Sasuten IV

A/N- I've been doing my Sasuke research, I wanted you guys to know that I am learning more about him. My main source of Intel is YouTube videos. I find that you can actually learn a lot about characters that way.

Chapter 4. Reaction.

Sasuke Uchiha is actually a nice person.

This thought rang through Tenten's head as she stepped out of a shower. It was a late evening and she had just gotten home from her outing with Sasuke.

She hadn't known what to expect when the Uchiha had practically dragged her to that tacky little French restaurant. She certainly didn't expect to be wowed over the exquisite French cuisine. She also hadn't expected Sasuke to behave so maturely. He had been very kind and very accommodating.

She lay down in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was greeted by the blankness of the ceiling.

This was one of the hardest parts for Tenten to adapt to. Being alone at night.

All her life she had been so cursedly alone. She hadn't realized how much she hated it at first, but after she had a team she started to see that the other ninja's had families to go home to at night. And all she came home to was an empty apartment.

Everything changed when Neji came into her life. And once they found that they loved each other. Everything became better in her life.

A tear slipped out of Tenten's eye and she reached up to wipe it away. Her heart ached in the moment of solitude, and her eyes burned as more tears threatened to fall.

I've always despised girls that cry.

Tenten thought that and turned her thoughts to herself. How often had she been crying recently? More than she would care to admit. But she had no one to talk to. No one could possibly understand the pain she was going through.

I've always been alone, why does this hurt so much?

How ironic that the Hyuuga prodigy had always boasted that no one loved him, his clan betrayed him, his uncle murdered his father. But here Tenten was, crying every day over the loss of him. Someone did love him, and would always love him.

I hate being alone.

Sasuke POV

"Hey Sasuke! Wake up! Gosh, what time did you go to sleep?"

Sasuke opened his tired eyes to look at his teammate Naruto. The blond was staring at Sasuke and trying to get him to focus. Naruto was waving his arms and yelling. Sasuke found it quite annoying.

I was out too late last night with Tenten.

Sasuke thought. He waited for the irritation to surface. Usually whenever his training time was hampered because of someone else he would grow increasingly irritated with them. Training to make himself more powerful had always been one of his top priorities. His main goal had been to grow strong enough to beat Itachi for so long, but now he wished to grow stronger so that he could make Itachi proud by changing his life.

Sasuke felt no irritation at Tenten though. After all, he was the one who insisted that she eat with him. And that seemed fine to him, he did have a good time with her. He found that he rather enjoyed the time spent with her.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Naruto was yelling. "Earth to Teme! What is wrong with you? You're so out of it."

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"Wow. Ignore me. Okay, I see how it is. Why don't you just go be alone in your house if you're going to have such an attitude. You can go brood, since you're so good at it." Naruto said.

"Can I?" Sasuke asked. "I'm really tired. And I have to be rested in case Tsunade sends me out on a mission."

"Fine. But we are training tomorrow." Naruto said. "I'll go see what Sakura is doing. I bet she wants to go out for lunch."

Sasuke watched Naruto go. He was slightly envious of his teammate's optimistic attitude. But Sasuke did not want to spend any more time with Sakura than he had to.

If Naruto is going to see Sakura, then I should go can go see Tenten again.

Sasuke froze at this thought. Do I like spending time with her? He mentally asked himself. He searched through his thoughts and feelings. No answer arrived to him.

Sasuke decided not to dwell on the matter. He shook his head and started walking toward Tenten's favorite park.

Tenten POV

Tenten stood in her tiny bathroom. She was looking at her reflection in the mirror.

I do look horrible. She thought.

There were large bags under her eyes. Her hair hung limply down her back, and her skin was unusually pale for someone of Chinese descent.

She took her shirt off to inspect how thin she had become. It wasn't anything catastrophic, she just had an unusually flat abdomen which was never a bad thing.

Her eyes fell upon the scab forming on her left bicep. The cut she had inflicted more than a month ago was almost healed. It was a pale pink line with a thin groove of scab running through it.

I've felt so numb for so long, I wonder….

Tenten picked up a kunai from the counter. She raised it above the scar, and dug it into the flesh.

Blood ran from the newly inflicted wound. But she continued to slide it through the pre-existing cut.

The end result was a pale pink almost scar, and a new bloody wound crossing through it. It was in the shape of a side-ways cross. The new wound was just a little larger than the older wound.

Tenten felt the pain tingling slightly. But it wasn't enough to cause her to cry out or anything.

She bandaged the wound, put clothes on and left.

Tenten didn't want to be at her home any longer than she had to.

At Team Gai's Training Ground

Tenten stood in the field that she had always trained with Neji in. She hadn't been here in months. It was just too painful.

Tsunade had denied her request for a suicide mission because of the shape she was in. So in order to go on a mission again she would have to get back in prime ninja shape.

Tenten set up a target a few feet away from her and got into the stance to throw a kunai. It was the kunai she had cut herself with and there was still a bit of dried blood on it. Her eyes narrowed at the filthy object, and she hurled it at the target.

Bulls-eye.

Her accuracy was still exactly the same.

Tenten sat down and looked at her feet. The only thing she could practice individually was accuracy. And her accuracy was still perfect.

Tenten remembered why she didn't train anymore. She didn't have a training partner anymore. He was gone.

Tenten cradled her head in her hands. Images of the countless hours spent with Neji training flashed through her mind. Those days were so perfect, and she missed them enormously.

"Did you hurt yourself?" A voice asked.

Tenten's eyes opened. The voice was deep and male, very similar to Neji's. Was she hearing things?

