Okay, so I'm in a really weird mood right now, so my writing style has shifted a bit east, whatever that is supposed to mean. Anywho, I have this entire story written in my head, and It'll be typed up soon enough, I just need to sort out exactly how to put it in words. Review if you would be so kind. Thanks and I hope you like it!
Tenten bit her lip.
It was already coming up on one o clock and her team was nowhere in sight.
She specifically remembered Gai-sensei saying that, if weather permitted, they would have a training session today, and with another team. The sky was clear and beautiful and the air was crisp, hints of autumn could be caught in the light breezes that came about. It was beautiful outside, so why wasn't her team at the usual training spot?
Just then, it hit her. "Shit..." she muttered under her breath, taking off towards the southern wall. One of Gai's rules was that, out of courtesy, if they trained with another team, it would be at their training grounds. Today was supposed to be training with Team , and their training grounds were on the other side of Konoha.
She ran as fast as she could, jumping from roof top to roof top, tree to tree. It didn't take her long to cover the distance, but she was still unbelievably late.
She finally arrived, panting.
"Hey Tenten, what took ya so long?" asked a smiling Ino.
"I forgot we were meeting here today..." Tenten responded
"I am sorry for my tardiness." She said, turning to her sensei.
"That is OK! Mistakes of such small measure are normal for youth such as yourself!" Gai said, nearly shouting. He gave her is trademark smile and thumbs up.
She just smiled, shaking her head.
"Tardiness may be acceptable for youth, but for a Ninja it is unacceptable."
Tenten's heart sank at hearing this.
The words belonged to Neji.
She didn't know why, but for him to say that to her made her want to cry. No one had that sort of hold on her and she was ashamed that she let him get to her, but she couldn't help it. He was the best ninja of the group. He never made mistakes, was never late, and never lost in battle. He had a 99 success rate on missions. It would be a 100, but Naruto was involved in one mission, so he was doomed. On top of being perfect in every aspect of that subject, he was also incredibly handsome. His dark brown hair was always in place, kept out of his way so that it didn't interfere. His skin was pale, nearly translucent, no matter how long he was in the sun. Being a ninja, he was also incredibly fit. From time to time, when he and Lee were sparring, he would remove his shirt and Tenten had to try her hardest to hide the blush that crept across her face every time.
She liked him, and he wanted nothing to do with her.
"Chill Neji, not everyone is as uptight as you." Shikamaru said, already bored with the current situation.
"Hn" was Neji's only reply.
They two teams spent the remainder of the day training together. It wasn't until the sun set that they decided to turn in for the day. Asuma invited both teams to dinner, on him. Everyone agreed, all tired from training and not stupid enough to pass up a free meal.
They sat down to their meal, absolutely famished. Even Ino, who was constantly on a diet, had seconds. Chouji, Ino, and Lee talked non-stop about just about everything. Shikamaru was in some sort of discussion with Asuma and Gai, with Neji giving his opinion on what was being said every now and then. Tenten ate her meal in silence. Internally, she was berating herself for screwing up earlier and for letting Neji's words hurt her so badly. She was the master weapon-nin of Konoha for Christ's sake! Her record was nearly as good as Neji's and she was fairly well known among the teams for her toughness and ferocity. She was pretty much impervious from criticism. That is, unless it was from him.
She sighed. As tough as she was on the outside, she was nothing but glass on the inside. Easily shattered by the smallest of things. The thing that hurt the most was knowing that the one person she admired would rather pretend she was invisible than actually have to put up with her.
After a while, everyone finished their meals and went their separate ways. On her way home, Tenten was lost in thought, so she didn't notice the blond kunoichi walk up beside her.
Ino tapped on Tenten's shoulder, making her jump.
"Whats on your mind, Tenten" Ino asked.
"Oh, nothing really" she replied half heartedly.
"Yeah, and I'm the tooth fairy" Ino said sarcastically. "But really, whats buggin' ya? You seemed down today during training and you didn't say a word at dinner" Tenten could see the concern in Ino's face, but couldn't bring herself to tell Ino the truth. There was a part of her the wanted to get it off her chest, to tell SOMEONE so that she didn't have to bottle everything up, but the other part of her wanted to keep it in its bottle in hopes she eventually pretend it wasn't there.
"Today was just an off day for me." Tenten said, attempting to smile.
Ino saw right through it.
"Its about what Neji said, Isn't it." It wasn't a question.
"I know you've had eyes for that boy since day one. I honestly don' understand it. He never does anything but cut you down." Ino shook her head.
Tenten just stared at her feet. "Why does Ino have to be so damn intuitive?" she thought to herself.
"Hey, I got an idea!" she said suddenly. Tenten turned her head towards Ino, wary of what the idea may be.
"Hinata and Sakura are coming over later tonight for a bit of a sleepover. You should join us. It'll get your mind off everything!"
Tenten smiled, for real this time. "Sounds like a plan." she said. A night out with the girls is just what she needed.
"Awesome!" Ino exclaimed, doing a mini dance. "Come over around nine! It'll be a blast!"
With that, Ino took off in the direction of her place, leaving Tenten there to tend to her thoughts.
