© Sunriespainter: Waiting Time

Title: Waiting Time

Fandom: Naruto

Genre : Romance/ Adventure

Language: English

Author: Sunrisepainter

Raiting: K

Pairing : Shino/Tenten

Summary : There was nothing else to do but wait. But what could they do to kill some time? Talking about thier future of course.

Authors Note: So this is my first Naruto - FF translated from German into English. At this point I want to thank Rel, who corrected my mistakes. Thanks a lot ;). And know have fun while reading and leave a nice review.

Waiting Time

The world won't stop turning,

Just like time won't stop ticking,

Even if you want them,

Because some moments are endless.

Tsunade had gotten the message a few hours ago and it had spread like wildfire. Within minutes everyone was talking about the platoon of ninja that were heading straight towards Konohagakure.

Nobody had seen this sudden attack coming, but everybody knew for sure that Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were behind it. This was all but confirmed when Sasuke and some other familiar faces were reported as being among their number.

As quickly as possible all Konoha – ninjas who weren't away on a mission were assembled, while the whole village panicked. The people grabbed their belongings as well as their children. The magnitude of the hectic rush grew enormously. The hopeless efforts of the Jounin to calm the terrified crowd had failed and now was the main aim was taking the civilians as fast as possible to a safer place.

Some shinobi, like Team 10, agreed to escort them southbound. The idea was to accommodate them in Sunagakure for the foreseeable future. The Kazekage had already been informed and offered support.

Team Gai, who until now had been helping to evacuate the inhabitants, were heading off to meet Team 8, Team Yamato and Kakashi by the main gates.

They had to move quickly so there was no time to talk about the events. The exhaustion was even written on the face of the ever-enthusiastic Lee. It had taken them precious minutes trying to calm down the people. In discomforting contrast to the earlier chaos, the alleys were now abandoned like a ghost town.

Neji hadn't deactivated his Byakugan the entire day and was sweeping for any remaining civilians over and over again. Gai was unnaturally calm and it seemed like he was preparing himself mentally for the fight ahead.

From time to time, Tenten, the only girl, glanced at her teammates anxiously.

She was afraid. Very afraid. Not of the of fighting, but frightened to lose them all. Her team was her family. Of course they had survived many battles together and had been facing death more than just a few times, but this was... different. She really had the disconcerting feeling she might be seeing her teammates for the last time.

When they approached the gate, the other teams were already waiting. The only one who was missing was, predictably, Kakashi.

"Hey," Kiba, sitting pretty jauntily on the back of Akamaru, greeted them with a smirk. Tenten was impressed by how calm he was, it came across like he was excited about the imminent battle rather than nervous. Hinata was showing the opposite emotion- the small Hyuuga was standing next to Kurenai and was more than tense. She had also activated her Byakugan and Tenten noticed, for perhaps the first time, how much she and her cousin had in common... she was so strong and yet so fragile at the same time.

Tenten let her eyes wander to the next girl: Sakura. She was a little apart from the others and was busy talking animatedly to Naruto, whose face Tenten couldn't see. Probably he wanted to play the hero and face Orochimaru on his own. Sakura caught her staring at them and rolled her eyes, but it was evident that she was worried about her blond friend. Tenten smiled sympathetically at her then looked away towards Sai and Yamato. Both of them were extremely still and if hadn't they blinked from time to time, she would have been kinda concerned they were dead or something. It looked so disturbing that she quickly averted her eyes and turned towards their last comrade: Shino.

Because his face was almost completely covered by his hood and the dark glasses, she couldn't really describe his emotions.

However he did seemed very composed, leaning nonchalantly against the tree-trunk, which impressed her. They had never been close enough to really know each other all that well but it wasn't the first time she asked herself what she would have seen in his eyes, if he didn't wear those damn glasses. Suddenly he raised his head and it seemed like he was looking directly at her. Flustered she quickly glanced away. She felt rather ashamed for staring at him like that.

Fortunately a distraction appearing in the form of Kakashi jumping from the top of a house just in the same moment. Although half his face was covered too, everyone could see how serious he was.

"Now then guys," he sighed, "I know I don't need to explain what's going on. That's the reason why I'll come straight to the point."

