Summary: It's been years since she acknowledged her feelings for him.All she does is think about it, but disaster strikes and what remains is a broken heart.The only distraction, a mission. A mission that could spell her end. Three years later, she's still alive, only to meet the friends she left again.

thoughts

inner thoughts

The Love That Was Always Here, But Never There

Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Plot bunnies just keep on attacking me, though they tend to die down after the initial encounter.

The wind rushed past her as she jumped from tree to tree. Her eyes were burning brightly, while inside, she was struggling to control the myriad of emotions. She didn't know why she was doing this, if she was being honest with herself. Her mind said it was to get her mind off of him, but her heart was questioning if it really required circumstances this drastic. If she went through with this, she could end up doing much more then intended. Do you know what you are getting yourself into? What the consequences could be?

She shook off the voice in her head that had been nagging at her ever since she had been pushed to do this. I would have destroyed myself by adding another layer to my mask. Tenten could do nothing but let that thought run through her head as she continued her journey. The voice in her head fell silent after that as well, but the weight of the words that had been uttered still remained. Tenten ducked her head down for no reason plausible and could only allow her feet to take her to her destination.

There is a time when too much of something will destroy the entire thing. I could not have allowed that to happen. I would have destroyed myself if I stayed.

She had left Konoha around midday and hadn't stopped to rest once. Now, night was settling in, but Tenten paid no attention to it. She could only make one foot step in front of the other as she traveled out of the Land of Fire. I did the right thing. Then, she felt something on her face and stopped out of surprise.

Rain? The sky showed no sign of rain. Tenten looked up at the rapidly darkening sky and frowned; there was no rain yet she had felt something touch her face and drop onto her hand. She came down from the shadowed treetops and looked around warily. Nothing seemed out of place, so what? Tenten continued her survey of the area, and when she found nothing she was forced to give into the time and settle down for the night.

She located a small stream nearby that seemed to be filled with clear water. As her face appeared in the water, her eyes widened with realization. Tenten slowly brought her hand up to her face and brushed it, ever so slowly creeping up to her eyes. The split second confirmation brought what had happened only a few hours ago into her mind –had it really been only a few hours- despite how much she didn't want to remember.

Nothing would push it away.

Did she really have to go through it again? It had been bad enough battling her own emotions and finding out the first time –while balancing now regular Jounin assignments (she had dragged Neji down to one of the more popular bars that night when Gai threw a celebratory party for her promotion, the last one of their team she had noted later but paid little attention to, and poor Lee couldn't do much except stare wide-eyed at how strange the bright, colorful neon lights were and occasionally sip from his glass of water. The other three had been very careful to keep an eye on what their teammate took in, not wanting a repeat of that disaster from several years ago)- but to discover it at the very last moment had not helped at all.

Her normally stable façade had been in critical tension after that. It had taken a while to recover from the shaking truth, and even then, Tenten couldn't be sure of what her condition was.

It was all she could do to keep from falling apart.

Little ripples spiraled on the water in front of her, knocking into each other but doing it in such a subtle manner the source of the disturbances could barely be noted. Surprisingly unguarded orbs stared into the water in disbelief.

It just couldn't be…but it was.

Tenten stood up and stared down at her reflection in the water one last time. The very faint trace of tears was gone, with no sign that they had ever existed. She picked her pack up and began to run through the forest again. I've never cried before. Never.

It's because of him. You are in love with him.

I know. The rain began to drizzle down as she jumped from branch to branch, slowly drenching her.

I've known for years.

Tenten was a strong girl; no one could deny that. She wasn't particularly bold in looks, skill, or knowledge, but she was just strong. She had brown hair that could seem darker or lighter than a sculpture of ebony, depending on how light would hit it, and a pair of wide orbs the exact same color. She was known to many as a more than average kunoichi, but not quite to the level of prodigies, and most of all, Neji's teammate. The only female that he interacted with that was outside of his family.

They saw her as an optimistic person, one who would always try to avoid being melancholy, the light when those surrounding her would become darkness. The Naruto of her team, some might say, though without the brash loudness, spiky blond hair, and shockingly bright cerulean blue eyes -that could possibly match the glare given by her other two teammates' teeth if given the chance-, but Tenten had soft brown eyes and hair styled up in a simple style of buns sitting on opposite sides of her head –prepared in less than ten minutes, no less-, also knowing when and how to talk to those who needed it.

Konoha hadn't know much of her until her team had first taken the Chuunin exams, and Neji along with the (currently holding a missing-nin status) Uchiha survivor (prodigy?) had brought flocks of spectators to Konoha for the disastrous event. Even then, her name had not held much weight when it was rarely spoken, but it was after that Team Gai began to become known.

Hyuuga Neji had always been a prodigy, since the beginning of his shinobi career, and he did nothing to deter that reputation as the years went on –save for when he lost devastatingly to Uzumaki Naruto in the finals- he furthered it. They were know as one of the best teams, especially adept in silent and quick assassinations, Tenten's one hundred percent accuracy and Neji's Byakugan being main factors of that, along with the fact that Lee and Gai could prove to be a very good distraction.

So her name became known as a weapons mistress, one who would never miss her target,and teammate of the Hyuuga prodigy and the greatest taijutsu specialists in generations. Even as an average one, she was known.

And so the world was shocked when it heard the truth.

There you go. Chapter one, edited version. I like this one much better. If it still stinks, please tell me so I can hit myself with a water bottle or something else.

If you've already reviewed for this chapter when it was utterly horrible (which I thank you for) and are reading this again but cannot post any comments, please PM me. I would like to know how this one is.

-Quiet Moon