Chapter 4
The first colours of the day are blending across the sky: smudges of smoky blue mixing with faint purple, streaks of warm pink mixing with amber sunlight, and wisps of pastel, dark grey clouds.
Tenten stares straight up as she walks, craning her neck to catch every shade of the sunrise. She doesn’t care if she looks like an idiot. She loves sunrises. It’s her favourite time of day. Whether she’s just woken up or has outlasted the night to witness the beginning of day, she loves seeing the darkness fade and the light return. There’s always a sense of accomplishment that comes with seeing yet another sunrise.
She’s carrying some fairly heavy baskets, which earns her some offers of help from some well-meaning early risers. She just smiles, shaking her head. She actually enjoys lifting weights, feeling the burn stretch through her muscles. Carrying a few baskets of groceries is nothing in comparison. Kanon packed enough bento to last the month, each one bearing a carefully painted preservation seal to keep the food fresh. She packed the weapons separately in another basket, kunai mixed with shuriken, all finely-crafted and polished, along with wire and a few traps.
Tenten smiles politely somewhere to the left of the hooded figure watching her passage through the streets. ANBU had always been her heroes, growing up, like secret guardians of the village, but now knowing in intimate detail how they operated, she couldn’t help but be wary. She remembers disliking it when someone tried to make eye contact with her through the mask, so now she avoids looking directly at any ANBU she sees, just in case they feel the same as she did.
She knows why this particular ANBU is stationed across the street, watching her solitary stroll through the barely-populated streets of Konoha. The turns she has taken have put her on a single path. The shadows seem to lengthen as she approaches the abandoned neighbourhood, the sound of the wind and birdsong hushing at once when she enters the Compound.
As a child, she rarely visited Sasuke at his home. It wasn’t because she disliked it, or because her mother forbade it, she just felt very obviously out of place whenever she was there. She remembered seeing dark eyes looking at her wherever she went in the Compound, far too conscious of her movements. She didn’t know then, but now she does: the Uchiha mistrusted outsiders, even if they happened to be children. It made their eventual fate that much more tragic, dying at the hands of a trusted insider.
Tenten is musing on the unfairness of life as she reaches Sasuke’s home, and doesn’t notice she isn’t alone until it’s too late.
She places the baskets on Sasuke’s porch, tugging a blanket over the one bearing food, and straightens them both out so they’re at the most welcoming alignment for when he first sees them.
She places her hands on her hips, pleased with her work.
“I don’t want charity.” Sasuke says from behind her.
Tenten nearly leaps out of her skin.
She spins around, already scowling, “Oi! When did you get so stealthy? At this rate, you’ll surpass me before either of us has even graduated.”
Sasuke says nothing, just shrugs his shoulders in a way that says, of course.
A few years ago, Tenten would have lightly clouted him over the head for his cheek. After a few missteps in the wake of the massacre, she’s learned to be more cautious about physical contact with Sasuke.
“And what do you mean, charity?” Tenten demands. “You’ve more than paid for the baskets just by helping me out with Neji.”
Sasuke stuffs his hands in his pockets and gazes into the distance. Before, Tenten would’ve mocked him for trying to look cool. Now, she resentfully had to note that he did look cool.
“And all the baskets before?” He raises an eyebrow. “Were you thanking me years in advance for tripping Hyuuga Neji up?”
Tenten almost smirks, touching her Fang choker, “Yep. You know me and my fortune-telling – I saw a really specific card in the deck a few years ago. The ‘Sasuke’s gonna make a Hyuuga look like an idiot’ card. It’s very rare. So I’ve been thanking you ever since.”
“With bento made by your mother and weapons also made by your mother.” Sasuke says dryly.
“Well, it’s not like I can make any of it.” Tenten says lightly. “Seriously, brat. Don’t fight me on this. Humour me and my crazy mother, we really like giving away food.”
“And weapons.” Sasuke says. Of course he focuses on that particular basket.
“The shop’s just a front, we really give most of the stock away. It’s not great for business, but y’know. Old habits.”
“Tenten.” Sasuke says flatly.
“Sasuke!” She replies cheerily, plastering an enormous grin on her face.
