The sun set over Konohagakure unnoticed, as the bright lights of the bustling metropolis shone as if it were still day.
The snow was merciless. Hard and thickly packed together, it poured without relent over the cars still stuck in traffic. The rooftops would be white tomorrow, and if the whole city was not frozen from the night before, the children would be delighted to prance about in the icy wonderland.
The temperature outside was cold enough to make your blood freeze, but Tenten did not have to worry about such things. She took her time, stepping leisurely out of the shower and in front of her foggy mirror, first wiping it clear and then taking out her blow dryer and turning it on. Carefully she ran her fingers through her chocolate hair under the furious gust coming out of the device. Once dry, she tied her usual buns with haste, leaving a few neglected tendrils trailing down her neck. After rubbing lotion over her face and body and putting on her undergarments and a white camisole, she slipped on some comfortable black track pants.
In her living room, she lit the lotus incense and proceeded to make some well-deserved popcorn in the microwave. Filling a ceramic bowl with the buttery kernels, she plopped onto her sofa and grabbed her favorite book from the side table.
"Work was a killer." she said to no one in particular except herself.
She turned to page two-hundred eighty-five and slipped an oily morsel into her mouth.
She chewed slowly, savoring the taste.
The doorbell rang.
She choked.
"Aghck!" she coughed out some very large crumbs onto her freshly-vacuumed floor and scowled.
Refraining herself from spouting out some very ill-sounding words, she stomped up to her front door and looked in the eyehole.
Tall, thin, blonde, and a face marred with glistening lines of tears.
Now that couldn't be her Ino, could it?
She unlocked the door.
"Ano, Ino-chan?" she asked gently, "What happened?"
"Shika-kun broke up with me." breathed the girl in a very pitiful, very un-Ino way. Tenten could only gaze back with an expression of worry before taking her hand and leading her into her apartment.
So much for a quiet evening alone.
Tenten pacified Ino's sobs with a cup of steaming hot chocolate, which, despite it's scorching heat, she gulped down unfazed. The minutes passed by, and each tick of the clock marked something like a century of different phases of Ino's grief. Her sniffles turned to bawling, and her bawling turned into louder bawling, and then that turned into angry yells, and then bawling again, and then sniffles, and then, finally, silence.
Tenten's way of consoling people was to listen and not say much, and it worked, as it could plainly be seen. Though, it wasn't going out Tenten's other ear. She remembered every word her friend had said, from the cheating, to the lying, to finally Shikamaru dumping her gorgeous self for the much less-desirable Sakura, who was not sympathetic with her in the least.
Tenten would never understand men and their cruel madness.
Tenten would also never forget seeing her loud and proud friend in such a pitiful state. The only thing she could say to her that no man is not worth more than her dignity, and then motherly put the porcelain-skinned girl to sleep on the sofa where she had been positioned previous to Ino's visit.
Once she heard the soft breathing and saw the gentle heaves of her chest, Tenten popped another kernel into her mouth and continued reading.
The doorbell rang.
She choked.
She dropped her novel and hacked out what she hadn't even gotten the chance to enjoy, and stormed up to the door. Looking in the eye-hole, she saw two pale ebony-haired boys, one shorter than the other and looking very disgruntled. Tenten rolled her eyes and unlocked the door.
"Ano, what do you two want?"
"Fruitcake." said Itachi.
"Nani?" inquired Tenten irritably, "I'm not going to give you fruitcake."
"Fruitcake." he repeated.
"No," said Tenten more annoyed now, "I'm not giving you any fruitcake."
"Fruitcake."
"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not giving you any! I don't even have any!"
"...Fruitcake."
"UGH!"
"...Fruit...cake..."
"..."
"Fruitcake?"
"DAMN IT TO HELL—"
"No," said Sasuke, pointing to the foil covered package in Itachi's hands, "Fruitcake."
Tenten stared at the gift before accepting it and muttering, "Oh...thanks."
She nodded gratefully and shut the door.
She threw the fruitcake onto her counter and walked back to her seat on the floor, gripping the spine of the novel before the doorbell rang again. Stomping back up to it, she looked in the eyehole only to be greeted by the sight of the same Uchiha brothers. She unlocked the door and asked, "What do you want now?"
"Aren't you going to invite us inside?" asked Itachi blatantly.
"Nani? Of course not—"
"Hey, Aniki look! Yamanaka-chan is dead on the couch!" yelled Sasuke.
"Ne, Sasuke?" said Itachi, "You're right! Tenten-chan must have killed her!" Then without warning, the two siblings practically bulldozed over her and burst into her apartment.
Tenten was not amused.
Whipping around with ferocity, she was about to scream profanities that would have made Tayuya shift in her sleep when she saw Itachi and Sasuke poking Ino in her slumber.
"Ano!" yelled Tenten, "Stop bothering her!"
But it was too late; Ino had awoke, and to Tenten's immense surprise, she greeted the two brothers with as much cheerfulness to match the amount of melancholy sorrow she had been harboring only minutes before.
"Itachi-kun! Sasuke-kun!" she beamed, "How nice to see you!"
