Big Girls Don't Cry [Remake]

(Starting Over)

Chapter 1

It was lovely crisp October day. The wind blew as the orange/yellow leaves fell from the tree, giving the ambient a nice artistic color.

The famous Konoha girls all sat around each other, taking a break from their earlier training spar. Ino lay on the ground, head laying over Sakura's knee while Sakura sat down, running her fingers through her best friends golden locks.

Hinata sat right next to Sakura, fingers tracing the dirt underneath her. A soft sigh escaped her lips as her random doodles turned into an N as a particular blonde male linger in her thoughts.

Tenten sat on the opposite side of the younger girls, her eyes focusing on her recently sharped knife. The name of the man she used to love taunted her.

A breeze blew pass them, silence filled the whole arena. Everyone in their own little world; buried deep in their own thoughts.

"I'm so tired of this!" A voice erupted through the silence. Everyone eyes quickly focus on Tenten. Tears running down her cheeks, fist gripping the knife in her hand.

"What's wrong Tenten?" Sakura asked, her eyes soft with worry.

"I'm tired of lying" She shouted again. "I'm tired of living in a lie" She whispered after a moment of silence, her eyes looking down at her pale hands.

"What are you talking about Tennie?" Ino asked, quickly seating up and scooting closer, placing her hand over her friend's knee.

"I've lied to all of you" Tenten said as she looked up and stared into her worried friends eyes. "I've lied to myself"

"Lie? Lie about what?" Hinata asked, scooting closer as well.

Tenten looked down at her hand again, her whole body shaking as she let a small sob escape her lips. "I'm not okay" she whispered. "I miss him. I miss him every day"

Ino looked over at her other two friends, all sharing a worried look. Tenten didn't have to say who, they already knew. Tenten had been the most hurt when Neji died. She had loved him for so long and he was no longer around. For a while she let the sadness take over her and then one day she told everyone she was alright. No one wanted to believe her, it wasn't something you just got over but Tenten had manage to make everyone believe she was okay.

"But Tenten, you said…"

"I know what I've been saying Sakura" Tenten said glaring at the pink haired girl. "I wanted to be okay. I didn't want people to keep looking at me the way I was being watched. I really tried" she confessed. "But every time I turn something reminds me off him and it makes everything… not okay"

A silence fell upon them, no one knowing what to say. They wanted to say that it was okay, that it would get better but none of them knew what it was like. No one knew what it felt to lose someone they loved.

"I'm sorry I lied to you guys" Tenten said after a few seconds.

"I'm sorry too" Ino said quickly after Tenten. Everyone stared at the blonde girl, confuse. What did she need to be sorry for? "I've been lying too"

"Ino…?" Sakura whispered her hand reaching over and touching her best friend's shoulder.

"I've lied too" she whispered. "I've been telling everyone that I am happy but I'm not"

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"I settled" she whispered. "All my life I've done what I think everyone will agree with. I went after Sasuke because everyone wanted him and now Sai… he's a great guy and he cares for me but my heart is not with him" she confessed. "I've been in love with the same guy since I can remember and now I have to watch him be with someone else. I have to watch him be happy and in love because I was too damn stupid to listen to my heart" she sobbed.

Another silence fell.

"I've lied too" Sakura said. "I've told everyone that I am over Sasuke. That just because he's back doesn't mean anything but I still do. Whenever I'm near him it's like I'm back being 12 and I don't want to be that girl anymore" she shook her head. "Now he says he loves me… he says that he's always loved me and I should be happy but it feels like…"

"He's settling for you" Hinata finished the sentence; all eyes on her now. Now one could believe it. Hinata was the friend that all of them wanted to be. She had gotten her happy ending. After so many years she finally got the boy she loved to love her back.

Hinata bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes meeting her friend's confuse ones. "How could it be?" They all thought.