He rolls his eyes, “I’m not a child. I don’t need you or your mother’s charity.”
Tenten scowls. This is why she came here at sunrise. She’d assumed he would be asleep, like any normal human being. In all the years she’s been making ‘anonymous’ deliveries from her mother to Sasuke’s porch, she’s only encountered him in the process a handful of times.
Today it looks as though he was just coming back from training, probably through the night, knowing his particular brand of idiocy.
“There’s some bandages and ointment in that basket.” Tenten says, eyeing the various cuts and bruises littering his skin.
He makes a tch sound, tossing his head.
“Listen, that pride of yours might keep you warm, but it’s not gonna keep you fed.” Tenten says reasonably, ignoring the way his mildly irritated gaze dials up to a furious glare. “You need nutrients you won’t get from protein bars and solitude. If you don’t have a balanced diet, you’ll find it hard to build muscle tone. And I bet you want arms like me, right?”
She flexes, showing off her lightly-muscled biceps. Her mother told her not to expect any real kind of definition until she was older, but she was doing pretty well even now.
Sasuke almost looks amused.
“I can handle it on my own.” He insists, with less force than before.
“Sure you can! But you don’t have to. Especially since there’s extra tomatoes in the bento.”
Sasuke rolls his eyes, stepping over the baskets to get to his front door.
Tenten kicks them towards him, suppressing a smirk when they connect with the backs of his legs, sending an almost-imperceptible wobble through his posture. It’s hard to look cool when you’re trying not to lose balance, and even Sasuke fails at it.
“If you don’t take them, I’m going to set up traps all throughout your house.” Tenten says threateningly.
“You’d have to disable the traps that are already there.” Sasuke says, unperturbed.
Tenten scoffs, “Which of us is the weapons mistress here? Pretty sure it’s not you. Take the baskets, or risk waking up with pretty pink hair.”
Sasuke stares her down for a long moment, then, not breaking eye contact, bends down to scoop up the baskets in both arms.
He grumbles something about how she’s wasting his time, retreating into his house without a backward glance.
Tenten places a hand over her heart, feigning being overcome with emotion from his tender display of friendship.
She takes off back home, whistling a jaunty tune.
The ANBU shadows don’t detach themselves from the roofs to follow her, so she counts that as a win.
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Tenten opens the door to a mouthful of flowers.
She delicately spits out a few petals, nudging the bouquet out of her face, “Uh, hi?”
Ino lowers the flowers, looking faintly embarrassed, “I didn’t think you’d be that close – um, sorry. I guess.”
“Nah, it’s okay. My mother keeps saying I have to eat more greens, you know?” Tenten gives an easy chuckle, stepping back to let Ino inside the house.
Ino mimes laughter, then rolls her eyes. Fondly, Tenten’s sure.
“The flowers are for – oh!” Ino says, startled.
Kanon’s left her workspace, leaning against the wall of the hallway. She’s wearing a sleeveless tunic, to avoid getting grease stains or scorch marks on her kimonos. Her left arm is bare, the long claw-like scars on full display, stretched across her forearm. The day Tenten learned about wounds and the scars they leave at school was the same day she figured out Kanon must’ve been holding up her hands in surrender when she was attacked.
“Tenten’s friend.” Kanon says. Her gaze is measuring.
Ino seems to seize courage from somewhere, her chin angling up as she surges forward, proffering the bouquet, “These are for you, Kanon-san. I just wanted to say I was sorry. I was rude and stupid.”
Kanon eyes the flowers with an amused, faintly incredulous smile, “Well. That’s a nice gesture, Ino. I appreciate it. Tenten, could you find a vase for these?”
Tenten takes the bouquet, happy to have an excuse to leave this moment as it grows. Sentimentality doesn’t come easily for her, or her mother. She’s not sure how well Ino does with it either, judging by her somewhat brusque, insensitive demeanour. Though that might be a little unfair, considering the apology.
When she comes back, Ino’s cheeks are faintly pink and Kanon is smirking. A sign of terrible things, Tenten is sure of it.
“We’ll be upstairs, okay?” Tenten says hurriedly, snatching Ino’s arm and half-dragging her up the stairs.
