Chapter 10: Flawless; Lifeless
The wind blew, chilling the air as the sky started to blacken.
Yet it was still only Tenten sitting in the chair. She stared blankly at the white frosted cake in front of her, as if her steeled brown eyes couldn't see. Her face was frozen, her mouth set in the unsmiling, un-frowning position. It would've been impossible to tell whether or not she was happy. Or sad.
From Sasuke's view, she was almost like a doll. One of those rag dolls. The ones that he would see on the window displays in old toy stores; the ones that would always scare him on the inside. It would be the pretty dolls every girl loved, sewn perfectly, yet laying limply. When he would walk by, its button eyes would stare at some sort of void, showing the nothingness inside. There would always be no mouth sewn on. Nothing to show any emotion. It felt whatever you wanted it to feel.
It was happy when you were happy.
It was sad when you wanted it to be sad.
For that reason, everyone loved them.
Except for Sasuke.
"Maybe, they were all busy today. I should've sent the cards out earlier." Tenten's father shook his head and gripped the top edge of his daughter's chair tighter. He forced a smile, "I'm sorry...it's my fault-
"Ie." She stood up, pushing the char aside with a loud creak. "It's fine."
With her back still to her father, she turned and was about to walk off, but her father reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Tenten-chan-
She knocked his hand away and whipped around. For only the shortest moment, there was a flame of auburn showing in her eyes. Flaming to cause her father so much trouble. Burning to have wasted time that could've been used to be mort perfect than she already was. Blazing to have had her hopes risen just the slightest bit by having a chance to let go...and have that hope crushed.
But the fire inside her died down quickly, and she locked it up again. She gave a fleeting smile, with a robotic smile that wasn't really hers, only for her father. "It was the best party I ever had."
She walked back into the house and started cleaning the kitchen, leaving her father in the midst of the isolated yard that was supposed to be filled with people.
Sasuke walked over and saw him sat down in the chair. Looking at him closer, Sasuke never realized until now how young he still was; it was only all the worry that wore down his face and sapped the energy from him. He looked exhausted, and all of it was from caring.
He put his hands to his head and looked down on the table, muttering to himself. "It's all my fault...I pushed her too hard...it doesn't matter if she isn't good...I want her back..."
Cracked with desperation and weakened with a lonely sorrow, even Sasuke could tell that it was hardly a voice of a proud parent.
But he should've been. He had a perfect daughter. She did whatever a parent would want their child to do, and she did it flawlessly. She said and thought the way a parent would want their child to think. She worked hard, harder than anyone else he had ever seen. She spent her whole time working to give another reason to make her father proud.
He only wanted her to be happy now. Truly happy, not happy to make him happy. Not happy for anyone, but herself.
He looked through the windows of the house and saw her starting to cook her dinner. She's the one doing the housework...He walked back into the house and watched her distantly clean a spoon.
"He'd be happier if you were yourself."
A sudden dull hatred spread like poison in her blood as she looked down at her hands.
"That person shamed someone to death."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 14 year old Konezuku High School freshman, Yin Tenten, scores highest average possible in the Nationwide Mastery Test...
13 year old Ikuwakaba Middle School student, Yin Tenten, wins the very first Young Teenager's Awareness of Energy- a science and math project competition...
11 year old Yin Tenten takes top seat in the Young Professional's Orchestra after an astounding performance...
Sasuke lost count on all the online articles on her. He sat at his desk with his hand on the mouse, the arrow hovering over the 'next' button on the search engine. The pale light coming from the screen reflected in his dark eyes as the room around him was unlighted.
But after more bits of searching, Sasuke was able to find the pattern between the articles.
"There used to be a time when she was normal."
There's nothing about her from before she turned 11... Sasuke scanned the page. He saw that he was right. None of the articles had anything about an eleven year old Tenten.
That doesn't make any sense... Even Sasuke knew that a person couldn't wake up one day and suddenly become so...preoccupied in perfection. But he continued scrolling down the pages and quickly checked through the sites.
Then he found an article online dated six years ago.
He read over the page and found it to be the first page unrelated to Tenten. But it was about her mother instead.
Suddenly he remembered the last newspaper article he had read.
Flashback
June 13
Yin Wanmei revealed to be dead, committing suicide. Also known to be wife of Yin Guang Rong, and mother of Yin Tenten...
End of Flashback
That was when he decided that there was more to Tenten than what met the eyes.
And he was going to find out what.
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Silence, so silent that only the rustle of snow being shaken from branches could be heard. In a way, the silence lullabied something sweet and soft. Sasuke almost enjoyed it.
He looked up and saw little flakes of stars, as if permanent snowflakes in the sky. And then he found something- someone- else in his view.
"Konbanwa*~ Uchiha-kun!" An upside-down Sakura greeted him.
He realized how close she was to his face, but calmly replied, "It's a bit late."
"Aw~" She pouted, "I didn't scare you- Eek!"
She fell, but not quick enough so that Sasuke's reflexes didn't kick in to save her. He found her over his shoulders and was faintly amused at her shut eyes still preparing for the fall. She opened an eye and looked behind her, she sighed in relief seeing that she was saved. But then she realized who was holding her and laughed sheepishly, "Whoopsy..."
He sighed, hiding his embarrassment and the slight heat in his face. I just stopped her from getting hurt, that's all. He let her down and made sure she was the one going first up the tree.
"She's playing a new song today." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I like this one."
He didn't say anything. Suddenly, he didn't feel as if the music was really showing anything. Sure, it hit the right pitches and seemed to be perfectly in time. But something was missing. Expression.
Maybe it was because he knew that the violinist was Tenten.
"Ne~! Know what? I signed up for a science tutor!" She looked at him and smiled, "I guess since Sasuke-kun won the math contest, I should try harder too! To achieve my goals!" She made a cute "fighto*" movement.
