Strangers in the Past, Lovers in the Future, Comrades always

Ch. 1: Going back

 Chapter 1 :

TENTEN
***

This was Tenten's 20th spar now. It was the 15th spar against Neji and the 15th time she would lose to him. Her skills were no match for his precision and perfection. He had spent much more time than she did in his training. Neji had been raised and practiced to use his family's kekkei genkai.

Neji had the perfect drive that made him strive for the perfection that he had achieved. His drive was simply: to become better and make him feel worthy of the sacrifices his father had made.

Neji knew nothing of Tenten's backstory, nor did he care. He was sure she had parents but other than that, he realized that he knew almost nothing about her. Or anyone in team Guy for that matter.

Under the leadership of Might Guy, team guy consisted of 11 year olds, Rock Lee, Mitsashi Tenten, and Hyuga Neji. The team had been training together for nearly a year now and to Tenten's disappointment, she hadn't made as much progress as she'd like.

Neji had improved the lengths in which he could use his byakugan without getting too drained and had improved his gentle fist style of fighting. Lee had grown a lot and practically devoted his life to training. Tenten however, was only decent at close range combat and her taijutsu and ninjutsu levels were pretty low as well as her genjutsu.

As days passed, Tenten began to feel less encouraged, despite Guy Sensei's words, as her teammates grew and she was left behind to watch. She wanted to be strong and as good as them. She strived and put in her sweat and time, her effort, all of it into her training and it still wasn't enough.

"Get up." Hyuga Neji's words were cold, per usual. Today, however, they felt colder and it only irritated Tenten more.

"Again?" She asked breathlessly as she picked herself off of the ground and rose to face Neji. It was clear that her questioned asked him if he wanted to spar once more.

"You will only lose again," he said, turning his back.

Tenten scowled as she watched Neji begin to spar with Lee. She sat down at the base of a tree to catch her breath for a moment when Guy Sensei had kneeled next to her.

"What is wrong, my youthful student?"

"What should I do. . . Guy Sensei? It seems like Neji and Lee have been improving this whole year and I haven't even changed. I've put lots of effort into my training. . ."

Guy sat down next to her in a more comfortable position, he looked like he was sweating.

"Well. . I've been watching your performance, as well as the others over these past couple months. . . and maybe, . . maybe you should consider perhaps a different goal and profession than a ninja, young flower."

It took a second for his words to process through her head, he wanted her to quit and not be a ninja?

"You don't think I should be a ninja?" She asked, flabbergasted.

"No! Dear student, I meant maybe you should take in. . a different profession, maybe find something you like more?"

"You want me to quit?"

Guy Sensei had said something else but his words were clearly not helping and they were tuned out by the loud beating of Tenten's heart. Had Guy Sensei really thought of her as not cut out to be a successful ninja?

The rest of the day's training went by in a blur, Tenten vaguely remembered losing a spar to Lee and getting kicked by his powerful taijutsu skills. The only thing she remembered clearly after her conversation with Guy, was the disappointed looks from both her teammates and Sensei. Tenten had now been hardly released of the feeling as she walked home.

"Tenten?" her mother called as Tenten had stepped into their house.

Tenten looked up and her mother continued, "Your father and I have a very big and very important mission in Kusagakure (village of the hidden grass) and since it is such a long ordeal, we will be needing to move there as quickly as possible. . Gomen'nasai, we know you value your team."

"It's alright, when do we plan to leave?" Tenten felt guilty but a secret but growing part of her felt relieved and a tiny bit thankful.

"What about your team?" Tenten's father had asked, shocked. Tenten would tell them all about her team's missions and her peers, often they'd be exciting and adventurous stories. Well, she used to tell them anyways.

"I've been feeling useless, Lee and Neji have progressed and I have been left behind in the dust, Guy Sensei was telling me today to consider quitting and doing a new profession," Tenten hung her head in shame.

Her parent's had nodded, they were not disappointed in her, not in the slightest. Tenten had gone to her room and packed; she packed all her important scrolls and weapons, her beautiful kunais. She picked up a photo, Guy Sensei crying tears of joy with his arms wrapped around an excited Tenten, an unexcited Neji, and a weeping, overemotional Lee. It was when they had just joined their team in the early weeks of the year. Tenten stared hard and long at it and the quickly shoved it in her bag.

"Goodbye, Team."

***

It's been 3 years since Tenten had left Konoha and left her team. She had not said goodbye to any of them in person, they probably did not care if she did or didn't. She could imagine Lee's confused expression as he asked Guy Sensei and Neji why she had left. She could imagine Guy Sensei feeling guilty for telling her to quit and she could imagine cold hearted Neji being annoyed and probably thinking she was a coward for backing out of the position.

***

"Tenten, it's been a long time now, your mother and I have been called on for a mission. . in Konohagakure (village of the hidden leaf or Konoha). This mission is not particularly long but you must come with us anyways," Tenten's father concluded.

Tenten's parents had taken one and a half years to finish the first mission that brought them to the village of the hidden grass. They had been indeed correct when they said it would be a long ordeal. They've spend the another one and a half years taking it more easy and resting. However, Tenten has been training for those 3 years under the wing of Uchiha Itachi. He had watched her perform her skills and help her fix, adjust, and learn new things and jutsus.

***

Now Tenten was going back to Konoha, her home for 11 years. She was 14 now, stronger and more determined. In the three years spent in Kusa, Tenten had found herself and what drives her. Her drive was: to become better, stronger for a reason. She imagined herself one day returning to Konoha and defeating her teammates in a spar, not killing them, but showing them how much she changed. She was going to prove them all wrong. She had not taken Guy Sensei's words and she did not quit. Because quitters quit and winners win.

Her parents were going to be doing another big mission, the only other big mission since they moved to the village of the hidden grass. They had been given time to rest and go on much smaller missions. 

normal italicization in a paragraph is the character's thoughts in third person and full italicization inside the "***" are flashbacks

THANK YOU 

Asofue