Kanon waves them off, still looking beyond amused.
“What did you say?” Tenten hisses the moment her bedroom door closes behind them.
Ino huffs, extricating her arm with an overly-dramatic flounce, “Well, you were gone for ages, and I was getting… kind of… not nervous, exactly, but your mother is… well, she’s the kunoichi I want to be one day – ”
“She’s not a kunoichi.” Tenten corrects automatically.
“She’s not?” Ino blinks. “But she’s so…”
“Scary?”
“No!” Ino protests. Then she clasps her hands to her chest, looking disturbingly wistful. “She’s beautiful.”
“You can be scary and beautiful.” Tenten shrugs, then registers what Ino just said. “Um, excuse me?”
“What? She is!”
“She’s my mother, is what she is.” Tenten says snappishly, getting a little grumpy.
“I’m gonna be just like her one day.” Ino says dreamily.
“What the hell did you talk about while I was gone?” Tenten says, horrified.
“Well, she still looked kind of mad at me. And she’s a little intimidating. And pretty. And I just… I wanted to break the ice, you know? So I told her about how we met.” Ino says, wincing when she finishes the sentence, as if expecting Tenten to erupt.
“At your shop?”
“My dad’s shop. And… yes and no… I may have also mentioned later on, in the park…” Ino’s cheeks are full-on scarlet now.
Tenten closes her eyes, “You told her you rejected my not-confession.”
“It… made her laugh?” Ino says sheepishly. “I was willing to do anything to stop her staring at me.”
Tenten sighs. She’s never going to hear the end of this from her mother. Something catches her eye and she squints, peering at Ino’s face. Her eyelids look kind of… glittery?
“Are you wearing makeup?” She asks, screwing her face up in confusion.
Ino tosses her hair over her shoulder, a clearly practised move, “Duh.”
“Why? We’re supposed to be discussing our plan today, not… going out dancing.” Tenten says, hoping it’s not too obvious she’s completely out of touch with makeup in general and what it’s used for.
“Wearing makeup won’t distract me from plotting with you,” Ino says, treating her to an extra glittery eye roll, “Anyway, makeup is a staple for kunoichi. Didn’t you pay attention in class?”
“Oh no, I slept through all that stuff. The teacher said I’d be no good at it all.” Tenten says brightly.
Ino goes still, an offended sneer forming on her face, “Um, what? Why?”
“Well, you know. Because I’m not exactly… pretty?” Tenten says, unsure of why Ino’s mouth is stretching so far downwards that it’s crossing the line from annoyed to comical.
Ino is so visibly enraged that energy is crackling all around her. She takes a deep breath in, shutting her eyes, and throws herself down on the bed.
“Your teacher was a jealous bitch.” She informs her bluntly.
Tenten blinks. “A – a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“Nope!” Fang chirps, making them both jump. He climbs down from Tenten’s wardrobe. She’s made him a nice nest in there, the top shelf a mess of blankets and overstuffed cushions. “Tenten-chan is very beautiful! Whoever says otherwise is either stupid or mean.”
“I agree with the weird squirrel,” Ino says solemnly, then continues over Fang’s outraged squawk, “For starters, you are pretty – ”
“I’m having horrible flashbacks to you fake-rejecting me.” Tenten says flatly.
“Wh-whatever! That wasn’t because you’re ugly, it was because I’m marrying Sasuke-kun! Or, well, Sai. Whoever. Anyway. You’re pretty, in an earthy, I-don’t-care kind of way. It’s cool. And as if kunoichi have to be drop dead gorgeous at like, ten years old, otherwise it’s obvious they’ll never succeed in seduction missions? Ugh, what a bitch. You know what? I’m gonna prove her wrong. Sit still.”
Ino’s hands are suddenly in Tenten’s face.
Tenten swats them away automatically.
“Stay still!” Ino repeats sternly, as if addressing a naughty child. “I’m just gonna give you a nice, natural look, okay?”
“I already have that!” Tenten protests, trying to fend off Ino’s grabby hands.
Ino is peering at Tenten’s eyebrows and tutting. What could be wrong with her eyebrows? Do people even do anything with them? She’s never seen anyone walking around with glittery brows.
