A/N: Thank you to my first two reviewers! I appreciate the feedback on the Tenten versus Sakura angle. I believe it was the second databook where I read Sakura was one of Tenten's desired opponents.

Disclaimer: "Naruto" is property of Masashi Kishimoto, Studio Pierrot, Viz Media, etc.

A yawn escaped the Hokage's lips as she read through the paperwork on her desk. It had been a late night and early morning, a combination which she was not fond of. The only reason she was in her office now was because Shizune had dragged her out of bed to do some last-minute paperwork before having to meet her apprentices. Her aide walked in with a tray of tea, a beverage not as strong as Tsunade would have liked. What was worse was when Shizune nearly capsized the lot because of someone rushing up behind her.

Tsunade frowned at the commotion, then at the source of it.

Standing with her legs shoulder-width apart was a girl wearing a Chinese-style shirt, her brunette hair tied up in a pair of buns. "Lady Tsunade! I'm sorry to disturb you but I have request."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Her tone implied that the response should validate her interruption.

Tenten held her arms against her sides and bowed. "I would be honored if you would teach me medical ninjutsu as well."

Shizune blinked at Tenten's display.

Tsunade studied her for a moment, her expression sober. Lacing her fingers together and raising them before her visage, she replied, "I don't have anything against teaching you… but let me ask you something. Why do you want to learn medical ninjutsu?"

Straightening her posture, Tenten took a breath and answered, "I want to show people that women can be just as good shinobi as men!"

The Hokage continued to observe her pensively. "I appreciate your enthusiasm." She pushed back her chair and rose, coming around the desk to stand by Tenten.

For a second Tenten gazed back at her wonderingly, and was surprised when she placed a hand upon her head.

Keeping her hand in place, Tsunade inquired, "How did you hurt yourself?"

Though this was one of the legendary Sannin, Tenten was still amazed by Tsunade's perception and analysis. She informed her of the events leading to her concussion, starting with her outing with Lee and ending with the source.

"I see… then you should be resting."

"But –"

"I'm taking you back to the hospital. There's something I want to check."

- - -

"Your rival?" echoed Ino. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think?" Sakura sarcastically shot back from the other end of the couch.

The girls were waiting for Tsunade to turn up, and Sakura had passed the time by relaying her odd encounter with Tenten to her childhood friend.

Ino leant back, simultaneously folding her arms and crossing her legs. "Well, come on. Why would Tenten come out of nowhere and say that to you?"

"I don't know…" After a second of thinking, Sakura suddenly gasped and said, "You don't think she meant a rival in love?"

Ino's eyebrows rose. "That's an interesting thought."

"That can't be it, I mean who –" Her eyes widened. "Lee!"

"From the Chuunin Exam?"

"He did express an interest in me before the exam started. Plus there was that time in the forest, remember? Tenten was there when Lee was saying those things to me, so maybe…"

"Maybe," Ino stressed. "Just because they're on the same team doesn't mean she likes him." The Yamanaka girl remembered how Tenten had chosen to 'take care' of Lee by roughly shaking him awake and yelling at him.

"Ah, there you are." Shizune appeared at the doorway and stepped into the room. "I've come to tell you that Lady Tsunade is going to be a bit late for your lesson. Something came up that she needs to attend to."

The news wasn't much of a surprise. After all, Tsunade was Hokage and had several other duties that would outweigh training a couple of genin. "Oh, okay." Sakura turned to Ino with a mocking grin. "Well then, I'll take this opportunity to tutor my kohai."

"Why you…!"

- - -

After being scolded by the nurse for taking off, Tenten was escorted back to her room where she found the rest of her team gathered. Apparently they had come to visit her, but now it looked like they would also be privy to whatever news Tsunade had. The Hokage went over Tenten's medical chart, and again performed a brief physical examination before making her conclusion.

"It looks like my guess was right. When you hit your head the blow disturbed your chakra flow."

"But I feel fine."

"It's not as though your flow has been blocked – it's been altered. When you lost consciousness, the conversation you had with Lee prior to the accident must have been pressed upon you, resulting in the change. Rather than a more typical result of a concussion such as amnesia, you've undergone a slight personality change."

Tenten paled at the last two words. "Personality… change?"

"Judging by your performance in my office, I'd say you've become more like –"

"Please, don't say it…" She could guess who Tsunade was going to say based on her explanation, and the thought made her feel ill.

Guy pat her on the shoulder and flashed a thumbs up, complete with a twinkle in his grin. Whether this was meant to comfort Tenten or a sign of Guy's approval of the change did not do much for her at all. If anything it made her feel worse. Lee simply added to it by commenting how they can now train together fully utilizing their youth.

As for Neji, he hadn't said anything at all. When Tenten looked at him she caught his gaze for only a moment until he turned away.

"In any case," Tsunade asserted, "you're going to have to rest for a while."

Tenten could barely get the words out when she asked, "Um, Lady Tsunade… how long do you think this change will last?"

"Judging by how long you were out for, it should only be a week or so."

"Tenten, do not worry! This is just another form of training!"

She held back the urge to tell Lee off about how not everything has to be about training; and anyway, this would have been the type of training Lee could profit from more of in her opinion.

On Tsunade's orders they left her to rest, but Neji paused just before the doorway and glanced back at her. Straight-faced, he said, "Tenten… recover soon," and left before she could respond.

She stared at the exit he had gone through, and then flopped back, bringing her arms over her head. 'This is too weird… I wonder how much different I'll be acting… … Well… as long as it doesn't involve a green bodysuit.'

- - - - -

Her brow furrowed as she ran her finger across the spines of the shelved books. "That's strange… most of the ones I was going to look at are missing." Perplexed by this mystery, Sakura sighed and gazed at the gaps on the shelf. This was going to set her studies back a bit. Deciding that she might as well see when they might be due, she headed toward the front desk to ask the attendant.

