Chapter 4:

"Ugh." Tenten groaned as she slowly opened her eyes only to shut them as she registered the pounding in her head.

Drawing from her small well of knowledge regarding medical ninjutsu. She placed a hand on her forehead and sent a small stream of chakra to massage her pounding temples.

"Hopefully this will do the trick." She thought, feeling the charka begin to sooth her headache. A few moments later she opened her eyes again and looked at the destroyed foliage around her.

"Why am I-"she mentally questioned only to stop as her memories rushed back to her. "That's right, I was training with Naruto. He'd just caught me and-"

Tenten's face suddenly started heating up as the last bit of her memory clicked into place.

"N-no way. That must've been a dream?" Tenten thought in a flurry before shaking her head violently. "No-no way that was real. I mean I wouldn't- he couldn't-gah!" She silently screamed in embarrassment, while trying to hide her face with both hands.

Suddenly a loud crash interrupted Tenten's mental gymnastics causing her to remember the source of this headache in the first place.

"Lee!" She angrily yelled and quickly jumped to her feet, running towards the sound of the crash.

Embarrassment had always been a difficult emotion for Tenten to process, but anger at her teammate's stupid actions…now that was an emotion she could handle.

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Deeper into the Forest

"Stay down Lee!" Naruto yelled to the shinobi laying across a broken tree several feet away; however, in an instant Lee lunged at him with speeds rivaling his own putting Naruto on the defensive.

"Never!" Lee shouted, launching a new wave of punches and kicks at the blond, who only managed to dodge so many before the taijutsu master got the better of him and landed a hard kick to the stomach sending Naruto flying into a large boulder.

"Damn that hurt." Naruto mentally complained and substituted away mere moments before Lee hit the boulder with full power, sending pieces of it flying through the air.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Kurama asked as Lee turned to look at Naruto, his eyes still blazing with determination.

"I can't beat Lee in Taijutsu." Naruto mentally reasoned as he took another fighting stance. "Even going into Biju or sage mode, he'd just open the gates, find an opening and beat the crap out of me."

"Only if you held back" The demon fox growled. "Stop pulling your punches and let's end this now."

"I'm not trying to hurt him!" Naruto mentally fired back, just as Lee launched at him with another set of blistering kicks and punches.

"The feeling isn't mutual brat." The fox stated. "You now have 2 broken ribs and 2 more cracked. I'm healing them, but the more damage you take the slower this gets."

"I know!" Naruto shouted aloud, as he managed to finally counter one of Lee's punches with one of his own. His blow failed to connect, but it did cause the new Green Beast of the Leaf to back off several feet giving Naruto the reprieve he needed to catch his breath and go on the offensive.

Making an all too familiar hand sign Naruto created several dozen clones around him.

"How original." Kurama grunted

"I like to stick to the classics." Naruto mentally deadpanned, before deciding to attempt diplomacy one more time.

"Last chance Lee." Naruto warned. "Let's just talk about this. I don't want to hurt you."

"You take advantage of my teammate, betray both mine and Gai-sensei's trust, and expect me to stand down. " Lee rhetorically asked, taking a step towards Naruto. "You have fallen far Naruto but I will set you back on the right path."

"I didn't take advantage of anyone!" Naruto yelled out, his face turning slightly red with embarrassment. "I already told you, we were training, that's it!"

"So you weren't trying to kiss her a minute ago?" Lee angrily questioned getting even closer.

"Well…I-n-no. I-it wasn't like that!" Naruto stuttered out his face a deep crimson.

"And did you not look upon her with lust?"

"What?" Naruto screeched, "W-we were training!"

"Enough!" Lee yelled as he was almost close enough to launch his attack, one he was certain would put his rogue friend in his place. "At first I didn't believe Gai-sensei when he told me you may try to use the teachings of your teachers to try and take advantage of Tenten's youthful naivety. Now I see how much of a fool I was to doubt Gai-Sensei's wisdom."

As Lee moved to take one final step before launching his attack he suddenly had to backtrack as 2 kunai impaled the ground, mere centimeters from his foot.

Naruto's POV

"Did I try to kiss Tenten. I mean we're friends but that's really all...Right? I just got caught up in the moment, I was just happy that I finally caught her. That's all." A very flustered Naruto's mind raced as he tried to control the heat on his face.

"Not the time brat." Kurama angrily growled. "Your opponent's moving closer."

"I-I know that." Naruto mentally stuttered back, trying to focus on the fight at hand. "If he takes one more step, I'll make my move."

He watched as Lee moved to take that last step, only to stop as 2 Kunia landed right in his path.

"What?" Naruto thought with widened eyes, as he turned to the source of the thrown weapons.

"Hello Lee" Tenten stated smoothly with eyes closed, arms behind her back, and a massive smile on her face.

"T-Tenten!" Naruto heard Lee stutter out and turned just in time to see him take a step back.

"Did I hear that Gai-Sensei told you to come here?" Tenten asked sweetly as she took a step forward, only to be matched by Lee taking one back.

