Love Anxiety

Love Anxiety

Naruto | Tenten, Ino Yamanaka | Romance, comedy 

Cling! The Yamanaka Flower Shop's door swung open. The clerk -- a beautiful, blonde woman wearing a purple attire -- welcomed the customer with a bright smile.

"Welcome! Ah, Tenten! What a surprise to see you here!"

The other woman with brown Chinese buns adorning her head, Tenten, waved her hand in response to the joyous greeting. "Hi, Ino. I was looking for a flower to brighten up my room. Have any?"

"Yes, of course! We have tulips, geranium, lavender..." Ino went on and showed the weapon mistress around the store. Upon the explanations, Tenten just nodded lightly -- looking somehow lost in thought. Ino raised her eyebrows at the unusual sight. As she was a sensitive person and quick to catch even the slightest change of mood, Ino realized that something has been bugging her friend. She put her hand on Tenten's shoulder with a concerned look.

"Hey, what's wrong? Something bad happened?" asked her softly.

"W-what are you talking about? Everything's... fine," answered Tenten brief as she forced herself to focus on the flowers. Though she tried to conceal her true feelings with a smile, there was a hint of doubt in her voice.


"Don't lie to me. I notice that you're not like your energetic self," Ino positioned herself to be face-to-face with Tenten. She looked her straight in the eye -- pressuring Tenten to tell her the truth. "C'mon. You can tell me everything."

"I... I..." 

Tenten's body quivered. Her hands clenched tightly. She turned around and approached an empty table. Suddenly, she knocked the wooden table so hard it shattered into pieces!

Ino was so shocked her body was frozen in place and her eyes wide opened

"I COULDN'T BEAR IT ANY LONGER! I'M SO MAD WITH HIM!" yelled Tenten out of frustration. Her eyes were twitching and her chest was puffing with anger that bubbled up inside her body. Tenten was about to grab a huge flower vase beside the wrecked table, but before that happened --

"Oh my God! Tenten, stop before you destroy my shop!!!" cried Ino as she rushed over and held Tenten by her arm. "Calm down! Who has made you angry?! Let me give him a piece of my mind!"

Tenten closed her eyes and pat her chest in order to relax. After a few breathing, she was finally able to talk in a lot of calmer manner. "Who else if not that poker-faced, smart-headed teammate of mine, Neji. He... Why... He was so... so annoying!"

Neji? That's rare, thought Ino. As far as she knew, Tenten was always in good terms with her team members, especially Neji. They often trained together, and well, frankly speaking, she and Neji were the most "normal" members compared to Lee and Gai, so Ino was certain they understood each other the most and teamed up most of the time to bear the suffering together while facing Lee and Gai sensei's antics. So, what could make Tenten suddenly despise the man that much? Ino was curious to dig deeper.

"Alright, alright. Let's take a seat. I'll make some tea for us. Make yourself comfortable! I'll be back in a sec!"

Ino created a clone shadow to watch over the shop and walked inside her house while Tenten took a seat in a small waiting corner. She rested her face on her palms. Her whole face was red in embarrassment and her forehead was covered in beads of sweat. Deep inside, she regretted losing her composure over a silly matter. Yes, it was certainly silly, nothing significant or crucial like heated arguments or deep hatred -- no, she would never, ever have such an issue with Neji. But this matter was... different. 

Out of the blue, an image of Neji popped on her mind, triggering her heart to beat faster. An irrejectable heat was rising on both of her cheeks. She bit her lower lip intensely and in frustration. She couldn't be like this forever, or else it would damage her relationship and performance with her beloved team!

Not long, Ino appeared with a tray of cups and a teapot. She poured the tea and settled down. "Now, without dilly-dallying, let's get to the core of the problem. What happened between you and Neji?"

Tenten took a sip of the camomile tea. She furrowed her eyebrows as she started speaking. "Neji... He... So the thing is, I... I don't really know since when I began to feel this, but I-I-I started to like... him..? Like, *like-like*? Argh! This is so frustrating!!! This sounds so weird when I try to explain it!!"

Ino tried her best to restrain herself from smiling. I know it, she thought. In fact, she's had a hunch since she accidentally witnessed their training a couple months back. The look in Tenten's eyes when she gazed at Neji in awe gave away the sentiment that she had a crush on him. Ah, too bad Tenten was too oblivious about this.

"Okay, you like him. Then, the problem is...?"

"The problem is..." Tenten starred at her tea. "I don't know if he likes me or not. I...I know this sounds silly, but I want him to like me... So, for the past few days, I tried to... you know, make him notice and talk to me more,"

Ino nodded deeply. She had been in Tenten's shoes when the stoic, handsome guy named Sai appeared in her life, so she could understand the struggle very well.

