Miss Astrologer
the loved birds / China Daiquiri

Author's Notes: I'm writing NejiTen? Has the sky fallen yet? Did SasuSaku finally happen? The world may never know.
Spoiler: The next chapter is "Loss." WHAT KIND OF LOSS, DAMMIT? SASUKE'S INNOCENCE? D8! Eh, I'm such a perv.

Unedited, because I hate editing.

Tenten was sure—absolutely, positively sure—that her country—Hi no Kuni, which housed one of the best shinobi that had ever lived—was going to crumble into pieces before she was done with the day. She had flowers to buy, places to go, friends to chit-chat and catch up with, and make up at least a half decent excuse to miss Neji's party.

It was Sakura's fault, really—her, well, one-sided rival (the younger girl didn't even know that Tenten had a grudge on her). Or maybe it was Naruto's fault. Or even Sasuke's—Tenten decided that she would never, ever speak to all three (actually, six) members of Team 7 again. Never. Never again. After all, one stole her idol's attention, one was overly loud, one didn't seem to speak at all, one was a pervert, one didn't know how to converse with people, and the last one was….

Hm. She would have to think about Yamato-taichou's quirks and personality flaws. Naruto had once commented casually (with Yamato-taichou standing right next to him) that he had creepy eyes—whatever that meant. The blonde really didn't make sense—

—But anyways, it was Sakura's fault; Tenten would blame it on her. Sakura was the one who organized this stupid engagement party for Neji—Neji, of all people; did she like him or something?—and Sakura was the one who asked her kindly to get some stupid flowers (ones that meant nice things, of course—that's what Ino warned her) and Sakura was the one who invited her to… to….

Well, Tenten always had Lee who always had Sakura who always had Sasuke who always had— …or maybe it was 'she always had Lee who always had Sakura who always had Naruto who always had Sasuke who always had Itachi who always had Mikoto-san who always had Fugaku-san who'—she was getting no where, wasn't she? This was getting confusing. And frustrating.

And it was totally Sakura's fault and not Naruto's no matter how stupid the blonde was.

(Besides, Ino already had taken the spot of blue-eyed-blonde-haired. Tenten would know—Ino was born earlier than Naruto after all, but still, Naruto was taller. Finally taller than Sakura, huh. Finally taller than a lot of people—she wondered if Neji and Sasuke and Lee were taller than him.)

Neji didn't need a party, Tenten concluded after pulling her jacket on, grabbing the keys to her apartment and her black leather wallet. Neji definitely didn't need a party, she thought as she stormed down the stairs. And Sakura is crazy for actually thinking that he did. That thought ran through her head when she jogged down the street, heading for the morning market. She would get the flowers later—first on her list was to meet up with Sakura; the younger girl said that she would be there.

The morning market was a familiar, comforting sight—with so many sounds and sights and smells, she felt as if she could forget everything that had happened to her; Neji, the Hyuuga clan, Sakura's party, the flowers and all. There was a waft that brought her the smell of dango and ramen—not very pleasant when mixed together and she wrinkled her nose. Books were on sale; groceries were sold.

"Eggs," she muttered to herself. "I need eggs, don't I?"

Just as she was about to walk up to the grocery stands, she saw an unmistakable shock of pink hair and she grinded her jaw together. What was this anger for? It was Sakura's fault—well, no, actually it wasn't, but that was the only person Tenten could blame today.

Umeboshi, she thought dryly. She likes umeboshi, doesn't she? Hate it. I hate it.

She told herself that it wasn't jealousy, just a little one-sided rivalry, but her heart (yes, that beating organ) told her otherwise.

"Sakura!" Tenten shouted suddenly, drawing the villagers' attention and the girl's. Sakura froze for a bit, until she looked back to Tenten, still gripping her leather wallet, still standing there, not making a move. The Hokage's apprentice smiled slightly—if you could call it a smile—and said something to the old lady selling umeboshi (Tenten couldn't tell why despite her keen eyes) and turned around, holding a paper bag.

"Hello," she greeted tepidly when she was about three feet away from Tenten and Tenten had to wince. This girl…. "Have you gotten the flowers yet? I was going to send—"

"—Ino—" Tenten tried to finish the girl's sentence but stopped when Sakura raised a pink eyebrow.

"Naruto," Sakura corrected Tenten, shifting her paper bag from one hand to another. "I meant Naruto. Not Ino." She pulled up her coat sleeve and glanced at her watch. "I'm sorry," she apologized hurriedly; "I'm late for an appointment. Excuse me."

