A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. All of your reviews really encouraged me:D Thanks! I'm sorry this update is a little late, but it's finally here. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Too Much

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time that day as she stood in front of a rather plain looking apartment door. Tenten lived in an old apartment on the outskirts of town. It was nothing special, but then again, Tenten wasn't the type to waste money on something that was fancy and pretty.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go running to Tenten again just because of one little thing with Sasuke. They hadn't talked about the only surviving Uchiha heir for years now, but still…she just had to talk to someone.

Sakura didn't know exactly when she and Tenten had gotten so close. She had never really gotten to know Tenten until after Sasuke's betrayal. Perhaps that was one good thing that came out of Sasuke's departure. It had brought her closer to Tenten.

Tenten wasn't her best friend. She wasn't like Ino, always so energetic and ready to talk and laugh and cry. Tenten was understanding and level headed with the perfect balance of kindness and independence. Tenten was like the older sister she never had, especially when it came to matters concerning Uchiha Sasuke.

When Sasuke had left, Sakura thought that she would never be able to smile again. All she could hear were his words echoing in her head over and over again. Every painful, haunting word he had ever told her. Everything inside of her ached, and there was this constant, heavy pain right where her heart was supposed to be. Everyone else had told her that they were sorry, and that there were better guys for her, and that she would get over him soon. But they were wrong. Sakura knew they were wrong. Because they had never known what it was like to have a broken heart.

She used to sit on the park bench every free moment she had, looking at the sky or gazing at the trees, but mostly watching the little children play on a little playground, laughing and screaming and doing all the things children normally do. It was the only time she felt at peace, sitting there on that bench.

Her friends were beginning to worry for her, especially Naruto. But she didn't care. No, she wasn't angry at them, just sad. So achingly sad that she could not find the strength to really care about anything else.

She remembered Tenten coming up to her one day with a purposeful stride and a somewhat intimidating air about her. She and Tenten had always been on friendly terms, but they had never actually talked about anything beyond missions and annoying teammates.

For awhile, they both just sat there on that park bench, watching the little children play on the nearby playground.

"Why do you come here, Sakura?" Tenten's voice was soft and coaxing, and yet the question almost made Sakura jump. "You come here everyday, and all you do is watch the children play on that jungle gym with a spaced out smile on your face." Tenten said it simply and matter of factly, and her brown eyes did not stray from the laughing children.

Sakura didn't know how to respond, so she said the only thing she felt comfortable saying. "Are you stalking me, Tenten?" Her voice was light and playful, and obviously was trying to veer away from the subject. Tenten didn't even crack a polite smile. Her face stayed as it was, smooth and serene and almost happy even though she wasn't smiling.

"There are few people who come to the park everyday just to see a smiling, innocent face." Tenten finally turned to look into Sakura's wide, green eyes. "That's because there are few people in the world who suffer as we do."

Tenten's lips curved upward ever so slightly. "It's the only thing that makes you the slightest bit happy isn't it? Watching others be happy. Their joy leaks off of them, and into you, and you feel relaxed, and safe. And then you leave, and you're all alone again, and you wait for the next day. You wait for someone to smile at you, to laugh, and to do all the things that you can't do because of the dull, aching pain in your chest."

Nothing could be heard in the still air between the two kunoichi except for the shrieking and laughing of the children.

"Would you like to come over to my house for dinner tomorrow?" Tenten asked suddenly, the air suddenly lightening up between them. In an instant, Tenten changed from the sad, world-weary woman she had been for the past several minutes and back into the smiling, joking kunoichi Sakura had always known her to be.

Sakura sat there, stunned, before slowly returning the other girl's bright smile. "That would be great," she said, and for the first time in a long time, she actually meant it.

As time wore on, Sakura found that she could smile again and really mean it. She realized that with each passing day her heart was slowly getting lighter and lighter (though the heaviness never had completely gone away because no matter what anyone else said, Sakura had had her heart broken, and heartbreak is not something that can ever be completely healed).

With Tenten's constant encouragement and support, she was able to forget the boy known as Uchiha Sasuke, the only surviving person of the Uchiha massacre and the boy who she thought she had been in love with.

That is, until a couple of hours ago, when Uchiha Sasuke had come tumbling back into her life so suddenly that she didn't know what to do.

Sakura had spent hours in her apartment, trying to forget about Sasuke. Telling herself this and that until she didn't know what she thought anymore. She couldn't go to Ino. Ino would be sympathetic, but she wouldn't understand. Tenten would understand, she always did.

With that last thought, Sakura gathered her courage and raised her hand to knock on the door.

Tenten answered the door with a tired expression that Sakura had never seen her with before. Briefly, she once wondered if it was such a good idea to dump all of her troubles on Tenten. The poor girl looked like she had had enough troubles for the day. With much effort, she forced the thought to the back of her mind. It was too late to back out now.

