Hey, I'm back with a super early chapter again! I just had to post this now, because I was just booming with ideas, and I really needed a good transition chapter. And don't worry, Tenten will meet Naruto soon, for any who are awaiting.

I don't know when I will write the next chapter because I might not have time:(

THUNK. The Kunai successfully landed on the bullseye of the makeshift target Tenten had crafted. Tenten smiled proudly and put her hands to her sides, grinning at no one.

Ever since the 5-year-old had gotten a kunai, all she had done was practice in her free time. The first time she had tried to throw the kunai, it hadn't gone as well as she expected, and the kunai hit the edge of the target.

"I didn't hit the red! My kunai!" Tenten had whined.

Toshi snorted. "Tenten, do you think anyone hits the red on their first try?"

"Probably Tsunade-sama."

"Uh… actually, Tsunade-sama didn't hit the bullseye on her first try." Toshi had no idea if the legendary Sannin had hit the bullseye or not on her first try. He hoped she didn't.

"Really?" Tenten looked up at him.

"Sure. But that's not the only thing. I for one am shocked that you even hit the target on the first try."

"Whaddaya mean?" Tenten frowned.

"Most people don't even hit the target when they throw, and even more less when they're 5. I think that this just means that you've got weapon master blood in you."

Tenten had giggled at that. "I guess I do."

The rest of the week had passed by with Tenten ferociously attacking the makeshift target over and over again. As a 5-year-old, she had pretty much unlimited free time in and out of the academy. Soon enough, a week later, she could hit the bullseye pretty frequently.

But now I have to hit the bullseye every time. She thought.

When she went to school, tired of practicing, she would be motivated again when Lee told her everything he had done the day before.

"I'm just saying Tenten, I did 100 pushups yesterday and I practiced my punching form until 12 in the night." Lee had said.

"Twelve?!" Tenten gaped.

"Yep. I know." Lee grinned.

"How do your parents let you stay up that late?" Tenten cried, shaking Lee by the shoulders.

"Well… they're not really around so…" Lee had trailed off, looking away.

Tenten fell silent. "Oh." Her hands hesitantly released him from her clutches. "I'm sorry Lee."

Lee, for the first time, had said nothing.

That was something else that Tenten had learned about in the academy – that being a ninja, you could die. Many kids of shinobi had either one or two parents missing, something that was fairly frequent among most. Tenten thought that was horrible.

But, Tenten could relate to it, she thought. Her mom had died when she was two years old, and even thought Tenten didn't remember anything about her, she did remember her smile.

And the fact that her mom had been a shinobi.

And the fact that she never seemed sick, and the fact that she definitely wasn't old.

It didn't take long for Tenten to connect the dots.

"You know, Neji doesn't have a mom either." Lee had said one day. Tenten looked at him. "Or a dad."

"I thought Neji did have a dad."

"Well, he used to, I think. Remember when he used to be so cheerful?" Tenten didn't. "Well I heard his dad died with something to do about his clan."

"Oh." Tenten had said quietly, picking the grass underneath her. Why does everyone have such a depressing backstory?

Then she remembered the day she had brought her kunai to school.

"My Kunai is way better than yours! It's newer, and better. AND MY DAD GAVE IT TO ME, AND HE'S GOT LOADS OF KUNAI! HE KNOWS EVERYTHING!"

Neji fell silent.

Tenten cringed and let out a moan. She shouldn't have said that. Who knows what Neji must have been thinking right then?

He must hate me even more now.

"What happened Tenten?" Lee asked.

"Nothing... I just guess I shouldn't have said all those bad things about Neji."

Lee looked at her, his eyes widening before he let out a few fake sniffles. "Tenten… are you showing guilt? Towards Neji? How you've changed—"

"WHA—IT'S NOT THAT SURPRISING, YOU BAKA!" She yelled, cutting him off and hitting him on the head.

Lee cringed and rubbed the bump on his head.

"Still. That doesn't give Neji an excuse to act like a pain in the butt…" Tenten grumbled.

Lee had grinned. "I agree."

After Tenten could start hitting the bullseye more than just "frequently" (ha, more like every time now) she changed her targets. Toshi helped her build new better ones, and she would go out into the forest in the back of their house and would hang targets everywhere she could and practice throwing her kunai at different angles.

But now with kunai, as in multiple Kunai. And shuriken.

Tenten was positively ecstatic.