He made no comment.
She leaned over and looked at him questioningly, "What about you, Sasuke-kun? What do you want to do?"
To avenge his family.
To make his family happy.
To be perfect.
That was what he would've said a few months ago. But now, he wasn't so sure. After these few months, perfect didn't seem so great to him anymore. Because if he was perfect...would he be like Tenten?
"Would you want to be perfect?" He found himself asking her for help.
"Hmm~" She seemed to have put some thought into it, putting a finger to her lip. Then she shook her head slowly, "I don't think so. Because," A gentle look appeared over her eyes, "what we can't do makes up part of us, it creates who we are. And if I were perfect," She smiled, "then I wouldn't get to be me."
Then she looked down and a sheen color of sadness came over her eyes.
"And that would be very sad, wouldn't it?"
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Snow was beginning to melt, while small patches of grass were beginning to fight their way through the shawl of white. The transition from winter to spring is always the wettest one, so the students of Konezuku High School usually prefered to stay in the cafeteria.
But Sasuke and his group were one of the few students who did not take their time off from classes inside. Instead, one of them would bring a picnic blanket for them to sit on underneath the same large tree everyday. The group was pretty big; not only did it consisted of the original four, but Neji joined them daily now as well as Kiba and once and a while, Shino too. Sasuke's math team friends came to join occasionally, this included Karin, who enjoyed to bug (the hell) out of Sasuke with Suigetsu and Haku to monitor the amount of violence. Ino popped in and out, usually only to talk to Sasuke, but only when she wasn't busy with her popular life around the school.
They didn't know why they liked to be outside better, the only excuse they would have is that Naruto would most likely stir up too much of a noise inside.
Sasuke was starting to grow used to having more people around him, gradually growing more social. But he was surprised to find Tenten sitting next to Sakura with Sakura leaning over a book, trying to study with enthusiasm. He noticed Sakura look up and exclaim something with a proud smile, Tenten nodded with polite encouragement.
Tenten was the first to notice Sasuke was observing them from the distance. Sakura waved him over and introduced the two, clueless. "Hiyas Uchiha-kun! Guess what? I have a really nice tutor now!" She beamed at Tenten, "Uchiha-kun, this is-
"Yin Tenten. We've met." He finished.
Sakura looked back and forth between the two curiously and then giggled. Tenten looked at her with questioning, blank eyes.
"See Tenten-sensei-chan*? I told you you are famous!"
Tenten shook her head courteously and replied in an empty tone, "Haruno-san can do the same if she works hard."
"But ne~ Tenten-sensei-chan, you must work really, really hard!" Sakura insisted.
Tenten looked at her lap and Sasuke saw her mouth a near-silent whisper, "Not enough..."
Sasuke felt his mouth tighten at the sound of her whisper. He wanted to tell her that she was already doing enough. He wanted to tell her that all her father really wanted was for her to be herself again, that perfect wasn't what he wanted.
Sakura didn't seem to hear what Tenten said and tilted her head. "Hmm~?"
Before Sasuke could say anything, Neji was already walking up to them with his briefcase slung over his shoulders. "Hey Uchiha, Haruno." Then, he noticed Tenten still looking down at her lap, not meeting his eyes. He nodded at her anyway, "Yin-chan."
Time seemed to have frozen between the two as Neji continued to hold his shadowy gaze and Tenten continued to look away from him with a dark lament in her empty eyes.
Like always, Naruto broke the uneven silence with his entrance. "Hey! There's a new girl?!! I wanna meet the new- Hey! Aren't you the genius-girl?! You know, the one that everyone says has no fri-
Shikamaru clamped his mouth in time and entered the conversation, "Pay no mind to him, Yin," He hooked an arm around Naruto's neck and pulled him closer to him, with a tight, threatening smile growing on his face, "He just has a bit of a problem being sane, don't we?"
Naruto was close to choking and nodded.
If Tenten was insulted in any way, she didn't show it. She only politely smiled and introduced herself. "Hajimemashite*, I'm Yin Tenten."
Sakura giggled and waved it off with a hand, "You're always so polite, Tenten-sensei-chan!"
"Is there something wrong with that?" She looked confused in her own, blank way.
Sakura shook her head in a friendly way, "Nope! It's just that, you don't have to! We're all friends after all! Right?" She tipped her head to one side.
"Tomo...datchi..."* Despite the fact that Tenten was known to be the student in the school to know the most about anything, she didn't seem to know much about the one simplest thing that everyone else knew about: Friends.
Slowly, Tenten started to blend in among the group. She was quiet, and never seemed to have an opinion even if everyone would look for her thoughts. Mostly, they all felt that Tenten was simply too shy and polite to express herself in a bold way like Naruto would. But Sasuke knew differently. He knew that she had abandoned her personal feelings a long time ago; she no longer had anything inside that was her own.
But despite how dull, how lifeless Tenten was compared to the others, Sakura adored her. Everyday, she would drag Sasuke along to the juniors' floor, skipping her way to Tenten's last class before lunch and showing how excited she was to have Tenten tutor her. Under the tree, she would show quick improvement and ask many questions, forcing Tenten to smile each time. It was then where Sasuke would see Tenten smile the most. It was where he would see not her perfect self, but her.
One day, after finishing a packet of science problems, Sakura looked up curiously and asked Tenten, "Ne~ Tenten-sensei-chan, what kinds of things do you like?"
Sasuke brought his attention from his book to the conversation without looking up. He heard Tenten hesitate, and next to him he noticed Neji had paused mid-sentence in his essay.
"I...I like to study." She smiled with a robotic voice.
Sasuke noted something in Neji's eyes and wondered if Neji was thinking the same thing he was:
Was that what she really meant to say?
