ガイダンス
"Guidance"
Chapter 1 (Breaking Point)
Disappointment, that was only one of the various things Tenten was feeling right now. though alongside her disappointment, confusion was also very prominent as she scanned the emptiness of her team's usual training grounds.
She decided not to allow herself to jump to conclusions too quickly and re-scanned the area before looking around for any signs of her teammates and or Sensei being there, or perhaps, having been there prior to her arrival.
The brunette Kunoichi felt slight relief as she noticed the fairly new chips on the posts and targets scattered across the clearing, and of course some recent holes in the ground from an obvious recoil off of the ground.
But the real question here was why they weren't still here training, to leave so early is breaking the routine, something Gai Sensei would never encourage unless they went on a Mission or had something to attend elsewhere.
Even if either scenario had been the case she would have been informed beforehand, and it was uncommon for the team to leave without a member... It just didn't add up, if they weren't here training where could they be? and without her?
Tenten grit her teeth once again skimming her eyes around the area, something was wrong and if her gut told her anything, she wasn't going to like the outcome of whatever was going on.
She closed her eyes straining to find a reason why they'd be absent, and on such an important day as well... was this just some practical joke? cause it isn't funny. and besides, if it were, her team would have already acted upon whatever prank they'd conjured since it has already been long enough since she first arrived.
The tense weapons' master shook her head in an attempt to clear it, and decided to train in order to keep her mind busy, and off of the sudden disappearance of her comrades.
She drew four kunai in her right hand, each one placed in the spaces between her trained fingers. She launched herself into the air drawing her arm back and then forward as she sent all four Kunai towards a target propped in one tree, each one landing directly on the small red dot in the middle, each one almost symmetrical to the rest.
As she remained airborne she drew fourth eight more kunai and spun herself in the air moving her arms at the necessary speed to propel the kunai in all the target directions.
She kept at it for about an hour, her worried mind throwing off her focus slightly, but becoming less and less of an obstacle the further she trained.
Tenten halted her movements when she caught the sound of footsteps and loud chatter, she spun on her heel in the direction of her comrades' voices in time to see Neji, Lee, and her Sensei approach from the trees, she immediately made her way over to the trio in a hurried scuffle.
"There you guys are! I've been waiting for you guys for over an hour to show up!" The three stopped in front of the slightly shaken kunoichi and each paled slightly.
"Where have you been?! I've been worried sick." Tenten huffed placing both hands on her hips as she stared the three down, Neji, being the first to speak stepped forward towards his female team member.
"Calm down, Tenten," and then added, "We had only gone for special training."
Tenten raised a brow cocking her head to the side.
"Special...Training?" Neji looked at her as if slightly annoyed nodding in confirmation.
"Ah, yes indeed! Just as Neji said, we went out for some Special Training! We are very sorry to worry you, Tenten!" Lee said enthusiastically not noticing her conflicted expression, as he pumped his fist into the air.
"With... Without me? ..." Tenten tried not to let the hurt in her voice follow through, but it did nonetheless, and it did not go unnoticed my Neji, of course, him having the ability to see through people, but he said nothing.
Lee, on the other hand, did not realize this fact and continued to ramble about how "Youthful" their training that morning had been, Tenten's expression darkening by the second.
"Oh! well yes, we uh, thought it'd be more beneficial if you hadn't come with us today! you know, since me and Neji wanted some one-on-one sparring with Gai-Sensei and each other."
Neji remained indifferent to the situation and Gai stayed wisely silent, as Lee explained the reasoning behind their absence.
"And of course we wanted to train with each other separately since Neji and I are on a more even level-"
Tenten clenched her fists at her sides, a shadow over her eyes and her gaze downcast. So that's it...She wasn't strong enough. shocker.
"And you didn't think to let me know? or even let me come...?" Lee paused confusedly before catching a glimpse of her downcast expression, and immediately realized his mistake.
She knew she'd always been one step behind her teammate's often times having a hard time keeping up with their rapid growth... But she never thought that they didn't... didn't need her.
"Or am I just in the way of you and Neji nowadays...?" Tenten spoke through clenched teeth her anger seeming to radiate off of her in hot steam, her hands started to shake, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms and knuckles starting to turn white.
Both male Team members and their Sensei stared at her now the tension thick in the air as their shaken teammate lept her eyes locked on the ground.
Lee deflated, his brows creasing in a look of concern for his hurt comrade, Instant guilt flooding through his reason. He immediately opened his mouth to speak a thousand apologies, and possibly a worthy excuse for that matter.
"Oh, Tenten we didn't mean-" Tenten cut him off instantly, finally lifting her face to stare into his eyes pinning him in place with her gaze.
"Didn't mean what, Lee?!" Her voice pierced through the air in a shaky anger-fueled shout leaving Lee frozen, she raised her fist in front of her face in emphasis as she spoke again.
"Didn't mean to push me aside!? didn't mean to look down on me because I can't use healing Jutsu or help my team like Sakura!? or Hinata?! "
Tenten thought of all the times she felt useless to her team, unable to help because of her limited physical ability... because of her gender, or even just because she was too weak.