They had started—finally, might Tenten add—practicing Kunai at the academy, when Tenten had just turned 8. Her father had finally given her her first set of kunai and she had took it with glee and anticipation.

"Ok!" Eito-sensei had said on the first day of kunai practice. "Line up. For our first day of kunai practice, we will go over the basics. Neji! Lee! No squabbling."

Eito-sensei had then proceeded to go over the basic poses and the basics of basically everything. Tenten had stood there bored out of her mind, and she could see that she wasn't just the only one. Neji wasn't paying any attention either.

Their eyes met for a split second before they both glanced away. I glanced away first. She thought.

Every interaction between them had become a competition of some sort. Tenten wasn't really complaining. At least then she could finally show Neji who was becoming better.

"Ok! Now practice!" Eito-sensei said over the crowd of students who were either groaning or trying to get their Kunai to work for them.

Tenten had finally grinned and had effortlessly thrown her kunai at her target, hitting the bullseye.

"Oh my god, look! Tenten hit it!"

"First try!"

"That's what you get for a Weapon makers daughter!"

She smiled uncontrollably and looked over at Lee, who shot her a grin and a thumbs up.

"LOOK!" Tenten swiveled around at the sudden cheer.

"Well, of course, Neji's gonna hit first try!"

"He's a Hyuga!"

Tenten looked over at Neji who had also effortlessly thrown his own kunai at his target, hitting the bullseye. Her eye twitched, but then she sighed.

Of course. He's Neji. There's no way I'm gonna be better than him.

"HEY!" Eito-sensei barked. "Pay attention to your own targets! Now, AGAIN!"

And so, she threw her kunai. Again, and again and again. And it hit the bullseye, every time. And every time she looked at Neji, he had done the same.

They switched to long distance practice soon enough, and the result was the same.

Tenten growled and forcefully threw a shuriken, hitting the bullseye and cutting deep into the wood.

Neji threw his shuriken and it hit the bullseye too.

"Ok, that's a wrap." Eito-sensei said, glancing at how enamored the class was at the shuriken and kunai throwing competition between Tenten and Neji. "Excellent job, Neji and Tenten. Your skills are quite formidable." He looked to the rest of class. "As for the rest of you…" He looked at the multiple kunai and shuriken that were littered across the ground and sighed. "Just clean the targets of the kunai's and then you can leave. But make sure to practice at home. Otherwise I'll be sending some letters. Got it?"

The class groaned and recited something that sounded like a 'yes', and then packed their kunai and shuffled towards the building.

Tenten sighed and took one last look at the target behind her. She picked up the kunai lying against her foot, the demonstration kunai, and looked at it, really looked at it.

Then she looked at the target again. She sighed and turned away, throwing the kunai at the target uselessly, sulking, not looking. It hit something with a thunk.

Tenten didn't pay enough attention to care.

She walked past Neji, who was staring at something past her. He then started to stare at her.

"What?" She said. She really couldn't be bothered by him now.

He looked away. "Nothing."

Tenten sighed internally and followed the rest of the class into the building.

Neji looked back at the kunai that Tenten had thrown before walking away.

The kunai had hit the perfect dead center of the bullseye.

Throughout the next two years Eito-sensei had taught them basic taijutsu and ninjutsu as well. They had learned henges and making illusionary clones for ninjutsu and then sparred every day for Taijutsu. Most of it was pretty light and easy, so she had taken it upon herself to challenge herself. She had brought books home and learned some slightly more genin-leveled jutsus, practicing at home frequently. She would spar with Lee and her friend Choko occasionally as well.

"For those of you who want to be ninja, you will have to continue more in depth later and then ultimately take the genin exam. If not, you will have to switch out of the academy and into another school." Eito-sensei said.

"Raise your hands if you plan on continuing the academy after this summer."

Some hands shot straight up while some hands rose up hesitantly. Tenten looked around with her hand raised. Lee, obviously, had his hand up, and Neji did too.

Eito-sensei looked around the room and nodded. "Ok, so that's a little more than half. Good. Class dismissed."

"Hey, guess what? Rin's planning on not coming to the academy next year." Choko said to her on the walk from school.

Tenten looked at her. "Seriously?" She hadn't noticed.

"Yep. And she said that I should too." Choko said. "She said that it wasn't worth the trouble to go through."

"She shouldn't be saying things like that. You know how many ninjas save others?!" Tenten cried.

