Wow! :) thank you all so much! Your reviews are really encouraging and they inspire me to update sooner! So please continue to review I love it! Thank you all! I'm so thrilled. Also, thank you for reading and putting up with my mistakes. I know that I make many of them as I write! Sorry! :( I was originally going to have the battles in that last chapter as well, but it just ran too long. So here they are! battles are seriously a weak point of mine, so try not to flame! Please take into consideration that this is my rendition of Naruto, so fighting styles may or may not be tweaked ;) I realize that you're waiting and anticipating romance between these two, hang tight we're getting there!

I do not own Naruto and I never will

Chapter 9 * The Chonin exams part 2

.

.

.

.

.

Sasuke entered into the indoor arena with Anko and Ibiki and took his place on the far left side, awaiting his unknown opponent. He took a deep breath and scanned the area. The stands were completely packed. Everyone from Konoha was eager to see Sasuke and the outcome of his upcoming battle. He spotted Naruto, Lee, Gai, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, and Sai. But Tenten was no where to be found. He looked down for a moment but immediately raised his head and gasped when he heard her name announced. He was to fight Kakashi Sensei and Tenten both. He turned his face to the other end of the arena and sure enough, there she was, standing next to Kakashi, giving him a determined look. Dammit! He shook his head and looked over at her. Tenten knew Sasuke looked displeased. She noticed him opening his mouth to speak, but he stopped when he saw her mouth moving.

'it's fine!' She mouthed to him, hoping he was okay with the strange battle arrangement.

'No, I'm not fighting you.' He mouthed back, giving her a stern look. Sasuke was more than frustrated. He didn't want to fight Tenten at all, she was the last person on earth he wanted to fight in front of all of Konoha. He just couldn't. Ruthless, demented and dark Sasuke, murderer of his own brother, couldn't fight a Konoichi in the Chonin exams. What a softy he'd become.

Tenten thought fast, she knew if she made him feel bad, he might not forfeit the match. 'Because I'm a girl?!' She replied silently, placing a hand on her hip and narrowing her brows.

Sasuke knew exactly what she was doing, but if he forfeited now, he would never hear the end of it after what she just implied. 'No!... Dammit, fine.' He sighed heavily and nodded to Ibiki, alerting him that he was now ready to commence. The entire crowd cheered loudly as Ibiki shouted for them to begin. Sasuke could hear three distinct voices above the rest in the crowd. Lee, Gai and Natuto. He knew they were all probably a little unsure of who to root for at this point.

Tenten smiled and gave Sasuke a happy nod, pleased with his decision. She was nervous, knowing he wouldn't be holding back, but at the same time she wanted to her her friend she'd grown so close to over the past few weeks to succeed. Her plan of action was to let Kakashi occupy Sasuke, an during that time she would strike. She wasn't sure just how much power Sasuke held inside of himself, especially now with Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan. It seemed so much more complex than the Byakugan.

Sasuke jumped back a few feet when Ibiki gave the okay to begin the battle. He decided to start with something simple, Fire style Jutsu. In order to preserve Chakra, and not end the battle too quickly with Amaterasu or Chidori. Kakashi countered Sasuke with flames of his own, being the copy cat ninja of Konoha. Before Tenten knew it, Kakashi and Sasuke were both spewing flames at each other, both flames fighting for dominance.

Alright, here's my shot. Tenten leaped into the air with two swirling scrolls, and smoke dragons surrounding her. Rising Twin Dragons, new and improved. Weapons rapidly began to speed through the swirling vortex Tenten danced inside, and whizzed at Sasuke with incredible speed. Sasuke quickly dodged and lept back, abandoning his Fire style Jutsu in order to keep from becoming impaled. More and more weapons rained down around him and he dodged quickly to and fro, avoiding any contact with the blades, but it was sure close.

Damn, I'm gonna have to take her out first. He thought to himself, reluctantly. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Sasuke had appeared behind Tenten. He had somehow managed to get in between her spinning scrolls without becoming tangled or caught up in the vortex. Tenten's brown eyes widened and she gasped when she felt his hand around her ankle. "Gotcha." He said with a smirk. Sasuke spun her around and sent her downward, plummeting toward the ground at high speed.