"Hey Tenten." A small, almost hesitant smile accompanied the quiet greeting.

Tenten smiled that same comforting smile she always had. "Sakura," her voice held welcome and just a faint trace of relief. "I'm glad it's you. I thought…" she trailed off before smiling once again. "Well, I was expecting you. How have you been? Come in." Tenten stood aside to let the pink-haired girl into her scantily furnished apartment.

"I've been…fine," she replied, stepping in and seating herself down on the couch.

"I'm going to ask again, and this time, if you're going to lie, make it sound convincing," Tenten told her friend. "How are you doing, Sakura?"

"I…" Oh what was she thinking? What could she tell Tenten? That she was still in love with a man who had ruined her life and tore her heart and stepped on the broken pieces so that it took eight years to put them back together. Was she even in love with him? Was it just that infatuation coming up again? Was it an old habit that just wouldn't die?

"I'm so confused…" Sakura groaned out finally, cradling her head in her hands as she got up and started pacing the room. "Tenten, I can't fall in love with him. Not now that I've finally just gotten over him. We can be—friends now, can't we?"

Sakura turned sharply to look at Tenten from across the room, her emerald green eyes holding a desperate plea. Begging Tenten to say that everything would be alright. That she didn't love Sasuke anymore and all of this ridiculous drama in her life could finally end.

A sad look clouded over Tenten's hazel eyes. "Oh Sakura . . ." She bit her lip, the only physical sign of nervousness that Tenten ever really allowed herself to display. "I think," she began unsurely, "that real, true love is something that lasts forever. Something that stays inside of you always." Each word was pronounced slowly and painfully, as if it hurt Tenten to say them. "Love can cause feelings that nothing else can. It can lift you up higher than you could ever imagine…and it can also hurt you more than anything."

Something about the look in Tenten's eyes made Sakura feel small; as if she was just a child standing in the presence of a fallen angel who had lost her heaven. All thoughts of Sasuke momentarily flew out of her mind as she worried over her friend.

Sakura had long ago found out that Tenten was often not what she appeared to be. To almost everyone else, Tenten was a smiling, ambitious ninja well on her way to becoming one of Konoha's most renowned kunoichi. But Sakura knew Tenten. Sakura knew that Tenten was so much deeper, so much sadder, than anyone ever knew. And yet, after all these years, Sakura still hadn't found out much about Tenten's past.

"You've been in love." Sakura's voice was quiet, but not unsure.

Surprise flashed through Tenten's eyes before it was covered by a smile. "I have loved, but I have absolutely no clue what it is like to be in love."

"You're lying," Sakura ground out between clenched teeth. Why did Tenten have to be so stubborn? "You're lying," she repeated. "How could you say such things about love if you haven't experienced it yourself? How can you understand me when no one else can? Tell me, Tenten," she pleaded, desperate to comfort and help Tenten as she had comforted and helped her. "You know you can trust me."

"I can understand you because I know what sorrow is. And there are certain things, Sakura, that should not be spoken aloud."

"It's Neji isn't it?"

Tenten looked away, her breath coming out just a little faster, her heart beating just a little quicker. "This has nothing to do with him," her voice was strong and hard and perfectly controlled.

"It has everything to do with him," Sakura said, exasperated with the older girl's pig-headedness. There was a pause, and then her eyes softened. "You should take some of your own advice, Tenten. I know that you lost your parents when you were little. I know that it hurt you. But…can't you give yourself a chance to be happy again too?"

Tenten closed her eyes, Sakura's words cutting straight into her heart. "I…"

The door burst open at that very moment, an exuberant Lee practically skipping into the apartment. "Tenten! I have come with wonderful news! Gai-sensei and I—" He stopped abruptly as he saw an irritated Sakura sitting next to a surprised Tenten. "Oh, Sakura-san! I'm so glad you are here to celebrate youthful joy with Tenten and I!"

Dang it, Lee. You've got to have the worst timing ever… thought Sakura inwardly. On the outside, she just smiled. She could continue her conversation with Tenten later. "Hey Lee."

Tenten also smiled rather shakily at her friend, thankful (for once) for Lee's horrible timing. "What were you saying again?"

"Oh yes! Guess what, Tenten? Sakura-san will be joining our ANBU team!" Lee burst out; smiling brightly at the embarrassed looking pink-haired kunoichi sitting to Tenten's left.

To Lee's surprise, Tenten did not look happy or excited. In fact, she just looked as if she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide as she turned to look at Sakura. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked sharply.

Sakura seemed confused as she answered almost timidly, "I didn't think it mattered much…"

Tenten looked absolutely shocked, her brown eyes swirling with too many emotions to be named.

