Yay chapter 8 :)! OK I'm going to start to get to the grit of the Tenten storyline while putting in some more NaruHina and ShikaIno. Hope you likies.
Chapter 7: When it all Falls Apart
--------- (Tenten POV) ---------
"Everything is left up, straight from the heart,
Tell me what do you do when it all falls apart?
Everything is messed up, where do I start?
Cos' I can't turn to you when it all falls apart."
Ino had returned to school, after an extra day of fighting the recurring hangover she'd brought upon herself. Tenten received calls from everyone but Neji regularly and she hadn't been to school in two weeks. She was proud of herself at any rate for not eating anything to extreme; she was living off a diet of sunflower seeds and carrots, along with lots of water. She brushed through her brown hair which had lost its original luster, due to lack of sunshine. Scratching the back of her head she stood and made her way through her empty house that smelled of fake pino-clean. She scowled as a maid bustled out of the hall due to her presence. No-on dared defy her and she hated it and loved it at the same time, how twisted. She walked into the uninhabited room that had once been her parents, white sheets of cloth covering all non-dust proof surfaces.
She pushed open the closet door, it squeaked in retaliation. Her mother's closet still contained all of her clothes she began to look through the dresses, mesmerized by her mother's style, very elegant with attitude, brimming with individuality. She sifted past the hanging dresses and noticed a box. She pulled it out and gasped as she noticed her school uniform, only it had been changed slightly by her mother. She wrenched open the box admiring how her mother had laced black ribbon across the bottom of the pleated dress, and how her neck ribbon was faded with the tricks of time. She could feel her mothers glow radiating from the uniform and looked down past the first dress to see another with pink ribbon laced through the pleats and two school shirts each with an added silver button where she had cut the sleeve to add a punk effect to the shirt. Smiling she lifted them out of the box and admired her mothers handiwork closer, before carefully placing them back into the box and dragging it to her room. She smiled as she hid the box beneath her bed, enjoying the feeling of a piece of her heart falling back into place.
*
The sun was high in the sky as she looked out the window as a few students of KS hailed cabs in the distance, hoping to get to school early to finish of assignments or have a smoke. She took a deep breath and slipped into her own uniform, lacking the strength to wear her mothers. She tied up the neck ribbon and tied her hair carefully making sure she looked as much like her usual self as possible. She kicked a stray gin bottle under her bed before walking downstairs with a handful of sunflower seeds. She forced a smile as she passed Dong and marched outside, glad to see that she would arrive at the usual time at school. She stepped into her car, the driver snoozing loudly. He awoke when she slammed her door shut.
"School?" he asked incredulously. She nodded taking another deep breath, relaxing her body. She could do this. She smiled again; glad to have it feel natural as her car turned onto the street he dropped her off on. She hopped out thanking him briefly before jogging up the deserted street towards the gates of her school. A few people turned and began chatting quietly as she passed through the gates her bag slung carelessly over her shoulder. She paused and began looking for her friends. She spotted a whirl of blonde to her left and turned to see Naruto who was talking to Hinata, who was blushing. Shikamaru stood tensely next to Naruto knuckles white on the table, Neji across from him pinching the bridge of his nose and Ino sat on the table on the edge facing her friends, wearing a dazed expression. She smiled and Ino felt her presence looking up and smiling raising her hand to wave. Hinata noticed as well waving brightly, exhaling deeply, almost as though she was releasing worry. She began to walk towards them raising her hand in a nervous wave. Shikamaru, Naruto and Neji had yet to notice her.
"T!" She froze. No way. She averted the looks of Ino and Hinata who were still watching her, now looking confused.
"T!" the girl called again. She turned slowly, praying that it wasn't…
"Oh my God Kin." Her heart stopped and she bit back tears, trying to re-adjust her eyes.
"You don't sound happy to see me." Kin joked; she could see her starting to wrinkle her nose in mild anger. She shook her head to clear her thoughts; she had to handle herself well here.
