Note: Naruto doesn't belong to me, blah blah blah
She couldn't even look at the envelope that came addressed to her.
They had just come back from a long sparring session. Both of them drenched in sweat with the fans blowing wind at the highest power, Sasuke had walked off to take a shower. Tenten leaned back on the kitchen counter with a cold container of juice while she flipped through her mail. A fancy envelope lined with silver took her attention as she realized what it could only be. She could already feel a pit driving down her heart as she mentally berated herself for even thinking about the feelings that she tried so hard to repress. Slowly, Tenten summed up the courage to slowly perforate the envelope. Reading the card, she could only quickly put it down on the counter and run to her room.
Sasuke towel dried off his hair as he walked into the kitchen to grab something to drink. A bright opened card caught his attention as he peered over to read the contents. An invitation to a dinner party at the Hyuuga estate. Not thinking much of it, he walked towards Tenten's room to tell her that it was her turn to shower. Knocking on the door, Sasuke looked down upon a red-eyed girl. "The shower's ready," he said, pretending to not notice her crying.
Quickly jumping into the shower, she let her hair freefall. Warmth surrounded her and for a brief moment, there was serenity. A change of mood shifted as the feeling of hopelessness started to arise. The water weighed her down. She could feel only the heaviness of her drenched body. Her long hair in front of her face as her half lit eyes gazed down at the water draining. Though it seemed that gloom washed on her, she thought she could stay in that familiar feeling forever.
Tenten came out of the shower feeling selfish. She wanted to go to the dinner party to support Neji, but how long would it be before she would break down and make a fool of herself. It hurt seeing him with his future wife, it hurt knowing that she could never just be around him. The deep rumble of his voice, the way he spun his words with such eloquence, hearing Neji's voice caused her heart to melt like ice in summer heat. With a ring of her doorbell, Tenten walked over to her door to find a familiar face clad in green.
"Tenten! Youthful flower of Team Gai! How has your day been!"
Tenten smiled as she couldn't help but enjoy Lee's positive attitude at a time like this.
His round eyes stared at her in concern. Lee received an invitation to the dinner party at the Hyuuga estate and there was no doubt in his mind that Tenten got one as well. That day his white-eyed teammate told them about his engagement squashed any hope for Lee to finally see his two teammates romantically involved. It made sense to him; Tenten was obviously in love with Neji and the only person who seemed to not notice this was Neji himself.
"Are you going to the party?" Lee's thick eyebrows pursed themselves together with a glowing worry.
Her teeth started to grind as she tried to hold back tears.
"I refuse to go to this event knowing that it causes you such heartbreak," said her normally exuberant teammate. "You truly don't deserve to be put through seeing him with another woman."
Tenten bent her head down letting out a nervous laugh. She wished she didn't have to deal with this. It was already hard enough trying to push the images of Neji out of her head. His voice, his eyes, his movement, she remembered everything too well about him. Everything around her reminded her of him, they had trained too long together to not have those kind of memories etched. The pain in her aching heart, she just wanted it to go away.
"You should go."
Tenten and Lee turned their heads in surprise to see Sasuke standing with a towel around his neck. The wet haired ninja glanced over at Tenten's crying eyes as he let out a breath. Perhaps he shouldn't have interjected, but his own feelings took over. Sasuke regretted not staying with Team 7. The day Tsunade assigned him to stay with Tenten was also the day he had to say goodbye to Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi. All those years he spent at the Sound Village when he could have been with his team. Now he could only watch them leave as he stayed back a criminal of Konoha. I can't let you lament like I have on what could have been, you still have the chance to cherish the memories of your team.
"Tenten, I.."
"Such worry coming from Uchiha, you are truly a man who has come back from the depths of evil!" Lee's eyes widened with tears as his arm rose to wipe them.
