Hi guys, I'm back! Sorry it took me awhile. I changed my name to Jokerdee in case any of you were confused (but I doubt it). Anyway, now to the real reason why you're here! Hope you enjoy it.
I do not own Naruto.
Through it All
Chapter 3: Favors
Tenten rose from her bed quickly with a gasp. Her face was glistening with sweat and her breath was fast and heavy. It must have been another bad dream, concluded from her current physical state. The pounding in her head from her sudden movements were attempting to be soothed by her hands.
Crashing of metal against the ground rang in her ears, alarming her ninja instincts. She hopped out of her bed, gripping a kunai in her hands from off of her dresser, a precaution she always felt was necessary, before sneaking downstairs. As she tiptoed with her back compressed against the wall, her head tilted around the corner, peeking for the intruder. Her line of vision caught sight of a pair of feet that initiated her to plan her attack. With the advantage of quick thinking, the jonin made her move seconds after, coming from behind the unknown person. Swiftly, she pressed the kunai to the intruder's throat, leaning her head towards their ear.
"Who do you think you are-" Tenten bit her tongue, examining who she thought was a burglar. The color of the man's clothing seemed rather familiar, not to mention his jet black hair fixed in a bowl cut.
Wait.
No, this wasn't an intruder, it was just an idiot who somehow mysteriously got into her house.
"Lee?"
The brunette spun her head to her living room, finding a folded blanket and pillow set on top of her sofa. Finally, it clicked in her head, 'That's right. He spent the night.' The jonin had overlooked the fact that her teammate ended up on her couch last night. Bandaging him up couldn't stop his discomfort, so pain killers were the way to go. Unfortunately, they make you drowsy almost immediately, causing a passed out Lee not even ten minutes later.
Lee was holding both his hands up, showing his innocence. Tenten removed the kunai from his neck, relaxing her posture, leaning an elbow on her counter with a sigh. Upon attempting to calm herself, she jumped, examining her lower arm. She felt something wet, and partially sticky, covering her elbow that immediately made her shudder with disgust. Her next action was to question Lee, although a part of her felt that she wouldn't even want to know the answer. With her mouth open to begin talking, not a noise came out, her heart nearly stopping out of astonishment.
"Lee, my kitchen! What did you- How did you... I thought you would've went home by now." The brunette held her chest in shock, never seeing her kitchen in such chaos. Pots and pans were scattered across the floor, which made sense, explaining the ruckus she heard from her bedroom. Not only that, but food was splattered all over the place, from her oven to her fridge. She was confident that had it not been for her teammate's clumsiness, whatever Lee was doing would have turned out better. His ungainly manner almost always seemed to kick in at the wrong times, deteriorating bad moods or situations, and it seemed that her kitchen was the latest victim of it.
"I did go home. After I got dressed, I decided to come back and make you breakfast, to thank you for letting me stay in your home last night. " He noticed Tenten wide-eyed at the condition of her kitchen, the look of shock on her face was as if she had just seen a ghost. "Oh yeah, it did get a little messy in the process." He chuckled slightly at his last comment, rubbing the back of his neck. Lee realized that Tenten had been doing many favors for him lately, without wanting anything in return. While he was appreciative for her generosity, he found repaying her necessary. After prying through his teammate's fridge for some ingredients, he decided to make one of his favorites for breakfast, as a way to show gratitude for his friend.
"A little? Do you not see…" Just as Tenten felt an angry rant rising from within her, the sight of the meal Lee cooked for her made her rethink her words. She had to admit, it looked delicious, and it smelled even better. It's not as if he intended to destroy her kitchen, in fact, he just wanted to do something nice. How could she blame him for trying?
"Thanks, Lee. The food looks great, really. But next time, you should let me help you, so we can avoid the mess." A huge grin corrupted the green beast's face at Tenten's approval, its contagious nature bringing a smile to her face, as well. How he got away with things like this, she didn't know, no one else could. Perhaps she just had a soft spot for the ninja.
Darn that infectious, benevolent smile.
Tenten walked around Lee, to get access to the steaming meal that was awaiting her, only to be block by him. She tried once again, believing it was just a coincidence of misdirection, with failure. Frustration filled her expression, her many attempts to pass by her teammate becoming troublesome. "Come on, Lee! Cut it out!" With her stomach weak from the absence of food, why was now, of all moments, the time for him to play games?
