Alright, Chapter 7 is finally up. After three different rewrites, its up.

I don't own Naruto


It had been two weeks since they returned to Suna, but Kankuro still didn't feel like he had recovered. He was physically alright, he knew that, but somehow the knowledge didn't seem to help ease his mind at all. He tried to think of any possible reason for feeling like he did, but eventually was forced to the conclusion he already knew he would come to.

Tenten.

Something about the name, about any thoughts towards her, delved him back into his depression, made him freeze in place. Temari was the first to notice the problem.

"Baki had told me about what happened. I-I'm sorry." She had said. He could tell she meant it. There was something about her eyes as she said that. "But...you don't know for sure that anything happened to her. She may still be okay." She was trying her best. He could tell that, but it still didn't help.

"Temari, I appreciate the effort and all, but it really doesn't help." Her face turned downward. "Something happened to her, I can feel it."

She never did give up. She had attempted, on several occasions, varies 'remedies,' all of which failed miserably. But it did get him to finally admit one thing.

He really had loved her.

He wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. It was such a short period of time, barely even a week. But whenever it was, he not only loved her, but killed her, as well. As a ninja, he wasn't even supposed to show emotion, let alone any strong attachments to enemy ninja. In that regard, he was a more than a bit of a failure. Still, it couldn't have been helped, could it?

But now she was gone. That was what he had the most trouble with. The concept that, despite what she had accidentally become to him, she was gone, and he was to blame. Not Orochimaru. He wished that he could blame him, the man who killed the Kazekage, who orchestrated the entire attack, but couldn't. Orochimaru hadn't been the one who had caused her to leave. He, Sabaku no Kankuro, did that. If he had done almost anything different, not talked to her, had forced her training a little more, or even just told her straightforward about what was about to happen, she never would have left, never been vulnerable. If she had just stayed in Konoha, with the rest of the genin, she would have survived.

Instead, it was his own fault.


Tenten slowly opened her eyes, looking around carefully. She was lying in a strange bed while wearing some form of gown in an eerily white room. Outside of a nearby window was some form of village. Looking closer, she could clearly see several signs of damage covering the buildings. On the ground, several people seemed to be milling about, slowly. She could not in any way tell whether or not she had died. She heard a door open somewhere, followed by a voice.

"Feeling better, I see." A man walked into the room. Instantly, her mind raced. She recognized his outfit as being a medical ninja from Konoha. She must, therefore be in a hospital, hence the gown and the room. But then, could this possibly be... there? What could have happened in such a short time that it looked like THAT? Or was it a short time? How long was she out? "Just relax, okay?" Said the man, seeming to read her mind.

She laid back on her bed. "How long have I been here? And how did I get here?" He held a chart in his hand. She could see him making a number of notes.

"You've been out for around two weeks." He started. "Gai carried you in. He's probably going to want to talk to you now that your awake. In fact, quite a few people are going to."

"Well then, what happened? Is that...really Konoha?"

He lowered his gaze a bit. "Yeah, it is. While you were gone, well actually, the day you left, the village was attacked."

She remembered, before her fight with the Fuma, having heard an explosion, but she hadn't really thought about it, having focused on the two in front of her. 'So, I guess that was here.'

"During the attack, the sound and sand villages assaulted the area from inside and out, killing several people, and causing the damage you saw."

Tenten's eyes widened at that. 'Suna...Kankuro, did you know? That last day, when you told me to be ready, did you know!?'

"During the attack, I am sorry to be the one to break the news, the Hokage fell. However, he was since been replaced by Tsunade, one of the three sannin. She was the one who healed you."

Tenten really hadn't heard much of what he had said, being wrapped in her own thoughts. 'You...you really were warning me, back then, weren't you? I mean, you really did try to help me. But, why couldn't you have just told me? It wouldn't have been that hard. It was just us, all those days. Or was that just...something that you had to do? Were you...using me?' She tried not to think about that, but then reality smacked her. 'I'm such an idiot! I learned absolutely NOTHING about you, and I told you everything! About Neji, Lee, Gai, all of them! And what did you say, nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I didn't even get a chance to examine that freaking pile of scrap, because you said that it was taken. And I believed you!'

She then heard something loud; loud enough even to break through her own thoughts. Gai. "Tenten!" The man practically raced into the room. "MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT IS FINALLY AWAKE!" She covered her ears. She had learned that doing this tended to bring his volume level down to a reasonable level. And while to a casual observer, it may look like she was annoyed at his presence, she was actually extremely happy over it. She really wanted to talk to someone, someone that she could trust. The medic walked off, allowing them time alone.

"That guy said that you brought me in, so...thank you." She wasn't really sure what she should say. She wanted to apologize, but wasn't really sure what to say. "How did you find me, anyway? I mean, I doubt that anyone was looking for me." She could see his eyes change from their normal self to something a bit more serious.

"We didn't look for you. You showed up yourself." The confusion on her face was clearly visible. "That is, you floated here, down the river." He paused. "Of course, I assumed something was wrong. But due to the villages state, I was unfortunately unable to come to your aid." She could tell it wasn't easy for him to talk about. But then, it wasn't that easy to hear, either. "After the funeral for our Hokage, as well as numerous others, I was at the bridge when I noticed the water starting to turn red. Identifying something floating, I went to examine it. You could imagine my surprise to find my student."


She finally was released from the hospital. It took almost four hours of questioning, but she was finally out. During that time she was asked everything from what had happened after she left to what she did beforehand that would make someone target her, to almost every conversation and event regarding the time she had spent with Kankuro. And afterwards, they had reached the exact same conclusion that she had.

That during that time, she had been completely used.

That during that time, she was being tricked into spilling as much about the village as possible.

That during that time, she had completely fallen for it.

There was no doubt in her mind anymore, just anger. She had, during the questioning, slowly grown to hate everything that even vaguely made her think of Kankuro. The man who had fooled her entirely, and that she even, yes, she finally admitted, had LOVED, had been lying to her the entire time. She could imagine him, leaving her for the day, returning back to his family, amusing them all with the stories of that idiot who couldn't even make a simple string out of chakra who had so completely fallen for his lies, and who had told him about almost everyone in the village. Who had as good as given him a map of the village. And this thought, this mental picture of him laughing, only served to make her even angrier. By the time she had finally walked into her apartment, she had worked herself into such a frenzy that the first thing she did was grab, and throw, the seat he had sat in those days out of the window, nearly hitting someone who was walking past.


Well, only two more chapters to go. The next two should come quickly (Which, by most fanfic's standards, is pretty freakin' ridiculous.)
It's not that they are really short or anything. It's that, when i first started this story, I only imagined a few scattered parts (Originally, it was Yoroi, instead of the Fuma), and then I just sorta connected them together. These last two were actually the main part. So...yeah.

I would like to thank:

Tammy for the review (You really should create an account)

KohakuOtaku and mangagranatcat for adding this as a favorite story

KohakuOtaku and NightmareSyndrom for adding as a story alert

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