Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Also, the idea of Gai adopting Tenten and Tenten's past in general, is based off of a good friend of mine's idea.

Author's notes: First off, thank you guys so much for your support and kind words. It really means a lot to me and makes me really happy that you're enjoying the story so far. Secondly, I want to give a big thanks to Rellie, for helping me with one part of this chapter. I usually don't, but for some reason I had a hard time writing Gai for this and she gave me some really great critique and help. Thank you so much Rellie! You rock! Well here's the next part. Please let me know what you guys thought, but above all, I hope you enjoy the story. For that is why writers write.

X

Tenten's pencil tapped absentmindedly against the stack of papers as the words blurred and she felt like slamming her head into the table. She had been working on this ever since school started and it felt like she'd barely made any progress at all. Maybe she should have waited to try for a place in the upcoming entrance exams. After all, this was just her third year, and unless someone's grades were exceptional, hardly anyone got past this stage.

But she knew there wasn't another option at this point.

"The earlier the applicant applies, the more time we have to look over their records, and deem if they qualify for financial aid." memories of the prep book she'd read pushed her pencil forward, and she watched as the characters took form almost on their own.

She had stayed up till two in the morning last night preparing for this and it wasn't even an entrance exam itself. Just the paper she had to write in order to make it to the first one.

Tenten fought back a groan as she finished her sentence and started on another. From the looks of those around her, they were all suffering equally. They were nestled inside a small corner of the library, where return carts cluttered one wall, a window stood with it's blinds closed, the librarian's desk sat as if purposely to intimidate them and the shelves of books reminded Tenten more of prison bars than anything else.

"Eyes down!" the librarian shouted and Tenten nearly jumped, managing to keep her eyes from rolling as they refocused. For someone who was normally just a bitter old lady, Chiyo had turned into an absolute nightmare. Every few minutes she'd shout out another order, or let them know what happened to cheaters. Considering they were just writing papers though and had so much space between them, there wasn't any reason to really 'cheat'. Part of Tenten wondered if the woman was just trying to scare them.

She bit her lip to keep from smirking at the memory of Naruto mouthing off to her a month ago and then the way she pretended to just slump over. No one told him she always did that and she thought he was going to hyperventilate while he tried to 'save' her and demanding someone call an ambulance. They'd all watched and fortunately for the boy, the old woman came back before he was subjected to starting mouth to mouth.

Her lip started to bleed from how hard she bit it to keep from laughing and she shook her head to try and get the image out and replace it with more somber thoughts. That only worked when she thought about all the work she'd missed today. Even if their teachers excused them, they were torn between doing this, and needing to get back to class. Tenten's watch told her chemistry had already started.

The sound of her pencil became deafening as it made more marks, and tried to make her ideas to come to life, while she tried not to bash her head into something. If Lee and Neji were here it might not have been so bad, but Neji had already done this months ago and Lee was scheduled for another day.

As the minutes ticked by, several people made moves to finish before their time was up and slid their work into large brown envelopes that they handed to Chiyo. She took them without noticing and fifteen minutes later it was just her and a boy who she thought had slept through most of it. Then he got up and handed over his paper and left with a smug expression.

"Five minutes." Chiyo called like the room was full and Tenten felt her face heat up at the tone. Did this senile old bat have to rub in the fact she was behind everyone?

Still, five minutes later, she finished her last sentence, slid it into the envelope and handed it off before grabbing her backpack and stalking down the aisles towards the door. She couldn't believe it had taken her this entire time to write that, and she wasn't even sure it made sense! Maybe she could slip back some time when Chiyo was gone and punch it up? Or maybe it'd get lost in the mail and she could think of this like another rough draft? Or maybe, they'd think it was brilliant and she didn't even know she'd stumbled across the secrets of the universe itself!

"And while I'm at it, dear Santa, I'd like you to arrange a meeting with the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny for me." she rolled her eyes as she opened the door and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden arm around her shoulder and her fist was already rearing up to strike the underside of a chin when a large hand clapped over it.