"Wait! What appointment?" Curiosity had gotten the better of her self-control and Tenten half hated herself for it. This was Sakura, not some… some… girl who she could talk to without a worry or guilt or grudge. This is Sakura, who stole Tsunade's attention that should've been for her—she had idolized Tsunade since forever and this girl just took it all away. "You're a medic-nin, aren't you?" she added hastily when she saw Sakura raised both of her eyebrows this time.

"No, you think?" she countered quite seriously but the smile in her eyes gave it away. Tenten fumed silently. What a… what a… what—a. "Nah, actually, Kakashi-sensei scheduled me for an appointment with a therapist." She stuck out her tongue childishly and Tenten wondered if Naruto had rubbed off on her. "Against my will, of course. My teammates—they're all crazy." She laughed. The older girl pressed her lips together.

You included, the subconscious part of her whispered nastily. Instead of saying that, however, Tenten smiled—it was so fake that only someone blind couldn't tell if it was real or not—and shoved her wallet into her pocket. "I'm sorry—you know, Lee and Gai-sensei are like that, too. I'm going to get the flowers."

"Alright, then. See you at the party. Seven. Sharp."

She walked pass the older girl when she nodded somberly, and Tenten couldn't help but wonder if she added the "sharp" part because Kakashi-sensei was never on time.

There went her half decent excuse to miss the party. It snarls, it whines, and then you sympathize, and then you realize, Why are you doing this? She guessed that Sakura had that natural charm, and maybe that girl just couldn't handle nice anymore.

If Tenten knew anything at all then she knew that Ino was not a very patient girl. Ino was the exact opposite of patient—she fussed over every little detail (which was good for missions but not good for her social life, or whatever remained of it—being a kunoichi took that away from you), she paced around when someone was late (she was lucky to not have Kakashi for her jounin sensei), and she hated it when someone said the wrong thing.

And that did not help when Tenten showed up with her coat slightly mussed (okay, so it was messed up bad, but…), ten minutes late for her "flower appointment," and she had asked to "get some stupid flowers for Neji's stupid party." Ino had a peculiar-but-familiar look on her face, which either meant that she was going to blow up or grow cold.

By "cold," Tenten meant that Ino was not going to speak to anyone for another hour or so, but….

"Sorry?" Tenten offered sheepishly with an awkward smile. Instead of going ballistic, Ino breathed out (harshly, and blew her bangs upward), calmed herself down, and smiled back. It twitched and Tenten was worried for the blonde girl's mental health—perhaps she should be going to Sakura for a remedy; obviously, Ino couldn't handle the stress of being a medic-nin. Or a therapist—just which one was Sakura visiting? This was a village filled with ninja—there must be hundreds of therapists.

"That," Ino grinded out as good-naturedly as she could, "is just peachy." She blew out again, harder, and continued snappishly, "You're late, Tenten. All the deals are off—I don't care whether it's Neji's party or your mother's—all I care is that you—are—late."

Talk about mood swings. It must be that time of the week again—every girl around her acted like a fake. Tenten, however, remained unaffected.

"You know what? I'll get some blue salvias. That'll be okay—it is okay, right?"

"Blue—what?" Ino stuttered, totally out of character for her. "Blue—blue salvias? You're sure you don't want white roses? Neji's not a bachelor anymore, Tenten, you know. What about oleander? Oleander's nice. Or yellow poppies—they symbolize good luck, right? Zinnias—they're a nice alternative—besides, you know how busy Neji is; they're easy to take care of—"

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Blue salvias are easy to take care of, too, Ino. Are you trying to get me to change my mind or something? I'm pretty sure that a blue salvia mean good things, too."

"B—but—but, Tenten—"

"Get me some—the deal's off, anyways, so there's not much of a point to make—"

She was cut off by a morose sigh. "Fine," replied Ino dully, but there was an almost savage undertone to her simple one-word answer. "Fine," she said again; "I'll get you some. You know, I guess I could give you at least ten percent off—that way I won't feel bad, you won't feel bad, Neji won't feel like his friend his giving him some… some cheap flowers—" Ino shuddered at that "—and Sakura will be happy knowing that you did your job correctly and we won't get yelled at from her. I swear she's just as bad…"

The blonde's slightly airy voice trailed off as she began to walk towards the requested flowers and it was Tenten's turn to sigh. She was almost a little surprised that Shikamaru and Chouji could actually stand her for all these years—the three knew each other ever since they were born.

"It's been seventeen years," she whispered solemnly to herself. "It's been seventeen long years. It's been five years since Neji and Lee and Gai-sensei happened. It's been five years since Team Gai formed—it felt like just yesterday, huh…." She stopped when Ino walked towards her, shoving her requested flowers in her hands.

