The next day, Tenten threw herself into work, helping the works shovel out debris. Raicho was part of the refreshments team and brew both hot and cold tea for the workers. Tenten cleared out plenty of garbage and broken building pieces, ignoring the sweat trickling from her brow.
"Great work," Raicho praised, handing a towel to Tenten. "Here, some tea."
"Thanks, Rai," Tenten gasped, forcing herself to stop drinking it all in one gulp. Instead, she took small sips, relishing in each drop.
"Yours is the only one with honey," Raicho whispered, causing Tenten to grin.
"Thanks, I needed that."
"Back to work!"
"See you!" They exchanged sweaty, sticky high-fives and returned to their groups. As Raicho waited for the tea to brew, she noticed most of the workers were civilians and retired ninjas. In fact, at a closer look, Tenten was the only capable ninja doing the manual labor with vigor.
She definitely needed that sweetness, Raicho smiled, taking the kettle off the open fire her group had going.
Raicho watched as Tenten managed to clear most of the debris away, shoveling and wheeling endlessly. When Tenten's team switched for a break, Tenten toiled on, only stopping when Raicho reminded her to rehydrate.
"Great work! You've done a lot of clearing," Raicho praised, handing Tenten the towel. "You sure have that muscle."
"Like this?" Tenten seized her best friend in a tight hug, while Raicho yelped, the stench of hard work and sweat causing her to wrinkle her nose.
"Gross!"
However, as the day went on, Raicho noticed many people didn't seem to notice Tenten's hard work.
Maybe she's too far away.
"Tenten, why don't you move over there towards your group? You've gotten the major cleanup here done," Raicho suggested, skidding to a stop where Tenten worked.
Tenten frowned. "They won't let me. I was told to work over here."
"That's weird--"
"They don't like being shown up by a girl, ninja or no, gender is still a big issue for them."
Raicho was silent for a moment, watching her friend angrily stab her shovel into the ground to fill up the creaky wheelbarrow. "Then they're stupid."
"Actually, it's not quite the gender issue. They do have women on their team and they're really nice to them. Me? No way," Tenten said, tossing more broken wood into her cart. "Maybe they've got something against 'youngsters'." She scoffed at the thought and marched upwards to the group.
"They're stupid," Raicho repeated, snatching the shovel and following Tenten. As Tenten dumped out her wheelbarrow, Raicho offered a fresh towel and drink to her.
"Thanks."
Just then, the manager strode up to survey the work. "Well done, I can see you've all worked hard. I'm impressed you've all cleared away so much in just one day," she said, smiling.
"It's all--" Raicho was instantly cut off.
"Thanks, boss! We hired some younger folks to help, but we've alright on our own!"
KPLANG!!!
Raicho swung her head back to see Tenten shoving the metal wheelbarrow off the steep hill they all were working on.
"Hey!" Tenten ignored them all, marching away, while her group yelled angrily after her. Raicho chased Tenten and swiftly caught up with her. Tenten headed to the training field, taking out her scrolls and summoning her weapons.
Raicho stood back, watching Tenten unleash her anger all out on the poor straw-formed targets, kunais stabbing nearly every inch possible, shurikens lining up perfectly on a wooden post.
Raicho surveyed the damage Tenten was doing, waiting for her friend to calm down. Tenten didn't seem to be relenting any time soon.
"I'll go get something to drink," Raicho offered, but Tenten said nothing, throwing weapon after weapon at all targets. Raicho went to the nearest convenience store and bought several drinks and snatched several paper towels from the girls' restroom.
When Riacho got back, Tenten was collecting her weapons, stowing them away.
"Here." Tenten silently took the mango smoothie and slumped on the ground, tiredly.
"Do you feel better?" Raicho asked tentatively. Her friend sneered.
"No. Even my own team doesn't see me," she huffed.
"Well, if you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen," Raicho offered. Tenten smiled thinly, getting back to her feet to recover the rest of her weapons.
Raicho politely stayed back, watching her friend throw herself into her usual routine.
Finally, Tenten spoke. "Guy Sensei...he seems to have a lot for Lee. Lee is my teammate. They're really similar, and Guy Sensei seems to devote a ton of time on his 'start student' and not on me. Lee is infatuated to be just like Guy Sensei, so there's that. Neji, my other teammate, is really quiet. He's...a loner? He doesn't care to imitate team relationships with anyone else. He's super cold. He ignores me when I try to make conversation."
"Oh, I see."
After a moment, Tenten looked back at Raicho. "So, what is your ex-team like?"
"Sasuke is cold, doesn't speak much, unless needed to. He and Naruto fight a lot. Sakura and I get along the best, so there's that. Kakashi Sensei doesn't work with us individually, and instead, throws us all together as a 'team' into missions. Even training is self-training and discipline."
"Sounds better than mine," Tenten snorted. "Guy Sensei focuses all his attention on making Lee better, seeing as he has to work differently with me and Neji."
"That...um, do you ever feel lonely?"
Tenten rolled her shoulders back, looking upwards at the sky. "Yeah, it can be lonely. It's not like he forgets us, it's just...I mean, I was hoping he'd notice me more. Not as much as Lee, but you know..." she sighed heavily.
"You want your Sensei to be more involved in your personal training time," Raicho clarified. Although she didn't share the same desire from her own Sensei, Raicho understood that Tenten just wanted some recognition from someone she trusted.
"Yeah! I should be thankful though, that I'm getting any time from him."
That night, Raicho wrote in her journal:
Today, Tenten confided in me the lack of attention she wants from her Sensei. She has been attention deprived lately, and I wonder if it stems from her own team.
YOU ARE READING
Forked Shadows
Fanfiction"I'm leaving." Her eyes were slightly glazed, the once strong resolve shattered to pieces, and her shoulders hunched over in defeat. Her head tucked in, away from the accusing looks and mocking threats, and her entire appearance was that of a war s...