Sasuke stared at Lee with a great amount of annoyance. He was the same as ever, that Rock Lee, always getting overemotional over small things. However, he understood that Lee was only worried about the living conditions that Tenten now faced. Good thing Lee seemed to approve, the last thing Sasuke needed was the giant green beast hovering over him like a buzzing wasp.
Tenten was confused. Maybe it was Sasuke's reaction to what was said or Lee's statement itself that sent her in the dumbfounded position she was in. Slowly a smile started appearing on her face, her hand starting to cover up the giggle her throat pushed out. Soon a full-blown laughter formed as tears of joy streamed down her face. She took a deep breath as she watched the two men before her stare at her with a perturbed expression.
"I'm going to get some stuff ready for tomorrow, I'll be back soon," said Tenten. Thank you Lee, Sasuke. She smiled and headed towards her room.
They watched her leave and were only left with the uncomfortable silence between themselves. It had been awhile since they had talked each other, the last time was that faithful day Sasuke defeated the three Sound ninjas that knocked Lee unconscious. Lee gave out an awkward cough as he spoke.
"I ask of you this, Sasuke Uchiha, please watch over the flower of Team Gai when Gai-sensei and I cannot. The pain she has been through is something she does not deserve, it is not fair for her to not receive something when she has given so much. Her youth should not be used up in unhappiness."
There was a soft sadness to his tone to the point where Sasuke thought he couldn't recognize the person before him as Rock Lee, the determined green clad taijitsu user who frequently made long irritating speeches with his even more annoying teacher.
"At first, I was hesitant upon hearing about you living with Tenten. However, I see now that my worries are not needed. I do not know what you know about Tenten but I see you do care about her and that is all I need."
Sasuke nodded as Rock Lee bowed before exiting the apartment. Deciding to check up on Tenten, Sasuke quickly threw off his shoulder towel in his laundry hamper. Approaching her opened door, he saw Tenten spreading out several kimonos on her bed.
"Well, I have no clue what to wear," Tenten laughed nervously.
"It doesn't matter, just go to be with your teammates again," said Sasuke as he averted his gaze toward the corner of her ceiling.
"Do you miss them….Sakura and Naruto?"
Sasuke gave a stiff grin, his eyes closed and one arm scratching the back of his head.
"My regret about leaving comes from knowing that I would have been happier. Tenten, I no longer have the opportunity to have that many more memories with them. This is something that I took away from myself through a selfish decision that I made because of my own immaturity." Sasuke glanced over to Tenten as she bit her lower lip. "I cherish the times I had with them though. Just, don't be like me and walk away."
He's right. Tenten knew if she didn't attend that she would regret not getting the chance to talk to the Neji she knew as her training partner. Maybe she could talk to him alone one last time before he went off to become a married man, before more awkward situations brought a bigger rift between them. If she just lived in the fear of inevitably losing him, then she would continue to hinder herself from remembering how truly happy she was being around him. That last chance to talk to him, maybe it would satisfy her to finally move on, seal the deal on the chapter of her life that she dedicated to Hyuuga Neji. She stared at Sasuke with thankful eyes as she smoothed out the kimono in front of her.
There was nothing said, just the quiet air between them. It wasn't like the one Sasuke had with Lee, this silence was more warm, welcoming, an acknowledgement between two friends who embraced each part of their friendship. Tenten secretly thought it felt good to have someone other than Neji and Lee around her. As much as she loved the both of them, it was hard to get anything through. Lee was always too overemotional with himself and Neji always seemed too cold to care. Though Sasuke seemed to be in the same league as Neji, living with him made things surprisingly tangible. He never really talked much but when he did, there was a lesson learned, something he really left her with.
Sasuke watched her fold and unfold multiple kimonos and sashes. Her presence was something he had grown fond of. Without a single friend outside of Tenten, and possibly Lee, Sasuke truly was alone now. He missed Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi furiously, but obviously couldn't do anything about that. He missed the old days of Naruto's clumsiness and Sakura's outbursts but it became clear to him when he went back to Konoha with them that they could never go back to what they were. They had all grown, Naruto still loved him like a brother and Sakura still cared for him deeply and the feelings that Sasuke had for them were the same. However as important figures and strong Jonins of Konoha, Tsunade-sama generally put them through a lot of important missions, which Sasuke knew would limit spending time with them.