Naruto looked between the two who moved as if he weren't there, before long Tenten had passed him without even a glance.

"I-he-we thought." Lee hurriedly tried to speak but found his words had left him.

"That Naruto was trying to take advantage of me? Take advantage of my youth? Naivety?" Tenten asked as she took another step towards the taijutsu master who soon found himself backed against the shattered remains of the boulder he'd kicked Naruto into earlier.

Unable to move backwards, Lee fearfully nodded his head as the weapon's mistress moved to stand in front of him. She placed her left hand against the boulder just a hair away from his head and opened her eyes to glare at the trembling man in front of her.

"Naruto" She called to the blond behind her, but never once taking her eyes off Lee.

"Y-yeah." Naruto responded, unsure what was happening but felt a strong urge to leave.

"Do you mind going back to the clearing? Lee and I have some team business to discuss." Tenten asked, her voice uncharacteristically sweet.

"Y-yeah sure thing." Naruto said and quickly left the two ninjas alone..

"Now Lee, lets talk about my naivety."

30 minutes Later At The Clearing.

"Well, that was interesting." Kurama stated after they'd made it back to the log where Naruto had taken his shirt off earlier.

"Yeah, you aren't kidding." The blond replied wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Bushy Brow really packs a punch."

"We both know that's not what I'm talking about." Kurama stated. "You almost-"

"Nothing happened between me and Tenten." Naruto yelled aloud, his face suddenly turning red. "W-we were just training."

"Funny." The fox replied. "I wasn't even referring to the girl. Got something on your mind runt?"

"I-I-you" Naruto tried to stutter out but couldn't find the words.

"Huh, has your heartbeat always been this loud?" The fox mused in what Naruto just knew was a smirk.

"J-just leave me-"Naruto began to growl out, only to be cut off by a voice yelling his name from the side of the clearing he'd come from several minutes prior.

He turned to see Tenten coming up with a dejected looking Lee right behind her. Seeing the weapons mistress brought a unexpected heat back to his face, and for reasons the blond couldn't process he felt nervousness bubble up as she drew closer.

"Hey Tenten." He stated lamely, while doing his best to both repress this nervous feeling and ignore Kurama's boisterous laughter.

"Sorry I took so long." Tenten apologized, she gave Naruto a small smile that seemed to calm the blond down.

"No problem." He replied evenly, matching her smile with one of his own. "Did everything go ok?"

"Oh yeah." Tenten said looking back at Lee, who took a step back. "You can say that Lee and I came to an understanding. Right Lee?"

"Y-yes." Lee nodded and turned to Naruto. "Naruto."

"Wha-"Naruto began but was taken aback as Lee suddenly gave a deep bow and began to yell.

"Please accept my apology for attacking you, it was wrong. I am sorry!" The martial artist screamed

"And." Tenten stated with crossed arms, still looking at Lee.

"And I promise to never do it again!" Lee yelled.

"No worries, Lee." Naruto stated, rubbing the back of his head at Bushy Brows over the top apology. "I'm just glad we worked everything out."

"As am I." The leaf ninja responded before standing straight up. He gave a quick glance at Tenten, and then back to Naruto. "Now I must be off. To make up for my mistake I must run 5000 laps around the village before daybreak."

"Bye Lee." Tenten stated with a wave as Naruto watched Lee disappear in his insane speed, leaving the two ninjas alone with each other.

Silence seemed to stretch on for several seconds before Tenten broke the silence by sitting down in the grass and looking up at the sky.

"I'm sorry to." She said looking up at the clouds. "About Lee I mean. Apparently Gai-sensei filled his head with some nonsense, and he thought he was protecting me."

"Yeah, it sounded like they thought I was trying to take advantage of you or something." Naruto replied, taking a spot on the grass beside her.

"They always have been a bit crazy." Tenten stated with a small sigh. "But they mean well, I-I hope you aren't too angry with them."

"They were looking out for their friend and teammate." Naruto replied, turning to Tenten with a big smile. "How can I be upset at that? Besides having a brief spar with Lee was pretty good practice."

Tenten felt her face heat up slightly and looked away from the Blond's smile. "H-he said he landed a couple hits on you. Are you ok?"

"He broke a rib or two." Naruto admitted. "But I'm fine, I have Kurama to heal me so I'm good as new. At this point I can barely even tell I was in a fight."

"I'm glad to hear that." Tenten replied softly while standing up. "I had a really good time sparring with you." She said looking at the blond with a smile. "I hope we can do it again soon."

"You bet!" Naruto replied, standing up, his smile turning into a determined grin. "I think I learned a lot today, and besides you wanted to look at Master Jiraiya and my dad's seals, right?"

"Y-you mean your still gong to let me look them over. After everything?" Tenten asked in surprise.

"Of course. I made you a promise, didn't I?" Naruto responded, causing Tenten face to brighten into a huge smile.

"Thanks Naruto! You're the best!" She yelled in excitement, lunging at the surprised blond. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug; however, this only lasted for a moment as both quickly realized what happened. Tenten's eyes widened, and she felt her own face redden, she quickly released the blond's neck and backed up several steps.

