Tenten was the eye of a Hurricane. She was the calm amidst the storm. She was the one bastion of Sanity amidst a sea of lunacy. She was the only thing which was true about the world she found herself in now.
She'd admit that initially this world had managed to fool her into thinking that it was real. It was incredibly realistic. However Madaraa's attempt at replicating her friends and comrades was... Cartoonishly terrible, to say the least. She knew that she was no great user of Genjutsu, but come one. Even she recognized the phony friends before her.
Currently it was her, and the other members of the Konoha 11, erm... Twelve, if you count Sasuke. All of them hanging out in their usual BBQ joint, just shooting the breeze. It was nice, for an illusion. She knew it would have been nice to just numb herself to the strangeness of them. She also knew that, that was the purpose of it all. So no matter how nice these fakes acted towards her, she had to remember: they were doing it all for the enemy.
Tenten sat in what would have been her usual spot at the table... were this reality. She had what her real self would have ordered out on a plate in front of her, rapidly growing cold. Her soft brown eyes drifted around the table to from person to person, analyzing. Her mind might be home in a semi-convincing illusion, but her body was still out on the battlefield. She mustn't forget, she was still at war. She noted how her friends were the same, how they were different. They would turn against her if she reacted against the illusion too violently, that was a given. She'd have to think up a way to defeat everyone at this table, if worse came to worse. It was something she'd never thought she'd have to do. Except for Sasuke. She'd been prepared to take him out since he first left the village. Currently her chopsticks were ready to be flicked from her finger tips, straight into those special eyes of his. Which was a shame, because he was kind of cute when he wasn't being a megalomaniac.
Tenten supposed that she wouldn't find the illusions so offensive, if they weren't so wildly inaccurate to their real world counterparts. You already know of a few of the phonies and just what's wrong with them. Lee, for instance. His normal energy and passion was still there it just seemed focused on fashion, and being a 'cool guy'. He was much more socially graceful, much more concerned with the way he behaved in the public eye. Tenten felt almost guilty to admit that it's the type of behavior she'd always wished to see in Lee. It was horrible, but she had to admit that it was nice to not being hanging her head in embarrassment at one of his outbursts.
You already know what's wrong with Neji. For the most part 'living' isn't usually something you'd use to negatively describe a person, let alone a friend. Yet here we were. Neji was one of the most important people in the world to her. She still hadn't been able to grapple with his death, and knew it would haunt her for months at least. But if there was one thing she'd learned from fighting an army of reanimated ninja, it was that the dead should stay that way. Especially if they came back like this. Nobody was the same in this world, but Neji's change hurt Tenten most of all. Probably because it was him with whom she was closest. The Neji she knew, the Neji she was close with was a lot more reserved. Cool, Quite, Mature. Too put it nicely he wasn't a complete pervert, and borderline sexual predator. Maybe not even borderline, after that debacle with his Byakugan earlier.
"Still Neji that really was not cool, you should apologize to Tenten. Peeping on her was a major breach of trust." Lee had been lecturing Neji like this off and on throughout the meal.
Tenten gave Lee a small, but warm smile. It was nice to know that even in this world Lee had her back, like always. At least while she played along with the fantasies.
Of course not everything about her friends were different here. Neji was as pig headed as ever. He ardently defended himself from all of Lee's attacks. "I was only trying to discipline her. A ninja of the hidden leaf village should really hold herself to a higher standard." Yeah, not cool Neji.
No matter where you were sitting at the table you could see the vein in Hinata's forehead bulge out in anger, and she wasn't even using the Byuakugan. "Always making excuses for yourself Neji. I swear if I ever hear you pulling a stupid stunt like this again, I'll rip your eyes out. Remember that." Hinata who was sitting right next to Neji held two of her fingers out and brought them uncomfortably close to Neji's eyes.
No, you're not mistaken. That was Hinata's mouth that just produced those words. No, you're remembering Hinata right. Tall Girl, dark long hair? White pupiless eyes? Can't get two sentences out of her mouth without blushing in embarrassment? Very conservative dresser? Yeah, no. Same person here, in theory. The Hinata of this world however was kicked flipped all the way upside down. Her lavender colored jacket which was normally zipped right up to the top was unzipped and hanging loose. Underneath she wore the ugliest mesh bra top. Which compared to Tenten's own very cute sports bra, well. If Neji was going to put anyone on blast it really shouldn't have been Tenten. Though looking at this world's Hinata She couldn't blame him. She was an aggressive fiery little thing. She sat with her legs spread open if that told you anything. She was bold and confident, the complete opposite of the shy reserved Hinata that she knew. Plus Cut off jean shorts.