Ino pulls out a few things from her bag. They all look fairly innocuous, but there’s some black goopy stuff that looks like it’d stain pretty much anything, and some colourful powder in little boxes.
“Save me, Fang.” Tenten deadpans.
“Are you painting your fur?” He asks cheerily, “How nice!”
“The red rat agrees with me.” Ino says, grabbing an assortment of tiny brushes, for some reason.
Fang mouths ‘rat’ to himself, his furry forehead wrinkling in confusion.
“Look, I – I’ll ask the scroll any question you want if you don’t do this, okay?” Tenten pleads.
Yoin obligingly unfurls across the bed, shimmering in anticipation of a question.
“Nope.” Ino says with horrible finality, seizing Tenten’s chin and angling her head up. “There’ll be time for that later. For now, I’m gonna prove that bitch teacher wrong, and make you look even better than you already do.”
“That was something approaching a compliment.” Tenten warns in a grumbling tone.
Ino starts aggressively brushing something into Tenten’s eyebrows. She sighs, resigning herself to a horrific afternoon of being poked and prodded.
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When the long nightmare is over and done, Tenten stares at her reflection with something approaching awed dismay.
She looks… painted. Like a pretty picture that should be hung on a wall. Or a festival mask perfectly cut to fit around her face.
Her eyebrows look darker and the shape looks subtly different in a way she can’t quite place. Her left brow normally has a tiny scar bisecting the arch, but now it’s gone. Ino brushed what she called ‘nude eyeshadow’ over Tenten’s eyelids, despite her pointing out that her lids were already nude. Apparently, her kind of nude was the wrong kind.
She literally painted Tenten’s entire face and neck with something cold and wet. Tenten really didn’t like this part, especially when she looked at herself and every single one of her freckles was gone. It was like someone wiped away every distinguishing feature on her face, leaving her with some near-perfect mask.
Worst of all was the sticky lip stuff. The moment Ino started applying it, Tenten knew it would smear all over her chin. It was already beginning to migrate south, the formerly-clean lines of her mouth becoming blurred. It was ‘nude brown,’ apparently.
Tenten frowns at herself, “Um, thanks, Ino. It’s… it’s great.”
Ino snorts, “And you’re gonna be a kunoichi with those amazing skills of deception? It’s okay if you don’t like it, dummy. I can try some other stuff with you, if you like. Maybe find something more to your tastes instead of mine.”
Tenten gives a small, grateful smile.
It fades the moment Ino starts scrubbing the makeup off her face.
She would complain more, but she’s getting the feeling that Ino is genuinely excited to be doing this. She’s not sure if she just really loves makeovers, or if it’s something else altogether.
Once her face is clean again – and she can’t help but be relieved her mother didn’t get to see it, because she can only imagine the amount of teasing she would endure as a result – Ino sprawls across the bed, grabbing Yoin and bringing it close to her face.
“I really don’t get how this thing works,” Ino says, examining every inch of the scroll, “What can it do, exactly?"
“Um, if you use chakra when touching it, you might see a vision of the future. And it can show you people, and answer certain questions.” Tenten replies. In truth, she isn’t quite sure how Yoin works at all. The things it can and can’t do seem inconsistent. There’s no rhyme or reason behind its internal logic, or if there is, she doesn’t understand it.
“You say ‘you’ as if it works for anyone else. It wouldn’t answer my questions, remember?”
“Or mine.” Fang says sadly, tail swishing.
“And seriously, you have a summons already? You’re not even from a clan, and you claim your mother’s a civilian – ”
“Because she is.”
“ – So how do you have a summons? I’m so jealous.” Ino pouts, eyeing up Fang as if considering the best way to shove him into her bag.
“The scroll showed me. I asked how I could get stronger, and it drew a picture of the summoning scroll, which was also in the attic.”
“Your magical attic filled with forbidden scrolls that belong to your not-shinobi mother.”
“That’s the one, yes,” Tenten replies, trying not to sound too defensive. But seriously, Ino’s incredulity is a little grating. She knows it’s weird. She’s just trying not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“You said his name was Fang, right?” Ino puts her hands on her hips, eyeing up the red panda dubiously, “Your name means fragrant, beautiful. You sure you can live up to that kind of name?”
