Hi everyone! I am Blue Bird Tenten19 but please call me Tenten.
I think you know my sister Ziggy of the Uchiha Clan (PsyMama17.) She helped me with this story and also the character introductions and history of Konoha (I'm not used to writing detailed descriptions; I usually write straight to the point).
This is my first fanfiction and it is a little bit fairytale inspired. I hope you like it!
CHAPTER 1
'When you're ready come and get it, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. When you're re-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eady, when you're-'
SMASH!
"Sakura!" I exclaimed loudly.
"Tell Selena to shut up." Sakura mumbled against her pillow. I picked up my alarm slash phone and checked to see if anything was wrong with it. After all, it was one of the few nice things I was able to afford and also, it had been a victim of my roommate's monster strength. Sakura was always grumpy every morning.
I sighed with relief when I saw that no harm was done to my phone. I glared at the sleeping (and snoring) form of my pink haired friend; yes indeed, pink hair. She was born with it, it wasn't dyed or anything. She made snorting noises as she slept.
Maybe she was forgetting the fact that we needed money to pay our rent and feed ourselves. And for that, we needed to get to our respective jobs fast!
I rolled my eyes at her. I placed my phone on the side table between our beds and stretched my arms above my head. I turned to my left and glanced in the oval-shaped mirror that hung on the wall. I had long brown hair and eyes of a lighter shade compared to my hair.
Oh, and my name? It's-
"TENTEN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ITS 7:30?! I'M GONNA BE LATE!" Sakura shrieked. The rest was a blur; Sakura, in a pink flash, rushed out of bed and into the bathroom after grabbing her clothes from the chair next to her bed in less than a second. I laughed quietly at my roommate.
Haruno Sakura and I had been friends ever since we met at a bar where both of us went drinking for the first time and coincidentally, for the same reason; unable to afford to go to college. That's right; we had no financial support. Sakura's parents were poor and the money they earned was barely enough to support her much less send her to college. So she had dropped out of school before she could graduate, even though she was an excellent student.
And my family? I never knew them. I grew up in an orphanage until a couple adopted me. Even if they sent me to school, gave me food and a home, I was more of a servant to them rather than a daughter. Things got tough as I got older and my adoptive parents got abusive and often hit me. So I ran from home. Things got ugly and the court and the police were involved after my escape but in the end, my teacher from school, who supported me, agreed to let me live with him.
I continued my studies but after my teacher died, I quit school, just like Sakura. The little amount of money that my teacher had kindly left for me, I decided to use it wisely. So I went in search of a job. On the first week, I got nothing, which was the reason why I went to the bar and met Sakura, who was suffering the same as me.
She had a home, a small apartment while I had nothing; I had to move out of my teacher's home because his snobby son kept on bothering and discriminating me. It was perfect; Sakura and I then decided to live together at her apartment and go in search for a job together. Then, we would pay the rent together as well.
After about two weeks, Sakura got a job at a pharmacy to sell medicine and I got myself a job as a waitress at a café downtown. As the saying goes beggars can't be choosers (we are not exactly beggars though) we had to take up the job whether we liked it or not.
Now it has been about two years and everything is going smoothly. And even though the fact that I am nineteen years old and Sakura is eighteen and that both of us are still working cheap jobs with low wages bothers me, I don't let it show. It's like what Sakura's mother always says whenever she visits, "Be happy with what you have."
"Oh God, Kato-san is going to be so mad!" Sakura exclaimed as she stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed in a red blouse and a faded jean skirt. She tied her short pink hair in a spiky ponytail and then looked at me with her emerald green eyes. She raised her eyebrow.
"Tenten, aren't you gonna hurry up? We're getting late. It's almost seven!" She said glancing at her watch.
I laughed at her, "Sakura, I changed the time on your watch yesterday night; I made it fifteen minutes faster which means, instead of 7:35, it's only 7:20 right now. You have plenty of time."
"Tenten!" Sakura exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "I could be sleeping right now!"
"Exactly," I told her with a smile. "You'd be sleeping and miss breakfast and be late. We have plenty of time; we'll both leave at 7:30 and we'll be at our respective jobs by 7:45."
Sakura laughed, "I guess you're right. Let me make breakfast; you go and get washed up."
"Okay." I said as I walked pass her and into the bathroom. Our bathroom was small with a shower in the cornet, a toilet and a small sink with a rectangular mirror above it. I picked up my toothbrush and squirted on some toothpaste. As I brushed, I stared at my own reflection in the mirror.
My hair, which reached my shoulders, had some toothpaste on it too. I spat out after brushing and rinsed my mouth. I them wiped the toothpaste from my hair before splashing water onto my face. I then picked up the pair of hairpins that rested near the sink. I held it in my hands and stared at it.
It was a beautiful piece of jewelry made of silver. It was thing and long and had designs of a butterfly's wings engraved on it. It also has a tiny chain with a small flower, a daisy, dangling at the end on each pin. I have had it since I lived in the orphanage. This was the only thing I had of my unknown past. I had the urge to sell it because I didn't have any memory circling around these pins and I don't know where it came from or who gave it to me; the only thing I knew this would be of a very high price. But something made me hold onto it. And I have for a very long time.