"But! Neji is so... dense! Nothing ever catch his attention except being successful in a mission or defeating his enemies! I hate it that he made me look like a fool trying to grab his focus only on me. I hate him so much!" 

Tenten finally cried. She was a stranger to this kind of matter, so she had zero idea on how to deal with it. It frustrated her so!

Ino patted Tenten's shoulder tenderly to calm her. "Aaaw, don't cry. I completely understand what you're going through," said her. "Yeah, I could imagine..."

Tenten nodded weakly. 

"I guess... There's one way to make him to notice your feelings for him," Ino rubbed her chin. Tenten's eyes suddenly lit up with hope.

"Just straight up confess to him."

Tenten almost choked her own drink. All hope was shattered to pieces instantly. "Wh-wh-what?? CONFESS!? Are you out of your mind!? Nope, no! That's impossible!"

Ino couldn't help but chuckle upon Tenten's hilarious response. "Come on, Tenten. You haven't even tried! Don't say it's impossible because everything's possible in my book."

"No! You don't understand! I can't just walk up and tell him that I *LIKE* him in front of his face! It would be awkward, and I won't be able to face him like a normal teammate ever again!" blurted Tenten as she stood up and paced back and forth while throwing her hands into the air. For a moment there, it sounded like she voiced her mind out loud in one single breath. 

"It's not like you to back down --"

"I know! I could lose my sanity if I lost Neji as my only sane partner in the team. You do know that, don't you?"

Okay, this is getting scary. Tenten's starting to exaggerate things, thought Ino worryingly. She knew Tenten's been struggling so much emotionally being in Team Gai, but never, up until this point, has she ever vented or ranted about it, since no matter what, Tenten must love the members so much like her own family. At that moment, Ino finally realized that this love problem truly affected Tenten badly and slowly turned her mad. It was up to her then to help Tenten and make things right. Might as well to get serious about it.

"Calm down and listen to me," Ino firmly asked Tenten to sit down and listen carefully to what she was going to say. "First of all, you're a strong and brave woman, Tenten. You shouldn't let your emotions get the better of you. You shouldn't let men drag you down. But, as a woman who has fallen in love, I could understand how hard it is to ignore it,"

Tenten glued her eyes to the floor, focusing on every word that Ino said.

"That's why I told you to confess to him. To let go of your feelings once and for all. Trust me, you'll be relieved after all that."

Tenten lifted her face. "You think so?"

"That, or you can just move on like nothing happened. And he will never know your true feelings."

Tenten slumped her shoulders and head back to its initial position. "But, what if he hates me after that? What if he avoids me?"

"Trust me, he won't," smiled Ino reassuringly. "He cherishes you, just like you do."

Tenten didn't respond. She thought deeply about Ino's suggestion. Should she sacrifice her feelings or be true about it? It was sure as hell was a tough decision -- even tougher than her A-rank mission.

"Guess I'll think about it..."

She thanked Ino for her help and left the shop after she promised to replace the wooden table she smashed earlier. All she needed was time to think, to organize her thoughts, and to gather courage. Perhaps, later on, she would ask for Ino's help again. Next time she met Neji, she must be prepared with the perfect words. Everything would change after that and she must be ready to face the consequences. She was Tenten after all, and she was ready to face whatever challenge head-on.  

One week has passed without any news from Tenten. Ino and her team were busy with missions and so were Tenten and Team Gai. Until one day, Ino unexpectedly saw Tenten in one of the weapon shops on the main Konoha's street...

"Tenten! How's it going?" greeted Ino happily as she approached her.

"What do you mean?" asked Tenten back cluelessly.

Ino grabbed her arm friendly and whispered. "The thing with Neji! Any updates?"

Hearing that, Tenten let out a smile. "Oh, that..." 

She purposefully trailed off, making Ino waited for her answer anxiously. "That's a secret!" 

"A what...!? Come on!! Don't let me use my mind-reading technique on you!"

Tenten brushed her off with a hearty laugh. The two of them continued to bicker until Neji and Lee appeared.

"Tenten, are you done? We must get ready for the next mission." 

It was Neji who spoke with his flat voice. Lee, on the other hand, was munching a street snack while doing a handstand.

"Coming! I'll see you later, Ino!" Tenten quickly paid for her purchase, waved goodbye to Ino, and ran towards her friends. Ino watched carefully as Tenten left. With her sharp, observant eyes, she could notice the slight gestures Tenten made to Neji -- a sweet smile and a friendly pat on the shoulder. Ino breathed in relief. Whatever that was, she was glad that her pep talk worked wonderfully as intended.