Tenten; 4 Years Later

Age 17

-Critical Encouragement-

I was called to the Hokage's office! Yes, yes!

I knew I was going to become a chuunin. What luck too! It was my last chance before Consolidation. All the kids my age who didn't pass this genin exam had to go up to the mountains so I was extra happy when I was called down.

Now that I finally had my vest, I could impress Neji. And if this didn't impress him, I didn't know what in the world could.

Maybe I was jumping the gun though…maybe I was called here for some other reason…

Just then, Shikamaru poked his head out the door. "Tenten?" he said.

"Oh, hi Shikamaru!" I said. It's not like I knew him personally, but everyone at least knows who he is.

"Sorry, but I have to make this short." He said. "I've got a hundred other things to do today. Congratulations." He handed me a brand new chuunin vest. It almost glowed as I took it.

"Thanks so much!" I said. "Don't worry about it being short, though! I've got a hundred other things to do today too!"

Like show Neji my new vest!

I went to wave goodbye to Shikamaru, but he had already disappeared back into his office.

I almost laughed to myself as I slipped the vest on to make sure it fit. It did! It was absolutely perfect! Now all I had to do was find Neji!

I casually began walking out of the building when I passed by a room that was filled with people. Chuunins and jounins, to be exact.

Oh!

It was the jounin and ANBU nominations. I saw Neji across the room so I could only assume that's what it was.

I'd just wait for him outside.

I skipped down the stairs and stood outside the door so I'd be sure to catch him before he ran off. I waited around for a reasonable amount of time before people started coming out.

Neji certainly took his time but when he finally did come out, I made sure to catch his attention. "Neji!" I said as I spun around to model my new vest. "Take a look at this!"

He looked me up and down a few times and then continued walking.

"Very nice." He said, but he sounded OH SO sarcastic.

It's just Neji playing hard to get with his critical encouragement.

"Aren't you impressed?" I asked.

Neji went from looking shocked, to disgusted, and then to annoyed. Had I said something that would potentially offend him? That was always a worry of mine when I was around Neji. Though, I don't think I was alone when it came to that fear.

"No," he said.

NO?

"If anything, I'm rather ashamed that you and I were on the same team. It certainly says something about the other female ninjas that graduated the same year as us if our supposed best one is only now being promoted."

A simple, "No," would have sufficed.

"Neji…" I began in protest. Part of me, I guess, had expected him to say something along those lines.

"What's worse, now my time is being wasted." Neji went on.

Now I didn't know what to say. Neji had been my secret crush for years and never once had he ever faltered in my presence or been impressed by a single thing I did.

I stumbled over my words, but the only thing I succeeded in was proving that I was an idiot.

That's when Lee arrived.

"HEY YOU TWO!!!" he yelled, stampeding out of the Hokage's office.

Lee looked happy all the time. I didn't want to make him worry or anything so I quickly smiled. It was hard not to smile. After all, Lee's horribly disfigured face was amusing enough to make anyone laugh.

"Oh, hi Lee!" I said, suddenly feeling really bad that I had just called him horribly disfigured.

"TENTEN!!" screamed Lee so loudly it made me jump. "You have your vest! CONGRATULATIONS!!!"

"Yeah!" I said excitedly, glad that SOMEONE appreciated it. "I'm the only one who passed this time around!"

"Now we're ALL chuunins!" Lee yelled. "YAY!!"

That's so like Lee to always look at things THAT way.

"I won't be a chuunin for long." Neji said.

And…that is so like Neji to always look at things…like that.

"That's right!" Lee said. "Congratulations on being nominated!"

Lee was bouncing around in place. I knew he had come over here for only one piece of information; how did Sakura do? I could tell he didn't want to ask the question because he was supposed to be happy for us for our various achievements but I didn't want him to feel awkward and walk away without getting the information that he wanted.

"Hey Lee, don't you want to know how Sakura did?" I asked him.

"Yeah!" he said immediately.

"Well, when she found out she wasn't promoted, she quit."

"She what?"

Oops. I guess that was a little too blunt.

"Good." Neji said. "One less to have to worry about. I have to leave now."

That Neji…

"But…WHY?" Lee said. I was confused at first, but then I realized that he was still talking about Sakura. "She was an excellent ninja!"

I felt so bad for him. He was completely blind to everything Sakura did and completely deaf to everything Sakura said. As much as I hated to crush his heart, I hated to Sakura crush it even more.

"Lee…open your eyes." I said, grabbing his shoulders so he couldn't just wander away. "She is not what she seems. She's only toying with you because she knows that she can. She never ever EVER has ANY intentions of EVER taking you seriously."

"I'll win her eventually!" said Lee.

"Lee, you should give up now and find a girl who loves you back." I said, even though I knew he'd have to search pretty hard for one of THOSE. "You're seventeen now. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but you have to grow up."