"They weren't in top condition," Ino snapped at the older girl, almost in a hostile tone—Tenten flinched at that. "You can have them for free, I guess. It's your party, after all—I guess that you can have them for—"

"How many times do I have to say it?" yelled Tenten hoarsely. "It's not my damn party!" She sighed harshly and glared at Ino. "I've told Sakura that I didn't want to be a part of this, but you and her are just the same, aren't you? You don't really care, do you? You don't care that Neji is getting married to some freak because you two don't even know him, right? You two are such spoiled bitches!" She gripped her flowers tightly and waited for Ino's reply.

Ino raised her chin and gazed coolly at her. "Fine," she said chillingly, something flashing in her ice-blue eyes. "That's just—just fucking peachy with me."

"Wha—?"

"Out," she snarled, blinking her eyes rapidly.

"Excuse me—"

"You mean that you didn't hear me? I said out!"

"Ino, I didn't mean that—you and Sakura—you two aren't—I'm sorry, damn it, I'm sorry—"

"I don't care anymore, Tenten. Just… just…."

Maybe Ino couldn't handle nice anymore, either, and so Tenten gripped her suffocating flowers, pushed open the glass doors and without looking back, she paced briskly back to her apartment complex.

What did Sakura say when they were twelve and in the Chuunin Exams? This time, get a good look at my back?

"But…," whispered Tenten forlornly to herself as her numb, cold fingers fumbled with the keys, "I don't have someone to see how much I've grown." As she stepped inside, the warmth of her cramped apartment welcomed her back and she took her deck of tarot cards and threw them into the trashcan.

"I don't want you anymore," she said determinedly. "I don't need you anymore."

And she smiled to herself.

Tenten was late to the party by twenty minutes and she knew that Sakura would definitely have her head. She gripped her blue salvias and her coat tighter and ran as fast as she could with high-heels and a dress on.

It was a very pretty dress, she had to say. A rusty red, some dark brown ribbons—Sakura said that if she wore anything fancy then she'd really have her head, and so Tenten wisely followed Sakura's advice. Her shoes—they were a pain, actually, a half of a size too small, and they dug into her foot.

"Who do you think you are?" the slightly airy voice of Neji interrupted the girl from her thoughts. She froze, nearly dropping the flowers. "Cinderella?"

"Neji!" she shouted on reflex—she hated how his name felt so familiar on her lips. He grimaced from the volume and she consciously blushed. "You're late, too, aren't you? Sakura's really going to kill us both, you know—only God knows that she's more impatient than Tsunade-sama herself." And is likely to be an alcoholic, added the nasty little voice inside of her.

"Isn't it dreadful?" muttered Neji darkly, pacing himself. "Then let's not suffer the wrath of Sakura-san."

"Naruto says that it hurts."

"Yes, Naruto—what?" He stopped momentarily and raised an eyebrow in the dark at his teammate. "I… suppose that… having immense precision of controlling chakra does help…." He trailed off and shrugged in an out-of-character way. "Let's go. She'll be angry that the center of her party is late. You are, I assume, bringing the flowers?" He meant the flowers she clutched in her hands.

"Oh. Yeah. Something like that," she replied shakily and he sighed long-sufferingly.

"You're—" he began to say as they faced the wooden sliding door before it opened in their faces.

"—thirty minutes late," snapped Sakura flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. Tenten froze at the slightly cold look in the Godaime Hokage's protégé's green eyes. "Honest to God, I thought that you two were killed by some freaks—my God, Tenten, what did you do to those flowers?"

Tenten inspected them closely, ignoring the muffled laughter from the man besides her, and saw that they were half-dead.

"They…," offered Tenten nervously. "They… died?"

"Everything's dying today," murmured Neji thoughtfully, earning a glance from Sakura.

"You know, I would've castrated you if…." She sighed forlornly and opened the sliding door wider. Tenten peered inside, longing for the warmth of a house, and saw that everyone was already there, chatting up a storm.

"Hyuuga-san," said Sakura ambiguously, "the party is ready"—the way she said it ("Hyuuga-san, the party is ready") made Tenten feel as if she were being called "Hyuuga-san." She glanced at Neji, who nodded firmly and had a loose grip on his dress shirt. So he's nervous, too, she thought sadly.

They stepped up the wooden stairs in sync and Sakura set her jaw and bit her lip as they both passed her as if they were a couple.

"Everyone's waiting," reminded Tenten as she held the door open for the medic and the younger, pink-haired girl stepped inside, suddenly unsure of the world, unhappy by the imperfection.

"Everyone's waiting," she replied softly, hiding her unexplained anger, and the door closed.

Characterization Notes:
- Tenten is slightly hostile to Sakura because Sakura trained under Tsunade, her idol.
- Ino was mad at Tenten because Tenten wanted flowers that meant "I think of you" when Neji was engaged.
- Sakura is angry at the end because she felt like she was left behind when Tenten and Neji went without her.