Lee crossed his arms, shaking his head, "I am sorry, Tenten. But we cannot eat just yet. We are waiting on one more guest!"
"Ugh, are you kidding me? Who?"
"Gai sensei!"
"Sensei? He usually meets us at the training grounds."
"Gai sensei loves my cooking! Plus he-"
A ring at the door interrupted the duo's conversation, also signaling that their other guest had arrived. The brunette glared at Lee, anticipating the moment he left to open the door, her mind firmly set on devouring the food. Unfortunately, the green beast wasn't buying it, shaking his head once more before nodding towards the door. Narrowing her eyes, a brief staring contest went down between the two, letting each other show who's boss, in this situation at least. The spirit of not giving up was placed strongly in these two, becoming seemingly stubborn when it wasn't essential. Luckily, Tenten had a short limit of her battles with Lee, when it was over something ridiculous, that is. With the sound of the doorbell ringing repetitively, the kunoichi growled, before giving in to open the door for her sensei. She guessed she could be patient for a couple more minutes.
"GOOD MORNING! HOW ARE MY STUDENTS?" Tenten jumped back as her sensei zoomed past her to get into her house, wheeling himself straight to the kitchen before screeching to a stop. Shutting the door, it would've seemed as if there was a party going on in her kitchen, hearing all the noise the two guys were creating. The fact that those two could be optimistic about nearly everything, regardless of how bad or small the topic is, never failed to confuse her. But somebody has to look at the bright side of things, if not, then no one else would.
They moved the conversation to the table, which seemed to already be prepared, another thing the green beast took the time to do. Subsequent to assembling themselves at the table, new knowledge came to Tenten about her teammate, as she tasted the food he prepared. To her surprise, it was actually good. It's not as if she expected it to taste terrible, but she also never expected him to have such a great hand in it. She should have known better than to underestimate Lee by now.
Three empty plates were carried back to the kitchen, thrown in the sink and soon forgotten. "That hit the spot," Their sensei patted his stomach, "But I expect no less from a student of mine!" The voiced comment made the kunoichi scoff, glaring at him from the corner of her eye, 'Yeah, as if he gives us cooking lessons…'
She watched the two guys head for the door, pumped for another beautiful day of youth ahead of them. "I'll race you to the training grounds, Lee. You up for the challenge?" He hit the side of his wheelchair, "This baby can hit speeds unimaginable!" What seemed like a little challenge then turned into the biggest race of their lives. Yells of competition filled her house.
"HEY!"
Her voice seemed to echo throughout the whole house, capturing the attention of the two men. They turned their head, attentive to the kunoichi of the team. "How about you race back to the kitchen and clean up that mess?" Looking back at the kitchen, a smirk appeared on both of their faces, rivalry gleaming in their eyes as the two guys faced each other.
"Not literally!" She clarified, holding up both hands in front of them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get dressed. And this kitchen better be spotless when I get back." The brunette walked off with a puff, feeling as though she just finished speaking to two children. Nonetheless, the guys followed Tenten's orders, leaving the kitchen in a better condition than expected. Soon enough, the three left, heading out for another day to train.
…
The sun had reached its peak a couple hours ago, concluding the team's training. Which was a relief to Tenten, considering she intended on relaxing in the comfort of her home for the rest of the day. It felt great to look forward to what would be a peaceful afternoon. It being consumed by watching movies, something that never caught her interest before, and her favorite activity, polishing her precious weapons. She began to pack her belongings, rolling up each and every scroll used.
"TENTEN!"
The lurid voice made the brunette made her jump out of her own skin, surprised that someone broke Gai's record for the loudest scream. Turning her head to the source of the shout brought a smirk to her face. She rolled her eyes, of course, it was the one and only, Ino. So much for those afternoon plans. "Tenten! Hey, Tenten!" Ino called out to her once more, waving from far off. Going on a mission usually leads to a rant upon her return, not only about her complaints, but about all the chatter throughout the village.
Her alacrity pushed her towards Tenten rapidly, coming to a sudden stop at the last moment. In between heavy breaths, she made her greeting to those who were less imperative at the moment, "Hi Lee, Sensei. Tenten! Just the girl I wanted to see." The jonin resumed packing her possessions as if she were paying her no attention, "What is it this time?"
A frown corrupted Ino's face at her friend's response, not taking a liking to her mumbling, sullen tone. "Hey, now why do you seem so bothered? You should be excited! Without me, you would know nothing."
