Okay, first off, I'm SO so sorry about the delay. I was attending Akon, and had to prepare for that, and I'm attending Otakon, and trying to prepare for THAt, so my attention for writing is all over the place. Also, I'm changing the format/plotline for this story a bit. There might be more than four chapters for this arc, just to flesh out the roles a bit more. Wasn't my initial intention, but hey...

Sorry for any errors in this as well. This is only semi-beta'd and my beta's likely going to be unavailable for another few days. I wanted to get this up however, before I forgot about it. When she comes back, I'll fix things, and replace. I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but I think that's because I wanted to try to make it at least partially succeed in setting things up for at least this portion of the girls' lives. :)

Also, thanks for all the kind words and reviews!

Given the events of a few years ago, Tenten didn't think she'd actually set foot in Sand village as a guest.. She stood with a bag of her belongings, taking in the sights. Fortunately, there were no sand storms so Tenten was able to see the village clearly. It wasn't as well built as Konoha, and it was rather obvious that Sand was a poorer village than her own. But there was strength everywhere that she looked, and she knew that was what mattered.

She took a couple of steps forward, prompted by her escorts before a clearing of a throat caught her attention. She glanced to the side, and actually smiled. "Temari."

"Tenten."

As the Sand kunoichi approached, the Sand escorts stepped away from Tenten with a bow of respect to Temari then left. "Didn't think you'd play the part of the welcoming committee."

Temari gave a shrug of her shoulder before she smirked. "Wanted to see how you guys looked. It's not like I've been paying a lot of attention to the growth of you leafs."

Tenten's lips pulled thin only for a moment before she said, "There's only a few of us this time around."

Temari nodded and looked behind Tenten as she spoke, "And two of you are fighting each other. How do you feel about that?"

Tenten gave a shrug of her own, not really wanting to answer verbally. On one hand, she was able to rationalize it as something that just happens. On the other, her opponent was one of the very few real friends Tenten had. "Some things can't be avoided. I'm not about to back out of my chance for promotion just because I have to beat up someone I care about."

Temari smirked at that, and she was about to answer before she was joined by someone else. "Was wondering when you guys'd show up." Shikamaru stopped next to Temari, and looked past Tenten's shoulder. "Where's the rest?"

Tenten's posture stiffened slightly seeing the two of them together. She knew it wouldn't be so bad, really, if Temari would just lay off on the little looks here and there for the Chuunin. And it really wasn't because she had any real business with it. She just knew that someone else caught those looks just as easily.

"NARA!"

Speaking of which, Tenten mused with a slight chuckle, letting her eyes closed. She turned around to watch as what appeared to be a rather large figure charge towards the group of them, with a smaller one in tow. As they neared, though, the 'large' figure was simply one person riding on top of another's back. … And beating the other's head furiously.

"Nara! Getcher girlfriend off'a me!" Kiba came to a halt in Tenten's general area, and she tried very hard not to laugh at the sight that was being presented to her.

Ino had one leg thrown over one of Kiba's shoulders, the other wrapped around his waist. One arm was holding his remaining shoulder for leverage while she was repeatedly hitting his head with one of her sandals. Ino was babbling something about Kiba not having manners or something like that, which made the scene all the more amusing. Hinata coming up behind them, pleading with Ino to stop hitting on Kiba was the icing on the cake.

Temari's eyebrows raised and Shikamaru snorted. "Not my girlfriend. She's been on your team for the last two years. You do something with her." There was a slight note of amusement in his voice, and Tenten thought she caught the edge of a smirk from him as well.

Kiba huffed and began yanking on Ino's various thrown limbs. "Get offa me already, woman! Yer actin' like a drunk festival date." He tossed a self-assured grin over his shoulder, "I mean, if ya wanted me that badly, all ya had ta do wa—OW! HEY!"

Ino had just smacked him over the head with her sandal, before she peeked over his parka. Tenten tried to ignore the look that flashed over her features momentarily at seeing Shikamaru and Temari standing together. But then, she replaced it with a smile and waved her toes at the two. "Don't mind us, we're just having a little chat on what's acceptable behavior and what isn't."

Temari snorted, "And you're displaying the perfect example by beating him?"

"Don't you beat your dogs when they're bad?" Ino asked with absolutely perfect feigned innocence.

Temari frowned for a moment, before she asked, "How have you two managed to work together for so long, and actually make it to the chuunin finals three times in a row?"

"Kiba-kun and Ino-chan work very well when they have to, Temari-san," Hinata said, rather clearly. Her days of stuttering were a thing of the past. She then sighed as Ino and Kiba went back to barking and beating on each other. "It's the rest of the time you have to worry about…"

Shikamaru snorted, before he shook his head. "You guys should go set up. Temari's agreed to show you all around when you're ready." He turned to walk away, but he stopped in order to catch Temari's eye, a look she returned, and then he continued on his way.

Tenten gave a slight frown, and looked at Hinata. She was fidgeting with her coat strings, and sighing. That let Tenten know that there was something in that exchange of looks that she didn't just imagine.

