A/N: Happy Birthday, Tenten!

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

She was too early. They weren't supposed to meet for another half-hour. Tenten tapped her foot against the fallen tree trunk she sat on, casting her gaze over the familiar training grounds. This was the same place where Guy had tried to teach them Primary Lotus – and where only Lee succeeded.

Tenten got up and examined the log she had been occupying. After deciding it was acceptable, she stood it upright, fell back, and ran towards the log.

The same exhaustion she had earned the other times she had tried this returned to greet her in double. She was on her back, staring up at the sky where a few birds swooped across its pale blue expanse. Tenten still couldn't do it, but this rest after trying so hard felt strangely cathartic.

"Already hard at work, I see."

Tenten twitched when she recognized the voice, and she quickly sat up to make herself seem more composed. "Sensei, you're finally here."

Guy wore that usual grin he had when he met one of his students. As he approached Tenten, his gaze cast over the training grounds. There were several impact marks in the terrain, and when Guy saw the log lying beside Tenten, he put the puzzle together. "Tenten… were you trying to do Primary Lotus?" He was speaking in a tone which she had overheard him using with Neji before the chuunin exam. "You shouldn't practice that technique without supervision. You know of the strain it puts on the body."

"Yeah… sorry about that," Tenten modestly replied.

"I didn't even know you still wanted to learn it. In the end, Lee was the only one able to master it after all."

The reference to her teammate and his achievement sparked something in Tenten, and she replied, "Sensei, I know you have some kind of deep emotional bond or whatever with Lee, but Neji and I are your students too."

Guy took this by surprise. Even he knew that Neji and Tenten found the personality quirks he shared with Lee to be a bother, but was unaware that it may have had the capacity to make his other students jealous. On the verge of choking up, Guy said, "I didn't know you felt this way." Then a sudden realization made him follow-up with, "Is that why you were trying Primary Lotus?"

Tenten formed an expression that suggested she had just caught a whiff of something unpleasant. "No, I –"

"Tenten, I don't expect you to be like Lee, accident aside. In fact, I applaud your individuality. Lee admires me like you admire Lady Tsunade; but whereas he emulates me, you choose weaponry as a means to become a great kunoichi. I think that's a wonderful thing."

Tenten's eyes were wide with astonishment. As far as she could recall, this was the first time she and her sensei had an exchange where it was just the two of them; and it was the first time his sentiment meant so much to her. She smiled. "Thanks, Guy-sensei."

Guy was positively beaming. "I believe our bond is much closer now!" He spread his arms out wide. "Come, Tenten! Let all your feelings out!"

"N-No, I don't – EEAGUH!"

Her sensei ensnared her in a bear-hug. "See, Tenten?" he cried. "There's nothing to worry about!"

There was plenty to worry about as far as Tenten was concerned. It felt like needles had sprung up all over her body. Even worse was…

"N-Neji! Lee!" The rest of the team had shown up.

Guy mercifully released Tenten and spun around. "Ah! Lee, Neji! Good! Now we can reaffirm our feelings for one another through a group hug!"

"Guy-sensei, I don't need a group hug!" Tenten hastily protested.

"Oh, alright then." Guy pointed a finger straight into the air. "Individually!" Guy brought the finger down to point at his protégé. "Lee!"

The boy straightened up and answered, "Right!"

Tenten had a dismayed look about her when the green-clad boy suddenly raced forward. He really was fast. Lee collapsed to his knees and boldly encircled his arms around an alarmed Tenten, who stiffened in response.

"Tenten, you are a very important part of the team!" Lee nearly shouted.

This team demonstration of esteem seemed excessive, but… the feelings were so honest that Tenten couldn't help but appreciate them. She put a hand on Lee's shoulder and thanked him.

When Lee pulled away afterward and stood back, Tenten found Neji standing next to her. He offered her a hand. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. "What happened to your arm?" he asked after letting go of her hand.

"Oh, Lee did that. He didn't hurt me, just bandaged a few scratches I got during training."

Neji nodded, and then looked to Guy and Lee. "Are we going to begin training now?"

Sensei and student mirrored one another, cupping their hands around their mouths and mouthing, "Hug her~!"

Tenten caught the gesture and said, "Come on, you two. He doesn't have to –" She was stunned into silence when Neji pulled her close, then released her a second later.

He stood a measured distance from her and set his silver gaze to the side. Tenten only stared at him, still shocked at what just happened. She had never as much seen Neji give someone a handshake, let alone a hug. Only when Guy announced that they commence their training did either of them move.

- - -

"Ino, did you know Tenten's been going to Shikamaru's?"

