Hello, readers! This is my FIRST fanfiction ever about my favorite pairing, LeeTen! I hope you enjoy it!
This takes place before Naruto: The Last Movie. And some of you will get why I put it that way later ;-)
I do not own Naruto.
Through it All
Chapter 1: Reminiscing
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
'Argh...'
The ring of doom finally goes off. Its timing is always terrible on mornings like this. Mornings where everyone is either peacefully sleeping or fully rested, which one, she's never included in either category and two, was pretty much every morning. 'Darn that stupid alarm clock.' It was 5:30 A.M. and the sun was already creeping out of the ground, making streaks of sunlight peek through the cracks of the blinds. A strip of sunlight was already flashing in her eyes, making her despise the crack of dawn all the more. With enough self-pep talking, she managed to sit up and…
Well when it's this early, you have to take it one step at a time.
It's not like she's always in a sloppy mood like this. Usually, the bun-haired kunoichi would already be up in the bathroom brushing her teeth giving herself her daily confident speech in the mirror. But, today was different. She wasn't getting up to start a full day of training with her hot blooded teammate, or at least that wasn't the main task of today. Today was different.
Things were different…
With all the strength in her body, Tenten succeeded in picking herself up off the bed and dragging herself to the bathroom. Although she was feeling exceedingly sluggish, she wouldn't dare be late, specifically for a day like this, it just wasn't in her team Gai nature.
The jonin's restroom was certainly nothing to complain about, its size was larger than some people's bedrooms. It made people envious, bearing in mind that she was an orphan, and was still allowed to stay in her parents' outsized home. Forcing her to live in an orphanage would not have settled well with her, anyway. Plus, living alone helped her to accept her parents' fate. Tenten was tired of hearing all the apologies for their passing, as if they killed them. It made her five stages of grief stretch out longer.
"We focus on today, never worrying about tomorrow. Live each day with determination, not with sorrow." Tenten's day-to-day words of encouragement, that her father taught her, got her through each day. It was the perfect words to keep her moving, being a ninja and all, and it was needed particularly for a day like today. The rest of her a.m. routine was hurried, recognizing that she was running a little behind, she brushed her teeth, took a shower, and got dressed. While the female ninja knew she wasn't planning to train, she wore her usual outfit, because you never know what training exercise Gai sensei will pull out of that green jumpsuit of his.
Even with Tenten's sleep schedule out of whack, she still had the appetite to eat. 'At least that part of me is still normal.' She thought as she whipped up the last couple eggs she had in her fridge and began cracking them on her skillet. She would need to go grocery shopping soon if her appetite kept up like this. Her spending money wasn't as much as it used to be. Now that she's over eighteen, she doesn't receive any extra money from the orphanage to supply her with any food or pay the house bills. It wasn't necessary, her pay from completing missions was enough for her to pay and purchase whatsoever she needed. As a result, she tends to have a lot of money saved for whatever the future holds for her. 'Maybe I'll start my own business one day. Like a weapons' shop.'
'Crap.'
Tenten bolted to the stove and fanned away the black smoke coming from her now burnt eggs. Lately, her deep thoughts have been sidetracking her from the main task at hand. Causing her to almost hit Lee with her shuriken, miss the dumplings restaurant before they close, and now ruin her breakfast. Great. The brunette picked up the skillet containing her overcooked eggs, threw them away, and tossed the skillet into the sink. She walked over to her small dining room table and picked up an orange out of the bowl in the middle of the table. As she peeled the skin off of the fruit, she sat at the table planning out her day. Which was pretty much hanging out with her teammates- or teammate. Since it was Neji's birthday, team Gai decided to visit him with flowers at the Hyuga cemetery. They would probably go out to eat, conversate, or just train- yeah, just train the rest of the day. But it just wasn't the same. There was barely anything to train for with Konoha being so peaceful. Lee no longer had a rival to compete with or a sensei to spar with. The most Gai sensei could do in that wheelchair is give encouraging words of youth and his usual thumbs up pose. They try not to let it get in the way of their training, always thinking of Neji smiling down on them, watching over them.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Tenten jumped out of her seat at the loud knock at the door. Usually when Lee knocked that loud it was because they were running late, in which case they weren't, he was astonishingly early. She sprinted to the door and opened it, apprehension filling her face as she chewed on an orange slice.