Or was that what she was she was supposed to say?
Sakura giggled, "No, I mean really, really! Silly"
Tenten looked down, "Really...really..."
"Anime, you liked anime." Neji muttered, as if he had finally let out only one sentence out of the million he had trapped inside.
Before Tenten could respond, the bell rung. Although Tenten was able to quickly pack up her belongings and return to class, Neji wasn't as quick. Sasuke caught up to him and pretended not to have noticed him while asking, "Is today good?"
It wasn't as if he was going to hang out with Neji for nothing, they did have a video project due in a few days anyway.
But Neji was quick enough to know that there was more to the question than the project. "Yeah, we can use my pace."
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Daylight entered in forms of white squares on the wood floor, making it conspicuous in the shadowy, empty house. Two pairs of shoes were laid out in the front hallway, showing that the house had guests.
"Do you want anything?" Neji walked into the kitchen and dropped off his briefcase on the table.
"No." Sasuke went into the living room and noticed how empty the room seemed without the framed photographs. Yet it didn't seem so stiff anymore, it actually seemed more suiting; the stuffed animals and little feminine ornaments that had newly decorated the area brought a sort of peace. He flipped one of the teddy bears over on the collection of animals on the fireplace shelf and saw a tag with a bubbly name neatly scribbled: Hinata.
Sasuke sat on the pillow at the traditional table as Neji came in with his video camera and linked it up to the television set in front of them. Neji knelt down and searched through a file cabinet of tapes, however, he pulled one out to far and a pile of cassettes fell into a heap on the ground.
Sasuke helped Neji pick them up, but not without observing each one. He noticed that each one of the cassettes was dated back at least six years ago. He picked one up labeled: Video Project, and at the bottom of the white sticker read in different handwritings: Neji (cursive), Lee (sloppy), and Tenten (thin and neat)
Neji took it from him and inserted it into the player without a word. He moved back and looked at the screen. It was slightly fuzzy from the quality of the player. But Sasuke could depict the face of a boy with square-cut bangs, black eyes, and ridiculously bushy eyebrows.
"Hello? Hello?! Testing! This is the handsome devil, Ro- OW!"
The boy's face fell out of view revealing a girl with her fist up from bonking the boy on the head. Her hair was set in two buns and her eyes showed that she was lively. "Oxymoron there, Lee. Your name and handsome can't go in a sentence together."
"Tenten that was mean!" The boy- Lee- whined. Sasuke assumed that it was him who was taking control of the video camera.
Another boy in the background snickered, his long hair tied in a ponytail and his eyes snow-pale.
"That's it Neji!" The screen now was placed on the ground, so that Sasuke could only see the feet. "I challenge you to a hundred laps around the house!"
Someone picked up the camera, showing Neji ignore Lee's determined challenge. "You're wasting our time, we're here to do a project."
"Round one. Let's watch this fascinating, once-in-a-lifetime experience where the ugly-devil faces off in an all out smack-down with the no-face genius." The video camera holder- the girl- whispered to the audience as the other two boys continued to have their one-sided argument.
"Ahem, no-faced?" Neji's voice came up into the speaker, disappearing from the screen.
The girl's voice giggled nervously, "Hah..hah...But what?! You are!"
"Okay, from now on, I'm in charge of the camera." The screen went to Tenten, who shrugged and ran further from the screen.
She stopped when she saw Lee spontaneously lifting a set of dumbbells, forty pounds each. "What. The. Crap. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?"
"This video should at least include the heroic strength of-
"Don't say it, please don't." The girl put a hand to her forehead and sighed. She sat down on a pillow by a table, by which Sasuke had just realized was the very pillow he was sitting on right now. The whole room was the very same room he was in right now.
"Maybe, they should see my super muscles!" Suddenly the camera had a scene of someone's arm flexing.
But it only lasted a minute before the frame shook as the holder tried to walk away, and the girl's voice yelled, "Lee, gross!"
"Woa-OW!" Something hit the ground with a thunk and Lee jumped up and down, the screen shook as Neji stifled a laugh until suddenly something came flying into the way of the screen.
"LEE! YOU IDIO-
A doorbell ring was heard and there was a bit of chatter from the hallway.
"Yin-chan! Your mother's here!"
The girl looked reluctant to leave and she walked over to the hall where an elegant, Oriental woman with short, curled hair stood smiling. "Mom, can I stay for just a bit longer?"
The woman smiled, "Maybe next time, Tenten, but you have a violin lesson, remember?"
The screen went blank.
However, not for long. The next scene was dated three days later, with the same three kids as one of them held the camera to show Tenten skipping down the street in a middle school uniform down the street. She looked at the camera and waved, "Hurry up Neji!"
A sigh came from the camera.
"Neji! I challenge you to a race to Tenten's house!" And without waiting for an answer from Neji, Lee raced off.
"But Lee! My house isn't that way..." The girl trailed, but then she scoffed and waved it off with a hand, "He'll find his way back somehow, whatever. Com'on."
She led the audience up to the very same house Sasuke had led Tenten to. As they entered the door, Sasuke saw how cozily clean the house was. It seemed the same as the house now, except the floor wasn't as cleanly-polished and the furniture didn't have that same uncomfortable, untouched feeling.
They went up the stairs and down the hallway where they entered her room. It was neatly kept, yet still had a comfortable feeling to it. She sat on her bed and faced the screen, bouncing up and down on the mattress. She sighed, "We still don't have an idea yet..."
The screen made a full rotation to introduce the audience to a full view of the room. Then the camera was fixed onto the shelf over the bed, with a collection of chibi plush dolls.
She took one off, a male plush doll with a huge blue eyes and silver hair, "We can make a play outta my plush dolls! Starring..." She squealed, "My Hitsugaya*!!!!"
