Chapter 6
Ino had once had to tail Iruka through the marketplace, and the biggest challenge had been managing her own boredom. The man had been careful to stay in sight and had moved so slowly that it would have been more of a challenge to lose him. She’d found it insulting at the time, eight years old and already bored of hide and seek (Shikamaru always cheated, Chouji always gave up at the start, and Sakura was too worried about upsetting her to even try to win).
Following Naruto, however, somehow managed to be worse. Not only was the boy infuriating – constantly shouting stupid things, laughing loudly at nothing, running and jumping seemingly at random, forcing her to match his wild pace – he had the audacity to be boring as well.
For all his talk of pranks and the chaotic ins and outs of his daily life, he seemed to live like any other kid his age – though he did his own grocery shopping, and more than once Ino watched him being chased out of a shop. Each time she’d perked up, convinced that this was the moment that would make the whole endeavour worthwhile, and each time she’d been disappointed at Naruto’s lack of response. He simply laughed, a little too loudly to be genuine, and raced away like he hadn’t even wanted to buy anything there after all.
The only real matter of interest were the ANBU Ino had spotted, always in the same place Yoin’s map had suggested. They clearly followed Naruto, but on a set route. If he broke away from the main streets, only one or two would follow, the rest would wait for him to reappear again somewhere public. Ino had assumed that they were there to guard him, but after witnessing multiple incidents in which Naruto clashed with a civilian and the ANBU did nothing to intervene, she determined they were more likely just there to watch him.
But why? He was an Academy student, he wasn’t from a clan or even a shinobi family – he had no family to speak of at all. He didn’t have friends, but he didn’t have enemies, either. He didn’t have anyone at all. He was an outcast, his only interactions being with other students during school, or hostile civilians on the street.
Ino watches Naruto finally leave Ichiraku, his whole demeanour changing the moment he stepped out into the street, he ducks his head down low, grin vanishing in an instant, and shoves his hands in his pockets. Everything about him radiates don’t talk to me. It’s effective, the crowds part to let him through without any trouble.
Why should there be trouble? It seems unlikely that the ANBU’s covert observation of Naruto was completely unconnected to the villagers’ hostility towards him. Ino had always assumed that he caused all the incidents she’d heard of – overturned fruit stalls, escaped chickens, paint splattered all over priceless goods – and that everyone hated him because he caused trouble wherever he went.
But, despite his attempts to seem carefree and unbothered whenever he encountered an unfriendly face, she could tell it was all a façade. It seemed more like false bravado that he used to keep them from knowing how much they got to him. Because they did get to him, Ino thought, observing his wary gaze flickering over the crowd.
Another point of interest was the ANBU’s strange behaviour. Ino wasn’t big-headed enough to believe that she could genuinely slip under their guard and observe them without them noticing. She knew it was only her age and the cover story she’d used that kept their suspicions low. But even without that, the ANBU didn’t seem to be hiding. They travelled by rooftop, of course, and hid their chakra, but they were in plain sight, provided one looked up. It seemed likely that even Naruto knew they were there.
The only idea she had was maybe they were there to prevent Naruto from causing trouble, and they deliberately showed themselves so Naruto would be more likely to behave. But what level of trouble could Naruto cause that would require an ANBU guard following him around? To justify those kind of extreme measures, surely a precedent had to have been set. Naruto had to have already done something bad enough that the ANBU were deemed necessary to prevent future incidents. But surely she would have heard if Naruto had done something that awful?
Tenten had said she’d had a vision of Naruto as Hokage one day. As ridiculous as it seemed, if it was true, then there had to be more to Naruto than he appeared. Something that made an ANBU guard necessary.
The map suggested the ANBU wouldn’t follow Naruto down side roads or onto private property, so as Ino watches Naruto slip into an alley, she isn’t surprised when the ANBU vanish without her even noticing.
But then, interestingly, she sees a man walking down the street suddenly change direction half a second after Naruto did. He walks down a different alleyway, not following Naruto exactly, but Ino’s very familiar with this section of the village, and she happens to know that the two alleys open up to the same street.
The man’s movement was casual, completely natural, and nothing about it struck Ino as odd, besides the speed of his change in direction. He wasn’t following the same route as the ANBU, he was unmasked, dressed as a civilian, and there was nothing about him that suggested he was anything than what he appeared to be.
And yet, Ino moves to follow him.