They all stared in shock as she let loose the pent-up frustration she'd been holding in all the years that she's advanced from a mere Genin to now, not wanting to accept the fact that she'd never compare to the Ninja she trained alongside with every day since day one.
"Didn't mean to look down on me because I'm not strong enough to keep up with you? or didn't mean to make me feel like dead weight?!"
Tenten shouted in a blind fury, not even realizing the hot tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and starting to blur her vision.
She dropped her head down to ground again her fist lowering as her body trembling from the intensity of her outburst, she was breathing heavily the tears finally breaking free and sliding down to her chin and dripping onto the dirt at her feet.
"... Or was it always like that...? and I just didn't notice it until I was beaten by Temari...?"
Tenten raised her arm to her face too quickly wipe her now streaming tears, though only making room for more to fall uncontrollably. She sighed defeatedly, a small choked sob rising from her throat.
Lee recovered and outstretched a hand to his friend wanting to comfort her, but she only stepped out of his reach.
A forced half-hearted laugh came from the Brunette, and she took another step backward, and then two more, before turning on her heel, and high-tailing out of there as fast as her legs would allow.
"Tenten, Please wait!" Gai put a hand on Lee's shoulder before he could run after her, shaking his head.
"Leave her be, Lee. She needs some time to... cool off." Lee looked at his Sensei and then to Neji, who nodded in silent agreement, although a slight tinge of guilt in those normally cold pale eyes.
Lee looked back to Tenten's fleeing form, nothing upsetting him more than the fact that she was running away from them, running away from him. He just couldn't take it, no way. no way he'd allow himself to look Tenten in the eyes without apologizing to her first.
"NO! I must go after her Sensei! she is upset, and it is all my doing!" Lee broke from Gai's grasp and made a run for it, but was easily caught once again by his idolized Sensei.
"No, Lee... I understand you feel bad, but it wasn't just your fault either. it would be wise to just give Tenten some space, she's a tough girl you know that she may not want your comfort right now."
Lee looked down, ashamed, and Gai, feeling as if he'd finally gotten through to him released him, giving the boy a look of pity, knowing how much he must be beating himself up about it.
But Lee was still determined to help, even if it was going against his Sensei's greater judgment.
"I won't! I am sorry Gai-Sensei! But I cannot stand to the side!"
"Please, Come back!" He took off running after Tenten, knowing he'd be able to catch up soon. but hoped he'd catch her before she got home.
Gai shook his head looking away from Lee's fleeting form and to Neji, who only looked down, in that moment wishing he would one day be as bold as Lee.
. . .
Tenten slammed her front door closed and threw her back to the door, before sliding down onto the floor, resting her back against the hard wood, and pulling her knees to her chest.
She forced herself to stop crying, not letting any more of her weakness show. Weak ... that's exactly how she'd just acted, in front of her entire team.
What she didn't expect was the sudden rapid knocking at her front door and the desperate voice of Lee on the other side.
"Tenten...! please! open the door!" Tenten flinched looking down at her knees, she really didn't want to face her friend right now.
"G-Go away, Lee...!" There was a brief pause before she heard a thump against the door, and almost got up and left, but her body refused to move from her spot.
"I-... I am sorry! I did not mean t-to make you feel that way, Tenten..." She heard an aspirated sigh from her comrade on the other side, and the unsteady tone of his voice caught her attention.
She bit her lip in concentration, trying to keep herself from giving in, her tears started to bubble up once again. In her efforts, she let out a trembling breath in an attempt to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Tenten...?" She let her head fall back to rest against the door, not caring if it only told him she was there.
Tenten gathered up whatever confidence she had left, and stood up from her spot on the floor, turning to face the door, though having no intentions to open it.
"Lee... I just, want to be alone right now." That wasn't entirely untrue, but she'd be lying if she didn't want someone to let everything out with, she just didn't think she'd be able to face Lee or Neji without getting angry or breaking down...
"I...I understand I will wait until you are ready to talk to me, I promise you!" He clenched his fist in front of his face as if determined to make things right.
"... Thank you ..." It was quiet and Lee almost didn't pick it up, but when he did he almost stopped after making it two feet from her door, before making his way out of the apartment complex.
. . .
Tenten lost track of how long she sat there just lost in thought before she finally decided to get up and leave her house, she walked past the training grounds and made her way to the only place she knew she could be alone.
After a short walk through brush and dense grass, she arrived at a rusty chain-link fence and quickly jumped over it kicking the discarded "No Trespassing" and "High Voltage" signs on the gravel at her feet.
She set her stuff down under the metal electric tower and moved to a spot where five wooden posts stood in front of her, and two more behind her. there were already targets put up around the cite, the posts already held embedded kunai, shuriken, and chips of all sizes.
This is where she came to train when she needed an outlet outside of her Team's normal training hours, it was the same spot she came to when she was taken sown by Temari, and thrown out of the Chunin exams.