"I know. But…" Choko trailed off.

"But what?!"

"Well," Choko hesitated. "They save others at the expense of their own lives."

Tenten's eyes widened before looking away.

Choko stopped walking. "I—I'm thinking about dropping out too Tenten. I don't think I could do that. I don't think I could leave everyone I ever know to be a ninja. And what if there's a war? My dad told me we're not on best terms with every ninja nation out there, you know. Then we'd have to go fight." She croaked.

Tenten stopped and looked at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She couldn't just say that Choko was wrong.

She really wasn't.

"But what about Tsunade?" She asked. They had both been wanting to be like Tsunade since forever.

"Dang it Tenten! No one's ever heard from Tsunade from forever! What if she's dead too?" Choko shouted, looking at the ground.

"She can't be dead!" Tenten insisted. "She's Tsunade! The Legendary Sannin!"

"She's still human!" Choko said.

Tenten faltered.

"Won't you stay beside me?"

"I'll stay beside you on the sidelines. I'm sorry Tenten."

Tenten didn't know what to say.

The first thing Tenten did when it was morning was go over to Choko's house. She had knocked on her door, and a bleary eyed Choko had appeared. Choko's eyes had widened and she had hugged the headlights out of her.

Tenten and Choko spent the rest of the morning talking about what they were going to do and be when they grew up.

"Tenten, I promise you that I'll always be here for you when you need me, ok?" Choko had said.

"I know." Tenten replied. "And I will be too."

The rest of the day Tenten had lounged around at home and helped her father take care of the weapon shop. She went out into the back and practiced her kunai and her form and her jutsus. And then she had sprawled herself on her bed and thought about what she was going to do with her future and her training.

She was going to be a genin soon, and she needed something to really launch herself at everyone. Neji had his Byakugan and his special Hyuga Taijutsu. Lee didn't really have anything, not yet, but he had the passion and the drive. And his Taijutsu was, well... something to be reckoned with.

And Tenten… well Tenten didn't really have anything. She knew a good few jutsus like earth wall and was fairly well with Taijutsu. But then again, she was really good at weapons. She had practiced with all types of weapons that were available to her in her dad's shop. She literally spent all her time in weapons and she loved every type of weapon. She had even started using seals to hold her different weapons, of any space and size.

And she had a weapon master's blood in her.

Tenten always knew that she would be a weapon master. But she really had wanted to be like the Sannin Tsunade. She had tried at school, when Eito-sensei had tested their Chakra control, but it just didn't work for her. She had tried the exercises at home, but it wasn't working, and it really wasn't that fun, sitting and trying to heal people forever. She still tried and finally made success in doing a basic healing jutsu on herself from a small paper cut.

Afterwards, only when she had gone and practiced with a new weapon, did she realize that maybe she really didn't want to be like the famous woman Sannin after all. Maybe in spirit, her strength, and the way she saved people, but not so much as in the "medical" part of it.

She was going to be a weapon master, she decided.

"Well, obviously." Lee had said the first day of the next year. Without Choko and some of her other classmates around, the classroom felt strange, and a wierd sort of gloomy. "Of course you're gonna be a weapon master. You love weapons."

Tenten looked at him. "So…?"

Lee grinned. "I think that is great! But I can't say I didn't expect it."

"Then what else am I supposed to do?"

Lee shrugged. "Maybe specialize in something."

"A weapon?"

"Sure. Not a Kunai though. Every ninja has to know how to use that."

"Shuriken?"

Lee shrugged again. "Well, that's the same situation as a kunai. But, it depends on the Shuriken. Some ninja have giant shuriken that they specialize in. Like that new instructor, Mizuki-sensei."

"Huh." Tenten said. Lee actually gave pretty good advice.

"Speaking of, I really need to get better at my aim Tenten. Would you help me?"

Tenten grinned. "Sure, but only if you spar with me."

"YOSH!" Lee had cheered, agreeing with her.

Ok. Tenten thought. That was certainly new.

"Hey Tenten, what are you going to specialize in when you grow up?"

Tenten looked up to see four boys looking at her. After last summer, the students at the academy had entered their last two years in the academy: their ninja training years. She recognized them as some of the new classmates that mixed with her class after the ninja training started in the academy.

"Oh, I'm going to be a weapon master!" Tenten said, looking back at the grass underneath her, picking at one of the stems.

The tall boy frowned. "A weapon master?"

"Yep."