“What are you doing?” A voice says from behind her, heavy with scorn.
Ino forces herself not to stiffen, and turns to face Sakura, “None of your business, Forehead.”
Sakura huffs, flipping her long hair over her shoulder – Ino tries to ignore the twinge of hurt she feels at the sight, knowing it was a move Sakura had learned from her – and stepping forward, “Seriously? Are you following Naruto? There’s no way you’d stoop that low, right?”
Ino is surprised by the annoyance that rises in her, after a day of watching Naruto be pushed around and yelled at just for existing, and says in a low voice, “Maybe if you took a break from desperately trying to be me, you’d grow a personality of your own and realise not everyone spends their days stalking guys like you do.”
“I – that’s not…” Sakura’s head lowers, a reflex she learned as a child facing down bullies, back when she tried to hide her face with her hair. Ino viciously suppresses the guilt she feels at the sight.
“No, I’m not following Naruto. Why do you care, anyway?”
“I don’t!” Sakura insists. “But I saw you outside Ichiraku, you were watching Naruto leave, and then you followed him to this street!”
“And then you followed me?” Ino says disdainfully. “Are you that desperate for attention that you’d make up some story just to tag along behind me like you used to?”
Sakura flinches. She takes a step back, looking ready to storm off, but then her brow creases in thought, “You were following him,” She says slowly, “I know you were. You’re just trying to upset me instead of explaining what you were actually doing, so I must be on the right track, huh. You wouldn’t bother trying to distract me otherwise. What’s the matter, Ino-pig? Sasuke-kun still not noticed you yet? You had to resort to Naruto instead?”
“No, I just – ” Ino takes a deep breath, clenching her fists at her sides. “It’s none of your business. We’re not friends, so my love life shouldn’t concern you.”
“Of course it does, we’re rivals!” Sakura says, so serious that Ino has to hold back a laugh. “If you’re not after Sasuke-kun anymore, that’s great news for me. I won’t have to worry about you embarrassing yourself with your desperate attempts to impress him.”
“Desperate – ha! As if! I don’t even like Sasuke-kun anymore, I’m going to marry someone way better!” Ino yells, forgetting herself.
For a second, Sakura almost looks disappointed. Then her expression clears and she stares at Ino like she’s never seen her before in her life, “Better than Sasuke-kun? Get real, there’s no such thing! And even if there was, you’d still never get him, because you’re not good enough for Sasuke-kun, let alone some mystery guy.”
Ino seethes, barely holding herself back from launching at Sakura’s stupid mocking face. She helped Sakura back when she was a nobody, just a friendless loser who had a bad habit of getting in the way of everyone else, she taught Sakura how to make friends, seem cooler than she actually was, and look pretty. And Sakura repaid her by liking the one guy Ino had ever been interested in, and then deciding that her pathetic, pointless crush was more important than the friendship Ino had given her.
Ino wasn’t an idiot. She knew there was a good chance Sasuke would never care about either of them. He didn’t care about anyone, so why would they be any different? It didn’t matter how long Ino spent doing her hair every morning, it didn’t matter how hard Sakura worked to memorise information so she could answer every question in class, nothing they did seem to even register in his mind, let alone impress him.
Of course she daydreamed about somehow catching his eye, being the first and only girl to ever do so. The idea of being so special and beautiful that even Uchiha Sasuke noticed her… it was all she’d ever wanted.
But then Tenten had come around asking for her help, not as a girl wanting to find out how to be pretty or popular, but as a shinobi. She had the entire village at her disposal, and she’d come to Ino first. And now Ino knows her future, and his name is Yamanaka Sai.
He must be better than Sasuke, because he was clearly smart enough to see Ino’s value when he married her, unlike the Uchiha, who was buried too deep in his own ego to see the forest for the trees. And he’s handsome, and he takes her name, and he needs her help.
“I can prove it to you,” Ino says, her voice low, “Just wait.”
Sakura looks openly scornful now, “Wait for you to snag your precious Naruto? That shouldn’t take long, he’ll probably be thrilled. If you’re expecting me to be impressed – ”
“No, actually, because I don’t care what you think,” Ino says, and she’s probably never told a bigger lie in her life, “I just want to prove you wrong.”
Sakura rolls her eyes, and it’s only the thought of her face falling at the sight of Sai’s good looks drawn in ink that saves her from a punch to the nose.
