

A silence fell, and Daichi covered it up with a slight cough.

"Well, do you want to start?"

Tenten waited for him to begin and blocked the feeble parry he sent her way, twisting the blade and nicking him sharply on the inner arm.

"Daichi, don't offend me, please." She eyed him wickedly and he blushed, and their spar began in earnest, stories of the past forgotten.

The first five minutes were intense, each testing the other and measuring up their opponent with cool, calculating thoughts.

Footwork is good but he's trying to hide it, Tenten thought, watching as his feet moved with lithe skill, hindered minimally by the grass. The grip on the katana was perfect; his positions were precise and every stance executed perfectly. His blade met hers every time her katana moved, and vice-versa.

"You've gotten better." Daichi remarked.

"I can't say the same for you," Tenten smirked.

"Been hanging around Neji too much, again." He sighed with melancholy, but his eyes never left hers. He was trying to find a gap in her armour and he knew it was in her eyes.

They flickered to the left for a brief moment, and his katana met hers in a flurry of sparks, but she pushed off his arm, sliding back in the dirt a few metres behind him, but she was running before she hit the ground with another chakra boost to propel her into the air.

The air whistled in her ears and then she landed on the ground, sweeping out her foot, but Daichi had seen that coming, and he, too, jumped up off the ground, sweeping out his katana swiftly, but Tenten's keen ears had picked up the slight croon the metal gave off in its swift descent.

A smile graced Daichi's face as he saw the concentration in her fierce gaze.

"Threatened?"

A brief grin lit up her eyes.

"Challenged. But never for long."

She feinted, but Daichi had read her movements too easily- she was being predictable and Daichi knew her stances just like she knew Neji's.

However, when Tenten reached into her arsenal of wires, exploding tags, senbon, kunai, shuriken, smoke and flash bombs, along with a few chakra strings, and Daichi began to counter with plants, things got very interesting.

The kunoichi was loath to leave the open field, for if they moved deeper into the trees, Daichi would be able to control more of the elements around them- but she needed the cover of the shadows to weave webs and set traps.

Tying together a smoke, pepper and flash bomb behind her back, Tenten flung it at Daichi before jumping backwards into the dense foliage with a feline smile on her face.

It had been a while since she'd had a proper spar, and something told her it would be a long game of cat-and-mouse in the shadows of the ancient trees of Konoha.

-x-

The kunoichi didn't return home for some time, content to lie within the shade of an old tree with Daichi sitting beside her. Both were nursing a few minor cuts, grazes and bruises, with the most major wound dealt that day by Tenten's katana, resulting in a downward slash on Daichi's right arm. It was fairly shallow but had bled quite a bit; she had quickly and expertly bandaged it up after washing and applying a healing salve to the gash.

"I think I could sit here forever." Daichi's voice was quiet amidst the leaves.

"Ahh, that's just the blood loss talking." Tenten smiled.

"I didn't lose that much blood!"

"Are you sure? You seem a little woozy."

"Don't be so motherly. It's freaking me out."

Tenten's expression sobered and she cleared her throat.

"Listen, Dai… there's something I never told you… about that mission I went on when I was a Genin."

"The escort to Suna?" Daichi had read the tension in her voice perfectly.

"Well, you see, the thing is… when we arrived in Suna in the hotel room, Lee and Gai-sensei went out for the night."

Tenten couldn't meet Daichi's eyes.

"And, when they left, Neji and I had a… moment. Nothing happened; I didn't even kiss him, but… And I woke up in his arms the next morning."

"Well, it happened three years ago; I don't see any harm in that-"

"There's more."

Daichi did not release the breath that he had been holding. Tenten kept her voice cool and professional like it had all been happening to someone else.

"When we went to Tanzaku… he kissed me."

"He kissed you." Daichi echoed dully.

"We were in the club, we were kind of drinking, my dress was way too short and I could barely hear him… and he told me it was just to throw off Ichiro's ninja."

She hesitated before continuing.

"And I kissed him back… and later, when we were in the hotel. Nothing happened… but so easily, I just kept turning back to him." She met his eyes levelly. "But I'm not worthy of you… or him."

"I don't understand-"

"I love you, Daichi." She said simply. "I'm just not in love with you. Do you understand? I need you to understand that I care for you deeply. But I'm not worthy of you because of the way that you feel about me. Because I can never return your feelings with that depth and passion that you unwaveringly show me."

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to Neji?"

"No. I can't. He's a team mate; first and foremost. I can't risk a friendship for a few days, weeks or months of pure idiocy."

"I understand." He withdrew from her.

The would not waste time with anymore apologies; and she left him in the shade of the tree.

-x-

Both mother and daughter lacked anything to say to one another that evening at the dining table. By nature, however, both were very loquacious and couldn't sustain the frosty silence for long.

"He's not here." Mai said coolly. Tenten didn't take the bait.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, seeing as though you were the one finding about my personal life, I see it as fair that you tell me now." Mai snapped.

