I will never leave you!

A Big Surprise For Team Gai

The war was over. Obito was defeated. Madara was defeated. And eventually Kaguya. Madara temporarily reached his goal. Infinite Tsukuyomi, the dreamworld, lasted for some time before Team 7 was able to end it.

Tenten still remembered. To be honest, one part of Tenten wished this dream would not have ended. In her dream, was respected as skilled Kunoichi. Gai and Lee behaved like sane people.

And Neji...Neji was alive. Sure, he wasn't exactly like the real Neji, but he was ALIVE. She remembered how she saved the village. Everyone acknowledged her.

Neji stood right behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders while giving thanks to her. It felt so good. Regardless, it was right to have ended. It was an illusion, fake, she tried to persuade herself. But it felt so real...

Tenten, Gai and Lee were on their way home. "Tenten, you look tired. Embrace your power of youth!", Gai encouraged her.

"Gai Sensei is right", Lee nodded. Then, something came to his mind:"Let's have a race folks! It will give you energy, Tenten!"

"Lee, this is an awesome idea! Let's do this!", Gai responded with too much energy.

It was so annoying to Tenten. She just ignored them. Usually, she would rant at them, beeing the "straightman" of the group. She hated this word, but Lee and Neji would call her like that from time to time. The straightman who would deliver punchlines all the time.

Neji. Tenten sighted. He was her best friend. He respected her, even in his arrogant days. She trusted him. He trusted her. She was the first person who knew about his cursemark (except the Hyuugas and the Hokage). He told her long ago. He protected her, even when she did not need protection. He was just very attentive and considerate .

Stop it Tenten. Thinking about him 24/7 will just make everything worse. She tried to hide her tears as good as possible, but she couldn't help crying herself to sleep in the nights. Gai and Lee noticed, and Tenten was sure they cried themselves to sleep as well. Those racings or other stupid "Power of youth" ideas were their way to encourage themselves and Tenten.

Now they were already about 50m ahead of her, running, roaring sweating. They totally forgot about Tenten. But that was okay. At the end of the horizon, Tenten suddenly caught sight of two figures. They approached quickly. Shinobi. It was a silver-haired man and a pink-haired girl. That's Sakura and Kakashi Sensei! Haven't seen them for awhile. What are they up to?

She realized she was very happy to see other people than the annoying green beasts of Konoha. Gai and Lee were very important to her, but one could not image how exhausting it would be to spent 2 days and 2 nights alone with those weirdos.

"Tenten!" Sakura shouted, "Is that you? Are you okay?"

"Yo!" Kakashi lifted up his arm and waved "Are you alone? Where is the rest of your team?"

Tenten smiled. A few seconds have passed before Kakashi and Sakura arrived at her. They looked tired and exhausted, but seemed to be alright.

"Good to see you guys. Gai and Lee are drivig me crazy once again!" Tenten turned around and pointed to the back. "Lee and Gai are over there, having their 10th race in one day".

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I see. Not very surprising. Sakura, please stay with Tenten. I will outrun Gai and Lee and bring them back".

"Alright, Kakashi", Sakura agreed.

Kakashi started to run towards Gai and Lee as he yelled: "Gai, Lee! Wait a second!"

Gai heard him and responded: "Kakashi my eternal rival! You come right on time! Come and join our contest!"