"What's up, Lee? Something wrong?"
"Hello Tenten. And no, why would there be anything wrong?"
"Well, you knocked so loud…and I just…"
"I knocked several times, but there was no answer. I just thought you could not hear me. I am sorry if I worried you, Tenten."
"Oh…It's fine, Lee." 'Darn it. Distracted again.'
"Are you ready to go, Tenten? A beautiful day lies ahead of us!"
"Um, sure! Just give me a sec, 'kay?" Lee nodded and turned around to take in the world and all its beauty. Tenten ran back to the table and threw all her orange peels away. Her bag was next to the fridge, filled with small scrolls that she was experimenting with. If everything worked out right, she may soon be able to wear scrolls on her wrist as a cute bracelet, instead of having giant scrolls on her back. Why not be fashionable and prepared to kick some ass? She slung the bag over her shoulder and ran out the door to meet Lee.
"Okay. I'm ready."
"How has your morning been so far, Tenten?" No matter how bad your morning was, Lee's cheerful tone of voice was enough to get Tenten out of the gutters. That is, unless she had an awful hangover and Lee's voice just made her want to kick the breath out of his lungs so he couldn't speak anymore. Luckily, that didn't happen often. Drinking sake only makes Tenten think of the bad things, making her see the cup half empty, which was terrible for her self-esteem.
"It was good, Lee. How was yours?" 'That was a lie.'
"It was terrific! It is always great to start the morning with a little training." Of course. Maybe that's how he gets his burst of energy in the morning. I guess ten thousand pushups can do that to a hot blooded person like Lee. It didn't bother her though. His never-give-up spirit always pushed Tenten to do her best, making her stronger physically and emotionally through all these years. Of course she's helped him too, dragging him home or to a hospital when he overdid the training, which was rather often. Nevertheless, they helped each other the most when their teammate passed. They supported each other, comforted each other when a training session turned into a crying session, and that brought them closer. They felt their bond was closer than any of the other ninjas of their generation.
They headed to the Yamanaka Flower Shop (because Ino gives them a discount) before they met up with Gai sensei. Their flower shop is very refreshing, having the atmosphere of a rainforest, but much smaller. Of course that's only in back where the flowers are grown, the front desk looked like your typical drug store. The two strolled into the shop, ringing the bell on the door.
"Welcome to Yamanaka Flower- hey, you guys!" Ino waved at the two with her usual wholehearted smile. The blond kunoichi was a great person to talk to when you had something on your mind, listening to every word you say and even give some advice if you needed it. However, she wasn't the best person to talk to if you wanted to keep a secret, which was why when the two kunoichi hang out, Ino does most of the talking. She didn't mind though, for Tenten was also curious about the gossip of the village at times.
"I have your Blue Irises right here, guys. And we added in a couple Gladiolus flowers, a gift from me and my family." Rock Lee grabbed the pink and blue flowers, "Thank you so much, Ino." They took the flowers and with another ring from the door, they were gone.
Gai sensei said he would meet them at the building near the Hyuga cemetery. With him being in a wheelchair, Tenten expected his youthful spirit to go down a bit, not being able to train with Lee or do strength contests with Kakashi. However, when they visited him, he didn't slow down one bit. Which was a relief to his students, knowing it wouldn't be the same without their sensei's loud, inspiring voice, or his unique thumbs up pose if he let his handicap get the best of him.
The teammates walked towards the Hyuga compound, with blue and pink flowers, for their fallen friend. If there was one thing Tenten admired about the Hyuga compound, it was definitely, the structure of it. The entrance was perfectly decorated with flowers, complemented by a tiny waterfall, with the words "Hyuga Clan" carved into a sign above it. Every building, every house, even just plain grassy areas were kept clean and trim, which was understandable, considering the Hyugas' high standards and neatness. It was as if it were all brand new, and it amazed the brunette each time she visit.
Upon entering the clan's compound, the duo smiled and waved at some Hyugas that greeted them. When they first visited there, they expected everyone to be cold hearted, like Neji acted at times. However, they were proven wrong when they were greeted with kind smiles and formal handshakes.
