1. Introduction

Tenten wiped her hands on her pants, trying to rid her palms of excess sweat. Her eyes darted across the structure of the Hokage's tower.

She wished Neji had come with her.

Naruto had brought her hero to the village to become the fifth Hokage and now Tenten was finally going to be able to meet her, to serve under her.

Her chest fluttered and she felt dizzy. What if Tsunade didn't like her? What if she didn't respect her skills?

She would never admit it to her teammates, but her pride was still wounded after her loss to Temari of the Sand in the Chunnin exams.

Tenten knew that you only got one chance to make a first impression and she wanted to make sure hers was perfect.

But what type of impression would be perfect?

Tenten doubted that swooning over the new Hokage would be impressive. After all, she had always found herself pointedly unimpressed by the way Lee fawned over their sensei.

Tenten wanted to avoid being like Lee as much as possible.

And Lee got his inspiration from Guy, so she knew that looking for mature qualities in her sensei was pointless as well.

And then there was Neji.

She admired him greatly and felt that their friendship had really progressed since they first joined Team Guy.

While she had always respected him, she was glad that Naruto had knocked his pride down a few pegs. He was much kinder now. And as cute as she had found him in the academy, his newfound attitude was starting to stir other feelings in her chest.

She wasn't sure if having a crush on your teammate was a good idea.

And she wasn't sure if his composed silence would be impressive to Tsunade either.

But if she met somewhere in the middle between Lee and Neji (well maybe more like Neji than Lee) she should be able to make a friendly enough impression while commanding the respect she felt she had earned as a ninja.

She had practiced different conversations in her mind all the way from the training grounds to the center of town.

She didn't know why Neji felt training to be more important than this, and he knew she was Tenten's hero. She silently cursed him, missing his support.

She knew that his calm demeanor would have radiated over to her and helped her keep her cool.

She wiped her hands on her pants again, suddenly feeling the heat of summer on her back. Her collar tightened around her neck and she noted that her brow was sweaty as well.

She should go home and freshen up.

But then the door opened and Naruto came bounding outside, a trail of people behind him.

Anxiety bubbled in her stomach. She was going to meet her hero as a sweaty nervous wreck.

Maybe she could slip away…

"Tenten!"

Naruto bounded up to her side, grin plastered over his face.

"Look who I brought back!" He stated proudly, pointing to her hero. "The Old Lady is going to be our next Hokakge! Can you believe it?"

Tenten's breath caught in her chest as Naruto's words faded out. In the center of the group was her idol, the woman she aspired to be like.

Her long low blond pigtails flowed softly beside her and her very presence commanded the attention of everyone around her.

Tenten suddenly felt very childish and… inadequate… when her eyes fell on the new Hokage's chest.

The Hokage approached them and she heard Naruto's voice again.

"Old Lady! Old Lady! This is Tenten!"

Tenten bowed low and waited for instruction, sneaking a glance up at her hero's face. Her skin was smooth, her makeup perfectly applied. She watched her coat trail as she strode up to Tenten, who had suddenly realized she had been holding her breath.

"Rise Tenten." Her voice commanded authority and Tenten trembled under the strength and beauty of it.

She straightened up, nervous about meeting her gaze.

Now was her chance. The moment had come. Her first impression. She was being introduced to her idol.

She wondered if it was going well.

An awkward silence hung in the air and Tenten realized that perhaps she should say something before Tsunade walked away.

But she'd lost her voice.

"Uh…" Her voice croaked awkwardly and her face heated up, a blush rising onto her cheeks.

Say something Tenten!

She finally found her voice and cringed as the words squeaked out of her, hoping they sounded calm and collected to everyone else.

"Welcome to Konoha, Hokage-sama. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you." Tenten bowed again, before rising up and bravely making eye contact with the woman.

She nearly fainted when she saw a smile quirk on Tsunade's lips. Did she do a good job? Had she completely embarrassed herself?

"It is good to meet you, Tenten," her heart soared, "I look forward to working with you."

"T-thankyouTsunade-sama." The words blurted from her lips, she'd lost her cool.

"Tell me, Tenten," the Hokage continued, "these two seem intent on taking me around town to show me what has changed since I last left." She leaned into Tenten's ear, as if to whisper a secret to her. "Do you know any good gambling houses?" Tenten stiffened, unsure of how to respond.

"T-Tsunade-sama!" Her assistant had heard the request and balked at her. "She is only 14! You cannot expect her to know that!"

Tsunade leaned back land laughed.

"Of course I was joking, Shizune!" But she winked at Tenten before turning to leave. "I'll be seeing you around Tenten."

Once her back was to her, Tenten let her jaw drop.

She wasn't sure, but it seemed to have gone smoothly.

It certainly wasn't the introduction he had anticipated.

A/N: Trying a 100 theme challenge to help break up my other writing. I keep getting stuck with writers block and I thought this might help.

Expect it to be all sorts of writing. Happy, sad, and everything in between. Please review!