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Zabuza’s eyes gleam with interest as he takes in the scene before him, his gaze lingering on the curiously thin blades the bears held aloft, and yet his tone is mocking when he finally speaks, “I thought an expert on shinobi tools would wield them herself, not cower behind others as they do her dirty work.”
Tenten huffs, taking half a step to the side to partially conceal herself behind Bai’s bulk, “A summoning scroll is a tool, why shouldn’t I use it?”
Before Zabuza can answer, she pulls a different scroll from her pack, one her mother had helped her to design, and activates the seal. The puff of smoke brings with it a burst of killing intent that almost sends her to her knees, but she simply rests against her newly-summoned weapon, handle digging into the dirt.
Zabuza clearly wasn’t willing to give her any leeway, despite the pretence at cordiality they’d been playing with, since one false move from her had earned a warning surge of killing intent – made more frightening by the realisation that although it had almost floored her, it had been restrained. His chakra carried such malice that even the weakest touch of it was crippling.
It was a humbling moment.
“It is our blades you shall be facing,” Li says, but without any threat or malice in her tone, “Unless you yield now, and spare yourself an unnecessary defeat.”
“Shall we go together, or one by one? It seems dishonourable to attack as a pair, don’t you think?” Bai asks.
“I’m not interested in honour.” Zabuza says, right behind Tenten.
She gasps, muscles locking in fear before she can attempt to escape.
Shadows fall over her, and the clang of metal overhead rings in her ears as two swords reach out as one, blocking the great weight of Kubikiribocho. She finally kicks into action, leaping away.
The weapon she’d summoned was a war hammer. It was one of her mother’s special projects, gifted to Tenten the moment it was finished. She’d engraved a seal on the head, one of her own design, and it had been keyed to only respond to Tenten’s chakra. To her, it was as light as a stick. To anyone else, it may as well have been an anchor.
She flips it now, correcting her grip, and faces Zabuza, flanked by the two pandas.
Bai and Li are holding back the great weight of Zabuza’s sword with their own blades, their arms as still as stone even as he pushes down harder.
“What are you interested in, then?” Tenten asks, her arm brushing against the scrolls bulging out of her pack as she slips into a ready stance. She spares a split second to glance down, and sees Yoin write ‘freeing Kirigakure… finding his purpose… keeping Haku safe.’
Zabuza gives a one-shoulder shrug, “This is all there is, kid. You find your worth in battle. I was younger than you when I first soaked my hands in blood, so I learned the truth of the world early on. This is the life of a shinobi – killing only to survive, surviving only to kill. You talk a big game, and you’ve clearly got something to show for it, but I don’t see a headband. I don’t see a shinobi standing before me. I see an early grave.”
“Why waste time talking to me, then?” Tenten asks, genuinely curious. There’s something loose about his muscles, his stance oddly relaxed despite his fearsome grip on his sword. He’s calm. Unhurried.
Tenten, on the other hand, is extremely aware that every second that ticks by is another second Kou is fighting alone in this mist.
“I’m not here because I need to be. Killing a couple of merchants and swiping some goods,” He gives a sharp bark of a laugh, contempt dripping from his voice, “That’s a kid’s game. But maybe you’re right. Maybe I should finish you off quick, get this over and done with, and go get my pay.”
“Not today, I’m afraid,” Bai says, sounding genuinely contrite, “You were unfortunate indeed to cross paths with our summoner. If the job you refer to conflicts with Tenten-chan’s life, that means we will have to claim yours in exchange.”
“Terrible business,” Li agrees.
Tenten decides to interrupt that line of thought before it forms something solid. And sharp. She takes a deep breath, hoping he’s curious enough to humour her, “If you have time to talk, I’d really appreciate that. I wasn’t kidding when I said the Seven Swordsmen were my heroes. You were right when you said I’m not a shinobi, I’ve not graduated yet. I’m not here on a mission. I didn’t attack you even after you attacked me. This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed.” Tenten says, holding her hammer up and ready, just in case her words aren’t enough. Zabuza almost rolls his eyes, just a faint flicker of his dark irises shifting beneath heavy lids, but his grip on Kubikiribocho loosens just a fraction. “I came here to do business with the merchants, but since that finished up so… suddenly, I guess I’m free to do business with you now.”
Zabuza’s head tilts, ever so slightly, “Business with a missing-nin… what kind of Konoha mouse are you? You’d sell them out to buy your life?”