"Awesome!" Naruto clenched his fist. Kakashi looked warningly at him and then went on:

"Tsunade - sama told me to group you in pairs," his eyes wandered around and everyone just nodded. This was no time for debating.

Kakashi cleared his throat:

"Lee and Kiba, you take the eastern woodland and try your best to hinder the enemies entering the village." Before he'd even finished speaking, they were off with Akamaru ready to risk their lives to protect their home.

"Gai and Hinata, you'll back them up, please:"

The pair nodded and vanished in the same direction as their teammates.

"Sakura and Neji, you'll try your best to defend the south. The troops from Suna will approach there as well. Tell Tsunade when you see them coming."

"Hai," they said unison and dashed away.

Naruto crossed his arms and looked at him questioningly:

"Wouldn't it been better if Sakura and I-"

"No." Kakashi interrupted harshly, "You'll come with me Naruto. We'll be in the front zone of the battlefield."

"Hmpf," was the only sound the blond made. Kakashi ignored him and continued:

"Yamato and Sai, you go west." Like always Sai just smiled, while Yamato kept his emotionless mask. They disappeared quietly into the woodlands.

"Tenten, Shino- seems like you are the only two left. You'll be our observation post. As soon as you can make out the Akatsuki, you raise an alarm."

Tenten swallowed. It wasn't that she didn't like the bug ninja exactly, but she would really rather have spent the last minutes before the attack with one of her teammates. But now really wasn't the time for complaints. The situation was far too serious to be acting childishly.

Unless of course your name was Naruto. He was still sulking and complaining when Shino and Tenten turned to set off.

"Some of the aggressors will come from the north side."

They nodded simultaneously and headed in the direction Kakashi had pointed.

Without any words being exchanged they began looking for the perfect spot to observe the approaching Akatsuki attack from.

The perfect vantage spot was found in a large tree near the stream from which they could overlook the whole area and still be afforded some camouflage by its leaves.

Tenten was the first one to climb up and she immediately found a limb which seemed to be strong enough to support both her body weight and that of her numerous weapons. From the corner of her eye she saw Shino jumping on a branch just underneath her and leaning back against the mossy trunk in his usual manner.

Interesting, she though to herself, because of his clothes he looks almost invisible. Compared to me. Perhaps it's time to think about changing my own style.

But it really wasn't the time to think about stuff like that, hence she mentally added 'if I survive the invasion' and began concentrate on keeping watch for the enemy.

Soon Tenten got pretty bored. She wasn't used sitting in silence for such a long time and after an hour her feet started to prickle with fierce pins and needles. If Lee had been there, he would had made her smile, done something to alleviate the tension and boredom. Actually even Neji was more talkative then the stoic bug-ninja... who still hadn't moved. At all.

Every so often she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and noticed that he almost looked like a part of the tree. Creepy.

She wondered how her teammates were doing right now. Both of them would be glad with their partners. Certainly Lee and Kiba would be having a great time together (or as great a time as you can have while facing enemy nin) and Sakura was easy to talk to...

Tenten sighed and leant her head against the bark, feeling the warmth as the light from the sun touched her face. She closed her eyes and then nearly fell in surprise when she heard a calm, dark voice speaking.

"You shouldn't move that much or else they will find us instantly."

"I-I'm sorry", was the only thing that passed her lips.

She blinked a few times. Shino was still sitting there like a minute before. If his hood hadn't have moved slightly while he was speaking, she would had sworn that he was talking without moving his lips.

"There is no need to excuse yourself. It was just advice."

Tenten tried to arrange her racing thoughts. But she was happy that he finally spoken to her, so she knew that he was still alive... and also not asleep on the job.

"Uhm, I'll try to calm myself down," she said rubbing at her cheek, "I'm just a bit nervous."

She grinned sheepishly at him unsure whether he could see it through his dark lenses. A chill ran down her spine. Sometimes, even with the glasses, it looked like he could see through other people.

"You are worried." It was a statement not a question. She nodded her head and averted her gaze while she was speaking:

"Well these could be our last hours. Isn't it strange to know that? And that-" mid-sentence she stopped and squeezed her eyes shut.

Shino didn't respond. She wasn't sure whether he was even listening, but she abruptly decided she wasn't in the mood to talk about it anymore...

Not about the fact that they could probably die out here. It was a depressing subject for a conversation at the best of times.