"Are you angry Tenten?" Lee asked, obviously just as confused as Sakura. "I thought you would be happy to know that Sakura will be joining us on—"

"Of course I'm not happy!" Tenten almost shouted, standing up suddenly. "Why—" she stuttered in disbelief, "What could have possibly possessed you to go for ANBU?"

Tenten's words hurt Sakura's pride more than she'd have liked to admit. "You and I both know that I'm more than qualified to be joining ANBU, Tenten," Sakura shot back in a voice that was almost too cold and unattached to be hers.

Tenten appeared as if she was about to say something, but quickly shut her mouth. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to explain; but it was all too much. Neji and her past and Sakura joining ANBU, it was all just too much. She pressed a hand up against her aching head, wishing that everything would just go away.

Sakura stood up suddenly. "I don't know what's been wrong with you lately, Tenten, but you'd better fix it soon." With brisk, controlled steps, she walked past a shocked Lee and out the door.

"Sakura…" Tenten called after her friend half-heartedly. She knew that Sakura was angry at her. It'd probably take the younger girl a few days to calm down. Maybe…oh goodness, she was too tired for all of this drama.

She collapsed back onto the couch, sighing and cradling her head in her hands.

"What?" she looked up at the only person left in the room with tired eyes. "Aren't you going to leave me too?"

Lee, as usual, ignored her question, instead moving to sit down across from her. "Tenten, what's wrong?" He looked at her with concerned eyes.

Her lips twitched upward in an attempt at a smile. "Nothing's wrong Lee."

Lee patiently waited for her to answer the question truthfully. Sure enough, a few seconds later she heaved out a sigh and started to speak. "It's just…Sakura's too young to be joining ANBU. It's not for her, don't you get it? She's young and she's innocent and she's got so much to live for. She—she's just a girl."

There was a brief pause. "When I think of Sakura, I think of a girl who's still learning how to live life. A girl who's still learning how to fall in love, and how to deal with things that hurt her. She doesn't know what we do, Lee." She looked at Lee almost desperately. "She doesn't know about the darkness or the blood or the stench of dozens of rotting corpses. She's not ready."

"Sakura has taken a life before," he tried to argue back, but his voice was uncertain, like a child trying to argue with his mother.

"You know what I mean Lee."

And Lee did know what she meant. He had been in ANBU just as long as Tenten and Neji had, and he knew it was no job of glory or fame. They did things that should never be spoken of. They were the shadows in the night that murdered fathers and mothers and loved ones. When children from enemy villages went to sleep at night, their nightmares were full of them. The ANBU of Konoha.

And, in reality, Lee didn't want to put Sakura through that. But he also would not discourage her. If Sakura believed she could join ANBU, then who was he to doubt her. He had thought Tenten would think the same way, but obviously he was mistaken.

"She's a kunoichi, Tenten, just like you."

"No, she's not like me! That's the whole point! She's got a family Lee, and she's got someone to love."

Lee frowned. Sakura had been right. Tenten had been acting quite strangely lately. She simply hadn't been her normal self. When she smiled, it seemed forced and a bit fake, and she was constantly belittling herself.

"We're your family, Tenten," he told her with a kind of faith and confidence that only he could possess. "Me and Neji and Gai-sensei." He smiled and struck a half hearted good-guy pose, trying to lighten up the mood. "You don't need anyone else."

"I…" she sighed and then stood up again, making a shooing motion with her hands. "I'm tired, Lee. Go home already."

"But wait—" Lee protested as he was shoved almost forcefully out the door. "Tenten—" The door promptly slammed shut in his face.

He hung his head in a defeated manner that was very un-Lee-like and sighed. What had just happened? He had caused a fight between Tenten and Sakura, two girls that had never fought before. What had he done?

After a few moments his head snapped back up and his eyes shone once again with youth and determination. "I should go talk to Neji," he told himself firmly. "He's the one who trains with her. Maybe he knows what our beautiful flower might be suffering with!"

And with renewed youthful determination, Lee (literally) skipped off to the Hyuuga estate, completely oblivious to the fact that it was almost midnight.

A/N: Well, this chapter was a very hard one to write. I hope I portrayed Tenten and Sakura's relationship correctly. It looked good in my head, but I just couldn't find the right words to write it down. It seemed too angsty and I'm sorry that I never got to make Lee his usual self in this chapter. But when you think about it, Lee can't be crazy all the time. I believe that, when the situation calls for it, he can be very subdued and sensitive.

Anyways, I'm sincerely sorry if this chapter was disappointing. Feel free to flame me or criticize me or whatever.

Oh yeah! I've got a question for you guys. I'm just curious.

Who is your absolute favorite Naruto character and why?

You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just wondering. Please review! Bye!

nothing but blue…