Tenten gets the feeling she needs to choose her next words very carefully.
“Not at all,” She shakes her head, “But you said this was a job for you, right? One you’d get paid for?”
Zabuza’s stare is fixed on her, but he says nothing. She has his interest, but not his trust.
“I’m interested in cultivating a network of information from outside of Konoha.” Tenten says, deliberately lowering her hammer. Zabuza’s gaze doesn’t drop to follow the movement, staying fixed on her face. Sweat starts to bead at her hairline. She fights the urge to flick it away.
“Spies.” Zabuza says flatly, unconvinced.
“Information,” Tenten corrects, “Look, I’ve reason to believe that there’s some… internal issues. In Konoha. I don’t have all the facts, I don’t know how to counter the threat, but I know it exists, and that it’s way above my skill level right now. Above most people, in fact. If you’re not interested in working for a good cause with a decent pay, then I’ve got nothing to offer you, but if you are – ”
“You’re trying to hire me,” Zabuza says, sounding amused.
“You’re a mercenary who needs regular employment, I’m an aspiring businesswoman who needs employees,” Tenten says reasonably, “I’d pay good money for regular information, and extra for whatever work you could do for me.”
“You want to hire me to work outside Konoha, because you think there are ‘internal issues’ inside Konoha. Kid, you’re just saying anything to save your ass and wasting my time – ”
“No.” Tenten interrupts, steel entering her voice.
Zabuza narrows his eyes, a palpable air of menace emanating from him at her insolence. Tenten remembers years and years working up the ladder at T&I, learning how to shut down your humanity at will, because the alternative was unthinkable. No trace of humanity could survive the work they had to do deep down in Konoha’s underbelly.
She stares back at him now with same dead eyes she used to have, the only thing her prisoners could glimpse beyond the blank mask. Zabuza is powerful, of course, but she’s lived through bits and pieces of her future self, and she knows she will surpass him one day.
She lets that knowledge show in her undaunted stance, wanting him to see her confidence and wonder if it was earned.
“I want to hire you because I think it would be a waste to let this meeting end in death on either side. You’re the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen, someone I’ve idolised since I could walk. I’m ready and willing to pay your way. I’m not bluffing to save myself, because I don’t think I need to. Not if there’s more to you than this job, this ‘kid’s game’ you mentioned. But if you really want to keep living like this, that’s your call.”
“Like this,” Zabuza repeats, his eyes cold and piercing, “And what do you think it’s like?”
“Always on the run, never stopping for anything, working yourself to the bone just to survive, never having enough money for anything but the essentials, probably sometimes not even that, not being able to trust that your employer won’t choose sliding a knife between your ribs instead of paying you, working for every man’s cause but your own, existing on a thin line between life and death at all times, with nothing to show for it but the scars.” Tenten says slowly, her hand just barely brushing against Yoin.
Zabuza says nothing, silence frosting the air between them.
The pandas shift slightly, a minute motion, but it’s enough to break the ice.
“You do whatever you have to in order to survive,” Tenten says, “But is there anything you would live for, if you had the luxury of choice?” As she asks, she allows the tiniest spark of chakra to seep into Yoin.
A tiny bright white face, two dark eyes enormous in the gloom of the night. The kid’s tiny figure is barely noticeable so low to the ground, as if they exist solely in supplication. Hungry, desperate, closer to an animal than human, they ask a question in total silence, and he is the answer.
Tenten blinks, a dull ache forming over her left eye. She hadn’t expected Yoin to answer her with a vision instead of written words, and the moment of inattention has cost her more than just her composure.
Zabuza now stands directly in front of her, ignoring the blades her bears point his way.
“I won’t work for some brat who doesn’t even know her place in this world,” He growls, each word carefully enunciated as if he was trying to drill them into her skull, “You’re nothing but prey, fodder just waiting for a big enough beast to come along and make a meal out of you. You don’t get that yet because no one’s ever tried. I’ll teach you your place, kid, and I’ll even let you live long enough to thank me for the lesson.”
Nope, Tenten thinks. Really, really not interested in being eaten, thanks.
She’s not dumb enough to wait for him to strike first.
Instead, she swings low, ducking under the pandas’ guard, and aims her hammer at Zabuza’s chest.
As expected, he flickers away at once, the mist thickening in his absence.