Tenten raised a brow at Ino, "Forgive me, almighty Ino. I am eternally grateful for your shared knowledge." A growl escaped Ino, hating her sarcasm even more than her rude tone. Shaking it off, she grabbed Tenten's arm. "That's more like it. Now, come on!" With a squeak, Ino yanked the brunette, dragging her away.
"Wait! I have to get my-"
"COME ON!"
Lee and Gai stood stunned, and partially frightened, at the brutality of Ino. It seemed to be a common trait in nearly all the Leaf Village kunoichi, yet still not anything the two guys could ever become accustomed to. With Tenten being hauled off without caution, the brunette's belongings were left, abandoned. Picking up the bag triggered an exhalation from the green beast, knowing it will be a struggle to find his teammate later, since Ino may possibly take her wherever the wind blows them.
But what if he couldn't find them later?
An inch of worry activated his thoughts. Ino came and went so fast, what if something went wrong? Maybe there was a last minute mission they had to attend to? But if there was a mission, why wouldn't Ino just tell him? He unknowingly focused on the ground, deep in his own head. It didn't take long for Gai to notice, his student wasn't usually so quiet.
"Is there something wrong, Lee?" His sensei snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. "Oh! Um, well, it is just that…where do you think those two went so suddenly? Do you think something is wrong?"
Gai cackled out loud at his student's inquisitiveness. Sure, he had great knowledge when it came to being a shinobi, however, he was quite oblivious when it came to certain social skills. It was as if he was a small child, or even Sai, attempting to understand why people do the things they do.
"There's no need to worry, Lee. You know how girls are nowadays…" Trailing off, Gai assumed his pupil could finish the rest. "No, sensei," the green beast denied, "I do not know. What is it they are doing?"
'Is he serious?' Gai knew Lee wasn't the best with girls, but the least he could do was figure that out. "Well, Lee, they talk about different things, such as… uh, well…" Okay, so perhaps, Gai was not so educated about the topic, himself. There has been rare occasions where he would take the time out of his busy schedule to go a little date, but it just reminded him how complicated women could be at times. Tenten was no help in this situation either, being more focused on becoming a strong ninja rather than boys, but he wasn't complaining.
"They talk about things like…Sasuke, er, boys! Love, they talk about love!" After many corrections, Gai felt confident in his response. He could recall Sakura and Ino becoming excited over some romance movie they had just seen. Or maybe that was Kakashi?
"Love," Lee pondered on the word, a hand stroking his chin, "So, does that mean Tenten is in love?" With one word, Lee jumped to conclusions, and not a good one. How could his teammate, his best friend, be in love and not inform him? The thought of the kunoichi with someone else was upsetting him more than he expected it to. It was a giant blow to the heart.
"Now, slow down there, Lee," Gai reassured his student, "I'm sure if Tenten was in love, we would know. Something as important would not be kept from us." His words did the trick, releasing a small sigh from the green beast. However, his tiny huff did not go unnoticed by his sensei, watching Lee slightly clutch his chest in relief at the response. Gai furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion, jumping to conclusions of his own.
"Is everything alright, Lee? With you and Tenten?" His sensei waited, giving Lee a chance to speak his mind. The questions only made Lee blush, his thoughts dusting his cheeks red. "Yes, but…well, I think I could really use your advice right now, sensei." It was then a giant grin corrupted Gai's face. He felt like the happiest sensei in the world every time he was asked for advice. To be asked about something other than ninja skills, made him feel all the better. He could only hope that whatever he was asked he could answer without struggle. This had never been a problem before, but he had a feeling that now could be the first.
…
"I just don't get it!"
Tenten groaned out of frustration, "You don't get what, Ino?" The two kunoichi were strolling with no destination, gossiping to each other. Or, rather, Ino was blathering away to Tenten. The brunette didn't mind hearing the talk of the village, she, herself became interested at times, but with that pleasure came a price. Along with it came Ino's judgement, frequently overlooking that not everyone thinks and acts like her.
"I see Sakura smooch on Naruto behind closed doors, and then just act like she hates him in public! Is that not weird to you?" The blonde questioned Tenten, wishing she would side with her on this one. Ino would declare her feelings to the entire village, if she was Sakura. It had already been done with current boyfriend, Sai. Having no shame in love was just something she always felt.