The voice sighed, "No."
She carefully placed him back with the other dolls, "Fine, fine...But we still need an idea." She stepped on a sheet of paper and picked it up, observing it. From afar, Sasuke could see it was a test grade. "Oh yeah...it was the 94 I got from math..." She laughed sheepishly, "My mom freaked about that..."
She didn't seem to mind that much, as she paced to think of something. But a crash from the doorway broke her thought process.
"I WIN- Hey!" Lee made an attempted heroic entrance, but then his mouth dropped when he saw Neji standing before him. He pointed at the screen, "How did you get here so...Two hundred pushups!" He got down on the ground and started his pushups. The screen looked down on him.
The girl stood over him and shook her head, then she looked at Neji and mouthed a whisper, "I'm not even gonna bother telling him."
The camera shook with Neji's refrained scoff.
A squeaky noise came from the corner of the room. The screen went in the direction of the noise to reveal a cage, with a small hamster running in a wheel. The camera was set onto zoom and showed the creature running quickly.
The girl's face came into view as she knelt down next to the cage and scooped up the hamster, showing it's large, shining brown eyes and fluffy white-orange fur. "Say hi to Hamtarou!!" She winked.
"Hey!" Lee huffed from the distance, no longer in the screen, "Are you witnessing my power?"
"Uh...if you the truth, then no." The Asian girl rolled her eyes. "Lee, I bet Hamtarou can beat you!" Then she snapped her fingers, "I know! We'll make an obstacle course for Hamtarou!"
After making a complicated course consisting of everyday items, she set the hamster down on the floor and coaxed it. "Com'on Hammy...You can do it!"
"Done! Did you witness it! Huh?" Lee's breathless voice boomed into the screen and the whole camera went haywire. Even with the screen tilted and fallen on the ground, Sasuke saw that a pair of feet had knocked over the obstacle course, allowing the hamster to escape.
"LEE! LOOK WHAT YOU-"
Black and white lines overcame the television.
Sasuke knew it was over. The whole videotape had nothing to do with the video project he was doing right now, but he didn't care. Neji had planned to show him this the moment he invited him over. He sat in silence, waiting for Neji to say something.
Neji turned the television off with a click of the button on the remote. His pale eyes had a shadow cast over them, partially from the darkness, but there was something else as well.
"Fifth grade, she had one hell of a sense of humor." A small, remorseful smile crept up his face, "We were friends, and" he snorted, "she got into a lot of trouble with her mom sometimes, she wasn't as uptight." His smile faded quickly, "Dated two months before she died though."
Sasuke looked down at his hands and wondered out loud, "That was really her?"
"Yeah, it was. No matter how hard it is to believe it, it was." Neji continued to stare at the screen.
"Her mother...she committed suicide." Sasuke brought it up.
"Yeah, I heard that too." Neji flipped through a couple other cassettes, "But it changed her a lot. She lost all her friends. Suddenly, she lost..." He couldn't find the words anymore.
But Sasuke could. He understood perfectly. She lost all of herself. That was what he was trying to say. And it was true.
But why would her mother's death make her strive for perfection so much?
"Do you ever see the old her?" Sasuke found himself asking.
"Never." Neji re-winded the tape and paused it on Tenten's laughing face.
"But I wish she would come back."
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That night, the song was fast paced. It was almost like spring, with the high notes chirping like birds, and the vibrating notes like gurgling streams. Creating a bright and light melodic flow into the night, like the spring sky.
Sakura wiggled in place by Sasuke on their same spot on the tree. "I like this one the best."
Sasuke sighed. "They all sound the same."
She shook her head as if he was very wrong. "Ie. It sounds more...happier. Listen."
He did. And she was right. It sounded...
Like it had feeling.
And that feeling was friendliness. As if it was a song of laughter between friends, just by the tiniest bit. But it was something.
He found himself inspired to ask, "Is Yin your friend?"
She tipped her head and looked at him as if he had asked something very stupid. "Of course! That's a very, very silly question from Uchiha-kun!"
"Why?"
She hesitated, putting a finger to her cheek in wonder. Then she shrugged, as if it was the best answer, "I like her. Tenten-sensei-chan is really nice...and maybe if I can be closer friends with her, show her that I care, then maybe..." A gentle, understanding look silked over her face.
"I'll be able to see the real her."
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"I'm do-one!" Sakura closed her book with a bright smile towards Tenten.
Tenten gave a blank, warm smile. But Sasuke was starting to see something change inside her.
She didn't seem so cold anymore.
Sasuke looked at Sakura. Again, she somehow amazed him. No matter how clueless, how innocent she seemed, it was as if she knew everything about Tenten. But she knew nothing. She had an ability.
But he wasn't admiring. She was a people person. He wasn't. So what?
"Ne, ne~ There's a new ice-cream shop that opened! I want to go there after school! Tenten-sensei-chan, come with us?"
Tenten shook her head, "I'm so sorry, but-
"Lap three hundred sixty fou-OW!" A blur rushed past, tripping over Tenten's books and falling into a pile of complex paperwork.
Tenten blinked, looking at the boy with disturbingly tight gym clothes and noticeable eyebrows.
Naruto, who happened to have been in a heated one-sided fight with Shikamaru, shielded his eyes and yelled, "HOLY CRAP! I'M SCARRED!"
Sasuke had to admit, it was a bit unsettling. But he recognized him. He was that boy from Neji's video. Rock Lee.
The boy shook his head, rearranging his shiny black hair, defiant. "This is not scarring. You should feel blessed." Then he saw Neji under the tree and quickly stood up, making a scene of pointing at him. "Hyuuga Neji!" He announced dramatically as everyone else watched thinking he was insane. "We meet again! I challenge you-
Neji put a finger to his forehead from annoyance, "Give it up Lee. The answer is always no."