"A-anyway, it's getting late. I better get going." She stated with a hint of nervousness as she looked away from the blond with one of her hands behind her back. A very slight blush on her cheeks.

"Y-yeah, I better grab my cloths and head back to. Don't want to be late for whatever Kakashi-sensei has in store for me tomorrow." Naruto tried to joke.

"H-have a good night, Naruto." Tenten spoke softly as she began to walk away only to stop. "I-really did have fun."

"Me to." Naruto replied and watched as the Weapons Mistress walked away only to disappear into the forest.

Naruto turned his focus to the log he'd left his cloths on; however, instead of putting them on he simply sat on the log and looked at the darkened sky above as if in deep thought.

"You ok kid?" He finally heard the fox speak after several moments of silence.

"I don't know." Naruto replied not breaking eye contact with the moon above. "I just felt- I don't know."

"She's something aint she kid?' The fox responded.

"Yeah, she sure is."

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Meanwhile

Tenten leaned back against a tree she'd stopped at on the way back to the village. She looked back at the way she'd left Naruto and back again.

"I-I don't get it." She said aloud, raising a hand to her heart only to feel the strong beats of her heart. "What's this feeling?"

She'd trained with so many ninjas over her career. Men, women, old, and young. She'd met so many exceptional Shinobi, her own teammates among them, but never had it made her feel as she felt now.

In fact, training with Naruto, no, just being around him today gave her a feeling that she just couldn't place. In fact, she'd experienced several foreign emotions around the blond that she just wasn't sure how to comprehend. Among the most foreign had been nervousness, embarrassment, and shyness; however, above all had been this one indescribable emotion. Something that she knew, yet still couldn't place.

It was an emotion like happiness, but in an odd way. A happiness she hadn't felt since…since the war. Since Neji's death. Sparring with Naruto had brought it out, but what happened in the forest…and then their conversation after strengthened the feeling 100-fold.

"I don't understand." She thought while biting her lip subconsciously.

She stayed there leaning against the tree pondering everything that had happened today. From her visiting Gai, to meeting up with Naruto for lunch, to their training, and finally to the conversation they just had. She mentally went through everything, only for her eyes to finally widen in realization as the answer slammed into her like a train.

The feeling that gnawed at her, that seemed to be shaking her to her core was…peace. A peace that she hadn't felt in months, possibly longer. In the short time she spent with the knuckle headed ninja, she'd had more fun and had been happier than she's been in a long time.

She knew in her heart it was something she craved, but only realized just how much when she'd gotten a taste of it.

Suddenly she began to feel a wetness in her eyes. Taking her hand, she rubbed both her eyes and confirmed her suspicious. She was crying.

"Damn it." She quietly cursed after wiping her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with me? A shinobi like me doesn't cry." Yet even so more water came, and it was too the point where she felt as if a dam inside of her was ready to burst.

"N-no." She mentally refuted this feeling welling up inside of her, this feeling that threatened her control over her own emotions. "This isn't who I am. I'm not some weakling who lets their emotions control them"

Steeling herself, she began speaking aloud.

"I am a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village. I've killed people, saved even more. I've seen death, survived war. I'm not some pathetic schoolgirl who lets their emotions control them. I don't freeze, I don't get nervous, and ' ." With each statement she felt stronger, more in control, until finally she walked away from the tree with a determined step.

"I won't be this pathetic." She mentally affirmed. "I'm a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, people count on me to protect their families. Our village. If I let something like this bother me, it'll be a slap in the face of everything I believe in."

"Even so…I really do hope I see you again soon…Naruto."

CHAPTER END

AUTHORS NOTES:

Hello everyone, sorry for the long delay in posting this. I a lot of things happened on a personal level that set me back months of writing time, and then when I finally had time to write I couldn't find the words to do so. After days of bitter pondering, I finally opened my word doc, looked over what I had written….and promptly deleted it and started from scratch. Which honestly is just par for the course for me. When I stopped writing this story quite some time ago, I had a good idea where I wanted to take it; however, I decided to change it up a bit, if only just. My main goal has always been to make a more realistic mature romance. It's my first time doing this sort of thing, so I really appreciate all the constructive feedback (yes even you Mr/ Mrs. "This story was a bad idea 😊 ). All jokes aside, I really do hope you all enjoy reading it. If it wasn't for all your reviews, messages, favorites, and alerts I'm not sure when I would've picked this story back up. So I thank you all the wonderful readers of the world. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and an even better New Year. Covid be damned.

So, this chapter had a lot of goals. There's so much that I want to say about Tenten's emotional state, Naruto's mixed emotions, and even how she handled Lee; however, I think I'll practice the less is best approach. Of course, I'll gladly answer any reviews / emails if able.

P.S. This chapter is far shorter than last chapter, but I feel it's a proper stopping point. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but I'm going to try and make it sooner rather than later.

Please Read, Review, but above all Enjoy!

Guardian's Blade- OUT!