Before she made it there however, Sakura spotted Lee attempting to leave the building with a tall stack of manuscripts in each of his hands. It was peculiar to find him here of all places, as Sakura had never thought Lee to be the type to sit quietly and read. She approached him carefully, but when she said his name Lee abruptly turned, resulting in him having to spin comically to balance the swaying texts.

"Oh, Sakura!" he gasped, shifting his load so he could see her. "Good afternoon!"

"Afternoon, Lee." Sakura smiled. "Are you sure you should be carrying so many books?"

"It is no problem. If I cannot handle this then I will have to work harder until I can!"

"Umm… okay… At least let me get the door for you."

"Thank you, Sakura!"

She held the door open for Lee to pass, and as he did so she glanced at the books he was carrying. To her surprise they were all ones she had been searching for. "I didn't know you were interested in medical ninjutsu."

"Oh, these are not for me. I am bringing them to Tenten."

The mention of his teammate's name caused Sakura to falter, and bring back the memory of Tenten's recent avowal of rivalry. If there was anyone who might know what Tenten's intentions were, it would be one of her teammates.

"Hey, Lee… can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Sakura! Anything!"

"Well, the other day Tenten came to me and said I was going to be her rival."

"Ahh, so she is taking it seriously after all!"

His response only further confused her, but then Lee spoke of the talk he had with Tenten about the ingredients required to improve her training. So Lee did turn out to be the reason Tenten had chosen Sakura as a rival – just not the way she had thought.

The fact that in the end Tenten chose her over Temari caused Sakura to question this decision. She didn't think anyone would consider her a rival… with the exception of Ino; but their skills were about the same. Their draw during the chuunin exams proved that. Tenten however was a year older, and more experienced. Plus, it wasn't that long ago when Sakura realized she needed to get stronger. That's what her apprenticeship with Tsunade was for. Sakura was beginning to doubt the thought Tenten had put into her judgment.

She eyed the books Lee held, on his way to deliver. She really wanted to take those tomes out herself; who knew when Tenten planned on returning them… Then a thought struck her, and in the next instant she was asking Lee if she could go with him to see Tenten. The boy happily agreed, ecstatic to have Sakura as company on his walk.

Sakura followed his lead, expecting to eventually find herself at Tenten's place. It was a shock therefore, when they rounded a corner and Lee made a beeline for the infirmary. "She's in the hospital??"

"Oh, I forgot to mention…"

- - -

Lee guided the way to Tenten's room, and as they walked along, Sakura sensed something familiar about this path. It dawned on her, like slap in the face. This was the route she had taken everyday when he had ended up in the hospital. Lee stopped in front of a door and knocked, opening it when he got the okay. Sakura was stunned to find herself in the same room she had visited many times before. Except instead of Sasuke lying in bed, sitting there was Tenten, surrounded by books and scribbling something down from the text in her hand.

She looked up from her work when they came in, and her expression wavered when she saw Lee had brought company.

"Here you are, Tenten!" Lee placed the books into a pile at the foot of her bed.

"Thanks, Lee." She gestured to a stack of volumes on the nightstand. "You can take those back. I'm finished going though them."

"Right!" Lee swept the books up and turned to salute Sakura. "See you later, Sakura!"

She smiled at him and nodded, watching him zip out the door and down the hallway. When she turned to Tenten, it troubled her to see the other girl intently staring at her. "Um, hi Tenten. I didn't know you were in the hospital."

Tenten kept her voice steady as she spoke. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Well, Lee told me about the fiasco with Anko-sensei."

"That's it?" she carefully ventured.

"Is there more?"

It appeared Lee hadn't mentioned Tsunade's diagnosis of her condition. That was a bit of embarrassment Tenten was thankful to Lee for not exposing. "No, there isn't."

Sakura perched herself on the nearby stool, deciding to roll with the conversation. With an airy tone, she said, "I would have run too if that loose-cannon of a jounin tried to attack me."

Tenten's expression suddenly grew somber. She dropped her gaze and replied, "I shouldn't have run away. I should have held my ground and put up a fight."

"Against that lunatic?"

"It isn't as though she would have seriously harmed me. If I want to be a respectable kunoichi, I have to deal with the challenges that come my way." She glanced at Sakura slyly and smiled. "Of course, one also knows when to fall back and recover."

Sakura blinked in wonderment. It was the first time she had heard someone speak with such conviction about being a kunoichi.

Returning to her studies, Tenten queried, "Did you want to ask me something?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't think you would visit me just to make small-talk."

"Oh… well actually, I wanted to know if you'd mind me looking though the books you had Lee borrow."

"Go ahead."

Her quick and positive reply was not what Sakura was expecting. "Uh – really?"

"Yeah, these books are available to the public. I can't stop you from reading them."

"Oh… because that time you said I was your rival, so I wasn't sure." Sakura gave a nervous chuckle, still uncertain whether she had been serious.

Tenten's focus slipped as she remembered that day. It was unlike her – leaving the hospital suddenly without notice to confront Sakura and appeal to the Hokage for training. She was sure under normal circumstances she wouldn't have done that. Yet here she was now, put in an unwanted situation because of it. The best thing to do would be enlightening Sakura on why; but instead Tenten felt herself smirk. "Alright, then, this will be our first challenge – whoever gets through all these books first will be the winner."

"Uh… huh?"

"You better be ready, Sakura."

She dove back into her reading, not noticing when Sakura's mouth fell open.

'What… did I just get myself into?'

A/N: As of now I'm not sure what'll happen next, so it'll be a while until the next update.