A/N: I have decided to revamp this story because I had an idea but i was having trouble conveying it. So I'm hoping that this version will be better and more interesting. I'm trying to get back into my writing because I do intend on pursuing a career as a writer so hopefully that goes well for me. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor do I own the characters.
And people stared.
When Ten-Ten laughed, more laughter tended to follow. In normal circumstances there would've been people laughing loudly along with her or giggling to them selves. But all people could do was stare at the teen who was now gasping and letting out the occasional laugh.
Her laughter did cause whispering, many people speculating that the rumors about her mental breakdown being true. After all, laughing that hard at a funeral could only mean that Ten-Ten had gone insane. The poor girl.
But Ten-Ten just laughed on; she ignored the whispers and the fingers pointing, none of that mattered because she was laughing. She didn't know why she was laughing; the balding priest who was wearing a shirt that barely fit over his stomach and really tight pants could've been the source. Or maybe it was Ms. Nakamura with her ridiculous outfit; a long red and yellow dress with a multicolored shawl draped over her shoulders, make up so thick it would've been tough to distinguish her from a clown; her hair looked wacky as well. And what person brings a dog to a funeral?
Or maybe it was Mr. Tylers, the American immigrant who spoke with a funny accent and was still clueless about Japanese culture and traditions. He looked especially out of place in a suit and tie, loafers and a perfect hairstyle combed back neatly.
Whatever the reason Ten-Ten couldn't stop laughing, for ten minutes that's what she did. She didn't care about the whispering, didn't care about the points and stares, nor did she care that she was 'going to hell for disrespecting the dead'. She was going to hell anyways but she didn't care.
Why should she? She had, after all murdered someone.
"Are you okay?" Ten-Ten could only shrug as she gulped down her soda. What did it matter if she was okay? Why did it matter if she had disrupted a fellow classmate's funeral with her inappropriate laughter? She had killed someone, in her eyes she could do whatever the hell she wanted and not give a damn what people thought.
"Ten-Ten…" She could ignore Ms. Nakamura's stares or her so called friends whispering behind her back, but she couldn't handle the questions her little sister would surely fire at her. She didn't feel like answering any of them. For now a simple "I killed her" would suffice.
'And if they don't like it too bad.' Ten-Ten thought with a grimace. She stared blankly at her soda can. Her sister's eyes still bore into her. Sometimes Ten-Ten wondered if maybe she knew the truth. If maybe she knew what happened in that library six weeks ago. Not what she had told people, not the fabricated lies that the media had concocted in order to protect the family, but what really happened.
Crash!
Ten-Ten looked up with little interest at the noise. She knew, even before her eyes rested on the scene, the person who was causing a scene.
Botan Haruno.
The woman was screeching unintelligibly all the while throwing silverware everywhere. Her husband sat off to the side, in a small corner, drinking a beer quietly observing his wife with little interest. He did nothing but watch, solemnly, as his wife was carried off by his sister. Ten-Ten noticed that his clothing was stained, from what she assumed was alcohol.
"Such a pity losing both your kids in less than a year, I can't even imagine it." Ten-Ten scowled.
"I heard it was drug related." Clucking of tongues. Ten-Ten hated that sound.
"Really, I heard she was pregnant and the father's girlfriend killed her to get her out the way."
"Well I heard-"
"No one gives a damn what you heard, it isn't the truth!" Again all eyes on Ten-Ten. She couldn't seem to keep them off her today. Taking her soda can and throwing it near the circle of ladies, Ten-Ten glared at the women.
"How about you go find something better to do than gossip about a dead child and her grieving family?"
"Ten." She crossed her arms and glared at the women. After a few minutes she decided that they just weren't worth her time and stormed off. It was too hot to deal with ignorant women who knew nothing of the situation. She was hot, tired and in need of a beer and a punching bag. Maybe she'd go downtown and start a bar fight.
What the hell, she was a murderer after all.
It was sudden; no one could've seen it coming. Hyuga Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga family and president of Konoha High's Senior class 4 years in a row, was dead. It had caused a lot of shock and grief to resound throughout the community especially with all the reports coming out saying she had been murdered; at school and by a fellow student no less.
Ten-Ten knew that her family would find a way to cover up what really happened to Hinata; the truth about her death was something that would just shock the community even more and the Hyuga family would come under fire. She didn't want anyone knowing what really happened with her death anymore than her family did; so telling detectives in front of cameras, millions of people watching the television in anticipation, that she had killed Hinata.
It was so simple; lying like that had come so easy to her. Maybe because, deep down, she knew that what she had told the detectives and her family, and those millions of people watching, that it was the truth. In a way, she had killed Hinata, just not in the way that people were thinking.
She was responsible for Hinata's death, as well as six other students'. She was responsible for a lot of things that had happened that fateful October afternoon. Or, at least, she had claimed responsibility for it.
'Why Ten-Ten? Why can't you just tell them the truth, tell them you didn't do it!' Ten-Ten wasn't sure why she felt the need to take responsibility for seven deaths. Maybe it was because of her lack of guilt at seeing Hinata being shot in the head; the intense satisfaction she felt as she watched the girl's lifeless body hit the library's floor with a quiet thud.
And though she hadn't pulled the trigger, she took the credit. Maybe it was her jealousy that made her feel glad that the lavender-eyed girl was dead. Ten-Ten had always been possessive but Hinata had pushed her to the limit. She had tried to take what was hers and Ten-Ten had gone to defend her territory.
Although, technically, that territory wasn't really hers; but she had wanted it. She had wanted it so bad, but Hinata had her palms wrapped around it. And Ten-Ten hated her for it. No, hate was to soft of a word. Ten-Ten despised her, loathed her. Wanted her dead so that she could she could have what they both wanted.
And Ten-Ten found it highly ironic and hilarious that she and her family had been asked to attend Hinata's funeral; despite her confession to murdering the eldest Hyuga child, and the long ongoing war between the two. She knew they didn't believe her, why should they? She knew the Hyuga family real well…too well.
Perhaps that's why she hated Hinata so much, because she knew the girl. Knew who she was, what she did and what was really going on. Hinata was a liar and she hated her for deceiving everyone, especially Ten-Ten. It should've been easy to fool the public; they had already formed an innocent opinion of the girl, but fooling Ten-Ten should've been harder. She should've known, but she didn't and maybe she hadn't wanted.
For that reason, Ten-Ten was more than glad to take credit for Hinata's death. It was like she had won the war.
