NejixTenten
Sacrifice
(I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!)
The world span at a shockingly fast speed as Tenten rose from her bed in the early hours of the morning. She rubbed her puffy red eyes groaning at her dizziness. Why me? Oh yeah… Images of the night before flashed through her mind. The freshest memory was of her downing her tenth shot. It was a miracle that the girl still had a liver. Stumbling into the small kitchen of her apartment she quickly emptied the contents of her stomach into the trash can before grabbing a spare glass and filling it with water in a desperate attempt to flush the alcohol out of her system. It worked to some extent, she no longer felt sick but she still had a throbbing headache. Groaning again she dragged herself back into her bedroom to complete her daily rituals. She had been handling her drink well for the past few months, barely touching the stuff. That was until she had lost one of her team-mates during a mission to the sound, in the ANBU she had learned to contain her grief while still on missions and learned to grieve after. This was her way of dealing; it made her feel a shit load better. Locking the door of her apartment behind her Tenten made her way through the empty streets of Konoha. Her thoughts filled with the events of the past year. Team Gai had crumbled; Lee and his sensei were still jounin and had paired up to take on missions as a duo, Neji had made his way also into the ANBU the last Tenten had heard he was vice-captain of Squad Four. It had all happened so fast, a blur in her mind.
"Tenten!" She blinked, looking upwards to meet the eyes of Naomi Oscuro, her captain. The stunning dark-haired kunoichi jumped down from the rooftop she had been crouching on. Although she was no more than a year older than Tenten she held a natural dominance and air of leadership about her. No doubt that combined with her undeniable strength and intelligence had made her progress at such a rapid rate in her career.
"Hai! Captain!" She bowed respectfully at her superior. The woman's piercing and fiercely beautiful blue eyes regarded her with a look of concern. Something else that was special about this kunoichi; she cared a lot about her subordinates, almost sisterly to Tenten.
"Tenten, it's too early to be up. Three in the morning? Our training isn't for another five hours. I said to have a lie in after yesterday. Besides, you look like hell." She added; hand on hip one eyebrow quirked. "I only found you in the bar a matter of two hours ago." The other woman flinched, rubbing the back of her head uneasily.
"Well you see Captain-."
"No. Return. Now. I'll see you later. Oh, by the way. It wasn't your fault." Tenten's eyes flew to the ground guilt's iron claws gaining a vice like hold on her heart. A frown creased the young captain's forehead.
"Tenten." Her hand reached out, landing softly on her shoulder to squeeze it gently. "Repeat after me: It was not my fault." Drawing a deep breathe she squeezed her eyes shut and complied, the words feeling bitter as they left her mouth.
"It was not my fault." A low sigh escaped her lips, a burden had been lifted.
"Good, now get some rest. Without the aid of sake."