Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Summary: Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Chapter 6: Envy
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Envy: invidia; Resentment of others for their possessions
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The whistling of the kunai was the only thing that signaled its flight to the tree as it moved too quickly for the eye to see. It landed with a loud 'thud' as it imbedded itself in the wood and several leaves floated down.
'Damn it.'
A round of shuriken was thrown at the same spot, sparks flying out when metal scraped against metal.
'DAMN it.'
A barrage of exploding tagged kunai was then hurtled at the tree and in seconds, it had teetered over and splintered another tree.
'DAMN IT!'
Tenten leaped forward to collect her weapons and repeated this process with another tree.
'We failed.'
She screamed and ran at a tree some meters away, aiming her kunai so that once she reached the trunk, she could run up without chakra and leap down.
"I FAILED!"
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the wind rushing past her as she fell to the ground, landing with a graceful flip and then reaching into her seemingly endless supply of kunai and shuriken and flung them in random directions.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!"
She took a wakizashi and threw it with all her might, slicing off a thick branch from one of the trees. She then threw shuriken in a line at the falling branch and, with a running head start and the help of quite a bit of chakra, kicked it fifteen meters away.
"ARG!"
How could that mission have failed? HOW! It was just a retrieval mission!
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"Apparently one of our ninja were injured at this outpost," Shikamaru muttered as he scanned the mission scroll. "It's a simple C class mission. It should be easy. We'll take the route through the forest to the village and pick up all reports as well as the ninja."
Tenten and Ino nodded.
"We'll meet here at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Pack enough for a week."
Tenten nodded again and, seeing that he was done talking, she walked away to go pack. She wasn't really in the mood for training today.
The next morning, the trio leapt up to the branches of the trees of the forest and swiftly headed towards the village. It was only a day and a half's run away, but the return trip would take much longer with the injured ninja.
They reached the village the night after the day they left and headed for the village's infirmary.
"It's too quiet here," Shikamaru murmured.
"Yeah. It's kinda creepy. Do you think it was just a trap?" Ino whispered quietly.
"They didn't specifically request for us so I doubt it was us they wanted…"
Tenten remained silent and they continued on to their way to the white building to pick up their ninjas. When they entered it, however, it seemed empty and, just as it was outside, eerily quiet.
"May I help you?"
Ino gasped in surprise while Shikamaru and Tenten turned around. Shikamaru had noticed her shadow moments before, as had Tenten.
"We're the ninja from Konoha here to pick up our injured nin."
The nurse nodded, "Follow me."
The three teens followed the nurse to a room and slid open the door. Ino gasped. Tenten's eyes narrowed. Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest and the nurse copied.
The nin there were all blank eyed with blue tinted lips and black splotches on their skin. "That's the result of the kurotakai poison. It takes a full twenty-four hours for the poison to. Don't worry, it was relatively painless for your friends."
The nurse smirked and reached to pull kunai from the pouch at her waist only to find that she couldn't move. She glared at Shikamaru, who shrugged, forcing her to do so as well, "Kagemane no Jutsu."
"You BASTARD!"
Apparently that was a signal because a swarm of missing nin attacked right then.
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Tenten shuddered as she remembered the genjutsu she had been trapped in. Her family dead. Her teammates dead. Tsunade, though dead, whispered to her that she had failed. She remembered the horror she felt coursing through her when she had fallen onto the corpse of a chuunin she recognized. Chouji.
They had Shikamaru! They had Ino. They had her! They had still failed. She had failed. The missing nin were either dead or escaped, the daimyo released from his prison, but had they gotten there earlier they might've saved the lives of twenty Konoha nin hired there as guards.
'If I had been able to use an effective jutsu…Even that bimbo Ino can do ninjutsu! I should learn some more. It's so unfair! IT'S SO UNFAIR! I work so hard and she just comes prancing in with her perfect hair and her ninjutsu skills!'
Tenten unsheathed her katana and examined her reflection. She kept perfect care of her weapons so they shone the same as the day they had been bought.
'Brown eyes, brown hair. Olive complexion.'
She looked down at her front and then twisted to see her back.
'Average bust. Short legs. Small waist. Small butt, thick ankles.'
She sighed angrily and punched a tree, cursing when she drew her hand bloodied away.
'I bet Ino doesn't have a single scar on her! She probably has perfect, smooth skin, while I have scars everywhere! She probably has Sakura fix them for her.'
Tenten scowled darkly. How come everyone else had everything, while she had nothing? She didn't have beautiful looks or impressive skills or even coveted blood. She thought back to the chuunin exam when Lee had gotten hits on Gaara. GAARA! She had been defeated in mere minutes by his sister and Lee, without any ninjutsu or weapons, had gotten hits on a DEMON VESSEL!
Tenten felt her pent up frustration come in the form of tears.
Neji had fought a memorable battle with Naruto. She had lost in MINUTES! She was always overshadowed by her team. Hell, she was even in the background compared to Ino and Sakura, whose match had been the most boring one in the prelims. Who knew the name of Tenten then?
Who knew the name of Tenten now? What with the Genius of Geniuses and the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha. Compared to the firey, beautiful Yamanaka Ino who could charm a shogun or a daimyo in a week and disappear seconds after she killed them and Haruno Sakura, promising student of Tenten's idol, Tsunade, and a quickly advancing medical nin.
Look at Hinata! She was the heir to the Hyuuga clan! Why was she the most unremarkable kunoichi of her generation!
'Stupid Sakura. She thinks that just because she trains with Tsunade, that she's better than everyone else. Her forehead is so fucking huge, I would've thought that she'd cast a genjutsu to hide it just like her teacher does to hide her age. She spends so much time on her hair and nails! She's so stupid! She's even dumber than Ino. At least Ino gave up on Sasuke when she was still a genin. I can't believe that pink haired idiot is still chasing him.'
Tenten looked at her hands and screamed in frustration, bringing them up to cover her face. Her average, run of the mill, easily overlooked face.
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Tenten sat hunched over her bowl of ramen when Naruto and Sakura wandered over. She scowled and put her hand on the side of her face, blocking it from view of her fellow chuunins.
'How come she can stay so skinny with the crap she eats? I hate her so much. I bet she never exercises. She's probably bulemic!'
"Um, it's Tenten-san, right?"
"What do you want!" Tenten snapped angrily.
'How come she gets such a nice voice? How come she gets green eyes and pink hair when I'm stuck with brown. She doesn't deserve anything. No one would even notice her if she wasn't teammates with Sasuke and Naruto.'
"Well, I noticed your hand was bleeding and I was wondering if you nee—"
Tenten finally snapped. "I DON'T NEED ANY HELP FROM YOU!" she roared and she flung some coins onto the counter before sprinting away from the confused and angry kunoichi behind her and towards her house.
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'I have nothing. Everyone else has everything. It isn't fair. None of them deserve it.'
Thud
'None of them work. I hate my life. No, I hate them. I hate them for making me feel like this.'
Thud
'I hate them I hate them I hate them I hate them. I wish I could trade places with them. Just for one day. Just for one day I wanna be them. Let them feel how it is to be constantly ignored. I hate them it's not fair I want to be them.'
Thud. Another kunai.
'Stupid Haruno. Stupid Ino. Stupid Hinata. Stupid bloodline traits. Stupid chakra. Stupid stereotypical people who overlook personality.'
Thud
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Tenten walked out in the street two weeks later and spotted Sakura and Hinata. They smiled and waved to her, both slightly nervous and Sakura with a bit of anger. Tenten grinned back and waved, "Hey guys!"
'Until next time, then.'
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A/N: Please review. I've had stories with less chapters and visits and more reviews.