Tenten prepared to hit the ground but Kakashi jumped up quickly and caught her before impact. Several discarded weapons lay all about the arena, and shortly after Tenten landed, her scrolls did too, followed by the Uchiha. Kakashi sat Tenten down and began to do several hand signs. As he did this, Tenten noticed Sasuke summoning some weapons of his own. Senbon. Before she could warn Kakashi, Sasuke threw a barrage of Chidori Senbon at Kakashi. Tenten gasped loudly and was about to jump in front of Kakashi as she noticed his body being pierced repetitively by the Senbon, but he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and she sighed in relief. The relief was gone in an instant when her shoulder writhed with pain.

Two, three, four. Four Senbon pierced her right shoulder, causing it to go numb and limp. oh dammit... Okay, that's it! Tenten growled and looked back at Kakashi Sensei, who gave her a knowing nod. She then ran full speed ahead, directly at Sasuke. Sasuke could tell that she was about to launch a significant amount of weapons very soon, but he could also tell that Kakashi had something to do with this scheme as well. The Sharingan could only say so much.

"Attached Meteor!" Tenten cried as a long chain began to whip in circles and suddenly fling around Sasuke's arms and waist, restraining him. Tenten yanked as hard as she could on the chain with her good arm, and summoned a scroll. Sasuke, at this point, could only use a Genjutsu. How she managed to catch him, he had no clue. He was usually faster than that, he could usually tell what was going to happen, but the girl was so cute when she was angry and determined, maybe he wanted to be captured by her. Sasuke was trapped, and Tenten kept her gaze away from his blood red eyes. Weapons, everywhere, flew at Sasuke and Tenten as she summoned and Kakashi used his Sharingan to mirror Tenten's Jutsu.

Once the barrage of weapons ceased, Sasuke opened his eyes and looked around. How clever, yet how foolish. Oh dammit Tenten. Tenten had sacrificed her self in order to weaken Sasuke for Kakashi to attack. By being so close range, she knew that she would have to take damage for their tactic to work. She had already used up a good amount of chakra with her first Jutsu, and now she was just about drained of it. Sasuke was holding up significantly better than Tenten, although he had taken several hits, he was able to continue in battle. He looked to his shaken companion, she was trying to stand, although completely battered by the weapons Kakashi sent her way. Sasuke rushed to her to help her up, concerned for the reckless Konoichi.

"Tenten!" Sasuke exclaimed as he put his arms under hers, no longer caring about the outcome of the battle. Tenten winced in pain, but she was determined to push him away and make him finish this fight. With all of her strength, she pressed on his chest and pushed herself away from him. Tenten took a deep breath and summoned what strength she had left, groping for whatever weapons she had on hand, she began to fling small shirikken and kunai his way. Sasuke quickly snatched a flying kunai and began deflecting the attacks with ease. the clinking sound of metal continued until Tenten ran out of weapons.

"Don't you dare hold back!" Tenten yelled as she ran quickly at him, with the intention of fighting with taijutsu. She swung her left arm at him swiftly, but Sasuke grabbed it a just as quickly and placed his other hand on her right shoulder and pressed, digging the senbon in deeper .She winced in pain as he twisted her left arm turning her completely around and nearly snapping her arm. Tenten let out a shriek of pain and Sasuke released her instantly. He hated to hurt her, but at the same time, he knew just how angry she would be if he gave up. She was stubborn and independent, and if he stopped now, she'd only kick his ass later, and expound about how he let the team down. Tenten, now without much use of either arms, turned around and kicked at Sasuke, determined not to give up until she could no longer move. She was proving to herself, and everyone else that she could keep up. Not only that, but she was helping her teammate pass the exams. Sasuke ad had enough of her suffering. He swiftly grabbed ahold of her kicking leg and put his arm around her waist. Pulling her close, he kissed her forehead and then punched her firmly in the stomach, causing her to cough hard and collapse to the ground. "I'm so sorry, Tenten." He whispered as he looked down sadly upon her body.