"Well, I don't know," Tenten shrugged, "I mean, it's not unusual to keep your relationship from others. Maybe they just want to keep theirs a secret?" She didn't know what the couple's intentions were, but one thing was for sure, this relationship was NOT a secret anymore, especially with Konoha's finest gossiper knowing. However, for right now, she was just trying to comprehend it all. Ino wasn't the type to give out false information. "But why? We could have gone on so many double dates by now! Her with Naruto, and me with my…perfect man." With clasped hands to her cheek, she released a sigh, displaying her happiness towards the love of her life.
"And why exactly are you telling me this? Why don't you tell her, instead of complaining about her love life behind her back?"
"Are you kidding me? I can't talk to her just to complain about her life. That would be very annoying of me, you know."
"You sure have no shame in doing it to me."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ino waved her hand, brushing off the matter. "Speaking of the perfect man, when are you going to get yours, Ten?" A dango shop came into sight, Ino's craving causing her to lead the way directly to it. As they entered the shop, they stood in the back of a short line, awaiting their turn to order.
"Can we please not talk about this, again?" Tenten let out a lengthy groan, face palming herself. She knew this topic was coming, of course, it came up nearly every time the two talked. Why couldn't she just leave things in her life be?
Ino shook her head, "No, we need to! The only guys you hang out with are Lee and Gai sensei. And that's pretty sad. I could understand if Lee was cute, but with that bowl cut and green jumpsuit and-"
"Hey! There is nothing wrong with Lee! He just...has his own style." Tenten defended her teammate as she bluntly pointed a finger at Ino. The blonde flinched at her directness, widened eyes filled with surprise. She didn't think that it was such a touchy subject for the kunoichi. Nonetheless, her expression soon softened into a smirk with a retort ready, as usual, "More like his sensei's style. Oh! Look at him!"
Ino tilted her head towards the cashier assisting customers in the line they were in, pointing with her eyes. Tenten glanced at the young guy, raising an eyebrow back at her friend. "What about him?" She caught a second glimpse, and Tenten felt nothing, just as before. He just looked like your average cashier. "Are you kidding me? He is so your type. Watch…" She took a confident step forward, something she's never been without, to the front of the line, it being her turn to order. The guy behind the counter flashed a greeting smile, "Hello! What would you-"
"Are you single?" Her confidence and determination combined, which was a dangerous thing, really. With both hands grasping the counter and a strong-minded look in her eyes, it was as if she could conquer the world. The only thing it accomplished was puzzling a cashier. "I, ah, well…yes?" Fortunately, it wasn't long before he understood the situation, and he had no problems with it. He wouldn't mind going on a date with the blonde, or the cute one behind her. Ah, hell, he'd like to date them at the same time! He hurriedly cleared his throat, raising his morale, before rephrasing his response.
"Yes, yes! I am single. Why, are you interested?" He leaned an elbow in the counter, resting his chin in an open hand.
"It's actually for my friend, you see," She continued, pausing for a second to wink at Tenten, giving the signal of her plan going well. Tenten sighed frustratingly, walking away to the book stand nearby. She knew there was no point in stopping Ino when it came to stuff like this, it was just a dream of hers to play matchmaker.
"She's just so lonely, ya know? I think she just needs a nice, strong man that can protect her. Would you mind taking her on a date? Just one?" The blonde batted her long lashes, trying to attract him to her hypnotizing baby blues. Sure enough, it worked, and the young guy was left stuttering. "Y-yeah, just give me her…uh, address and I c-can pick her up tomorrow night at 6." He scratched the back of his neck as Ino jumped for joy. Boys were almost too easy when it came to her.
'Finally, Tenten will know what it feels like to go on a date! Then when she gets married, she'll be thanking me for my efforts for years to come.' She grinned wildly, pulling a small card out of her small satchel along with a pen. She scribbled her address, rather than Tenten's, on it, and handed it to the guy.
"Here, don't be late. Now for my dango order…"
…
Speedily, Lee traveled down the dirt road, his teammate's bag hanging loosely around his shoulder. A new sense of confidence was found for him; not in his physical abilities, no, he had more than enough of that. But, in something else. Thanks to his sensei, it was just what he needed to complete an important, personal mission of his. A mission that could change the rest of his life all started with one thing: to find Tenten.
The last chapter should be out soon, with Christmas break coming up. So you guys won't have to wait so long again.
As always,
PLEASE REVIEW!