"I..feel the same." His response was so quiet that she nearly didn't hear it. When he turned his face in her direction, his glasses flashed briefly white...when they returned to their normal darkness, Tenten could see her surprised face reflected in them. Quickly she shut her mouth with a snap.

"The idea that something could happen to Hinata..." he shook his head, "...and Kiba as well, even if he does have a big mouth. They are still my teammates."

She could have sworn she had seen him smile, if he hadn't been in disguise. But for it was hard to see.

A little uncomfortable she rocked crossed – legged for a moment back and forth, trying to alleviate the pins and needles.

'Is my mind this easy to read?' she asked herself and frowned '...obviously. Otherwise he wouldn't have known that I was thinking about Lee, Gai and Neji.'

Half of a minute went by in which nobody spoke a word before Tenten broke the silence. When Shino was in the mood to talk why waste the chance?

"Hey Shino...", she started and he looked up to her, "what would you do...if ...if you...well...survive the invasion?"

Why was that hard to say? It was just a simple sentence.

He crossed his arms and stared at the horizon where the sun was setting. It was already late afternoon.

"Good question." he said and Tenten rolled her eyes. This wasn't quite the answer she had been hoping for.

"Do you know?" Shino asked.

"I asked first", she countered looking down at him curiously. Unless she was very much mistaken, he had just chuckled. Weird. Maybe she had just... imagined he had. Yeah, she was positive that was it.

After all Shino Aburame never laughed.

"Very well then. Let us make a deal." he proposed. Tenten frowned, her brow creasing in distrust.

"If I tell you what I wish for my future then you will tell me of your plans in return," he explained stoic as ever, "However both of us have to be completely honest. We must talk of our biggest dreams."

Tenten knit her brows once again and mentally ran through her options.

On the one hand she was kind of curious as to what the mysterious ninja's dreams could be but on the other hand she didn't exactly know him well enough to be sure she could trust him with her innermost thought and dreams.

But this was Shino. Shino who almost never spoke and could keep a secret better than anyone.

Better than Lee, that was for sure...

When they had been younger, she'd had a bit of a crush on Neji. Now of course she could look back and laugh about her behavior then...she had been acting so foolishly whenever Neji had been around that even Lee had noticed and eventually he'd asked her what the matter was. In private she had confessed him her feelings towards their Hyuuga teammate and Lee had apparently had nothing better to do than spill her secret to all their friends. Sakura, Shikamaru, Hinata, Naruto and heaven knows who else did knew about it.

Of course eventually the news got back Neji as well.

The poor boy had not been sure how to think about the whole thing and decided to keep it to himself for a long time.

Eventually Tenten realized that she mixed up friendship with love and that he at most could be seen as a brother to her.

When she found out that Neji knew about her crush they finally talked about the embarrassing events. With the conclusion that Lee was the biggest tattletale of all time.

"So?", the dark voice of Shino abruptly halted her short journey into the past.

"Huh?"

Confused she blinked a few times then smiled at him. Again she saw herself reflected in his glasses.

"Okay, I agree. But only if you'll start."

He nodded his head and quietly cleared his throat.

Wait? Was he... nervous? The small smirk on Tenten's face widened.

"As you know I have a certain interest in bugs. Actually in all kinds of insect life. Nature in general."

Tenten nodded. That was kinda obvious.

"I have given some thought to... spending a whole year in the forest after the battle. Perhaps it sounds unusual but I wish to merge with nature. And to be by myself. Just me and pure untainted nature. That is my biggest dream."

Tenten grimaced with disappointment. That wasn't exactly the kind of answer she was looking for.

"Don't your think your team will miss you then? How about your family?"

"Hm," was all he said.

Had that been a yes or a no? Tenten was getting more impatient with Shino's indirect speech by the minute.

"Personally I think I'd be bored", she confessed, "cause there'd be nobody to talk to."

"They talk to me", he explained as one of his kikkai crawled sedately over his hand, "...and the wind."

"The wind?", her voice sounded interested.

"Have you never noticed? If you merely listen carefully, then it will whisper stories to you."

"I... see." Tenten scratched her head. She'd never heard of anything quite like this.

'Is he teasing me?'

"You do not believe me." he noted, not sounding at all offended. However her face still heated up in embarrassment.