"Okay, okay! Are you done, kid?! I want to be able to see again!" Naruto yelled with his hands still over his eyes.
Lee glared at Naruto and pointed at him, "Fine! Then you, hideous, ignorant boy! Consider yourself challenged by the handsome devil!"
Naruto ranted and raved about something as Lee shot back. The two made a good pair for amusement, as many of the guys such as Shikamaru noticed. But Sakura tugged on Lee's shirt.
"Ano...excuse me, but could you help us pick up?" She looked at him with huge eyes.
Lee saluted, "Of course!" Then he looked down at saw Tenten reorganizing her stuff. "Hey! Tenten! I didn't see you there!"
Tenten looked down at her lap and nodded her hello. "Good day."
Sasuke felt a wave of frustration inside. Why wasn't she showing any form of emotion for her old friends? They had seemed close in the video. How could she act like it never happened?
Lee seemed to have known she would respond that way and looked away. The whole silence grew awkward.
But like always, Sakura unknowingly broke through the glass of discomfort. She leapt up and asked, "Then, can you get Tenten-sensei-chan to go to the ice cream store with us!? Please, please!?"
"Demo*, I'm busy..."
"No you're not." Sasuke interrupted, "You go to the library everyday, you can spare one day. You're going." He couldn't take it anymore. She was throwing away her life for no reason.
She may have thought she was making her father happy, but she wasn't. And he wanted to make she that she realized that. Realize that all they wanted was her back.
"I can't." Her amber eyes had a steely glaze to them, but in the dark brown was a flaming red that showed that she was fighting inside. Resisting something.
Sasuke didn't plan to anger her. Even though she wouldn't have shown her irritation- she was too cautious for that- he still wanted her to be happy with having friends. He wasn't going to force her too much. But without force, she would stay this way forever.
And for some reason, he didn't want her to be like this.
He flicked his eyes over to Sakura and saw the disappointment on her face. Luckily, Lee was able to make up for what Sasuke didn't know how to put in words. With attempted charm, Lee winked and gave a grin that showed his flashing teeth, "Tenten, please allow me to treat you to ice cream. You can't turn that down, right?"
"Any sane person would." Naruto muttered, but Shikamaru knocked him on the head.
"Manners, you dumbass, he's a junior!" Shikamaru seethed through his teeth.
Tenten looked lost for words, unsure how to refuse without causing some sort of dramatically pathetic scene from Lee. She blinked quickly, trying to think of a response.
But she wasn't fast enough. Before she could answer, Sakura cheered. "Yay! Ice cream with Tenten!"
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Sasuke had lied without being aware of it when he had reassured Tenten that the stop wouldn't take more than 10 minutes. By the time the door to the ice cream parlor opened with a chime of bells and they left, the sky was already dark, with only a thin thread of orange lining the horizon.
Sakura contently licked her (second) large cone of chocolate hazelnut ice cream, with a smile on her face that could easily be told that she was on the brink of having a sugar rush.
In the end, Sasuke had paid for their bill since it had turned out that Lee didn't have any money with him what so ever. Plus, he already knew Naruto was broke, and Shikamaru was too lazy to buy a wallet. Neji could've paid, however, since Sakura was the one who seemed addicted to sugar the most and she was more acquainted to Sasuke, Sasuke felt that he should be the one to pay for her as well. It wasn't that much money, since neither Sasuke nor Neji liked sweets.
But Tenten was the only one who paid for herself, refusing to be treated to. At first, she hadn't even planned on buying any ice cream, only sitting in stony silence. After a bit of prodding and annoying from Lee, they got her to buy something and to say a few words.
Sure, they mostly consisted of "Thank You"'s, "Yes"'s, and short phrases. But they were something. And most of all, the smile she had on when she walked out wasn't the same, gray smile. There was a bit of something in them, as if she actually meant to smile. And that was an improvement.
They passed by the toyshop when Naruto spotted a "super awesome" toy car and decided to act like a three year old by whining to have it.
"Look! It's a mobile ramen shop car!" Naruto pressed his nose against the glass.
Shikamaru slapped his forehead in annoyance, he wanted to go home and sleep. "It's amazing how much trash a person can a toy..."
"I WANT IT!!" Naruto yelled.
Sasuke covered his ears and gritted his teeth, "Shut up you loser. Go in and buy it yourself."
Naruto looked at Sasuke as if he had stated something incredibly stupid, "I'm broke." He looked at him expectantly.
Sasuke realized what he was implying. "No." He and the others started walking the other way. Sasuke noticed Tenten slowing her pace by a bit when they passed by a huge poster. It was the anime convention one that he saw from before.
" I bought her one of those cartoon dolls she used to love..."
Sasuke saw the familiarity between the poster and the video he saw at Neji's. It was anime. Tenten used to like anime. And it was a good chance that she still took interest in it, she only didn't want to show it.
Lee noticed it too. He looked up at the poster and pointed, "Hey! Neji! Remember? That's what Tenten would drag us to every spring!" He turned to Tenten, who ignored them and continued walking faster, eager to get rid of the remembrance.
But Lee wouldn't let it go, he called out. "Hey Tenten! When are we planning to go again?! I miss wearing my costumes!" He made his signature wink and grin, "And everyone wants to bear witness to the real-world Gotan!"
Neji gave Lee a look, telling him to knock it off. But Lee was oblivious to the situation, and Sasuke was somewhat grateful for that. Maybe Lee could also annoy Tenten enough to get her to go to the convention as well.
Eventually, the group grew smaller and smaller until it was only Neji, Lee, Sakura, Tenten, and Sasuke left. The first house coming up was Tenten's, and they decided unanimously to join her up the long driveway to say goodbye and to meet her father.