The fur on Fang’s back puffs up in outrage, “Of course I can! Xia-sama says I’m a very pretty colour, and that I bathe the most often so I smell the best.”
Tenten scratches behind his ears. He beams up at her in response, making soft chittering noises.
“I’m going to get beautiful white horse summons one day.” Ino says, eyes gleaming as she stares off into the distance.
“From where?”
“Your attic, where else? Hmph. I’ll figure it out later. What else can the scroll do?”
“Well… I asked about allies, and it showed me this.” Tenten taps Yoin gently. Inked lines spiral into being, forming the same map and countdown. The days are running out. “So, I figured it meant that at this point and this time, I can find allies here.”
“Not far from Konoha,” Ino muses, “You’ll have a hard time leaving the village before you graduate. How will you get there in time?”
Tenten grins. This, she’s prepared for. She grabs a few loose papers from her desk and spreads them across her bed, carefully making sure not cover Yoin up. “My mother does business with suppliers from outside of the village. They use wagons to transport their goods, and their routes are marked on maps and sent ahead of time to clients so they know exactly where their products are and when. Look here.”
She points to one of the supply lines, then taps the same spot on Yoin.
“You think your allies will be in the wagon?” Ino asks. She brushes her hair out of her eyes, looking thoughtful as she scans both papers. “Or… attacking the wagon?”
“Well, the prospective dates for both the wagon and the allies match up, just about. If the clients can get these maps, it’s not a stretch to think someone up to no good could as well. So, either my allies are in one of the wagons, or they might be robbing one. I’ll have to figure that out when I get there, I guess.”
Ino looks dubious, “If your allies are bandits, your magic map sucks. I’m just saying.”
Yoin’s map slowly fades, as if ashamed.
Tenten glares at Ino, “Hey, he’s not been wrong yet.”
“He?” Ino’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Uh… I mean…”
Tenten firms her stance, “Whatever, it seems like a he to me, okay? He said his name was Yoin.”
A smiley face doodles across the page.
Ino sighs, but she’s smiling back in a reflexive response, “Sure, the magic map’s a guy. I guess. Hey, Yoin, who are Tenten’s allies?”
The smiley face fades away.
Tenten repeats the question, but nothing comes up.
“Specificity isn’t your strong point.” Ino informs the scroll, punctuating the statement with a flick of her perfect hair.
Yoin turns apologetically pearlescent.
“Oh…” Ino sits back, a deep frown settling on her face. “I just realised. There’s no way my parents will ever let me go with you.”
Tenten makes a sympathetic face, though truthfully it had never once occurred to her to bring Ino on the mission.
“Will your parents let you?” Ino asks, eyebrow raised.
“Parent,” Tenten corrects lightly, “And… I guess I’ll have to just ask? I think my mother would notice if I snuck out for a week or two.”
“Might be longer, depending on the journey,” Ino says sullenly, pouting so exaggeratedly it had to be put on, “What should I do in the meantime?”
Tenten perks up, remembering something she’d discovered along with Yoin’s name, “Hey, Yoin-hakase,” She says, excited, ignoring Ino’s incredulous snort at the respectful suffix, “Can you please bring up the diagram of Konoha’s ANBU routes for today?”
Yoin shimmers a few times, as if thinking, then a map of Konoha ripples into being, with the routes of each ANBU tracked in different colours and marked with the time they would be there.
“It’s different from yesterday,” Tenten observes, “The ANBU must switch their routes up every now and then. Okay, I have just the job for you. Copy this down and then check it out tomorrow – see if the route’s the same or not. I’ve noticed a cluster follow that Uzumaki Naruto kid. I want to nail down whether it’s the same team every time, and how closely they follow him.”
“Why would they follow Naruto?” Ino asks, wrinkling her nose, “What’s the point?”
“That’s what I want to know. I think Naruto is the guy who was with my Hyuuga when he died. My future self seemed to think he’d be Hokage one day.” Tenten says, charitably ignoring the scepticism on Ino’s face.
