Chapter 2: You Look Terrible!

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Tenten surmised that she still looked like hell when she showed up for training the next day. She certainly felt like hell; she could hardly walk on her left leg after that fight and sleeping on it hadn't done squat.

Lee's eyes widened upon Tenten's arrival and he exclaimed, dramatically: "What happened to you, Tenten? You look terrible!"

Tenten sweatdropped. "Gee, thanks a bunch, Lee."

Sure, she was wearing more than the usual number of bandages, and her lip was a little swollen, but did Lee really have to say that she looked terrible? 'Had he ever said anything like that to Sakura?' Tenten wondered. 'I doubt it!'

She remained surly for the better part of the morning and refused to speak to either of her teammates until Gai showed up. As always, he looked much too cheerful for his own good.

"Good morning, youthful pupils!" he bellowed.

"Good morning, Gai-sensei!" cried Lee.

"Today, we're going to learn about--" but he stopped, mid-sentence, and blinked at Tenten.

Tenten blinked back.

"What happened to you, Tenten? You look terrible!"

"ARGH!!"

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When sparring time came, Tenten opted for fighting Lee instead of Neji--despite the eternal rivalry she decreed only the day before. She actually had a system for choosing her sparring partner; she simply chose whichever teammate she was angrier at. Today, Lee won by a landslide. She hadn't forgiven him for his earlier comment, or for the fact he seemed to be taking pity on her and was not attacking seriously.

"What's your problem?" she shouted, hurling a shurikan at him with all her might.

Lee dodged it effortlessly, but still held back. Even worse, Tenten hadn't made a single hit. If there was one thing she hated more than being attacked half-heartedly, it was not hitting her intended target. So she began hurling weapons at Lee indiscriminately. One after another, kunai, shuriken, and throwing needles were flung--dozens at a time--each attack made in rapid succession, with no pause between the one before it. This time, he wasn't been able to avoid everything. But the attack still wasn't as effective as Tenten had hoped; only a few throwing needles got through.

'Damn!' she cursed to herself. 'He knows my technique inside and out. How infuriating! And he's gotten faster, too--much faster than Neji! There's only one thing I can do...' And a slow smirk spread across her face. 'Lee won't see this coming in a million years.' Tenten withdrew another shuriken, made as if to throw it, and then...

"Konoha Senpu!!" she shouted, leaping into the air and executing Lee's trademark move perfectly.

Lee could only gape before Tenten's kick struck his jaw--hard. He was flung several feet and landed roughly on his back. When he stood again, he was coughing out blood, but Tenten was still coming at him--so fast--too fast. Before Lee could get his bearings, Tenten repeated the attack. This time, however, Lee not only avoided it, he struck back. In one smooth motion, he kicked her feet from underneath and sent her hurtling to the ground.

She got up with a grin. "That's it, Lee! No more holding back!"

Before Lee could continue in close range, Tenten withdrew the rest of her throwing needles. Above all, she knew that the only way she could win was to keep her distance; very few people could best Lee in close-range combat. Tenten loosed her needles five at a time with such deadly precision, even Lee's speed couldn't protect him. Like little knives, they tore through his clothes and drew blood. Lee had guts, though. He moved right through the hailstorm of needles, and began attacking at close range again--effectively stopping her assault.

Still, Tenten fought back with every ounce of her being; she felt around for another weapon and fended him off at the same time. But it was no good. All of her weapons lay scattered about the training field and Lee wasn't about to give her the opportunity to retrieve one. Nor would he pause enough for her to try a ninjutsu. He threw a swift kick to her jaw, but Tenten backflipped out of its way. She landed neatly on the balls of her feet in a squat. Ironically, that evasive maneuver--not Lee's kick--was what finished her. When she straightened her legs, there came the most sickening "snap!" and she was on the ground again--in a fetal position.

"Tenten!!" cried Lee, stopping his attack at once.

But Tenten's only reply was a strangled moan. The pain in her left calf was almost blinding, as if someone had just shot it with a gun, or sawed it in half. She clenched her teeth tightly to suppress her whimpers.

Lee knelt beside her. "What happened, Tenten? Are you alright?"

"Say I look terrible and I'll smash your face in!" she growled.

Lee gulped. "Of course not... Oh, some of your bandages are coming undone. I will fix them for you!" And he began bandaging his wounded comrade back up.

Tenten scowled. She still couldn't believe that she had lost the match on her own--with no help from her opponent. "Why did you go easy on me, Lee?" she asked suddenly. "You know I hate that."

"Easy? I fought you with everything I had!"

"Yeah, but not until I actually landed a hit on you--"

"Which was awesome, by the way!" interjected Lee. "When did you learn the Konoha Senpu?"

"That's beside the point," said Tenten, still grimacing in pain. "You know... I hate when you and Neji hold back. I have to either provoke you guys or lash out to get you to fight me 'like you mean it'!"

Lee sighed and began working at another bandage. "Do you really think I would 'fight you like I meant it' after Neji beat you to a pulp the other day?"

Tenten glowered at him. That was worse than being told that she looked terrible. "He didn't exactly beat me to a pulp. I got a few shots in, too!"

"Even so, you must not over-exert yourself," he said, sagely. "An injured body needs time to heal."

Tenten deemed that comment unworthy of a response and continued glowering at him.