"Really, I can walk up myself." Tenten insisted.
But Sasuke could see through her intentions even with her mechanical expression. She didn't want to cause her father any trouble by bringing friends along. However, he knew that it was the exact opposite.
They rang the doorbell as Tenten rubbed her arms in discomfort. She wasn't angry as she most likely would've been before when Sasuke first met her, nor was she cold. She seemed to be nervous about her father's disapproving reaction that she expected, but at the same time, she didn't want to worry Neji and the others.
"Tenten-chan, how come you're so la-" Tenten's father opened the door and stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the people behind her.
Tenten spoke up, "Ah- Oto-sama*, they insisted on coming-
He didn't seem to mind. "Neji-kun! Lee-kun! Is that you?" He seemed pleasantly surprised, Sasuke could hear the excitement for his daughter hiding behind the mild voice.
Lee made a quick and straight salute, "Yes sir! It is true! I have grown much more muscl-"
Neji made a quick move to step on his foot, taking charge. "It's nice to see you again, Yin-san. You seem as healthy as always." He looked at Tenten shrink to the side silently as she felt that she was troubling her father further and further as they talked longer. "Lee and I decided on our own without Tenten's permission to see you."
Tenten's father chuckled, "Still polite as always, I see." He stepped aside, "Would you all like to come in? It's getting cold."
Sasuke saw something cold wash over Tenten's eyes when her father noted Neji's courtesy. Was it jealousy, or anger at herself?
Sakura chirped from the back of the group, "Are you Tenten-sensei-chan's oto-chan?" She looked curiously at him.
He smiled, "Yes, but she hasn't called me that in a long time." There was a bit of sadness in his eyes when he said this.
Then Sakura asked, "Sou desu ka*...Then ne, ne~ Can I go with Tenten-sensei-chan to the convention?"
Tenten turned her head quickly to Sakura's direction and tried to start, "No. I don't like anime anymore..."
Lee slapped Sakura on the back, "Good idea Sakura-chan! We can all go! We haven't been there in a while, right Tenten?"
Tenten looked to the other side, "Yes..." Sasuke could tell she didn't like the idea of wasting time for her enjoyment, but he knew that somewhere inside, there was someone who still was the girl she was six years ago.
It was up to him to make her understand that it was okay to let her show.
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That Saturday, all five found themselves surrounded by tides of fans dressed in cosplay of all sorts. They stayed together in the main hall to register, waiting in line to join the activities. Sakura openly stared at the variety of outfits, pointing and jumping when she saw something cute.
Well...at least we're not that weird. Sasuke told himself to try looking on the bright side as he shifted slightly in his stiff, gold collar and watched a boy his age dressed up in a large Pikachu costume. He looked down and felt the long blue cape swish behind him and the large, prominent red shoulder plates clink, wincing. Then again, he still felt pretty stupid.
He hadn't planned on wearing a costume; he didn't know that fans actually went this far. It was only the day before when he found out that people cosplayed during conventions from Lee, who was enthusiastically describing his costume. By then, it was too late; Sakura had already found out about it too. So she rushed him to three whole blocks worth of stores trying to find costumes that matched them well. He resisted at first, but he found that he was too weak to ignore the bright, child-like excited face that she had on.
He shook his head. It wasn't that he was weak, he had control over his thoughts. He had his reasons. And that reason was one that he didn't know yet. The only reason that he had right now was that Neji was also wearing a costume as well, which didn't make him feel as stupid.
However, Neji's costume didn't seem as pathetic as the one Sakura chose for Sasuke. Sasuke forced himself not to look in the mirror before he left; he knew that looking at his reflection would only make the humiliation worse. But the image of himself in the glass wearing the outfit from the day Sakura made him model it was still- sadly enough- in his mind.
With no say in any form or way, Sasuke was dressed as Takuto Meyers, some guy from "Galaxy Angels". He didn't know who he was, or how he acted, but he knew that it wasn't good. With the long blue cape, the red shoulder plates, and the white-gold suit with a tie tucked in, he looked like some sort of dorky prince from a fairy tale- something that Sasuke did not favor.
Sakura tugged on Sasuke's cape and pointed at someone else with huge eyes, "Look at that one!" As if everyone here was some specimen of a zoo animal she had never seen before.
Sasuke looked at Sakura and sighed. Dressed in a flowing pink dress and a flowery wedding-like veil as a hair band, she looked more as if she was going to a wedding rather than a convention. The red ribbons tied in the hair and at the top of her dress swirled around her as she tilted her head and smiled at him. "See? This isn't that bad!"
Easy for her to say. She was dressed as Milfuelle Sakuraba from Galaxy Angel II, which was acceptable for her since the series was feminine. But for him to be matching her in the same kind of show (for girls)...
As if Neji sensed his pain, he smirked. "Well, aren't you just popular everywhere?" He nodded at the direction of a group of girls dressed as maids, who were giggling and blushing at him.
Sasuke ignored Neji's comment. Neji gave a low laugh, "Ch...don't be so freaked out, it's just one day."
Easy for him to say. Neji's costume was by far less attention-attracting than Sasuke's. Plus, it was from a more, male-dominated anime: "Bleach". He didn't have to where a royal-like outfit, instead, he had on a traditional, all black hakama and kimono with a white vest-overcoat with 'six' in kanji on the back. Kuchiki Byakuya.
Tenten stood quietly waiting in line. She didn't look like she was enjoying the excitement, despite the fact that from what everyone had said, she used to be the biggest anime fan ever. But even though she was forced to be here, she dressed up anyway- as Neji's 'little sister', Kuchiki Rukia.