Then there was Tenten.
Forced into working with him as her mission. Sasuke felt it was ludicrous at Tsunade-sama's first mention of it, but the first day he spent with Tenten made him realize that it wasn't so bad. Genuinely warm, caring, and quite the kunoichi, Sasuke admired her for her proficiency with weapons. It was in a sense, the same way he secretly admired Rock Lee when he first fought him. Sasuke being a genius at such a young age had almost everything handed to him. With people like Tenten and Rock Lee, good old fashion hard work allowed them to prevail at what they did. Especially training with Hyuuga Neji like she did back then, with his opinions about fate. Sasuke wondered how Tenten must have felt, if she believed that she was fated to lose to Hyuuga all those times.
Does she believe she was fated to lose Hyuuga?
"I kind of thought that would be the case," replied Tenten solemnly.
Sasuke mentally hit himself for speaking his thoughts aloud. He hadn't meant to cause such discomfort towards Tenten.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said something at this time," said Sasuke regretfully.
Tenten smiled back at him. "It's really no problem Sasuke, I was kind of thinking that myself. Truth is, Neji has always been a dutiful kind of person. Very dedicated to his clan even though he hated being a Branch member and all, but Hiashi changed it all after deciding he didn't want Hinata or Hanabi to lead the clan. I'm happy for him though, he finally got what he wanted, what he's always wanted."
Sasuke noted the sadness her voice held when she said the very last sentence. She had given Hyuuga her world and he left her after he got what he wanted. As bitterly as he wished he wasn't, he could mildly see himself in Hyuuga, his teammates giving him everything and all he could do was scoff at them and leave. Keeping Lee's words in his mind, the silent promise he kept.
He held his hand at the side of the door, his eyes locked on Tenten's. "You deserve someone who will give you their world. A person like you shouldn't continue to watch the night sky and always feel small." With that said, Sasuke walked out of Tenten's room.
Once again Sasuke had left her breathless. She had always thought that Neji reminded her of the night sky, his dark hair the sky and his eyes like the white stars. Whenever she was around him she always felt tiny in comparison to his gigantic presence. Tenten always tried keeping her confidence up though. Always repeating in her head that kunoichi were just as good as shinobi, always practicing her weapons, always telling herself that it would be worth it but was it really? She was no match for Lee's speed or Neji's Byakugan, 100 percent accuracy meant nothing if she couldn't even hit them.
Was all my training a big waste of time?
She berated herself for even thinking that. No, none of this was a waste of time. I may not be able to hit Lee or Neji, but I sure can hit other things. Tenten looked outside her door at the direction Sasuke walked.
Sasuke, I won't let myself think I can't aim for the stars. From now on, I'm going to hit every one of them.
Tenten opened the window and stared up at the blazing sun and smiled, not feeling the dragging heat. A new uplifting feeling had entered her heart.
Laying his back on his bed with his eyes closed, he felt nothing but the aching in his chest. The madness he had felt surging since the days he trained in the forbidden arts still lingered, tempting him to go back to what he once was. Though he was used to the sporadic feeling, he still wished everyday that somehow the darkness trying to surround him would go away. He was nothing but a monster. Opening his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, he could only feel disgust surrounding him.
Author's Note: Ok, the plan is to have Neji in the next chapter. (crosses fingers) Hopefully I've done a good job and set up the characters well. As far as Sasuke being nice, yeah it is kind of odd, I'm hoping it's not OOC as I tried channeling this from the early episodes when Sasuke gradually started being nicer to Sakura and Naruto. Yeah, I hope you like my chapter, and please review and critique as much as you like.