AN: Hello! It's so nice to get reviews, even only the two I have so far. I'm really grateful that you guys read my stories. This one is more of a drabble, and it's a little bit of a reflection of Tenten's past, something I know a lot of people wonder about. Sorry you've had to wait so long for an update!
NUMBER 1: beginnings
She's not like the rest of them. Her past, unlike theirs, is unimportant. She's not Neji, who remembers the joy and love of having a father and the depression and anger of having his father taken from him. She's not Naruto, who remembers hate and anger and loathing, all directed at him, a boy who did nothing to deserve the treatment. She's not Sasuke, who remembers a massacre and blood. She's not Sakura, who remembers sobbing in the town square and praying that the bullies may stay away for once.
It's not that Tenten doesn't have a past. It's just that hers never mattered much. Whatever has happened to her, she has treated it as a matter unimportant to her. She does not dwell in the past, nor does she run from it, but she accepts it. Just as soon, though, she releases it, letting it float further and further behind her.
And maybe that helps her, after all. Sure, she's not pushed on by her past, a sad thing which compels her to climb even higher. There's nothing to whisper in her ear "this is what you should have been. You're going to need to work harder if you want to beat it." There's nothing to scream at her to get stronger because she's going to have revenge some day.
Yet there are upsides to her past or the lack thereof. She can step back and view disaster with a calm eye, and she hits her mark all the time, every time, because her vision is never clouded by anger or the old, dead memories that haunt others. Never will she claim that her past took away her ability to love, nor will she ever say that any of her actions were caused by anything other than her own will.
The greatest advantage is not one most people see at first, though. However, the closer you look, the more you can realize it. After all, one's past can anchor them to the ground, to this earth. Tenten doesn't have this anchor, has freed herself from it long ago.
And she can fly higher than anyone else.