"I thought when Naruto told me that he loved me that he meant it. I was over the moon and I thought after all these years I can finally be happy but it hasn't been that" she explained. "Naruto is sweet and very caring but it's like he forces himself to be with me, to make me happy. It's like he's forcing himself to feel something he just doesn't"

"No, Hinata. He loves you, he really does" Sakura tried to defend her teammate. She knew Naruto cared for the white eye girl. She knew they belong together.

"He doesn't. He still loves you. I see the way he still looks at you when you are around. There is no comparing" Hinata sigh. "He just doesn't see me the way he sees you"

Another silence.

"I'm sorry" Sakura whispered.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. It's not his fault either. He's really trying" she shrugged. "It's just the way it is"

Once again, silence fell upon them. No one knowing what to say to comfort the other. No one had an advice to give or anything to say. They had accepted the way things were and even thought everything was no out in the open, no one could really change things.

"I can't do this anymore" Tenten broke the silence one more time.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

"I can keep walking through these streets pretending I don't miss him. I can't keep a smile in my face when every time I turn I expect to see him. I need to start over" Tenten said, her sad defeated look now replaced with a look of determination.

"Start over?" Hinata asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I'm leaving" Tenten stated. "I'm leaving Konoha and starting over again. I can't keep doing this to myself"

"Tenten you can't leave. This is your home" Sakura said.

"And have you even talked to the Hokage? I don't think you can't just leave" Ino interjected.

"You can't. You'll be labeled as rouge" Sakura said.

"I don't care!" Tenten screamed, she lifted her knife and swung it back down, digging the blade into the ground. "This is not what he would have wanted for me. He wouldn't want me to be this unhappy"

"Tenten please. You need to stop and think about what you're saying. I know you're upset but…" Hinata began to say when Tenten rose to her feet.

"This isn't a rash decision. I've been wanting to do this for a while and I've decided" she said, her fist curled to her side. "No one can stop me. I'm leaving tonight. This is good bye" she said and with that she walked away.

The rest of the girls watched Tenten walked away, stunned, with nothing to say. She left and on the ground still laid her favorite knife, the only thing she owed that was his.

That night Tenten stood on west side wall of the village. Her green cloak hanged on her shoulder and bag on her back. She took only what she needed to survive. Left behind was everything could remind her of the life she left behind. The life she had suffered for so long.

She lowered her head and sigh. "Good bye Neji" she whispered, her eyes closed as she said a silent prayer. She took a long breath and opened her eyes. Determination filled her soul, she long to be happy again and she was more than determine to find it.

She reached over her hoodie, tugging it over her head, covering her face in the shadow. She hunch over, preparing herself to jump over the wall and disappear into the darkness of the woods when she heard multiple footsteps behind her. She rose straight but didn't turn around. She knew who was behind her.

"If you're here to stop me, you can't" She said. "I'm leaving and if I have to defeat all of you to do so. I will" she warned.

"We're not here to stop you" Ino said.

Tenten turned around just to find her three friends standing right next to the other. Cloaks hanging on their shoulders and bags on their back, just like her.

"We're coming with you" Hinata said, stepping towards her friend. Tenten's eyes flickered toward the object on Hinata's hand. Her knife; the one she had left behind. "I know you want to forget him but you can have this… for him"

Tenten pressed her lips together, her heart beating hard against her chest. She watched Hinata extend her arm and offer her the knife. Her lips twitched into a sad smile before she took it from Hinata's hand.

"You don't have to come" she said.

"But we want to" Ino said.

"We're tired too. We want to start over too" Sakura added.

"And we're not leaving you on your own" Hinata said.

Tenten gazed at all her friend; the same determination glowing in their eyes. Who was she to deny them to start over her?

"Okay. Let's go" she said.

They all smiled at each other before hunching over and jumping over the Konoha wall. They landed on a branch on the other side. "Good bye" they all whispered under their breath. Each with a different name in mind before the turned around and jumped towards the darkness of the woods, leaving behind their past, the people the loved and Konoha.