"Isn't that a little bit too basic?"

"How?" Tenten said, not looking up.

"Anyone can learn to use and throw a weapon."

Tenten's brow furrowed and she looked up at the tall boy. "What?"

"Yeah. Maybe you should do something else Tenten." The tall boy said.

The shorter one elbowed him. "Ha ha, maybe I should be a weapon master. Lemme throw some weapons at you."

The tall boy nudged him back. "Hey, that's not nice!" He said glancing at Tenten. "You're making her feel bad."

"Whatever. Let's go ask Neji." The shortie said, walking away. The tall one gaped at Tenten before awkwardly walking away.

Tenten just gaped back.

When Tenten had gotten back home from sparring and had entered the weapon shop that afternoon, the first thing she had done was run up to her dad.

"What is it, Tenten?" Her father asked.

Tenten looked up at her dad with the most serious face she could muster. "Dad, do you think that being a weapon master is too basic?"

Toshi looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Well, everyone knows how to use a kunai. And there are only so many weapons to master. And—and anyone can master a weapon." Her eyes brimmed with tears. "There's nothing special about being a weapon master. Everyone else has so many cool things! Lee's getting better at his Taijutsu every day. And Neji's got his eyes and his special juken." She blabbered. "There's really nothing special about knowing how to aim and throw a bunch of weapons at once! Neji's aim is just as good as mine is, and he doesn't even try!"

She looked up at her dad who was looking at her with widened eyes.

"What? Tenten, don't be silly."

Tenten looked away. "I'm not being silly! I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious too." Toshi frowned and took her by the shoulders. "You know, it takes a lot for a person to master a weapon. Sure, everyone can master a weapon, but not everyone is willing to put in the time and effort to master it.

"And who cares about Neji?" Toshi said. "If his aim is as good as you say it is, then go ask him if he can master a kunai by the end of one week." Toshi paused. "And even if he did learn it super-fast and he's even better than you, is that a good reason to stop trying to be what you want? Are you really going to stop doing something because someone else is better than you?"

Tenten bit her lip. "No…"

"Exactly. Who cares what people think? If you like weapons, then you go into weapons. No one's stopping you."

Tenten didn't look up from the ground.

Toshi opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the door chime from a customer. He sighed. "Sorry sweetie. I'll talk to you later okay?"

Tenten just nodded and walked away, pushing open the doors to the shop. She needed to be outside for a bit, she decided.

Tenten made her way through the streets of Konoha, unconsciously following the same path to the academy. The familiar building caught her eye, and she zoned back in to see the same tree and the academy building in front of her. She had sat there that morning when the four boys had made fun of her and her hopes to a weapon master.

I mean, it's not that stupid. No one at the academy can aim as well as I do… well, except for Neji.

But her dad had said being a weapon master was something to be proud of. And it definitely wasn't a specialty for people who couldn't do anything else!

But Tenten had only definitely decided on being a weapon master after she realized she didn't have the best chakra control to be like the medical Tsunade.

Her brow furrowed and she kicked the rock in front of her as she made her way to the tall tree in front of the academy, hoping to sit on the swing. Tenten looked up, and unfortunately some blonde-haired boy who looked her age was already sitting on the swing, looking down on the seat. He looked even more depressed than she was, and at the moment she didn't think that was possible.

So, she sat on the ground next to the boy, resting her head on the tree trunk.

The boy perked up and looked at her, surprised.

"W- what are you doing here?" He asked, his bright blue eyes widening at her at an exponential rate.

Tenten wasn't fazed at the somewhat rude question.

"I don't really know." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." She said. "And anyway, what are you doing here?" she asked.

The boy shrugged. "I don't really have anywhere else to be."

Tenten looked at him and sighed. "I think I can relate to that." She glanced back at the boy who was still staring at her in shock. His eyes gleamed with something that was a little… off. "What happened?"

"W-What?"

"You look sad." She said. "Why?" Tenten asked. Not that she really wanted to know, but more so because she wanted to take her mind off her own case.

The boy pouted and looked away. "Hmm. Well, I dunno."

"You don't know why you're sad?"

He hesitated. "Well, I'm always like this." Then he turned to her, and anger flashed in his eyes. "And anyway, why are you talking to me? You go to the academy, right? Don't you know who I am?"

Tenten scoffed. This kid must have a Neji complex. "Should I? You're the same as any other person, okay? So, don't get all—"

"You don't know who I am." He stated, cutting her off and looking at her with incredulity.