Lee just smiled. "You know, you look cute like that, Tenten." Which earned him a solid smack upside the head. But he still had that infuriating smile. "Your bandages are all set, though you should probably change them when you get the chance. Are you sure you are okay? Here, let me help you." He stood up and offered her his hand, but Tenten pushed it roughly aside.

"I can get up on my own." When she tried, however, a blinding wave of pain shot through her leg and she fell down again.

"Tenten!!"

She clutched her injured appendage and grit her teeth hard, determined to let no moan of pain escaped her lips--that is, until Lee began touching her where it hurt.

"Lee, what are you doing?" she cried, batting his hand away.

His expression relaxed a little. "Nothing seems broken, but you must have torn something. I had better get you to Tsunade-sama's." And, as gently as he could, Lee lifted his teammate into his arms.

"A torn 'something' doesn't prevent me from walking, Lee," said Tenten, crossly.

"But this is good training for me!"

"Are you saying I'm heavy?!" she roared.

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"What happened to you, Tenten? You look terrible!" was the first thing Sakura said upon meeting Tenten in the hospital.

Tenten was too weary to offer a retaliation. "Ask him," she muttered, pointing to the guy who was carrying her.

"Lee-san!" exclaimed Sakura, horrified. "What did you do to her?"

"N-nothing!" he protested. "We had a sparring match, but she did that on her own!"

Tenten glowered at the pair of them. 'Well, that was one way of putting it--a rather unflattering way...' Tenten decided that today wasn't her day. If tearing a muscle wasn't bad enough, Sakura was the third person to tell her how terrible she looked. 'What the hell did Sakura know? Tight-ass bitch.' That vicious thought formed so suddenly, even Tenten was alarmed; she had never borne ill feelings toward the medic-nin before. In fact, she and Sakura had become friends not too long after they met--well, after Sakura started being nicer to Lee.

"So, what happened?" asked Sakura, once they had taken Tenten to an examining room. Tenten was about to answer, but Lee beat her to the punch.

"Tenten had a rough match with Neji the day before," Lee began. "She said that her left calf began hurting after that. I think today must have been the last straw. You should have stayed home in bed," he finished, directing that last bit to his comrade.

"You're one to talk," muttered Tenten.

Sakura fixed the brunette with a stern scowl. "Don't pick up Lee-san's bad habits, Tenten." She reached out and examined the leg in question.

Tenten grit her teeth as Sakura reached her calf.

"Nothing's broken," said the medic-nin. "But it looks like you've torn your Achilles tendon..." Sakura felt the area a little more, exerting pressure at about mid-calf, before moving upward. This time, Tenten couldn't suppress the whimper of pain.

Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry, Tenten. Your injury is most likely at the muscle-tendon junction between the Achilles and the Gastrocnemius muscle." Tenten offered her a blank stare. "The largest and outermost calf muscle," Sakura clarified. "It's no wonder you can hardly stand!"

Tenten's face fell, but she said nothing.

"Oh, Tenten," said Lee, empathetically. "Well, at least Sakura-san was able to see you so quickly!"

Sakura smiled and faint blush colored her cheeks.

Tenten glowered at them again. She was beginning to suspect that Lee had only used her injury as an excuse to visit Sakura. Of course, Lee's crush on Sakura was hardly old news, so Tenten couldn't explain why Lee's "true motives" annoyed her. Nor could she explain the resurgence of her animosity toward the medic-nin. Sakura was doing her a favor, after all.

"This sort of injury won't heal well on its own, Tenten," said Sakura, gravely. "You'll need physical therapy and possibly surgery, depending on the amount of damage. I'm sorry, but training will have to be off limits--except, I suppose, target practice and stuff like that."

Lee's jaw hit the ground. Tenten just sat in silence.

"But, Sakura-san!" he exclaimed. "Something similar happened to me and I was still able to train! Remember?"

"You mean your fight with 'Yagura'? Well, Lee-san, your legs were protected by your weights and your Achilles' tendon wasn't damaged. Tenten's is torn. She's in no condition to walk, let alone fight!"

At that reminder, Tenten gave a small sigh.

Lee turned to her, looking as though he had just been told that he could no longer train. "Oh, Tenten, I am so sorry! If we had not fought, this never would have happened!"

"No, Lee. I was out for blood this morning. You tried to get me to be sensible, but I wouldn't take no for an answer." A bitter, sardonic smile formed on her lips.

"It may not be as bad as you think, Tenten," said Sakura encouragingly. "I don't actually make diagnoses. I'm just giving an opinion, on Tsunade-sama's behalf, and referring you to someone who can make a diagnosis. In your case, a physical therapist would do it, and outline an intervention plan. For all I know, you could be back on your feet in two months!"

Tenten's jaw hit the ground. "Two... months...?" If she hadn't felt devastated before, she did now. "One slip-up and I'm out of the game for... two months...?"

"Um... that's actually a conservative estimate," said Sakura awkwardly. "Most people take around... five or six months to get over... this sort of thing."

"...five...or... six...?"

Sakura sweatdropped. "...after surgery... and, uh... rehabilitation..."

Tenten fell off the examining table, big X's in her eyes. But Lee caught her before she hit the ground.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for the next chapter!

-Andrea

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Tenten woke in her own room at four in the morning. While that was not unusual for her (a consequence of being on Team Gai)--there was something abnormal about this particular situation--namely, a bushy-browed boy asleep in a chair next to her bed.

"LEE!! What the hell are you doing in my room?!" she shrieked.

Coming Soon -- Chapter 3: A Rather Unwelcome Revelation