Lee looked very hurt. I wanted to take my words back.

"What about you, Tenten?" said Lee. "How long are you going to chase Neji for?"

Oooh…Lee…I didn't want my words back anymore. He could have them.

"THAT is different." I said, not really wanting to touch him anymore.

"You're seventeen too, Tenten." Lee said. "You can't chase your girlish dreams forever. But you shouldn't worry…I know you'll find someone who appreciates you."

I felt so betrayed! I should have never told him I liked Neji! Wait… did I even tell him that? Well, I guess I made it pretty obvious…

But how dare he turn the conversation around so it was about me! We were talking about HIM!

He turned around and started walking away.

I was angry with both of my former teammates, but I could talk to Lee any time I wanted. I had to get to Neji now.

So I chased after him. As I walked, I could feel little tears streaming down my face but I quickly wiped them away. I suddenly heard my name.

Neji? Where is he?

I looked up. No, not Neji. It was Naruto on his roof. How disappointing.

"Hey Tenten!!" Naruto yelled, waving his arms around.

"Hi Naruto!" I said, waving back.

"Hi!" Naruto said. "Hey, did the Hokage say anything about forgetting to send a ninja to my house? Are you coming by to tell me about it?"

Oh come on, really Naruto. How stupid can you get?

"No…" I said, wanting to put this in the best possible way. "The Hokage said I was the only one who passed this year."

"Yeah." Naruto said. "Only one. Except me."

Had he not heard me?

"No…I was the only one."

He only remained in the same spot and stared at me.

I thought he was going to say something, but he didn't.

I didn't want to seem rude… but Neji was leaving…I was going to lose sight of him.

Naruto only continued to hang there.

I finally gave up on Naruto and chased after Neji.

I think he knew I was following him, though, because he started moving faster. I was so angry with him! He finally stopped and leaned up against a tree, in such a pompous way that suggested he was just going to let me vent.

And VENT was what I was going to do!

"Hyuuga Neji!" I yelled, pointing directly at him.

"What?" he said innocently, but there was nothing innocent about him.

"I just don't understand you!" I yelled. "What you're looking for is a woman who is strong! But look at me! I bent over backwards to become a chuunin for you!"

I think I might have finally cracked. I didn't mean to tell him that.

"Exactly." Neji said. "I have no interest in a woman who's doing something solely to attract the attention of a man."

"What will it take for me to get you to notice me?!" I demanded. I figured I was already losing, so why not just find out?

"You're not a Hyuuga, for one thing, Tenten." Neji said. "I cannot marry outside the clan."

How could Neji be thinking about MARRIAGE?! I thought that was something the GIRLS always did! Besides, it's not like I wanted to MARRY him, I just wanted to show him off to people and maybe…well, you know! I'm seventeen and I'm still a virgin! I didn't want to be a virgin forever!

"I'm not thinking of MARRIAGE!" I confessed. "I just want to—" I quickly caught myself before I added, "lose my virginity". I'm pretty sure that that wouldn't have gone over well with Neji.

That's when I noticed that Sakura had come up out of nowhere. She only stood there and watched, giving Neji new ammo to work with.

"So did Sakura set you up to do this?" Neji asked.

I shook my head.

"I don't believe you." Neji said coldly.

"No…" I said, lowering my voice. I felt a little self-conscious now that Sakura was there. "It was all me. I just thought that maybe if I showed you that female ninjas were…"

"What?" Neji interrupted. "All exactly the same?"

No…were…not all exactly the same.

"You're all too caught up in love that you'll never amount to anything." Neji said, not even pausing to let me absorb what he was saying. He just threw rapid fire insults at me that I couldn't take in all at once. "Tenten, you're just barely a chuunin because you've been too busy drooling over me and Sasuke…"

I looked at the ground. Neji was, in part, right. If I hadn't been so concerned about becoming a chuunin just for him then maybe I would have become a chuunin for myself.

Like Ino had.

Ino was an example that all female ninjas should follow.

Then, as if making fun of me wasn't bad enough, Neji turned to Sakura and become insulting her as if she had done anything to him. "And Sakura, you're too caught up trying to look beautiful for Sasuke that you'll probably never even surpass genin rank."

"What?" Sakura said.

"The only female ninja I've seen amount to anything is Ino." Neji said.

He was right.

He was right!

"Ino's twice as obnoxious about being with Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Neji sighed.

I could feel tears coming out of my eyes, but I couldn't do anything to stop them. Neji and Sakura just continued to bicker.

"From what I saw, Ino worked hard, became a ninja and impressed Sasuke because of that." Neji said.

I couldn't listen to this any more. I pushed past Sakura and got out of there as fast as I could. Neji wasn't a person I should find security in. I had to find someone else. But who would want someone like me? I'm no good. I'm no good at all.