Bai’s massive bulk shoots forward, and the sound of metal clashing rings out as he blocks Zabuza’s strike. Tenten freezes. She hadn’t even known where Zabuza had gone, let alone that he was about to attack. She really does have a long way to go.
“Bai will distract your opponent while I cover your escape,” Li says quietly, her voice musical and pretty, belying her enormous size and ferocious claws.
Tenten can’t see more than a few feet, the mist seeping through her and leaving an unsettling chill deep in her bones.
“I’m not going to escape. I’m going to recruit him.” She replies, just as quiet, and pulls Yoin free. She settles with her back to Li’s, leaving no blindspots around her, and focuses on the scroll.
She can hear the ring of Bai and Zabuza’s blades, growing fainter as Bai leads him out further into the mist.
Is Zabuza one of my allies? Tenten asks.
Yes, Yoin replies, the word blooming across the paper.
Tenten sags in relief. At least this wasn’t for nothing. How do I persuade him to join me?
You already have, Yoin replies.
“What?” Tenten says out loud.
He is testing you. He wants to know if you’ll fight back or cower in fear. But he needs money desperately, and he thinks you’re a safe bet.
Tenten’s head falls back against Li. Stupid.
Of course he was just testing her. Of course she wasn’t actually in a fight with the Demon of the Mist. Of course she was just sitting back and cowering in fear, exactly as he’d expected.
She traces the edge of the seal her mother had so carefully carved for her, her fingernail following every ridge and curve instinctively. Well. She could stand here getting mad that she’d been tricked, or she could use this as the perfect training opportunity it was.
It was only the feel of Yoin’s smooth surface beneath her other hand that stopped her from darting out and bellowing a challenge – her fight might have changed from very real to a mere test, but Kou’s was still a matter of life and death.
Is Kou alright?
Yes, Yoin replies, oblivious to Tenten’s immediate relief, he is fighting two shinobi commonly referred to as The Demon Brothers. They are waiting for Zabuza to join them. Kou is worried about you.
Conflicted, Tenten runs her hand down the scroll. Are The Demon Brothers my allies?
No, Yoin says, the word ringing with finality.
That settled it.
Tenten tightens her grip on her hammer, and gets to work.
***
Hello, friends!
I hope you’re all doing as well as can be expected, considering, well. Everything! I know it’s probably been difficult for a lot of you, especially with how bleak everything seems in the news and online. I hope you’re all taking care of yourselves. Please be kind to yourself, you deserve only good things.
I know this was a bit of a filler chapter, but at least it’s something, right? :3
Tenten remains Best Girl. Zabuza remains the kind of guy who’d monologue dramatically at a twelve year old while they’re both wreathed in magic fog. She had him at hello, btw. As ruthless and mercenary as Zabuza is, at this point in the story, he’s desperate for money to fund his second attempt at a coup against the Mizukage and to save him and Haku from the hunter-nin coming after them.
Ino may only be eleven, but she was still one of the best shinobi in her class, so I figured if given proper motivation, she could pull off more than some might give her credit for. Also it pained me to write Sakura as her pre-character development self here, but it had to be done. And of course Ino let the marriage beans spill. How could she not? Marriage beans are notoriously slippery.
For backstory on me btw: I got into Naruto fourteen years ago and started writing fanfiction at the same time. And now I’m… still doing that. Pffffft. Well, there are worse things to do in life. Like drugs. I haven’t been into Naruto for quite some time (I quit reading the manga shortly after the Sakura vs Sasori fight, which was about five billion years ago now) so my knowledge of the characters, plot, and backstory are mostly fuelled by my teenage self’s obsession and my current self’s ability to google. So… Please forgive the many, many mistakes I will inevitably make ~~~
(I know a lot of you will want this to be a plotty fic, but honestly I’m just here to write Tenten and pandas. And I’m all out of pandas)
Quick poll for fun: Tell me your latest obsession/fascination/special interest/hobby
I have ADHD, so I have hyperfixations (Naruto was one of the ones that lasted the longest, as you can probably guess), and to name a few, they went from Harry Potter to Kingdom Hearts to Naruto to Marvel, with a bunch of smaller hyperfixations in-between them all.
I’m currently in that terrible grey area in which I’m not super into anything, but kind of into a lot of things.
I hope you’re all doing well, and if you’re not, well I hope things get a lot better! And SOON! HURRY UP GETTING BETTER! Love you guys :)