She didn’t just ‘seem to think’ it, her future self had been convinced. Even now, thinking of Naruto brought feelings of amusement, pride, assurance. Nothing she’d ever felt for him before the scroll. She’s curious to see what changes her mind.
“If we’re going to save Sai from ROOT, we need to observe their patterns, find their weaknesses and figure out where they keep their young recruits,” Tenten says grimly, “Since there’s no way we can pick out ROOT agents without going right up to one and asking Yoin, I think we should start with regular ANBU. Get some practice with surveillance.”
Ino nods, lost in thought. Her hand falls on Yoin, who ripples in response.
Tenten bounces up from the bed, clapping her hands once, “I’m gonna ask my mother for permission to meet the supply wagon and escort it to Konoha. She’s done it a few times. I’ll say I want practice for my future missions as a genin.”
She goes to leave, but Ino hooks a foot around her leg, nearly toppling her over.
“Not so fast, senpai,” Ino grins wickedly, “I want to see if your hair can survive outside of buns. I’m thinking it’ll just fall out.”
Tenten scowls.
It takes Ino half an hour to brush Tenten’s hair out and weave it into a fishtail braid, her fingers flashing expertly fast.
Tenten spends the time waiting for Ino to finish just quietly glowing to herself. She’s never had a female friend before. The only person who’s ever actually touched her hair is her mother – outside of bratty little boys trying to pull her pigtails. And now, Ino.
It’s kind of nice.
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Kanon’s lip quirk at the sight of Tenten’s new hairstyle, but she just listens in silence to Tenten’s plan to meet the supply wagon, only interjecting to say, “Why do you want to escort them now? You’ve never been interested in that side of the business before.”
Tenten allows herself to shift uncomfortably, hating herself for lying to her mother, “I just… it’s nearly time for me to graduate, if I pass the test – ”
“You will pass the test,” Kanon interrupts serenely, so quietly confident that Tenten feels a surge of warmth.
“ – okay, when I pass the test, I’ll be put on a team and have to start training for missions. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t resent growing up in a civilian family and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but the chances are I’ll get stuck with two clan kids who are already ten steps ahead of me and I’d just feel like deadweight dragging them down if I didn’t have even a little experience of shinobi life. I just thought, maybe I could get a head start that even they won’t have.”
“A pre-mission.” Kanon muses, tapping her chin. For a civilian, she sure is well-versed in how the system works. Tenten’s never thought to question it before. “It would look good on your record that you actively sought out work without pay or reward. I’ll allow it.”
Before Tenten could rejoice, Kanon held up a graceful hand. Her dark red lips curved down, the scars on her face pulling taut, “You will accept a chuunin escort.”
“But I’m the escort! This is my mission!”
“You’re a minor. I’m your mother. You’re already asking a fair amount here, sweetheart. Besides, gallivanting outside of Konoha on your own wouldn’t count as a pre-mission. You need a shinobi with you to observe your work, after all. I’ll submit the request myself, and make sure you get someone decent to take you.”
A request? Tenten’s face fell at the thought. But that would cost money, wouldn’t it?I don’t want my mother to end up paying for my lies.
As if she can hear her thoughts, Kanon pokes her cheek with a light, fluting laugh, and says, “We’re not exactly struggling to get by, honey. And this is your future career. It’s important to invest in it early, and you were right – you were not born into the life you chose, Tenten. That means it will always be harder for you to progress. But you can do it.”
Tenten swallows.
She knew going into this that she would have to lie, probably a lot, and to people she loves. But knowing isn’t the same as doing. The warmth in her mother’s eyes has never made her feel guilty before. It’s not a welcome sensation.
“I’ll do my best, Okaa-san,” Tenten says solemnly, meaning every word.
Kanon simply shrugs, her sleeve slipping off one shoulder, “I won’t bore you with constant affirmations. You already know I’m your biggest fan. Now come help me with this stupid spear thing I’m trying to design. It keeps turning into a sword and frankly, I have so many of them that it’s becoming a problem.”
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Tenten wakes up with Fang’s tail in her face and the dawning horror that she is very, very late.