I used the pins and tied my hair up in two buns; my usual hairstyle. I didn't shower because I had showered yesterday. I then headed back to the room and opened the cupboard. Sakura and I shared one cupboard. We were like sisters and shared everything we had with each other.
I put on a blue t-shirt and brown pants. I never wore much girly clothing and besides, I wasn't used to them either. One time, Sakura made me wear her skirt; it was a disaster!
I walked into the kitchen-living room. Since our apartment was small, the kitchen and living room were sort of merged together. The only thing separating the two was a small kitchen counter. I sat down on the sofa and turned on the T.V (yes we have a T.V; it is another one of our few luxuries. Truth be told, we bought most of our luxuries from garage sales.) Right now, there was nothing on but ads and rebroadcast of yesterday's news so I muted the T.V.
Sakura placed two plates on the small glass table in front of the sofa; one with two slices of butter toast and the other with one slice and a plain omelet. I was a vegetarian; I became one after watching a video showing how people killed cows for beef. Sakura stopped meat too . . . but it only lasted for two months; I caught her eating shrimp ramen once.
I took the plate with two butter toasts and started to nibble on one. Sakura started eating her omelet first. She swallowed her first bite and then stood up.
"I forgot juice." She said as she walked towards the fridge (you guessed it, another small luxury). She filled two glasses with orange juice and brought them over. I thanked her as I took one glass from her. Breakfast was rather silent. After we were done, I volunteered to do the dishes while she got our stuff ready.
I washed the two plates and two glasses quickly and dried my hands by wiping them on my pants. Sakura came out of our room hold hers as well as my bag. I took my bag from her and the two of us headed for work.
We took the bus since taxi fares were much higher. There weren't many people so we were able to get a seat. Sakura childishly occupied the window seat. She then pulled out her phone and put her earphones in. She handed one to me and I placed it in my ear. We listened to '1985' by Bowling for Soup and Sakura quietly sang the song to herself.
I heard laughter and looked in the front. A boy, probably in high school, had his earphones in his ears and was watching something on his iPhone 5. I stared at the gadget longingly; it didn't matter 3, 4 or 5 but I always wanted an iPhone.
"We're better with our own phones." Sakura whispered to me, noticing me staring at the iPhone.
"I know." I said, a bit gloomily.
Sakura reached into my pant pocket and pulled out my pink Samsung phone. She grinned, "You have a touch screen too." Actually, a person, a work colleague who had now retired, given me her phone as a farewell gift. I wasn't a fan of pink but I was happy with it.
I laughed, "Yeah. And what about you? You're still using a phone with buttons."
Sakura held up her white Nokia X2, which she had bought with her own money, rather proudly, "This is an original!"
The two of us laughed and listened to some good music on Sakura's phone on the bus ride. Sakura's stop was first. She said goodbye as she paid the conductor and left for work. I watched from the bus window as Sakura rushed into the pharmacy where she worked. I laughed quietly when I saw her almost trip over a rock.
After a few minutes I reached my own work place. I paid the conductor and thanked him before stepping out. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh morning air. I stood in front of the café where I worked at looked up at the sign board that was kind of faded due to the rain but the words were still clear as crystal.
ICHIRAKU RAMEN AND COFFEE
Not a good combination, I know but my boss, Old man Ichiraku, made good ramen and his daughter, Ayame, made a mean cup of coffee! I looked at the bigger, brighter and classier café two blocks down and opposite to where I worked and saw that there were already many customers.
I glared at the big classy sign board that had a picture of a steaming cup of coffee and elegant text next to it.
HANABI COFFEE HOUSE
It was actually built after the birth of the second daughter of one of the four rulers of our home, Konoha. Konoha is the capital city of the Fire Country and it is where Sakura and I live. It was ruled by a single ruler, called the Hokage. It was during the time of the Third Hokage that things changed. Before the Third passed away, he divided and gave his power and authority to the Advisory Ministers of Konoha, who were the leaders of some of the wealthiest families in Konoha; they were the Uchihas, the Hyugas, the Uzumakis and the Naras.
Since then, the Fire Country was ruled by the leaders of these four noble families. The café where I worked was built for the youngest daughter of the Hyuga leader. I glared at the sign board; here I was struggling for money while they use it to build cafés in their children's name. Why not just throw a mega birthday party?
"Tenten-chan. Come on in for some coffee!" Ayame called out from inside the café. She smiled warmly at me and waved, telling me to come inside. I smiled back at her and started to walk inside.
Then, suddenly, I had this weird feeling; a feeling that something was going to happen today and was going to change my life. I shook my head and headed inside. I was going crazy. Maybe if I drank some of Ayame's delicious coffee, I could clear my head and I will be able to think more clearly.
Little did I know that I had been right and that my life was now going to take an interesting turn . . .
Xxxxxxxxxx
I kept Tenten's alarm as 'Come and Get it' by Selena Gomez because I LOVE SELENA ^_^
Was it okay? I hope you liked it. Go easy on me, please. Neji will make his appearance in the next chapter, along with some of the others. This is the first chapter and I will try to update very soon.
Review!