As the rest of the shinobi started to show up, Tenten realized that their personalities, no matter how crazy it seemed, were very much real. She felt out of place and walked around the corner to try and keep from panicking.
That was the last thing she wanted to do, but for them to be real...
It baffled her and terrified her at the same time.
She walked around the corner to find that all of them at grouped up, and they were waiting for her. Tenten gave a normal smile and returned to them.
She noticed that Akamaru was trying to bite Kiba's arm off, which surprised her. They were usually the best of friends, but from the look of it, they seemed like mortal enemies.
She continued to look at her so-called comrades and found that Shikamaru and Choji had switched personalities with each other.
Naruto seemed more together and concentrative, and even Sasuke was there. It didn't take Tenten long to figure that he was a playboy.
Sai seemed energetic, which freaked her out.
The only thing she couldn't piece together was why her teammates seemed to be normal.
However, she found out quickly that something was wrong with them as well. Neji smirked at Ino, who blushed furiously and looked elsewhere. Tenten looked at Neji, slightly confused.
Hinata growled and said, "Keep your goddamn hands to yourself, Neji. Same goes for you Lee, if you haven't already gone in Tenten's underwear today."
Tenten blushed hard, feeling highly uncomfortable as she managed to blurt out, "Excuse me?"
Hinata looked at Tenten and snapped, "Excuse what? Don't try to defend your perverted teammates unless you're the same!!"
~
Tenten stood up suddenly, panicking as she said, "Y-You're HIM! The one that b-beat up Menma!" Naruto's eyes widened, and Sakura said, "What are you doing here?! What happened to our Tenten!!"
The room had gone silent.
Neji and Lee glanced from Tenten to Naruto and Sakura, clearly confused.
Ino and Hinata were the same.
Others had walked into the room, making Tenten feel highly out of place.
"I didn't do anything, I swear!!" Tenten pleaded as she held up her hands. Neji stood up and asked, "Hold on, what are you talking about?"
Sakura said, "Listen, believe it or not, this isn't the real Tenten. No, those words are wrong. This isn't our Tenten." Ino said, "That's impossible, there's only one Tenten!" "No," Tenten muttered quietly, "there isn't. Is there, Sakura?"
Tenten looked at Sakura, and Sakura sighed and said, "Although I've never seen my other self, there was a time where I did lose my memory, you guys told me so. Remember that? And remember when we told you all about what happened?" Choji said, "You mean when you guys went to another world or something?"
Naruto nodded, remembering the parents that were his, but also Menma's as well.
Shino said, "So you're telling us that this isn't the Tenten we know."
Sakura nodded and said, "This Tenten may look and sound the same, but in her eyes, we're not who she knows us as. She's terrible at wielding weapons but is also good at sewing."
"Tenten could never be terrible at wielding weapons," Lee stated confidently. Sakura shook her head and looked at Neji.
"You believe us, don't you?" She asked.
Neji closed his eyes as his eyebrows lowered in thought.
Finally, he opened them and said, "We should test this theory out. If Tenten is bad at wielding her own weapons like you say, then I'll choose to believe this story." Hinata asked, "But Neji-Kun, how are you going to prove that?"
Neji looked at Tenten with an emotion she didn't understand, and said, "Fight me, Tenten. Prove you are who you say you are."
~
Tenten scoffed and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't like looking at naked guys or wearing their clothes. Not like what you're accusing Neji and Lee of doing."
"Tenten, this is a mute argument," Menma said, chuckling, "you've seen it yourself. Lee likes to cross-dress, or wants to turn into a female. Look, whatever the reason, it's still sick and you shouldn't be defending either of them."
Tenten felt sick to the pit of her stomach, and glanced at the both of them. They didn't reject, and Tenten's stomach reacted to this information.
She grabbed the nearby gate and leaned over as breakfast spilled out onto the ground.
Sakura patted her back, clearly confused as to why Tenten was acting that way. Hinata scoffed and said, "You're being dramatic now. You've known for a long time that they were what they are."
Tenten wiped her mouth angry and spat out at her, "My teammates aren't like that! Lee is one of the manliest men I have ever trained with in my life!! And Neji would never do such a thing! He respects girls; tries to help them!! And you!! I don't know what your problem is, but the real Hinata wouldn't hurt a fly unless she had to! Not act like- Like an uptight, anger-filled bitch!!"
Sasuke and Menma almost laughed at Tenten's outburst.
Hinata was steaming mad.
Her Byakugan had activated, giving the impression that Tenten pressed all the right buttons.
Neji placed his hand on Tenten's shoulder and said, "Tenten... That's very, uh, kind of you to say that... But you should really apologize to her. I'm anything but, to be honest."
Tenten shrugged his hand off and glared at Hinata.
"You wanna dance, bitch?" Hinata threatened.
Tenten's hand twitched as she reached for a scroll. Hinata noticed and burst into laughter moments later. "You?! Handle your scrolls at me?! Don't make me laugh, Tenten! You can barely handle yourself!!"
Tenten smirked at her and said, "I guess that shows what you know, Hinata-Chan."