Tenten bristled, her eyes radiating blatant hostility. "I didn't ask to find out! As I see it, you told me voluntarily, anyway."

"I have a choice; you don't."

Tenten sighed.

"I broke up with Daichi and that's all there is to it." She muttered sullenly.

"That's all there is?" Mai asked smugly, knowing it for a lie.

"Well… there's someone. Someone else. I'm not telling you his name, but it's a bit of a problem, and it's because of him that I broke up with Dai now and not later."

"Hyuuga Neji?"

Tenten concealed her surprise and she merely inclined her head with a vague, "Perhaps. Either way, it was never going to work out because his feelings for me were stronger than I could have ever reciprocated; it was almost unrequited, but… I still see him as more of a brother than a boyfriend."

"Something happened to you!" Mai said triumphantly. "I saw you at that club! I remember thinking that dress was gorgeous- I love how the lace flows- and you … and you were kissing someone."

Tenten looked away.

"You were cheating on him?"

"Never. It was just to throw off Ichiro's shinobi. Hadn't you noticed them following you? Surely, you saw them."

Mai would not be distracted. "You left Daichi for Neji?"

"No. I left Daichi because of myself- and have no intention whatsoever in initiating any kind of intimate relationship with Hyuuga Neji."

"You two seemed a bit more than intimate at the club." Mai retorted with sarcasm.

"It was a bit of alias work. He was supposed to be my boyfriend."

"And I can see that he took that seriously."

"Oh, whatever." Tenten smiled as she pushed away the cleaned plate.

"You really like him, don't you?"

"It's closer to admiration. Beyond a friendship, there is nothing there!"

"I'd never let my friend kiss me the way he kissed you unless he had solid intentions to take things further."

"Ahh, well, I guess we just see things differently. There's a clear line that we draw between professional and unprofessional."

"So he's never tried to kiss you at any other time than when on a mission?"

"No," Tenten lied.

"You're lying. I can tell." Mai smiled. "You're good at being evasive and lying, but you can never lie to me."

"That's only when you're trying to catch me out for a lie, though." Tenten replied tartly.

Mai smiled.

"You know, I know a lot of your friends put down most of your shinobi traits down to your father. Your skill with metal and knives, resilience and physical strength, yes, but… your strong sense of intuition and your analytical nature… you get that from me. I don't use it much, but I can piece together a situation quickly when I need to."

"Why didn't you become a kunoichi, then?"

"I didn't have the skill; all I had was my head and intuition. Your talents are both a blessing and a curse, and I understand the way that you feel about your job." Her voice hardened. "But I don't think I need to tell you that if I ever catch you with any boy like that ever again before you turn eighteen, I will skin you and whoever that boy is, Hyuuga or not, alive!"

Tenten smiled sweetly.

"I don't think I'll ever rush into a situation like that voluntarily. You don't need to worry about me."

"And that's why I worry," Mai muttered as she left the room.

Tenten smiled, leaning back in her chair. It had been a strange day, to say the least. She could only hope that Daichi was okay. He had taken it in his stride, as always… but, she still worried.

-x-

The next day, she got her answer. Daichi had packed up again and moved to the other side of Konoha. A brief and impersonal note addressed to Tenten explained in clipped tones that the house was too big for one person and had too many ghosts, anyway.

Tenten slipped the note into her drawer beneath the crystal necklace. She sighed. She and Dai weren't together anymore; but it still didn't alleviate the guilt.

"I'm not happy about what I did, Neji." She snapped, turning around. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," he replied. "You said you needed someone to talk to. I saw Daichi and, well, he looked angry enough to kill me. I can't blame him."

"Get over yourself." Tenten groaned, but the fact that Neji had said Daichi's name was disconcerting more than anything else. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? I didn't break up with Daichi for you, so you can leave now and stop trying to seduce me with those looks that you think are sultry."

Neji smirked as he walked into the room and leaned on the window sill.

"Yes. That's the sultry face, if you needed to prove your point. You should try looking at yourself in a mirror one day while doing that; you'll laugh. Now get out, I have things to do." She snapped, unsheathing two katana.

"Are you up for a spar?"

"No, I'm cleaning these and I've already talked to my mother about all of this. So get lost- I don't need your help today."

He turned away.

"Oh, and Daichi? Neji stopped wearing holsters." Tenten grinned as the chakra dispelled and Daichi stood there, scowling at her. "I'd give you points for trying, but it's not going to work this time."

"I thought it was worth a try."

"Are you angry at me?" Tenten asked, shyly.

"Never." He hugged her briefly. "But I should go… I just came to get the rest of my stuff."

"Where are you living now?"

"Oh, on the other side of Konoha. You should come and visit some time."

"Yeah. Maybe." She forced a smile.

He bowed, a solemn expression on his face.

"Goodbye, Tenten."