The only one thing that made Sasuke feel better about himself was Lee, who was "declaring himself to the world". Or if Sasuke were to put it in his own words, publicizing his own social-suicide. He was dressed as a Dragon Ball Z character, which meant dressing only in pants, half-dressed (or if you were looking in Sasuke's point of view: half-naked). Sasuke didn't even bother finding out who Lee was: he was just a dork. Period.
Lee flexed and yelled. "Fear the all powerful!" Little did he know that there was a whole circle of emptiness surrounding him: everyone was trying to avoid him, scared to let anyone think that they knew him.
Finally they got their admission passes. Sakura was about to call out to Lee as they walked up the case of stairs, but Neji stopped her and shook his head. It didn't work though, Lee noticed in the end anyway.
"Wow!" Sakura twirled in a circle with wide eyes. "There's so much to do here!"
And she was right. All around them there was some sort of activity. To the west hallway there were never-before-seen anime movies. To the east there was a huge room for the J-pop bands and dances where fans could hang out. Left of the ballroom were stands of merchandise; a bargaining area for all sorts of fandom. Directly opposite of that was a hallway of rooms for games and contests.
"What do we do first?" Sakura jumped up and down. Before anyone could say anything though, she ran right towards that movie area and looked at one of the posters for the movies. "Ooh! Ooh! Sakura likes this one! It looks cute!" She waved towards them.
As they made their way to her, she peered closer at the picture. Sasuke looked at the board and saw that the titling read: Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie. "Ne~ne~! It's right now! Can we watch it? Can we?"
Of course, they couldn't say no. But as they sat down and the lights dimmed, Sakura started to whisper questions. Sasuke didn't comment on them, he had no clue what was going on either. But Tenten was quick to answer each one, so she explained and answered each one of Sakura's curious questions precisely. After each time she did this, she made a motion to cover her mouth or had an odd expression on her face, as if she hadn't meant to say that. Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit smug about that. His plan was working.
After words, when the movie was over, Sakura skipped out of the room and smiled back at Tenten, "You know at lot about this stuff! That's so cool!"
She looked away uncomfortably, "It's not that much, I used to watch it just a little bit..." She didn't want to show any interest in a useless hobby like anime, but Sasuke could tell that she still liked it, after years of suppressing.
Lee slapped Tenten on the back, causing her to trip forward just a bit in surprise. "Ah Tenten, don't be so modest!" He winked at Sakura, "This girl's a genius at all things anime!"
She looked up and started, "No, it's not like I'm obsessed with it or-
"Really!?" Sakura grabbed Tenten's hands, her green eyes dancing in excitement. "Then ne~ Can you try that contest over there?!" She pointed at the poster.
It was the annual anime IQ contest, where players would go one vs. one to answer questions about shows to win a trophy. Sakura gazed with starry eyes at the trophy of a huge chibi, "It's so cute and shiny!"
Tenten was hesitant. To Sasuke, it was almost like she was scared to let herself go; that if she did join the competition, some side of her would show. The side that she had been trying to eliminate.
But he already knew that the moment they came here, that girl she was trying to erase was already starting to come back. She just needed a bit more pushing.
He walked to the registration stand and started to write her name down. Tenten rushed over, but that was after Sasuke had already paid and got the contestant sticker number. "What are you doing?"
"Contestant number 13." He handed it to her.
She looked lost about what to do as they joined the crowd. The yells and shouts were a mix of cheering and booing as the table they surrounded had two people sitting across on another with an announcer in the middle reading cards.
When they reached contestant 13, Tenten stood still as they called the number again and again. If she stood quietly there, perhaps they would think that she wasn't there and skip her.
But Lee ruined that plan, by pushing her forward and yelling, "Hurry Tenten! Run into the sunset of sweet victory!"
Tenten stumbled into the circle and looked almost like a rabbit, ready to run at any frightening noise. She still wasn't sure if she was strong enough to withhold the same feeling inside her that caused to answer all of Sakura's questions during the movie. She didn't want that feeling to overtake her.
It was almost like the same way Sasuke felt. Resistant to that nagging feeling that continuously tried taking over.
And like Sasuke, she couldn't defeat the surging side either. She looked into the crowd, seeing Neji and Sasuke's smirks, Lee's huge grin with his teeth gleaming at her, and Sakura waving her encouragement. She took a deep breath and sat down.
The moment she got her first question, the cage holding her back was clicked open.
"This character is from a Shonen Jump published anime and is known for his straw hat-
"Monkey D. Luffy." Tenten answered without a blink.
Each question she answered without a thought or without the tension in her eyes. To Sasuke, it seemed like this kind of contest was different than the math one. She seemed more carefree, less steely about missing a question. She almost seemed happy about being up there.
She stayed up there until beating contestant number 351. There was no contestant 252. She was the only one left. Everyone in the crowd was in suppressed mutters, all shocked at how fast the competition went.
"We have our winner! Congratulations!" They presented Tenten with the giant trophy.
As people took photographs of her, with the trophy in her hands, Tenten looked surprised, almost sad that the competition was over. The faint smile on her face, Sasuke could see that there was something more than conserved politeness. The curve of her mouth, the tiniest glow in her dark toffee eyes; there was actually someone in there happy and proud for herself.
As Sakura lead the way around the stands, trying to buy everything cute in her way, Tenten walked behind with Sasuke and Neji with a soft smile still left. As Neji avoided a conversation Sasuke only glanced sideways to watch Tenten look down at her trophy serenely.
Somehow, it gave him a feeling a peace that blanketed over the crashing, raging thoughts when remembering his father. Looking at her now, it made him feel less burdened...that maybe, he didn't have to be perfect. She was proof of it all, and he could enjoy life...
He shook his head. What was he thinking? He blew it all off when Sakura started to pester him about helping her haggle a price. Once he was done and Sakura was content again, they were about to leave he noticed Tenten was closely observing a doll that had a black school dress and short brown hair. She delicately touched the doll's hair, as if she ran through a quick check of whether or not it was in good quality.