"So how did it go?" her dad asked and Tenten's eyes widened before narrowing.

"Would have been better without the heart attack at the end." she muttered pushing his arm off.

Gai rolled his eyes as he ruffled her hair and she batted his hand away.

"That bad huh? Unfortunately Chiyo-san does seem to go out of her way to make any event as unpleasant as she can, something I think would improve that negative disposition is if she got out more! Last time I suggested that though, she threw a stapler at my head, and I'm pretty sure she was the one who tried to run me down in the parking lot..." he furrowed his brow as he tried to remember, then laughed. "At least if she tries again, I'm ready for it! No one can dodge an oncoming car, faster than, Maito Gai!"

Tenten shook her head.

"Mighta actually preferred that to this." she gave a hollow smile as they walked down the hall, while she did a few quick takes to make sure no one was around. It wasn't that she was embarrassed of her dad, despite his hair, strange taste in ties and his constant need to make everything a little brighter, but she didn't want anyone to see them talking like this. Just in case he hugged her, and she actually hugged back instead of pulling away. Right now, she really wished he'd do that too. For one of the few times though, he simply gave her hand a squeeze.

"Ah now, what kind of attitude is that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You don't understand, it wasn't just her! It was that entire paper. I tried to rough out the whole thing yesterday, and I thought I had it! I even went back over it and the grammar made sense!" and considering how late it had been, that was a feat. "But back there…I don't think the words even matched up…"

Anyone else and she would have bluffed her way out the door, and told them how she had handled it and it wasn't that big of a deal. Unless it was Lee and then she might have tried to freak him out just a little. Though he had it coming for the incident in Judo last week. With her dad though…it was different. Despite the fact she was adopted, it had never felt like that. Like she had to hide things from him, and keep it all bottled up.

"Well did you try your hardest?" he asked. "Did you give it everything you had and then more? That's how you have to take these kinds of tests! You have to stare them right in the eye, without fear, and let them know, they've been outclassed! And that is something you can definitely do!"

"I stayed till the last minute if that's what you mean..."

"Anyone can stay till the last minute, my little flower. It's what you do with the time that makes the difference." he smiled encouragingly, and Tenten nodded with a sigh.

"I did my best…but I don't think that'll be enough this time."

"What makes you think that? If you gave it your best, then there's nothing to be ashamed of, and they'll see that! With enough hard work and passion anything's possible!" he grinned and Tenten inwardly cringed, silently pleading with him not to go into any long speeches. Fortunately he just rested his hand on top of her head, giving her hair another light rustle. "And this is something you really want right? That you're willing to work for come hell or high water?"

She nodded.

"It is."

"Then you'll make it! As long as you're willing to put the work in, you'll make it! And one day, I'll be seated at your graduation, watching as you walk across the stage to take life by storm!" from the misty look in his eyes, it was obvious part of him was already there and if possible his grin got wider.

Despite the eye roll, there was still a smile on Tenten's face as well and she didn't push her father's hand away as it moved and draped her in a one armed hug. Sometimes she just needed to hear that someone else believed in her, and as much as she still doubted her work, the fact that her dad didn't, made it easier to deal with.

"And speaking of work, don't you have a class to be in now..." he asked suddenly, coming out of his daydream and Tenten's face deadpanned.

"But…I just…you actually want me to go to another class after that?" she was all for pushing herself, and had it been any other class she would have gone. But chemistry? That was her worst subject, and she didn't expect Kakashi would have any mercy despite what her brain had already been through. If anything, he'd probably rub in the fact that she was late!

"Of course I do! I know this isn't your favorite, but you can't run away from it! Besides the more you miss now, the more you'll have to make up over the weekend, and I don't particularly feel like pulling any teeth." he gave her a pointed look with a raised eyebrow and Tenten barely bit back a groan.

Alright, so she wasn't the greatest when it came to doing her homework, but she wasn't failing any class and even if it was rushed, at least she handed most of her stuff in. Maybe he'd let her off just this once? After all, she was his little flower.

