Disclaimer: I do not own any of the naruto characters
My story is inspired by Tamora Pierce's books. I'm boring and I have no originality, but I hope to eventually change that.
Tenten and her friends are all about 10 years old at the beginning of this fic.
Somewhat AU, maybe neji-ten later.
She was furious. All she had worked for would be gone, gone in a flash if she was to do what her parents wished.
"No! Mother, please leave me alone! I refuse to go to that so-called 'finishing school'! Let me develop my skills in weaponry and martial arts! You can't deny that I'm better at it than most people, even the boys!"
"Tenten! I'm tired of arguing with you about this! For the nth time, I will not let you run around like a wildcat anymore, doing whatever you please! It's high time you learned how to look and act like a lady!" Her mother started to raise the intensity of her glare.
Tenten stared, feeling the anger rolling off her mother in waves. No! I won't give in! I'm just as angry as she is, and I've spent all this time training for nothing? What can I do though? She'll never let me alone to do my own things… I'll definitely need some counseling in this.
"Tenten--" But it was too late. Before her mother could finish what she was saying, Tenten had run off so she wouldn't have to listen to her mother rant, and so she could figure out how to make it all work out. "Tenten…" her mother muttered and narrowed her eyes. "You better not pull any tricks on me…" She ominously ended her sentence.
Meanwhile, Tenten had run off toward her friend Haruno Sakura's house, where she hoped Sakura could give her some advice on how to deal with her mother and how she could pull off what she had wanted ever since she was little, to become a ninja. She ran down the road, passing shops, restaurants, houses, finally reaching a medium sized building of light brown wood. Steadying herself, she took a deep breath and knocked.
"So she started harping on being a 'little lady' and talking about sending me to finishing school again!" Tenten fumed to her friend. She glared at the wall as if she could burn a hole through the innocent wood. The wall seemed to cower under her gaze.
Sakura, who also shared her interest in the fighting arts, was more compliant with her parents' wishes and didn't mind becoming a lady that much, so she was going to be off to finishing school in a matter of weeks. She sighed. She really wanted to help Tenten achieve her dream of becoming a ninja, there been any female ninja for the past fifty years, partly because few girls wanted to live the hard life, and partly because females were rarely accepted to the ninja academy. Still, her loyalty to her friend prevailed, and she pushed her common sense away. Sigh… I hope I wont regret this.
"Okay… here's what we'll do. First, since ninjas-in-training will be living at Ninja Camp & Headquarters, a.k.a. the Ninja Academy, you'll first have to get ready to leave home for… say…several years?" Sakura slightly hoped this would discourage her friend though she knew it probably wouldn't. Well, it was worth a shot.
"Of course!" Tenten replied. "I've already bought all the clothes I'll bring along, and naturally some weapons too! Besides, that's how long I would be away at finishing school anyway. Come on, use that big brain of yours to think up something I can say to my mom, who happens to be pissed off and will need to be tricked into thinking that I'm going to go compliantly to finishing school."
Tenten, compliant, finishing school? Those words just don't go together without a 'not' in there, ever. Inner Sakura laughed to herself. "Anyway… as I was say-ing, you'll need to prepare all that stuff, and furthermore… someone at finishing school will have to send your parents' letters to the Ninja Academy so you can reply while convincing them that you're still at finishing school. Yes, you'll say that you're going to finally give in and-- "
"Naturally, you'll help me do the letter part, right?"
"As a friend, I guess… I will." Sakura faked a long-suffering sigh. "But you should know, there will be many, many problems for a girl attending ninja school… you're posing as a boy, right? Yeah, it will simplify some things. Boys won't try to chase you away, or act superior if they think you're 'one of them'; they'll probably treat you as one of them. Hopefully, at least. They might not be normal though, you never know. I once heard something about this guy…" Sakura rambled off about a story of a ninja trainee that started to dance in his boxers in class in his third year of schooling. "… So we wouldn't want your innocent eyes tainted by something like that, would we?" Sakura laughed out loud (A/N: she lol'ed:O).
Tenten rolled her eyes and poked Sakura in the shoulder. "Innocent? I wouldn't be talking if I were you, dear Sakura."
"Oh that reminds me, the clothes you bought are boys' clothing, right? Did you get boxers too?" She sniggered.
Tenten rolled her eyes yet again but nodded, remembering how strangely the saleslady had looked at her that day. "Well, I'm obviously going to wear underwear underneath."
"Anyway, back to the point. Once you get back home, you should tell your mom that it's useless for you to argue with her, and make sure to look dejected and downtrodden, like all the hope in your life has been sucked away. We wouldn't want her to suspect something because of a few missing theatrics, after all. Acting is very important."
"Yes, acting is very important." Tenten mimicked her friend and stuck out her tongue.
As the sun set, Tenten began to make her way back. She hummed a little tune and envisioned the far-off future, when she would finally be a ninja. Never before had her world felt so perfect. Everything was going to turn out all right. Her dream was going to come true.
The road leading to her house came to an abrupt stop, and Tenten took a moment to compose herself. Acting. Right now, it's all an act. She allowed a depressed, beaten look to envelop her and slouched her shoulders. Just as she was about to knock, her mother jerked the door open. The look on her face was incredibly scary, but as soon as she saw Tenten, she relaxed a bit. Not that it made much of a difference, but anyway. "Where were you? I was just about to look for you! Don't run off again, especially in the middle of while I'm talking to you! And don't think we've solved the problem either! Your father and I aren't about to change our minds soon, so you better prepare yourself for years at the ladies' school! Why-"
Tenten cut her off. "Yes mother, I know." She sighed and somehow managed to leak a tear out of her eye. Inwardly, she thought: I could be an actress, haha. "I went to talk to Sakura, and she convinced me that it was no use to try and argue with you anymore. Fate is fate. I guess I'm fated to be a lady."
Her mother blinked. And blinked. And stood there with her mouth agape. She couldn't believe it! Her daughter had finally given up on her foolish dream and decided to listen to her parents! What a miracle! It must have been that Haruno girl's doing. I must remember to thank her one of these days. She beamed. "Why Tenten, this is great news! I
must go tell your father! This is …this is… wonderful!" She hurried off in search of Tenten's father.
Tenten smirked. It worked. She fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I'll have to thank Sakura one of these days..
