Nichole's note: Sorry it took so long to update! School has kind of killed me, but I'm back, and writing the next chapter as you read this. Too bad FF isn't letting me upload for some reason. :l I've been trying for days, and it keeps on with a technical error. So here's for hoping.

I took a deep breath, and looked back out the window. Naruto said that my escort would be here this morning after I had seen Sakura, but since I had not seen head or tail of the pink haired wonder, I figured my escort wasn't here yet.

The breath escaped my lips as my eyes traced the small bit of the village I could see from my window. Everything looked kind of crowded, but so much different than it had before.

I hated it.

Hatedhatedhatedhated it.

"Tenten?" a voice asked as my door opened again. I guess it was normal for Sakura to check on me at this time of day, and since I was being such a peculiar patient by not wanting anyone but the most necessary people now I wake, she had to act normal. Which meant she just couldn't come rushing in here until she had done her usual routine for the day.

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"I have some clothes here for you, but I figure you'd want to take a shower before putting them on. They're different from your usual Chinese style, but since you don't want to be recognized and I couldn't actually find a Chinese styled shirt, I hoped these would do."

I looked from the window to her worried expression, and I knew that she was really having a dilemma with this.

"That's amazing, Sakura. Thank you so much."

She was right; they were different from my usual style. The clothes were a black pair of pants and a dark red shirt, bigger than I remembered my clothes being. But then again, I was a lot different. It was going to be hell remembering that everything is different.

"The shower is down the hall; take the second hallway to the left, and it will be the first blue door. I'll stay in your room why you aren't here, so if someone does come in, I can tell them why our coma patient has suddenly moved." She handed me my clohes, some shampoo, conditioner, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, and finally, a hair tie.

I just smiled, and slipped past her into the hallway. The hospital was still in the same set-up as usual; a lot of doors and whiteness all around. At least that blandness would never change.

I slipped my way past all the nurses and other patients, trying to avoid the gaze of as many people as possible. None of them would recognize me, I assumed, since I was basically a living doll for the last five years. But that didn't stop me from keeping my head low until I reached the blue door that held the showers.

I locked the door behind me and dropped the clothes I was holding onto a counter. It was a single shower, with a mirror and a counter in the room. This was probably a staff shower, for when they were working two or three day shifts.

I slipped off the nasty hospital uniform I had been in for who knows how long, and stepped into the warm shower. My skin responded like it hadn't felt water in ages, but I knew that it was just because this was the first time my brain was picking up the nerve readings.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I asked, staring straight ahead through the water. "I can't stay here. I can't live at this hospital forever. Where in the world am I supposed to live? Am I even qualified to be a ninja anymore?"

Probably not, I reasoned. I mean, who would want a girl that Sakura thinks could go into a coma again? Who would want someone useless like me? Hell, I wasn't even sure if I could be a ninja anymore. It took me years of practice to reach my skill level.

YEARS.

And I had to practice every day to keep it up to par, to make sure I held my place. But five whole years of lying in a bed, only moving to keep my muscles from degenerating? I wouldn't be surprised if a kunai felt heavy and irregular in my hand.

Without my one skill, what do I have? 4 years of experience I couldn't use. I'd be dead weight to any team now. I'm not even sure if I can run quickly anymore. Walking still feels a little stiff.

I'm back to square one.

Tears rolled down my cheeks again, mixing their salty taste with the pure water I was bathing with. I squirted some shampoo into my hands, and lathered it up into a nice foam before scrubbing my head. It felt amazing.

As I was washing my hair, my mind tracked back to a joke Lee and I had going about Neji and his always shiny, always perfect hair. We used to think he got way too much enjoyment out of a trivial task like taking good care of his hair. I started to laugh, thinking of my old teammates, and how funny it would be to tell Lee that I had begun to like washing my hair.

The laughter continued, but the good feeling had immediately been killed.

How different were they?

If Sakura, with her still short hair that was more shaggy than I remember, and a body that was just about as womanly as her mentor herself, was so different, then how would Lee look? More like Gai-sensei? Would his hair be any longer? Would he be more muscular than before?

And Neji…

No. I didn't want to think about that. Damnit, I was going out today! I'd hopefully get to see them! I'd get to see what they'd done with their lives.

I twisted the shower off at the sound of a knocking on the door.

"Hey, who's in there?! Sakura, is that you? I saw your name for about this time on the sheet, but I need to talk to you!"

A male's voice filled my head, keeping my heart beating in terror. What should I do? What should I do, what should I do what should I doooo.

I grabbed a towel and calmly walked over to the counter, my heart still beating ridiculously fast and my mind working at high speeds.

"Sakura, oy, I need to talk to you about the assignment! Troublesome…"

"Sorry, Sakura's not in here, she told me I could use the shower instead because she forgot she had to take a patient to therapy!"

My lie was followed by silence, and then I heard the mysterious person mumble an apology. "Do you know where I could find her, then?"

"Um, no… I'm guessing my ro- I mean, a patients room." I picked up the hairbrush, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible, and started brushing my hair. If I was doing something normal, maybe I wouldn't feel so nervous about this.