"I just don't expect you to be here I mean aren't you meant to be in Suna?" it was true She'd looked it up; Kin had been listed as a student in Suna.
"Well yeah, and it was pretty fun, especially that Sasuke kid, but in the end he was no fun, caught up on some girl named Sakura or something." Kin rolled her eyes dramatically and pulled her into a hug. She didn't dare turn around but she could feel stares on her back. She could hear murmurs. It was better to just be blunt with Kin.
"What are you doing here." It came out rushed and bitchier than intended, damn. She looked mildly surprised and offended but disguised it with a fake smile.
"Oh I just wanted to see you T! I mean I heard that there were some pretty wild parties going on in Konoha and I wondered if you were having fun without me." Kin pouted grabbing her hands and swinging them back a forward. She looked down, fighting back the urge to cry and the urge to break Kin's nose.
"I mean we can have fun now, right?" Kin smiled implying more than she said. She shook her head roughly.
"I don't do that anymore Kin." She barely made the sentence, as she spoke through clenched teeth, ripping her hands from Kin's and curling her hands into fists, knuckles turning white. Kin looked taken aback then smiled sweetly, acidly. She knew from experience that Kin was dangerous and that once she had you, it was nearly impossible to shake her. Kin smiled again and stepped closer to her taking her hands again. Kin looked past her to her friends whom all looked confused. She still managed to hide herself fully from their view. She turned back to her.
"Nice friends, I remember the Hyuuga's they own that big suite in the city." She felt her back stiffen. "Oh and Nara, the genius he's got a lot of money and the company recently bought that bar Red Ruby." Her fingers tightened. "Oh and Yamanaka the fashion expert and Uzumaki the crazy one, they are like the life of party." She laughed a little. "Well almost as much so as me." Kin smiled again, eyes flashing as her whole body tensed.
"How long did it take you to slip into line with them? I mean you must've been pretty screwed up after you-"She cut her off.
"Don't you even dare!" She wrenched her hands from Kin's and stepped back slightly, she'd spoken loud enough to attract some attention but no-one knew what she meant.
"Well I don't know T, I mean I don't like partying alone and when I do I can often blurt out some stuff or hand over some videos." She pulled out a USB; a tag said WATCH ME, in her writing. She closed her eyes fighting back tears as Kin took a step closer to me slipping the USB into her bag.
"You keep that I've got it saved somewhere nice and safe." Kin said wickedly. She shook her head, shaking off the tears.
"I'll see you tonight at The Gecko Lounge, there's meant to be a pretty wild part on." Kin leaned up to kiss her cheek and hug her.
"We're gonna have so much fun T, just like old times." She emotionlessly hugged her back trying to fight the inevitable tears. Kin released her still smiling, now triumphantly.
"I'll see you tonight T!" Kin waved then sashayed off through the crowd. She felt the stares and turned, barely looking at her friends through the cloud of tears. They all looked confused, smiles gone. Ino was mouthing questions to her, Shikamaru and Naruto had their brows furrowed and Hinata was poking her fingers together. She turned to Neji, barely seeing him through the crowd. He was just staring at her an unreadable expression on his face. She gasped, as it sank in and stumbled back shaking her head as they all began to slowly move towards her.
"No." she whispered turning and running back through the crowd allowing the tears to fall. She pushed past people; the last thing she heard was Neji's voice.
"Tenten!" or maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She ran down the sidewalk feeling her heartbeat in her ears; just in time too see an old lady paying a cab driver.
"Wait" she called her voice weak. He stopped and she flung open the door.
"Where to?" he asked cheerfully. She searched her mind shuffling slightly and hearing the metallic sound of the USB in her bag.
"Constance Hotel thanks." She said remembering the Hyuuga suite, cable, food, soft beds and computer access.
I know it's only Tenten's POV, but I'm tired now and am in the mood to start a new Naruto story with Nejiten, SasuSaku, NaruHina and ShikaIno so yeah. I'll still update this, it's as long as the others just one POV, Kin's return yay fun fun fun.