OOCP 02. Timeline and background...
What can I say, I've always been a little bit of a black sheep. ^^;

NOTE: If you wish to add your character's interaction with Tenten's past, feel free to contact me and I'll gladly discuss character connections with you. All character connections and relationships are listed [ HERE ]. So far she's only known to a few people, and that makes me somewhat sad. Oh why did you have to be so obscure, Tenten? ;__;

Tentative Timeline and brief background

Family

Father (Shirou) - Deceased, died after a fire started by an electrical storm when Tenten was 10. Of Japanese origins, he was making a living as an artesian and craftsman in the small city of Chengdu**.

Mother (Mei) - Deceased, died after a fire started by an electrical storm when Tenten was 10. Of Chinese origins, she was a elementary school teacher in the city of Chengdu**.

Brother - Twin (Takeru) - Deceased, died after a fire started by an electrical storm when the two were 10. Born only three minutes after Tenten, his death likely hit her hardest of all.

Grandfather (Chien) - Deceased, died of natural causes when Tenten was 17. Used to live Japan and occasionally stopped by to visit her while she attended boarding school. Was related to Tenten through her father.

Uncle (Katsuro) - Living, Tenten's guardian after her parents died. Related to Tenten's mother, he is the owner of a small Chinese restaurant in the city of Chengdu**.

** [Information provided by Wikipedia] Chengdu, located in southwest China, is the capital of the Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. It is the 5th (2005) most populous city in China. Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers as well as transportation and communication hubs in China.
More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Jinsha established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called Tianfu zhi guo in Chinese, which means "the Heavenly country".

Timeline

March 9 - Tenten is born just past midnight in Chengdu as a twin, three minutes before her brother Takeru.

Age 3 - Her parents decide to move to Japan in order to find new opportunities in providing a better life for Tenten.
- She quickly finds interest with the piano while her parents converse with a potential landlord.
- They didn't get the apartment, but an arrangement is made so that Tenten can start lessons (the landlord lady thought she was "so adorable" sitting on the piano bench). In exchange for piano lessons ("starting now"), Tenten is to help around the building doing small errands and chores ("when she is old enough to work").

Age 5 - Tenten meets Lee her first day of school.
- She soon picks up an interest in art when Lee presents her with a handmade friendship card a week later (she made one in return and found she rather liked the craft very much).

Age 10 - Parents are killed in a fire caused by an electrical storm.
- As next of kin, her Uncle Katsuro becomes her legal guardian and Tenten moves back to China to live with him (saying goodbye to Lee was/is/will always be one of the hardest things she was forced to do).
- She starts helping out at his restaurant by doing small errands after school.

Age 12 - Begins working more seriously at the restaurant as a waitress and all around go-to-girl.

Age 15 - She is accepted to and begins attending a boarding school in Japan.
- Soon afterwards, she is introduced to Maito Gai although refrains from taking additional martial arts lessons at his dojo.
- Eventually begins some light training in the martial arts at Gai's dojo in addition to the Kendo and Kyuudo lessons she takes at the boarding school.
- Meets Neji, quickly developing a friendly rivalry of sorts along with some level of respect.
- She meets Naruto after he gets into a scuffle with Neji.
- Respectively, she continues to attend classes at the boarding school for the next three years during the year and comes home to work at her uncle's restaurant during the summer.

Age 17 - Gai offers her a chance to gain a volleyball scholarship after hearing that she does not plan on applying to a university, but not without some more improvements on her skills.
- She agrees to work with Gai while in Japan in order to improve her game.
- Her grandfather Chien dies that November.

Age 18 - Tenten is accepted to a major university in Japan with a volleyball scholarship.
- She graduates in the top 25% of her class.
- Mid-summer, she moves out to Japan on a more permanent basis and starts working in order to help pay for her tuition.

Age 20 - Present year (RP Threads can be found HERE)



[ Changes to be made as past character interactions are discussed and established with other community members as well as a clearer formation of her history ]