"Don't you Dare Cry"
A Kanku x Ten love story
© Masashi Kishimoto
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Kankuro leaped from the limb of the tree, grunting heavily as he landed on the next one. why was he sent to Konoha? why couldn't Temari do instead? "she already had a boyfriend there anyway…" grumbled Kankuro. He began to smell the rain on the way, and his sharp eyes picked up over the mountains an ominous form of black clouds. "great…just great…" Kankuro growled, pulling up Karasu higher on his back. He scanned the trees, looking to see if he was being followed, then continued on his trek. After some time the rain caught up with him. "stupid shitty rain…damn, damn rain…damn" he kept muttering to himself. He was exhausted, dirty, and now wet. With the back of his hand he wiped his face, screwing up the kabuki paint. The paint was slowly coming off, he needed to get out of the rain soon. Kankuro continued onward, splashing in the puddles as he leapt from limb to limb. A strange feeling came over him, as if something or more importantly "someone", was coming.
He froze and ducked in to the nearest foliage, ready to unwrap karasu at any sign of life. He hard someone's footsteps drawing nearer, and his cat like eyes picked up a silhouette against the forest. He focused intensely on this figure, as if he was a cat stalking his prey. The figure drew nearer and from what he could see, it was a female. She seemed to stumble and trip over things as she made her way through the forest. Kankuro chuckled to himself a bit, just like a girl, unprepared for the trek. She suddenly stopped and jumped in to a clearing. She seemed to be scanning the trees. 'stupid girl' he thought, 'revealing yourself isn't the smartest thing to do'. "who's there…". he heard a voice squeak. He recognized this voice, somewhere long ago. He couldn't place it, but he know her. He slowly revealed himself, the rain had stopped, and the sun had hit the area they both stood in. he was right on the assumption that it was a girl, but he didn't realize that it was Tenten from Konoha. "Tenten…right?" he asked, noting the two buns atop her head. "yes…and you are…Kankuro" she replied back. He gave a quick smirk, even though they had never met personally at least she knew his name. "what are you doing out here?" she suddenly asked, he looked away casually still holding a grin. "I'm traveling to Konoha on a mission…and you?" he asked politely, and only until now did he notice her tear stained face. "what…what's wrong?" he mumbled.
Tenten quickly wiped her face, a look of sorrow and anger spread across her brow. "oh…it's nothing concerning you, it's only Neji…he can be such a jerk" she angrily stated, as Kankuro remembered Neji. He wasn't very pleasant from what he remembered since the chuunin exams. 'idiot man…you should never make a girl cry' thought Kankuro as he felt pity towards Tenten, who had obviously, started crying again. He slowly walked over to her, he titled her head up to his, looking into her deep brown eyes. "don't cry…I don't want you to cry" he whispered as she nodded. Then she wiped the tears from her face, hoping to cover up her blush. Kankuro waited until she was done, noting how red her face was as well. He smiled, he knew the rumors were true of how kind, noble, and shy she was at times. "would you like an escort back to Konoha?" she asked, a blush still lit across her face. "I mean…since I have nothing else to do" she quietly mentioned, fidgeting from the previous actions. " I would like that…a lot". Kankuro smiled, he sent chills to roll up and down her spine and caused her heart to skip a beat. She managed a small smile at him. His heart skipped like hers. "umm…just to let you know…your paint is coming off". "WHAT!!!" Kankuro screamed, pulling his cap over his face. "Augh! I forgot to bring a mirror!!" he began to yell, digging into his pockets furiously. "Here! Let me help you!!" yelled Tenten.
"NO!! you can't see my face!!" he whined shoving the black hat further up. "Why? Are you ugly or something?" Tenten spat out with laughter. "NO!! OF COURSE NOT!! I HAVE AN IMAGE TO KEEP UP YOU KNOW!!!" he screamed. "okay…okay…calm down…it was only a joke, now take your hat off" hushed Tenten as Kankuro pulled it slowly away from his face. "you won't laugh…will you?" he commented, only his eyes showing over the cap. "No…I won't laugh". he sat down, cross legged on the dew covered grass, and took out a portable make up kit. Tenten squatted next to him, and took his cap and folded it neatly. She slightly giggled from seeing his smudged face, but she quickly stopped when he set his glare on her. "I thought you wouldn't laugh…"he grumbled. "I did 'not' laugh…I giggled" Tenten stated as he snorted, closing his eyes into a pout. Tenten quickly took out a cloth and began to wipe his face. He sat still, wincing from her hard strokes as slowly his mask started to fade. After she had wiped his face clean, she noticed he was slightly blushing. Tenten stopped to look at his light brown spikes for hair and his dark eyes. His full face and prominent nose. He shifted slightly, trying to avoid her gaze. 'it's so much easier to read his face of emotions' she thought. Kankuro had noticed that she took a moment to stare at him for some time, then had turned away. He brushed it off, the way of the ninja is not to feel emotions, but Tenten did have natural beauty, charm, and motherly tendencies. 'Ah! Don't think of such things Kankuro…she may be cute, but she's a Konoha girl…only a friend, and acquaintance…like it would be anything else…' he thought bitterly. "okay…hold still" she mumbled as she began to smear the purple paint in it's usual directions on his face. She noticed his intense eyes were focused on her face. Remaining unblinking even if her hand swept over them. She also did notice that he did have a handsome face after all.
And that his hair was a way different color from Gaara's. Gaara. The boy with the tanuki, the boy who nearly killed Lee. She stopped her 'face painting' and Kankuro took deep notice in her change of emotion. "Something wrong?". "huh?" Tenten snapped out of it quickly, "uh…no, I was just thinking about my team and how they're probably worried about me". "oh…well if you're done then we should get going." "yeah". they both arose and headed for Konoha. It wasn't long before they finally reached the main gates of Konoha. Gai sensei stood outside the gate with his two other students. Lee sat next to his sensei, fidgeting with worry, sweat drops falling from his face. He was definitely worried about Tenten. She was like a sister to him, and she always took care of him when he was younger. Neji stood with his arms crossed, his back against the gates. 'stupid girl…all I told her was that she needed to get more practice…and…well…I did kind of accuse her for being a liability to the team…humph…she should learn to suck it up…' Neji thought to himself. He was always harsh to Tenten, never really respecting her feelings. Suddenly he felt a presence, and he smiled, he know she would come back, she always did. 'now I can apologize and gain her forgiveness…like always' he chided himself. But suddenly he felt another presence as well, a 'guy' presence. He waited, a glare coming from the pure white eyes. Suddenly he could see not one, but two figures on the horizon; he growled. "tenten!!!" exclaimed Lee as he ran up to them, his arms spread out wide with tears going down his face.