Chapter three! I hope you like it, and sorry for the wait!

Oh and sorry for saying that it was a new moon right after a full moon, because I know that doesn't happen. Really really sorry about that, don't know why I wrote it…

-

-

-

His mediation seemed different this morning. He couldn't focus. He couldn't fall into that spell of near sleep, he couldn't relax. Neji knew something was amiss. He opened his eyes and looked around the field. The sun was just slipping over the tops of the trees, and the training area was soaked in a golden light. Tenten's favorite light. No on was around, Gai and Lee and already left for their laps around the village. He looked around again. No Tenten. Where was she?

He stood, eyebrows knitting together, as he thought. Was she sick? Injured? Or just sleeping late? With a sigh, he started on his way to Tenten small, broken, empty house.

-

-

-

Her training would be starting now. Neji would be spinning in his Kaiten, and she would be pelting weapons in his direction. Five hours she had been gone, and it felt like days. She couldn't move her legs fast enough; she couldn't reach the next branch as quickly as she imagined. But she never looked back. She kept her eyes on the path in front, and kept going, pushing herself as fast as her body seemed to go.

Neji would probably be at her house by now, searching in vain for his sparring partner. Soon after that he would look around the village, and also find no one that knew where she may be. Then, he would go to the Hokage, and the search would begin. She needed to get as far as she could. She needed to get to the ocean, to the sky if she could. It was all to stay missing.

"My hair…" the though struck her then. She wouldn't get far with her hair the way it was. So she sped up a bit, looking for a suitable place to rest for a minute.

Soon she found a small stream. She made her way over and stopped with heavy breath. Taking her hair out of its style it fell down her back, reaching to almost her waist is soft waves. Tenten pulled a kunai from her pouch, and took a cluster of hair in her fingers. With a quick swipe the locks fell, down into the water and down with the current. She made the same movements, until her hair was in a messy chop just above her shoulders. There was no headband to keep the hair from falling in her face. She left it back on the kitchen table in what was once her home.

Without charka she ran back in the direction on Konoha again, making a quite movement to the side once the stream was out of sight. After a few minutes of running she turned again, to the direction she was headed in before her stop at the stream. She hoped the trackers would be fooled for a while as she ran further and further. She wouldn't use her charka until she saw the sea.

-

-

-

His last resort. The Hokage. He climbed the stairs and waited patiently in the hall outside the door. Surely behind the door was a large pile of unfinished papers and a hidden bottle of sake, and maybe an annoyed woman watching her boss with her arms crossed over her chest.

When he was beckoned to enter, he did so with a strange feeling in his gut. Was he doing something wrong, or right? Was Tenten missing or was it some kind of last minute mission. His mind raced over possible scenarios, and he soon found himself sitting before the tired looking Blonde Hokage.

"Neji," she looked up from her papers "What can I do for you?"

"I came to ask if Tenten accepted a mission recently."

"Tenten?" Tsunade sat up straighter, "Why would you ask?"

"She did not come to train this morning. I went to her home, but she was not there either." He said

"Did you ask some of her friends if they knew where she was?" She asked

"Yes, nearly the whole village."

"Shizune assemble a tracking team." The Hokage put her messaged her temples. "Tell them to this is not a mercenary mission."

"Excuse Me, Hokage-sama?" Shizune asked but what does this have to do with Tenten?"

"Tenten," she sighed "Is a Missing ninja."

-

-

-

Tenten stopped; looking down a hill to a small village nestled next to a salty sea. She breathed it in, remembering her childhood near the water. This may have been the same village, albeit rebuilt, that she used to live in, but she couldn't remember the location. After the attack it was all a blur as she made her way to Konoha.

She pocketed a few weapons, hiding as many as she could on her person. Pushing the hair out of her face, she started her way down. It was here that she would buy new clothes, extra weapons, and any other necessities for her journey.

The people of this village seemed very happy. Although it seemed that it wasn't a very wealthy village. She walked through the streets, and looked in the windows of the shops. Small twinkles caught her eye, but she continued on in search of a suitable place to find clothes. Children ran around, happy smiles on their faces. Adults talked casually with each other, and street vendors called out to customers. Music played from somewhere, and she found herself walking along to it, contently enjoying the sound.