Yeah. Because that makes tons of sense.

"Sorry for bothering you, then."

"S'no problem," I answered, letting out a small sigh of relief as I heard the footsteps head off in some direction away from the bathroom.

If I couldn't even handle someone who couldn't see me, what was in my head that I could go out where everyone could see me? What kind of idiot was I?

I ran the toothbrush under the water in the sink, staring back at my reflection.

II didn't look the same as the last time I remembered staring into a mirror. My hair was a lot longer than before. It reached to my lower back; I guessed Sakura had kept it cut, but she didn't know how long I'd want it. My fingernails were perfectly shaped, white, and longer than usual. My hands were soft, not their usual calloused feel. I didn't have any scrapes or bruises, like I used to get.

I looked good. I looked a lot more like a girl than I used to. It surprised me. I couldn't say I didn't like it.

It was just different.

I slipped on the bra and underwear, followed by the pants and the top. They fit well. I picked up the hair bow Sakura had given me, and began pulling my superlong hair into their usual buns, but I stopped myself. For one, I only had a single hair bow. And two, it would be way too easily recognized. So I contented myself by pulling it into a ponytail, which reached my middle back. It reminded me somewhat of Ino, which was good. The less I looked like myself, the better for now.

I folded up the towel and dropped it into the Towel bin outside as I made my way back to my room with the stuff Sakura had given me and my hospital gown. I felt clean, which felt good, and my mouth felt great.

It was only the inside that was a giant, horrid pit of conflictions.

I arrived at my door, and was about to open it when I heard voices inside. I could identify one; that was Sakura. The other was so familiar to me, it was driving me insane.

Who was it?

"This is troublesome, Sakura," the voice said, and it hit me.

It was the voice from the bathroom. If I could recognize his voice, what made me think he wouldn't recognize mine? He'd know I was aw…

Wait. He was standing in my room.

God, of course he's know I was awake. I knocked on the door, with a small, "Sakura, it's me." The door opened, and the pinkette smiled.

"Good, you're here," she said, pulling me inside. I handed her the toiletries, and she set them on my bedside table. I wasn't paying attention to the third person in the room. "Tenten, this is going to be your watchdog. He has specific orders from Naruto not to bother you unless you want him to, and to bring you back here if anything happens, like you fall into a c- I mean, if anything happens."

I turned at that moment to our third party, and let out a small gasp. Even though he was more muscular, taller, and surprisingly, much better looking than before, I knew him.

I recognized that pointy hair. "Shikamaru!" I said, surprised.

"Hey, Tenten," he said, still staring at me. "So you really did wake up… Huh." We sat in silence for a second, and then he said, "Sorry for bothering you in the shower earlier… I guess this is why Sakura was signed up for it, though."

"Yeah… You kind of freaked me out, but it's fine. So… can we head out?" I looked from Shikamaru to Sakura, who nodded.

"Yep. I'll leave your room locked; Shikamaru has the key. I expect you back when my shift ends at nine so I can check on you before going home."

"Yes mother. I'll be home." I rolled my eyes, but I grinned, knowing she was just kidding with me.

"I left some money on the fridge for pizza and the emergency numbers are all on the phone. Take good care of my baby, will you, Shikamaru?" Sakura said, extending the joke to the shadow user as well.

Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head. "Whatever, Sakura."

The medic gave me a quick hug, and then left the room. I looked over at Shikamaru, who was standing with his hands crammed into his pockets.

"Do you want me to be with you when you walk around, or would you rather I hide?"

"Which do you prefer?"

"Well, if I were with you, it'd be lot less suspicious. I am the welcoming committee for foreign ninja. You'll also be subjected to being bothered by people who talk to me and having to be introduced if the need arises, so we'd have to come up with an alias. But from the shadows, I can watch, and you can get a feel for the city. You'll probably stand out less by yourself, but if an ANBU notices you without knowing who you are, it could lead to problems. Especially if I can't tell them."

The decision was left up to me. I weighed Shikamaru's pros and cons in my head, letting the idea of both settle before me.

"I'll walk around by myself, but if I need you, I'll call, okay?"

"That sounds perfectly fine with me." I nodded, and he opened the door for me, telling me he was going to show me to the exit and then be gone until he heard his name from my lips. I nodded again, letting him lead me toward the exit, and once we were out the door, he disappeared.

The first thing I did was look around, letting the sight of this new world take me in.

'He turned Konoha into one giant crater. Everything was gone. It was all rubble.'

That's right. It was all different now, wasn't it? All because of some man whom I never had to see.

I turned to the left, and began walking. Hokage Tower was behind me, and the village was before me. People lined the streets, talking, laughing. Stores were open, and people were yelling down the street, looking for customers.

I kept walking, marveling in the glory of the open market. It was so much different this time around! It seemed like more people were here, selling much different things. I guess after the demolishing, some people were incapacitated and then decided to open a shop instead of be a ninja or some other worker.