"And you don't know who I am either." Tenten pointed out, her brow ticking. "Look, I've never seen you before. I don't think you're in my year."

"A-Ah, that must be it!" The blonde boy stammered. Tenten's eyes narrowed. The kid was trying to hide something.

"Wait, who are you anyway?" She asked, starting to get curious.

"Never mind that!" The boy said, cutting her off. He grinned at her instead.

Tenten raised her brow at the sudden mood change. "Why—"

"HEY!"

Tenten and the blonde-haired boy both looked up at the voice at the same time. A man wearing a chunin vest with a spiky brown ponytail and a scar over his nose crossed his arms and looked at the blonde-haired boy. "Don't you want ramen?"

"Oh-OK! I'm coming!" The boy shouted from next to Tenten, getting up from his seat. He turned to Tenten with a huge grin on his face. "Thank you!" he said, running off.

Tenten just frowned. For what?

The next day, when she saw Lee at the training grounds, he had told her that it was "Unyouthful to be so discouraged by people who had no business in her life."

"I never let anything get in my head Tenten! You have to keep your mind clear of negative thoughts." Lee had said. Tenten just frowned, more because of the weirdness of his "youthfulness" he kept on spouting about than anything else.

She snorted. "You're right Lee. I don't even know why I keep doubting myself anymore."

Lee hummed in thought. "Maybe you just have to get your mind off of everything. Why don't you look for something new?"

Tenten brightened. "You're right! You know," she said, turning, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said about the specializing in a weapon or something. And although that's cool and all, doesn't a weapon master use every weapon?"

Lee shook his head. "That's true, but that doesn't mean you can't like one weapon more than another, right?"

"Huh."

Lee laid down on the grass, still looking at her. "Maybe you're just looking at a weapon master being someone who can use every weapon, and can use every weapon simultaneously. That sounds pretty impossible right? Look at a weapon master as someone who can use every weapon, but uses some over others. Someone who knows when to use their weapons."

Tenten just stared at him. That sounded so obvious when said out loud. "When did you get so smart, Lee?"

Lee shrugged and shot her a thumbs-up. "Who says I wasn't before?"

Tenten let out a fake exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine. Let's just spar."

"YOSH!"

She had spent the rest of the weekend wandering the markets with Choko by her side.

"I'm looking for a weapon Choko. The Weapon." Tenten had said, moving her hands in the air to try to illustrate her weapon of choice.

"What weapon? You'll have to be more specific than that Tenten." Choko said, sighing.

"A good weapon."

Choko just raised her eyebrows. "You do know your dad is literally the biggest weapon shop owner in Konoha, right?"

"I know, I know." Tenten had already spent all morning looking for her perfect weapon in her father's shop. She hadn't found anything she had particularly wanted though. "But I couldn't find anything that was..." her eyes flashed in excitement. "The one."

Choko sighed again, rolled her eyes, and pulled her off to a weapon stand.

And so, hours and hours passed in the market, but nothing had caught Tenten's eye.

"Tenten. I'm sorry, but there's literally no hope for this anymore." Choko said, looking at her with a deadpan look in her eye.

Tenten wasn't discouraged. "It's fine. I'll just look somewhere else then."

"Then you'll have to do it without me Tenten. I've gotta leave now, my mom will kill me otherwise." Choko said, looking at the watch around her wrist. "It's already 8 o' clock!"

"Ha, I know someone who stays up until 12! This isn't a joke for me. There's no way I'm going to go home tonight without a weapon!" Tenten stated smugly.

Choko just looked at her. "Sure Tenten."

Tenten had, unfortunately, returned home empty handed that night.

"End of year testing is today." Eito-sensei said on the first day of the last week of school. It was almost the end of their first year, and next year would be their last year before they were made genin. "We'll be testing your taijutsu and your ninjutsu. You'll be given points out of a 100 based on your ability." He looked around the room. "First is taijutsu."

Tenten hummed in thought as her classmates shuffled and looked at each other. Taijutsu almost always meant that you were going against someone else in the class.

"I've already decided who you're going against for an accurate representation of your taijutsu ability. The front board will list you and your opponent and your pair number. I'll call out numbers in five minutes, so know who you're going against."

The class raced to the front of the room, including Tenten.