Ino didn't turn to look at her. It would have been difficult anyway. She was carrying several bouquets of flowers for delivery, and she was afraid unnecessary movement would cause her to drop one. Sakura was helping her by carrying the flower baskets.

"Yes, he told me," Ino replied somewhat stiffly.

Sakura looked disconcerted, a fact Ino could tell by the sound of her voice. "Why didn't you tell me when I asked?"

There were other people walking the street they were on, but Ino stopped in the middle of it all and gazed at her over the flowers. "Sakura, don't you think there's something weird about her?"

Of all thing things Sakura might have imagined Ino replying with, this wasn't one of them. "Weird?" she echoed. "What do you mean?"

Ino looked at her with something like a mix of concern and exasperation. "Just… be careful."

- - -

After an eventful morning of training with her team, Tenten returned home to refresh. She had time to think about a lot of things, not the least of which was what Guy had told her before practice. If she really wanted to be an expert with weaponry, then it was time for an expansion of her arsenal.

There were several books and scrolls she had selected open before her, but then Tenten was no longer looking at them. Her mind had wandered, and she gazed out the window with her head resting on her left hand. She sat back and peered down at her bandaged arm. The scrapes on her fingers were long healed by now, but everyday she continued to replace the wrapping. It was like a symbol of her resolve to work hard. Her eyes shifted to her other hand, and she turned it over to look at her palm.

Ever since she was little she had been captivated with fortune-telling. It started with her fascination for the twelve animals of the zodiac, and from there she began reading books on astrology and other methods of fortune-telling. This changed when she met Neji – specifically after they had become teammates.

It happened the first time Lee challenged him to spar. Neji had beaten him almost effortlessly, knocking Lee to the ground several times. As Lee was getting up to try again, Neji told him, "Your taijutsu has always been below average. You're not destined to be anything but that."

Tenten looked at Lee then; crouched on the ground, smeared in dirt, his expression injured. If fate dictated that was how Lee's life was to be, then she thought fate to be awfully unfair. Fortune-telling began to depress her.

As time went on, Lee's skills drastically improved. He was faster, more efficient, and he had fewer problems during missions. Tenten began to think that maybe Neji was wrong about Lee… but still, when Lee fought him, he never won. Neji was still a genius after all, and she got used to it.

Yet for all the time Tenten believed in Neji's aptitude, she was glad that Naruto had beaten him during the chuunin exams. Neji's attitude toward destiny changed, and Tenten found she was able to enjoy fortune-telling again because of it.

Of course, not all fortunes were good ones. She remembered reading Shikamaru's palm, and seeing what the lines indicated about his future. She thought it best not to tell him. Regardless of how impractical fortune-telling seemed, telling a person someone close to them would die was a distasteful thing to do.

Morbidly, Tenten wondered who it could be. A shinobi seemed the most likely. Untimely deaths were an expected, although not always perceived, part of shinobi life. She shook her head, not wanting to dwell on the subject.

Hopefully, Tenten thought, the fortune would be wrong.

- - -

The library was so deserted, that it may have unsettled Sakura if she didn't know the librarian was at the front desk. After helping Ino out with her deliveries, she went to the library to follow-up on some of her readings. Books, paper, and writing instrument in hand, she left the aisles of tomes to find a place to work.

She emerged to a windowed part of the library, the tables and chairs placed along the wall casting shadows across the floor. There was only one person occupying the area, sitting at the table closest to where Sakura stood. Actually, the person wasn't so much sitting, as reclining back in her chair.

The clothes she was wearing, Sakura noticed, weren't her usual attire. Her shirt was long and dark blue, and her pants were burgundy in colour. Everything else though, remained the same.

Sakura moved closer, and found that the girl was asleep. It was strange, finding this bright girl she only saw when awake, now resting like the rest of the world didn't exist. The sunlight coming through the window made her features appear more vivid. Long lashes, soft hair, clear skin… and with her head tilted back, Sakura could see a pulse beating on her neck.

She moved to the opposite side of the table and set her books down. Then she sat, reached for the top book, and flipped it open. She glanced up at the other girl before looking at the pages.

- - -

A horrible stiffness greeted Tenten as she ebbed back into consciousness. 'Gah… resting my eyes was a bad idea.' Slowly, achingly, she straightened up in her seat and groaned.

"Hi."

Stunned by the presence of another person, and the familiar voice, Tenten blinked and briefly rubbed her eyes with the base of her hand. "Sakura?" She saw the pink-haired girl come into focus, sitting across from her with study materials on the table. Tenten turned her head to look around the library, but immediately stopped and winced when she felt a sharp pain at the base of her neck.

