He doesn’t talk much. He never really has. But, just this once, Tenten would like him to say something. She can feel the words in the air, but she doesn’t know what they are. Neji just looks at her with those brilliant white eyes and says nothing. The sound of the rain pounding on the roofs seems to amplify the quiet, rather than break it.

“So, yes. I’m leaving tonight. It’s a great opportunity, and I don’t really have a reason to stay, you know.” Because you won’t give me one. Please give me one.

The Rain village needs a Weapons Mistress, and it was only for a year. Still, a lot could happen in a year. More could happen with the right sentence

He nods. “I’m sure you will be a great asset to their force.”

Not the right sentence. Stiff, and formal. His jaw, she notices, looks formal. It’s set in a way that implies he is biting back words.

“I’ll miss you.” She says, suddenly. Again, the words seem to be sucked into the silence until they no longer hung in the air between them. It was something you’d say to an old friend, but it was hollow, and empty. Just like she was feeling.

He nods, almost imperceptibly. “You can always write. A year really isn’t all that long.”
There’s nothing in his voice, just a polite tone he always uses when he is feeling more than he wants to (she would know. Just like she’d know that there are words that need to be said, and that would never be said, but oh, how she wanted to them said.).

Something inside of her absolutely breaks, and Tenten’s control breaks along with it. She doesn’t yell at him, she doesn’t cry, what she does is probably less forgivable in his eyes.

She kisses him. Just takes his head and presses her lips to his. It’s like kissing granite, and he doesn’t pull away, though he isn’t exactly a participant. She notices the slightest of gestures, one that no one but a ninja of her ranking would ever sense, the jerk of his arm, as though he was going to hold her. When she releases him, she takes a step back and looks into his eyes. Now, now, he would say what he wanted to.

“I’ll see you in a year.”

She sits frozen as he leaves, unwilling to cry or even really move.

Silence reigns once more.

AN: It's been ages hasn't it? Anyway, hope you liked it, and PLEASE review.