She finally spotted her name on the board. Huh. She was going against someone named Rin. They were number 6. Tenten's eyes moved to number 7 and her eyes widened in shock.

Lee was going against Neji.

It was actually to be expected. To show Neji's skill level, they had to pair him up with someone adequate to him. And Lee, while far less than adequate (It almost hurt to admit), was the next best in Taijutsu. But still… Neji would probably utterly crush anyone that went against him with his juken. They should have paired Lee with someone that would show his skill level instead. Lee could probably take down anyone else in the room except for maybe her. She knew how Lee attacked, so she could win some spars. Neji didn't need to know how anyone attacked to win. But Lee definitely didn't know how Neji attacked, which was a huge problem for him.

But if Lee held off Neji for somewhat long… than it would actually make Lee look pretty good.

Tenten looked at Lee, who was simultaneously currently cheering in happiness and dreading the fact that he could go against Neji, his Eternal Rival. This can go both ways. She thought.

Eito-Sensei had started calling out the numbers slowly, and soon, it was her turn. She had walked into the room with Rin, away from the watching crowd of students, who Eito-Sensei thought would affect the performance of the sparrers.

As soon as they reached the middle of the somewhat small stadium, Tenten slid down into standard Taijutsu form. Rin did the same.

And then Rin shot forward. Tenten dodged a kick to the shin and slammed her gut with a straightforward punch.

But her all wasn't in it. She was wondering about how the match with Neji and Lee would go instead. Too bad she couldn't see it… she would have to ask Lee all about it later.

She narrowly dodged a punch to the shoulder, and Tenten had then ended the match with a quick flowing toss of Rin's whole body, something that Lee had taught her in their spars.

She had walked out of the room with Rin, but the crowd of classmates weren't focusing on her or Rin, but Lee and Neji. Lee shot her a grin as he entered the room, and Tenten smiled tentatively at him back. Unlike Lee, Neji didn't look at anyone as he entered the room.

It felt like forever when Lee and Neji had came out of the room. Neji had no scratches on him.

Lee had many.

When Lee looked at Tenten, all he did was grin at her. Tenten just looked at him, not signaling anything back.

At the end of the day, after their Taijutsu and Ninjutsu exams, they were given their scores on a slip of paper.

Tenten had gotten a 100. She had aced her Taijutsu exam and her Ninjutsu exam.

Neji had also gotten a 100. He had also aced his Taijutsu exam and his Ninjutsu exam.

Lee had gotten a 35. He had showed adequate Taijutsu for being able to go against Neji for as long as he had, but he had failed his ninjutsu exam.

"It was expected Tenten." Lee had said on the walk home from school.

Tenten had just looked at him worriedly.

"Don't look at me with pity Tenten!" Lee had said somewhat pleading and somewhat as an order.

"Well, at least you passed, right Lee?" She had thought that was the right thing to say, since it would give Lee some hope in the dark, but it didn't look like it was.

Lee stayed silent for a little while before speaking up. "Tenten, do you know that the only reason they're letting me pass to next year is because they need someone as their dead last? And because someone had to take pity on me to let me pass?"

Tenten had certainly not known that. "What?"

"Yes." Lee said, looking down onto the ground quickly, but not before Tenten could see the tears in his eyes.

It stunned her. Lee, crying? She had never seen Lee cry. He was always the one encouraging her, a beacon of light and hope. Never had she seen him like this.

It brought tears to her eyes too.

Lee stopped and clenched his hands. "I'm not sad! I'm not sad because I lost against Neji!"

"I know Lee. It's okay." Tenten wasn't experienced in comforting people. It was always Lee comforting her, not the other way around.

"I don't want anyone's pity! I want to do things on my own!" He shouted at the ground. "I don't want anyone's pity… tell me Tenten, why was I born like this? People always have to help me… but- but, I don't want anyone's pity, I-I don't need anyone's pity. I don't need…" Tears streamed down his face, but Lee hid them from Tenten and looked at the ground. "I-I don't need—"

Tenten shushed him and placed a hand on his shoulder, before pulling him in for a hug.

They had stayed for that for a long time before Lee pulled away, brushing off his tears. "Thank you Tenten."

She just smiled. "It's hard to stay strong every day Lee. Sometimes you need to let it out."

Lee smiled back at her, somewhat sadly.

That day, the two friends were glad to have each other.

This chapter was originally going to have something else in it, but I decided it was too big of a something, and it needed it's own chapter. Thanks for reading!