This place, it seemed so different from any other place she had been before. Konoha was full of ninjas, and other villages she had been to on mission were full of greedy people searching for endless amounts of power. But this village, they all seemed content in their situation. She didn't see anyone trying to cheat a baker into getting a free piece of bread or a sneaking hand moving to a pocket of an unsuspecting passerby. Instead the baker handed a small child a large tart like treat, and a whistling man and a giggling girl flipped a coin to a man on the corner.

-

After a while the sun started to sink down into the horizon. The sky was painted a lonely color of orange, and Tenten found herself staring at the scene longer then she had planned. She watched it as the sun melted into the dark colored ocean, and the moon shone brightly behind her. She missed the last boat and needed to wait until morning, but here in this village she didn't mind. Tenten could stand in this spot until the world stopped spinning, until every star ceased to burn, and every wonder in the world was gone. The sky would be her first and last comfort. It would be the first to greet her in the morning, and the last to bide her goodnight. After her trip across the ocean the sky was the only thing she knew in a strange new land.

Tenten cleared her throat and looked down at the ground. Taking a breath and collecting her thoughts, she turned away from her spot on the small dock and tried to find someplace to sleep. She didn't think she would be able to sleep very well, but the sleep she could get was something she needed. Tenten couldn't take her time finding this man. She had to find him quickly, and stay away from the group chasing after her at this very moment.

-

She knocked on the old dark wood door, waiting for an answer of some kind. She heard feet falling on stairs, and continued to wait patiently. The door opened to revel and young woman, a happy smile on her face, and eyes shinning. Her cheeks were a pure rosy color that hinted to the tint of red in her hair that only made the blue of her eyes more apparent.

"Hello," she smiled brightly "Please come in, the air is cold."

Tenten pulled her bag closer to her body, and followed the woman in. A creek at the top of the stairs alerted Tenten's attention, and she saw a few children, two boys and a small little girl. The two boys stood in front of their sister, who looked just over the age of three. The woman shooed them off to bed, and the boys helped their sister to her room. Tenten smiled a ghost of a smile. She always wanted an older brother, but being the oldest it was something very far from possible. She was glad boy treated their sisters they way she imagined when she was young.

"We have plenty of room upstairs, come with me."

"Thank you," Tenten replied

"Your very welcome," the woman giggled "The bathroom is just over here, but this is the only one on the second floor so it may be in use when you need it. I hope that's okay."

"Of course," Tenten answered "This is your house, waiting for the bathroom is the least I could do."

The woman laughed, and Tenten was shocked at the sound. It was so pure, so true that water blurred her vision. She had only heard that laughter once, and that memory was slipping away with all the rest.

"Here we are," the woman gestured to a room at the end of a long hall. "I hope this will suffice."

"Yes, it is very nice, Thank you again." Tenten took in the splendor of the room with awe. A window sat in just the right place so that it caught the sky and ocean in a beautiful snapshot of the views of the night. She slid the door closed behind her and turned to the room again, finding something oddly familiar about it. The floor was made of usual mats, and the wall was a classic white. The large bed sat in the corner, the window across from it. On the ceiling was access to the attic, through a small square in the center.

Her eyes widened as she raced over to the bed, moving it away from the wall and kneeling down to look at the strip of rug that came up to revel a wood floorboard. There with messy unpracticed hands were the initials T.T. Tenten suddenly couldn't breathe. Her vision was clouded by fat tears that spilled down her cheeks. She fell back onto her hips.

This was her old room, this was her old house, this was her village. She was home.

-

-

-

-

Nearly all of the ninjas that knew Tenten were invested in the search. The entire Rookie nine, except Sasuke Sakura and Ino, and Neji and Lee were part of the elite search party. No one knew how this could have happened, and no one wanted a similar turn out as the one where Sasuke had run away, so the search was started as soon as Tsunade heard.

They all speed through the forest silently, fearing that if they voiced their thoughts the others in the group would lose their inspiration, and Tenten would never be found. Instead of one or two ninja dogs, six had come along, all thanks to the generosity of the Inzuka clan. A team of trackers completed the group and Neji headed them.

"Why has she done this? Where has she gone? Was it something he did?"

-

-

-

Sorry it's so short…Please leave a review!