This one is also based off of Naruto Shippuden episodes 15-17. I don't like this one as much as my other one, Caring, but the little plot bunnies would not leave me alone until this was done... and it only took me a three-hour lecture to write :) It really has nothing to do with Caring, other than the fact that they are based off of the same scenes from the anime.
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. Since Tenten's parents are never really mentioned in the anime, I took some creative liberties with them.
"Suiro no Jutsu." Tenten gasped as the cold water surrounded her, condensing into a tight sphere that felt like it was crushing her. It was difficult to move with the pressure pushing in from every side. She used her chakra to clear her vision, allowing her to see what was happening outside the bubble of water.
The first thing she noticed was that Gai-sensei and Kisame were facing off on the other side of the water clones. Neji was trapped in another bubble right next to her and Lee was on his other side. Now she saw the trap that Kisame had set up, to insure that none of the students could interfere in the battle. It was one-on-one now, Gai versus Kisame. She, Neji, and Lee would be left in these bubbles until they could hold out no longer, unless Gai-sensei was able to defeat Kisame fast enough.
Tenten knew that Gai-sensei would try his hardest to get to his students before it was too late, but she also knew that Kisame would try his hardest to keep Gai busy so that he could not interfere. And she didn't know if she could hold out long enough for Gai-sensei. She saw Neji watching her from his own little bubble and she knew he was trying to figure out how much time she had. She was trying so hard not to panic, but the memories were sweeping in front of her eyes, showing her pictures of events that had happened long ago.
She remembered her 10th birthday, when her mother and father took her on a weekend trip to the seaside. They had so much fun, enjoying the warm sun, sandy beaches, and beautiful ocean. And on the last day there, Tenten convinced her parents that they needed to rent a sailboat so they could spend the day exploring the deep ocean.
But although her parents were skilled Shinobi, they had never learned how to handle boats on anything other than a calm sea. And they were caught off guard by a freak storm that no one had expected for such a calm, sunny day. The little boat was tossed this way. They tried to keep the boat under control, but in the end, there was little they could do. The boat capsized, leaving all three of its occupants stranded in the middle of a rough and choppy sea.
Tenten remembered the waves crashing over her head, pushing her down further and further. Her life vest did little against the pounding waves and currents that pulled at her small body. She remembered the dark forms of her parents pushing through the water towards her. But she couldn't hold on, couldn't fight the water that was pushing her further and further from the air she desperately needed. She blacked out, still caught in the endless pull and push of the sea.
When she woke again, she was back in Konoha, in the hospital, alone. Just before she could start panicking however, the door slid open and Neji hurried in, pulling her up and into his arms in a flash. They had been best friends ever since Tenten had decided that Neji, saddened by the death of his father, needed a hug one day. They had always been there for each other, offering comfort and love. Right now Tenten needed that more than anything. Somehow she just knew that her parents were not back in Konoha, and would never be coming back.
Since that day, Tenten has always been afraid of deep water. She never went to the seaside; she never went swimming in the summers. And when Gai-sensei started their endurance training, having them walk across the rivers or practice using their chakra to breathe longer underwater, Tenten had to face her fears. But she couldn't defeat them; only find ways to get around them. Neji had been with her since before that day, he knew how that fatal event had changed her. And after they were all assigned to the same team, Lee became very close to Tenten and Neji, despite the way the boys fought, they cared for each other. They knew how to help her too, always holding her hands when they had to swim and staying by her side when they were near deep water.
Over time, it didn't seem like a big deal anymore. The Land of Fire wasn't land-locked, but they barely ever had to worry about threats coming across the oceans. So Shinobi were rarely sent on missions to those borders and Tenten didn't have to deal with it often. Soon she didn't even need Neji and Lee to stay with her when they were near deep water. But she still didn't deal well with water surrounding her. And this bubble was worse that just swimming in a pool. This water felt like it was pushing in on her body, trying to force the air out of her lungs, trying to make her breath in the liquid that would kill her if she did so.
She was trying to pull her chakra around her, to slow her breathing and extend the time she could survive on limited oxygen. But every time she tried, it seemed like her chakra had also turned to liquid, slipping through her fingers when she tried to grasp it. Tenten panicked and coughed, just once; expending the little valuable air she had in her lungs. She saw Neji out of the corner of her eye, watching her with a hint of panic in his gaze. Then she saw him activate his Byakugan and she knew she had to give him time to find the weaknesses, to defeat the water clones and release the Jutsu that held them in these prisons.
That thought was what was allowed her to pull in her chakra and focus it inwards, recycling the oxygen left in her blood since none was left in her lungs. She knew that Neji and Lee and Gai were watching out for her, and they would help her, but she had to stay alive long enough for them to be able to help. She focused on their names, repeating those three words over and over as she forced her heart rate to slow down.
Then she saw Neji break his bubble and attack the clones that held himself and Lee. She watched as Lee attacked the clone that was maintaining her prison and then suddenly the pressure was gone. There was no wavering of water currents in front of her face, nothing to obstruct her breathing. But now she found that she couldn't breathe, still caught in the feeling of the water all over her body. She wavered and would have fallen into the water that waited below her but then Neji was there, breaking her fall and supporting her, keeping her away from what lay below.
He tipped her head up so that she wouldn't stare at the water anymore, asking if she was okay, and then he noticed she hadn't breathed yet. He lightly shook her, calling her name to get her attention. Her eyes were wide and unfocused; she was obviously caught in the memories of her birthday. Lee turned away from Gai's battle and hurried over to support her while Neji grasped her face with both hands. Her eyes refocused on him, the touch of her two best friends surrounding her and grounding her in the now.
It felt like she was hearing him through the water, but she heard him telling her to relax, to breathe, because the water was gone and it was safe now. She didn't want to breathe because she was so afraid of feeling the water rush into her lungs, slowly suffocating her as she sank to the sea floor. But she trusted Neji and Lee with her life, and so she did what they told her to. She took one small breath, and when she felt the cool damp air instead of a rushing tide of water she took another breath and another, reassuring herself that no water surrounded her. Finally her breathing evened out again, settling into a rhythm that Tenten had never been so aware of. She smiled at Neji and reached up to grasp one of his hands and one of Lee's.
Together they stood, Tenten still staying close by Neji's side and they watched as Gai defeated Kisame, driving him away. When the water all dried up behind him, Tenten thought that she had never been so happy to see land, unbroken by any stream or river. And if she stayed close to her teammates for the rest of the day, never more than an arm's reach away from one of them, none of them could blame her. They all had their fears, and Tenten had been forced to confront hers in an abrupt, violent, and traumatizing way today. She had not conquered the fear once and for all but that was okay because she had teammates around her who would protect her and help her face her demons every time they came around, just like she would stand with them when their tests came.