• "Sakura-chan please be my girlfriend!" Lee cried running at Sakura. "NO WAY!!!" Sakura screeched running away from him. Tenten sighed sadly as she watched the scene below the tree she was perched in. There Lee went, chasing after Sakura AGAIN. "Sheesh." She huffed unhappily. She had always been in love with Lee, ever since their academy days. She always loved how he always tried his best even when the most skilled shinobi would give up. But he was in love with Sakura Haruno. Tenten could already tell she couldn't win. Sakura was a close friend of hers, she didn't like the way she felt right now...jealous. Ugh, she hated this. She was sick of feeling this way. She was sick of feeling heartache. She sighed again and hopped down from her perch.

    Sakura, and Lee stopped and looked at her, surprised by her sudden appearance. Tenten didn't say a thing, she didn't even smile at them. She just turned and continued walking through the woods. "You should just tell him." her best friend Temari had said. But she couldn't bring herself to do that. What if he rejected her? She wasn't sure if she could take that. Plus she was a bit shy when it came to things like this. So as a result, she wasn't very good with these kinds of situations. Sure, she could beat up half the guys in her class, and she could throw a kunai 300 meters, but love? She had no clue what to do with that.

    She could ask her parents but it would probably only cause them to fight even more. Her parents relationship had been strained for along time, so she almost never talked to them anyways. Well what about Neji? She didn't think he was interested in this sort of thing so, he wouldn't be much help. He didn't seem even slightly aware of the opposite sex even. And if she told Gai-sensei? She didn't even want to THINK about that scenario. It made her shiver. While she was lost in her thoughts she walked around the corner, and literally ran into Shikamaru.

    "Oof!" shecried outas she fell on her butt. "How troublesome." Shikamaru stated as he held out a hand to help her up. "Thanks." Tenten said. Shikamaru must have noticed the tinge of sadness in her voice, because he asked "Is something wrong? You sound sad." "It's nothing." Tenten replied. "It doesn't sound like nothing." Shikamaru pressed. Tenten looked down and said "Please Shikamaru, I don't want to talk about it." Shikamaru sighed and answered "Well okay, but if you need to talk you know where to find me ok?" "Yeah, thanks." Tenten replied giving him a half-hearted smile. Shikamaru smiled back and went on his way. As soon as he was gone Tenten's smile dropped and she began walking again.

    "So what now...?" she asked herself. She was at a loss and before she knew it had wandered to the outskirts of Konoha. Almost nobody ever came here, because there were no buildings, and no training grounds. This is where Tenten's secret hiding place resided. When she was scared or sad, she would come here and it would always made her feel safe and comforted. Here no one could find her. Now she wondered if she had come here subconsciously? She sighed again, and began to make her way to her hiding place. She slipped into a grove of pine trees and slid beneath the lower branches searching the pine-needle covered ground for the hole. When she found it she slipped quietly in.

    She crawled along the old well-trodden tunnel. When she came out the other side, she was in a large, beautiful clearing. It was surrounded on all sides by gray rock walls that were covered in forget-me-not vines of all sorts. The flowers on the vines were in full bloom, and near-by the was a small waterfall the washed down into a large clear, cool lake that more than once she had taken a swim in on a hot summer day. The grass was lush and soft, and some scattered large, lush cherry blossom trees provided shade and a beautiful scents from their blooming flowers. Not far off the was a patch of ground with 3 poles and no grass. It was the training spot that Tenten had set up herself.

    Past that was a small open cave where some of Tenten's most treasured pocessions were stored. They were kept in a wooden box in the back. Some of these were mementoes from happy times in her childhood, bits taken from spots that were special to her, things that were close to her heart. But the one thing that was closest did not reside there. It hung around her neck. It was a necklace that was shaped as a small forget-me-not flower, made of light blue crystal. It wasn't much but it was the first present Lee ever gave her. He gave it to her when they have first become teammates, it had been her birthday and it was his gift to her. She had worn it all the time ever since. She kept it under her shirt, so nobody could see it. It meant the world to her.

    Also in the cave, there was some extra clothes, a made-up cot, some books and scrolls, some preservable food, water, a flashlight , a first-aid kit, some kindling and wood for the fire pit, and various other things. There had been more then one lonely night spent there, when she hadn't the courage to go home. She loved this place and took care of it all by herself. She had never told anyone about it. It was more of a home to her then her house. This place was where her heart resided. And she would never share it with anyone. She walked over to the edge of the lake and sat on here favorite rock. It was big and flat and perfect for napping on in the summer. But she didn't want to nap.

    She sat down on it and began to let her mind wander. She didn't know how long she sat there. But soon it was almost dark. She thought about staying there overnight, but decided she would go home instead. Not that her parents cared one way or the other. She was lost in her thoughts again, when suddenly she felt a sensation like a bee sting on her neck. She quickly felt the spot and pulled whatever had stung her out and looked at it in her hand. "Wha? A needle...?" she said but suddenly the ground swayed and dipped sharply as Tenten fell to the ground, disoriented and defenseless. A number of ninja landed on the ground around her, and to her horror she heard one say "Good! We caught her! Let's get her back to the base-" He was cut off as Tenten kicked him, throwing him away a little ways away.

    The world was still spinning, and Tenten felt like she would pass out any minute, but she hated playing the damsel in distress. She would fight to the end no matter what! She wanted to be like him, even if he had hurt her, she still loved him and always would! She loved Lee, and because of that she would not give in, not yet! She fought hard until, suddenly a shudder went through her body. She spat blood as she fell backwards, unable to move. "Looks, like the poison finally took effect." said the leading ninja. He stomped on her hard, making her wince from pain. "No....I...I c-can't....g-give up....not yet....I c-can't o-or......he'll never see...me..." Tenten hissed just before blackness swallowed her vision and she fell into never ending darkness.
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    End of Chapter 1 Tell me what you think!