Forked Shadows

Chapter 21

"Isn't she the major suspect right now?" 

"Yeah, I heard she is the murderer of all recent deaths of her classmates. Even the one about Yamanaka's daughter committing suicide was her doing." 

Tenten never truly understood what being alone meant until now. If she thought being ignored was bad enough, being noticed for something she didn't do was downright horrible and miserable. 

"Shhh, she's coming this way!" gossiping women silenced themselves as Tenten walked past as boldly as she could.  However, as soon as she crossed the six-meter mark, whispers rose up again. 

Although her "crimes" had yet to be proven, as verbal assault and personal opinion did not confirm her wrongdoing, word got out Tenten had a high chance of being the suspect of all the recent killings. 

When Tenten reached home, she grimaced at the graffiti on the outside and the broken window on the left side of the house. Instead of heading inside, she escaped to the woods, letting the silence become her refuge. Silence once was her most hated enemy, but now, it was her greatest comfort. At least trees and shrubbery couldn't judge her. 

"Why all the fuss? I thought people knew everyone died eventually. Those victims just died a lot sooner!" 

Days passed, and whatever Tenten had left of her reputation dwindled bit by bit. Neji shunned her, fighting her as hard as he could during training. He didn't hold back and had to be sent home twice when he almost crossed the line. However, Tenten accepted the training and became stronger by leaps and bounds. 

Lee was more distance than angry, trying to figure her out. He trained as usual with power and vigor, while, Tenten didn't hold back throwing herself in training. 

"It's not my fault they couldn't handle it," Tenten muttered angrily. "They were just too weak!" 

Near the end of the week, Tenten was shunned worse than Naruto. Actually, Naruto's personality won over many people, albeit not many, but in comparison to Tenten, many people would prefer the bubbly boy than the sullen girl who might kill them. 

Things got so bad for Tenten posters of her had been put up and graffitied heavily, mocking her. People yelled at her in the streets. In the beginning, they didn't dare talk. But with endless reports that she was still a suspect on the list didn't help matters. 

"Losers should die quietly," she scoffed, shuffling down the streets. "Why all the drama? Their job was to die!" 

What really bugged Tenten the most was she wasn't the only suspect out there, but people still treated them with respect. Raicho had been recently cut from the list, yet people still flocked to her as though she were an angel. Which she might as well be, Tenten admitted. She had a calm, sweet personality and worked charms on clients as a therapist. 

Neji had been a suspect, but the clan elders quickly dismissed that. He wouldn't kill Hinata or Hanabi to get even, although admittedly he tried during the Chunin Exams. However, he had a change of heart and swore to protect them. 

"Wouldn't you say it's 'fate'? They deserved to die anyway. Ninjas should be able to defend themselves," Tenten argued." 

Week after week, suspects were eliminated from the list, yet Tenten remained. People pointed at her, shouting she should be arrested and even executed. Just her name was a plague summoning a yelling disaster. 

Finally, Tenten had it. 

She ran back home after one particularly harsh villager saw her and slammed the door shut, breaking into a choked sob when she was safe. 

"They were going to die anyway! Just a lot sooner! They should have been on guard, train with every inch of themselves, and not blame me!" 

Hurriedly, she took down her hair from the two twin buns and brushed it out. She combed more hair to the front and parted it at the side. Then, with a pair of scissors, she styled the front of her hair into a thick side bang, making sure plenty of hair covered nearly half her face with only one eye completely visible. 

One thick side bang covering most of the face. Check. 

Tenten cut the rest of her hair into a neat bob and wiped her tears away. Hopefully, the wouldn't notice her as much. 

"Life would be better without losers," she roared, flinging the scissors at the walls. The point of the scissors stuck into the wall, but she didn't feel any better. 

She removed her qipao-style blouses and wore a gray wrap shirt. To make sure she couldn't be easily recognizable, Tenten found a medical mask and covered her lower face. 

Changing signature clothing style. Check.

Tenten glanced around paranoidly before testing her tone, trying to make her own voice sound slightly deeper forcing herself to speak slower. She spent plenty of time practicing using her new voice and giving a mature, calculated look about her. 

Speaking differently. Check. 

Tenten looked around her house. It was completely trashed. People had broken into her home and told authorities of the matter didn't actually help since people would just do it again. The entire village was practically harassing her and nobody cared. Not even her ex-best friend. 

After a moment's pause, Tenten made up her mind. 

She cleared the house, making sure she had all her valuables before escaping through the window. She was about to head towards the village gates when she changed her mind, heading to the house of the one person she never thought she would speak with again.