The crowd gasped at what their eyes had just seen. Sakura was infuriated that Sasuke had kissed another girl, but thrilled that the kiss was followed by a hard blow to the gut. She cheered loudly, breaking theough the silence of te crowd. Everyone in the stands was stirring and anxious, amazed at the things that were taking place before them.

Sasuke's eyes darted away from Tenten when he heard the familiar buzz of lightning. Kakashi's hand was glowing bright blue, preparing to strike Sasuke with Chidori. He quickly drew his sword, ablaze with blue lightning and rushed at Kakashi. The entire arena filled with a bright white light as the two collided.

.

.

.

.

.

Tenten opened her brown eyes slowly and took a long deep breath. She realized she was in the recovery room of the infirmary, so familiar to her after her own Chonin exams. Her body ached, but before the pain, she wondered what the outcome of the battle was. Suddenly, she realized she was not alone. She turned her head to the side and smiled when she saw Sasuke planted on a chair next to her bed. His elbows were on his knees and his hands were clasped together. His dark eyes were fixated on her as he sat. He had several scrapes and bruises on his toned and muscular body, his shirt was tattered and torn, hanging hopelessly around his arms and shoulders. He looked extremely worried and a tad agitated. Tenten thought back to the very last few seconds she was conscious during battle. Sasuke had pulled her body swiftly to his and placed a sweet, soft kiss right on her forehead.

Tenten smiled and placed her hands firmly on the bed and began to sit up, but was stopped by Sasuke's hand upon her good shoulder, pushing her back down. "Just take it easy, Tenten." Sasuke plead quietly. He examined his friend, her brown hair now curly was strewn around her gracefully as she lay. Her upper body was wrapped in medical tape, chest torso and her right shoulder. A small red spot seeped through the tape where the Senbon had impacted. Her face was tired and a bit scraped up, but she still wore a smile. He felt awful for her condition, if he had forfeited then she would still be fine. And that last moment he had been so violent, yet here she was, smiling right at him. He was slightly agitated With her, seeing as how she took much damage in order weaken Sasuke.

Tenten knew Sasuke had a lot on his mind by the look on his face. "Did you win? You better have or I'll have to get out of this bed and kick your ass all over again." She threatened playfully. Lee had visited her once while she was in recovery after fightin Temari, but Neji had not. Partly because he was prepping for his own battles, but then, she had never felt more alone. But now, Sasuke was here with her, waiting to see if she was alright.

"I'm a Chonin now." He nodded. Tenten was about to congratulate him, but he wasn't done speaking. "You were really reckless with that second Jutsu, Tenten." He spoke, his voice and face filled with concern. He was also slightly angry that she put herself at such risk.

Tenten gritted her teeth and looked away from her teammate. The words he spoke would have just as easily rolled off of Neji's tongue. That was one thing Tenten did not appreciate about Neji, his blunt and slightly painful statements. Tenten had gone out of her way to ensure that Sasuke passed and all he could comment on was how reckless she had been. Now Tenten was agitated. "Thanks for stopping by." She said, still not looking at him. She knew that it was possible Sasuke was just as bad at communicating his feelings as Neji, but up until this point, she hadn't felt that way. Regardless of any underlying emotion he may have had, Tenten was now angry and didn't feel like talking to him at all. She was also confused, especially by his actions right before she collapsed.

"I was just concerned that I might..." He paused and stood up from his chair. "Nevermind. I hope you have a quick recovery." He shook his head, angry at himself. What Sasuke wanted to say was that he was proud of her fighting skills, and that he appreciated her actions. He wanted to tell her thank you, and that he hoped she would be up and feeling better soon. He wanted to apologize for hurting her, but the words just wouldn't come.

Tenten sighed. "That you might what?" She asked annoyed.

"That I might lose you, Tenten." Sasuke said, looking over his shoulder at her as he stood in the doorway. Tenten didn't know how to react to the statement he just made. It spoke volumes to her, and it stopped her heart for a moment. Did Sasuke really care that much? Over the past few weeks, Tenten had grown to care for Sasuke very much. She was too stubborn to express that openly, but words just fell out of her mouth.