The silence caught Tenten's attention, however. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw that Kiba was idly stroking one of Ino's arms in a soothing gesture, and she grit her teeth.

Ino had caught the look as well.

"Kiba, get off the ceiling…"

"Anou, Kiba-kun…"

"ARGH! How come I gotta stay in th' room! It's a beautiful afternoon outside and I—"

"Kiba, if you don't calm down right this moment, I'll show you just how handy being a weapons expert is…"

"Yes'm."

Tenten almost laughed at the expressions Ino and Hinata gave her as Kiba obeyed, but she managed to simply look smug. "What?"

"How do you do that?" Ino asked.

She shrugged in response. "When you were teamed up with Neji and Lee as long as I was, you learned quickly how to keep them quiet." She wanted to comment so badly at Kiba's sulking. He was crouched on his bed, his hands tucked under his feet and giving her his best kicked puppy expression. She was just waiting for him to give up, before she did anything. After two years, she knew Ino was used to it, and while Hinata might've given in before, two years under Ino's guidance did wonders in that department.

After a moment of silence from all three girls, Kiba fell over to the side and grumbled into his pillow. Ino simply shook her head before she flipped the page of her book. Her mood seemed to have been doing better since she first arrived. She was still rather sedate for the most part. "Don't blame him. What's up with them, anyway? Paranoid much?"

Tenten frowned for a moment, looking up from cleaning her weapons. "I'm not sure," she said quietly. Really, she didn't think too much about it. Perhaps Sand was just a little more strict about things than their own village, but she could understand where a couple of kids used to their freedom would end up getting restless.

Glancing at the clock, she sighed a bit then looked out the open window. A tense silence fell in the room while Kiba tried to occupy himself, and Ino took pop shots at him when he didn't behave. But, strangely enough, watching the two of them, then when Hinata got in on things and tried to make them both calm down, provided enough entertainment that time past quickly.

As the sun was setting behind her, Tenten glanced up when Ino made an announcement while grabbing Kiba's collar.

"Alright," she said with a tone of determination, "I don't care what those Sand punks say. I'm bored so I'm going to walk the dog." With that, Ino turned and all but yanked Kiba off of the chair he was sitting on, and moved to drag him out of the room. There was a lot of protest on Kiba's part and it almost drowned Ino's request to go for a walk from the guards that were placed in the hallway. When the pair didn't return, Tenten assumed that permission was granted, and she turned back to her weapons. It was good for the two of them, Tenten figured, to get out a bit. Ino seemed to have a lot on her mind, and Kiba was… well… being Kiba

Besides, it gave her some the opportunity to finish the weapons maintenance in peace.

She nearly jumped though, when Hinata sat down next to her, and asked her how she was doing. Tenten had forgotten about her, considering she was so quiet compared to her teammates.

"I'm doing alright, Hinata," Tenten replied, setting her weapons aside. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," she replied quietly, the fingers of one hand tapping the back of her other hand. "I'm just… nervous this time."

Tenten blinked before she smiled softly at the other kunoichi. "You'll be alright, Hinata. You've trained a lot, and we all feel that you're worlds above your opponent. Just remember what Ino found out about him, and keep that in mind, and you'll be fine."

HInata shook her head and began to fidget. "It… it isn't that. It's that… that… Neji nii-san will be attending this one. It'll be the first one he's attended and…I'm afraid that…that I'll disappoint him."

Tenten resisted the urge to chuckle, figuring that would go against the support that Hinata needed. Hinata used to be so worried about disappointing her father. It was just amusing on some level to see her fretting over disappointing her cousin. "If it helps, Hinata," Tenten began, reaching out to take Hinata's hands, "Neji's so far been very proud of you and your progress. Just do your best. Show him how much you've learned from him, and I promise, he won't be disappointed."

The other girl looked a bit unsure. "Are you certain?"

Tenten nodded. "I'm sure. If you worry about this, then you won't be completely devoted to your task, and that'll end up being your downfall. Don't worry about Neji, just concentrate on yourself, and getting through this match."

Hinata appeared as if she was still unsure, and even went to protest, but she finally sighed quietly and gave a slight nod.

Silence fell between the two, and Tenten decided to stand up and watch the village from their window. After a moment, she heard Hinata stand up in order to join her.

"Are you nervous, Tenten…?" Hinata asked.

Tenten thought about this, and she shrugged. "Maybe a little, but it isn't the first time I made it to the finals."

There was a shake from the Hyuuga's head. "No… that's not what I meant, Tenten. You're opponent…"

"Will fight me like the kunoichi she is, Hinata. I don't expect anything less from her." Tenten gave her a smile, reaching over to take her hands. "Don't worry. Don't worry about me, her, or Neji. You need to think about yourself, alright? You've come so far, you don't need to lose it just because you're so worried."

Hinata was hesitant, but finally she nodded. "Y..you're right, Tenten. I just… I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

Tenten sighed for a moment, and then looked out the window. "You'll have to get used to that, Hinata. We're ninja… someone close is always going to get hurt."