Tenten knew she was acting like an idiot when she made her choice. At first, she reasoned, that kunoichi weren't supposed to be dependent on others. But, another side of her opened while she was left to wallow in the shattered mirror of her own corruption.
Kunoichi were known to be alongside the male ninja, charging into the heat of the battle or secretly landing attacks from far away. In Tenten's case, she was the second. She wanted to impress the man, the prodigious Hyuuga known as Neji. She wanted to please him, by making herself stronger and stronger until he could finally look at her in another light. But, even as she thought that, he could only look up to her, never seeing her as the woman that she wanted him to see her as. And, even now, as Neji gazed at Sakura with admiration, longing, she couldn't help but listen to the click the shut off her innocent mind.
And so, she stopped caring.
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After the mission, her itsy-bitsy ring of hope diminished when she was told face-to-face by both Neji and Sakura (she remembered the way her inner mind turned gears to process this sordid information) that, in fact, they had developed a special relationship.
When others asked her if she was okay, she had said she was calmly, managing to pull it off, even when she was told to look at each and every one of them straight in the eye. Tenten had her own strength, and she was going to exploit it.
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Presently.
"Yes, expect it to be done in a few days. I'll contact you if I need back-up. I know, it's just a raid, right?" Tenten spoke firmly into the black bordered cellphone, nodding and making occasional look-outs for anyone. Even as she was no longer a ninja, she was still adept in her job of fighting and strengthening her senses. The receiver beeped, and she placed the phone into the spacious pocket of her jeans, making sure to end the call in case. She dialed the company on another phone, making a call-up on the mission she finished just the day before.
"Operator, How may I help you?" A professional, raspy voice, unmistakably a woman's, answered routinely.
"Are there any new ventures?" Tenten asked, picking at her nails while waiting for a response.
"Yes. Konoha is looking for some mercenaries to help in their missions. Their running low on people. I'll call to notify them you'll be coming over." Tenten ended the call when the beep echoed. Smirking, she looked up towards the fluorescent lights the flickered often, tracing the cracks in the walls with her eyes.
"Konoha, huh. It's been a while since I've been there." She pulled the mercenary's uniform shirt and pants over her tank-top and jeans, rolling up both pant-legs while she fixed her sneakers. Tenten hefted the large sword on her back, tugging at the elastic that held the dark cloth in place, while she made sure that her gun was locked. Several weapons of war were hidden in the sleeves, and her eyes shone with a wicked spark, her mouth shaped into a Chesire-cat grin.
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