They strolled to the building closest to the cemetery, the sanctuary, where wedding ceremonies and funerals are often held. It was a big building that had stained glass windows, reflecting different colors inside when the sun shined on it. Another place that proved Tenten's love for the beauty of the Hyuga compound.
The kunoichi looked over at her teammate, seeing how he was doing now that they were pretty close to the cemetery. Lee had completely broke down when Neji died, not like the usual waterfall of tears when he learns something new from Gai sensei. Tenten reacted the opposite at the moment, watching Lee hold their lifeless teammate in his arms. She felt it wasn't real. That surely this is all a joke, or a bad dream, that soon the jonin would wake up to a tough day of training with her whole team. When Tenten finally processed that her teammate was gone, she had a mental breakdown. Team Gai's female student always felt she was the glue of the team, the one to balance the excitement and seriousness in her teammates, but during that time, she couldn't even hold herself together.
"Uh, Tenten? Are you okay?" Lee questioned, wondering why Tenten had been staring at him for several seconds without saying a word. He waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her deep thought.
"Huh? Oh! Something wrong, Lee? Feeling alright?" Tenten asked becoming concerned upon seeing the worry on Lee's face.
"I should be asking you the same question. You seem very distracted lately, Tenten." He replied with a smile that was contagious.
She apologized with a slight grin, which was enough to for Lee to shake off her weird behavior, or just to worry more about it later.
They reached the sanctuary and seen Gai and Hiashi standing outside, talking and smiling from yards away. Hiashi ended his conversation and walked away with a pleasant look on his face. Their sensei turned to them and waved with a giant grin on his face.
"LEE! TENTEN! COME MY STUDENTS!" he yelled to them with that energetic voice of his that instantly makes Lee energetic as well, causing him to run to his sensei.
"GAI SENSEI! HOW HAS YOUR MORNING BEEN SO FAR?"
"AS YOUTHFUL AS EVER, LEE! HOW IS YOUR MORNING? "
"MINE WAS JUST AS YOUTHFUL! ARE YOU-"
Tenten firmly nudged Lee's side, "Will you two stop yelling! You're like two feet away from each other! And people are starting to stare…" Lee looked to see that he was now standing next to his sensei, so yelling was no longer necessary. He shot Tenten a remorseful grin, leading her to smirk and roll her eyes.
"How are you, Tenten?" Gai now giving her a greeting smile, rather than the shiny smile that hurt her eyes. "I'm great, sensei." She greeted back warmly, her tone of voice letting him know that she really was doing fine.
"Alright, then. Let's go."
They headed towards the cemetery peacefully, knowing that there was nothing to say that was as imperative as this moment. They made their way through all the tombstones before they got to the one they were looking for, Neji's. There were already some flowers around it, from other visitors who came to pay their respects.
The trio surrounded the tombstone in silence, waiting for one of them to break it.
"Hello, Neji," Lee quietly greeted, "Happy birthday…" Lee set the flowers down near the tombstone and stood back next to Gai.
"We really miss you, Neji. You and your bravery will never be forgotten." Their sensei spoke out, with a hint of sadness in his voice. Tenten heard a sniff come from Lee, realizing that not only he was crying, but so was she, feeling the salty liquid roll down her cheeks.
It was Tenten's turn to speak, and she was angered at herself that she felt speechless, not knowing what to say.
"I… we r-really, um…" Tenten stuttered with her words. She needed to clear her head. With a deep breath, her eyes closed, she let out what was on her mind.
"You were more than a teammate to us Neji, you were family. And it hurts because our team has grown to become the only family I have now. And I know you wouldn't want us to grieve everyday over your absence, but to grow stronger and fight on. And we will. Happy birthday, Neji." The kunoichi felt as if that's something she should have saved another time, when she visited by herself. That thought immediately vanished when Lee wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in for a side hug, with his other hand resting on his sensei's shoulder. Tenten realized she never told her team how much she cared about them, assuming it just went without saying, and it did. She rested her head on Lee's chest, deepening the embrace, before life would go on again.
Well, that's the first chapter.
I've already started on the second chapter, but with school and such, I am a little busy. But it should not be too long before the next chapter is out!
PLEASE REVIEW!