My explorations took me from stall to stall, and I was having a blast. I never knew that just kicking back and relaxing like this could actually help me feel not so bad about this whole thing. I mean, I hate shopping. I really do. Or at least, I used to. It seemed like such a chore when I could be spending my time going on missions, or training with Neji or something.

But now, looking at the necklaces and the food and the weapons and everything displayed in windows and on stalls, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. I slightly spazzed out when I saw that a favorite weapons shop of mine was still in business. I walked up toward it, and my eyes lit up when I saw the new stock of weapons.

I walked in, and heard the door close. A spiky haired ninja was suddenly beside me, and I looked over at him. He didn't acknowledge my glance, so I just went about my business.

"Ohh, what's this?" I asked myself, picking up something I had never seen before. It was a seal, but it wasn't an exploding tag.

"It's a poison tag," the lazy voice said in my ear. "That way the attacker doesn't have to get their hands dirty lacing weapons with poison."

"They have those now?" I asked, impressed. I would have never thought that it would be an issue to line the weapons with poison. It must be hard for the specialty workers who spend hours making and marketing new poisons to buyers like me. Were they out of business? More mainstream now? I wondered over to a container of slim, sharp looking objects. "And these are?"

"Kunai knives."

"Kunai knives are way bigger than this, Shikamaru. I used to own quite a few; I know what they look like."

"Yeah, but these ones are also lighter, which means that messenger ninja and teams built for speed can carry these without worrying about extra weight. They really are useful."

I picked one up, examined it, and set it down. Things have changed, even with the one thing I thought I'd always have; my weapons. Yet, here are new ones I've never seen before. It's exciting. Very exciting.

I was happily looking around until I came down a less crowded street, and saw the overhang for the Yamanaka Flower Shop. It had a sign on the door.

"Oy! Are you here to buy flowers?" A voice called as I walked over to the shop. The sign merely said '50% off specially marked flowers', but I had been attracted by it, so now I was trapped.

"Um…" I said, panicking. I couldn't call for Shikamaru, she'd be curious. I'd have to think my way out of this. "Um…"

"You look like a cute girl; cute girls should have flowers bought for them." Ino stood before me, blonde hair in a long ponytail, similar to mine. She wore a purple tank top and black pants, with an apron bearing 'Yamanaka Flower Shop' on it. Her bangs, still pulled to one side, hit at her shoulders, and her nails were painted a vivid purple. Her eyes were lined in black, making the blue stand out. She seemed a little shorter now, but I had to remind myself that I had gotten taller.

"Oh, there you are, Kyaten. You had me worried," Shikamaru's voice pierced my thoughts. I looked over at him, and he was standing, stoic expression on his face.

"Ehh? Shikamaru, you know this girl? Who is she, your lover?"

Oh no! Another hard question! "I-"

"She's from another village. I'm with her as long as she's here, which is for a while, seeing as she's working closely with some tracker ninja and Hokage-sama." The lie came so smoothly off his lips; I was glad to have him trail me.

"Well hello, Kyaten! I'm Ino, Shikamaru's best friend since we were kids! You've got a great tour guide here. Hope you enjoy your stay in Konoha and make sure that idiot boyfriend of mine doesn't screw up too much!" she smiled cheerfully.

I just smiled, thinking that she meant Shikamaru with her boyfriend comment, and the genius led me out of the shop. I could hear Ino humming happily as the door swung close, and I looked over at Shikamaru.

"Damnit, I forgot her and Naruto go out now. I'll have to tell him about this so he can be prepared before getting bombarded about you." Shikamaru walked by my side in silence, and then he realized something.

"Ah, you wanted me to be unseen, right? Sorry," he said, putting a tanned hand to his head. I was still in semi-shock that Naruto and Ino were going out, seeing as they never had given each other the time of day before now.

He was about to leave when I stopped him with my question. "When did they start going out, anyway?"

Shikamaru gave me a look of confusion for a second, and then he realized. "Geeze, I keep forgetting you've been in a coma for a while. They started dating about three years back, actually."

"Really? And here I was always rooting for Hinata and Naruto to get together."

"I wouldn't let her husband hear you say that, Tenten."

WAIT, WHAT? I looked over at Shikamaru, not able to say a thing, but my mind was still shouting. HOLD UP, it yelled.

Suddenly, I felt the shouts become quieter and quieter, and my focus faded in and out. "No, we've only been out for like an hour," I mumbled, stumbling forward. My knees hit the ground.

"Tenten, what's wrong?" His voice was slightly panicked.

"I feel really, really dizzy," I responded quietly, a headache kicking in. "Really, really, really…" My voice got weaker and weaker as I tried to steady myself on all fours. "What's happening to me?"

"You've exhausted your energy for today. I'll have to take you back." His voice was closer now, and I felt him lift me up.

In my half-conscious stupor, I got the feeling of déjà-vu. The back of my head throbbed painfully, like the wound was re-opening, and I could almost hear someone, not Shikamaru, but someone, saying that it was going to be all right.

'It's going to be all right, Tenten. I've got you.'