"Rip my eyes out?" Neji stuttered. "That's a really mean Joke to tell Lady Hinata." Neji laughed nervously, and tried to shift away from Hinata.
At Hinata's threat Sakura gave a little shudder and curled up next to Naruto. "What an awful threat. I just don't know what I'd do if something like that happened." Tenten was having a hard time pinning down what was wrong with sakura. She usually wasn't so clingy to Naruto, but she did recall her acting like this around Saskue all those years ago. Other than a new Crush this sakura seemed to be like the one Tenten knew.
"Hey!" Hinata barked grabbing a hold of Naruto's other arm. "Don't use this situation to get closer to Menma behind my back!" Oh right. Naruto was called Menma in this universe. Tenten's eyes traced over Naruto... Menma. She wasn't even sure she was ready to tackle what was going on there. He was cool, calm, collected, and utterly uninterested in the attention of the two Kunoichi.
Sakura only tightened her grip on 'Menma.' "He doesn't welcome your kind of attention. Shoo!" This only led to the two of them devolving into a verbal fight, and doing everything but coming to blows.
Tenten Sighed, and looked down at her half eaten plate of food. It tasted the same as back home... She looked up from her plate. How could one place be so perfectly similar, and so completely different all at once? Shikamaru was a Gluttonious Idiot, Choji was thin as a rail, Kiba was a cat fanatic, and Shino was chasing after a bug with a fly swatter. Why bother with the illusion at all if you're going to make it this obvious. There must have been something about them not being perfect recreations. Maybe they...
"Tenten." A soft voice cut through Tenten's thoughts better than Hinata or Sakura's yelling. Tenten turned her head to Face her dining neighbor, Ino. This Ino was rocking the Cute Shy girl look. Her long hair was styled to hide most of her face behind her bangs. She abandoned her belly shirt, for a conservative button up. Even her short shorts were replaced by a long skirt. Other than Lee this change was the most agreeable to Tenten. Beyond that ego and pretense she knew that the real Ino was a good person and friend. There were just a lot a barriers getting in the way. This Ino however had none of that. She was like a Gem perfectly cut from stone. "You've hardly eaten anything Tenten are you alright?"
No. "Yes. Yes I'm just not hungry tonight." She put her hand into the folds of her outfit and pulled out enough Ryo to cover her share of the meal. "Thanks for the food." She announced standing to her feet.
Ino reached a shy hand to grasp ahold of Tenten's. "Are you sure you're alright? It's not like you to leave early." Tenten's steady brown eyes stared into Ino's wavering blue ones. Genuine concern was glistening in those orbs. Concern enough to make Tenten's stomach churn with confusion. How genuine could an Illusion's concern be?
Tenten caught her breath and lightly pulled he hand away. She affected a smile. She couldn't have them knowing she was on to them. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." She gave a long fake yawn. "I think I'm going to head to my house for a nap."
"Okay. Well, sleep well."
Tenten nodded. "I'll miss you being like this Ino. Thanks for caring." She gave the mousy girl's shoulder a squeeze and wandered out of the restaurant. She returned a few of the farewells from the fakes, and did her best not to smile at the Blush rising up Ino's face.
Tenten didn't head far. Instead she just ducked into the nearest alley. She'd entertained this Illusion long enough, it was time to get out of here. She'd been storing up her chakra for the last hour or so. She was ready to send it all out in one blast. Something strong enough to send her consciousness skyrocketing into the waking world.
She felt the weight of her scroll against her chest. They still needed her out there.
She held her hands together, focused her chakra, and sent it out in a burst. A perfect Genjutsu Release. As far as execution went at least. If you went by results only, then it was a complete flop. She groaned in frustration and tried it several more times. All of which ended with her still being trapped within her own mind.
This was bad news. Beyond what she'd just done, Tenten really didn't have any additional knowledge on Genjutsu. If the release didn't work, then nothing she had would. She'd be stuck in here for... as long as Madara willed it. A disheartening prospect indeed.
But Tenten was never the sort to give up. Never. She was a student of Might Guy. There was no one on the planet who knew how to work harder than he did. He took a rag tag group of losers, and turned them into one of the top squads in the leaf village. She was his disciple, the real one. Not one of those phonies in this world. She was going to learn all she could about Genjutsu, and then she was going to get out. She was going to become a legendary Kunochi. She was going to save everyone!