And this was the very spot her life would change, but this time for the better...
Green orbs watched her every move, closely, cautiously. before the owner decided to move to a more convenient spot, keeping a close eye on the occupied kunoichi the figure moved from their hiding spot, to a closer but still a well-hidden spot.
The figure crouched down low as quiet as possible, but, unfortunately not quiet enough, as a kunai zipped past his face grazing the skin there before embedding itself into the tree behind him.
Not even a half-a-second later the brush hiding him was pushed aside and the angry brunette kunoichi stared him down, another kunai drawn and pointed directly at his throat.
The green orbs widened before flickering up and meeting piercing caramel-colored eyes of the weapons' mistress above him.
Tenten stared into the eyes of her assumed pursuer, the cold irritation never wavering from her brown eyes.
"State your purpose for spying on me, and who sent you!"
The boy in front of her flinched only slightly but didn't look away or retract, he thought out his next words carefully as to not anger the kunoichi with a blade to his throat.
"I wasn't spying...and I was sent by no one." Tenten's expression only hardened but was laced with confusion as well, the boy cleared his throat and quickly added-
"I was merely admiring your physical abilities, and didn't know how to... approach you, so I watched from afar." Tenten removed the kunai from his neck and took a step back, calmer but still cautious.
"I meant no harm." The kunoichi nodded and watched the stranger stand up at their full height, noting the height difference as she tilted her head up slightly to maintain eye contact.
Upon doing so she noticed the peculiar growths protruding from the man's head, resembling what seemed to be horns of some sort. an intricate emblem on both, and a light layer of gauze tied around the base of each horn.
"I am, Hakkumaru. I'm interested to know who you are if you'll-"
"I'm Tenten, there's no need for a formal introduction or anything." Hakkumaru nodded though noticing the troubled look in the kunoichi's brown eyes.
Tenten pocketed her kunai and turned to walk towards the tower, Hakkumaru following soon after. She sat down under the tower next to her things and looked up expectantly at Hakkumaru who eventually sat down across from her.
His eyebrows raised when he was offered a Rice ball, not at all expecting such actions from a stranger he'd just knowingly 'stalked'. He took it nonetheless, contently eating along with Tenten, though it became increasingly difficult to ignore the negative vibes coming from his new mutual.
"You seem troubled, I am eager to help if that is acceptable, or to just listen." Tenten was silent for a moment considering declining but took the opportunity to talk, even if he was a stranger he seemed nice enough.
"Yeah, you're right. It's just... I got in a fight with my team earlier-well I yelled at them and- I..." She trailed off struggling to explain the situation legibly, Hakku seemed to understand and waited for her to continue.
"I just feel like they've always seen me as dead weight... or it just seems like I can't keep with them."
Hakkumaru listened as she told him everything that had happened earlier today, and how she's been feeling over the years. It was so strange for Tenten to open up so easily, and to someone, she just met... But she couldn't help it, he was being so nice to her and didn't seem to mind her rambling.
. . .
"I see you have some issues expressing yourself to your friends and have you ever mentioned this to Lee or Neji?"
Tenten shook her head. She'd always been the one to push through the pain, and allow her teammates to lean on her for comfort, not the other way around.
"Have you tried talking to your Sensei about it?" Hakku was careful not to prod in the wrong places, having noted what can push her buttons as their conversation went on, he'd always been the observant type.
"No, it's easier said than done. If you ever met Gai-Sensei you'd understand why." It was true, her Sensei could be incredibly dense sometimes, although he was wiser than Lee he still shared the slightly clueless quality.
Hakkumaru nodded and looked up at the dimming sky, following his gaze Tenten too noticed how late it had gotten, it wasn't that this spot wasn't necessarily unsafe even at night, but she was going to need a good sleep if she was going to face her Team tomorrow...
The both of them stood and Tenten gathered her things, and then they walked to the chain-link fence, Tenten turned and pursed her lips.
"Thank you, for...everything today." Hakku nodded a with a soft smile and closed eyes.
"It was my pleasure to be of help, I hope we can meet up again soon." Tenten smiled half-heartedly and nodded.
"Yeah, I hope so too." The kunoichi jumped over the fence effortlessly, turning back to face Hakkumaru through the fence.
"You'll know where to find me" Was all Hakkumaru said as he stepped back and waited for her to turn and begin walking home, and when he couldn't see her anymore he too turned on his heel to leave.
. . .
Tenten closed the door to her apartment much gentler than she had hours before, she didn't bother to flick on the light.
The first thing she did was head to the bathroom to shower, she started the water and let it warm up as she stripped down to her socks- well that is if she had worn any.
Once she stepped under the hot water she felt peace, she closed her eyes and let the water rinse away her worries.
Some Birthday this has been huh?
. . . -:End of Chapter 1 :- . . .
A/N: alright now I should probably mention that this story is LeeTen centered. I apologize for the angsty beginning, it was necessary though.
I'm planning on making this story pretty damn long, we'll see what happens.
Ahem, also for a bit of a warning, this fic is rated M for a very good reason.