"But, Dad…"

"No buts! You can't allow yourself to fall behind…and you can stop looking at me like that, because I don't care how big your eyes get, you're not missing class!" Despite his stern voice, he was still grinning as he gave her a gentle nudge in the other direction. "But don't worry, I have something special waiting for you after school to reward all your hard work. I found out about a new trail they opened and since it's the weekend we can check it out, and after your homework is done, we could go for a longer run or even camping!" he called over his shoulder with a wave, as he disappeared around a corner of lockers.

"And here I thought you were above bribery." Tenten muttered, kicking at nothing on the ground as she headed towards Kakashi's classroom. The smell of sweat still clung to the muggy air as she walked through the narrow halls, hoping she could just slip in. There was always an empty seat by this one boy in the back, and considering how quiet he was, there was a chance he wouldn't rat her out to the teacher. Then again, his marks always set the curve but he didn't seem like a suck up or teacher's pets either. Though with the teachers here, it was probably impossible to become a pet at all. Even her dad didn't hold back grading her work, and all of them got frowny faces with a bad mark along with positive encouragement.

The closer she came the more she could hear from outside the door and cocked an eyebrow as she looked through the small window. Normally Kakashi's class was quiet, and he didn't go out of his way to make complicated than they needed to be. There were hardly any group projects and unless someone had a serious question, he didn't suffer talking easily. From the looks of it though, this was one of those rare days he'd have to endure it, and must have assigned a project. Which meant that there was a good chance she wouldn't have a partner now…

"Planning on joining us, or just observing?" Kakashi's voice came from inside and despite his mask, and covered eye, she could make out a smug expression through the window and felt like opening the door so it pinned him to the wall. Unfortunately, he was standing on the wrong side for that. "Never expected you to be late. Usually you're always so demanding of my promptness that I thought you would lead by example. Ah well, sometimes even the greatest fail."

"One time out of the entire year isn't failing. Especially when you have something else to do that doesn't involve getting lost." she glared as she stepped inside and if it hadn't been during the school day, would have stepped back to try and crush his foot.

Kakashi knew it to, and seemed to take enjoyment out of the fact that she couldn't do anything of the sort in this setting.

"Well your tardiness aside, you do have a project to get working on." he said and Tenten nodded looking around the room for who might be free.

She felt her stomach drop as she glanced around. From the looks of it, there was no one. All of her friends had partnered up, either with each other or the boys they liked. Lee was working with the class slacker, probably because Kakashi knew he'd keep the other boy working, and Neji…

Tenten couldn't help but smirk and send her friend a sympathetic look. His partner was a tall slender girl with layered brown hair, and eyes that she constantly changed the color of via contacts. She also sat behind him in most of their classes and used every trick in the book to try and flirt with him. From the look he was shooting her back, it seemed like Neji would rather be having his head slammed into a car door than endure it.

Maybe Kakashi would let her tack onto that group and help him out. Then again, it was slightly entertaining to watch him suffer like that.

"But don't worry, I didn't leave you without hope of passing. You're partner is right over there." he pointed over to the boy Tenten had considered sitting next to. He was currently working on something by himself, and seemed…almost lost in a different world. "He volunteered to wait for you when everyone was choosing, and hey, better than leaving you to work by yourself or tack you onto another group." he smiled.

Tenten felt her eye twitch. Did everyone have to point out her study habits today? Was it some kind of national holiday? And why him? She didn't dislike the boy, she didn't know him well enough for that, but why hadn't Neji or Lee said anything? Maybe they had and Kakashi said no or were lost in the confusion? Before she could say or ask anything though, Kakashi was already moving back towards his desk, and she assumed his favorite book. Shaking her head, and hoping her brain didn't quit on her for this, she headed over to her new partner.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Hope you guys liked it. Please let me know what you thought, and have a great day.

Be Blessed

Your friend

innocent-rebel