"Hai, Yamanaka-chan," said Sasuke, "We thought Tenten-chan had killed you so we were just checking up on you."
"Nani?" asked Ino confusedly, although it quickly morphed into happiness as she laid eyes on Itachi's face, "Itachi-kun, you look especially handsome today!"
"Arigato, Yamanaka-chan, but you look like you have been crying. Is something wrong?"
Damn it.
"Nani? Oh I remember! SHIKA-KUN BROKE UP WITH ME!"
"That bastard!"
At this point Tenten wanted to pass out on her kitchen floor. Though, she thought, they weren't actually bothering her anymore, so why get angry? Besides, Tenten had grown up with Gai, Lee, and Neji—she was good at ignoring people.
Inconspicuously stealing her book and popcorn away again, she found a spot in the corner of the room and continued reading. She popped another kernel into her mouth.
The doorbell rang.
She choked.
She pondered how damaged her throat would be before the night was over.
Falling into the now very familiar and repetitive act of seeing who was at the door, her eye was met by the sight of the scarecrow that lived next door.
Rolling her eyes, she opened the door.
"Kakashi-senpai," asked Tenten, "what do you want?"
"My place is being quarantined, can I stay with you for tonight?"
"Nani? No it's not—"
"Arigato Tenten-chan!" said the one-eyed man, cheerfully pecking her on the cheek before barging inside, "YOSH! KAKASHI-SAMA IS HERE! BREAK OUT THE SHOCHI AND POKER CHIPS!"
"HAI! KAKASHI-SAN!" cheered Sasuke and Itachi in unison.
"HAI—GET YOUR HANDS OFF YAMANAKA-CHAN'S LEGS!"
Tenten did not even turn around to look at the party of four in her living room. She merely shut the door and went back into her corner.
Things were looking good; for thirty whole minutes no one else had bothered her. Ino, Itachi, Sasuke, and Kakashi were in their third round of strip poker, and Tenten was sure that Kakashi had been cheating. However, they had yet to invite her into their game so Tenten deemed it something not to mull over.
She smiled the first real smile she had felt on her face for what had seemed like forever. She popped a popcorn corner in her mouth.
The doorbell rang.
Can you guess what happened next?
Kakashi was too drunk to notice Tenten writhing on the floor and clutching her throat, and Itachi and Sasuke were too busy trying to persuade Ino to unhook her bra.
Tenten marched up to the door and did not even bother to look in the eyehole.
She tore the door open and yelled a very infuriated, "WHAT?"
"Do I smell popcorn on your breath, un?" came a very familiar voice, "Mmm, sounds like there's a party in there!"
Tenten stared blankly at the eager looking blonde man in front of her.
"Deidara, what the hell do you want?"
"Now that's no way to speak to your Deidara-chan, is it?" he said, feigning deep offense, "Oh Mausu you look tense! May I relieve you of your stresses?"
A few minutes into Deidara's horrifyingly lascivious smile and Tenten slammed the door in his face.
No way was she going to deal with another horny male. In the living room of her apartment she had the Uchiha brothers, who were practically already in a threesome with her best friend, and Kakashi, the Prince of Porn (next to Jiraiya, who was the King).
Tenten made it up in her mind that she would ignore anymore knocks that came to her door.
From then on she read peacefully in her comfy little corner, not cutting back on the popcorn at all. With her snacking came another knock, but this time she paid it no mind at all.
The knocking became more urgent, but Tenten did not let up.
"GO AWAY DEIDARA!" she yelled at the door.
She further ignored the loud bangs that came.
Just when she had come to the best part of her book, she noticed Kakashi making his drunken way over to her.
Here comes trouble.
"Senpai, do you need to go home?" she asked.
"T-Tenten...you...have such nice breasts..." he hiccupped.
She slammed her book down in shock.
"What did you say to me?" she asked dangerously.
"Your breasts..." he hiccupped, "they're so nice and round!"
He yelled it loud enough that Tenten was sure people outside could have heard it.
She blushed furiously as he collapsed onto her, his hands not being shy at all. She called out to the others but they were too...busy. At the same time she struggled with him, punching his face countless times. Unfortunately, her might wasn't enough to get the groping man off of her.
His fingers were devilish, playing around her hips and getting very close to her chest. He kissed her neck, releasing his wet tongue onto her flesh and making his way up to her lips. She suffocated in his contact, but he didn't notice. He gripped her tighter, turning his once slurred approach into vicious dominance.
"Mine...mine...mine." he whispered to her. His words were ghostly on her ear, and she shivered.
"Kakashi!" she yelled, "Get. OFF!"
The banging had gotten much louder, and it definitely was not helping the current situation. She was not facing the door, and thus did not see be violently knocked down. However, she might not have noticed either, since Kakashi's hands were now up her shirt and working on her bra. From behind them, Tenten heard angry footsteps approach them.
"Come to join the party?" asked Kakashi dopily as he sat upright over Tenten's body. Tenten could not turn over, so she had to shift her eyes upward. Though, she regretted the action immediately when she met the irate eyes of her newest visitor.
"And all this time..." growled the voice, "I wanted to use my Byakugan to get to you when I could have just done this."
END