"Tenten?" The voice asked.

Tenten looked up and saw Sasuke Uchiha. He was crouching in front of her. His black eyes roved over her, he must be searching for injuries. Their eyes met and a weird sensation settled in Tenten's stomach.

"I'm fine." Tenten said as she swallowed nervously.

"Were you training?" Sasuke asked as he eyed the target and kunai embedded in it.

"Yeah. But I've reached a block. I can't do it on my own." Tenten said.

"I can train with you." Sasuke offered. "I'll go really easy on you."

Tenten sighed, then she glared at Sasuke. "Are you offering to go easy on me because I'm a woman?" She asked with intensity.

Sasuke visibly paled. "No. It's just that we've never trained together before, and I expect you to easy on me as well." He offered. "I would never insult you by judging you on your gender."

Tenten smiled a little. "Well then, we should just practice basics. If I don't like it, then we'll never practice together again." She said.

Sasuke helped her get up. Then they took their separate stances and began practicing basic taijutsu with each other.

(A/N- I am not going into the training scene in detail because I feel that it would be boring to write. And if I think something is boring to write, then I know it will be boring to read. So I'm only being considerate. ;)

After Training

Tenten and Sasuke each sat against a tree together. They were both very tired from staying out the night before, and the training session they had just had.

Sasuke had to admit that Tenten had gotten better at taijutsu since the days of the chunin exam. They'd also gone on to sword fight, and she had taught him several new moves.

Tenten knew that Sasuke had been holding himself back. He was just so obviously more powerful than her, but that didn't seem to bother her. Neji had also been more powerful than her, but she was better at things that he could never succeed at. She figured that would hold true for Sasuke as well.

Tenten had liked training with him though. He had really helped her get just a little bit better. And in the long run, that would be the most helpful to her.

"Thanks for helping me Sasuke." Tenten said. "We should do that again sometime. I need to get back into proper ninja fitness and you've really helped."

Sasuke smirked. "Well if you're trying to get fit then you should also be eating three square meals a day." He said.

Tenten frowned. Did he know about her eating habits? No way, he couldn't. "I eat all the time." Tenten defended herself.

"Oh? Well then I don't suppose you'd like to eat with me then." Sasuke said.

Tenten paled. "Like, at another restaurant? Because I didn't bring any money."

Sasuke stood up and held his hand out to her to help her get up. "I'll pick up the tab like I did last night." He said.

Tenten thought about it. It would be nice to go out to eat instead of sitting alone in her apartment without eating. "Okay Sasuke, let's get some lunch." She said as she accepted his hand and he pulled her up.

"It's definitely dinner time." Sasuke said. "Not lunch time."

Tenten looked up at the sky, sure enough the sun was setting. Could they still go to a restaurant if they were fresh out of training?

"Where will we go?" Tenten asked Sasuke.

"I figured you would want Chinese." Sasuke said.

Tenten couldn't help but smile, and Sasuke noticed. "I love Chinese food." Tenten said without thinking.

Sasuke led Tenten to a take-out Chinese place. "We can get our food and eat somewhere else." Sasuke whispered. "I don't want anyone staring at us because of how bad we look."

Tenten laughed. "You mean how bad I look. You still look fine." She teased.

It's true, Tenten thought as Sasuke went inside to order. He still looked like the good-looking Uchiha he was, even after training in Taijutsu for hours. Neji had been the same way, and Tenten had always been a little jealous. She was the woman, she was supposed to be the pretty one.

Sasuke came back with a bag. "Let's go eat at your favorite park." He said.

At the Park

Tenten and Sasuke sat on the slab of concrete that the children would use to play basketball. There were no children though, because all of them were at home eating dinner.

Tenten sometimes wished that there would be a dinner waiting at home for her at the end of the day. But right now she had the Uchiha with her, and she liked it.

Tenten began digging into the Chinese food and ate with a rare appetite. Sasuke tried some of it, and found it incredibly spicy.

"Thank you so much Sasuke!" Tenten said after she swallowed a mouthful of Chinese food. "I really needed this."

Sasuke couldn't help staring at her bright smile. She looked so much prettier when she smiled.

"It's nothing." Sasuke said after a few minutes.

They were each about to say something to the other when they heard a voice.

"TENTEN-CHAN, WHATEVER ARE YOU DOING WITH THE YOUTHFUL UCHIHA?" Rock Lee yelled as he ran up to them.

Sasuke frowned. This was the insane guy that had beaten him in a fight years ago.

Tenten blushed for some reason. "Sasuke was helping me train today, and he and I got food afterward." Tenten answered.

Rock Lee looked right at Sasuke. "Thank you for helping my teammate, Sasuke Uchiha." He yelled.

"Hn." Sasuke said. He was uncomfortable with the spandex clad man around.

"Lee, I think me and Sasuke are finished with our food now." Tenten said. "We're both very tired and need to get some rest now." Tenten said as she stood up.

"Oh! I see." Rock Lee said. "Well then, I will look forward to the company of the two of you tomorrow!" Lee yelled and he ran off.

Sasuke stood up and looked right at Tenten. "Don't stay out here all night." Sasuke said with a smirk.

Tenten smiled. "I won't." She promised. "Will you train with me tomorrow?"

"I look forward to it." Sasuke said.

A/N- I know Sasuke was completely out of character, so please don't yell at me for that. But I still hoped that you liked this chapter. Please leave me a review if you did.

And if any of you were wondering why Sasuke keeps feeding Tenten, I heard this saying recently that love is food. And I completely agree. So that's why.

I hope you're all having a wonderful day!