She manages to grab all her things, stuff Yoin in her pack without crumpling him, and poke Fang into transforming into his choker form in time for the first rays of sunlight to permeate her room. She rushes downstairs, almost bumping into Kanon as she emerges bleary-eyed from her workshop, clearly having spent the night on her new project.
“Good morning Okaa-san, I’ve got to go!” Tenten says, kissing her mother on the cheek and darting out the front door.
“Bye, darling!” Kanon calls, too ladylike to holler after her daughter as she charges off.
Tenten makes it to the Hyuuga Compound with three minutes to spare. She spends that time wheezing, wishing she’d spent more time working on her basic fitness, and trying desperately to tame her hair into its usual buns. It was harder than it looked, especially without a mirror.
Her mother had submitted the request for a chuunin escort a week ago, speeding the process along with a generous donation, and Tenten’s countdown was almost up, so she couldn’t protest her mother’s expense. Tenten was told to meet her escort Hyuuga Kou at the Compound – an unpleasant order to receive. She’d spent most of the last week wondering if this ‘Kou’ might be her dying Hyuuga. As usual, Yoin had nothing to say on the matter.
Neji walks out of the main gate of the Compound, his eerie eyes already on her as he passes by. Tenten stares, one hand wrestling with a lopsided bun, a hair tie hanging out of her mouth.
He gives her an icily disdainful look, lingering on her eyes. She distantly remembers having tried the eyeliner Ino left her the night before, getting frustrated with the way it kept smudging. She’d fallen into bed without giving her attempts at beautification a second thought.
She must have dark rings around her eyes at best… smoky smudges all over her face at worst.
Her cheeks burn. Of all the people to see her looking ridiculous, of course it had to be Hyuuga Neji.
“Good morning,” She says, trying to be civil.
“Hm,” He replies, not trying at all.
“Where are you off to so early?”
He gives her a disbelieving sneer. He’d be a lot cuter without it.
“Training,” He says, as if there’s no other possible reason he could be outside.
“How… dedicated of you,” Tenten says, trying to smile rather than bare her teeth in challenge. What is it about Neji that annoys her so much? It’s like every time he talks, he wears on her nerves a little more. Sasuke has exactly the same training habits, but she finds him exasperating. Neji just seems like an ego-driven ass.
Neji seems to deem this unworthy of response, as he merely turns a little to the side, blocking her out, and starts stretching.
Great. I don’t want to talk to him, but I don’t want to awkwardly stand here in total silence waiting for my Hyuuga escort to show up.
She tries to pass the time by checking her equipment for the mission. Yoin is safely stuffed in her pack, uncreased and cheerful, judging by the happy swirls he’s drawing for no particular reason. Fang is currently in choker form, a warm presence around her throat. It’s kind of like the feeling of drinking hot chocolate. She has her many, many weapons scrolls packed in the same bag as Yoin. She tugs the top of one out, examining the inked kanji. Her mother helps her make all her seals, though this year she actually let Tenten do it on her own. This scroll is her work, and she’s never been more proud than she was the moment she successfully sealed a pair of chopsticks inside.
She looks up to check the sun’s position, accidentally making eye contact with Neji at the same time. He’d been looking at her as she rooted around in her pack. His gaze stutters away, darting to the sky then back to her face, then to the floor.
Tenten opens her mouth to call him on the staring, because she’s not a saint.
He beats her to it, “Why are you here? You’re dressed for a mission, but you’re in my year at the Academy.”
“You just figured that out recently, huh?” Tenten laughs. She doesn’t mind. She knows with her dark hair and eyes, she’s not exactly memorable. Especially not when there are Hyuuga around. Neji’s eyes are almost like opals, so pale his gaze reflects a thousand colours.
Neji stiffens, taking it for mockery rather than gentle teasing.
Tenten gets there first before he can butt in, “And I am going on a mission. Sort of. A pre-mission. I’m here to meet my chuunin escort, who is… actually really late.”
Neji looks back at the Compound. Tenten might be reading too much into things, but she sees resentment on his face, mixed with bitter longing. A bad combination.
“Your escort is a Hyuuga?” He asks stiffly, “What kind of pre-mission requires someone from Konoha’s strongest?”