Sasuke remembered the huge collection of dolls from the video and told the shop owner, "I'll add on three more dollars for that one." He pointed at the doll Tenten was kneeling down to touch.
The bargainer scowled but agreed, Sasuke handed it to Tenten. She looked up, surprised and guilty. "But-
"You wanted it. You had to buy something eventually." Sasuke shrugged and his firm voice that told her to keep it.
"Thank you..." She muttered, seeming unwilling to own the small doll. But through the downcast eyes, Sasuke caught her admiring the doll's skirt and hair.
They continued on with their day, and little by little, Sasuke found himself admitting in his thoughts that it wasn't as bad. He was actually enjoying himself. His thoughts wandered to how if he hadn't moved here, he would've still been in his apartment in the darkness, deep in his intentions of revenge. Yet here he was in a crowd of excitement, it was amazing how he had changed...he didn't want to confirm it, but for the first time, he had just realized that he was grateful not to be everything his father wanted him to be. He was happy not carrying the Uchiha expectations.
He was just fine being him.
The sun started to set through the tall windows. Shades of red started to graduate the sky, with the very top as purple. The orange glow bled through glass and into the large foyer, which laid a flush of flame shades over the heads of many people.
Tenten looked out the window with anxious worry, but hid it well since no one but Sasuke seemed to have noticed.
"It's fine. He won't be upset." He told her quietly as they continued to watch the fake sword-fighting contest.
She didn't seem like she believed him and still lingered on the thoughts of how upset and shamed her father would feel if she returned late for some convention that only people who didn't make use of life would go to, but a part of her still wanted to stay. So she kept silent.
Neji snickered and Sakura 'awwed' in sympathy for Lee as he lost (yet again) for the 23rd time. But unlike his friend Neji, Lee was not so unconfident in himself.
He paid another five dollars. "The handsome devil refuses to back down in a challenge he cannot overcome!" He announced, looking even more ridiculous with his Sayan-ish wig slipping off from all the fights he took on.
The other older boys groaned. It had been fun laughing at him in the beginning, but now it was getting annoying. One of them shouted, "Okay, that's it! If you think you're so tough, then why don't we all do a strength competition!"
If the comment was supposed to bring Lee down, it didn't work out, because Lee took it seriously and looked up. "That's a good idea! I accept!"
The person in charge of the contest looked at his watch, "Uh, look you guys, this time slot for this activity is up anyway, and the cosplay couple piggy-back ride contest is supposed to begin-
"Yes! That's it!" Lee gave a thumbs up (lame), "Who ever can win the next contest will prove themselves worthy of my title."
Neji rubbed his forehead and denied any relationship he had with Lee. "Like anyone would want a lame title like that." He muttered to Sasuke.
All the guys began to run off with their partners on their backs, eager to win and have the honors of getting rid of Lee. Neji sighed and looked away, "I'm not looking."
Sasuke agreed, and Sakura only sat in a W-sit, as if the whole thing went by too fast and she hadn't understood what just happened.
"Neji."
Neji turned and saw Lee bent over with his hands out behind him pointing towards Neji. He then understood what he meant and looked bewildered, "No. Definitely not-
"Aw~ Go Lee!" As if everything had finally just clicked into her head, Sakura stood up and was starting to cheer for Lee, unaware that he didn't even have a partner yet, and at the same time accidentally pushing Neji into Lee.
"What the-
Lee rushed off with a speed that Sasuke had to admit was impressive. But it was not as nearly impressive as it was hilarious as Neji continued to have his rough ride on Lee's back, with Lee forgetting the height difference and causing Neji to hit the hanging posters overhead.
He was about to smirk when he heard a laugh.
A laugh that was unfamiliar yet had a tone in it that he swore he knew.
He turned and saw Tenten with a hand covering her mouth that was an attempt to cover it up and hold back. But she fell into a fit of giggles and her shoulders shook with a giddy laugh of delight. Her eyes shone with a melted, translucent chocolate with a touch of hot autumn glow in them. They shone with cheerfulness. They shone with amusement.
They shone with her.
A/N: Longest chapter so far, sorry if it was a bother to read, those of you that decided to go all out and stick with me (THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL IF YOU RE READING THIS!) tell me if you felt that it was too lengthy. I'll change it for future readers.
I kinda uploaded this late, for a reason I'd just like to mention: I WATCHED TWILIGHT!!! Actually, I wasn't expecting it to be okay (cuz it was okay in its own way), I thought it'd be worse. But Edward was kinda stiff. But I loved Emmett and his knife waving, and Jasper was such a hottie in his baseball attire...
Back to the subject!!...
Just one question I was wondering, do you like Tenten or Hinata better so far? Or maybe Sakura (she's the last girl I'll be writing about, the big finale...)?
Yes, Tenten likes anime. In a way, I sort of based Tenten on me, so obviously, I figured she would like anime as well. All the characters of cosplaying and stuff are all from real anime. You can type up Mifuelle Sakuraba and Takuto Meyers and see what they look like (you'll also find that they're a couple, teehee).
Vocab:
Konbanwa- Good Evening
Fighto- Fight
-sensei-chan- I connected honorifics to make it seem un-informal at the same time while talking to a teacher.
Hajimemashite- Pleased to meet you (polite)
Tomodatchi- Friends
Oto-san- A more formal way to say 'father'
Oto-chan- A closer, babyish way to say 'daddy'
Demo- But
Sou desu ka- I see...
Characters:
Rock Lee- A junior, one of Tenten's old friends from middle school. And yes, he is still as weird as ever.
Please, please, please, super please comment! I likes feedback! It gives me my fire!