Interlude: Tenten

Uzumaki Naruto was weird.

That was the conclusion Tenten came to upon his introduction.

The day started off easy enough. Her adopted father had walked her all the way to class. His smile was big, and she could have sworn he had tears in his eyes before he let her walk into the class. She remembers the butterflies in her tummy as she finds her seat at the end of the middle row. Two girls, Tsubaki and Saki-san, sat next to her, but they were too busy talking to each other to speak to her. It made her feel sad at first, but she reassured herself that she would talk to them at lunch.

Not long after, the teacher, Juri-sensei, welcomed them into the classroom and had them all introduce themselves. The butterflies in her tummy returned the closer they got to her, causing her hands to sweat and the sound of her heart to echo in her ears. Thankfully, she remembered the breathing exercises her father had taught her, and by the time it was her turn, she was able to say what she wanted.

But then Juri-sensei, for some reason, glared at the corner of the room. Her voice became a lot harsher all of a sudden, and the way she said the next name just sounded mean. Turning, she was able to get a clear view of who had made her sensei so angry.

In the corner, a boy sat all by himself. He was tan; there were strange whisker marks on his face; and he had the biggest, greenest eyes Tenten had ever seen. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. For some reason, it made her feel weird. Her cheeks felt warm, and the butterflies returned in full force.

It was his voice that finally pulled her out of the weird feeling. Unlike hers and the rest of the class, it wasn't as happy. In fact, it sounded very dull, like whenever her father was talking to that customer, he said he didn't like it.

And his dream was to be a Hokage.

It sounded uninspiring, kind of like his voice. It dry, like he was reading it off a piece of paper. And yet, somehow, he still made it sound motivating.

By the time he finished, the butterflies in her stomach were gone. Unlike other students, sensei didn't urge the students to clap. She simply went to the next student, which was just weird and mean. It may not have been the best introduction, but Uzumaki-kun had feelings.

It only got worse as time progressed.

Juri-sensei would almost always call on Uzumaki-san, to which he was almost always unable to answer the questions. The class would then laugh at him, with Tenten even admitting doing the same once or twice.

Uzumaki-kun would also almost always be put against Neji Hyuga during sparring class. To say he simply 'lost' would be an understatement. The Hyuga never went easy on anyone, and the bruises he left behind were always something none of them looked forward to getting.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that Tenten began asking questions.

Did sensei not like Uzumaki-kun? Did Uzumaki-kun do something wrong? What did he do, and why does everyone make fun of him?

It got weirder at recess.

Tenten was able to befriend Tsubaki and Saki at recess. Since then, they have played ninja a few times and even had lunch together. They were a lot more talkative than she'd expected, but Tenten didn't mind. They were willing to be her friends, and she had fun.

However, she couldn't help but notice the blonde from before.

He was always sitting alone. At lunch, in class, and at recess, he was always alone. She had seen him try and go up to other kids, but none of them would let him play with them or even let him sit next to them.

After a week of this, she decided it had to be her turn to talk to the mysterious boy.

But she couldn't do it alone. She was still wary of that feeling she had when she first saw him, and if any of the rumors about him being a 'bad boy' were true, then she wanted friends to be there with her.

So she asked Tsubaki and Saki-san.

Their reaction surprised her.

They openly looked disgusted at the idea. They said that they wanted nothing to do with the 'weird boy' and even went as far as to say they wouldn't be her friend anymore if she talked to him. That had shocked her. She was shocked so much that it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

But she never brought it up again. She continued her school life with her friends and never once brought up Uzumaki Naruto's name again.

Then he suddenly changed over night.

She didn't mean that based on his outward appearance. No, he was still as blonde and plain as the day he introduced himself. He still had no friends, and he still sounded as dry as the Suna desert.

The 'change' had more to do with his actions.

Where he'd rarely get an answer right when Juri-sensei called on him, he now got almost all of them correct. Where he would have been almost sulking during recess and lunch, he was now reading. A year later, his skills in Taijutsu went from nonexistent to more than capable. He still wasn't anywhere near Hyuga Neji's skill, but beating nearly everyone in the class, including herself, when he couldn't even beat the lowest, was a huge leap in improvement that was almost unnatural. It had only been a year, and he went from dead last to the top of their class. Like, who does that?

It brought back the interest she had in the boy when she'd first laid eyes on him.

She tried to talk to him several times after that. But every time, he'd find a way to disappear. One minute, he'd be sitting in the corner, reading, and then next, he'd be gone.

It was like a magic trick.

A very frustrating magic trick.

But it didn't stop her. She was determined to figure out what his secret was. How could he improve so quickly? Was he actually that smart and just dumbed it down for everyone else? Why didn't anyone like him? Why was he so good at magic tricks?

Eventually, the curiosity won her over, and she found herself tailing him.

His routine was simple. He would leave school and head straight to a training field. In that field, he'd walk a few yards until he was smack dab in the middle. He would search his surroundings thoroughly. He would begin talking to himself.

Then he was gone.

*Poof*

Not a trace left behind.

Blink, and you'll miss it.

The fu-

After watching him vanish into thin air, she was determined to know his secret at whatever cost.

So she followed him again.

Turns out, this wasn't even a one-day thing, but nearly an everyday one.

And every single time, he somehow vanished into thin air! How?! It wasn't fair! She wanted to do that too! And seeing that she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out how he was doing it, she decided to confront the magician himself.

Right before he could leave his seat, she was in front of him, determined to know his secrets. It was unfair that he already knew Ninja magic and none of them didn't! She had a right to know, just like anybody else! Yes, that sounded right to her! It was fair; it had to be. Surely he would see that too, no?

Want to know what he told her?

"I train really hard."

That was it. That was his answer.

'I train really hard'.

That was his big secret—how he was able to practically vanish into thin air.

'I train really hard'.

The words stayed glued in her head all the way until she confronted him again the next day.

She had hoped to catch him off guard, but the blonde, being the magician he was, was able to see her coming a mile away. He didn't give her the time of day, choosing to instead dodge the topic by ignoring her all together.

This went on for two years.

Two. Years.

Two years later, she STILL knew nothing. Not his hobbies, not how he performed his magic—nothing. She knew nothing about him, yet that only increased her interest in him.

Before she knew it, she was sitting next to him in class. The friends she once held close stopped talking to her altogether while others in class started giving her a wide berth.

But that was OK.

She had found a much more interesting way to fill her everyday life.

And it was worth it.

Uzumaki Naruto was weird, but maybe being weird wasn't all that bad.