Tenten fights back a grimace. The only reason the Hyuuga are considered the strongest is because most of the Uchiha are dead. It’s not the greatest legacy to boast about.
“Once you graduate the Academy, Neji-kun, you’ll find that all shinobi, no matter their status, complete missions of every rank,” An older Hyuuga says, emerging from the main gate. His words are gently spoken, but Neji reacts as if he was slapped, recoiling from his relative.
“Um, are you Hyuuga Kou?” Tenten asks, hoping to ease the tension that emerged the moment Neji heard the man speak.
The older Hyuuga nods, giving her an earnest smile. He’s very handsome. Dimples form in his cheeks when he smiles, so Tenten immediately wants to find out how to make him do it on command.
He’s so cute, she thinks, horrified. How am I supposed to concentrate on this mission and secretly recruit my allies when I’m being blinded by his smile?
“And you must be Tenten-san,” Kou says warmly.
“I hardly think an Academy Student deserves such a respectful address,” Neji says, eyes narrowed, “Especially not one without a family name.”
Tenten feels a hot flush sweep over her cheeks. She’s more angry than embarrassed, but she knows what her red face will signal to Neji. Sure enough, he looks pleased with himself. This would normally be the part where Tenten would either punch the person who annoyed her or be nice to them to confuse them, depending on how much she hates them. Unfortunately punching Neji in front of his house and relative seems like a bad idea. Even though she’d definitely miss. And there’s no way she’s going to be nice to him now. Civility is for the worthy, after all.
“You know, you’re right, Neji-kun.” Kou says thoughtfully. Tenten shrinks back. Even he thinks she’s so obviously beneath him? Neji smirks. “So. Tenten-chan, it’s an honour and a pleasure to be working with you. This is my first pre-mission, so please take care of me.”
Neji looks as though he swallowed a lemon.
Tenten is startled into laughter, “O-of course, Kou-san!”
The older Hyuuga waves his finger, “None of that. We’re equals on this mission, Tenten-chan.”
“Then…” Tenten glances at Neji, whose face is growing stormier by the second. “It’s an honour to work with you, Kou-kun.”
***
Hello, friends!
Sorry for the long gap between chapters. I’ve been struggling with writer’s block and I had to fight to finish this… sob.
So, in this fic, Tenten, Sasuke and a mystery fellow genin were all childhood friends. Before it all went tits up and Sasuke’s family got killed. Tenten and Sasuke rarely speak now, but they’re the kind of close you can’t help being when you witnessed someone else’s bad childhood haircuts and heard their first voice cracks of puberty. Kanon occasionally sends Tenten with gift baskets to keep Sasuke alive, since she doesn’t trust that he’s capable of feeding himself.
Ino brought flowers for Tenten’s mother, but accidentally shoved them in Tenten’s mouth.
So, I hate every single implication about the kid kunoichi being taught extra special kunoichi lessons about seduction. I hate them. I think it doesn’t make any sense to only teach the girls a vital part of being a ninja??? Sometimes boys gotta smooch, not smash. They need access to the subtler arts!
Also I REALLY hate the fact that the girls would have been at max *twelve* when they got these gross-ass lessons. But they did, so I decided to work with it and give Tenten a reason not be as interested in her looks as her female peers clearly are. Tenten was never conditioned into caring about how big her boobs are (like Sakura) because her teacher told her she’d never amount to anything.
Those teachers suck, by the way. The ones that decide a kid will never be good at their subject, so they give up on them entirely.
Ino is so so happy to have a girl friend again!!! She’s not long off her friend-split with Sakura, so she’s craving sleepovers and makeovers like crazy.
Neji is being uber mean because Tenten threw a stinkbomb at him and also he has Hyuuga Main House Angst. Kou is a member of the Main House. He also has a specific role in the series. I wonder if any of you guys know him? He’s a cutie.
Tenten has a map and a countdown pointing her towards a specific place at a specific time, with nothing but the vague direction that she might find allies there. Allies that she has to find without alerting Kou to her true purpose. How will she know who her allies are? Will they even be helpful if she does find them?
Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!
Quick poll for fun: What was your favourite subject at school?
I’m positive I’ve already asked this somewhere but I don’t care. It’s honestly interesting to know.
Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