"You Baka!" She yelled. "You're not losing me any time soon." She said with a small smirk. Sasuke turned around to face her and leaned against the frame of the door, relieved that the girl had been understanding of his lack of eloquent words.

"Well you owe me for scaring me." He teased as a smirk of his own graced his pale face.

"Owe you?! Uh uh! You owe me! I fought with you knowing I would lose so you would win, you stabbed me with four Senbon and punched me so hard I blacked out. I don't think so buddy!" Tenten retorted, sitting up slowly and wincing at her movement. The Chidori Senbon had done some damage, and Tsunade had assigned Sakura to heal Tenten. Of course Sakura had no intention of helping Tenten.

"Be careful." Sasuke said as he rushed back to her side. Sasuke sighed and placed his face in his palm. "I'm sorry Tenten."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me." She said with a chuckle. Before Sasuke could speak, the two were interrupted by the sound of their Hokage clearing her throat.

Sasuke turned to face her and gave her a nod. "Tsunade."

"Congratulations Sasuke. May I speak to Tenten in private?" Tsunade asked as she entered into the room.

"Thank you. Be my guest." Sasuke looked down at Tenten and smiled, he then exited the room, obliging to the Hokage's request. Tsunade closed the door behind Sasuke and sat in the seat next to Tenten.

"I take it Sakura didn't heal you. Why are you suddenly rivals?" Tenten's hero asked as she extended her green glowing hands toward Tenten to begin healing her.

"She thinks she owns Sasuke, and sees me as a threat to her and her so called relationship with him." Tenten said as she relaxed her body, slowly being eased of her pain.

"That's what I want to talk to you about, Tenten." Tsunade replied as she looked intently at her pupil. Tenten froze, she had no idea what Tsunade was about to say, and the look on her face told Tenten it was serious.

"What do you mean Tsunade?" Tenten asked as she gazed up at her mentor.

"Do you trust Sasuke, Tenten?" Tsunade asked, leaning back in her chair after completing her healing Jutsu.

"Yes, I trust Sasuke. Why do you ask?" Now Tenten was afraid. She had hoped Tsunade wasn't questioning her because she felt Sasuke was a threat to Konoha. Although it was very possible for Sasuke to be a threat, Tenten knew it wasn't likely. She trusted him with her life, she knew he easily could've destroyed her in the arena, as well as the entire crowd if he wanted.

"Good. I haven't seen Sasuke get as close as he is with you, with anyone in the time I've known him. Take into consideration, Tenten, that the Uchiha clan will need rebuilt somehow." Tsunade said, giving a slight smirk.

Tenten's cheeks turned pink at Tsunade's words. What was she implying? Tenten thought of Sasuke and his quiet yet bold personality. She thought of the way he smiled that bad boy smile at her, the way he chuckled lightly but refrained from bursting into laughter. She thought of the way he held her in the shower the night they were reunited, the way he had taken it upon himself to ensure her safety. The soft kiss he planted on her forehead just hours ago. It was clicking with Tenten finally, that maybe Sasuke had feelings for her. Her stomach flip flopped And filled with butterflies, but she tried to push the feelings away. She wasn't sure she wanted children at all, seeing as how she was still pursuing Neji's dream of being an Anbu captain. Had Neji been alive now though, her plans may be different. But he wasn't, and Tenten realized that more than anyone on Konoha. "I.." She tried to reply but she just couldn't find the words. Tsunade had rendered her completely speechless.

"Just think about that, okay? Get home and get some rest." Tsunade smiled warmly down at the brunette Konoichi and stood. "Good job out there, Tenten. Neji would've been proud."

"I know he is. Thank you Tsunade, that means a lot. Thank you for healing me." Tenten said with a smile. It warmed her to the core when Tsunade complemented her.

"Oh and Tenten," Tsunade said as her hand paused on the cool door handle. "Thanks for being there for Sasuke." Tsunade gave her a nod and left the room at that.