"Well...I-I just can't imagine it", she said grinning bashfully.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Please, just do it."

"Uhm, okay", she said, unsure but still did what he demanded.

"And now only listen to what it will tell you."

Tenten felt terribly stupid... . sitting there with her eyes closed, listening intensely to the wind. She could feel some strands of hair which had come loose from her buns blowing across her face. They lightly tickled her nose and cheeks.

But the wind definitely wasn't talking. The only thing she could to hear was the rustling of the leaves everywhere around her and Shino's calm steady breathing.

Just as she was about to give up and tell him how insane he was... she heard a slight whisper, so faint that she had strain her ears to even hear it.

"They come. Seek shelter. They seek revenge. "

She gasped for air, her eyes shooting open: Was it just my imagination?

"From your face I can be certain that you hear it as well", Shino sounded amused. She glanced at him:

"That was just my imagination. Sometimes our sense of hearing can cheat us."

"If you think so...", he only shrugged.

Or was it? Do you just have to listen just a little closer sometimes? I mean they teach us that a shinobi has to observe his surroundings closely...

"Now that you know my wish, it is your turn. And do not forget: You must be honest."

Tenten had pretty much forgotten about this little condition and she blushed instantly. She cursed herself inwardly for agreeing to this. Anyway his dream hadn't exactly been a secret. Her one was so much more embarrassing and she had no clue if he would understand it. Except for Hinata she'd never told anyone about it. Actually it was very unusual for her to have such a 'girly' wish.

What if I try lying to him? Perhaps he'll believe me, if I make something up.

She shook the thought away. It wouldn't be fair. After all he'd been honest with her, and that couldn't have been easy for someone like Shino. He was so... withdrawn.

She plucked up her courage and decided to tell the truth.

What does it matter anyway?

"Actually it's a pretty trivial wish...", she started deliberately avoiding looking at him.

"No wish is trivial." he disagreed her. She swallowed dryly and nodded to encourage herself.

"Uhm...I have no idea how to start...so...before I die...I wanted to have done something. So, when I survive the invasion then...then", she took a gulp of air and said all in one breath:

"thenI'."

And then something happened what she never would forget in her life. For the first time the always calm and stoic Shino totally lost his poise.

"PARDON ME?", he choked in a far higher pitched voice than normal. Tenten blushed a deep red and didn't dare to peek at him.

"It's just that I never kissed someone," she muttered, embarrassed, feeling like she had to give an explanation.

"I-I...", he stammered and she was pretty sure that his face was red under his layers.

He shook his head a few times and dragged his fingers distractedly over his hood. Tenten felt slightly offended.

"What? Have you ever kissed a girl then?", she asked defiantly.

"I think that is none of your business", he said coldly and seemed to remember who he was and that he actually was supposed to play the cool and unaffected one.

"I guess not." She couldn't resist smirking at him a little. He growled something under his breath and leant his back against the trunk once again.

Tenten felt a little silly then and turned her own back towards him, saying calmly:

"You wanted me to be honest."

He didn't answer and once more they fell into a deep silence. But this time it was different than before. Tenser.

Maybe it was because of their conversation, maybe it was because they were supposed to be looking out for the members of Akatsuki. Although the sun had almost set, there was still no sign of them.

Restless, Tenten rocked back and forth on her heels impatiently. Eventually she pulled a sword out of her backpack and started cleaning it. Actually it wasn't necessary, it didn't even need cleaning, but she really needed some distraction right now.

Once, when something rustled in the bushes , both of them had jumped on their feet to stare tensely down at the ground. Just to find out that it was just a rabbit which hopped away quickly, taking fright. Tenten breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention back to her sword.

She was very proud of this one. It was a kaftan. Simple in its manufacture but wonderfully light in its handling. She didn't actually use it that often because she preferred kunai, spiked flails and shuriken. Because of her preferences it looked almost new and unused.

Tenten was so deep into her work that she didn't hear the ominous creaking noise. But Shino did.

Prepared he lifted his head. Just as he was going to say something, it happened.

Now Tenten heard a loud crack and in the same moment she felt herself falling down. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't react, couldn't even scream.

If she hadn't still had the sword in her hands, it would have been easy for her to grab onto a branch, but like this all she could do was just hope to survive the fall. She shut her eyes tightly and expected to hit the hard ground any second... instead she felt something clasping her waist and lifting her in the air.