When she put a hand to it, Sakura rose from her seat and said, "Here, let me." She came to Tenten's side and placed her medically trained hands between her neck and her shoulders.

"Mm, thanks." Tenten gave the library another glance. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. She couldn't settle on whether or not it was strange for Sakura to sit with her when there were so many free tables and chairs. "Hey, Sakura… have you ever kissed someone before?"

Sakura's hands froze, and then were off Tenten as if she had burnt them. "W-What? No!"

Tenten twisted around in her seat and gazed back at her. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it."

Sakura bit the inside of her lip, looking hesitant. "… I've always thought… I want my first kiss to be Sasuke."

"… Hm…" Tenten could see where this was going. She did not wish to have another angst-ridden Sakura on her hands, or to talk about Sasuke for that matter, so she nonchalantly replied, "Ah, I see… From what I've heard though, you wouldn't be his first."

A bright flush came over Sakura's face, as much from indignity as aggravation. She knew Sasuke was well-known in the village, but she didn't think that particular incident would have spread outside their classroom. "That was an accident, and it was with Naruto, so it doesn't count!"

Tenten gave her a curious look. "So, if you accidentally kissed Ino, it wouldn't count?"

"Huh!?" Sakura became even more flustered. "Why Ino??"

Tenten shrugged. "The friends yet rivals dynamic: Sasuke and Naruto, you and Ino."

Sakura stood there for a moment, staring at Tenten and taking in the logic of her reasoning. She circled back to her seat, grabbed a pencil, and stared down at her notebook as though preparing to jot something down. In a quiet voice, she said, "It wouldn't happen."

During this time, Tenten noted, Sakura's face was taking on strange hues of red. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

Sakura looked up at her, her cheeks having decided on a shade of pink deeper than the colour of her hair. "Would you count it… if you accidentally kissed me?"

The answer to her question came easier to Tenten than either of them expected. "I would think so."

- - -

"Is Tenten here?"

The question prompted Shikamaru to raise an eyebrow. He thought Ino would simply leave like she always did after dropping something off at his place, but here she stayed asking a peculiar question. "No, she didn't come at all."

"Oh, I see…" She paused for a moment, then asked, "Does Tenten seem okay to you?"

Shikamaru leant against the doorframe. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she's been hanging around Sakura so much lately and I've been thinking it's weird. I mean, it's not like they really know each other and Sakura told me they only started spending time together when Tenten randomly decided to make her a rival, and – what's so funny!?" Ino glared at Shikamaru when she saw him snicker.

He didn't try to hide it. "It's rare to see you like this," he answered.

"Like what?"

"Never mind." Shikamaru turned to lean on his back. "I don't see what you're worried about. Tenten's a good girl."

Ino's face went blank before changing into scribbled frustration. "Aaugh! You too!?"

"Huh?"

She pointed a finger at him. "Look, you better watch out as well. First it was Sakura, and now you."

Shikamaru sighed, his head wilting to one side. "Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"

"I do not sound ridiculous!"

"It's not like I know anything about this," he said as he wearily rubbed the back of his neck, "but it seems like jealously is causing you to be paranoid."

Her mouth was open, and blue eyes shone like ice. "I am not jealous. If you even think that I think of you that way, then –"

"I mean in regards to Sakura."

This time it was harder for Ino to recover. If Shikamaru was seriously thinking that…

"She's your closest friend, isn't she? You guys had that falling out, so maybe you want your friendship with her to be the one she has with Tenten."

Ino stared at him for the longest while, and then turned on her heel grumbling, "I don't even know why I bothered coming here."

Shikamaru didn't bother to tell her.

- - -

It was definitely strange. Usually when Guy and Lee attempted to persuade Neji and Tenten to join them in one of their unnecessary antics, that latter half of the team was always reluctant. This time however, Neji had found the encouragement bizarrely easy to comply with.

At first he was narrowing his eyes at the pair, but then he looked at Tenten and his body acted on its own. He could still remember the surprise he felt at how slight her frame was in his arms, and the warmth and smell of her. Neji had never considered these characteristics of a person before, and now they seemed so real and relevant – and the ones he experienced were specific to Tenten.

He still was not sure why he had done it. The only people he had ever hugged in his life were his parents, and that was when he had been very young. Since then, the only physical contact he had against other people was when he was fighting them – there was nothing affectionate about his actions.

Things were different now. Maybe it was because of Naruto… Maybe it was because of Lee… Or maybe… it was because it was Tenten.

One thing was certain: it was becoming more difficult to meditate these days.