~
Neji noticed that Tenten was trembling in fear at his response.
"Tenten," Ino said softly.
The brown haired kunoichi quickly composed herself and said, "A-alright. Let's go this."
Neji nodded and walked out; everyone else followed suit.
He and Tenten stood in an alley while everyone watched from above. Neji got in a stance and activated his Byakugan. It was clear that even without the Byakugan activated, Tenten was fearful.
However, it was replaced with another emotion he didn't understand, and she pulled out a scroll.
"Ready when you are," she said wearily.
Neji nodded and raced towards her. Tenten activated one of her scrolled and pulled out a heavy flail, racing towards him as well.
However, before she could reach him, her foot slipped on a discarded piece of paper, and fell forward with the flail swinging directly for her head.
As if in slow motion, Neji knocked the weapon elsewhere, and caught Tenten in his arms.
Tenten was trembling slightly, and Neji sighed as he said, "You're not the Tenten I remember."
She looked up at him and asked, "A-and how do you figure that?" Neji helped her up and picked up her flail. He handed it back to her and almost whispered, "Tenten would never look at me in fear."
Tenten gulped and took the flail, looking elsewhere.
Neji sighed and looked up.
"She's not our Tenten," he said, almost loud and clear. Most of them were disbelieving, and Sakura sighed and said, "I knew it." Neji looked at Tenten once more and found that she was staring at him.
"Why did you stop?" she asked, clearly confused. He said, "Because your safety matters more, Tenten. I don't know how the other me has treated you, but I'm seriously considering on finding him, and putting him in his place."
Tenten saw the seriousness in his eyes, but couldn't respond to it. She simply walked by him, clearly confused and scared. Not just because of Neji, but because of the whole situation.
She wasn't where she belonged.
And now, she wasn't the only one who knew this.
~
Hinata took her threat lightly and calmed down a bit. "Put the scroll down, Tenten," She said, chuckling, "You're wasting your time."
Tenten didn't know why Hinata was taking her lightly, but she didn't get the chance to prove herself.
Neji pulled Tenten back and said, "Enough, Tenten." He seemed angrier than called for, but it didn't bother Tenten; it only irritated her further. Before Tenten could open her mouth, Ino said, "T-Tenten, please. It's been a while since we were together like this."
Tenten sighed and put her scroll back, saying, "Fine. I yield."
Menma was close to laughing, and Sasuke simply watched with amusement. Shikamaru laughed at Tenten and said, "You can't wield a weapon for your life; you're too weak!"
It only took Tenten a millisecond to send a kunai flying towards him, only for the weapon to hit a pole almost directly behind him.
Everyone froze and stared at her.
Tenten, who was beyond furious, said, "I can handle being called many things. But I've gone on for too long being called weak. Watch what you say, Shikamaru." He nodded, visibly pale, and Choji sighed before saying, "Let's just get this over with. Come on." With that, he walked off, and everyone else slowly followed him.
Tenten was the last to move, and she could tell that her teammates were looking over their shoulders at her.
She didn't care; she wasn't putting up with whatever the hell was going on. And she sure as hell wouldn't let the shinobi she once called friends cause her to feel like she did when she was younger. She was capable; strong and able to handle herself.
And she'd be damned if anyone made her feel any different.
~
Tenten sat quietly and watched those around her chat, laugh, and hang out. It was the first time in a while that she saw everyone actually getting along. Her comrades acted differently than them, as every time they gathered, arguments would fly faster than a paper plane.
Hinata sat beside Tenten and smiled at her.
Tenten smiled back, but warily.
Hinata noticed and said, "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable." "It's fine," Tenten replied, shifting a bit, "I'm just... Not used to this environment." "What are you used to, then?" Ino asked, leaning up against the wall next to her.
Tenten sighed. "Chaos," she replied.
"I can imagine," Neji added in, walking towards her.
Tenten felt the impulse to reply in a nasty manner but held back her anger and hatred. He wasn't the Neji she knew. But she couldn't help but to feel that way about Neji.
"It really is," Sakura replied, sitting on the other side of Tenten.
Tenten smiled at her before saying, "Yeah... If we're getting along, then the closest we have of doing that is lightly getting on each others' nerves."
"I see," Neji replied, shaking his head. Hinata said, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, we don't always get along over here either. Kiba and Naruto tend to go at it, same with Lee and Naruto. Sometimes, Sakura and Ino don't get along at all."
Tenten blinked before saying, "The Ino and Sakura I know are best friends. They have been since they were young. And from what I heard... You both like Sasuke in this world, but in the other, you both hate being five feet near him."
Ino said, "I almost forgot that she told me that Sasuke was still in the village." Tenten nodded softly and picked at her hand gently.
Neji sighed but didn't say anything. Instead, he went quiet and stayed that way for the rest of the party.
And the whole time Tenten was wondering if she had said something that bothered him, or if that's just how Neji acted in this world.
~~~
I'm trying to make the updates once a week to stretch it a bit, I hope you all don't mind. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Until next time!
~ Nimo