At least everything was quiet and the only thing to hear were two unsteady heartbeats.

Breathing heavily she finally dared to open her eyes and saw something greenish. Slowly she raised her head and looked at her own pale face reflected back at her.

"You are alright?" Shino asked in a concerned voice.

She nodded slightly while he let her down. Her whole body shook so he guided her to the trunk of the tree, so that she could lean against it.

Her gaze wandered upwards where she could see only a small piece remained of the branch where she had been sitting on just a brief time ago. The rest lay broken somewhere on the ground. Chills run down her spine when she realized how lucky she was that she wasn't even injured. She had not even a scratch.

"A-arigatou", she whispered.

He just grunted.

"You should have checked whether a branch was rotten." he shook his head.

She lowered her gaze and pressed her lips together. Of course she should have but she hadn't been careful enough by choosing it.

He must have excellent reflexes , she noticed, if not he wouldn't have been able to catch me.

"There is no need to be grateful. We are a team, it was my duty to help you."

She blushed when she realized that she must have been staring at him.

"Gomen", she mumbled and sat down again and pulled her knees to her chin. She felt like a little girl who had been scolded by her mother.

She sensed a movement in front of her and winced when she noticed that Shino had knelt down right in front of her. Her face went pink and she tried to hide her blush by putting her forehead on her knees.

"Be quiet now," his whisper sent chills down her spine, "they will be here soon."

Tenten's head shot upwards and with wide eyes she looked at him.

"WHAT?"

"Ssh!"Quickly he put his hand over her mouth and listened. When he couldn't hear anything he let her go.

"They too far away to hear us, but we should be more careful from now on."

"How could you know that?", Tenten whispered back.

Shino pointed upwards and she saw a swarm of bugs which hovered just above the tree. Probably they were distributed through-out the whole forest, constantly relaying new information to their master.

"We have to inform Kakashi."She was about to jump but then Shino pushed her back against the tree.

"No, not yet. We should wait until they approach the stream, or else our attack could be too soon. You know how impatient Kiba and Naruto are." He mumbled, keeping his hand on her shoulder. Tenten nodded. He was right. As soon as their friends knew the enemy was on their way they would act rashly.

"How long will it take?" She wanted to know.

"Awhile. That means we will have to wait a little bit longer."

She sighed and frustratedly knocked her head back against the tree.

"We should use our remaining time wisely." He said with a mysteriously unreadable undertone.

"Maybe Rock, Paper, Scissors?" she joked. cocking an eyebrow.

His lenses flashed in the light of the sun.

"Actually I had something else in mind:"

Puzzled she looked at him. What was he going to do now?

"The next battle could very well be our last one and even if you hate me after it, I want to fulfill your wish."

Tenten looked at him questioningly now. She didn't know what he was going on about.

Suddenly he pulled down his hood and pushed down his glasses, so that she saw that his eyes were brown and warm... and she began to get a suspicion about where he was going with this.

Which was confirmed when his pale cheeks turned slightly red.

Her heart was in her mouth. He couldn't seriously be about to... but he was so shy that she couldn't be wrong...

And when he leaned down towards her, she was absolutely sure that she had been right. The world seemed to stop turning when she felt his lips on her own and automatically she closed her eyes. So many feelings at the same time overwhelm her. Fear. Peace. Astonishment. Happiness...?

Yes, she felt happy.

She could hear his heart beating loudly as well. But as fast as it started it, the feeling was gone as he pulled away from her. Tent_en didn't dare open her eyes.

Maybe I imagined that as well. Yes. Just like the whispering of the wind.

Suddenly she heard a sound , which seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. Shocked she looked around and discovered that the noise was coming from the swarm of bugs above their heads. They were becoming aggressive. She was going to ask what they were up to when Shino passed her.

"Come on, we have to look for Kakashi. They have almost approached the stream", she heard him call.

Tenten tried to shake away her thoughts and ran after him in the direction of Konohagakure.

Sometimes there are moments in a lifetime when someone surprises you. Those moments unforgettable, no matter what was going to happen. And even if Tenten didn't know what Shino felt while they were kissing each other, she was positive that she wasn't afraid of dying anymore. No matter what would be, she was ready to face it.

-OWARI-